Lunar Noodling in Half Moon Bay

Lack of sleep has naturally led to lack of blogging for the last couple of days. Seriously, any leisure time I've had in the last week has all tended to start around 10pm and has been taken up by needing to work out, Top Chef and catching up with family (who at this point, may or may not even be sure of my existence)

And it's hot as hell in the Bay Area. We're talking in the 90s (!), but then again, we are the nominally spoiled, climate weenies of the universe. "Whadda ya mean it's not within 60-72 degrees? Take it away!"

Thankfully Mother's Day-while sunny and bright-was still breezy. Mr. Jones, Mymymy and myself took a trip down to Half Moon Bay for brunch and ran into their annual parade. (Who knew there was a 'Half Moon Bay' Day? Anyone? Bueller?) But luckily, parking was a snap and brunch was divine. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Pasta Moon.

Last year, you might remember my less than favorable review of Cetrella-well Pasta Moon is their sister location; same owner but more casual, cozier and closer to the heart of downtown, I still think that Pasta Moon's food and service is superior to that of Centrella's-simply for their lack of pretension.

Funny story: while we were heading down to HMBay, I remembered that I needed batteries for the digicam. No prob-I thought-I'll stop by the local convenience store and pick some up. Guess what?! No dice, they had sold their last four pack the day before. In an act of desperation, I stopped at the stationery store that's housed in the same building as Pasta Moon; but they didn't have any either. So I gave up and went in for brunch. Two minutes later-the shy, sweet, ponytailed stationiere walked by their big window where we were eating-CARRYING two AA batteries! Seems he had just gotten back from a trip and had extra. I never got his name, but I bought some paper from him later. I LOVE Half Moon Bay.

Let's see some food-no? BTW: a lot of these photos do not have the dishes in their pristine uneaten state, mainly cause I kept forgetting to take my camera out on time.

Prosecco, limoncello, basil, lemon sorbetti apertif

Whole wheat focaccia and regular french loaf. The whole wheat focaccia was so springy and with that amazing burnt orange color. Delicious.

My starter: fava bean and fresh English pea salad with feta. Even though the beans were remarkable-there was just too much feta and oil. I wish I had the tempura asparagus. Oh well, live and learn.

Mmymymy's starter: crabcake with basil aioli. Yummy. Crispy, hot and crab-by. hahah.

And her entree: Creamy polenta and smoked salmon 'lasagna'. So so perfect: layers of bechamel, polenta that was creamy but still firm, red peppers and smoked salmon. Probably about 80 bagillion calories, but who's counting right?

Mr. Jones' entree: seared flank steak with cherry tomato, fresh arugula and field greens. I've had the flank steak here before and it's excellent.

My entree: house made tagliatelle with duck confit and orange. I thought the overall taste of the duck was good. But I think I'm not used to homemade pasta-I found it really tough and almost undercooked. And the cheese and citrus was odd.














Desserts: Molten chocolate cake with peanut butter and vanilla gelato.
Sorbetti terrine (pineapple, raspberry, coconut)
Strawberry shortcake

hope everyone had a great Mother's Day-Pt. II up soon

I'll give you a topic...discuss

Yay, more geeky Browncoat writing! Firefly fixes fertility.

Lollipop: What's for lunch?
Nickelback: It'll be in my belly in about twenty minutes
LP: NO, no eating babies.
Pen: Nooo?!?
LP: No. No babies.
Pen: But they are so tasty!...(quietly) especially the round ones.

"If sex and creativity are often seen by dictators as subversive activities, it’s because they lead to the knowledge that you own your own body and with it your own voice, and that’s the most revolutionary insight of all." —Erica Jong

Forget Gossip Girl-watch something that rocks.

OMFG.
Online dance battles.
With mega budgets.
Hip hop music
Star cameos
Controversial starlets.
Directors of cult-tastic dance movies
Asian people.
Miley Cyrus.
daddy, housekeeper, flight attendant, your caterer
It's the wholesomest, coolest, righteous thing EVER.
fucking awesome. I'm sorry THIS rules.

Life is SOOOO good!!

He is a rolling stone.

A couple of months ago, I wrote an entry about my friend's father, Papa Bear. It was on my old site, so it can't be linked currently. Basically, about two years ago, PB was diagnosed and treated for a large brain tumor after collapsing at the police academy. This morning I got an email telling me that the end...is nigh.

The fact that he has lasted this long, in such amazing, lucid, coherent condition is a miracle. He IS love, in it's purest, gentlest, strongest form. He is a father, husband and former police officer. If you ever wanted to find a hero-I would put Papa Bear in as a strong contender. I'm not sure if anything I could say at this moment would be poetic or truly string into words what I feel for this man. But I can tell you a story...about us.

So right around the time Papa started going into the cancer center at Stanford for treatment, he would keep in touch with people via cell phone. One day, I was delighted and surprised to see his name popping up on my phone. I answered:

"Papa Bear? Hi!!"

he was barely intelligible. His normally gruff voice coming out as a whisper calling his wife's name. It was so hard to listen to.

