Spending some time in the chair with Cat Woman!

Last week I got to spend some quality time with cat woman. Sadly, it wasn't the Cat Woman, although given that Eartha Kitt is no longer amongst the living, maybe that's not such a bad thing.

No, I didn't get to spend time with Eartha, Lee Meriwether, Julie Newmar or Michelle Pfeiffer. Truth be told, I was rather scared and nervous especially since she was armed with numerous pairs of scissors . . . and a comb . . . and extremely long nails.

You see, I was attending my bi-monthly hair salon appointment. When you're as follicly challenged as I am, appointments with the barber are short, sweet, and quite infrequent. When I was in Rhode Island, I never had to worry about getting an appointment at the barber shop -- he could always find a spare 7 minutes to take care of me.

It's really weird, but for most of my life, I've only gone to two barbers. Until age 13, my hair was cut by Lou (once or twice by Don) at the Garden City Barber Shop. When that shop closed down, I switched to Dick of Van Dyke Hair Salon. No, he wasn't Dick Van Dyke but he did cut my hair up until August 2009.

Which brings me back to Cat Woman. The person who usually cuts my hair wasn't in so Cat Woman took over. She's a latina of a somewhat indeterminate age. Upon first glance, she appears entirely sane. And in the end, she did a fine job (although with so little hair to deal with, there was only so much damage she could do).

But what scared me, and why I call her Cat Woman, was the conversation she began as she stood behind me with a comb in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. She began to regale me with tales of stray cats. She told me of the stray who hung outside her condo waiting for breakfast just a few hours earlier. Sounds innocent enough. Heck, as a cat lover myself, I might had done something similar.

When she told me her condo board told her she had to stop feeding the strays, I became a bit nervous. Especially when she told me she didn't see anything wrong with feeding 10 cats! She didn't care if the cats had fleas! She said it was better that these cats came to her rather than live on the streets. As she's telling me this (and cutting my hair, now with electric clippers in hand) all I can think about is those shows on Animal Planet with deranged people who have had their homes taken over by dozens of cats. Let me tell you, sanitary is never a word used to describe their homes.

For a moment, part of my brain felt sorry for her condo neighbors. And then I felt just a wee bit concerned for my own safety. Fortunately, she finished up (did a fine job) before she related any more tales of her feline induced dementia.

Brush with fame: George Harrison

In the late 90's I was working in University Hall at Brown University. The school had become quite popular among children of celebrities such as JFK Jr., Amy Carter, etc. I guess having your child attend Rhode Island's oldest institution of higher learning was a status symbol of sorts. Among the more famous parents in the 90's was George Harrison whose son Dhani was studying physics and industrial design.

Apparently the final exam schedule for the first semester (classes ended in December but exams took place in January) conflicted the Harrison family's holiday plans. Try as he might, Dhani just couldn't convince the Dean to be flexible and allow him to take his exams before, or after, his trip to the UK.

What Dhani didn't know, or more accurately what I suspect, is that the Dean was a Beatles fan. I'm sure in the back of his mind, he was hoping for the Harrison family to put on a full court press. If they wanted Dhani home for the holidays, they'd have to make a special effort to seal the deal.

Sure enough, before the semester came to an end, George Harrison made a trip to Brown University to beseech the Dean on Dhani's behalf. Anyone who learned about his visit was warned in advance not to approach George or fawn over him. Naturally, I ignored that admonition and made sure that I camped out in the Dean's outer office until the quiet Beatle made his appearance. While I didn't fawn over him or ask for his autograph, I did get to shake his hand and have an extremely brief conversation with him before he met with the Dean.

In the wake of his visit, Dhani was indeed granted his special dispensation and rumors of a legendary conversation began to circulate.  Apparently, before his meeting with the Dean, George was having lunch (alone) in the Blue Room (a student/staff dining facility). An enterprising student approached George and asked if he'd be interested in joining the student's band. Legend has it that Harrison cracked a smile and resumed eating his lunch.

Summer recipes

Here's an easy, but tasty, shrimp and pasta salad.

