55 Degrees

That’s what the thermostat said when I woke up this morning.  It was about 37 outside.  These 1960’s tract homes don’t have much in the way of insulation.  I had some put into my attic several years back, but for all I know they could have blown shredded newspaper up there.  I’m not what you call a savvy consumer. 

I’m looking forward to another lively session of the boy’s video call tonight.  It’ll give me an opportunity to yell at the Belgian. I’m not sure if #1 is back from his HI trip yet, but we all cling to the hope that he’ll be joining us.

The wife and I went to a ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) event Saturday at One Market in the city.  It was a blast.  There was a boatload of wineries represented, arranged in alphabetical order.  We started out at the Rombauer table, which spoiled us a little. I should have taken notes, but I’m sure we tried at least a dozen.  We chatted up a few of the producers.  They also had some good appetizers from the city college culinary program and a few cheese producers. I saw a woman of late middle age with purple hair and a “ZinBitch” t-shirt on.  One dude either passed out or fell and whacked his head so the EMTs came to get him.

After the event we trotted over to Coqueta on the Embarcadero.  This is Michael Chiarello’s entry in the tapas scene. We had the patatas bravas, croquetas de pollo, and bocadillo de calamari.  All were excellent.  By the way, I saw Michael Chiarello on a plane several years ago.  I’m still miffed he didn’t say hello.

Since we are on the topic of food, did you know that you can get whale meat via vending machine in Japan?  That has to be some good eatin’.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-yokohama-tokyo-business-whales-54c5606b6cc729191afe850aadbd4487

And over in Australia, they made an oopsy and lost some radioactive material.  I can see the mining company spokesman at a news conference, with his head bowed and lower lip protruding, saying “We’re berry, berry sorry”

https://apnews.com/article/science-oddities-australia-government-perth-western-d44bde9c94e68ff4e22820474b67e832

MAGA insiders want Trump to croak.  That’s not very nice, is it?

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mckay-coppins-trump-wish_n_63d8c311e4b01a43638ffbac

I’ve moved up to #4 in the playoff pool and if Philly – birthplace of DJ – takes it, worst case scenario is I end up in second place, which is worth $300.  This is me after the Eagles take it.

Self-Care Week

My wife headed off to Monterey for Sunday and Monday.  I decided the best thing to fight off the gloom was getting a manicure, which I did on Monday.  Tuesday brought me to the acupuncturist as well as a follow up visit for my hip.  Tomorrow, I get a massage. Regarding the hip, the MRI shows that the culprit is that darn ligamentum flavum teres.  If it’s not feeling better soon, I can schedule a steroid shot.  Otherwise, the doc says my hips look good.  I’ve always felt I had lovely hips.

We had the boy’s call last night.  The Belgian told me I was a little loud, but it is just that I get so excited when I see these guys. #1 sent a note earlier in the day that he would be on, then did not show up. We gave him a pass as he was getting ready for his Hawaii trip.  He’ll be staying in the Pineapple Suite at the White Lotus.

This morning, TCG and I were leaning on each other.  We are both deeply saddened that the Madonna biopic has been canceled.  At least we have her Celebration Tour to look forward to.  We’re trying to wrangle tickets for the whole village to go.

I sent this pic of Doja Cat, painted red and 30,000 crystals attached, to my sister.  She thought Doja was insane.  I love my sister, but she does not have her finger on the pulse of celebrity culture like me.  I think it is a fantastic look but when I discussed it with my dermatologist, she advised against it.  It might be time to shop for a new dermatologist.

In addition to Red Doja, Paris Fashion Week featured both Irina Shayk and Kylie Jenner wearing this cute lion number.  The designer clarified that no animals were harmed in its making, but surely some underpaid humans had to work their ass off to get it done. I wonder if the lion head has a place where you could stick your hand and make him talk like a puppet.  “Get me the hell out of this fashion show and gimme a couple steaks”.

Beebs just sold his catalogue for $200M.  Some of the proceeds will go to more tattoos.

I’m in 7th place in the playoff pool.  The first six spots are the money spots, so I need to move up.  As much as it pained me, I chose the Eagles over the Niners this week.  I also took KC. I’m checking to see if Nickelodeon will be broadcasting the games.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1607134057804054539

Also, for no particular reason, check this out.

https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1612082487882141697

Is Your Favorite Blogger Lazy?

Yes. Yes, he is. But I think you already knew that.

I had lunch with my big brother yesterday.  My big brother is about three inches shorter and 70 pounds lighter than me. But he’s grown a beard now, so we pretty much look like twins. We met up at the Tadich Grill. We had a good chow down to celebrate his retirement and decided we’d meet again for his March birthday at Sam’s Grill.  We want to eat at all the SF restaurants that are older than our combined 132 years.

There’s been quite a bit of bonhomie on Gull these days.  We had The Bankers and The Hoteliers over for dinner last Thursday. I had banned The Hotelier because of his wiseass remarks regarding my blog, but my wife overrode me. We made one of our new chicken dishes that the wife got out of the NYT cooking section.  She finds cool recipes and I cook them. It was relatively early night, as our guests are still working stiffs.

