My Political Statement on my Non-Political Blog

I am trying this one last time. I keep having problems only posting the audio portion so I found the You tube link.  I was just trying to find a song that expresses my joy at yesterday's election results. Skip the lead-in ad and move on to the song.


Click Here

or here ---: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

The Best Lap Cat

Paolo, my treasured lap cat had to be put to sleep on Monday September 17th due to ongoing health problems. When I first got him, a friend said he is too feral to become a good house cat. That was many years ago, and he became a wonderful friend and good companion, especially when he was sitting (napping) on my lap. This is an older picture of Paolo (left) and his good friend (and mine too), Lucia. I rescued Lucia from the office parking garage and Paolo showed up a short while later to help her eat her food. The rest is history. He was my good buddy and Lucia and I will both miss him. 

And a special mention is in order to Dr. Simon and the staff at The Cat Doctors in Tampa for their loving care over the years.

May there be an abundance of cat treats in Cat Heaven, Paolo.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving Eve Dinner at Home

Blog Enhancements

I have added two additional features to my blog.


1. The ability for a reader to email a post to others. Just click on the envelope next to the comments link at the end of each post.


Posted by Dick at 3:44 PM 0 comments   <------ This envelope


2. The ability for a reader to react to each post (changes to the options are still being considered. Since there are so many food/restaurant posts, I was thinking of "I'm Hungary", "Stop,  you are killing me", "This is really boring" and "I would never eat that"  or... for travel related posts... "Take me with you" and "Good Luck Buddy, You are on your own" Or we could stick with more typical options such as "Like",  "Don't Like", "Yawn"). Suggestions for Reaction options would be appreciated.

Reactions:

<<<<< oops, I already changed the options, 12 hours after this was posted.>>>>

Just trying to increase the fun level that I have with the blog, and obviously, I have way too much time to play with this stuff and learn all the features of Blogger.

Christmas in September

OMG, I feel so lucky. Yesterday, FedEx delivered a wonderful gift, yes it felt like Christmas in September. My good friend, Liz, sent me her "Recipes From Home" cookbook. This is a 200+ page collection of her "cherished" recipes assembled in a large 3" white notebook with a very detailed index. You won't find this at your local Barnes & Noble, which is why I feel so fortunate to have a copy. As Liz states in her intro: "If you have received a copy, it really does mean that you are part of our "family"'". I again suggest you check Liz's blog "Never Trust a Skinny Cook" for some great stories and recipes and you can read her post about the Recipes from Home collection.
Liz was also kind enough to include one of my recipes in her collection, "Dick Simpson's Polenta" which follows:


Polenta with Walnuts, Rosemary, and Gruyere

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1-teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup chopped, toasted walnuts

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

¾ cup finely grated Gruyere cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

·      Bring stock to a boil in a large saucepan.

·      Using a whisk, slowly add the cornmeal, whisking constantly until dissolved.

·      Add 1-teaspoon salt.

·      Lower heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes, whisking frequently, until mixture is thickened and all liquid is absorbed.

·      Stir in salt and pepper to taste and then add the butter, walnuts, rosemary and Gruyere cheese.

·      Spread polenta mixture into a greased 9-inch pie plate and chill.

·      To serve, cut into eight wedges. Preheat over to 350-degrees. Place wedges on backing sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until warmed through.

Serves 8

The other package I received yesterday, which added to the Christmas-like atmosphere, was my new illy Francis Francis Y1 espresso machine. What can I say, it is cute and make pretty good espresso for a capsule system. Six years or so ago, I didn't even drink coffee, let alone espresso. My, how times have changed.

ROMEO Update

My good friend Deirdre suggest I replace the "old" in ROMEO with "outstanding" I think that is an excellent idea, so now we have "Retired Outstanding Men Eating Out". Much better, I say. Thank you Deirdre. 
There is actually a ROMEO Club Website (<--- link) which discusses variations on the name, such as: "rich old men eating out", retired older men enjoying outings", "respectable older men eating out", "Real Old Motorcyclists Eating Out". Well, we are not rich and we are not motorcyclist, so for our small group, we will stick with "Outstanding", assuming Bob and Clyde agree. How could they not. 

Movable Art

As mentioned yesterday, I relocated the "Embers of Venice" painting to the bedroom where I think it creates a great focal point for the room and fits the space better than the long wall in the living room.