"Papa? Papa? Hi...it's Penny."

"...Penny?"

"Yes, I think you called me by mistake."

"Oh. I wanted to call Mama."

"Ok, do you want me to call her for you?"

"No. I can do it."

"Ok...bye baby."

"Bu-bye."

I called my friend and let him know that Papa was trying to reach Mama, then left to use the restroom. When I got back to my desk, there was a message flashing on my cell phone. Papa Bear had called me back-to APOLOGIZE. For calling me and bugging me at work. Now, remember-this is a stalwart, 60 year old man in the hospital for chemo to treat his incurable brain tumor. Who has a loving wife and 5 kids. Who came to see my play in a wheel chair, who always asks to hear my gospel song at any time of day or night, who loves unconditionally and with grace and humor. He was calling to say sorry to me?

Frankly, they do not make them like this anymore. This current culture puts too much stock in the ironic, the sarcastic, the snark, the jadedness, the cool aloofness that allows the individual to put themselves above others and never fully engage with another. That praises competitive back stabbing and mocks of the compassion of others. The culture that takes pure souls and innocent hearts into a place where they are not allowed to survive if they do not become corrupt themselves. Cultivates: gossip, jealousy and worst of all, apathy. Enough ranting on my part.

This is not a man without flaws by any means, but this is a man who loves and lives in spite of those flaws and by doing so, outstrips any of your typical cultural icons. Thoughts, love and prayers to my adopted family-and to you and yours.

Which wand?

Wood type: teak Length: 11 inches Core: Dragon Heartstring get your own wand!

Being a Pottergeek comes with its own sort of neat little perks, one of which includes neat little apps and games-like the one above. Enjoy!

brunch at Zuni Cafe

Dear blog...you still holding in there?

I've been neglecting you, more due to my own self-possessed obsession than my actual love or hate of you. My bad. Still, there's been a lot going on. Just be glad you're not a parrot or ficus or something. You would be brown and surly by now.

Ok before I start getting morose, if you are interested in seeing the fabulous show, listening to our kick ass band and meeting some interesting homeless people go here! ST @ Brown Paper Tickets. We run til the end of May; and we're singing and dancing our little hearts out.

Opening weekend was ok. Not fabulous. As SquirrelMonk pointed out, I think we may have exhausted our theater points for this year. See, each year you get a certain amount of points (like an allowance) that are equivalent to the number of friends and family feeling like they need to see your show to be supportive. Apparently, I am out of points.

And I thought I would get more cause it was my birthday. Suckah.

Still, we had some very loving people see our show this weekend including: Jerrsika, Joolie and BlackBeltBui, Moward, Sayer, Synth and our production crew from CA and also some nice reviewers. Still...I can't help thinking that we might die a slow death. Which sort of sucks. I haven't been part of a really poorly attended show yet. Then again, this is the first time I've been playing in a medium sized house. So I get to be grateful for what I have rather than what I have not.

And I got new shoes. yay. (and a dress and two tops and a cupcake) The 'rents took me to Zuni Cafe for brunch. Quickie Review:
Drinks:
Latte, coffee with steamed milk and Arnold Palmer (which was too sour)
Starters:

• House ceasar (totally awesome, this is what people love about ceasar salad)
• homemade scone with house preserves - very light and flaky, but not worth the price

Entrees:

• Neiman Ranch grilled pork chop with fingerling potatoes and asparagus-delicious! The pork was fully cooked thru and juicy, the lemon vinagrette brought out the best in the asparagus and potatoes.

• Pizza with mozzarella, asiago, herbs, pancetta and red onion: you could see through the crust! It was crispy and salty and delicious. Mymymy only wanted to finish half, but she ended up eating most of it.
• Fried eggs with nettles, chickpea ragout and...something else. I wanted to taste the nettles and I thought it was ok...not fab. Glad I stuck with the pork chop

Dessert:
Gateau Victoire: flourless chocolate cake. Eh...somewhat pedestrian
Espresso Granita - Mymymy was totally buzzed after sort of hoarding this dessert.

that's all folks.

Hijinks

Overheard at rehearsal:
Sanjose: Hey! You guys are off on the snaps. They're on 2 and 4 not 1 and 3.
Kahn: But you got it together by the end.
Floyd: Cause we all looked over at Pen and she had this disgusted look on her face.
Pen: ahha yeah, "Ugh! Get it right you morons!"
Kahn: Oh? Is Pen the best snapper?
Sanjose: Yes, Pen is the best 'snapper'.
Winston: So you guys know we're off if she looks pissed or not.

Floyd: I gotta get my headshot up there
Winston: Oh, is it the one on your facebook?
Floyd: Yup.
Winston: It's good.
Pen: Yeah, it makes you look young.
Floyd: ...what?! HEY!
Pen: Hee hee hee! I'm the best 'snapper'.