Saccharine Thoughts

Things are finally slowing down, and I don't think I have ever been happier to see the Spring come and go. The month of May was jam-packed with a number of really awesome events! I am still settling in at the new job at Arthouse, but was thrust into the organization's ins and outs with the signature fundraiser on May 13 and 14, which reached out to over 1,000 people in the Austin art community. The Dude (yep, new moniker; get used to it. ) and I made a surprise one-day visit to Mineral Wells for Mother's Day brunch which both thrilled and pissed off Mama Lou, as I suppose she hadn't planned to meet him wearing overalls, sans makeup. We also took a trip to New Mexico to visit his familia which was a wonderful and welcome escape from Austin, but just didn't quite last long enough. Throw in some celebration for graduations, birthdays and... you get the picture. After four straight weeks of awesome, I was ready for some down-time. Enter: Memorial Day Weekend. I mad...

This year has flown by so fast, I haven't even noticed that it's actually summertime. Well, other than the sweltering Texas heat and the wondrous lack of university students around town... I kicked off my realization of official summerhood with a movie last night. Each summer 101X and the Alamo Drafthouse team up to present Movies in the Park - a series of movies shown on an inflatable drive-in movie screen, sans the cars. Instead, picture a field of Austinites, their kids, their dogs, blankets, lawnchairs and generally a little booze. That's what my Wednesday looked like as we attended this year's first movie of the series, which happened to be Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark . I think I've seen that movie 30 times now, and I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Give me 32, and I might sing a dif ferent tune.

I arrive home from work on Tuesday night, like any normal night, around 6:30. I plan to walk the dog, put the finishing touches and alterations on Jon's costume and bake the dark chocolate and bacon cupcakes for Jason's birthday on Thursday. After taking a stroll around the complex with Carmen and checking the mail, I begin my work in the kitchen. I carefully lay a full pound of sliced bacon out on 2 cookie sheets, put them both in the oven to broil and head back to my room to begin my meticulous work on the sorcerer's hood. The smell of applewood bacon starts to drift through my small apartment; a smell not natural to my place being that I was primarily vegetarian until recently. After a good bit of progress on the costume, I take a break to pull the bacon out. I prepare a shallow bowl and begin pulling the sizzling strips off the pans and layering them between sheets of paper towels, ending up with 4 layers of meat-napkin-meat-napkin. I share one crispy piece with Carmen,...