I don't have my picture uploaded yet to prove it but last night I did get to meet the fabulous and charming and ever-so-real Kerry Madden, aka ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
mountainmist I was already an adoring fan before meeting her and even more so now. That voice you read on her blog? That's the real Kerry.
But before I got the chance to meet Kerry and her darling sister, I met up with d_michiko_f. Debbi picked a place to eat in Menlo Park. Because I am a picky eater I looked at the menu online before we went. They had a Monte Cristo sandwich, one of my favorites. Oh man, I couldn't tell you the last time I had one of those. Alas, I was to be denied because when we got to the restaurant, they were closed. This wouldn't have been a big deal except, well, not too long ago Debbi tried to take me to the same restaurant, with the same results! LOL. Luckily Debbi remembered a casual coffee shop chain not far away. Perfect for us to eat and gab and wait for Kerry. As we drove to the new place we passed a great many other restaurants that looked inviting and most of which were actually open to serve us. We kept commenting as the restaurants zipped by us. "We could go there. Or there. Or even there." It was like the Universe was tossing little bread crumbs our way and we just left them for the pigeons to eat.
You know, all those restaurants we passed were probably a sign and we ignored it.
We arrived at the place which will not be named, both starving. Even though I wasn't going to get my Monte Cristo sandwich, it was okay. I could give in to my other craving - a hamburger. Mmmm. I love hamburgers. I love red meat. A lot.
First backstep a bit. We have a cafeteria at work that is, for lack of a better description, ONE OF THE WORST PLACES TO EAT EVER! Really. I go there to connect with the few friends that are still at work and almost always have a grilled cheese sandwich which doesn't taste like a real grilled cheese sandwich but is, for the most part, edible. Every single time I stray from it, I am disappointed and often sick to my stomach. And we are not talking a cheap cafeteria either!
Now a sidestep. My husband and I like to eat out. We don't do it as much as we used to but still. We reward good service. I always ask to speak to the manager and compliment them for excellent service. We tip very well.
The flip side of this is that sometimes we get clunkers.
Back to the story of last night's meal.
The menus arrived. Debbi's coffee and coffee cake arrived. And then we waited to order. And waited. And waited some more until I stood up and waved my hand to get someone's attention. Then we waited for our burgers. And waited. And waited some more.
And when they arrived I wished we could go on waiting. I tried a couple of bites and had to stop. I don't know how Debbi managed to stomach a couple more. They were the most appalling excuses for burgers that I have ever been served and that INCLUDES burgers in my crummy cafeteria at work.
So I did something I very rarely do. I made a bit of a scene. (hulabunny , you would have been so proud of me. )
Actually I am getting ahead of myself. We moved the plates to the other side of the table and watched the busboy clear tables all around us. Reset the tables. Look at us and our plates pushed to the side and IGNORE US until I told waved to get his attention and told him he could come take this horrible food away.
And then I made a scene. And Debbi tried very hard to melt under the table and pretend she didn't know me. And I could tell she was starting to wonder why she invited me to eat with her but I couldn't stop. I was SO frustrated with the lack of attention to us and the horrible food and the fact that we were still starving and we had Kerry coming at any minute.
When the manager came over he wanted to know why we didn't tell him something was wrong. Hello? Maybe because no one ever came by to check on us? Sheesh.
The funniest part of the whole thing though was when Kerry and her sister arrived (and Debbi quietly explained what had happened to us) suddenly the waiters were falling all over themselves to give good service, even displaying the bottled waters as though they were bottles of fine wine.
Sigh.
After visiting with Kerry and her sister Debbi and I hightailed to In-and-Out burger for a real meal! You can read Debbi's version of the story here.
