These Are the Days...

You know, I wish everyone could have a day like the one I had today. There aren't too many where I can just say it was perfect, but today...it was just that. It was perfect.

Granted, I'm running on less than five hours of sleep (no wonder I'm so happy!!), but today, I awoke with an extra spring in my step. I got ready for work, ate a nice breakfast (Raisin Bran...yes, quite possibly the most boring breakfast cereal in the world, but hey...if Mikey likes it--wait...wrong cereal. Nope. You were right. It is world's most boring cereal. Hate away.) and I got into work early, only to find that my work station had been decorated by some of my friends and co-workers. Not only that, but a (belated) birthday card had been placed on my desk filled with birthday wishes from nearly all of my peers. There was absolutely no white space left. It was filled up. OK...at this point, y'all know I'm an emotional guy, but that card hit me deep.

Later on, I made a play date with my friend Christina for next Wednesday. I'm going to cook that Mexican dish I wrote about last week. It will be interesting to see how that works out. Her gas stove is way cooler than my electric!!! The thing is, it's been a long time since she and I have hung out together. Way back in the day, we would get together all the time. Then we had a bit of a fallout. Little by little, I'm starting to learn that my oversensitive nature has the tendency to piss a lot of people off--and rightfully so. Somewhere along the line, I must have forgotten to read the memo that no one likes a martyr. Like I said, I'm learning, but education can be really expensive!! Anyway, yeah...I'm a happy camper. She's like a sister to me and it will be good to spend time with her.

After I left work, I picked up two quarts of Chinese white steamed rice ($4.28?!?! Are you fuckin' kidding me?!?! It's RICE!!!) to go with dinner. Once that was taken care of, I grabbed "Children of Men" at Hollywood Video. I'll get to that in a bit.

Finally, in keeping with my new tradition, I made dinner for my lovely and amazing friend Tina. Before I forget to mention it, she bought me some gym clothes for my birthday. They're frickin' sweet!!! Finally, a pair of shorts that doesn't show off my package in an embarrassing, entirely unintentional way!! I'm movin' up in the world people!! Woo-hoo!!

The dish of the evening was Chef X's Almost General Tsao Chicken recipe. I'll be honest, I was scared shitless about making it. I mean, it calls for so many ingredients!! Plus, things, like, have to boil and simmer!! How the fuck does that even work?! For me, this was absolutely a trial by fire. I didn't call anyone for help. It was just me, a pot and the good General Tsao.

And ya know what? It was easy. I didn't have any problems handling the chicken, this time around, I followed the directions nearly to the letter and it turned out beautifully. When I had previously asked Chef X about how long it would take to make, she said it took her about an hour from start to finish. That was pretty much right on the money with me as well. It was so delicious!! Hell, I'll even pull a Rachael Ray (and I can't stand that broad!!): It was YUMMO!! Plus, unlike last week, my dining companion really seemed to appreciate the meal (Derek later spilled the beans--yes, pun intended--that he wasn't a huge fan of the magical fruit...might have been nice to know before I made it. You'd think the whole I'm making a bean dish would have set off some alarm bells, but alas...). She even asked for the recipe after we finished. I was super jazzed about that, thank you very much!!

I will admit, though, that I think I should have doubled the amount of ingredients and chicken, because when it was all said and done, there wasn't a lot to go 'round. As for the white steamed rice, only one quart was needed--not two ($4.28!!!!)

Oh! As an appetizer, I also served the last little bit of Asiago cheese dip that I made, last Friday. I served it with cut-up pieces of toasted French bread with a little olive oil drizzled on it. OK...Chinese food and Asiago dip...I get it...it's a weird combination, but no one can fault me for wanting to be eclectic.

After dinner, Tina and I adjourned to the living room and watched "Children of Men." It's a great movie; one that has a lot on its mind. The long tracking shots are some of the most haunting pieces of cinema you'll see any time soon. And Clive Owen? The man is just the perfect antihero. He just smolders in the film and yet, he brings a ton of vulnerability to his role of Theo. Check the movie out. I can't guarantee you'll want to see it over and over again (it's not that kind of movie), but I recommend you see the film at least once. It's amazing. You might not get the fuss at first, but it really does stay with you.

Once Tina left, I took the movie back and picked up some more green onions to make another batch of the Asiago dip. See, my best buddy Justin is coming over tomorrow night and I promised the man we'd have some wine, bread and dip (what can I say? We've gone metro!). So, there I was at midnight...making dip. Wow!! If someone told me six months ago that I'd be mixing mayo and sour cream into the wee hours of the morning, I would have though that they were stoned. Of course (hehehe!), if it had been six months ago, they probably would have been, as would I. My, how things change!!

And so, here I am, writing this blog entry. Listen, as you may have come to realize by now, this is not the style I normally write in. In fact, people who write the events of their day like a friggin' boring-ass journal entry make me wanna puke. Today, though--today is diferent. For the first time in years, I didn't think to myself, did I make it?! To those who read this, it may not seem like the most exciting day, but when life can be so complex, melodramatic and oppressive that it's sometimes hard to get out of bed to face it, it's nice to know that the little things still matter.

Today was the kind of day that makes one smile and look forward to tomorrow...