Uncolorful food / visual presentation

Jude said:

Last night's dinner was a little off-putting. It was delicious, but
somehow the whole meal was basically beige. Every bite was wonderful,
but the plates just looked blah. Ever have this happen?

We had felafel (brown) in whole-wheat pitas (brown) with curried yogurt
sauce (yellowish), shredded lettuce and red onion (on the inside so the
color's didn't really show, and they were covered by the sauce).

Alongside I served roasted vegetables - potaotes (red skinned, but
overall looked white with some brown crispy parts), cauliflower
(white), and acorn squash, which came out a disgusting brownish color
like baby [censored], not it's usualy lovely orangy squashiness.

I also made an Egyptian salad called michotetta (sp?), which should
have provided some color contrast, since it consists of chopped
tomatoes, ccucmbers, and scallions, but the dressing is feta cheese,
oliver oil, and lemon juice whizzed in the blender, so lo and behold,
the salad was white. And of course, I prefer salad in a side bowl
rather than on the pate, to keep the dressingh from running all over
everything else. So the plates were definitely brown, beige, and white.

And there was a fresh caramel cake for dessert. Surprise! Golden brown!

When I planned the meal, I envisioned the bright orange squash looking
lovely; the red onions and tomatoes and lettuce and cukes all
contributing a lovely note of freshness and color to the dinner.

Aestheitcs really are important to the palate. The tastes were
wonderful, but next time I felafel, I'm gonna have to do something
different. maybe something as simple as adding carrots and green beans
to the roasting vegetables.

I've often thought of serving a meal where everything is stark white,
just for the visual effect. Something like poached fish, mashed
potatoes and cream gravy, boiled turnips, etc. Put white pepper in the
shaker on the table. I haven't actually tried it yet; for one thing, my
family wouldn't eat it.

Bob

zxcvbob said:

I've often thought of serving a meal where everything is stark white,
just for the visual effect. Something like poached fish, mashed
potatoes and cream gravy, boiled turnips, etc. Put white pepper in the
shaker on the table. I haven't actually tried it yet; for one thing, my
family wouldn't eat it.

Bob

If ya'd told me sooner, I woulda mailed you an engraved inviation for
the beigefest last night!

I think it would taste boring/bland, even if you had wonderful flavors
there, becasue it wouldn't impress the eyes.

So, to have some fun with it, you';d have to marinate the fish (maybe a
rice wine vinegar, something with a bite to it to add a strong flavor),
maybe add some horseradish to the mashed potaotes, shred some daikon
rashish to combine with the turnips. add some surprises to make your
taste buds say WHOA! This doesnt TASTE white!!

Jude said:

Last night's dinner was a little off-putting. It was delicious, but
somehow the whole meal was basically beige. Every bite was wonderful,
but the plates just looked blah. Ever have this happen?

Sure..not a big deal..glad it was good.

Quoted message said:

Aestheitcs really are important to the palate.

Totally agree and it isn't rocket science. I believe we begin to eat
visually. When you see something that looks good it stimulates your
appetite. I am of the school of keep it simple ..and it is amazing how
something simple well placed on a nice clean plate can make the
difference. Just a couple of fresh strawberries with a drizzle of good
balsamic venegar can look fantastic as an after dinner treat.

We like sauerkraut with smothered pork chops. It is hard to get that to
look like much. Some meals are that way. So get a dimmer for the dinning
room fixture.

Your meal sounded great.

"Jude" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Last night's dinner was a little off-putting. It was delicious, but
somehow the whole meal was basically beige. Every bite was wonderful,
but the plates just looked blah. Ever have this happen?

We had felafel (brown) in whole-wheat pitas (brown) with curried yogurt
sauce (yellowish), shredded lettuce and red onion (on the inside so the
color's didn't really show, and they were covered by the sauce).

Alongside I served roasted vegetables - potaotes (red skinned, but
overall looked white with some brown crispy parts), cauliflower
(white), and acorn squash, which came out a disgusting brownish color
like baby [censored], not it's usualy lovely orangy squashiness.

