Casino Living, Biking, and The Studio

I got back from the Mohegan Sun job and man does it suck working in a casino. Talk about depressing. They bring in hoards of old people on buses so they can sit in front of the slots pumping in quarter after quarter. Not a smile on a single face.

The piece went up with few problems, but my throat was killing me from all the smoke and dust. At the end of the day all I wanted to do was escape from the money grubbing horribleness that is Mohegan Sun.

The only fun I had was on the two nights we went out for dinner. The first trip we got oysters in Mystic, and then grabbed some brews in a pub. The second we drove all the way to Providence, and hung out in this old tavern. The waiters we beer connoisseurs with over 80 to choose from. It made things awfully entertaining.

Needless to say I'm glad to be back, and looking forward to a good month here in Seattle. This weekend has been beautiful. Cloudless skies are a wonderful thing. I celebrated with a bike ride around Magnolia.

This is my backyard:

I get the studio on Thursday, and will be setting it up over teh weekend. (excitement) So, I'll have pics soon.

Skiing, Loafing, and Vinegar Pie

I got back from the St. Louis trip a on Tuesday and had a fantastic time. The work was tough but the accommodations were super cush and seeing people made it completely worth it. There was drinking, gambling, concert going (The Heartless Bastards in the Duck Room, WOOT), U-City Grilling, Yan Chinging, and room service cookies at midnight while watching Mythbusters... ing. I realize now that I do miss that city (don't wanna move beck though.)

I've been in Seattle for the last 5 days and it's felt good. On Friday I met up with Michelle McCully and had Indian with her UW friends. Saturday I got up early and when to Crystal with KG, Jeremy, Shrepher, and Ally. It was a beautiful drive out and got up the first lift by 10:30. The snow was perfect; dry and deep. I was loving it. So nice to have skiing close by. I will be going again soon.

Saturday night, after getting back, Kristin, Jeremy, Noonan and I hit up a meatloaf party at Ally's friend's house. It was my first Meatloaf party, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. My fear was that they would be playing A Bat Out of Hell all night; fortunately, it was a meatloaf competition and not a tribute to the singer. Tied for the best thing at the party: Meatloaf muffins, and the giant vodka jello mould (it was made in a bunt pan.)

Today sitting on the ass was priority 1. With no weekend while in STL and the skiing yesterday I was pooped. Priority 2 was vinegar pie. My Great Aunt Margret had this recipe and Noonan and I made it our mission to cook one up. Here it is:



I'm shocked at how good it is. I was expecting it to be anything but tasty. (Another pleasant surprise)

If you want to make one of your very own... here are the ingredients:

1 stick margarine, melted and cooled
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 eggs
1 9 inch unbaked pie shell

Mix the first Six ingredients then pour into pie shell. Cook at 350 until it is golden brown and stops jiggling. Good luck!

I'm leaving for Mohegan Sun tomorrow... Be back on Friday. 5 days in a casino should be interesting.

I have the most uncontrollable craving for grilled cheese right now.

It's been a while, I know.....

Lots of newness. X-mas in Aspen was a hell of a thing. (No pictures, oddly enough... Didn't take a one.) Good snow the first couple of days, but no big dumps. I skied solo on Christmas day and it was SO much fun. I think the entire fam had a great time so... same thing next year?

I made off with some decent booty too... 2 more seasons of Kids in the Hall, A Nintendo DS, and an antique pond yacht fixed up and rebuilt by my parents:



I have been back in Seattle for the past week and am loving it. I think the biggest piece of news is that I got a STUDIO! woot! I found a listing on Craig's List for a artist studio downtown. It's like two blocks north of Pike's Place Market. I had been working with these people since before the break, and went down and saw it on Wednesday. Its a pretty cool place. It can house about 10 studios, has a loading dock off the back, high ceilings, lots of storage. and is above a cycle shop. I told them I'd take it on Thursday, and signed the papers on Friday.

I decided to push the lease until February after finding out I've got a second trip this month for Chihuly. The first is to St. Louis for the MOBot de-install. I leave tomorrow for that and am super excited about it. (Seeing friends!) The second is only five days after that and is to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. We are replacing all the pieces on a tower for all new pieces. The pieces with silver leaf on them all tarnished, so we are exchanging them for clear. Fun!

I guess this is the one:


Thank god there are three of us going for 5 days 'cause I really don't know what I'm doing.

As for this weekend, I had a great time climbing with Kristin and Jeremy on Friday night, and then Noonan joined us for drinks at the Sloop. Yesterday we spent watching disappointing football and and drinking Budweiser Select (which our taste tests prove it's exactly the same thing as Budweiser.) We went to Phuket Tia for for dinner (I guess it is supposed to be pronounced FOO.ket, but I like it better the other way) and finished watching the not as disappointing Seahawks game. I hate Texas.

The night concluded nicely with a 1:30 AM migraine which I'm currently shaking off, but that's really the only bad thing lately, so I'd say not too shabby.