Still in hermit status and still loving it.

It’s been over a month and I have yet to tire of locking myself away from the world for days at at time. Part of me is starting to feel guilty, guilty of what I’m not sure. Well… maybe guilty isn’t the right word for it. I think aberrant best describes this feeling… hell, I don’t know if there is a right word for it. If you think of one, let me know.

Having this level of solitude and idleness feel so good is very antithetical to what is considered normal; at least in my small bubble of humanity. Not doing anything or socializing with anyone for days at a time is not considered normal or “right” in most circles in this culture. I almost feel like I should seek out a monastery or ashram or something, not because I’m trying to find spiritual enlightenment, but in hopes of having all this quite solitude feel more acceptable. Maybe surrounding myself with people who don’t really do anything either will make this aberrant feeling go away. Or maybe I’ll just stop worrying about what’s considered normal and save myself the planning of having to sneak my ipod and Kindle into a monastery (lying to monks probably isn’t smart karmic planning, I can just see some old wise monk praising my silent meditations when really I’m listening to my David Sedaris audio book collection under my burlap hood).

What little time spent out of my home/oasis is usually spent in the loving endeavor of consuming calories or the bitter endeavor of burning them. Here are a few highlights:

• Tenacity - Throw out your notions of restaurants or chefs tastings. This experience is something of it’s own. Chef Randy Rucker has worked in many of Houston’s finest dinning establishments and is currently… well, “doing his own thing”, is the best way I can describe it. Basically, he plans an exciting menu, posts it on the internet, and if you’re lucky enough to know about it you sign up before all the slots are full. He then emails you the location of the event (when we went, it was at his personal home). You show up with your own booze and mingle with the other dozen or so guests. It’s like a small dinner party with people you’ve never met but who share a love of and appreciation for adventurous fine dinning. Everything is very casual and unpretentious, I suspect even walking in with a box wine wouldn’t get you booed off stage. You then proceed to have your eight or so courses served and explained by chef Randy. Our courses included some items I’d never had before because they were recently legalized  in the US (mangosteen), some combinations I’d never thought could be so good (white chocolate and miso sauce), and some old favorites made to taste like new favorites (fried oysters). Eat new stuff, meet new people. It was a blast and we’re going back soon!
• Houston Restaurant Week – This is an annual event where many of Houston’s top restaurants plan a set menu for a set price and part of the proceeds go to help end hunger. We took advantage (oh yeah, and helped hungry people) by having three course meals at Voice and 17 for only $35. Voice was fantastic and we’re going back. 17 was a big disappointment again (this was our second unsuccessful trip to 17), we will not be going back. You can read more details about our experiences if Husband ever finishes his part of the Houston dinning website we’re starting.
• Private swim training – I could write a whole separate entry about how much I hate gyms and one day I might. But until then, let me just say this,  I HATE GYMS! And until recently I had taken pride in the fact that I’d never belonged to one. But since I decided to give swimming laps a try as a form of burning off all the wonderful eating I’ve been doing, I pretty much had no choice. And since I signed up at 24 Hour Fitness I’m not under contract so I decided to give it a good two or three month try, and I figure if I’m going to try I might as well really try. So I purchased five 30 minute personal training sessions. I’ve only had two so far and I’m not impressed. Although I must admit that it was going to be very hard to impress me to begin with. I think my trainer got an inkling of this when he asked me why I wanted to try swimming and this was my response, “Because I’ve tried everything else and hated it, so once I try swimming I’ll be able to honestly say that I’ve tried everything and I hate all of it.” Yeah, I think he knew he had his work cut out for him. Poor schmuck. -Scratch that-Poor perfectly sculpted schmuck.

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