I also made an Egyptian salad called michotetta (sp?), which should
have provided some color contrast, since it consists of chopped
tomatoes, ccucmbers, and scallions, but the dressing is feta cheese,
oliver oil, and lemon juice whizzed in the blender, so lo and behold,
the salad was white. And of course, I prefer salad in a side bowl
rather than on the pate, to keep the dressingh from running all over
everything else. So the plates were definitely brown, beige, and white.

And there was a fresh caramel cake for dessert. Surprise! Golden brown!

When I planned the meal, I envisioned the bright orange squash looking
lovely; the red onions and tomatoes and lettuce and cukes all
contributing a lovely note of freshness and color to the dinner.

Aestheitcs really are important to the palate. The tastes were
wonderful, but next time I felafel, I'm gonna have to do something
different. maybe something as simple as adding carrots and green beans
to the roasting vegetables.

I usually shoot for 3 colors/3 textures in a meal but sometimes it just
doesn't work out that way. I've been in that beige place, and if I'm not in
too much of a rush, I usually try to find something else to add on. Maybe a
sauce. Maybe sliced tomatoes, pickles...olives....something that tweaks the
color a little.

Last night's dinner on the other hand, may have been a bit over the top
where color was concerned. I had blue-cornmeal crusted fish, gnocchi with
pesto and quick-sautéed radicchio and red peppers. And I had a salad, with
romaine and some of the not-fried radicchio.

Donna

zxcvbob said:

I've often thought of serving a meal where everything is stark white,
just for the visual effect. Something like poached fish, mashed
potatoes and cream gravy, boiled turnips, etc. Put white pepper in the
shaker on the table. I haven't actually tried it yet; for one thing, my
family wouldn't eat it.

I've had it.

McCormick & Schmick's restaurant (give it a pass) does a halibut with
cheese on a bed of mashed or boiled potatoes... about as white a
presentation as you can get.

But it tastes that way too. And they undercooked it.

Pretty sad. It's been a while. I hope they're out of business already
so something good can have the premium space they were occupying.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton said:

McCormick & Schmick's restaurant (give it a pass) does a halibut with
cheese on a bed of mashed or boiled potatoes...

Shhhhh, halibut with cheese, don't tell Sheldon!

(My mom always applied the same rule of no cheese with fish. I'm mostly
in agreement, but I occasioanlly like things like flounder stuffed with
spinach and feta, or seafood newburg which I believe has cheese in it.)

Incidentally, I had a great meal about 4 years ago at a McCormick &
Schmick in Portland, OR. Fantastic 'tasting plate' of oysters on the
half shell, 4 each of 3 different varieties. That's actually all I
remember about it, though.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

Blair P. Houghton said:

McCormick & Schmick's restaurant (give it a pass) does a halibut with
cheese on a bed of mashed or boiled potatoes...

Shhhhh, halibut with cheese, don't tell Sheldon!

(My mom always applied the same rule of no cheese with fish. I'm mostly
in agreement, but I occasioanlly like things like flounder stuffed with
spinach and feta, or seafood newburg which I believe has cheese in it.)

Incidentally, I had a great meal about 4 years ago at a McCormick &
Schmick in Portland, OR. Fantastic 'tasting plate' of oysters on the
half shell, 4 each of 3 different varieties. That's actually all I
remember about it, though.

What were you drinking? ;-)
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Quoted message said:

Incidentally, I had a great meal about 4 years ago at a McCormick &
Schmick in Portland, OR. Fantastic 'tasting plate' of oysters on the
half shell, 4 each of 3 different varieties. That's actually all I
remember about it, though.

What were you drinking? ;-)
--

Here's the story,since you asked. It's long but you need to know the
details to get it.

About 8 months before this meal happened, I went through a tough
breakup. My boyfriend of just over 2 years, real serious or so I
thought, was up for a promotion that possibly included a move. He was
offered a management position in July, in Phoenix. He turned it down,
telling me he'd decided that he didn't want to move and would only take
a promotion if we could stay in Albuquerque.

