On the Border

So I just got back from eating dinner with Alex at this restaurant in W. Springfield called On the Border. The Valley Advocate says On the Border serves up the best Mexican food for miles around. And The Valley Advocate is right. Let me just tell you that it was so refreshing to eat at a sit-down Mexican restaurant where they don't charge you for chips! (Who the fuck thought that was a good idea anyway? To charge people for tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant? Absurd!) Before dinner, Alex and I went to Savers, a giant thrift store chain (also in W. Springfield). For $16.16 I cleaned up pretty well and was reminded of all the incredible experiences I've had at the Savers in HB. It truly makes my heart ache to think that that Savers is now gone...

On a totally unrelated note, my dad finally had his ankle fused today after years and years of monthly cortisone shots, immense pain, and a gimp walk. He had something like 15% of his ankle left, but I guess that's what happens when you run marathons all throughout your twenties and thirties. Actually, that's just what happened to my dad, so don't be discouraged if you run marathons or have plans to; it just caught up with him all these years later. After his spine surgery this past January, today's ankle surgery, his heart surgery in a few weeks and some dental work in the coming months, my dad is convinced he's going to be the "bionic man" by the end of summer. (His words, not mine.) Also his words:

Remember, if you let a smile be your umbrella, plan on getting soaked.

Yeah, it's okay if you need a moment. I felt the same way after I read it the first time. My dad is pretty nuts. I have the most fascinating relationship with him, namely because I sort of have two dads, but that's a story in itself. In the same e-mail I quoted above, he mentioned his surprise at hearing that Garbage (the band) has been around for 10 years and that he imagined I was pretty excited about the release of their latest album. It was probably one of the most adorable things he's ever said since I hardly expect him to remember these small details about my life. I guess that's one thing that makes my relationship with him stand apart, though. When it comes to a lot of the "tough stuff," I prefer to turn to my mom and Bob (my second dad), but when it comes to seemingly inconsequential things like musical taste or athleticism or wise-talk, my dad's a pretty good guy.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what the point of this post was to be totally honest. I think I was just so enthusiastic about eating such a fulfilling dinner that I wanted to share it with you. I am discovering after all that I prefer to post shorter, more frequent posts than recaps of entire days in single posts because the latter is much harder. I forget things, and I get frustrated at how difficult it is to make so many disparate topics flow together nicely. So I guess what I'm saying is that you shouldn't be surprised if I post again tonight. And that you shouldn't be surprised if I post more than once a day. I promise my cyber life isn't out of control as some people would prefer to think (ahem, Sunil...Casey...); it's just that I get really anxious, and it's hard for me to sit down and write everything out all at once without getting distracted.

I <3 Mexican food.