Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, finally finishing up Puccini’s Manon Lescaut – another nine minutes will do it and those nine minutes will take approximately nine minutes. Otherwise, I’ve done mostly writing, but did have a belated birthday dinner with Karen Staitman and daughter Sami, fresh in from New York, New York. Karen and I are both December birthdays, and Sami’s is next month. We convened at our usual birthday meal spot, Ruth’s Chris in Woodland Hills. We were seated promptly at six o’clock. There weren’t too many people dining, and this is a jernt that is always jammed, no matter the night or time. Even by seven, most of the tables were empty. Our waiter was very attentive. Sami and her mom split the New York steak, Karen ordered a Caesar salad, and for side dishes they ordered the lobster mac-and-cheese and scalloped potatoes. I also ordered the New York steak as well as their dinner salad with thousand island dressing. The salad arrived soon after we ordered, and it was great, as always. Their thousand island dressing is excellent, and the salad is laced with red onions and croutons. So, a great start to our dining adventure. And Karen’s Caesar is something she loves, and Sami had some of it, too. Whilst eating that and waiting for the main course, we gabbed like crazy, really fun conversation, many laughs, and fun catching up. Sami has really grown up – a very self-assured and pretty young person.
Then the steaks and our side dishes arrived. We’d noticed earlier that the bread and butter were nothing like they used to be – we used to be addicted to the bread and butter and would eat all of it up and get more. It wasn’t bad but it sure was disappointing. I mention that as a prelude to how the rest of the meal went. I had a piece of steak right away. It was good but not as good as it usually is. There was just something slightly off about it, and Sami and her mom felt exactly the same. Sami tried the lobster mac-and-cheese and said it was garlicky but good. I took some and it was completely different than it’s ever been, and we’ve had that a lot. For me to eat only a tiny portion, and it was tiny, only two bites, that’s saying something. The potatoes were pretty good but not scalloped at all. So, something’s gone downhill there – could be many things – new chefs, replacement chefs – hard to know, but while we all had a great time, we were all slightly disappointed in the meal.
Karen had told them we were celebrating birthdays. Every time we’ve had one of these belated birthday things, they gift the birthday people with a free dessert and sing happy birthday. Not last night. No free dessert, no singing. Another table had singing and a free dessert. We all split a crème brulee and that was good. And that was our dining adventure.
Yesterday was a day in which I got only five hours of sleep. I was hoping for at least eight or nine, but alas it was not to be. Lots of tossing and turning, a little turning and tossing, and lots of thing floating around in the brain. I got up at eleven, got coherent, and then began the futzing and finessing and a lot of it, due to some particularly bad writing – hopefully, I fixed all that, plus added stuff, subtracted stuff, and smoothed out stuff. That took a really long time. Then I wrote two new pages.
I shaved and showered, then wrote another eight pages. Then I began the journey to Ruth’s Chris in Woodland Hills. My first stop was at the cheap gas station on the way, where I filled my hungry motor car with gaseous gas. Once fed, on we went. I’d decided to take Victory Blvd. because the freeway would have been madness, as would other streets. Victory, while sometimes a bit crowded at certain points, is the fastest and easiest route, mostly because there are a lot of lanes, and the furthermost right lane is open all the way because there’s no parking from four to seven. So, I pretty much zoomed across the Valley. I zoomed I tell you. I got to Ruth’s Chris thirty minutes early, that’s how much I zoomed. I prefer that kind of zooming to the Zoom kind of Zooming. I did stuff on the phone until six, at which time I entered the restaurant and met Sami and her mom. You know about the dinner. I got home in an amazing twenty minutes and wrote three more pages and once these here notes are posted, I’ll definitely do two more, maybe three. We’re now in the home stretch of the book, having just passed page 200.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, I’ll do a little futzing and finessing until we have our noon o’clock session with the musical director. That should only take an hour or so. Then I’ll finish futzing and finessing and write a few new pages. I’ll mosey on over to the mail place, as there’s something there from Wednesday that I need to retrieve. Then I’ll eat something, then go back to writing new pages and I’m hoping to finish the new pages in time to watch a little something. And then I can listen and relax, as well.
Tomorrow is all writing and whatever else needs doing. Saturday, she of the Evil Eye arrives early, so I’ll go eat a light something or other, then come home and write. There is the chance that I’ll finish it on Saturday, but if not, I’ll definitely finish it on Sunday and then after futzing and finessing I’ll send a PDF to Muse Margaret. Then on Monday we begin our Kritzerland rehearsal and show week. Very much looking forward to working with our talented kids, many of whom are new to us.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, futz and finesse, have a work session, finish futzing and finessing and then write a few new pages, hopefully pick up packages, eat, write more new pages, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are the best steaks you’ve ever had – where, when, why, and side dishes. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, wondering if last night’s meal was just an off night or What Ever Happened To Ruth’s Chris?