Two minor relevations

Last night, monshu made me dinner for the first time since I left for STL: standing rib roast (his Christmas Day tradition--Safeminicks always has a sale on it for some reason), roast baby potatoes, and green beans. For dessert, however, there was something completely new: poached pears in ersatz mascarpone drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It was something he'd been wanting to try for weeks but hadn't yet splurged on the $25+ aged balsamic you need to make it work. Now we can't wait to try the recipe using reconstituted mission figs.

Afterwards, I played him the "Twelve Days" video that I posted in my LJ. "It loses something if you don't know the song they're parodying at the end," I told him. "Fuck it, what's YouTube for?" And I played Toto's "Africa" for him. "Oh, I know this," he said after the first few notes. WTH? I always treat the 80s as a complete black hole in his musical memory. Of all the cheese pop tunes to remember, why this one? (Note to self: Wow, Bobby Kimball was hot in that video. Wow, he looks like highway reconstruction today.)

We also exchanged gifts, but it would be crass to dwell on what we gave and got. All I'll say is: Expect more entries in Welsh real soon!

La vida es dulce

Great day. monshu has been putzwahnsinnig since just after I left and now the counters actually GLEAM. I'm just surprised to see them again after all those years of playing 15 Puzzle just to open the microwave. Also, there is apparently a wall behind the top of the fridge.

Today, he roped me into tidying my side of the bedroom. Ah, so THAT'S where my copy of Gravity's rainbow went! Unfortunately, it made me realise that my stacks of unread fiction at home still can't compare to the ones here. A couple years ago, I went through his discarded novels and chose those titles I wanted to read. The piles haven't shrunk since, they've only grown.

Our reward was dinner at La Fonda with bunj and e. By mutual agreement, we ignored the appetisers so we could binge on dessert. I don't know if e. and monshu were pleased with their bargains, but my brother and I enjoyed the hell out of our dulce de leche cheesecake rolls. And I mean it: He had to be PHYSICALLY RESTRAINED from licking the plate.

Also, NetFlix managed to send us The mostly unfabulous social life of Ethan Greene. It was insipidly pleasant, but what I got the biggest kick out of was seeing Brimley Twin Richard Riehle as one of the Hat Sisters.