weapons of massdistraction

So I’ve been giving this dating thing another go. It had been ages since I’d been out with someone entirely new. Instead I have a long history of falling into sticky situations with guys I’ve been friends with for a long while first. New = sort of terrifying. And there are no readily available Gattaca-style background checks. Yet. But I think I’m managing.

Saturday night I picked a Japanese restaurant I’d been curious about. From the outside I’d expected it to be much mellower inside than it was. We arrived near the end of happy hour on a Saturday and it was LOUD. The acoustics were so terrible it was difficult to carry on a conversation at times. We were seated in a booth next to a crowded table of ten or so. One of the occupants of said table decided to belt out Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” to his companions (which included a small girl). These things happen and aren’t necessarily in the restaurant’s control. In the restaurant’s control? Information. There is a vegetarian menu prominently featured on their web site yet when I asked the hostess about it she insisted she’d never heard of it. After repeatedly protesting that I’d just viewed it - and this was what had compelled me to give the restaurant a try - she conferred with co-workers. After a half hour or so she returned with a menu she’d printed off and compared to items that are actually available. A lot of what I’d seen was no longer listed but she’d marked up an existing menu with little red Vs so we could order. The mock duck steamed buns were decent but not overly flavorful. We also ordered taro root chips (but ate them plain, as the chili aioli it is paired with isn’t vegan). The mock duck drunken noodles were just ok. The sake they brew on site really was quite good. However we initially ordered it at the happy hour price of $5. When we ordered a second round no one mentioned happy hour was over and so those were $9/each. My tolerance is pretty low and I realized I didn’t need to finish off the second glass. When I was offering it to my companion I managed to plop it directly into the dish of chili aioli. And then had a giggling fit about it. And this guy still wants to see me again after that. Perhaps.

Four good things for this mild Monday, plus one weird one:

• Like nearly everyone else enticed by this Spring weather, I have bikes on the brain. The boy and I haven’t got any. A co-worker suggested the Surly Pugsley for me. Or this jobbie with a sidecar. But that got me thinking about Ural motorcycles with sidecars. Wheeeee! Alas, I haven’t got the funds for any of it.
• Lady Gaga is coming to St. Paul! I’m not big on arena shows, but this is one spectacle I do not want to miss!
• A friend pointed out an animated film, The Secret of Kells, that had been nominated for an Oscar. After watching the trailer and reading a review I agree that it would be right up my son’s alley.
• Apparently another Ghostbusters movie is in the works with the old gang. And some folks think Har Mar Superstar ought to be cast in it. That could be amusing.
• Holy crap Ariel Pink! That Haunted Graffiti cover artwork is a bit deeeee-sturbing. Wowza. I feel like brushing my teeth now.

Every year it seems like it takes my body clock longer and longer to bounce back from this Falling Back / Springing Ahead nonsense. I am not a farmer! Though I kinda sorta want to be. It’s mid-March already. Which means I need to get cracking on my raised bed gardening plans. And I’m so sad to have completely failed to make or even consume pie on Pi Day yesterday. And you’d think I could come up with some Ides of March cookies for today. Instead I may just take the boy swimming instead and see if that helps us feel any less discombobulated.