It's Bullet Sunday and I'm another year closer to death!
• Thanks! Well, shucks. Thanks to everybody who was nice enough to leave birthday comments. Thanks to everybody who sent birthday emails and eCards. Thanks to everybody who called and sent birthday text messages. Thanks to everybody who sent me birthday presents and cards. Thanks to everybody who wrote birthday wishes to me in their blog entries. I am so very grateful to everybody, and am most pleased that I seem to have fooled so many people into thinking that I am somehow deserving of such kindness and generosity.
• Behind. The bad thing about goofing off all weekend is that you get behind on email and blog reading. The bad thing about drinking all weekend is that you have no desire whatsoever to get caught up on your email and blog reading once you get back home...
• Panera. Living in a smaller city is kind of sad in that your dining choices are so limited. As an example, there is no place to get Indian food in the entire valley. We have fifty Mexican restaurants, but not one Indian restaurant. We are getting a bit lucky that some of the better chains are making their way to Wenatchee... there's an Applebees and a Red Robin here now (in addition to all the usual fast-food shops). But there are restaurants I really like which have not yet arrived. I'd kill for a Johnny Rockets. I'd love a Chili's. And then there's IHOP, Olive Garden, and TGI Friday's, all of which I would enjoy as dining options. But my latest obsession is Panera Bread. This weekend I was able to eat at their Alderwood location, and had one of the best sandwiches ever... the Panera Mediterranean Veggie which is described as "zesty piquant peppers, feta cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cilantro hummus on our Tomato Basil bread" (I hold the cucumbers). To say it was "delicious" is an understatement of massive proportions. Now I'm going to spend the next month craving another one. In some ways I dread the idea that Wenatchee will ever get these restaurants, because I'd probably weigh 500 pounds from eating at them all the time.
• Manning. Who could have guessed that Peyton Manning would be so good hosting Saturday Night Live? I just wish that they would give the President Bush impersonations back to Will Forte (instead of Jason Sedakis). It's not that Sedakis is bad, it's just that Forte offers a more sympathetic blundering to his parodies which I find funnier...
Photos swiped from WillForte.net
• Done. Argh. I was going to write more bullets about being gifted the latest iTunes episode of Lost, running across somebody whom I thought was dead, planning my first real vacation in 10 years, finding $40 I didn't know I had lost (in a very unlikely place), why aquamarine is a crappy birthstone to have, and a meme about magazines, but it's 11:55pm and five minutes isn't enough time to do any of that. So I guess it will all have to wait for another time. Though I have about 120 blogs to read and 211 emails to look at, so I have no idea when that might be. Probably never. I need to hire a blog ghostwriter or something.
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You have a Red Robin? I loved that place in Los Angeles. Clearly you wouldn’t eat this, but their Royal Red Robin burger with a fried egg on top was awesome!
I agree with you, Will Forte is the Bush of choice. Best impersonation of Bush since Will Farrell. Hmm, maybe they should always let Wills do the Bush impersonations.
I LOVE Panera Bread. You should try their soup in a bread bowl the next time you get a chance.
That’s the only thing that kept me from freezing to death during the crazy Pittsburgh winters when I lived there…thawed me out every time.
Happy birthday!!
Happy two days after your birthday!!!
Panera Bread is the bestest EVA!
It’s funny (well, maybe not so)…that living where we have ALL of those nasty restaurants (and more) to choose from, that I do my best to stay away from them and “eat local” (well, now, that doesn’t sound very good, does it??). I skip the chains whenever possible. Having stepped on on a broken limb on that one, I do love Panera….and their veggie to-do is really yummo (as Rachel Ray would say). All of that happened at Alderwood? Wow. I thought that just trouble hung out with their trousers down around their arses at Alderwood. We’re you just trying to be one of the boys?
See what I miss on the weekends? Happy belated Birthday!
I concur with the Panera veggie sandwich. Had it on Friday. So good. The cilantro hummus… Now I’m hungry. Also, I feel very sorry that you don’t have an Indian restaurant close by.
The skit with Manning as the basketball player = uproarious laughter.
Paneras are few and far between in fair Chicagoland. I usually have to hop a train up to Evanston, but it’s always worth it–I will definitely have to try the Mediteranean Veg!
Oh so very anxious to hear the “gifted LOST episode” story. 😉
Glad you survived the big b-day weekend!
I totally missed your birthday.
I haven’t added you to my blogroll(yet).
I might have given you “the clap” at TequilaCon.
The fact that you haven’t banned my IP address is only testament to your ever gracious nature.
Hoo HOO !!! 211 emails !!! You are very famous !
Are you sure that Liz doesn’t send you a email ? 😉
Bon Anniversaire! (Only two days late, too… which is pretty good for me. Was it good for you, too?) Oh man, if you could find a way to bring a good Indian food restaurant to the valley… get working on that, would you?
I’ll trade you one of our Chili’s and one of our IHOP’s for your Red Robin. I want to try the lemonade Kevin told me about.
As for Jason Sedakis, I want him to stop being Bush only because I find him sexy and Bush as Sex God makes me feel really dirty. And not good dirrty with 2 r’s, but take a shower immediately to wash off the shame dirty.
Panera = love.
I swear that I eat there more than anywhere else. Foo and I almost accidentally cussed out a preacher there last week, eep!
Hilly, if you think Panera = love, you need to try Paradise Cafe & Bakery.
If Panera is an orgasm, Paradise is a multiple.
(Great veggie sandwiches, too, Dave.)
happy belated birthday, dave!
wow, and I thought *I* lived in bumfuck nowhere! at least we have chili’s, olive garden and TGIFriday’s!
oooh! oooh! me! hire me to be a ghostwriter! i could totally do it. i’ve always wanted to write a guest post on a legit blog anyway. of course, you really have no idea who i am and no reason to believe i wouldn’t just eff up your blog and cost you readers, so i don’t see this actually happening. but still, keep it in mind.
I love finding money that you didn’t know you had – it means you can spend it on something frivolous – on a ‘want’ rather than a ‘need’.
First off, Happy Birthday! 🙂 Mmmm, Panera! I used to have one just down the street from me, but now there isn’t one very close to me at all. They are all like 20-30 minutes away now. 🙁
Happy Birthday!
I missed it but it doesn’t make the happy birthday wishes any less genuine. I hope it was great!
Looking forward to the aquamarine explanation. It’s my birthstone, too, and I could give the reasons why it’s a stupid and yucky stone but I don’t want to steal your post.
There is nothing better than really good Indian food.
We have the same problem out here in the boonies and managed to eat two meals a day at the best Indian restaurant we’ve found in a long time while in Phoenix last year in July. It was only 116 during the day, and some of the dishes were even hotter, but god was it good.
Apparently folks like the Rolling Stones pop into this restaurant when they’re coming through the area, and I can see why.
Dang, now I’m debating driving 9 hours one way just to eat there again. 😉
Um Dave. Panera Bread right down the street. On the same street as the best bookstore in the world. And a Newbury Comics. And so many other great places to eat and shop. Ahem.
You could come to Boston, right?
Hey!
Sorry I missed your birthday. I was in Barcelona with no computer.
Happy happy belated borsday!
What´s that app next to Mail in your dock? (The one to the right).
Happy belated birthday! for my birthday on tuesday i went to Panera and my “treat” to myself was an “I.C. Carmel” ice cream coffee beverage, soooo good. kicks Frappachino’s ass. i try not to think about the fat content.
I also don’t care for aquamarine as a birthstone. kinda pale and boring. I prefer February (amythest) or…anything except October (Topaz). I don’t know who decided April was so worth of diamonds, though.