Picture Sunday



Well, how's that for a picture right off the bat?

Hello, end-of-weekenders, and welcome to a special post-birthday edition of Picture Sunday.

In case you don't understand that top picture, and you probably don't.... If you have MSN Messenger for chatting you might. There's a picture of a smiling pear you can use as your profile pic, if you wish. Now, I happen to love the smiling pear. I use it whenever possible. Mr M, however, hates the smiling pear. Well, hates isn't exactly the correct term. Actually, he's scared to death of it, due to the fact that one of her little eyes is larger than the other. And she likes him. I mean, like likes him. So seeing as how it was his birthday Saturday and I needed a little extra oomph to his presents, I decided to wrap up little Pearette and see if it would scare him. It did, but he did gird his loins and pose with her:



Now, my next two pictures come from a little gift I received this week.

Mr M found two absolutely bitchin' clarinet cases on E-bay recently. They were both retro, and cool, and in fantastic shape. Since he knew the seller and could get a deal on both of them together, he went for it and got them. Then he told me to take my pic of them and I could have it. Well, this was a real conundrum for me, because I loved them both so much for different reasons. So last night we played a rousing game of "Clarinet Case," whereby I'd put the horn in each case and walk around carrying them, and see which one got the best comment.

However, "Clarinet Case" went sadly awry when the second case didn't fit my clarinet. Or his. Apparently it has to do with the length of the joints and size of the bores of clarinets made in the late 60s/early 70s. But that was a little blessing in disguise, because I really did like the case I ended up with, and didn't have to go through the agony of choosing.

First of all, here's the case from the outside. Now, I have to tell you that this case is very short height-wise, which makes it resemble a really cool handbag. Also, I have to tell you that I, um, "liberated" the L'Olifant plate from my current case and put it on this one. Without being too confusing, the best part (and some would say the only good part) of my old case was the plate showing where the horn was first purchased, L'Olifant in Paris. (Yes, my horn is French. It's spiky and sometimes when I want to play it it says, "Well, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna go have a sandwich.") I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I don't care if L'Olifant is French for "K-Mart," that plate on my case was damn cool. So I moved it to the new one.



Now, here's the case from the inside, holding my horn. The blue fuzzy inside is marvelous compared to my old case, which had orange fuzzy inside.



We played trios today with BL (we're trying to get a real group of clarinet players together to do some gigs for people), and the new case and great horn didn't help me a damn bit - I sucked. But we were doing a bit of sightreading, and I now have my parts in hand so I can practice. Yes, guys - I will practice.

And now without further ado, well, do you guys remember that song a few years back by the Barenaked Ladies? Oh, "One Week," it was called. "Chickity China, the Chinese Chicken, you have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'." Well, if you have guests whose brains you want to stop tickin', here's the dish for you - Chinese Chicken!



I'm extremely embarrassed to admit this, but this dish doesn't look at all bad to me. Then again, looking at the picture and reading the ingredients are two different kettle of fishes. This one's heavy on sherry, pineapple (which I generally hate combined with any meat), soy sauce, and brown sugar. And I can understand the laying it on water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots, but - green peppers? Got me there. Oh, and there's MSG to spare in there, too.

Anyway, we're supposed to get this with spinach salad, parsley rice, pineapple-orange kabobs (again with the pineapple! stop with the pineapple!), and fortune cookies. Really now. Did anyone actually get fortune cookies with a meal at home?

Happy coming week, guys.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Reason #198 why I'm a horrible person: When I see anyone who's handicapped, physically or mentally, I go all to pieces, get upset, and want to cry. I just can't help it. I keep telling myself these people are probably happier and more well-adjusted than I am, but I still let it cast a pall upon me. It happened today in Kroger. I once ruined an entire Christmas for myself after seeing a handicapped kid waiting on line to see Santa. I can't think about it too much, or this Christmas will be ruined as well.
* Reason #199 why I'm a horrible person: I have a dentist's appointment tomorrow, and I've not one single time flossed since my last visit six months ago. I know for a portion of that time I was on a liquid diet, but it's still shameful, and I should be flogged. And I probably will be when I get in the chair tomorrow.