Sunday, April 17, 2005

Of French Fries and Salmon and Mixed Media

Sometimes, Charles has to go out of town to attend some sort of principal-related event, like a conference. Yesterday, he left to go to the state awards banquet, where one of his teachers was being given a Big Award. So, off he went, to the glamorous burg of Decatur, where I believe they are staying at a Best Western Deluxe, and will dine on rubber chicken and hear many speeches. I am green with envy but am making the best of the situation by doing what I usually do when he is gone overnight. I cook a big piece of salmon. Charles hates salmon (everyone has a flaw), even hates the smell of it cooking, no matter how fresh it is. I also let Colin choose dinner: Hot dog in a Wonderbread bun, with french fries. Sara turned her nose up at everything except the fries (she is a fiend) and the carrots I gave her as an appetizer. I then put them to bed and curled up in The Big Chair with a glass of pinot noir and a movie. Dessert? None, just too full from the salmon and fries. The movie? The Stepford Wives, the remake. I've heard the original is great, this one is not.

So my question to you, my darlings, is what do you do when your amour is out the door?

On another subject, I must let you know that I am not much of a TV person. I find the usual schlock that is advertised mind-numbingly dull and I would truly rather clean the house. That said, there is some very good stuff out there, shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (watch a season or two before you roll your eyes), Huff, and others. The other problem is that I get oh-so-annoyed with commercials, to the point that I essentially only watch something rented or that I've recorded, so I can zip through the ads. That said, there is a radio station we listen to on our Saturday trek in to Madison, just so we can catch this one commercial. It is from an extermination company called "Will Kill". Yesterday, the spot was about getting rid of things that messed up your lawn and contained the lines, "You don't want someone to just get rid of them. You want someone to come over with a big can of Smack-Down and completely eradicate the Evil Little Devils. You don't want them dead, you want them graveyard dead!" We drive impaired by the tears of mirth streaming down our cheeks. It's almost worth having them come out and cause Armageddon on your land, unless, of course, your water comes from your well. That and the fact that you probably don't want to eat the Smack-Down with your garden fresh vegetables.

The other thing is a show we stumbled across last week when I joined a brain-dead Charles in The Big Chair, where he was channel surfing, waiting for me to join him in a Buffy. We happened on a show called Showdog Moms and Dads, on Bravo, the wonderful channel that brought us the delightful Queer Eye. It follows about 5 people and their poor purebred dogs as they pursue their dreams of having a champion pooch. Trust me, this show will make you feel so utterly normal, so very amazingly well-adjusted that you won't even flinch as you holler at the screen and your normally non-violent and erudite guy mutters for the 47th time, "That guy needs someone to take him out. I could take him." TV worth watching. We have 4 episodes recorded. I know what I'm doing tonight.

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10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

A few thoughts that may or may not make sense as I have just woken up after working last night:

1. I love salmon. I would be heartbroken if A didn't like salmon and I would, like you, cook it whenever he wasn't there. I would also order it compulsively at restaurants.

2. Yes, the original Stepford Wives is AWESOME, but the remake sucks ass.

3. Buffy is perfection in a TV show. I have all 7 seasons on DVD and all 5 of Angel. Can I recommend The Gilmore Girls to you? The first 2 seasons are on DVD. The 5th is on Tuesday nights on the WB. I strongly recommend starting at the beginning. It's just better and you can skip the commercials.

4. If you like show dogs and their owners, I must recommmend the movie Best in Show. I give it 4 stars (out of 4). It's crying-because-you're-laughing-so-hard hilarious.

5. A doesn't go out of town on business, so I don't get to do my own thang while he's gone. So I guess it's a good thing he likes salmon.

Linda
http://indigogirl.typepad.com

2:38 PM  
Blogger Jamie said...

"Graveyard dead." Hee. I love it.

The s.o. used to be in a rock band that toured about 260 days of the year, so I had a lot of time to myself. Everyone thought it must be really rough, but I have to admit I enjoyed the solitariness most of the time. (I am a person who needs a lot of personal space, which luckily I still get because the s.o. still keeps Rock Star Hours to some extent, and I do not.)

Most commonly, I would use the alone time to cook vegetarian meals (a throwback to my single-girl habits) or to do a big home-improvement project or to go into town and eat gyros and linger in coffee shops.

3:31 PM  
Blogger Diana said...

