Saturday, July 22, 2023
Performed stretches good for the back. Medium bowl of oatmeal with milk, flax meal, cacao nibs, toasted grated coconut, sliced half banana; hot water. Performed more stretches good for the back. Troubleshot and resolved a network problem (web pages don't load) by restarting the router. Deep-cleaned the inside frame of the living room window. Replaced air purifier inner filters and outer prefilters. Troubleshot problems with HomePod speakers not playing music simultaneously on both speakers and resolved them by restarting both speakers. It took several minutes longer than I had expected. Troubleshot a problem with receiving email sent to me by Patrick and resolved it by removing a spam filter I had created a few days ago. Prepared and printed an index card created in InDesign describing the wine we plan to bring to tonight's dinner. The wine is Emilio Moro La Felisa 2020, a tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, Spain. Wine Spectator gave it a score of 91, saying, "An expressive red, revealing an aromatic overtone of Mediterranean scrub accents, with ripe blackberry, damson plum reduction and black olive. Framed by bright acidity and chalky tannins, this has power as well as immediate pleasure and good balance. Well-spiced, minerally finish. Drink now." Patrick napped. I completed several black Sugru projects using a three-pack: repaired a circular Umbra mirror that I have had for decades, repaired the Sugru retrofitted rubber feet on our wooden Squatty Potty, and used the remaining Sugru on the iPhone cable near my bed. For the Squatty Potty I had to clean it completely, then scrape the old Sugru off with a plastic putty knife, then clean the area with unscented mineral spirits, then apply the Sugru, then cover the Sugru with plastic wrap, then set it firmly on the ground to ensure it was balanced, then wait a day or so for it to cure. Vacuumed various areas, partly to clean Sugru bits. Midafternoon snack: greek yogurt with dried cherries and unsalted pistachios, water. Listened to OK Go's new song This on YouTube, and I like it. Patrick arose. I napped then showered. We rode Uber Green to dinner at Deluxe Queer. We met host David, host and dressmaker Anthony, Aussie Treffyn, Anthony who works at Lyft, Eulysses who is an engineer, Matthew who works in furniture import/export and design, and talented musician Mina. We were seated adjacent to Anthony, Eulysses, Matthew, and Mina, and consequently we mostly talked with only them the entire evening. The four-course, Miyazaki-and-Studio-Ghibli-inspired Summertime Fantasy Feast menu: Course #1: Porco Rosso: salmon crudo with miso corn puree, coconut milk, and lemon. Course #2: Ponyo: cold ramen with miso-mushroom-soy broth, torihamu, menma, and sesame tomato. Course #3: Spirited Away: Taiwanese street food: char siu pork and apples, scallion pancakes, five-spice fried mushrooms, cumin beef dumplings. Course #4: Miyazaki Landscapes: white chocolate bombe with roasted pineapple jam, pepper coconut whipped cream, five-spice cookies crumbles, Italian meringue. The food was carefully prepared, impeccably timed, and all very delicious. We shared our wine because we knew we could not finish it ourselves. I thought the entire experience was exquisitely crafted, the company was terrific with fine vibes, and we enjoyed it very much. We rode Uber Green home, which took much longer than expected to find and secure a driver, and I realized only a moment before it became too late to cancel without a fee that there were more Lyft cars in the area. To bed almost immediately upon arriving home.