Red and Shiny

Haven't fired up the soldering iron for a while, but the east window gives nice morning light, and since I had a special request, I gathered some materials:

And whipped up a hand mirror:

(Click on images for detailed enlargement.)

Hot Hot Hot

Has it been a month already?   I guess so.  Sometimes there's just too much living to do to take time blogging it (but that's a pretty lame excuse).  Sometimes life experiences are so diverse it's a daunting task to condense them down to a couple paragraphs, which is a less lame excuse in my book.   Anyone with a burning desire (?) to keep up with my day-to-day stuff is more than welcome to look for me on facebook, which is the perfect place for random nonsense that may contain a few genuine specks of interest, but only if you pay very close attention.
Things that have been going on: Tony and I have a weekly date night, cost be damned.  Sort of.  As long as we can splurge for a bottle of wine and have enough dosh left for an appetizer or salad, and maybe dessert, we call it a success.  The challenge is to find a new place each week.  While it can be a place we've visited before, it can't be a previous date night experience.  I check the online menus to make sure there are at least one or two meatless offerings for me.  (Though to be fair, several places that had none listed were more than happy to have the chef make adjustments for me.  I don't relish being difficult, so  it's always a delight to find tastily prepared vegetables strewn over my pasta rather than a slab of animal.)  We also choose to stay nearish to home, having no desire to battle traffic up to Edmond or Memorial Road, or the Southside.  Naturally, chain restaurants are out as well, so you can imagine how the pressure sometimes can mount when Tony casually asks, "where will it be for date night tonight?"   After the first two or three, we began rating them on facebook.  Things like service (of course), ambience, menu variety and/or flexibility, and that pesky, mysterious bar tax one sometimes encounters in Oklahoma City.  I haven't cracked the code yet.  Someone suggested it had to do with the "Empowerment Zone", which involves Midtown and Downtown, but some cafes in those areas didn't seem to charge it.  If they did, maybe they just wisely incorporated it into the cost of the drink (bottle) itself. 
Anyway, rather than going on about it here (too late, you have observed), I think I'll attempt to compile our experiences and favorite/least favorites eating places into a useful (and hopefully somewhat entertaining) entry.  I also intend to take my camera from now on, to document our meals.

In other news, we've had a foster kitten for a few weeks.  I think she may go home tomorrow or the next day, and I'll probably miss her.

She's a wee thing called Paris, who likes to lie on records, and help out with the Friday evening wine.

The red did come out of my white capris, so all is well.

We're on the verge of joining that kayak movement that seems to have gripped the Big Town.  Tony went this afternoon, and I may just sign up this week for a month of unlimited water adventure.  I would be a little more enthusiastic if the temperatures would drop 25 degrees, or one were at least allowed to splash around and swim in one of the local bodies of water.  It's cruel to be so close, yet so far. 

Artwise, I'm creating for myself mostly, except for the momentary laspe of reason in which I said yes to another wedding job.  This one only entails the two Mazel Tov chairs, and it's early enough in the project for me to still be hopeful that all will work out, the first time.  We'll see.