Monday, July 28, 2008 

i have a feeling that Suze Restaurant is going to get a lot of attention tomorrow.

it is literally a block away from my employers' old home. i used to walk with the kids to the starbucks on that corner...

and for the record, I think Lisa Garza should have won The Next Food Network Star. the network has plenty of home-style cooking. Aaron is likeable like crazy, but she is the one who brought something unique that i think they could use.


and yes, you can all laugh now because i got suckered into a reality show.

yes i did.

Sunday, July 27, 2008 

I recently served the following.


Mango Salsa (courtesy of Alma)
Spicy Tomato Soup (Miracle Drug)
Chiles Rellenos with Tomatillo-Lime Sauce
Spinach Enchiladas with Mexican Mole Sauce and Parrano Cheese Sauce



Just the thought of this dinner makes me smile. The official food tasting advisory committee is heading overseas for a month. Anyone want to step up to the plate* this August?

It's time to do something new with Thai and Indian influences.




*egad: Leah and Jill would love that pun.

 

quick note to myself

that professor from notre dame who declared nietzsche an idiot, a philosopher one must not bother reading?


i think that he would appreciate continental and american pragmatist thought, were he not so dogmatic about the final signified.

he and they --we-- are speaking, conversing about the same things. his ontological (and deontoligical!) ethics simply do not allow him to engage in discourse that is not judgmental and defensive at the same time.

Saturday, July 26, 2008 

i miss the cats.

 

i have this strange feeling that my blog is going to be peppered with stories of how amazing my family is for a while. (i might just talk a lot about cars as well.)

go see karl's work in special effects on The Mummy 3. i am so cheering when his name appears in the credits.


karl just spent a week or so in texas; he took HAL on a series of adventures between Dallas and Houston while i borrowed a car from theyblinked. i was incredibly grateful for the loan but i have to tell you: this afternoon i experienced pure joy when i slid behind the wheel of my hybrid. it's not just the gas mileage, folks: i love everything about this car. i could write odes to third gear, deliver accolades in regard to the clutch....

it just feels right.




------

watch out for this generation of caugheys and jarrells. you've got a plentitude of raw talent with a good dose of gumption on your hands. we are scientists, musicians, editors, politicians, philosophers, filmmakers, businessfolk... we are black belts in the many things that we specialize in.

and we know how to make a mean cup of coffee.

 

I dare you to disagree....

you cannot line-edit philosophy.

there is something beautiful in that.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 

Sailing Gypsies

the 10-year-old demands stories.

they must be entertaining and they must be true -- she has heard everything from cinder midnight caughey's adventure with the family cat to stories of mom and uncle bobby milking their cow before breakfast.

she is fascinated by my family and requests stories about specific people. she wants to fly in uncle chuck's plane; she wants to go to one of justin's shows; she desperately wants to meet my sister; she's asked to see The Mummy 3 so that she can see Karl's name in the credits....

all that said, i do have a crazy large family. it's relatively easy to get confused... i was telling stories about sailing with the caughey uncles yesterday and A expressed the desire to meet them. i assured her that that could take place one day, and she responded with this: "Does this mean I get to meet the gypsy!?!"

Not only does she have the wrong side of the family: she was sitting right next to one.

Sunday, July 13, 2008 

i am in love.

(warning: this is also a tale about the GDI reverse classist)


i come from a family of car people. we name them. they play prominent roles in all of our stories. i literally think about dave, about rhoda, about maxine, sydney, bob dole, the moosh, etc. with this incredible fondness. (kel: you can argue that bob dole's name is really lupe, but you know he had issues with the washer fluid.)

we listen to car talk.

i love hal, my 2000 insight. i especially love the gas mileage, i love all three of his cylinders, i love the clutch (it has just the right give, the right moosh)....


but last night i had an affair with stella.

i have read before that cars purr. i am here to tell you that THEY DO.

