Legal Quandary

Bragging Rights and a Restaurant Review Rolled Into One

I mentioned that EC was going to be reading at the opening of the new TVPNM City Hall today. It went really well. The City Hall is really amazing and beautiful. Part of me was in awe. The other part of me wondered where the hell they got off spending that much money on a new City Hall when they're talking about closing schools and increasing class sizes because of lack of funding.

But I digress.

There were several events going on, and unfortunately, our little "Literary Stage" was not well attended. Mainly because we were off the beaten path in the City Council Chamber and because there were people in costumes dancing in the lobby. [As a general rule: people in costumes dancing = always more interesting than poetry readings]

But the City Councilman who was in charge of the Literary part did a nice job (but was wearing a really awful suit. I'm sorry - I'm sure he's a very nice man, but it Just.Needs.Saying. It was a terrible suit. I couldn't believe a politician could get away with wearing something like that.)

er...sorry. Digression again.

Apparently, TVPNM is reinstating their Poet Populist program, and they had one former Poet Laureat and one former Poet Populist (I couldn't tell you what the difference between the two is) there to read.

Mona Lake Jones was the former Poet Laureat and she was A-MAZ-ING! She got up to speak, and I thought she was doing introductory comments and I realized that she was actually performing - and it just flowed. Her expressions were so beautiful - I really could have listened to her all day. And I don't usually consider myself a poetry lover. I wanted to encourage her to become a law professor just so I could listen to her lecture - I swear I would never surf the web in her class. Um, not that I do that anyway - because that would be rude and irresponsible.

Bart Baxter was the former Poet Populist. (He looks a lot friendlier in person). He's a baseball fanatic and his poem was about his grandmother and how she hated the New York Yankees. How can you not love that?

Indu Sundaresan read from her novel The Twentieth Wife. I think I will be buying a copy of this and her second novel, the Feast of Roses, for after finals.

There was also a student who came to the United States from Iraq just 3 years ago. He talked about how his father and uncle were taken by Saddam and how they didn't know what had happened to them until 7 years later - when they got a phone call in Jordan from them. He talked about moving to the US, and attending the special TVPNM school for Bi-Lingual Orientation. He spoke in both English and Arabic. Really amazing.

The Global Reading Challenge kids were the last to read. EC read from The Kite Fighters, and one of her teammates read from I Was A Rat! Both of them did so well! I was so proud.

After all the festivities, we headed out to my very favorite Thai restaurant. So yummy. Their red curry is amazing. Mr. Q ordered a dish with peanut sauce - something I'm not generally a big fan of, but this was really excellent. EC had the Pad See Ewe. The meat was well seasoned, but she wasn't a huge fan of the noodles - they were a lot like Chow Fun, which neither of us really like. Lil Q gobbled them up though. As much as I like the restaurant, I don't recommend their fried Spring Rolls. They just aren't as flavorful as they should be - try one of the soups instead.

Not only do they have fantastic food, but the atmosphere is really nice. It's beautifully decorated, with nice artwork here and there, and fresh flowers on the tables. However, someone got the bright idea to hang this in the front window.



It looks like the menu - which is exactly what it is. But it's on a motorized roller, so it scrolls continuously. Picture one of those cloth towel dispensers in the restrooms - same concept. So tacky.

Also, a note to the folks dining at the table next to us. 1) It's not necessary to project your voice so that it fills the entire restaurant. There were only six of you. 2) For the gentleman who kept his cellphone plastered to his ear the entire time - even while ordering - you are a jackass and will assuredly die of brain cancer. NOTHING you are saying is that important that you couldn't PUT DOWN THE PHONE for the 30 seconds it takes to order.

Ok, so this post didn't have much of a point, and for that I apologize. It was a pretty good day and I just felt like sharing it. Blame my lack of writing ability - I'm off to bed!

Whe-Woo - pedicures tomorrow! Yay!

posted by Legal Quandary at 00:33