Trivia

--After reading my post last night, my good friend/yoga instructor Elizabeth wrote that she's recently run across a British magazine called Idler. It proposes to return "dignity to the art of loafing, to make idling into something to aspire towards rather than reject." Elizabeth thinks maybe I should subsribe.

--The Fort Worth Presbyterian Night Shelter frequently posts news, pleas for help, all kinds of things on Facebook, including recipes from their chef. Today's choice was Brandy-Mustard Pot Roast, and believe me it sounds tremendous. I printed it out and intend to try it.

--Do you know how to detect a stroke in a person? Cindy Bonner sent me this important e-mail: The clues are S-T-R. Even if someone merely stumbles and says they're fine, ask them to smile, talk--construct a simple sentence, and raise both arms. I knew about STR but the reminder was good. What I didn't know was a fourth suggestion: ask the person to stuck out the tongue. If it goes sideways, to either side, it means a stroke. These hints can save lots of lives. If caught immediately, the effects of stroke can usually be totally reversed.

--Heard on the radio or TV the other day that folks born after 1950 don't have immunity to the swine flu. Not sure if that means we oldsters do have it and just are more likely to have it. No indication why. I'm wondering if I'll be low on the totem pole for the shot, even though I do keep a pre-schooler about twice a week. Dr.'s appt. next week so I guess I'll find out.

--Sashimi for dinner tonight. Betty and I went to Tokyo Palace, suddenly my favorite place. I had sashimi on a green salad with roasted beets and a light vinaigrette. So wonderful, though I asked for wasabi for the sashimi. I'm sure I'd eventually tire of it if I ate it every night, but right now I do love it.

Work and rain

That's what my life seems to consist of this week--work and rain. Even though they predict an end to rain, it continues--nice cool days but rain! Often not enough for an umbrella--just enough to make me look like a drowned rat. And work--accidentally spent most of the morning at TCU Press yesterday. Got there about 9:30 and got involved until it was time for me to go meet a friend for lunch. Today was staff meeting, but I was out of there pretty quickly after that. I've decided to put the Google Book Settlement aside for a while and concentrate on reading manuscripts that are piling up. Next week, the office staff goes to sales meeting in College Station--meeting at the office at 6:30, so praise be I'm not going! So there's no staff meeting all week, and I hope to put TCU Press pretty much out of mind and concentrate on the chapter I need to do for the history of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. Yesterday I got the manuscript I edited for Texas Tech Press off to the author for his final approval. Wonder if I'll ever get back to writing mysteries.
The only break in my work/rain routine has been meals. Yesterday I met Mary Volcansek, who's pretty much the power behind the Center for Texas Studies ast TCU, and we talked about publishing projects plus, since we're good friends, had a pleasant visit. We ate at the Swiss Pastry Shop where I always order bratwurst, potato salad, and sauerkraut--I do NOT want to talk about what that did to my point count for the day Came home and realized I had 2.5 points left for a glass of wine and supper. Didn't quite make it, but had lost a tiny bit of weight when I weighed this morning.
Today I met Nancy Olson for lunch--we ate at the Modern Museum of Art which has a lovely dining room overlooking a huge pond, lined with gravel and beautifully landscaped. It's fun to sit at the window with the water lappng up right next to you. The Modern is noted for sophisticated food--but I rarely eat there because I don't find much on the menu I want. Today I had a salad with lime-tequila dressing (so far so good) and tortilla strips--well they were hard to eat, and as Nancy said, they went one direction in your mouth while the salad went the other. Nancy and I have been friends since the mid-60s when I first came to Fort Worth. She and Ray have lived in Santa Fe for, oh, at least 15 years now, and I treausre my visits with her. As we were finishing our lunch, she said, "Okay, who haven't we talked about?"
Tonight Betty and I went to the Tokyo Cafe, which is rapidly becoming our favorite--I think I'm addicted to wasabi. But I had miso-cured carpaccio in a sauce of molasses and balsamic vinegar--so good. And then salmon sashimi. I figured I'd had my salad at lunch and could eat protein.
Back to the manuscript I'm reading, which I think is really good. It makes me want to keep reading, and few enough do that.