Food & Drink

Of Chips & Buns, Making Small Talk At The Dinner Table

/ Ally Bean / 27 Comments
I. The scene

Zen-Den and I went to dinner at a Tex-Mex place.  Sitting there at our table, me sipping a frozen Texas Twister, him drinking a Dos Eqius, waiting for our tortilla chips to arrive, we got to talking.

II. The Subject

Thinking about the recent news story that I’d seen that day, I asked Zen-Den what he thought about man buns.  Specifically, the man buns of Disney.

I figured that the sports babble radio guys who he listens to during his daily commute would have had something to say about man buns.  But apparently they’re not as aware of male hairstyles as one might hope.

Zen-Den had no idea what I was talking about.

III. The Conversation

He asked: What kind of buns? Ones that you eat? 

I said: No!

He said: Buns with your hair?  On men?

I said: Yes, the ones on your head.

He asked: Like granny buns?

I said: No, not like Granny Clampett.  More like sumo wrestlers.

He said: The guys are fat?

I said: No.  I don’t think so.  Maybe some are.  The photos show thin guys.

 He said: There are photos?  Where?

I said: Online.  In a blog or something, I think.  I read an article. 

He said: So these thin guys pull their hair up and twist it into a bun?

I said: Yes!

He said: How?

I said: I don’t know.  It’s just up there.  Maybe with a scrunchie?  Or bobby pins?

He said: Why do they do it? 

I said: It’s probably a thing like being a hipster with your hat.  Or those “git r done” guys with their shaved heads.  It’s cool, I guess.  

He said: Why?

I said: I dunno.  Because men are stupid? 

He said: That’s true… that’s very true. 

I said: I’ll send you the link to the article.

He said: Nah.  I don’t want to see it.  Sounds weird.  That’s why I like listening to radio.  I don’t have to see any pictures of stupid men.

IV. The Conclusion

The conversation ended when our server brought us fresh homemade chips and salsa.  They captured Zen-Den’s attention, so he was no longer interested in cross-examining me about man buns.

I stopped talking about them, but will admit that I enjoyed watching a middle age business guy struggle with the idea of men wearing their hair in an up-do… just because they can.

Link Love: Women With Smarts Edition

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

~ ~ • ~ ~

•  Ducks and sponges.

“For ducks, other people’s emotions roll right off them…  Not so for sponges.  Highly intuitive types often soak up other people’s feelings…” ~ Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy

•  What Your Favorite Summer Cocktail Says About You

“No matter where you go, you have an uncanny knack for getting everyone to tell you their life story.”  

•  10 Words Every Girl Should Learn

“After I wrote about the gender confidence gap recently, of the 10 items on a list, the one that resonated the most was the issue of whose speech is considered important.” ~ Soraya Chemaly

•  Ship Your Enemies Glitter

“Prank your Friends and Enemies. Let us send them some stupid glitter that is guaranteed to go everywhere. You don’t have to move a muscle.”

•  Why You Should Kick Your Bucket List

“Well I propose that if you truly want to up your happiness factor, you need to kick that bucket list and make a f@ck it list.” ~ Elena at Fabulously 50 & Living With Batman

•  Everything Was New And Pretty Wondrous

“A long time ago (last week) in a city far, far away (Baltimore), Alice Bowman guided the most ambitious space mission in a generation. Here, she explains what it’s like to glimpse the edge of the solar system.” ~ Rachel Morris

•  The Cake Is A Lie

“The Cake is a Lie is a catchphrase… and is often used to convey the message that a promised gift is being used to motivate without any intent of delivering.”  

A Glimpse Into Life With The Beans, Mid-Summer Edition

/ Ally Bean / 24 Comments
The Good

Zen-Den went to the grocery and bought everything on the list, including cornstarch.  This, as he pointed out to me, was a big deal because, as he said: “even five years ago I wouldn’t have known what cornstarch was– and would have bought corn meal instead.” 

Congratulations, darling.  You’ve passed GROCERY SHOPPING 201, an intermediate level course in advanced shopping techniques wherein husbands learn to buy exactly that which is written on the list.

Isn’t he something? Let’s give it up for the Z-D.

~ • ~

The Bad

Influenced by Mad Men [and a bit of nostalgia for my parents], I had a hankering for an Old Fashioned.  So I got out the bourbon and the sugar bowl in which I keep sugar cubes and the Angostura Bitters.  Then I made myself an Old Fashioned using the last of the bourbon.

While my drink sat on the counter below, as I attempted to put the sugar bowl back onto the cupboard shelf above, in a horrible moment of miscalculation, I knocked the lid off the sugar bowl.  It fell onto the counter, shattering into 3 gazillion + 1 pieces, many of which landed in my drink.

Leaving me distraught and drinkless.

~ • ~

The Ugly

Because of the excessive rain, we’ve not used our screened-in porch as much as we usually do in the summer.  However, the other evening there was no rain, so we decided to go out there to sit.

Almost immediately we both noticed that there were ants walking around on the rug in the screened-in porch.  This is amazing because the porch is up a story from the ground below, but those miserable, icky, sneaky, destructive ants were on. my. porch.

I took off one of my Birks, grabbed it with my hand and started hitting the ants until they stopped moving.  I put the sandal back on when I thought that I’d killed all the ants, but I hadn’t.  So when I saw one last ant moving, in a fit of anger, I stomped down really hard with my sandaled foot on the last ant… and twisted my left ankle in the process.

I hate ants.

~ • ~

Lunching With A Friend At A Restaurant With A Confusing Name

/ Ally Bean / 24 Comments

… you gotta wonder who names these places?

A FRIEND WHO I’VE KNOWN FOR DECADES called me and wanted to meet me for lunch at a place she’d recently discovered.  She thought the food and service were great– plus we needed an adventure, she said.

I asked what was the name of this fine establishment where we’d be lunching.  And that’s when the conversation took a turn for the worse.

It’s called Again With The Eggs Cafe, she said.

… Or maybe it’s called All About Eggs Cafe?  

She couldn’t remember.

• • •

I ASKED WHERE THIS NEW DELIGHTFUL RESTAURANT, whatever its name might be, was located.  Come to find out it was about halfway between where we each live, so it made sense to go there.

It’s called Broken Eggs Again Cafe, she declared.

That’s it.  That’s the name of the place.

… Or maybe it’s called Something About Broken Eggs Cafe.

I can’t remember the name, she said.

[No kidding, thought I.]

However, despite not knowing the precise name of this restaurant, located in a new “lifestyle center,” she could tell me exactly how to get there.  And how to safely navigate the “lifestyle center” parking lot, designed by the makers of whack-a-mole.

• • •

AND THAT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME, a woman who started driving pre-Garmin.  Who survives life in the big city sans smart phone.

Who’s been lost more times than found when it comes to going to lunch with friends.

So off I went to have lunch at this charming little restaurant, with the impossible-to-remember name, called: Another Broken Egg Cafe.

… you can understand her confusion, can’t ‘ya?

• • •