April 18, 2011

I was pretty sure I had experienced disappointment in my life before today.  Clearly, I was wrong.  This past Thanksgiving, on my way to visit with family in Gonzalez, I picked up some almonds flavored like buffalo chicken wings at a Walmart in Luling.  The similarity in taste was uncanny and, for a vegetarian who misses chicken wings, a gold mine of a find.  I've been craving these almonds since then but haven't been able to find them anywhere in the city.  HEB doesn't carry them.  Target doesn't carry them.  Neither CVS or Walgreens carry them.  While I was grocery shopping at HEB today, I saw these almonds.  I thought perhaps Blue Diamond Almonds had changed the name of the flavoring; it happens all the time, right?  I thankfully stopped myself from buying two jars.  I say "thankfully" because, folks, these are not the same almonds I bought in Luling.  My spirits fell the moment I pulled back the foil.  I immediately knew I'd been mistaken.  Alas, the search for the elusive chicken wing almonds continues.

April 17, 2011

Roller derby has been gaining quite a bit of traction lately.  The most I knew of roller derby before today, though, was there is a movie, directed by Drew Barrymore, about the sport.  It's a pretty easy sport to understand: one jammer and four blockers per team.  One of the blockers may also function as a pivot, or a possible substitute for the jammer.  The object of each bout is for each jammer to "jam" her way through the crowd of blockers to the front of the pack and around the track, as many times as possible.  The more successful "jams," the more points her team scores.  Today's match-up was on a flat track, so it was a bit slower of a pace then I expected.  Because of the slower pace and lackluster energy, we opted for a sushi happy hour instead.  Nothing like roller derby and sake bombs for a quiet Sunday afternoon.

April 16, 2011

It's curious:  I've been living in Austin again for nine months and today was the first time I've been anywhere near Lake Austin (not even to mention Lake Travis) for anything other than running.  On the one hand, winter has taken place within these nine months.  On the other hand, there have been plenty of gorgeous days for me to take advantage of in this city.  Regardless of my lack of diligence in visiting Austin's waterfront properties, today was a perfect afternoon for good times at Abel's on the Lake.  We enjoyed the sun, breeze, and excellent people watching over some appetizers, cold drinks, and a couple rounds of fish tacos.  Next time we hit up Oyster Landing, it will be in good 'ole Crusty the boat.