He Read It

"I have had an orthodox career and I wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time, I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it and I can't deny the fact you like me--right now, you like me." Sally Field, "Places in the Heart" Oscar acceptance speech

I write this with tears of joy streaming down my face. I could not have put it any better than Sally Fields. I finally feel respect from The Exec. I can’t deny it. He read my blog. He even made a comment. And the Banker read it too. So did Unc. It’s almost too much.

I’m getting in the holiday spirit. By now you’ve received my annual holiday letter, and no doubt have re-read it several times. We got together with the locals yesterday for a pizza lunch and then dropped off some gifts at the FC fire station. We’ve been doing this for years and it has become a village tradition. Yesterday evening it was over to The Exec’s house for his birthday celebration. He hits 54 tomorrow. My wife and I couldn’t stay for the entire time as we had my brother and sister coming over for dinner at 6. We had a mild conflict as to when we were going to leave The Exec’s party. I proposed 5:50. She countered with 5:55. I suggested a compromise of 5:53. We got out of there at 6.

The pre-Christmas dinner at our house was merry. They brought some delectable Frank Family Cab, which was a perfect complement to my wife’s lasagna. My brother was looking dapper. It seems he’s finally gotten the hang of that beard trimmer. We exchanged gifts and they headed out into the night. They’ll be spending the holidays with their families as we await the arrival of my in-laws.

Happy Festivus!

I, Chucklehead

I’ve been posting for close to two years now and I’ve finally realized that I’ve been mispronouncing my blog’s name all this time. My handyman was over Friday morning fixing my plugged drain. He pulled out a hairball the size of my fist and referred to it as detritus, pronouncing it correctly. I finally got off my lazy butt and went to look it up. It was there in black and white, along with the audio feature.

http://m-w.com/dictionary/detritus

I’m sharing this with you, my faithful audience, only to illustrate that even I am not infallible. I think The Exec was giving me subtle hints a few weeks ago by referring to my blog’s name, correct pronunciation and all. At that time I repulsed the urge to correct the former journalist. But he’ll never know, because he doesn’t read my blog either. At least he doesn’t owe me money.

I saw The Exec and #1 yesterday. We were invited to a wine tasting by some fellow Foster City residents who’ve become vintners recently. They made their libations at a place called Crushpad in SF. The wines were quite good. I liked them better than the $40 Rioja we had for dinner afterwards. The repast was an impromptu affair with #1 and The Exec. We had actually grabbed a table for four at Astaria in San Mateo before we called The Exec and his missus. They showed up about 20 minutes later. In the interim, #1 ordered a Grey Goose martini, so I decided to join him. This place serves a helluva drink. I think they should have brought it in a bowl. I guess that’s why I’m feeling a little cloudy this morning.

My famed Christmas letter will be going out this week. You’ll be getting it via snail mail, except for my Swedish reader. As an extra holiday bonus, one lucky recipient will be getting a coupon for a free Starbucks Gingerbread Latte.

Happy Holidays!

Bank On It

I just flew in from the Led Zep concert, and boy, are my arms tired.

I haven't posted for a while because I've been tied up producing my annual masterwork, the Xmas letter. It's taken a lot out of me but I can't let my blog fans down.

We had half the FC village out to my kid's high school Saturday. The Banker was there to watch his daughter's team play my daughter's team. Both of these kids developed some serious skills under his tutelage as their middle school coach. The Banker doesn't get too much ink in my blog because he doesn't read it, but ‘tis the basketball season, so I'm putting my bitterness behind me. He’s got vets from his 3peat champs at at least three different high schools. They’ve all made the jump from 8th grade hoops directly to varsity ball. That’s coaching! I'm feeling so jolly that I may transfer my vast holdings to his financial institution. I need a wealth manager!

The UK hit the mid-century mark Monday. The last of our high school class to reach that milestone, I welcomed him to the Geezer Club with a personalized email, replete with AOL Art. But as my friends age, and my kids grow taller and smarter than me, some things remain the same. #1 owes me money again.

Holiday

It was back to the grindstone this week after taking Thanksgiving week off. Since it was a short week, the backload of email was merely unreasonable as opposed to insane. Next week we’re having an all hands meeting at my office. I’m looking forward to some brainstorming, team building and free meals. I managed to wangle Monday’s meal at Arcadia, Michael Mina’s entry in the San Jose dining scene. During dinner, I plan to socialize some ideas. However, I will keep the messaging neutral, in the spirit of transparency.

