I paneled in the closet before noon, getting healthily covered with sawdust and dirt. It is just too damn hot to get anything done in the summertime around here. The cat has the right idea, finding the coolest spot and lying there all day. And night. However, I am talking about working in the heat. Don’t get me wrong, anything, repeat anything, is better than twenty below zero. A person is far more likely to freeze to death in Canada than to be even bothered by a hurricane around here. Besides, only the very stupidest people get killed by the weather here, while in Canada anybody who drives in the winter is in danger. So there.We finally emulated the cat and opted for the nap. In preparation for Peggy’s this afternoon, I re-read an extensive article on food throughout history. The armies that sacked Rome wanted, as part of the ransom, 3,000 pound of pepper. I had forgotten that all my dress shirts were long sleeve, tipping everyone off that I don’t go out to dinner too often in Florida.
Running a little late, we stopped at the mall in Aventura to pick up a bottle of Spumante. That was a mistake, I got the slowest Pakistani clerk in history, taking five minutes per customer ahead of me. What a low-life, so when I finished paying, I asked the overhead video camera was really on. He said yes, so in my best smiling face I pointed at him and said if he was working for me I would fire him on the spot for dragging his ass. He started to protest, I said, hey, roll the camera back and look what I’m talking about. Oh, and “Have a nice day.”
Peggy had a seven-course meal waiting for us. What a treat, she has the right idea of several mid-sized plates to tempt the palate. We got doggie bags. It is possible Peggy has not tried Spumante before because she really liked it. My favorite helping was the French Crab in cheese (au gratin). I saved room for dessert, Wallace didn’t. The fool.
We talked over the booklet, and it is one of those ideas that is just crazy enough to take off. My input, and this input was asked for, is that the book be just enough different to make it distinct from all those “Cooking for Singles” type publications. Peggy’s writing style is geared toward unquantifiable subjects, such as horoscopes and character development. She has given me a manuscript to peruse, which I have now finished. The ideas need fleshing out. The basic pattern is there although it may prove challenging to keep the material confined to the original premise. Meeting bachelors and teaching them to cook is, in my partially humble opinion, broad enough to merit two different books.
Peggy also has published a small booklet concerning a “pendulum” theory, whereby decisions can be made after observing a positive (clockwise) spin or negative (anticlockwise) spin of a plumb line, which she refers to as a pendulum. It would seem it works on a principle similar to Ouija, but bear in mind that such “divinations” were used by U-Boat captains to find enemy convoys with a startling success rate.
Ignore me when I say I am stuffed. The fact of the matter is that I have a big breakfast, light lunch and rarely eat after 5 P.M. unless I am specifically hungry. I am totally full now, not because of volume consumed, but because any such meal later in the day will easily fill me up. I had intended to go see if Arnel was playing at Boston’s. Instead, I’ll turn in early, also because he didn’t email that he would definitely be there.
There is a good spread of ages in Peggy’s book. This question concerned me until she mentioned bachelors from their 30s and upwards. I mentioned the bachelors I know and she may be interested. It was an eye-opener for me. Except for Wallace and JP and a few characters from Jimbo’s, all the bachelors I know are musicians. I’ve tried playing in groups with married men but it never works out due to conflicts of interest. In fact, except for people I’ve worked with, I don’t even know any married men. I simply have nothing in common with them, though it would be more accurate to say they have nothing in common with me. As far as non-musicians, I have yet to find somebody who shares the same eclectic lifestyle and interests as myself. Spare me from a man of one book, or one interest.
Last, cookbooks are a good start and almost a guaranteed sell, but you have to move fast. This is the type of idea that can wear off or get pre-empted if it is not completely written in a couple of months at most. Enthusiasm, which plays almost no part in most of my writing, is all-important for a work such as was proposed today. Peggy also mentioned a blog on bachelor cooking. My opinion is posting one recipe a week is not going to keep anyone interested enough to keep coming back and publishing more often is labor-intensive for probably not that much return. Better focus on the book, which you only have to sell once to a customer.
On the other hand, I drank almost two gallons of soda, water, lemonade and fruit juice today. Tell me, what did you do that was new and interesting this August 28, 2008?