----

my aunt mandi loved her family. she loved her dogs, her cat named dillinger. and she loved her 2001 convertible mustang. six cylinders. the crazy color of green you will only find around 11AM when the sunlight hits the leaves of a citrus tree just right.

my aunt is no longer present, but she left the family an incredible legacy of story.

and she left us her car.

my cousin was gracious enough to allow me to drive stella last night. these words seem too mundane for the experience; this car begs to go on a road trip. she loves fifth gear. she loves the highway.

this is the kind of car who urges you to just keep going, to head west, you can buy a toothbrush when you stop for gas, put your hair back, kick the radio up, let's fly, let's hug the road, tell some stories on the way and smile....

i told you. in love.

---------

so the above has some kind of connection to the following story, i guess, as stella was the mode of transportation, the vehicle (that is a terrible word to use for such a gorgeous machine) that delivered me to the meat market that masquerades as an irish pub.

i won't kill you with details. suffice it to say that i was goosed and scoped out more than i care for in a crowded, loud bar full of spoiled, over-coiffed people who were openly desperate for sex.

i guess some might have settled for making out.

sigh.

that's not really the story here, though. one of the women i met is a student at smu and my good sweet lord you would not believe the shit that came out of her mouth. she's in one of the top three sororities (yeah, i know. i'm using their language.) she's a strikingly beautiful brunette who has an internship that is going to make her a success.

and she couldn't believe that i didn't rush in undergrad. she asked "what did you do then at smu? student senate? something?" (read: how could you not be greek??)

i talked about reading and studying, the professors who mentored me, etc and got blank looks. okay. this girl wanted to know what i did socially. i told her that i was the secretary of the GLBSO (gay and lesbian society thingy) and she nearly fell down dead in that booth in that crappy overcrowded bar that is a fracking simulcra. her shock was so pronounced that i fully expected her to grab my heifeweisen and toss it in her own face to wake her from this terrible terrible dream.

and here is the kicker, folks. she literally asked me the following in full sincerity.

"there are gay people at smu?"



-----


i'll let you sit with that one for a moment.



----


what kind of reality is she living in? and why on earth did she attempt to recover from her shock by asking me what said organization does? here you go:

"do they throw parties with drag queens or something?"


yeah. sure.


i am too nice. i should have told her that they meet to support each other because they are either othered or ignored by people like her.


sometimes i am too nice.




they refer to the social whirl at smu as a bubble. i inhabited that space for four years and i am still trying to rid myself of the anger i felt towards the privileged mass that was characterized by this lazy affluence. a disregard, nay, an ignorance of the suffering for other humans.

more on this later.

 

spaghetti!

on friday thirty or so folks descended upon the villa (or is it that they ascended up the stairway towards the glory of culinary delights?).

we had lasagna rolls, veggies stuffed with orzo in cream sauce with artichoke hearts, spaghetti, roasted pear sandwiches, pizza for the kids, cookies, muffins, (thx to susan and mel, respectively on those last two!), and sangria.

we didn't have a death match for the artichoke heart (it just wouldn't be the same without keeler) but for me the night was declared a success when i found myself engaged in an extensive conversation about richard rorty with some of the most intelligent people on the planet.

----

Friday, July 11, 2008 

i am cooking and i have no wine.

I AM COOKING WITHOUT WINE!



(i put it all in the sangria.)

 

right this minute...

listening to andrew bird. took a second to breathe before returning to the kitchen (which looks like hurricane shanna hit).

this is the kind of day when you realize there is a reason that you have eight or nine saute pans (of differing sizes and types, of course). at one point this morning i had three huge pots on the stove and i was wishing i had a fourth.


get ready folks.

Saturday, July 05, 2008 

july 4th at the villa


Friday, July 04, 2008 

instruction: the caughey man dance

 

creature of habit

everything feels a little sideways this weekend. for the past fifteen years i've spend the 4th (or a close approximation) at the bay with my family.

i miss that long early-morning drive, aunt penni's food, the beer, the conversation... it's always been some sort of marker, an indication that it is summer.

well, change is always afoot in some way or other. i'm determined to enjoy my day off.