In early August, I formally signed my contract for the new school year.
Figured we'd be staying in Albuquerque, after all.

On August 30, he came over for dinner and informed me that he was
moving to Portland 2 weeks hence. Oh yeah, and I could come too, if I
wanted too. Well, that's not quite the loving committment I'd hoped
for, so I told him to go take a flying leap. [I'm not uprooting my kid
and moving her somewhere for a guy's convenience without a ring!] We
broke up and he took the job and moved to Oregon. (Side note, my
birthday was the following weekend and we had plans to go out of town,
reservations, a very expensive nanny hired to stay with my daughter so
he could take me away for a romantic weekend. We were serious. Ruined
my nirthday that year, since everyone knew I was going out of town so I
di absolutely nothing for my birthday weekend but cry.)

In November, he called me to tell me what a mistake he'd made.

Ran into him in san Fransico over New Years. Gave him to cold shoulder.

He kept calling and telling me what a mistake he'd made and how much he
missed me. By April, I'd gone soft and agreed to fly out to Portland
for a visit. He arrived at the airport with flowers, wooed me all
weekend, champagne chilling at his place, the whole bit. Took me to
McCormick & Schmick's for a romantic dinner. He had a booth reserved,
champagne chilling when we arrived. Escorted me on his arm, feeling
like a million bucks. Thought maybe things would turn out okay after
all. We had the oysters, and then his pager went off. He excused
himself to go return the call.

He returned to the table, all excited and hyped up, and proceeded to
inform me that his former roommate, a mutual friend, had called to tell
him that he had just proposed to his girlfriend of 6 months. He'd asked
Chrtis to be the best man. Chris went on and on about how lucky James,
the ex-roommate, was, and how happy he was with this great gal.

I spent most of the rest of the meal realizing that this was a dead-end
relationship, and trying not to cry when I realized that there was no
ring coming for me, ever. He went on and on like a kid at Christmas
about James' engagement, oblivious to the thought that we had been so
much more seroius than James and his girl for so much
longer........basically, after the oysters, I began wondering why the
hell I was in Oregon. Thus, I know I let him spend a bundle on dinner,
but I have no idea what I ate. It went from being an incerdible,
romantic dinner, to an interminable torment.

That was the last I saw him, and I refused to take any more calls from
him after that weekend.

So. That's whay I don't remmeber my dinner. It's not the champagne,
it's the [censored] behind it.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Quoted message said:

Incidentally, I had a great meal about 4 years ago at a McCormick &
Schmick in Portland, OR. Fantastic 'tasting plate' of oysters on the
half shell, 4 each of 3 different varieties. That's actually all I
remember about it, though.

What were you drinking? ;-)
--

Here's the story,since you asked. It's long but you need to know the
details to get it.

About 8 months before this meal happened, I went through a tough
breakup. My boyfriend of just over 2 years, real serious or so I
thought, was up for a promotion that possibly included a move. He was
offered a management position in July, in Phoenix. He turned it down,
telling me he'd decided that he didn't want to move and would only take
a promotion if we could stay in Albuquerque.

In early August, I formally signed my contract for the new school year.
Figured we'd be staying in Albuquerque, after all.

On August 30, he came over for dinner and informed me that he was
moving to Portland 2 weeks hence. Oh yeah, and I could come too, if I
wanted too. Well, that's not quite the loving committment I'd hoped
for, so I told him to go take a flying leap. [I'm not uprooting my kid
and moving her somewhere for a guy's convenience without a ring!] We
broke up and he took the job and moved to Oregon. (Side note, my
birthday was the following weekend and we had plans to go out of town,
reservations, a very expensive nanny hired to stay with my daughter so
he could take me away for a romantic weekend. We were serious. Ruined
my nirthday that year, since everyone knew I was going out of town so I
di absolutely nothing for my birthday weekend but cry.)

