Yesterday morning I hustled out the door a few minutes late, hauled all of my work paraphernalia into my car (I really need to wean myself away from the extra bag, as I so rarely use its contents), and fumbled the key into the ignition. The engine turned over, ran for all of half a second, and then coughed off. Attempt two was greeted with a loud, low, steady whine. Luckily my mom was just on her way out the door, so I dragged all of my things over to her car and she drove me in.
All is well in [Elliot/Oscar] land now, though. The guess is something in the engine got wet. It was right as rain this morning, though, despite yesterday’s continued storming. Last night sunset was all low and vibrant, the soft brilliance of storm season. All the tornadoes seemed to be north and east, which they always are, so we were touched only with heavy rain, some thunder, a few licks of lightning.
I was too lazy to go downstairs to grab the easy supper items from those freezers, so (ironically) I made Piedomontese braised turkey with polenta and Mediterranean vegetables. The vegetables were a cheat — microwaved straight from the bag — but the rest was done by hand, so I think it was a nice compromise. The gravy was delicate and flavored beautifully of sage and red wine, and I hate even calling it gravy because to me the word is the thick ultraheavy brown affair always served at Thanksgiving, and this was light, half translucent, complex. It was my first crack at polenta and I started it a bit too early so it cooled a little in the pan while I was whisking the gravy, but it doesn’t seem to be an extremely touchy thing. On its own it was utterly bland, but I liked it quite a lot with the gravy and onions.
I’m inexplicably exhausted again today. Well, perhaps it’s the ghosts of last week’s sleep deficit. That and I keep staying up a little too late reading, and this past weekend I woke early twice and both times chose the book over a little extra sleep. It’s a pattern I’ve missed, though, giving whole stretches of hours over to reading.
I keep trying to see Howl’s Moving Castle and it keeps not working out, so I’m thinking I might abandon the attempt. Abandon movies altogether for a while, though I’d sort of like to see Bewitched, and of course Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when it comes out. We saw Batman Begins on Father’s Day and it was good, though I’m glad we only paid matinee prices for it; I’m increasingly picky about what I’ll go to full price.
Peter Pan opens at the Ordway today, and it looks like it’ll be good fun. I’d had vague thoughts of student rushing with Carrie, but it’s only on through July 10 and she’s in Russia through the end of July. Finding Neverland has been haunting me since I saw it; it’d probably be smart to watch it again, just to get it out of my system.