And someone was offended that she
wasn't included in the photograph.
I present, Ms. Lucia

Internet Rumors - A Rant

Forgive me for a minute while I step out of topic (OT) for a short rant about emails rumors that constantly circulate view email. I am sure we have all received some of these and may have at times been guilty of forwarding them on to others. Fortunately I am receiving fewer and fewer of them, since I have at times, checked snopes.com to either verify or refute the claims and sent the clarification back to the person who sent me the email. But, there is really no way to stop this, since people will believe what they want to believe regardless of the facts. A case in point is well documented today in a snopes.com posting. Click here--->  SNOPES to read the post. The issues are not always political, many center on popular culture, or requests to send cards to sick/dying children (some of these have been circulating on the web for years). Thanks for listening.
That's All I'm Saying.

New Design; Same Blog

As you will notice, I have changed the design of the blog. Blogger added a lot of new designs so I may play around with them for awhile. I like this one since it had the Eiffel Tower. Tell me what you think.

The Apple of My i

I was walking through the Garden of Evil a few weeks ago when I spotted a serpent in a tree enticing me with an apple. He is always wearing a black turtleneck sweater, white earbuds, and rocking out to Coldplay. I had fallen under his spell before.
Serpent, I said, "Why are you here again, holding another apple? I have enough apples already thanks to you!"
"Ah," he said, "you can never have too many apples."
I don't know that I agree with him. I already have an iPod, a Shuffle, a MacBook, and my favorite iPhone. How many more i's do I need.
Reading my thoughts, the serpent replied, "Just one more."
I was not an early adapter of the iPhone, but I like it so much, I decided the serpent might be right. On the first day available, I placed my pre-order for an iPad. What had come over me; I had to be one of the first to have my very own iPad. It arrived this week in the typical white box, screaming APPLE!!!
I am sitting here typing on the virtual keypad on what looks like an iPhone on steroids. It is really slick; almost too much so, as in slippery to hold. But it looks great and I love the large display. I must admits, the jury is still out if this is all I expected it to be. I know I will have fun, but my favorite iDevice is still the iPhone.

"OK, Mr. Serpent, you won this one, but enough Apples for now."
I just realized that the face of the serpent looks a lot like Steve Jobs.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

iConvert

I have seen the light and crossed over to the "other" side. Did I go from the dark side to the good side, or vis a versa. I have become a full fledged member of the Church of Steve Jobs. Yes, folks, I now have my 5th Apple product, and this one is the one that gained me admittance to The Force. Years ago I purchased a Nano (2G) which I loved, but it did not totally sell me on Apple - my resistance to switch continued strong, not me, I am not caving in. Next, a year or so ago, I upgraded to a Nano 4G, ah, there is a very slight crack in the resistance. Next up, after resisting for so long, I gave in and purchased an iPhone. Well, OMG, let me tell you... that sold me on Apple. How do I get to the other side...? Finally, I am now the proud owner of a MacBook, and I love it. Although, I must say I had some serious problems connection to my NetGear wireless router. That was solved tonight with the purchase of another Apple product, the AirPort Base Station. Now I am surfing along with no problems.  Oh, #5 would me the Shuffle, which I use at the gym. Great little device. 
Mr. Jobs, you have a new convert. Now when can I order my iPad?


That's all I'm Saying

New Art

I have recently been redecoration my study by replacing much of my older furniture with more contemporary pieces from my new favorite furniture stores - IKEA and American Signature. The new look is more in keeping with the style of the rest of the loft and it also provides better guest accommodations. No longer will guest have to endure the Aero Bed; they now have a real sleeper sofa. My good friend Paul (of Paul and Libby's World of Travel fame - link in left sidebar, check it out), created a wonderful contemporary painting for the room, picking up on the red accent colors. It looks great as you can see in this picture. Paul, thanks so much. And would you care to enlighten my readers on the artist whose style inspired you for this piece.

Weekend Update

Gym Report: I am still going to the gym three days a week. My personal trainer sessions are going to once a week instead of two, not that I feel more comfortable on the various machines. I went this morning, and spent some time on the elliptical and then some weight machine work. For me, that is an accomplishment.

Food, Glorious Food, Part 1: I hosted the occasional meeting of the Book Club on Friday evening. My book pick was Julia Child's "My Life in France" which was the basis for part of the movie "Julie and Julia". I did not attempt to cook from her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", but prepared Baked Tilapia with calamata olives, grape tomatoes, oregano, and feta cheese; smashed Yukon gold potatoes (Franks contribution), and Oven Roasted Mixed Vegetables. We had a nice evening and a good discussion.