In November, he called me to tell me what a mistake he'd made.

Ran into him in san Fransico over New Years. Gave him to cold shoulder.

He kept calling and telling me what a mistake he'd made and how much he
missed me. By April, I'd gone soft and agreed to fly out to Portland
for a visit. He arrived at the airport with flowers, wooed me all
weekend, champagne chilling at his place, the whole bit. Took me to
McCormick & Schmick's for a romantic dinner. He had a booth reserved,
champagne chilling when we arrived. Escorted me on his arm, feeling
like a million bucks. Thought maybe things would turn out okay after
all. We had the oysters, and then his pager went off. He excused
himself to go return the call.

He returned to the table, all excited and hyped up, and proceeded to
inform me that his former roommate, a mutual friend, had called to tell
him that he had just proposed to his girlfriend of 6 months. He'd asked
Chrtis to be the best man. Chris went on and on about how lucky James,
the ex-roommate, was, and how happy he was with this great gal.

I spent most of the rest of the meal realizing that this was a dead-end
relationship, and trying not to cry when I realized that there was no
ring coming for me, ever. He went on and on like a kid at Christmas
about James' engagement, oblivious to the thought that we had been so
much more seroius than James and his girl for so much
longer........basically, after the oysters, I began wondering why the
hell I was in Oregon. Thus, I know I let him spend a bundle on dinner,
but I have no idea what I ate. It went from being an incerdible,
romantic dinner, to an interminable torment.

That was the last I saw him, and I refused to take any more calls from
him after that weekend.

So. That's whay I don't remmeber my dinner. It's not the champagne,
it's the [censored] behind it.

That sux... :-(
It's a good thing in the long run that you got to see him for the loser
he was before you wasted any more time???

I'm so sorry.

HUGS!!!!!!
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

zxcvbob said:

I've often thought of serving a meal where everything is stark white,
just for the visual effect. Something like poached fish, mashed
potatoes and cream gravy, boiled turnips, etc. Put white pepper in the
shaker on the table. I haven't actually tried it yet; for one thing, my
family wouldn't eat it.

Bob

That's where the bright red plates come in handy. or maybe something
in a Mondrian print.

maxine in ri

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

That sux... :-(
It's a good thing in the long run that you got to see him for the loser
he was before you wasted any more time???

I'm so sorry.

HUGS!!!!!!
--
Peace, Om.

Thanks Om.....but no worries. It was nice to put it behind me. I took a
few years off dating to let my heart recover, but I'm now with a
wonderful guy who treats me right. It's the kinda relationship where I
don't even worry about "the ring".........we're together solidly, and
the rest will come in its own time.

The funny part is that I ran into Loser Ex just after meeting Mr Right,
about a year and a half ago, and he asked what it would take for me to
give it one more chance. So I got that long-awaited chance to actually,
literally LAUGH IN HIS FACE! Boy, that felt good.

But thanks for the hugs. They were good. =)

Jude said:

Last night's dinner was a little off-putting. It was delicious, but
somehow the whole meal was basically beige. Every bite was wonderful,
but the plates just looked blah. Ever have this happen?

Yes. That's when you start to garnish. Parsley springs, thin tomato
wedges, a few radishes artfully carved. I'd love to learn how the Thai
places carve those lovely rosettes. Just think how cool they'd look
made from a big fat carrot or the like.

Quoted message said:

We had felafel (brown) in whole-wheat pitas (brown) with curried yogurt
sauce (yellowish), shredded lettuce and red onion (on the inside so the
color's didn't really show, and they were covered by the sauce).

Alongside I served roasted vegetables - potaotes (red skinned, but
overall looked white with some brown crispy parts), cauliflower
(white), and acorn squash, which came out a disgusting brownish color
like baby [censored], not it's usualy lovely orangy squashiness.

My Mom taught me to look for the darker-skinned squashes of each type.
They're usually a little dryer, and hold their color better. Also
sounds like you may have over-cooked the veggies.