The day before we had an impromptu get together with #1 and Barbie.  Their son was attending a function further down the Peninsula, so they used us as a way station before picking him up. I was quite frank with #1 that I was not happy with the transactional nature of our relationship.  But then he bought us Thai food and all was forgiven.  I also discussed with him the difference between a way station and a weigh station, but my linguistic sally fell on deaf ears.

Saturday night we had the driveway cocktail crew over, but held the event inside this time due to inclement weather.  My wife made a new crock pot bean/potato/cauliflower soup that I enjoyed but she was not crazy about.  I wish she’d stop being so hard on herself.  In any case, the leftovers will be my dinner tonight as the wife is having dinner out with a friend.

That is pretty much it for the recent social calendar, so let’s talk about my medical status. I saw my GP earlier this month and all was well. He stopped short of telling me I was a 65-year-old beast, but there were no red flags.  I had an MRI this week on my bum hip.  The results came back yesterday but I'll need to await next week’s appointment to understand the results.

I’m disheartened by the fact that the lunatics are running the asylum in the House and for some reason I’ve become less interested in the celebrity world, so let’s go to the NFL.  I won $125 in my regular season pool. I was in a three-way tie for the last money spot. It was a $75 buy-in, so I’m netting $50, which is cool as the playoff pool buy-in is $40. I picked 5 of the 6 games last weekend correctly.  I’m taking KC, Phi, Buf and SF this time around.

“His name is DJ and he went to SUNY Binghamton”.  Below you will find a little SUNY humor from the internets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euyrOo_QdF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-Jp9WMYjF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yih3Gx45QY8

I will close with a nod to one of my most loyal readers, The UK.  He likes pictures, so here is one of Andrew Garfield in Zegna, David Yurman jewelry and an Omega watch. My take is that the UK would look marvelous in this outfit. Remember UK, it is better to look good than to feel good.

23 Skidoo

The bomb cyclone, aka heavy rainstorm, is here.  Some of my East Coast friends were concerned if I was prepared but I let them know that the sump pump is fully functional and that the gutters are clear, so I should be OK.  What I failed to tell them was that rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

We had the boys call last night after skipping a few for the holidays.  I let them know that I was a bit bored with my own blog writing and that I had one in the can, but it was the same old stuff.  That doesn’t mean I’m not going to use it, just that I know it stinks. The Hotelier chimed in that I’m finally coming to the same conclusion as the rest of the guys.  He’ll see no more invites to the mansion on Gull.  The Belgian joined us as well.  He came to us in a supine position, so I suggested he get a pope hat so he could look like Benedict in repose.  I’m not sure how that went over. 

I had a lot to say about Kim Kardashian in that previously written post but that’s the kind of crap I need to rise above if this blog is to shoot to sudden fame after 17 years.  The only thing that really resonated with me is the fact that Kim makes her staff wear color-coordinated outfits that match her mansion. I make my cleaning lady do the same.

So here comes the boring part, my life and times. The wife and I ventured up to La Mar Cebecheria on the Embarcadero mid-December to finally use the gift certificate the kids gave us for our birthdays.  The food was great, but we ordered too much so I was able to give some of our fried calamari to a homeless guy.  Our next venture to the big city was on the 22nd with the whole family. We stopped at The House of Shields, established in 1908. It was a regular stop on my way home back in the mid-90s when I was working at One Post.  I also visited there a few times with my old man and we both felt at home. 

After cocktails, we ventured over to the Ferry Building to meet up with my sister and LA along with 4M and his wife. We settled into the wine bar there for an hour or so before heading over to Perbacco. DJ says give it a try, you can’t go wrong. 4M took over the wine ordering while we all had a fine meal. I had the pappardelle. The older gentleman pouring our wine turned out to be the owner. He may have wanted to tend to us because of my celebrity.

On Christmas Eve we had a home invasion.  21 of our closest friends and family showed up with wine and lasagna. The kids and wife had transformed the family room into a dining hall.  I took it easy as I had come up with a hip strain that is still bugging me.  It has gotten me out of a lot of work. This annual event, which began as the Feast of the Seven Fishes and is now the feast of the multiple lasagnas, could possibly be moving over to #1’s house in the next year or two. I’ll believe it when I see it.

We had a fun Christmas day.  I got two actual presents for my wife as opposed to the traditional Hillsdale Mall gift certificate. It’s the thought that counts. The only bummer was that the girl’s fiance’s flight got canceled so she ended up staying in Portland. I got a cool bio picture book named the Detritus Daily News and the exact same pair of Nike exercise pants from my daughter that she gave me last year.  She’ll be making a return visit to the Nike store. Everybody else got exactly what they wanted.

We celebrated Christmas Day dinner with the family of SB1’s wife. I was in charge of the beer can chicken and my daughter was busy making artisanal cocktails that resembled snow globes.  I stuck with the Zin. I made to about 10:30, which is a feat.

Stay tuned for my next post, which should be up some time in the next few months, since I now need to make it somewhat interesting.  Maybe I’ll hold forth on nepo babies or why so many Russians seem to be falling out of windows.

No pictures for you UK.  Maybe next time.