13 March 2004

I didn't finish Two-Bit Heroes in time to give it back to Stella last night because I was working, first on the book and then on "Carter Hall Recovers the Puck." I'm hoping to finish the latter this morning, or at least today sometime, so this will be a short entry: we're meeting Stella and Mike and Roo and their friend Matt, who is in from Pittsburgh, for brunch at Cecil's, where I have never been.

We had a good time last night. We left time to battle traffic and then there wasn't any (although Mark is perpetually grumpy whenever we're driving in St. Paul, due to their 55 mph speed limit on 35E), so we went into Byerly's and picked up a few things, sadly not including Timprov's Citra. Have they stopped making Citra? We checked Rainbow, Byerly's, and Cub, which is pretty much the limit of my grocery repertoire; I don't recall checking Whole Foods, but they're not really the sort of place you go for Coke products. (And incidentally, Whole Foods ravioli had strike two this week with their Garlic Gorgonzola. Um, no: not very tasty and also not very numerous. I think we've got strike three sitting in the freezer. Sigh.)

So we bought our Byerly's stuff and headed over to Khan's, and Stella & co. got there just about exactly as we did. We had to wait a few minutes, but there were eight of us and it was Friday night, so it wasn't like we could just go somewhere else and get seated. (That is, not somewhere good.) And we had bubble ducks to play with, because Stella brought us each a bubble duck (bubble duck!), and also she brought me jewelry to look through and I gave Roo his triceratops and there was The Book of Roo and an apparently fascinating pay phone. So we entertained each other and I got three pretty necklaces and some pretty earrings in addition to my bubble duck because Stella spoils me. So now I'm trying to figure out which necklace I should dress to match today. It's a good thing we're meeting Stella for brunch, though, because I don't know how to fasten these clasps. We all ate a bunch of Chinese food and were happy with the sesame buns, which Timprov thinks he can make at home (and having had the plum buns he made last weekend, I suspect he's right).

(Crud. I have always had trouble with today/tomorrow/yesterday, and it's spreading: I originally typed that I've had the plum buns Timprov made next weekend. I need to retain some sense of the directionality of time. So far the verb tenses stay in the right place, for which I am profoundly grateful, as that could be an occupational hazard. But this is still quite alarming.)

Timprov has made me a Not The Moose Book playlist to play when I'm working. He's started a "Books" section in his playlists so that we can do playlists for other books. So far this one is mostly Counting Crows, Barenaked Ladies, and Liz Phair. It's good having it going while I work. I don't always have to play it while I work -- obviously, since I haven't been. But it's nice. Pleasant. Helpful.

Mark and I should probably go buy a water softener today, and we're due at Cecil's at 10:30, so if I'm to finish "Carter Hall Recovers the Puck" before then, I'd better get at it.