Hi Linda, you sound coherent, despite your work schedule. You and I usually seem to agree on movies and TV. I have not yet seen Gilmore Girls but it is on the list, after the last season of Angel (have put it off as don't want it all to end) and Faulty Towers. (Rozanne and Lioness kicked it to the head of the line.) At some point, feel I should check out Friends and Seinfeld, having missed all of that being on call. (I seemed to have lost 12 years of my life to "call".) I saw Best in Show and thought it was hilarious. Check out Showdog Moms and Dads just for that reason and let me know what you think. Yes, it's a very good thing Andrew likes salmon or you would be forced to do something drastic. I imagine that with the girls you don't get out to places that serve salmon much more than we do.

3:35 PM  
Blogger Diana said...

Jamie- Wow, 260 days on the road. I love my space, too, but that alot of space. I always admired anyone with enough confidence to do the home improvement thing. My limit is a coat of paint, after agonizing over the shade of off white. Now a good gardening project, right up my alley! We finally finished the bottom row of the Raised Bed from Hell. Just need to stack the walls and find someone to bring us a boatload of topsoil and we are all systems go!

3:42 PM  
Blogger Mojavi said...

As soon as my hubbie hits the road for some account escapade I pull out all of my paintings I have neglected. By the end of the week every new pair of pants, shirts, and our new towels are covered in paint :) I also make food he hates, fish is top on the list so I make salmon in dill sauce and boiled cabbage and split pea soup etc etc... by the time he gets back I try to have the house cleaned up and fumigated haha absence makes the heart grow fonder

10:26 AM  
Blogger Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

My husband has been traveling alot lately, but this week he is leaving for NINE day trip. Eek. I will really miss him. What I love most when he is gone is that the house is CLEAN for a change and that I can read in bed as late as I want. X loves salmon more than I do, so that is usually not an issue. I do love Mexican, which he doesn't, so I will be doing some Mexican takeout for sure.

11:55 AM  
Blogger Diana said...

Mojavi- Love the painting image! Nothing like a little peace and solitude, I would imagine, to get the creative juices going, that is if I HAD any creative juices. Glad to see I am not the only one to fumigate.

Cagey- 9 days, wow. Boy, do I hear you regarding the house staying clean. Especially the kitchen. Drives me nuts. Right there with you on the Mexican food. Thankfully, Charles loves it, too (or maybe it is the margaritas?)

1:36 PM  
Blogger Rozanne said...

"I am green with envy but am making the best of the situation by doing what I usually do when he is gone overnight."

Please tell me that you are joking about being green with envy regarding a trip to Decatur, IL. It is a depressing and bone-crushingly dull town. You are much better off at home with your salmon.

You should check out the original Stepford Wives at some point. It's highly entertaining and campy. Be sure to have a glass or beer or wine in hand when you do.

B never leaves for more than a few hours. In the entire time we've lived here in PDX (three years and a bit) he's never gone back to Chicago to visit his family. Nor does he ever do any work-related travel. That said, I don't feel like I'm going to go off my head if I don't get time to myself. Even though our house is small, it's set up in such a way that we each have space to ourselves. And if I want to do something on my own, he's always fine with that.

7:54 PM  
Blogger Diana said...

Rozanne- Oh God, honey, don't worry. Completely joking. I lived in Rantoul as a tot. Illinois is flat and ugly about 30 miles south of the Wisconsin border. You can see the whole state standing on a chair. I'd rather jab forks in my eyes. I bet he would too, come to think of it. We have decided to make the trek back to PDX every 3 years or so. That would mean next summer. It is fun to visit family and see old friends and the lovely beach.

8:47 PM  
Blogger Lioness said...

See, I knew you were joking. That's good eh? (in honour of Charles) I GET you, ha!

Oh where to start? Let's pretend there's an amour so I can tell you what I do when he's not around: chick movies! Buffy I'd love to see from the beginning, our TV keeps showing random seasons (Buffy was dating Reilly a few months ago and last week she - GASP - slept w Angel for the 1st time.) Very confusing but I soldier on. What i often do, bcs classes at 8 kill me, is tape series in the evening, and then I do marathon viewings. Like w Stargate, which I absolutely love bcs the humour is so, er, refined. No really. Or CSI (Miami preferably - oh but Warrick also makes my hormonometre sing!). The Gilmore girls I saw in Israel, only season 1. I love Lorelei, despite her name, they ahve a brilliant relationship. Don't get the swooning over Luke tho. Oh Seinfeld I absolutely loathe. LOATHE THEM. Bunch of mean-spirited tossers, gah! Friends is alright - Phoebe is brill though, worth everything, and her "Smelly Cat" rendition will forever warm my heart.

I've just watched "State and Main" and "Calendar Girls". Rather good, both of them - oh, if you ever watch the 1st one see the interview w the Director, the way he describes the movie is so surreal it's hilarious! Now I'll go to sleep and try to forget "dill" was ever mentioned. Give me an abscess every time.

4:38 PM  

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