Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Never been so bored at dinner

I like the Orange Peel Beef at PF Chang's.  It's spicy and even tastes good warmed up over rice, one of the few Chinese foods I actually look forward to.  The Mandarin Beef at Panda Express is another.  Well, I was at the grocer's, recently, and saw PF Chang's has frozen meals available.  One was called Shanghai Style Beef, so I bought it and yesterday I tried it out.  Cooked it just like they said.  And it was AWFUL.  Tasteless, practically, and a little bit slimy.  Not at all what I expected.  I mean, they SAY on the package it's a "savory sauce".  Yeah, if you drown it in Soy Sauce.

Now I've got leftovers and can't throw them out; there's something in my makeup that refuses to toss food unless it's spoiled.  So I guess I'll have to figure out how to make this meal tasty enough to get down.  But no way am I going anywhere near that crap, again.

Of course, it could be me.  I mean, I also like TGI Friday's potato skins (NOT good for you but VERY tasty).  So I tried their name brand potato skin chips in bacon and cheddar.  Again, nothing to the taste.  I had to use Picante sauce to liven 'em up because not even a good Guacamole helped.

So...I guess I'll just have the real deal at the place it's made at or cook my own at home.

My muse has pulled a little trick on me and taken me into a story that's now pouring out.  I don't know what it is, yet -- a novel or a short or something in-between -- but the main character's voice is very vivid and his buddy is just as wild.  Hunter and Vermin.  Don't ask me where those names came from; these guys arrived fully formed and ready to talk.  I may be a whiny little shit, much of the time, but I know to shut up and listen when it's this loud.  Got 11 pages...no, I hit 12.

And no headache.  I wonder if what I was really going through was birth pangs.  Wouldn't that be just like me?

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