1. Borrowed my friend Rick’s 1992 Toyota pickup and retrieved my snow blower from Somerville
2. Used a power-washer to clean off a tarp
3. Had my fantasy football teams go 2-0
4. Didn’t shower on Saturday
5. Didn’t shave all weekend
6. Cleaned my basement
7. Resisted the temptation to get a pedicure when Juliet was getting her nails done (which is regrettable, as my toenails are a mess)
(File under “dabbling in gender stereotypes”)
(Author’s Note: I wrote this last night but for some reason it did not post; dinner tonight was much better)
I try not to dabble in stereotypes and generalities too often, but I firmly believe the following:
Most viewers of “Grey’s Anatomy” are women.
Most consumers of General Gao/Tso’s Chicken are men.
If you go to a Chinese restaurant with a group of couples, while the womenfolk will push variety and “sharing,” the men would be happy simply ordering x orders of The General, where x=the number of men at the table. (Note: I could be totally offbase with that anecdote, but that actually has happened to me a number of times; perhaps I just run in a demographic with a high preponderance of people that have both 1) penises and 2) love of the General. (Author’s Note: that is the first time I have used the word “penis” in this blog.)
For example, a former colleague once:
1. Created General Gao’s Pizza in a three-step process; 1. Order General Gao’s Chicken; 2. Order cheese pizza; 3. Combine (and throw away the brocolli)
2. Created a song to the melody of Chic’s “Le Freak,” replacing the words “Freak Out!” with “Free Gao!”
Anyhoo, I really love everything about The General. As I long suspected and my sister-in-law (and Chinese National) Wei confirms, it is not really a Chinese staple but some sort of Americhwan creation. Wikipedia backs this up — sort of — with the suggestion that General Tso’s chicken was created in New York in the early 1970s (perhaps, but most likely not, at CBGB’s during a Talking Heads show … that would be pretty cool, but probably unlikely) .
The romantic in me still wants to believe this: “One theory is that the dish was a classic specialty from Hunan province, invented by General Tso ‘s wife and served for him and his officers upon every military victory … although this theory is generally considered to be unfounded.”
Perhaps I am fixated on the Gao due to the stark contrast between the sweet, fried deliciousness of what is known in Illinois as “Governor’s Chicken” and tonight’s relatively unsatisfying festival of squash, kale and brown rice here at the 1-6-0 (note: I am trying to brand that as a hipper moniker for our new place).
Speaking of the 1-6-0, tonight, our neighbor from the 1-5-6 came by and invited me to the monthly neighborhood poker game, which is really cool, except 1) he came by at 7:18 and the game started at 7:30; 2) the boys were a friggin’ nightmare to get to bed tonight and Colin didn’t go down until around 9:30; 3) he obviously is unaware of the 15-day notice I have to give in order to get a non-client related night out, beginning with a notarized request made in triplicate; and 4) I have no earthly idea how to play poker (“Can I stand on one card?”). Given some advanced notice, I will try to attend the next get-together; I am excited that already, I have surpassed the total number of neighbors whose names I actually knew when we lived in Somerville (3).
