Catnip & Pipe Tobacco

 

(Pipe Craving Score (PCS) = 7 today)

I got up early and ran my 9 miles.  Because it was SNOWING (sigh) and quite windy, I ran on the damnable treadmill, but it felt good to get moving and it felt good to get sweaty. 

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The Ethiopian food my wife and I prepared on Sunday was wonderfully delicious!!!!  Two of our kids ate with us as well and they were also very pleased.  I was exceptionally happy with how the Injera bread turned out.  Even though ours were more pancake sized, they tasted quite authentic, and the soft, airy texture brought back such fun memories of our adventures in the various cities where we have been fortunate to discover Ethiopian restaurants over the years.   

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Working at my desk this morning, and it feels like a classical symphony day today for me.  I am currently listening to one of my NPR Classical Music channels and what is on is the long form of:  

El Rio De Las Siete Estrellas

And, for me, this is an excellent example of the type of "long form" wind symphony style "band" music I thoroughly enjoy.  The brass sounds and the woodwinds are just beautiful and luxurious.  In my example link in the above, I am linking to a YouTube version of it, as I cannot capture the NPR version that is playing. 

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For dinner tonight, my wife and I are planning to have a baked tortellini dish.  I am going to cobble together an Indian inspired sauce for it that I like to make.  It is a sauce I have made when we are in a hurry on several occasions but want something that has a bit of an "Indian-esque" flavor and I refer to it as my "Bengal Sauce".  Basically, I take some jarred marinara sauce, and add a bit of apricot preserves, a curry spice blend, tumeric, pepper, and some allspice.  It takes all of about five minutes for me to prepare the sauce, and then I heat it in a pan to blend the flavors together.  We will then cover the tortellini with the sauce and add various cheeses and bake the contraption in the oven until it is bubbly and the cheese a bit crusty.  It should be good.... it is an interesting "fusion" dish I created on a whim one time and we have really liked it so we have had it many times since my first attempt.  We will likely have it along with a huge salad and mounds of various vegetables as sides.  

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After I ran this morning, while making my coffee, I dug into the cupboard and pulled out the catnip and gave our cat, Maximilian, a good hefty teaspoon or so.  He had a very pleasant time smelling it and eating.  He quickly grew enjoyably loopy and began to roll around on the counter.  I am sure he is continuing to have a pleasantly surreal morning.  The contentedness you could see on his face reminded me of the beautiful luxuriousness I would enjoy in having a first pipe of the day.  Although of course, my pipes and pipe tobaccos did not imbue "loopiness" in me.... the contented,  relaxed, and joyful feelings a robust pipe would provide in the morning..... I don't know... the cat's reaction just reminded me of that pleasure.  I do know that pipe tobacco *IS* my catnip. :)

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This is probably enough for this morning.  I should dive back into my mouse clicking and grading, and focus on some more exam preparation as well as working on my grant, and on some "set-up" work for the new pair of rodent studies I have earmarked for this Spring.  I am surprised.... I have had a dozen different undergraduate students inquire about trying to join my lab and collaborating on research with me.  They are all really nice kids, and I am hoping to be able to allow them all in if possible.  My lab is already quite full, but I really don't want to turn anyone away.  I seem to have inspired quite a few of these kids in my classes, because this is a bigger group of new folks than usual.  

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