Picture Sunday



You know, there's a certain amount of obligation to wearing this shirt. Stennie herself has commented on this fact, as she was training for the triathalon - why wear it if you're just going to lie on the couch and watch TV? So I guess I'd better make an honest woman of myself.

Today was a full and busy day - it was the set up and rehearsal for Oktoberfest. This not only consists of going over a few old favorites and a few new ones, but also setting up all the wiring, lighting, and getting the sound system down. (We open the season this coming Saturday.) I got home tonight at about 8:30 and felt vaguely like I'd been drug behind a pack of bison by my feet, but I shall survive.

I'll not go into all the details of the carrying of equipment and setting up (which I only participated in to the extent that I could), but I will tell you about a really cool and fun portion of the day. While most of the guys were up in the rafters doing the wires and lights, two vocalists, the flute player, and Mr M and myself went outside to the barn's patio and went over a few numbers. Then Seth joined in on tuba, and more people started joining in one by one, till finally all of us were outside on the patio. We ended up having our rehearsal out there. It was fun - cold, but fun - and guests at the hotel would wander by and listen to us for awhile. It was casual and relaxed, and I had a ball.

But then we had to go inside on the stage and finish up, do our soundchecks, then clean up what messes we'd made. And it was time for me to head back down the mountain, which I did, cold and shaky, with nothing but a clove cigarette to even me out. But that was after I stopped and took this picture.

You know, it'll be fall soon enough, which I love, the leaves will be exploding with color, but I decided to take a picture of summer on my way down the mountain. For any of those who wonder why I love this area so much, wonder no longer:



Look at all those mountains. And I live right in between all of them.

Of course, you-know-who went with me up the mountain, and got his picture taken in a most adorable manner, which you can see in the Galerie de Chien and Garcon. (Go down to the very last link - well, the last one before "home.")

And now, before I call it a night, tonight's recipe du jour. Now, I love Mexican food. I love it a lot. And even post-op, it's something that generally still agrees with me, luckily. But leave it to the recipe du jour to come up with Mexican food I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. I give you now (really, you can have it - I don't want it back), Tamale Pie:



Now, I'll be the first to admit that in the wonderful world of Mexican, tamales are probably my least favorite item. But I think the tamales got short shrift in this dish. All it is is chili with beans (three cups), with some corn and onions. Then it says to "slice the tamales and spread them on top." Now, are those not tomatoes? They sure as hell don't look like tamales, not the ones I know, anyway. And my Aunt Maria, who makes the tamales in our family, is right from Mexico, so I'd think what she makes is the genuine article.

Anyway, it's a damned ugly dish, and though The Card tells us we should be eating this with a guacamole salad and some whipped gelatin parfait, what we get here is an incredibly bland looking tortilla and some iceberg lettuce on a way too yellow avacado. If that's guacamole salad I'm Bennett Cerf.

Nice tablecloth, though. I'll bet Mom laid out her best sarape for that one.

Betland's Olympic Update:
*In an important message, we at Betland would like to announce that the security level has changed to orange. Orange. "Hinky," where one never knows what Bet could do or when she could strike. Visitors are still welcome at the park, but the guards will be on Orange Alert. We will do our best to make sure no one gets hurt.