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Bolly High

I broke from my usual Southeast Asian/Korean/Japanese food leanings and prepared a hot bowl of Dal Soup with Tomato yesterday -- it turned out gorgeously. Not realizing how much I missed that cuisine, I made a mental note myself to make it more often. (One of these days I'll get adventurous and make samosas, too. Samosas are definitely one my most favorite foods on this planet.) A second dish I was preparing (bitter melon curry) was a complete failure. I knew something was wrong when I was asked to "squeeze out the excess water after salting the melon pieces." When I tried that, no liquid issued forth. The taste of the curry was awful, but fortunately it didn't matter since I had (successfully) prepared the dal dish in tandem.

I have had nightmares the last two nights -- the upshot to not being able to sleep however has been the ability to get up 5am and get all sorts of housework done. Mornings are also my favorite time of the day; everything is so damn peaceful, cool, and serene. Our daily lives are so full of chaos and mayhem, so what a wonderful thing to have a zen-like space in the day when contemplation and relaxation are real possibilities. (And combined with a caffeine buzz, you've got nirvana right there, baby.)

A few months ago I did an entry about the impossibility of facing the world outside without my coffee percolator. Well, I've given it up in favor of an espresso machine I've owned for some years but never really utilized with any sort of frequency. After having my percolator give up the ghost about two weeks ago, I switched to my only other source of percolated caffeine in the house and subsequently went crazy over it. Espresso has such a richer, deeper taste and is so quickly and easily consumed. (A big plus if there is a morning rush to get out the door.) The other thing a single shot of espresso has on 6-7 cups of normal coffee is the decreased number of bathroom visits necessary once I get to work. But that is probably more information than you needed.

I'm still in my hyper-contemplative funk. There's been a real lack of inspiration since returning from San Francisco. It's not that I'm bored or depressed, because I have any number of things to keep me happy and busy. It's more a matter of craving travel and being bummed I am so economically tied down by the house renovation projects. I just wish this whole thing could be over and done with, but I suspect that won't happen for at least another year and a half. And I refer only to the most basic infrastructure.

Today's goals? A morning bike-ride, planting some newly purchased plants, a Thai dish for lunch (stir-fried shrimp with tomatoes and basil), a little house cleaning, and more fiddling with my cranky, slow, dinosaur of a computer.

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