http://www.michaelmina.net/arcadia/

It was a great week off. Fun was had by all, especially those hanging with me. We had a wine tasting in downtown San Mateo, started off by sparkling Shiraz. I ended up buying a few bottles, for which I garnered 4M‘s opprobrium the next day. Apparently that’s a big no no in the confines of his high end wine world. In addition to the red bubbly, we had several reds from the automated wine dispenser, and then tried some others they were featuring. The Exec schmoozed one of the winery reps, so we got a taste of the top of the line stuff. They also served some tasty hors d'oeuvre. After that it was back to The Exec’s house for more vino and an excellent steak dinner, prepared by The Exec and his chums from Minneapolis. #2 provided some appetizers. TCG served as chauffeur to SM so he had done his part. I brought radicchio crostini and a boatload of charisma.

http://750ml-sanmateo.com/Home.htm

The next day it was off to Vegas. 4M, The Upgrade King and I flew out of SFO on Virgin America for a two day stint in Sin City. I may have to change UK to RG, Regular Guy. Sadly, he did not get the expected room upgrade at The Palms. I really shouldn’t toy with the elaborate and arcane naming convention I’ve established here. I’ve done it to protect the anonymity of my friends, since this blog’s readership is bound to take off any day. I did once threaten to drop #1 to #2.5 or some such thing but couldn’t bring myself to do it. So UK remains, even though he had to wallow in the same drab setting that 4M and I shared. By the way, 4M says I snore. What BS!

After we got settled in, they paid me the $5 they each owed me because I won the lack of upgrade bet. They whined about it all the way to that evening’s destination: Lotus of Siam. Known as one of the best Thai restaurants in the country, it features an extensive and very reasonably priced wine list. 4M and I shared a whole deep-fried catfish. We also had a couple orders of shrimp but it was too spicy for me. It was all washed down with two bottles of Riesling. 4M gave us a tutorial, discussing the differences between the Austrian and German products. Like a dog hears only, “blah, blah blah Rover”, I heard “blah, blah, blah Riesling”

http://www.saipinchutima.com/

As we stepped out of the restaurant, we realized we were not in the best neighborhood. It was a down at the heels strip mall. We got approached by an unsavory looking taxi driver, or at least that what he claimed to be. We spurned his offer and then met up with an aspiring artist. She was drawing a portrait for a couple drunk guys and then drew Marilyn Monroe for us in about 5 seconds. I was about to tell her to hit the road when my good bud 4M gave her two bucks for her work. His crusty exterior hides a soft side.

Back at the hotel, we had gotten free passes to The Ghost Bar, on the roof. I savored a $13 martini as we met a few of the other patrons. We then went to the world’s only remaining Playboy Club. They can get rid of that one too, as far as I’m concerned. We thought we had free passes there too but they were “line passes”, which meant we could go to the front of the line. Oddly, there was no line. We paid $20 each for the privilege of having overpriced drinks while being assaulted by a sound system blasting contemporary drek. I hit the sack pretty early that night, right after dropping a quick Franklin at the blackjack tables.

I got about 11 hours of sleep and then we were back on the scene. We started the day at the patio bar of The Daniel Boulud Brasserie at Wynn. I nursed a Bloody Mary and 4M picked up where he left off, with a glass of Riesling. The UK was the smart one among us, re-hydrating with an iced tea. He even went back to the hotel for a nap afterwards. 4M and I headed “downtown” to the old Vegas, where the glitz is left behind. I dropped another $100 there as my bud watched the Texas hold ‘em games.

We regrouped for dinner. We loosened up with a drink at the bar of Little Buddha then were off to Stripsteak at Mandalay Bay. This is another outpost of the Mina empire. I could have dropped $125 or so on some Kobe beef but decided to stick with a reasonably priced fillet at $52. Of course everything was a la carte. 4M had the truffled macaroni and cheese to accompany his steak. We enjoyed a bottle of champagne to start and then moved on to one of the lower priced – comparatively- reds.

http://www.mandalaybay.com/dining/StripSteak.aspx

Are you getting the sense I’m one of those foodies? I don’t think so, but I’ll have to get opinions from the Exec and #1 tonight when we go to Chapeau. Once the credit card maxes out, I’ll go back to mac and cheese, the untruffled variety.

http://bistrochapeau.ypguides.net/

We left Vegas Tuesday afternoon and headed back to reality. But we had Turkey Day to look forward to. We had 15 people at our house for the event. All were fellow villagers except for my brother. He was more voluble than usual, holding forth on Eastern European history, aided by dry vodka martinis I was mixing at a furious rate. My brother knows even more about the Tito regime than I do. I point you to my 4/2/07 post. Gosh, I've developed such an oeuvre that I’ve become self-referential.

We all had our fill. Our visitors brought some outstanding side dishes and we provided a 16 pound bird. There were a lot less leftovers than in past years. We were done with it all by the time the work week started.

So that’s about it. Hope you all had a great holiday as well. I’ll close by giving my sweet daughter a plug. She scored 17 points in her first varsity basketball game. To quote the Marin Independent Journal, she "had her way on the inside for most of the night". That’s my kid! The only downside is that I’m now expecting double digits every game.