Date #23 - Gluttons 'R Us

So it appears we have entered the EATING zone of this Eat, Play, Love tour we're on. For this date we had planned to attend a trade show, followed by drinks and dinner. We only made it through the first portion...

Three hours of all the desserts we could eat...Yum! 

Editorial aside: Anytime I write the word 'dessert' I always think of the crazy spelling rules and songs I learned in grammar school that have stayed with me and served me well for half a century. I can't remember which nun taught me that the way to remember the difference between desert and dessert was that "they put an extra S in dessert because you always want a second serving,"  but I've never spelled it incorrectly since!

Now back to our date.

Let me start by saying that desserts do not call my name. Rarely, if ever, will I order dessert at a restaurant. Growing up, we never had dessert unless it was somebody's birthday. And while raising our own sons, dessert was never more than homemade chocolate chip cookies. Mind you, there were always boxes of Twinkies or Hostess Cupcakes atop the refrigerator, but those were primarily for TH as the boys did not have a sweet tooth. Even today, while I pack my breakfast and lunch to take to work everyday....this is what TH packs......

Yup, that is the sum total of what he takes to work every day. A plastic bag with exactly three Oreo and three Chips Ahoy cookies. Nothing more. And he even packs it the night before so he won't forget!!

So this date was right up his alley. While desserts do not call to me... they yell TH's name out loud. That said, I have been known to heed the whisper of anything with ice cream, nuts or whipped cream, so I didn't frown when he suggested this date. Thanks to discount vouchers we were able to get into this show at the Sheraton Boston for $15 each, and it's safe to say we got our money's worth and then some.

From the moment we walked in, it was difficult to choose a starting point. Everything looked and smelled lovely.

This blue cake was on the Konditor Meister table. And while they didn't give out samples from the wedding cake, they did give out the most decadent cups filled with chocolate fudge...it was sinful.

These babies were filled to the rim with nothing but chocolate, and you could have all you wanted.

I don't remember how many we ate, but I assure you it was way too many!

And speaking of sinful, this dessert stopped me in my tracks and reminded me why most of the civilized world hates America....

behold...the world's largest cannoli.

It was made by Golden Cannoli, was 12 feet long, and weighed over 300 pounds. Was this really necessary?! Really?!  Do you have any idea how many needy people could be fed on what it cost to make this dessert? And for what?...it certainly wasn't anything worth raving about. And once it was displayed like that in the open air for a weekend I'm sure it was no longer edible.

To assuage their guilt, I'm sure, this company had a table where they served two-inch cannoli's for a suggested donation of $1 each that they promised to donate to charity. Proof positive that even they realized how excessive their claim to fame was.

That's why I don't understand the showcase competitions that are so popular nowadays; where top pastry chefs get together and create these massive displays that are beautiful but completely non-edible when through. Now I love art as much as the next person, but let's create art that will live on in posterity...and not use food that could be feeding millions instead of landing in the dumpster the next day.

And who created fondant? It may be beautiful to look at, but completely tasteless. Give me plain old whipped cream or butter cream frosting any day!

And speaking of whipped cream....not a trace of it in the entire place. And ice cream? There were actually two vendors there with tables, but I am not even going to give them a plug because they don't deserve it. While every other vendor was giving away cupcake size portions of their product, the two ice cream vendors gave out the teeniest, tiniest samples. I wish I thought to take a picture, but I was so enraged. When I tell you that they had the nerve to hand me a thimble-size serving on the end of a plastic spoon, I am not exaggerating! It wasn't even worth getting back in line for.

But that doesn't mean that we went hungry. On the contrary, we ate enough to feed a small third world nation...heck, it felt like we consumed a third world nation.

There was plenty of cake from Finale

and giant whoopie pies from the Whoopie Monster

But the biggest line in the place was here....

Hint was giving away 12 oz bottles of fruit flavored water, that was soooo refreshing after all that sugar and butter, we went back for seconds and thirds. Needless to say, they were one of the few booths that ran out of supply before the afternoon was over.

We did not even stay the allotted three hours. We were like wild animals that have no idea when they are full and just continue to eat. and eat. and eat. Finally, we both looked at each other and decided this was not fun anymore. Even TH surrendered. Who's idea was this for a date? Forget the dinner and drinks that were to follow.

We gave away our wristbands at the door to two unsuspecting souls, and then we waddled on over to the bus for the long bloated ride home. I think our next date needs to be someplace we have never been together....the GYM!!!

Date #22 - Monologue from a Mad Man

We're baaaack!!  And to paraphrase Mark Twain..."Rumors of our break-up are greatly exaggerated."

Life got in the way and we stopped dating this summer, simply because we were having way too much fun with weddings, grandsons, parties, cape/beach trips, grandsons, supper club, bike rides, a hurricane, and doing what we love most...hanging with our grandsons.

I snuck off to Santa Monica yet again for one more week before reporting back to work on August 17th, and for the next month I barely came up for air...let alone a date. Our niece K stayed with us for two and half weeks before she moved into her dorm at Lesley and it was fun having another female in the house. And then TH was mega busy with the start of his 27th season as president of the soccer league.

