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December 22, 2006
My Precious Brain
I had an MRI the other night. My appointment was at 9:30 in a huge medical complex that had shut down for the night except for the radiology wing. I was led down a dimly lit maze of hallways by the receptionist to the MRI room. It was spooky and I didn't want to disrobe. Thankfully they let me keep my pants and shirt on. The technician looked eerily like Ruben Studdard, but 175% larger. Could he have been...? He didn't start belting out any R&B ballads, so I couldn't be sure. More importantly, despite his imposing size, he was sweet and non-threatening (which was good because we were the only two people in the whole place) and he tolerated all my inane questions (i.e.: what if I can't breathe? Can you hear me in an emergency? How will I know when it's over?) as he glided me into the tube. It wasn't so bad, not as claustrophobic/coffinesque as I feared it would be, and the whole thing only lasted 25 minutes. Totally surreal though. Anyhow, the point of this story is that today I went back to the neurologist to find out the results. Drum roll please.....my brain is fine! Better than fine. And I get to keep the scans (the picture above is not my brain. My brain is bigger and shapelier, naturally). So I don't have a brain tumor. Just having that piece of mind (ha!) was worth getting the scan. But I still have headaches all the time....
But who can worry about headaches when it's Christmas bonus time! The intern is wrapping them in the conference room as I write this. Last year I got a candle. It was fancy candle from L'Occitane but a smelly Sage-scented candle "made in France" a merry Christmas does not make. Oooh I just peeked: two packs of Marlboro Reds... per employee! Wow, they really went ALL out.
Posted by debbie at 3:51 PM | Comments (1)
December 21, 2006
Tradition
I'm a better Jew than I give myself credit for. So is Rafe, for that matter. We had few Jews and local gentiles over for a Hanukkah/pizza sampling/wine tasting gathering a few nights ago. Cousin Phil lit the menorah and we mumbled our way through a blessing or two. I even laid out the gelt:
And in serving pizza and wine, we partook in an ancient Hanukkah tradition. Who knew? Not this Jew. Here is an explanation that I found in the torah.... ok, it was on www.Jews101.com
"Eating dairy products, especially cheese, is another Hanukkah tradition. This is done in memory of the Jewish heroine Judith, who according to legend saved her village from Syrian attackers. Judith fed wine and cheese to the Syrian general Holofernes until he became so drunk that he fell to the ground. She then seized his sword and cut off his head, which she brought back to her village in a basket. The next morning, Syrian troops found the headless body of their leader and fled in terror."
What a nice story for the Jewish boys and girls.
Posted by debbie at 5:56 PM | Comments (1)
December 14, 2006
On Christmas
It's 12 days until Christmas and the holiday is feeling oppressive as ever. (For my bitter, cynical take on Christmas last year, go here).
On presents:
Late at night, Rafe is asleep on the couch and I talk to him like he's awake. He has a strange ability to answer questions in his sleep and I was hoping to take advantage of this quirk to find out what he really wanted.
"What do you want for Christmas?"
"Beard accessories."
"What does that mean?"
"Things with which to groom my beard."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"Ok!"
[long pause, a few snores...]
"And a waffle iron"
On giftwrap:
I was at the Container Store on my lunch break today. That store seems to be have been custom built for people with obsessive compulsive disorders. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a handsome waste paper basket and Danish-designed file folder systems as much as the next person, but the Container Store reminds me of all the chores I should do but know I never will. Like organizing my closet. Or paying bills. Or doing my taxes. Anyhow, I needed some wrapping supplies and so I bravely fought a bitchy crowd of shoppers and spent $30 on bows and ribbons and gift boxes. When the cashier was stuffing my delicate goods haphazardly into the bag, a bloodied bandaid that had been around her finger fell off... right into the bag. She didn't notice and I didn't say anything even though she soiled my Christmas.
On going home:
I had a dream last night that I was at my dad's house and he had redecorated. Anyone who knows him knows that neither "decorate" or "redecorate" are in his vocabulary. Anyhow, he had a surprise to show me. A Christmas surprise! No matter that we are Jewish, he had miraculously discovered the body of Troy (our old cat who passed away/was murdered/run over a few years ago) and had him stuffed and placed on the fireplace mantle. His fur was combed the wrong way and looked very odd and his eyes were frozen wide open as if to ask, "Why?"
Merry Christmas!
Posted by debbie at 3:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 8, 2006
Oh wow, the first season of Beverly Hills 90210 has just come out on DVD! Merry Christmas to me!
This review from Slate is a hilarious blast from the past, especially the writers' descriptions of the cast, especially Andrea, "whose name was always pronounced 'Ohndrea', the newspaper editor with crow's feet who secretly lives in the Valley." Ouch! I thought Andrea was the coolest, in a understated way. In one especially poignant espisode, the principal found out Andrea did not live in Beverly Hills but in ths "slums" of the Valley and she almost got kicked out. That happened to me! I related! I wasn't going to school in Beverly Hills but in the dowdy square-mile town of Albany, CA. Still, it was almost the same thing, it totally was. The schools were a whole lot better in Albany than the ones near our house in El Cerrito. One day (I believe it was "Book Day"), I brought with me to school a check my dad had wrote out for some books and when the teacher saw our real address on it she reported us to the principal. They had no mercy. I was transfered out of there and for three months, until my dad begged them to let me back in, I had to go to this horrible rough-and-tumble school near our house where I learned absolutely nothing. No-thing. The class had like 50 rowdy kids in it and I was threatened with bodily harm because I was new and from Albany. I was a stranger in a strange land. But I took solace in the fact that Andrea probably went through the same thing. Little did I know she was full of crap. She was 35 playing a 16 year old! Well truth be told, I was more interested in Dylan (Luke Perry). I thought Dylan was the coolest guy I had ever seen. And the cutest, despite that he was probably nearing 40 at the time and although he didn't have crows feet he definitely had some seriously deep forehead lines going on. I had a tshirt with his face on it and also a pillowcase with his face on it. I loved that pillowcase. I also had a special-edition bottle of 90210 eu du cologne. I still have the bottle. It hasn't been opened, if you can believe it.
If only...if only I could tap into that sweet 90s nostalgia from my childhood, but how?
Posted by debbie at 5:07 PM | Comments (1)
December 1, 2006
2nd Place Is No Place for My Kugel
I was robbed! The judges couldn't decide between mine (it ended up popping out of the budnt pan and looking really good, by the way), which they described as "Southern-seeming" (perhaps it was the praline crust)," innovative" and having a "nice nutty flavor," and some other red head's "classic kugel." Well I lost to the classic kugel. Can you believe it? This man could not believe it either. Nor could these hot dog eaters, especially that guy on the left.
It's ok, after the show, all the kugels were on display and guess whose kugel went first? Mine, that's whose. People were fighting over the last sticky crumbs. The other red head was gloating about her win, but I tasted her kugel...and it was...dry and full of raisens. She was bragging about the "secret" being "crushed-up ginger snaps." Big deal, other red head! Some drunk dude came up to me and asked if my recipe was, in fact, Southern. For some reason I said "Yes, my Jewish family hails from Tennessee." And he said "Me too! Where?" And in that moment I could not think of a single place in Tennessee. After a long pause, I said "Nashville." And he said "Oh, I'm from Memphis. Tastes like a Memphis kugel." I'm not sure what that meant, but I think that was a good thing because many a stranger patted me on the back and said I was the obvious winner and the contest was a sham. I guess I can be super competitive sometimes. Still, I shoulda won! Whatever, what do they know?
Posted by debbie at 11:24 AM | Comments (3)