Food, Glorious Food, Part 2: Paul and Libby (see the link in My Blog List for Paul and Libby's World of Travel) invited Frank and me to their home for a lovely dinner last evening. We started the evening with a selection of appetizers; including my favorite (difficult choice) of crostini, with fig preserves, ricotta cheese and prosciutto and a very nice rose wine which they purchased in Malta during their Mediterranean cruise earlier this year. Dinner was a very tasty beef and pork lasagna paired nicely with a Seghesio Zinfandel. For dessert Paul prepared an espresso panna cotta served appropriately in coffee mugs with a dollop of whipped cream and shaved chocolate. The presentation was only exceeded by the tastiness of the panna cotta. Everything was perfect... thanks Paul and Libby.

From the Medical desk: I have another CAT scan scheduled for September 1, so stay tuned for the results. I am expecting another tumor-free report.

That's all I'm saying.

Well almost all as I must acknowledge (after a year of using it) that I stole the closing line from one of my favorite St. Petersburg Times columnists, Ernest Hooper.

A New Toy

A few months ago, I purchased a new cell phone, a Nokia E71x, at my local AT&T Wireless store. It was a nice little smartphone at a really good price and received decent reviews. But, I quickly learned that I did not like the phone, for various reasons, including a very short battery life, and dropping my email connection repeatedly throughout the day, (requiring a reboot of the phone to reconnect). I was well past the 30-day grace period when I approached AT&T to switch phones. The local store advised me that a discounted phone was out of the question since I was past the grace period. So, not one to give up, I emailed customer support, asking for an exception. The next day I received the standard reply quoting contract issues and why I do not qualify for discount pricing. Again, not giving up, I tried again, asking that the situation be reviewed by a manager, and mentioning that if an exception could not be made, to let me know what my cancelation penalty would be... ha !. Well, that got their attention, as the next day, I received a nice email informing me that I had been approved for an exception, and the next steps to make it happen. Bottom line --> within four days, I had my new iPhone (yes, I have gone over to the dark side).

I was pleased that AT&T saw the light.

Second, I LOVE my new iPhone. It is the most intuitive phone I have ever purchased. I resisted getting one earlier, mainly because they were so popular, and I did not want to be a lemming following the crowd. The only real problem I have found with the iPhone is that it is way too much fun. I have to force myself to put it down.

That's all I'm saying !

Where is my gym bag?

I know where it is, but I couldn't think of a clever title for this post about my gym experience. First, I do not, let me repeat, do not, like the gym culture. But I am in great need of the benefits of exercise. And I need the motivation to exercise. (This coming from a person who completed thirteen marathons and numerous 10K and 15K runs, but many years ago) Don't expect me to turn into Mr. Muscular, but I do hope to improve my overall fitness.

With those disclaimers out of the way, I completed my second personal trainer guided workout. Maggie, my young, and perky PT, has been very kind to this aging body. But she still puts me through a good hour-long workout and I feel like I have put some real effort into the time spent at the gym. You know, increased heart rate, minor burn in the muscles, etc. It is a tired but satisfied feeling, knowing that I am doing something good for my self.

That's all I'm Saying !

To the Gym

I finally joined a gym (again). Let's see how well I stick with it this time. I am definitely in need of a workout; and I could stand to lose a little weight. (Not surprising, considering how much I love food). This could be interesting !

Where Have I Been?

My last post was over a week ago, so it is time for a brief update. I returned to work last week after a two week break for the last surgery. Believe it or not, it was good to be back at work, at least it gave me some sense of accomplishment. So, I worked Monday thru Thursday, then on Thursday evening, my good friend from Philadelphia, Deirdre, arrived for a weekend visit. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend, with occasional walks to show her my home city and to eat at some of my favorite places. Our dining took us to Red Mesa Cantina, The Hurricane at Pass-a-Grill, (really good grouper sandwiches), Parkshore Grill (for her birthday dinner) and Buona Vita for a very nice Sunday brunch. We lucked out and had McCarron as our server again today. And, ta da..., a significant accomplishment for me, I stepped back into the kitchen on Friday to prepare a dinner for Deirdre, Frank and me. We dined on pan seared scallops in a lemon butter sauce, asparagus risotto, and Frank's Caprese Stack. This was all pared with a couple bottles of St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc. Nice...

That's all I'm Saying