2006-04-17 - 5:13 p.m.

Post-Pasqua

Had a really great weekend. Living far away from the edge can definitely have its benefits. All was well, and I felt really rejuvenated at the end of it all.

Friday, 4/14:
Jodi & I had dinner at Joe's Cafe, where I had pastrami and not-the-world's-best Sidecar cocktail (when in doubt, they add sour mix). I'm bound and determined to make the perfect Sidecar, and soon, even if it means buying mini-bottles of Hennesey or R�my-Martin at the Syrian-run mini-mart down the block some night.

Saturday, 4/15:
The usual coffee-and-muffins at the Daily Grind with Jodi while I did my laundry up the block. Is there anyone in the world who loves doing laundry? I must admit, I wouldn't hate it if I were lucky enough to have machines within my domicile again.

While shopping at Trader Joe's, I decided to indulge my craving for spiral-sliced honeycured ham, and bought fixins for an Easter dinner. I haven't really had any kind of Easter dinner or celebration for years, and it seemed like a good excuse for good food with friends.

Had lunch that afternoon with Bob at Caf� Luna in Summerland, which makes some great sandwiches in a nice little beach-bungalow atmosphere. We then went winetasting at the Summerland Winery just up Lillie Avenue, and that was pretty nice as well. Then, off to Vons for more Easter-feast shopping. Made potato salad that afternoon and evening, along with some pickled eggs, and horseradish with grated beets to go along with the homemade kielbasa I picked up at the Summerland market.

Then, ran off to see Spike Lee's Inside Man, which was really fun, entertaining, and clever. Love Clive Owen; I could watch him all day. Also love Jodie Foster in just about anything, and I kept thinking how the wardrobe mistress did a great job making such an incredibly thigh-flattering skirt for Jodie to walk around in. Not that I'm drooling over Jodie Foster's thighs, but she looked incredible. Seriously, though, I've loved a lot of her work, and she rates just by being one of the few actresses (or actors) who doesn't annoy the shit out of me in a million little ways.

Had a great walk home under the full moon, and before bed, dissolved some yeast and whipped up some dough for hot-cross buns, which I had decided would be an appropriate breakfast for the next morning (doesn't everyone do this stuff before bed on a Saturday night?).

Sunday, 4/16:
After kneading, resting, rolling, rising, baking, finally enjoyed some tasty hot-cross buns studded with raisins and orange peel. They were great along with plentiful cups of tea while reading the Sunday LA Times and listening to NPR.

Got the rest of the food together: steamed the kielbasa, putzed around, cleaned a little, uncorked the wine, finally baked the ham, and laid everything out for the arrival of Wilhelm and Jodi. We all had a great time and some good conversation. I thought for a minute things would get ugly when Jodi brought up Hugo Chavez in front of Wilhelm, but all was ok in the end. Wilhelm had brought a cherry pie that, along with decafe coffee, brought everything to a great, stomach-bursting close.

Yum, Ham: the fifth essential food group (or is that bacon?). Good thing there's plenty left over.

It was great to finally hang out with Wilhelm a little, since I probably haven't seen him since November. And yeah, he's still got it goin' on, IMO.

Sigh. But all is definitely Well.