You may be surprised to know there is another chapter for April...two in April!!!! I didn't get to do much spell-checking or editing in order to get it on. Hope you enjoy it. I've had a cold for three days and it just isn't going away. Wait! I can't add. Make that 5 days. Mainly a cough and sore throat. I was worried it was Swine Flu when the cough developed into an oink...but it was a false alarm. Later, I spent the afternoon rolling around in my own shit, but that was also a false alarm. I am pleased to report that I don't eat pork unless it contains nitrites so I feel I am safe. You don't get it from pig meat anyway. It's Cheney's fault anyway. Did anyone watch American Idol on Tuesday. I actually downloaded four of the five performances for my Ipod. I love those old standards. And Kris sang my all-time favorite 'standard' and certainly one of my top 10 every genre songs. I like it. I can't think of anything else to say. Have a good night...day....week...life.

Rob

I meant to write and mention the Italian restaurant we ate at on my birthday. I can't remember the name. It starts with V. It's new. It's on London Road sort of kitty-corner across from the old armory. It was good. Waiter was fine. Salad was nice. Plenty of bread and drink re-fills. My brothers had the spaghetti meatball special and it looked tasty. My brother did notice one thing, though. When we used to buy the spaghetti platter at the old Cafe Di'Napoli in Minneapolis the sauce adhered to the noodle. Isn't that an old Italian curse? "May your sauce not stick to the pasta!"

Anyway....the sauce at startswithvonlondonroadkittycornerfromthearmory did seem to stick. I had a flashback to Vanessi's in SF where I enjoyed many a plate of spaghetti carbanera. They used to make it at your table...it was sinfully delicious. At startswithavetc.... the sauce was equally sinful but it was just a Venial Sin. The best part of the whole meal was spending the time with my brothers.

For some reason I caught another cold. This is my second cold in the last 6 weeks. I guess I'll veg and drink OJ. And yes...I wish it would rain. I like the rain.

At some point in the distant past the significance of April 22nd faded. When I was a kid I anticipated my birthday for weeks....mainly for the celebration and less for the gifts. Now, there is only slight celebration and no gifts. It is certainly at case of one gets what they gives because I am terrible at remembering birthdays. I want to remember. I like it when I do. But....oh well...what are you going to do? Anyway....I'm killing time waiting for celebration. I am going to a recently established Italian restaurant to consume carbs. What I miss is my Grandmother's raspberry chiffon pie. I want a birthday pie rather than a birthday cake although if I HAD to have a cake I didn't my my Grandmother's Yellow Angel Food cake. It looked like a regular Angel Food Cake but I guess she left in some yolks and it was yellow rather than white and moister and soooo good. They have something like it at this dessert place in SF that they drizzle with orange stuff and wouldn't mind celebrating with a slice or three of it. My great-nephew's birthday was this past week-end and his gift is on the way. I am getting him a gorilla costume. Seems like a good gift for an 8 year old. Oh...the movie yesterday..wasn't so great. Saw that movie with Ben Affleck and that guy from Australia....forgotten the name...anyway.....waaay too slow for me. On the way home, thought, I bought a wonderful baguette and was just perfect with cold butter. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke and had another piece of baguette with peanut butter..plus an ice-cold glass of milk. Life is good.

Rob

PS: I did have a few great Birthday parties in the late 80's and 90's. Remember Moon? Come to think of it....I've had a bunch of good ones.

I was planning to catch up with some blogging and also finish up on another chapter of My Story....but....I unexpectedly spent the week-end out of town. Among the hot spots was the Mall in Mankato. Now....that's entertainment! A few years ago I began a quest to have a Made-Rite. I used to love those loose meat sandwiches when I worked in Cedar Rapids. There was a Made-Rite just around the corner from the laundromat and while my whitie-tighties tumbled, my stomach rumbled with a few buns full of loose-meat. Damn! That sounded really pornographic. Just about everything sounds pornographic. Anyway, thanks to some timely emails I found out that now only were Made-Rites still in business but the closest one to Duluth was in St. Cloud. That was almost 5 years ago. Last year on a visit to that mall in Mankato I espied a faux Made-Rite and was sorely disappointed. Sometimes a cigar is just a smoke. In this case just because it was a loose meat sandwich it wasn't the Made-Rite of my memory. This week-end the proof was in the pudding...or the loose-meat sandwich....because the Made-Rite-In-Sheep's-Clothing was shuttered and gone. That's ok because over-all it was a gastronomic Tsunami since Friday and I really didn't need any loose-meat. Friday night we ate at Applebee's...my tongue did not throw a party for my mouth. On Saturday we hit Sonic for lunch. I LOVE their double-cheese and generally prefer Sonic to In-And-Out. Blasphemy! Sorry. I was the only one in the car so inclined, though, the rest thinking it was drek. In Mankato we had breakfast at Old Country Buffet on Sunday. On top of that were some BBQ and also some Shish-Kabobs. I still feel full. Well, I know there was something I was suppose to do or say here but I can't remember what it was. No problem...I'm going to see a movie and trying to build up the resolve to pass on the popcorn. Take care.

I made a pledge that I would get back to blogging this week-end and catch up with my mail and all the other stuff I have been neglecting. I'm up early, however, to leave town for the week-end and for a week won't be around. Just so you know, I'm traveling and not dead. Well....maybe I'm traveling and dead from the waist down....but that doesn't count. Have a good week-end and......whatever.

Rob

I am happy to write here that Chapter 25 is just a few clicks away. I invite you to check it out and drop me a line with your comments. Every performer needs some applause.

I don't have much else to right at the moment except...at some point last fall I wrote that I though Barack Obama was a tool. He's my President now and guess what?....He is still a tool!.

Sorry to offend my lib readers.
Rob