| esquire within |

Shrimp is the fruit of the sea...

... you can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sautée it.  There's, um, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pineapple shrimp and lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich...

Ooh, I drafted my very first promissory note today.  For just shy of four million dollars. 

What's funny is that any idiot with an internet connection could have done a comparable job -- although I like to think mine was thoughtfully pieced together.

Anyway, back to shrimp.  The point of my post is to brag about another delicious innovation in the t+d kitchen:

Shrimp, corn, black beans, tomatoes, green onion, parsley, olive oil, lime and hefty dose of chili powder.  I handled the shrimp (cooked to perfection, I might add) while the Girl did all the heavy lifting.  Could have used a touch more heat, but as we'll be having this again -- and soon, I hope -- there's plenty of chance to play around with the spices.

Oh, and I took that picture with my new iClone.  Not bad for a cell phone, huh?

Money, money, money...

OKAY, OKAY.  I saw it.  I saw it and I liked it.

And not only did I like it, it was the first movie I've ever seen where I knew all the words to all the songs. 

Every. Last. One of them. 

THAT embarrassing fact is made possible by my mother, who inflicted ABBA on me in the car at an unsuspecting age.  Which, incidentally, is also why I'm able to sing along to most Gypsy Kings tracks, too.  (Sigh.)  Though it probably doesn't account entirely for the part of me that, you know, really didn't mind seeing the movie -- the same part that watched Calendar Girls (twice). 

Anyway, I defend this wholly unexpected and vaguely unwelcome enjoyment of Mamma Mia! by challenging any of you to watch Meryl Streep's rendition of Dancing Queen as she's doing cheerleader jumps in bed, or Pierce Brosnan belting out S.O.S., without squirting milk out your nose.

I mean, he was a BOND, for chrissake.  It's just too much.

To balance out the romantic comedy, we also saw The Dark Knight.  That was good movie-making of an entirely different order.  Ledger's Joker took "disturbing" to new levels.  While I don't really buy the idea that the character "got" to him (frankly, I think it's a little insulting to suggest he couldn't separate reality from fiction), I have to say, he really pulled it off.  From the minute he makes the pencil "disappear" to his unsurprising-but-flawless masterstroke at the end, well, let's just say it was pretty intense.

Nice to be back at the movies, anyway. 

Next up: Hell Boy II, Indiana Jones, and WALL-E (and probably without a niece to make it excusable).

And this year's award goes to...

... the Girl. 

For Best Birthday Gift Ever.

That's right: I'm now the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii.  Next time we can't agree whose turn it is to scrub the toilet, we'll literally, actually, physically box it out.  And when she loses, I'll try not to be a sore winner.  (Hee.)

Seriously though, the Wii is amazing.  I actually got winded playing one of the games. 

Winded!  Playing video games! 

Clearly, it's not just for fat kids anymore.