Quoted message said:

I also made an Egyptian salad called michotetta (sp?), which should
have provided some color contrast, since it consists of chopped
tomatoes, ccucmbers, and scallions, but the dressing is feta cheese,
oliver oil, and lemon juice whizzed in the blender, so lo and behold,
the salad was white. And of course, I prefer salad in a side bowl
rather than on the pate, to keep the dressingh from running all over
everything else. So the plates were definitely brown, beige, and white.

Is that a salad that's dressed before being served? The again, garnish
with some scallion bits and tomato slices after it's in the bowl.

Quoted message said:

And there was a fresh caramel cake for dessert. Surprise! Golden brown!

(Psst. Fruit sauce. If no fresh berries are to be had, take some jam
and serve it beside or drizzled over the cake.

Quoted message said:

When I planned the meal, I envisioned the bright orange squash looking
lovely; the red onions and tomatoes and lettuce and cukes all
contributing a lovely note of freshness and color to the dinner.

Aestheitcs really are important to the palate. The tastes were
wonderful, but next time I felafel, I'm gonna have to do something
different. maybe something as simple as adding carrots and green beans
to the roasting vegetables.

maxine in ri

maxine in ri said:

Jude said:

Last night's dinner was a little off-putting. It was delicious, but
somehow the whole meal was basically beige. Every bite was wonderful,
but the plates just looked blah. Ever have this happen?

Yes. That's when you start to garnish. Parsley springs, thin tomato
wedges, a few radishes artfully carved. I'd love to learn how the Thai
places carve those lovely rosettes. Just think how cool they'd look
made from a big fat carrot or the like.

Maybe I'm laxy, but by the time my BF gets home from work at 10:30 PM
and I'm re-making dinner for him, he's lucky to get a main dish, let
alone a garnish! My standard shot of color for company is something
green, miced and sprinkled over. parsley, cilantro, dill, whatever
compliments the flavors.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Alongside I served roasted vegetables - potaotes (red skinned, but
overall looked white with some brown crispy parts), cauliflower
(white), and acorn squash, which came out a disgusting brownish color
like baby [censored], not it's usualy lovely orangy squashiness.

My Mom taught me to look for the darker-skinned squashes of each type.
They're usually a little dryer, and hold their color better. Also
sounds like you may have over-cooked the veggies.

No, the veggies were perfect. The potaotes were just how we like 'em -
soft inside but nice and crusty brown outside. The califlower had some
big florets that were still slightly forkably crisp, but the rest was
tender and roasty and the smaller shreds were browning and beginning to
carmelize. The squash was ugly from the time I cut it in half! It was a
nice dark green with the skin on, just one or two very small spots
beginning to go orange. It was cubed and easy to pick up with a fork,
not so soft as I roast it for mashing or pureeing into a soup. Flavors
were perfect, but for some reason it was one ugly sqaush!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I also made an Egyptian salad called michotetta (sp?), which should
have provided some color contrast, since it consists of chopped
tomatoes, ccucmbers, and scallions, but the dressing is feta cheese,
oliver oil, and lemon juice whizzed in the blender, so lo and behold,
the salad was white. And of course, I prefer salad in a side bowl
rather than on the pate, to keep the dressingh from running all over
everything else. So the plates were definitely brown, beige, and white.

Is that a salad that's dressed before being served? The again, garnish
with some scallion bits and tomato slices after it's in the bowl.

I dress the salad before serving because when he works late and it's
just the 2 of us for a late-night meal, it's easier to plate the food
for us instead of serving family style. So I dished up the salad bowls
and dressed them for us, losing the color. And all the tomatoes and
scallions were already in the salad!! Good idea for next tim, though,
to keep a little bit to top the dressing.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

And there was a fresh caramel cake for dessert. Surprise! Golden brown!

(Psst. Fruit sauce. If no fresh berries are to be had, take some jam
and serve it beside or drizzled over the cake.

