Pleasant day

Spent most of the day hacking on the couch, with the cat asleep against my leg. It almost rained but barely got there for more than a drip.

Tonight for dinner I had a spicy vegetable peanut stirfry that made me very, very happy. I was also very happy to have great conversations with pbd, bruisedhips, nickjb and the gang about a variety of important and unimportant subjects.

Before you judge someone's opinions, find out the experiences that led to said opinions. That's today's free advice.

Also the peanut sauce is: 3 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sriracha sauce, 1 tsp soy sauce. Agitate and mix, dump over vegetables in last 5 minutes of stirfrying.

Also, a nice Bonny Doon dry Riesling.

Also, I'm still in love with my new camera. Pics of cute dogs later tonight, or tomorrow.

Also, I'm still eating even more eggplant.

my political compass (we don't HAVE a Lord!)

About what I expected: http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/questionnaire.pl?page=printable_graph&X=-2.38&Y=-5.54

As usual I'm left but too moderate and pragmatic to be *really* left. And really I want to be left *alone* so I score fairly close to libertarian, although I never thought that was workable, plus the libertarians I've known have all just been closet right-wingers.

Hmm hmm, food for thought.

courtesy mr_flippant

odradak should enjoy this: http://www.freshsensation.com/samorost.swf

my skier guy disappeared, where'd he go?

One of our local characters

"Dog Guy". As found by mr_flippant and hensatc. He carries a stuffed dog everywhere. His jacket says "Homo" on the back.

http://geocities.com/harveyds/

Advance warning for unreadable website with intentionally annoying "features".

courtesy outsider_music

Tiger Lillies + Kronos Quartet + Edward Gorey = ART DAMAGE OVERLOAD

I hope it arrives soon. :-)

The Bottle Let Me Down

The first kids' record I've ever ordered! I got it from Bloodshot Records directly for $10 and not from Amazon, though.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's insurgent honky-cronk crazy country for kids!

crossposted to outsider_music even though he's not one..

Supposedly a board tape of Enrique Iglesias' actual vocals from a live show.

Florence Foster Jenkins has a successor!

"A Possibly Used One"

Woman Sues Over Condom Found in Soup
Irvine restaurant's lawyer says it's a mystery how the rolled-up item got into the chowder.
By Jeff Gottlieb
Times Staff Writer

November 10, 2003

An Orange County woman is suing an Irvine restaurant, saying she found a condom in her clam chowder.

Laila Sultan, 48, said she was eating at McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant on Feb. 26, 2002, when something rubbery stuck to her tooth. "We said, 'Of course. You're chewing on a clam,' " said Paula Wild, one of three friends with her — all eating clam chowder, and all of whom have joined the lawsuit.

Sultan spit out the offending material. She said it was an unwrapped, rolled-up condom. "There was no question what it was," Wild said.

"We're all adult women. Believe me, I've seen one in my lifetime."

Sultan said she ran to the bathroom and threw up for 15 minutes.

The case is scheduled for trial Jan. 12. Sultan and Wild, along with Cindy Hammond and Annamarie Sigala, are suing for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The question is: How could a condom get into the chowder?

"It's as big a mystery to us as it is to anybody else," said Patrick Stark, attorney for McCormick & Schmick's.

The restaurant sued American Roland Food Corp., which supplied the clams. A judge ruled in favor of the supplier in September.

"We are going to argue there is absolutely no evidence to suggest the restaurant was the source of the condom, or any employee of the restaurant," Stark said. "Either it came from [the four women] or it was thrown in as a practical joke by another patron at the restaurant."

The condom itself was seized by the restaurant manager, the women said. They said he told them the insurance company had instructed him not to return it or let them photograph it.

Stark said that because the condom was rolled up, "it was clearly unused" and for that reason hasn't been tested.

The lawsuit says the condom was "a possibly used one."

Sultan and Wild said the women have tested negative for HIV. McCormick & Schmick's is a privately owned chain with 42 upscale restaurants in 19 states.

Sultan lives in Stanton and works as a reservations agent for a travel company.

She said she had been to the McCormick & Schmick's previously and had never had any problems. She said the women ordered drinks, appetizers and then soup. Because the soup was lukewarm, they sent it back. When the food returned, Sultan said, she bit into the condom.

Sultan said that the condom discovery has caused psychological trauma and sent her to a psychiatrist for a year and a half. She said she has taken a variety of medications for depression and anxiety.

"I can't touch fish," she said. "I can't smell fish. I get sick. I can't eat soups anymore." She said she has lost her appetite for sex and food, and lost about 10 pounds.

"I went through hell," she said. "I don't know how to describe it."

realitylost's dogs and my flowers

What's not to like? Photo updates:

http://iggy.fringehead.org/album/november_10/

A rose by any other name would bark less. Glad to see Toby's getting a BIT smaller.

My outside scoop

ITEM! My powerbook's battery compartment has failed, causing unwanted battery eject. It is gone for ~1 week.

ITEM! I hate the happy couples at D's and the Napa, and elsewhere. Fuck y'all.

ITEM! I will likely eat more eggplant tonight.

ITEM! I want to kiss you right there.

Whatever with: The Matrix, birth months, and blogerati.