flaming cheese can't be all bad

so we went to the Arkadia restaurant last night in Gainesville, for Jason's birthday. Wednesdays are half-price bottles of wine, by the way. We had two helpings of an appetizer where they bring out some cheese, pour some alcohol on it, and set it on fire! It was pretty good. I don't have much else to add other than a round of ouzo was also at our table.

It wasn't outstanding, but decent. I am not sure I agree with this review:

http://www.chowhound.com/south/boards/florida/messages/13265.html

saving the world one full-length mirror at a time

wisdom from my friend Kellie: "If I won the lottery, I would buy everyone a full-length mirror, so they could see what they look like before they left the house."

good thing I have tile floors

Neighbors, beware: Oliver (current resident), Bug (hound dog), Tchops (Australian Shepherd), Maggie (basset), and Mozart (basset) will be ruling the roost for a week. I might need a vacation. Jason might need to hire a housecleaner.

delta airline adventure

so I go on Tuesday am for a 6:50 am flight out of GNV...get up at 5 am. I am not checking luggage which is cool. I arrive and they say that the flight will be leaving late because the plane came in late the night before. So the guy at the counter books me on three more flights to Chicago later in the day because he's sure I can't make a connection.

the plane is loaded and we are ready for takeoff. then a guy gets on the plane and says "I need 5 people to get off the plane...the plane is too heavy." then he says "we're not going anywhere until this happens." so realizing that I am sitting around anyway, I get off the plane.

then they realize that they can't get me out of GNV after all and put me in a taxi to Orlando. I fly first class to Atlanta and then on to Chicago. While in Atlanta, one of the guys who also got off the plane in GNV (UF professor) is standing right in front of me and invites me in to the Delta Crown Room with him. It was very swanky and quiet, which is the whole point. Finally I get off the plane in Chicago, and run into another UF professor I know.

Bottom line is...I got $200 Delta dollars and flew first class on two planes!

culinary highlights from San Antonio

much of this blog will focus on food, which should be no surprise to anyone who knows me.

One of the evenings had a free dinner paid for by Aramark, which is UF's food service provider. They took us to Acenar, an upscale Tex-Mex place. Appetizers included fried oysters on yucca chips with a lime-cilantro aioli and smoked salmon and black bean nachos. My meal was a sizzling skillet of beef and shrimp and the margaritas were great. I also ate at Boudros and they had a cart where they came to your table and made fresh guacamole, and I was smart enough to write down the ingredients so I can make it at home; my entree was coconut shrimp. I also ate at an Italian restaurant, Paesano's, and had good manicotti and went back for dessert the next night with a group and I ate tres leches. beyond those culinary adventures, it was mostly Mexican-style food served at the conference.

el paseo del rio

San Antonio is a nice place for a power-shopper like my mother. There is plenty to do and see and buy, and the Riverwalk is pretty neat too. I had forgotten since my last visit in 1996. May the economy of Texas be supported!

an ode to the red states

Dear Red States...

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us.
In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon,Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals.
They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Tennessee.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and
61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.
Sincerely,
Author Unknown in New California.

the doggy shuffle

So it turns out that between my travel, my roommate's house-sitting gig, John's shenanigans, the drunk Jill and Scott "work" trip, etc. there are about four to eight dogs who are being shuffled around town for the next two months. Good think that they are all fixed. doggy photos soon!

Welcome

I have decided to join the blogging world and see how this goes. I have some really great upcoming travel opportunities and I think that my friends will enjoy following my adventures. Wish me luck!