update

My stomach is still in knots, but the kitten is still alive. Seems she needed surgery to fix her innards. Maybe she'll make it.

dinner and ennui

For anyone wondering if last Thursday's dinner date resulted in unadulterated passion, it didn't. But we had a chance to catch up, discuss our career choices, smoke forbidden cigarettes (Neil, not me) and overeat.

Neil wanted to hit one of those Brazilian steakhouses populated by waiters in seriously puffy trousers, so we went to Fogo de Chao. These places are heaven for those who like to eat unlimited doses of semi-rare roast beast. I settled for a lot of salad and a small piece of chicken.

Much of the conversation dealt with Neil's career in data warehousing and business intelligence. He claimed to be extremely unhappy with how the business had evolved, as now he felt that his efforts did nothing else but spy on people. "You wouldn't believe how much some of us know about you," he said, looking despondent.

My take on my own career was opposite. During the past months, I've realized that moving from marketing to policies has taken a lot of pressure off me. In particular, I don't have to worry about being creative, or even worry what the fuck we mean by "creative".  What's creative, anyway? Something that intrigues people, or something that sells more fmcg (fast-moving consumer goods)? And I don't have to worry about dressing trendily. I can wear my baggy Eileen Fisher outfits to the Snoopy Borg without shame.

The subject that finally brought Neil out of his capitalist gloom was my description of the Luis Bunuel autobiography I read a few months ago. I'm thinking of sending him a copy. And when we began discussing our favorite borscht belt comedians, he was off and running. Neil can tell Jewish jokes like nobody's business.

Perhaps I didn't fuck him, but I think I cheered him up.

a scene from my back yard

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sense and sensibility

While deleting the usual 50 unwanted e-mails from my personal account, I spotted a lonely little e-mail from Neil. We go back a long way - all the way back to 2000. After a shortish international affair that included a trip to London and some gifts of La Perla lingerie, we settled into a writer/editor relationship. He writes white papers that feature the world's longest sentences, and I go in and shorten them.

Seems that Neil will be in Dallas tonight and tomorrow, as he will be presenting a talk on what was formerly described as data warehousing Friday before returning home. Earlier this year, he took some time off and traveled through some remote parts of Asia, including Vietnam. 

While I'm not sure if he'll make a pass at me or not this evening, and I'm not sure how I'd respond, I'd like to hear about his Asian travels. So we'll see. 

all together now ... awwwwwww.

Cat survives 16 days in rubble

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- Surely, Lavern the cat has used all of her nine lives.

The cat's owners found her alive and basically well, 16 days after she was buried under the rubble left when a tornado destroyed their home in Joplin.

Terrla and J.E. Cruse went back to the house Tuesday to look for paperwork needed for a Federal Emergency Management Agency application. They hadn't seen Lavern since the tornado and had given up hope of finding the 13-year-old animal.

Terrla Cruse says she was talking to her sister when she heard a cat meow.

She and her sister followed the meowing. They dug through the rubble and unearthed Lavern, thinner and dehydrated but alive. The Joplin Globe reports that a veterinarian says Lavern will make a complete recovery.

Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com