Kiss And Make Up

You know, during my blogging absence, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my life and my conduct. And I found out that I have regrets. So consider this a public apology for any previous criticism I may have expressed about World Famous Fashion Icon and Busy Mom™ Michelle Obama. I may have been a little too harsh in my commentary about her public appearances.

I see now that she is a woman just like the rest of us – doing the best she can with what she has. I find it so touching that as a hat tip to those struggling to get by during these tough economic times, to manage expenses she left her contingent of make-up artists at home while she vacationed in Africa. Still she is the first lady and it wouldn’t do to have her appear bare-faced before the public.  How lucky is she that friends in the entertainment industry stepped in to help her out?

Working From Home Today

I’ll sum up my last two weeks of travel for you and then it will be over with:  Feh!  Plus free crab legs. So it all evens out.

home office

Working environment update: I’m working from my outdoor office on the deck today. The gentle breezes and birdsong have become unfamiliar to me after the cumulative hours I’ve spent in airports over the last two weeks. Where is the muffled roar of the jets? The rows of vinyl seating with splits and/or unidentified substances ruining the surfaces of the best locations?  The ladies rooms littered with damp lengths of toilet paper?   The stench of filthy dogbutt is the same, though  so there’s comfort in that.

From our Department of Personal Victory: I packed suitable clothing and accessories for travel, work and dining out into a regular rolling business case with a minor amount of overflow to an Ameribag Healthy Back bag. Also managed to get the laptop, cords, etc in there. Incidentals! The trip was from late  Sunday night to the wee small hours of  Thursday morning and I didn’t repeat any wardrobe combination or accessorizations. Now you know what I mean when I say High Powered Executive Business Woman – packing power! Definitely the way to go.

Helpful packing tip: Secret Solid Deodorant comes in a taller, thinner container than Ban, Sure  or Degree. This might not seem significant  at first  but it might make all the difference, sideways-expansionwise, when you are rolling down the aisle of an Airbus.

Hello Lovely Readers!

After spending last week in downtown Denver, I went home for a day and a half and then came back to the outskirts of suburban Denver. The difference between the two places is that downtown has bums and the burbs have glittering malls.

I have had airplane adventures, hotel clerk adventures and work adventures. And by “adventures”, I mean distress and frustration. And yet, it’s the same old same old.

I’ll be home in the wee small hours of Thursday and probably good for nothing the rest of the day.  Maybe I’ll goof off on the deck.

Just noticed that there are little shreds of crab meat stuck in my hair.

Food Glorious Food

There’s enough recipes in the world. I say it’s time to stop creating new ones.

World Famous Food Icon and Bossy Mom

This magazine arrives at our house once a month. I don’t know how it found us. Probably it was invited by that same little someone who fills out internet forms for free samples of  dog biscuits, chewing tobacco and anti-aging cream and then has them sent to our address. It’s a beautiful production meant for the restaurant and hotel food business. The pages are filled with ads for 24 oz canisters of various dry rubs, big pouches of “chef-ready cuts” of fruit, pre-oiled phyllo sheets (Ed. – so wrong)  and gallon jugs of tangerine-mango puree. the photography is beautiful and the covers are always striking. Even the articles, while some area a bit overblown, can be compelling. One in this issue made scrapple sound good but they couldn’t resist photographing the presentation with a  dollop of chutney (Ed. – again, wrong.)

There’s no doubt about contemporary food trends when you flip though the pages. FYI – Fusion is over. Apparently, we’ve moved on to World Casual. What is World Casual, you might ask? Here’s the explanation – it’s about bullshit.

World Casual. It's about authenticity and integrity ... and a relaxed sense of excellence. It's about passion, and connecting with the people who prepare your food. It's about flavor adventure and "comfort food" on the same plate. It's about a new generation of grab 'n go. It's the new "middle" of the American foodservice market. It's high/low and fast/slow at the same time. It's about simpler food ... or more complex, layered flavors ... simply presented. It's how we want to eat now.

I don’t know. Does the world need artichoke flan? Or a cocktail with the ghastly name of  Whiskey Tomato Sour? Although this looks good, doesn’t it?

BURRATA Fresh Mozzaella Filled With Shreds of Mozzarella Soaked In Cream. This fresh cheese resembles a Fresh Mozzarella ball, but when split open, you will be delighted to discover a rich-tasting soft filling of pieces of Mozzarella and heavy cream inside. Slice Burratta and serve on leaves of endive or crostini for a simple and tasty appetizer. Each ball is hand-formed, made to order and packaged in water for a 37 day shelf life.

belgioioso.com

Kiss it. Bye bye.

And so A. Weiner scuttles off the national stage but not without a final episode of dominance over an entire news cycle. As soon as he pronounced the word “resign”, a heckler in the audience yelled “Bye bye, pervert.”  For the rest of the day, the talking heads were consumed with this rude interruption and bemoaned the fact that A. Weiner was entitled to 5 minutes of peace before he goes away forever.

I do not agree. This is the level of degradation that he brought on himself, his position, his colleagues and his constituency. His dishonesty, arrogance and failed machinations deserve public ridicule at the very least.

Here’s something: during the long slow march to resignation, many have speculated why Weiner was left twisting in the wind and Bill Clinton was supported and defended during the whole cigar-up-Monica-Lewinsky’s-begonia-in-the-Oval-Office episode. It occurs to me only now that this is the wrong comparison. The comparison should have been not to Clinton and Lewinsky, but rather to Clinton and Paula Jones.

“Mrs Jones is a former Arkansas state clerk who alleged that when Mr Clinton was governor of Arkansas in 1991, she was summoned to his room at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, by a state trooper. She has said he then dropped then his trousers and, alluding to his genitals, asked her to “kiss it.” She claims that she refused his offer and was then told to keep quiet about the incident.”

That sounds like A. Weiner, doesn’t it – alluding to his genitals? Monica was a willing participant; Paula and many of A.Weiner’s photo recipients, surprised or not,  were invited to gaze upon the glory.

One more thing.  I’ve seen all the photos and I have got to tell you – of them all, this is the one that bothers me the most:

Really? Is there a female of any age anywhere on the internet that hasn’t gotten a photo from a male correspondent taken from this angle? Must I explain? The very presumption!

The rock he crawled under is temporary. We may not hear from him  until his “baby” makes news again. Although he publicly announced his resignation, to date A. Weiner has not submitted a letter of resignation to Congress.