Well, it's been more than a week since I last posted, so even though I don't feel much like writing today, I guess I should give an update.
Definitely the highlight of the past week was Saturday, when after a slow start, we decided to visit the Met and see a couple of the new exhibits, including the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy and the J. M. W. Turner exhibit, plus the newly renovated Lehman wing in the back of the museum. The absence of Asher Durand paintings in the new American landscape room upset Tara greatly, as did the lack of medieval armor bothered Bug. Bee, Bug and I were also acosted by a security guard for sitting on the floor while waiting for Tara to come out of the bathroom, and that started me on a rant toward overzealous and inconsistent museum guard behavior. Apparently there will be some forthcoming letters of complaint to the management.
Other than those issues, and a rouge proximity alarm that kept sounding in the superhero exhibit, we all had a great time and a nice visit. In the evening we had a return to Saturday night dinner, after substituting Burger King last week since Bee was still sick. I made the usual Chinese food for Bee and Bug, and an improvised jambalaya for myself, mixing grilled sausage, tomatoes, onions and bell peppers with rice. We followed dinner with a very inspiring movie called heima by the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. Such primal sounds they make! Much like the wilderness shown in much of the footage used in the film. Definitely the biggest thing to come out of Iceland since Bjork.
Other than Saturday, the rest of the holiday weekend was pretty uneventful. We saw Wall-E and loved it (although that experience was also marred by a couple giggly girls sitting next to us) and Wanted, which was our first rated-R movie in quite a while, and therefore somewhat bracing after a steady diet of PG-13 fantasy and animated movies. Thursday night Tara spent the night again, and it was a little easier than the first time she did it a couple weeks ago. Just more relaxed and peaceful with less drama, which was very nice. In the morning I took everyone out for breakfast at McDonald's, which ended up serving us a little more food than we had ordered, but made us wait longer for it. And Sunday, Tara and I had a quiet date night at home and watched a pretty good Yankees game, with a walk-off single RBI by the rookie left fielder, since Monday I was not going to be home.
Monday and Tuesday I was in Reston, VA, working on a new business proposal with some of our partners on a $200 billion project in the Middle East. Reston reminds me a lot of Sugar Land - a master-planned community heavy on the use of red bricks. The nice part - there were lots of shops around (I bought a shirt at Eddie Bauer and tried on a few things at Banana Republic) and I had a nice dinner at Morton's Steakhouse Monday night. It was the first time I'd had a steak since a couple of years, I think. I had a filet mignon with bernaise sauce, plus asparagus with hollandaise, hash browns and creamed spinach. Plus a hot sampler platter of fried jumbo shrimp, oysters rockafeller, scallops wrapped with bacon and crab cakes. And to top it off - a chocolate souffle with rasberries and cream on the side. Tuesday for lunch I went to a Siamese restaurant and had a softshell crab on a spicy salad and a hot-and-sour shrimp and mushroom soup. So at least I ate well while I was working. In fact, I think I gained a few pounds over the last couple of days.
Last night Bug and I put in our pre-orders for "Breaking Dawn" at the local Barnes & Noble, so we can get them at midnight on August 1. Also, I finished the 11th and final volume of the "Lucifer" series and I absolutely loved it. I actually want to go back and read it all over again, but probably best to tackle something shorter until the vampire book comes out. Lucifer was like Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman," but with a more linear and action-packed story line. Highly recommended for anyone who is a fan of "The Sandman," where the character originated from (not originally, but you know what I mean).
