sour times

I think it was my first year in college when a fairly new, very quirky friend introduced me to a little band called Portishead.  Of their three albums, I own two - their first and their last.  The first, Dummy, has a bunch of great tracks to just kind of groove to - this is mellow music with a little bit of trip-hop for good measure.  Their most popular song is called "Sour Times" and you can click the link to let the song follow you through tonight's little adventure.

I woke up to a "sour" surprise...

Why isn't any furniture ever off limits to a cat?  I mean, he knows he isn't supposed to be on the table - he just doesn't care.   I came out of the bedroom and looked for him to greet me on the floor.  After conquering my confusion over not finding him where I expected to, I started toward the kitchen to make tea and breakfast.  Then I saw him - sprawled out on the table, sleepy and dopey, and not making even the remotest effort to remove himself from this forbidden place, rather, looking at me as if to say, "what?"

So, naturally, I took pictures before chastising him.

When I reached work, more sour times awaited.  I had not been there even a half hour before the VP sent out an email to the groups I work with, explaining that US News & World Report had compiled a list of weight loss options and ranked them on several different features.  He went on to explain that we did not do as well as we would have preferred and that "talking points" would be distributed by the end of the day, in case anyone asked us about it.

Slightly more curious than my own cat, I immediately visited the website to view these results for myself.  To say "we did not do as well as we would have preferred" is a vast understatement.  A rough translation would be "we nearly came in dead last out of 20 options."  Also, our "talking points" appear to go something like this: "Nuh-uh!"

Nothing quite reinforces the printed word like hearing those sentiments spoken by the lips and voices of our current clientele for about 3 hours today.  So, as I was headed home, I tried to recover some semblance of enthusiasm, especially considering we have another group of new employees coming in on Monday and obviously, we want them to think the world of our little company for at least a few weeks.  When I got home, I inadvertently chose to make the sourest meal in our line-up.

Curried Cauliflower, Garbanzo, and Tomato Salad from The Complete Vegan Cookbook was not everything I thought it would be.  It wasn't bad, but as salads go, it would be closer to the bottom rank than the top.  I had hoped for a more pronounced curry flavor and I think I was unrealistically expecting it to be a savory marinade, despite the 4 tablespoons of citrus (half lemon, half orange) and only 2 teaspoons of tamari to balance.  The cumin and curry powder were more of an essence, present more in scent than in actual flavor.  My instincts say that salt would pull their flavors out a little more prominently, but I'm not sure that was meant to happen.

I made it more for Mister anyway and he seemed happy with it.

Me?  I'm just happy (and a little smug) to report that in those twenty "diets" ranked by USN&WR, who did better than my company?  Raw food diet, veganism, vegetarianism, and Eco-Atkins (vegan Atkins - who'd have thunk??).

(PS. my favorite Portishead song has always been and still is Wandering Stars.)