July 7, 2011

Since getting Brutus last week, I have been dying to get him through a car wash so he sparkles and shines.  With the help of a friend, I stumbled across a Groupon for three car washes for the price of one: jackpot!  I finally had a moment after work today so I stopped by Arbor Car Wash to have him roll through round one.  I, of course, was like a hawk, watching Brutus at every point in the process, as if they would use the wrong soap or something (and, for that matter, as if I would be able to tell!).  To my credit, some of the reviews online were fairly disconcerting, but those always have to be read with a grain of salt.  In spite of my somewhat unreasonable anxiety, Brutus made it through without a problem whatsoever.  It was a basic wash, though, so I'll have to take care of a few odds and ends over the weekend so he looks his best.

July 6, 2011

For five years, I shared this city with 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats, but had yet to meet these neighbors until this evening.  When you live in such a fantastic city, it is all too easy to take its unique aspects for granted or altogether fail to take advantage of them, which I suppose is my excuse for never meandering onto the South Congress Bridge around sundown to catch these nighttime creatures fly off in groups of hundreds of thousands.  Interestingly, I'm sure I've seen them flying across the beautiful evening sky on occasion, only to ask myself, "what is that strange moving, grey mass?"  There seems to be little reason to the timing of the beginning of flight and, in fact, not all of the bats leave at the same time.  On some evenings, you may be right on time to see all 1.5 million bats, while on other evenings, you may only catch the last few flying east.  The experience may be a matter of the luck of the draw, but the risk is worth the experience!

July 5, 2011

A wise sensei once said, "ultra runners are the bottom feeders of running.  They'll eat anything for the sake of calories."  I wouldn't describe myself as an "ultra runner" quite yet, but I did create a ridiculous dinner for the sake of calories tonight.  Paired with the sheer need for a utilitarian meal, I have, for whatever reason, taken on the challenge of eating everything in my pantry and fridge before I go grocery shopping again.  Needless to say, today's calorie bomb was especially interesting.  Originally, I was making otherwise ordinary tacos with standard fillings.  However, the taco staples I had seem to have gone bad over the course of the holiday weekend, so I was compelled to create this culinary masterpiece.  As counterintuitive as it may seem, it wasn't as awkwardly bad as I thought it might be.