But our dating drought ended the 15th of September when we embarked on a grueling dating marathon with no less than seven dates before the month was over, so now we are back on track to get those 35 dates in as we race to the exciting finish line. Fasten your seatbelts....

First stop: Bunker Hill Community College (one of my many alma maters) for their Compelling Conversations Speaker Series where we had the pleasure of spending an evening listening to one of my heroes:

Yes, that's right...Michael Moore. And while it wasn't a conversation thus my title, it was certainly compelling.

I wasn't sure how TH would feel about this date, as he is an ultra-conservative (albeit registered democrat) who votes republican in every major election. But I figured they had at least two things in common...they both love to rant, and neither one has ever been accused of having any fashion style.

The event was held in the gymnasium with general seating for the first 1500 applicants who pre-registered, and everyone else could watch it on closed-circuit monitors in a separate conference hall. We arrived 90 minutes early (because we are old and anal)... but it was enough to score front row seats on the "left" side of the aisle. Well...that's a relative term. We were in the very first row of the peanut gallery BEHIND the velvet ropes that separated us from the seating for the very important people who didn't need to take their seats until 5 minutes before the presentation school trustees and selected students who were to cover the event. Luckily I brought some paperwork from the office to occupy my time while we waited.

.......and waited.

................and waited.

Finally at 6:15 we were informed that Moore's train from New York had been delayed and he would be arriving momentarily. Boston was the second stop of his tour to promote his new book "Here Comes Trouble"...but thanks to Amtrak, we would have to wait just a bit longer for trouble to arrive.

In the meantime, one of the school's directors took the mike to remind everyone that the evening was also serving as an opportunity to raise much needed funds for the school's emergency assistance programs that provide grant money to students for when life's unexpected obstacles might get in the way of completing their education. He informed us we had all received envelopes in our programs that evening and students were making their way through the gymnasium with tote bags on their shoulders to collect the donations. Did we somehow make a wrong turn into Sunday mass?

The director then introduced the college president who kept her remarks very brief (thank you) before introducing the man of the hour. And there he was, his rumpled self, looking like he'd just rolled out of the sleeping car berth, wearing his usual baggy attire, unzipped hoodie, and a red BHCC hat that he was handed to swap out for his ever-present Detroit Tigers cap as he mounted the stage.

Michael Moore. Of course he didn't apologize for being late. But he did take the opportunity to criticize our country's rail system that had come to a halt simply because lightning had struck the tracks ahead of his train.

And then the ranting really began. He was so spitting mad, because he had apparently arrived in time to hear the director's plea for funds, that he put aside whatever topic he had previous planned to instead express his outrage that our great nation is sending community colleges to their knees, begging for auto repair and babysitting money for their students, while wall street and the banking industry continue to raid our pension funds and render us homeless.

He then put his money where his mouth was and made a pledge to match every single dollar raised that evening, up to ten thousand dollars. I was thrilled to read in his blog the next day that we almost achieved that magic number. His perspective.  Yet, when the audience gave him a standing ovation, he demanded strongly that we STOP and explained that he had been very blessed in his career. He further madly informed us that the combined wealth of the 400 richest Americans was GREATER THAN the total earnings of the other 300 million citizens combined. (Think about that for a minute.)


Then he settled down, somewhat, and the rest of his presentation was heartfelt and pure Michael Moore. Of course he railed against the Republicans, but he also expressed his disappointment at some of the decisions made by the man he was so proud to call President. Nonetheless, he staunchly defended Obama and the Democrats.

He talked sports, predicting that Boston would meet his beloved Tigers in the post-season. He only got that half-right. Go Tigers. He also bragged that he and Tim Thomas graduated from the same high school in Michigan.

Here's a view from our front-row seats. LOL.

Here's a better view from the mini-tron:

Then Moore took a seat and proceeded to read excerpts from his new book of anectodal short stories subtitled: Stories from my life. Both stories he shared were touching insights into the life of a young man born to be a rabble rouser. He tells of winning an essay contest sponsored by the "whites-only" Elks Club while still a teenager, where he turned the tables on their racial membership policies and earned an invitation to testify before congress. He also writes about becoming the youngest elected official in the nation when he won a seat on the school board while still a high school student. But he didn't let hubris get in the way of his humility as he recounted one of his greatest regrets at not speaking out for a fellow student who was not allowed to graduate by the very same asshole vice-principal that spurred Moore to run for office just so he could fire the man. I venture to say with certainty that Michael Moore has NEVER remained silent against another injustice.

After he shared the two chapters, there was only time for questions from two audience members before the evening came to a disappointing end. Although it was late, we would gladly have listened to him all night. It was the first book tour reading I've ever attended where, not only did the author not remain to sign books, there weren't any copies of the book for sale! I'm sure Michael Moore is not worried about book sales.

And while I don't think TH is ready to move over and sit permanently on the liberal side of the aisle, he did admit to enjoying the evening with Michael Moore. And we were definitely not at Sunday mass he never nodded off, not once.