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Things to Do
Quotes
"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little." Anne Lamott
"Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing...the rest will follow."Jane Yolen
"The whole thing is, you’ve got to make them care about somebody." Frank Capra
"As writers, we must be willing to feel our sadness, our anger, our terror, so we can reach in and find our sweet vulnerability that is just sitting there waiting for us to come back home." Nancy Slonim Aronie
"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours!" Richard Bach
"Yet somehow, we write; and most of the time, we like what we write. The dark place seems less dark when we get there. It was only the journey that was fearful." Susan Shaughnessy
"You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any other artist you must learn your craft -- then you can add all the genius you like." Phyllis A. Whitney
"Writers write about what obsesses them. You draw those cards. I lost my mother when I was 14. My daughter died at the age of 6. I lost my faith as a Catholic. When I'm writing, the darkness is always there. I go where the pain is." Anne Rice
"I write in terror. I have to talk myself into bravery with every sentence, sometimes every syllable." Cynthia Ozick
"There have been societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories." Ursula K. LeGuin
"Your first job is to get your own story straight." Natalie Goldberg
"Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking." Naomi Wolf
"Few children learn to read books by themselves. Someone has to lure them into the wonderful world of the written word; someone has to show them the way." Orville Prescott
"A writer either speaks to adults and bores kids, or speaks to kids and upsets adults." Ursula K. LeGuin
"I'd always thought you had to be a special person to write. And then I realized you just have to start." Abigail Thomas
"You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need." Jerry Gillies
"But they’re not telling the truth if they don’t teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life, to be a writer." Doris Lessing
"A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote."Yevgeny Yentushenko
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the
greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't
believe in magic will never find it." Roald Dahl
"I compose sometimes with a pen and notebook, sometimes on the computer; it makes no difference. If all I had was a chisel and a rock I would write on the rock." Ursula Le Guin
"If you want to write from a place of emotional integrity, it is important to learn everything you can about all kinds of emotions, including those that exist in you, that you wish didn't." Elizabeth Berg
"And this is the way a novel gets written, in ignorance, fear, sorrow, madness, and a kind of psychotic happiness as an incubator for the wonders being born." Jack Kerouac
"Successful writers are not the ones who write the best sentences. They are the ones who keep writing. They are the ones who discover what is most important and strangest and most pleasurable in themselves, and keep believing in the value of their work, despite the difficulties." Bonnie Friedman
Who am I?I was born on the Cancer/Leo cusp and share a birthday with Ernest Hemingway and Robin Williams. The similarities don't stop there as I can go from depressed to ecstatic without ever passing go. I feel scared most of the time though my friends call me brave and I find it easier to believe in my friends than to believe in my own abilities to make what I want out of my life.
Who am I? A wife, a mother, a daughter, and even, gulp, a grandmother.
Who am I? A writer who never gets tired of playing with words, even when the words are hard to find. A writer of books for children and articles for grown-ups and many things in-between.
Who am I? A motivational speaker, writing instructor, workshop leader and full-time follower of dreams.
Who am I? Read and find out.
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carriep63
Comments
I had a crummy meal the other night at a well-known restaurant that, I've since found out, is also reknown for watering down their drinks. But at least the service was great! I won't name the name, but think of Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter's name. And add a B.
v. funny. you know i live here--what restaurant was it?
i'm guessing palo alto creamery???
because STACKS is seriously awesome (in menlo park and serves breakfast until 2pm i think)
we have SO many good restaurants downtown. next time, ask me for a rec. before you two torture these visiting authors! =D
Thing is, both of us have eaten at a lot of those good restaurants - just the luck of the draw that day. Funny as I look back. Not so funny when we were hungry.
For sure. Creamery's usually good, but that's all I could think of. Cuz I know STACKS is fab-u-lous.
But I agree, there is no excuse for poor service.
Debbi made it sound like you were very kind. I bet you were! :-)
It's funnier today. :-)
Keely and I had the best time meeting you and Debbi. Thanks so much! I'll be blogging soon, but have to catch a flight shortly. I really love Northern California and now with Keely's baby due so soon, I'll have even more excuses to visit again. Menlo Park Library was wonderful, and Kepler's is a fantastic bookstore - lots of lovely kids. Jeannie Duprau came, and I'd never met her...Lovely person. Anyway, thanks for inviting us for supper, though next time we'll definitely have to try STACKS for breakfast. Thanks again!
all best
kerryxx