1 pound pasta

1 pound shrimp (21-30)

3 scallions

3 ribs celery

1 carrot

1 lemon (juiced and zested)

parsley

basil

roasted peppers

ginger

halab pepper

salt & pepper

sugar

lime juice

soy sauce

rice wine vinegar

olive oil

Peel and devein shrimp. This will have the effect of curling the shrimp when they're sauteed but as they'll be in a salad, I like this. Add grated ginger, salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice and haleb pepper (this is a syrian pepper that is kind of sweet but adds a wee bit of heat. You can use any hot pepper that suits your fancy: red pepper flakes, jalepeno, etc), and let marinate for 15 minutes. Then sauté in olive oil. When done, set aside and let cool.

Boil pasta (I use farfale) in salted water and then set aside and let cool. Don't rinse. While cooling, occasionally break up pasta so that it doesn't stick together.

Chop scallions into quarter inch pieces. Finely chop celery. Grate carrot. Slice roasted peppers into half inch pieces. Rough chop parsley and basil. Set aside.

Combine sugar (just a teaspoon), lime juice (1 lime), a couple of dashes of soy sauce, a couple of dashes of rice wine vinegar in a small jar. Add enough oil to make an emulsion. Shake and set aside.

When shrimp and pasta have cooled, combine and then add scallions, celery, carrot, peppers, parsley and basil. Add salt & pepper as needed. Shake dressing and slowly drizzle in. Mix, taste, and add more dressing if needed.

Chicken & Mango salad

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 lemon, juiced and zested

halab pepper

oregano dried

basil dried and fresh

garlic finely minced

salad greens you can use any greens you like. I used a mix of arugula, radiccio and basil

red onion

mango

scallions

roasted peppers

calamatta olives

feta cheese

tomato slices

potato slices roasted

Marinate chicken with the juiced and zested lemon, halab pepper, oregano, salt & pepper, dried basil, olive oil and garlic. The chicken should marinate for at least 20 minutes, no more than 2 hours. After chicken has cooked (I used the grill but you could just as easily roast it), allow it to cool and rest before slicing. Figure one breast per serving.

Slice potato and rub with olive oil, salt & pepper and halab pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until done. When done, the slices should be caramelized and blistered. You should have 3 sliced potatoes per person.

All that's remaining is to assemble the ingredients. Mix the salad greens, sliced red onions with a light coating of salad dressing (I use a lemon vinaigrette). Place greens on a flat salad plate. Add chicken slices, mango slices, roasted peppers, olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, and potatoes and sprinkle with sliced scallions.

Weather & Wealth

If you like to admire the automobile as either a work of art or an object of desire, then Florida is the place to be. The combination of great weather and incredible wealth make the sunshine state an auto paradise.

Living most of my life in Rhode Island, summer and it's abundance of sunshine and warmth was but one of four seasons. And even in summer, the roads never fully escaped the grip, or wrath, of winter.

The roads in the northeast are filled with pot holes and frost heaves in the winter and in spring, summer and fall the roadways are crisscrossed with a varicose vein like web of asphalt patching. In the winter, drivers have to contend with freezing rain, black ice  and snow. To counteract the poor traction caused by snow and ice, the roads are regularly treated with sand and salt. While these help to make vehicles more tractable in inclement road conditions, the salt has a corrosive effect on cars and in the spring and summer the remaining sand on the roadways makes travel more interesting for motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians.

Given all that, it isn't surprising that you don't find many classic [older] cars on the road. They've either succumbed to the elements or they're kept in hermetically sealed garages. In Florida, it is just the opposite. With year round sunshine and warm temps, the roadways are remarkable free of any blemishes. In the nearly ten months that I've been here, I've not come across a single pot hole. The only sand you see is on the beach and the only salt is on the kitchen table.

Up north, if the asphalt changes color from dark charcoal to light gray, driver beware! That road surface will not only be worn down, but it will be chock full of imperfections. In Florida, that light gray colored asphalt is still as smooth as a baby's bottom. Its no wonder that the roads down here are filled with plenty of older, classic (and some not so classic) cars.

Of course, the other side of the equation is wealth. Cruise the streets of Rhode Island and you'll see your fair share of Cadillacs, Mercedes, BMWs, Porsche, even the occasional Rolls Royce or rarer still, a Ferrari.

Here in south Florida the landscape is a little more exotic. Sure, you'll still see Mercedes, BMWs, Porsche but they'll typically be the top of the line models which are usually customized. Ferrari sightings are almost common place, as are Bentley and Lamborghini sightings (almost never seen in little Rhody). In fact, a few months back there were two Lamborghinis at the gym. Lots of eye candy!