hiya...

sure is nice outside and here i am blogging about it instead of enjoying it. i guess if i had a laptop, i could do both.

hmmm. been thinking about partaking in Denver Restaurant Week which is an eight day celebration of the dining industry. for $26.40 per person ($52.80 a couple - didja guess that it's presented by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau), you can get at least a three course meal (and even more with some places) at one of 120 participating restaurants. i checked out about a dozen places that we haven't been and thought we may just have to do it tonight. with weather this nice in february/early march, you gotta take advantage of getting out...even more of a reason to not cook heh.

i read in the paper that last saturday was the busiest day ever for one restaurant and was an all-around hit. really, it is a pretty good deal because at more expensive places such as Kevin Taylor, Elway's, 1515, Capital Grille, Highland's Garden Cafe, Mirepoix, etc., $26.40 barely covers an entree...let alone an appetizer (or salad) AND dessert too.

i see that Little India is on the list. now, normally, we don't spend more than $50 for a meal there but it may be worthwhile to get one three course and add another entree and glass of wine. lois was mentioning a couple days ago that it was just about time for some vindaloo and saag. still, there are at least 15 other places that have some really exotic menus...

will keep you posted

another announcement...

got a new computer on monday and DSL on friday...we're stylin' now! oh yeah, we joined netflix too. so far, we've put on about three dozen movies on our list.

netflix claims to have over 55,000 titles. to watch all of 'em would mean having one on 24/7 for a minimum of nine years. we'd be lucky to catch 125 a year - 200 for the obsessed.

an announcement...

Happy Birthday to my mom ('29), sister (Shirley - '58), and friend ('54). i just found out that one of them plays Boggle and is claims to be killer at it. we'll see. i got both boggle and boggle master (aka Big Boggle). name the time and place ;)

so not in the mood...

i've been experiencing major blogging issues...like posting at all. who hasn't felt antisocial when it comes to blogging?

haven't they come out with a pill for that? you know, zoe-loft for uninspired bloggers...

yesterday was a busy day out. we had chiropractor appts. around noon...went to cindi's favorite (appelbee's)...dropped off an extra computer/laser printer/monitor at our friend's (Alem) house...set it up...played with her youngest (Ben - 9 mos.)...and rushed home to get ready for our 5:00 reservation at Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House.

man, talk about layering. the wind was quite unforgiving yesterday. usually, when the sun is out...the cold temps don't seem so bad...but when it's less than 10 degrees and windy? only staying in helps.

we were a bit late for our reservation...ten minutes. it's nice to arrive at DCPA's parking garage early. you're not nervously scanning left and right for a space on the first two or three levels...we got one in the middle (near the elevators and handicap ramp).

the corner table is actually where we sat last night. it's a kinda secluded deuce that faces out into the open dining room. we much prefer this over sitting in the middle where people bump into you and conversations seem futile.

instead of fighting the crowds at Valentine's, we decided to make this outing our 'date.' we indulged to say the least...and the bill reflected it ($162 w/ tip - yikes). that's cool though. ya gotta do it once in a while.

anway, as usual, lois and i got different salads and entrees to share. she wanted the watercress salad w/ poached pear, gorgonzola, walnuts, and a mustard vinaigrette...while i opted for the arugula salad w/ (teeny) cherry and pear tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, and parma ham.

hers was better - i love anything w/ pear. still, arugula in a (good, aged) balsamic vinegar is always tasty.

for our entrees, she ordered the beef tenderloin and i had the diver scallops (think of triple height sea scallops). unfortunately, i ended up getting most of the tenderloin because they undercooked it...and lois doesn't like to send food back. it was a boon for me though. i prefer medium rare...and that's what it was (w/ some rare parts).

the only slight disappointment of our meal was the wait for an overpriced and very mediocre cherry crisp. i don't mind paying $8 for a 'fancy' dessert as long as it lives up to its verbage. ah well. the service was excellent and the coffee was strong...leading to some major eye bulge when we departed for Boettcher

...where Bernadette Peters was performing. and she was PHENOMENAL.

prior to reading the program, i had only known her from movies such as 'The Jerk' and 'Pennies From Heaven' and recent stage productions of Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy..

we had NO idea that she got her theater equity card when she was 9(!)...and that she just celebrated her 58th birthday this month!!! she looks 38...

her voice and range are so impressive. she came out in a silvery white sequined gown that was drawing a lotta ogling. her musical numbers were mainly sondheim, lloyd webber, rodgers/hammerstein/hart and irving berlin. she even covered Peggy Lee's 'Fever' and it was WAY BETTER.

she was smokin! she sang straight through without an intermission. probably a little less than 85 minutes. she wowed the whole crowd though.

another show this thursday (Showcase of American Composers). this time, we've got reservations at the Palomino. we're gonna save a little money and opt for their first seating special...basically, a three course meal w/ coffee for $19.95 ;)

fun...

we've got 5:00 reservations at Kevin Taylor's Restaurant (in the Ellie Caulkin's Opera House) tomorrow night.

afterwards, we're going upstairs (out to Boettcher Concert Hall) to see Bernadette Peters...

