the essay of the year

From CNN and my good friend Kevin. One of these days I'm going to be the crazy professor who assigns stuff like this.

Students: For an easy A, expound on this in your next classroom discussion: What are the philosophical implications of Hugo Weaving, the Australian actor who is Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy, also playing Elrond, the elven Lord of Rivendell, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy?

Sounds like a fabulous paper topic to me!

The strawberry chocolate pie mixture is chilling right now. I tried a different recipe this time, more like a ganache with strawberry jam melted into it. We've got sliced sugared strawberries to put on top. Tastes pretty good so far.

I feel a bit better. Just worn out.

pie day

Joan and Edward arrived about half an hour afterwe finished throwing the last of the laundry in the closet and straightening the rugs. They came bearing cherry pie, pecans and presents. My mixer now graces the kitchen counter, we've got a folding table and chairs, and mats.

Threadgills was packed, and we had to wait about half an hour for a table. Still, it was worth it as we ended up in a booth in the back room. They have a special limited Thanksgiving menu, sadly without macaroni and cheese or fried pickles. But there was okra and I ate the best fried oysters I've had in my entire life. Seriously, they were big and plump and perfectly battered.

My pie came out smashingly well. Joan and Edward loved it, and I gave her the recipe so she can make it for her bridge group. I think it's the best chocolate pie I've ever created, it held up perfectly and the crust was flaky and delicious.

We watched some football and chatted, and all was good. I'm very glad they came to see us. It was sweet, and fun.

All that food required a nap, and now we're just being lazy.

water, water, everywhere

There's water coming through our ceiling in the bathroom, and I have these awful visions of the guy upstairs dead in his bathtub. Not just little drips, but running down the sheetrock and causing it to bulge, connoting a serious amount of water in the apartment upstairs. Our toilet has stopped working too, and we had to call emergency maintenance. It sucks to do that to someone on Thanksgiving, but I console myself with the knowledge he's getting time and a half at least for holiday work.