Sushi Tonight

Tonight after visiting Woody at the clinic, Yoshiko and I went to a sushi restaurant that we heard about and had reserved seats for this evening. What a surprise! A young and energetic chef who is serving traditional sushi but also seems to enjoy indulging in some original recipes. Just traditional enough to be familiar; just edgy enough to be daring. At the beginning of the meal, he showed me a bilingual book on sushi preparation and detailed explanations of varieties. We had such a good time with him, he gave me the book at the end of the meal as a gift. 

Here is the link to his web site (sorry in Japanese only). We'll be going back soon. Hope to see you there.

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Photographed from my fabulous iPhone.

 

Update on Woody

Woody is into his first full week back at the clinic. His condition improved last week after he started to receive steroids but the bleeding returned on the weekend. The doctor admits to being at a loss to explain why he is not improving but prefers to give the treatment a little more time. His last option is another round of surgery (to which we agree). 

I have been visiting Woody every day at the clinic and he sure is happy to see me.  I give him a gentle massage around the head and neck (his favorite) and update him on news from the outside world. He seems healthy in almost every way and very anxious to come home. We really miss him around the house.

Get well soon, Woody!

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Woody's getting better!

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I visited Woody at the clinic on the way home from work. He has been back in the vet's care since Tuesday afternoon when some severe bleeding returned. I was pleasantly surprised to see how responsive he was to me. He was having a little snooze when I arrived but quickly awoke. Yesterday he was still sleepy and seemed upset to be back in the clinic but today he wanted to be scratched and petted. He especially likes to be scratched around the collar, which must be itchy.

 He is now on his third day of steroids and he is reacting well to them. Unlikely he'll be able to compete in professional sports in the future but we're just anxious to have him home soon. Everything points towards his return on the weekend. Man, this has been an emotional roller coster ride for the past three weeks.

 Sorry for the short and poor quality of this video but you get the idea...

Valentine's Day- Romantic or not?

I think we are all generally in agreement that Valentine's Day is really a commercial product, even though the day originated as a pagan festival and the romance angle started in the High Middle Ages. Valentine's Day is the second most popular time for sending greeting cards, after Christmas Day. But I really feel that Valentine's Day is really not a very romantic occasion. 

Romance, at least effective romance, is all about individuality, spontaneity, privacy, originality, and surprise. One need not look beyond the surprise marriage proposal when (usually) the man elaborately sets up a surprise situation to pop the question. You have to inhuman not get a little choked up when you see such a proposal. Can you imagine if there was an annual Proposal Day and everyone waited until that day to propose marriage? What fun would that be?

It's the same with Valentine's Day. Why should we all wait until the same day to buy flowers, give chocolates, have a romantic dinner and express our love? What's wrong with doing that on July 6 or November 17 or May 29? By waiting to do it on February 14 each year, our partner knows it is coming and the surprise and romance are lost. Or diminished in the best of cases. And if you forget or do it haphazardly, trouble is doubled. At the very least, we are reduced to competing with everyone else for chocolates and flowers and restaurant reservations on the same day. What isn't romantic is sitting in a restaurant with fifty other couples celebrating the same thing. It's a surprise dinner in a private corner in a small Italian restaurant where you've planned a special menu in advance with the chef. Romance is feeling the entire moment revolves around her. 

Sure, maybe we need a day at least once a year for romance but I think it needs to be more often. Roses grow all year, restaurants are open every night, chocolates are everywhere. We could all use a little more romance a little more often in our lives. 

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea 
Mermaids are chaunting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart, 
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart, --
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

- by Stephen Foster

Gmail feature requires math test

This is an interesting add-on feature for Gmail. It requires you to solve a math equation before you can send an email. I am sure we have all sent an email that we wish we could get back. As a rule, when I write 'difficult' emails, I save them as a draft and review them again in a couple of hours or the next day. I think I have deleted more than I ended up sending.
 
If you are looking for this feature (and many more), go to Settings and click on the Labs section.

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