FUN

unfortunately, the high tomorrow is supposed to top out at 20 degrees.

not so fun...

ah well, better tomorrow than today. right now, the outside temps are slowly inching into the minus readings. in fact, the wind chill is 15 below. weathering cold temps like that surely make homeless people older. jeez, just being out in the elements...

what sucks even more is the current temperature in Hollywood, FL. it's 8PM there and it's 70 degrees...grrr

tee vee...

off to watch the winter games. didn't catch the opening ceremonies last night. i hear that disco was a major theme...ooh. never was one to watch the opening ceremonies anyway. i've always hated the cold; seeing everyone march into the stadium just makes me colder.

did catch some of the nordic combined this afternoon. it was the first half of the competition (i.e., ski jumping). the best (american) hope for a medal, Todd Lodwick (from Steamboat) finished 8th...

well, what's on for tonight?

what i wanna know...

is how someone can watch 18-22 movies per month through Netflix? that guy was definitely getting his money worth...

my niece...

i absolutely adore her...yet i hate her at the same time. she asked me recently to keep a look out for cheapo fares from florida (ft. lauderdale and miami, specifically) to Jamaica. what i hate is that she's living in a city that has some of the cheapest fares to the caribbean and latin america; it is such a gateway. argh ;)

if i wanted to go to Kingston, Jamaica from Denver, it'd cost $600+. for her, she can get a sale and go for just under $200. i guess it doesn't hurt to be 1650 miles closer either...

sigh...i SO want to go somewhere.

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW.

went to see 'Walk the Line' last sunday. you know, the johnny cash hollywood take on his life. last year, it was ray charles. whozit gonna be this year? boy george?

anyway, after seeing ads for 1/2 price Dr. Doolittle tix an hour before the show, we were contemplating on getting a couple seats. that is...until we read Cindi's review. still, they were half price. that is...until we read the theater critic's review in the paper. nah. even at half price.

so...we've decided to catch matinee showings of the Oscar nominees every sunday until the awards ceremony on march 5th. i know Walk...isn't nominated for best pic, so that leaves us with four more to see (we've already seen 'Crash'):

Brokeback Mtn.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Capote
Munich

i'm not sure if we're gonna see 'Munich' though. 'Transamerica' and 'Syriana' look intriguing though. and the best foreign (picture) nominees? we haven't seen a single one. of course, of the five nominees, three have yet to be released (at the end of the month), one is already on DVD, and the other might not be released in the States. oh well.

mebbe we'll see Capote this sunday. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is an exceptional actor. he was outstanding in 'Flawless', 'Patch Adams', and 'Cold Mountain.' we have yet to see him in 'Love, Liza', for which he was critically acclaimed.

in a slump...

from Mary's blog...which i should blogroll again. she's a riot!

~~The 4’s meme~~

4 jobs I’ve had in my life:
restaurant server
archaeologist
art museum teacher
1st grade tutor (remember that, J?)

4 movies I can watch over and over:
Central Station
Shall We Dansu?
Buena Vista Social Club
Margaret Cho: I'm The One That I Want

4 places I have lived:
Denver, CO
Columbia, MO
San Andrés Cholula, México
Bella Unión, Perú

4 places I have been on vacation:
Guatemala
Bolivia
Spain
Costa Rica

4 TV shows I like to watch:
Open All Hours
'Allo, 'Allo!
Are You Being Served?
Red Dwarf

4 websites I visit (almost) daily:
ebay.com
yahoo.com
imdb.com
blogspot.com

4 favorite foods:
Thai (from Taste of Thailand)
pizza (from New York Pizzeria)
chili dogs (from Hamburger Stand)
oxtail soup (made by my mom)

4 places I would like to be right now:
El Mirador, Guatemala
Argentina
Cambodia
Madidi wilderness, Bolivia

she has come over...

to the dark side.

my niece, whom i had mentioned in the weather pixie post, has started a blog w/ blogger. i'm very happy. she already had one with myspace.com, but that always seemed like a massive chat room to me. i was pondering going over there at one point...if everyone wasn't so darned young ;)

i wish i was ambitious and talented as she, when i was 22...

anyway, she's a student at Nova University, a brilliant painter/photographer/poet, so exotically beautiful, and a few months pregnant.

Bienvenidos mi sobrinita...