Sunday, January 1, 2012

It's Twue! It's Twue!

Let the record show that Jon-El Williams and I had a lovely dinner at my house last night. Since I am a practical woman, I made a dinner that could wait on the stove for an hour or so once he got here: Chicken roasted with rosemary and garlic, baked sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas and collards with lots of bacon.

I had never made collards before, so I kind of went overboard with the bacon because I figured it's hard to fuck up something sautéd in bacon grease.  There were big chunks of almost crispy bacon in the collards, but when you mixed in the black-eyed peas, it was damn good.  I made a sauce of mixed mushrooms - shitakes and such - and the pan drippings from the chicken using corn starch so it would be gluten free.  The sauce got kind of congealed before we got around to dinner, so I stirred in some of the delightful Malbec he brought, and it was outstanding, if I do say so myself.

He left at 11:30 since he wanted to be home with his kids.  I thought they were out with their mother for the whole night, so I wasn't expecting him to leave so early - but the truth is that by 11:30 I was pretty baked anyway.  Overall, I applaud his choice, although I didn't like to see him go.

One thing I know for sure, however, is that Miss Kitty never, ever gets whiny or needy when Matt Dillon says he has to go.  Maureen O'Hara never gets clingy and demanding with John Wayne either.  I have said numerous times that I believe relationships should be like Kitty and Matt, and I even told Jon-El Williams so the time he took me out for barbecue.  He concurred, although in his view Kitty had Matt tied around her finger.  All this cowboy talk was on my mind yesterday as I was getting ready when this song came up on my playlist:



So I was wondering about those cowboys and running over examples of African-American cowboys in popular culture. There are a few notable examples, like Danny Glover in Silverado and Morgan Freeman in The Unforgiven.  Although those are outstanding characters, they are both sidekicks.  I was looking for a sheriff which led directly to Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles.



If the world of Blazing Saddles defines the characters in your Romance, then that makes me Lili Von Shtupp, a character brilliantly played by Madeline Kahn and, I'm sorry to say, not that far from reality when it comes to my own experiences with men in recent years.



Once you're fully into the story of Sheriff Bart and Lili Von Shtupp, there's nowhere to go besides: "It's true! It's twue!" I was there in my head by noon yesterday, and I have to confess that by about 10:00 last night, I was there in real life too.

Even though all my personal insecurities were in full operation before he got out the door, it wasn't long before I discovered he left behind the Cape Verdean CDs he'd brought over. I may be a confirmed Jungian Feminist, but I'm enough of a Freudian to interpret that little slip as an indication that Jon-El will be back sooner or later. Meanwhile, he's got to tend to that divorce, and I've got to buy a new apartment. I'll also be manifesting about a substantive and lasting romance with a man who comes back.

Given that he sent a text just before noon, simply saying, "Wow," I'd say things look promising.

12 Comments:

Blogger Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!) said...

ALL GOOD!
Kewl...
Did Velvet return?

January 1, 2012 at 12:36 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

He and Cupcake were in bed by 1:30. Two more kids came in later, then another at 4:40am who had been cuffed but not arrested near Times Square. Three more came at noon. Cupcake and Velvet are fixing chicken apple sausage and scrambled eggs for brunch. Earlier, they were up on the roof since a couple of them smoke cigarettes and, you know, Momma don't allow no cigarette smoking round here.

January 1, 2012 at 1:04 PM  
Blogger ellen abbott said...

sounds promising indeed. and definitely, let the divorce proceed before things get too complicated.

January 1, 2012 at 1:21 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Thank the Goddess his separation agreement is already signed and filed. In NY State, that's all that has to happen with the legal system until 1 year passes, and the divorce kicks in automatically.

January 1, 2012 at 1:47 PM  
Blogger Oso said...

The meal sounded great, glad things are going well. I spent most of NYE dealing with my daughter and her boyfriend issues. Hours and hours of it. All seems to be ok now. Guy ain't a cowboy but is from the South.

Happy New Year Trish.

January 1, 2012 at 2:22 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Congrats. It all sounds so nice, so good. Great beginning for you in 2012. I enjoyed the Madeline Khan so much....

January 1, 2012 at 3:56 PM  
Blogger Sandy White said...

It sounds like a good evening. A nice way to finish out the old year, with promise for things to come. Happy New Year!

January 1, 2012 at 6:01 PM  
Blogger yellowdoggranny said...

glad you had such a great new year....I love m Kahn..

January 1, 2012 at 6:40 PM  
Blogger Mr. Charleston said...

"...Lili Von Shtupp, a character brilliantly played by Madeline Kahn and, I'm sorry to say, not that far from reality when it comes to my own experiences with men in recent years." Coming and going and coming and always too soon?

January 2, 2012 at 10:25 AM  
Blogger Gail said...

HEY TRISH Happy New Year. What a wonderful meal you made - I am so glad it is moving along well - YAY!! :-) Great videos too.
Love you Texas
Gail
peace.....

January 2, 2012 at 11:00 AM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Thanks for the good wishes, folks, and back at cha for sure.

Mr. C - that's the trouble exactly if I even let them close enough to touch me at all, which I typically don't since the Men from Match were generally stupid and arrogant. Jon El is neither, even if he is a bit full of himself in much the same way little kid who knows he's cute.

Also, I'm forced to admit that these days, I much more resemble Bea Arthur's role as the Unemployment Clerk in History of the World.
Bea in History of the World

January 2, 2012 at 12:30 PM  
Anonymous Jennifer said...

From way up here it all sounds great. The best indication is if you feel fine, ending the date at 11:30 on New Year's Eve. When our natural female insecurities have nothing to feed them. WOW. Yay!

And Happy New Year!

January 4, 2012 at 1:20 AM  

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