Saturday, November 08, 2008
MYSTERY! Plus a welter of details, gustatory and otherwise
I have that familiar urge, that primal passion I share with the painters of Lasceaux and the mercenaries of Kandahar, the throbbing drive that compels us all, to blog a little something. I’ve got a handful of essays shaping up but god knows when I’ll have a chance to finish and process any of them. So here is a little weekend quiz to keep your minds sharp while I founder and prevaricate:
1) My bus takes me past an unvarnished part of chinatown most days, and one of the shops - I think they have groceries and vegetables - has a sign over the roof that’s missing the first and last of four panels, so the beginning of the first word and the end of the last one are missing. What’s left reads “TIVE PROD”. My question: what would the sign say if it were whole? I thought “native produce” but that seems kind of strained. Looks more like a place that would specialize in exotic stuff, anyway. This is the kind of question that re-asks itself of me every morning, and I am tired of it mocking me.
2) Turns out I’m a bit cocky for being so proud of my knowledge of the nations of north america, in that I guess I was leaving out, oh, 38 or so of the other ones. How many can you name before you check?
It’s raining hard; we just made it in from a stroll along clement before the sky opened up. turns out Z does not like tapioca drinks, and prefers his mango in solid fruit form. Also, Martha & Bros sells mexican hot chocolate, which is very much the way to go. I’ve been totally indolent the whole day and may just watch a 2-hour Futurama tonight - see if I don’t! Kel made that killer peanut butter-sweet potato-okra soup and it really came out great; last night was steaks and chiantis with Mitch and Cath and Eli and tomorrow is pancake breakfast sunday. We even got a new vegetable peeler with a ceramic blade. I’m going to go now and flash-sautee the scallops, shrimp and calmari and since the boy’s napless I think he’s going to drop off early. So we’ve all got our assignments. Don’t let me down, people. TIVE PROD is a mystery that cannot be allowed to disturb my serenity for another round of commutes.