Yum. I love fruit on cake. Didn't think of it, becasue this chomeur
makes a carmelly puddingy custardy layer onthe bottom, so I dont think
to adorn it. But it would be even better with berries, for sure.

Thanks for the ideas!

In article <[email hidden]>,

maxine in ri said:

zxcvbob said:

I've often thought of serving a meal where everything is stark white,
just for the visual effect. Something like poached fish, mashed
potatoes and cream gravy, boiled turnips, etc. Put white pepper in the
shaker on the table. I haven't actually tried it yet; for one thing, my
family wouldn't eat it.

Bob

That's where the bright red plates come in handy. or maybe something
in a Mondrian print.

maxine in ri

GREEN green green......

Bright spring leafy KELLY green! :-)

And some sliced tomato for garnish.
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

That sux... :-(
It's a good thing in the long run that you got to see him for the loser
he was before you wasted any more time???

I'm so sorry.

HUGS!!!!!!
--
Peace, Om.

Thanks Om.....but no worries. It was nice to put it behind me. I took a
few years off dating to let my heart recover, but I'm now with a
wonderful guy who treats me right. It's the kinda relationship where I
don't even worry about "the ring".........we're together solidly, and
the rest will come in its own time.

:-)

Quoted message said:

The funny part is that I ran into Loser Ex just after meeting Mr Right,
about a year and a half ago, and he asked what it would take for me to
give it one more chance. So I got that long-awaited chance to actually,
literally LAUGH IN HIS FACE! Boy, that felt good.

But thanks for the hugs. They were good. =)

Cheers dear!

So ya think Mr. "wrong" learned anything?

Quoted message said:

--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

maxine in ri said:

Yes. That's when you start to garnish. Parsley springs, thin tomato
wedges, a few radishes artfully carved. I'd love to learn how the Thai
places carve those lovely rosettes. Just think how cool they'd look
made from a big fat carrot or the like.

There IS a radish press available, somewhere!
Grrr, I've been unable to locate mom's. It was made by tuppeware and
I've been trying to find one ever since!

I CAN sorta kinda duplicate a radish rose using a small, very sharp
paring knife. You just gently slice it into the shape you want, making
partial cuts into the skin and flesh of the radish.

Then the secret is to toss them into cold water and refrigerate them.
They soak up the cold water and sorta swell a bit, and the sliced
"petals" open up and spread out.

I've never tried it with carrots, but I often dress up brunch salads
with radish roses. The bright red is very attractive on the side with
sliced avocado, boston butter lettuce and a few thin wedges of tomato.

Scallions can be carefully sliced down the length of the leaves after
cleaning, then soak them in water in the 'frige as well and just lay 2
or 3 along the side.
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Quoted message said:

Jude said:

Alongside I served roasted vegetables - potaotes (red skinned, but
overall looked white with some brown crispy parts), cauliflower
(white), and acorn squash, which came out a disgusting brownish color
like baby [censored], not it's usualy lovely orangy squashiness.

I personally never eat acorn squash anymore.
It always comes out all "stringy" and bland.

Try Butternut for a nice change? :-)

To save time, I'll often pre-peel butternut squash while it is raw
before steaming or pressure cooking it. Then the wedge can just be
carefully scooped up and laid on the plate. I have yet to ever have
butternut lose it's color.
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Cheers dear!

So ya think Mr. "wrong" learned anything?

Unfortunately not.......I heard from friends about a year ago that his
girlfriend was pregnant, and he was asking for advice on how to be a
good father without ever living with his girlfriend and kid, and how to
stay civil with her and the kid if he took another promotionin another
city. At this point in time, when he was considering another move, she
was apparently about 5 months pregnant. From what I hear, he moved out
of state when she was 8 months preg and has a new girl in his new city.

I think Mr Wrong is going to be like my uncle, the "confirmed
bachelor", who admitted that once he hit 70 and the pretty young women
he used to date becasue they liked his connections were no longer
interested in him, that life got pretty lonely without any long-term
companionship, and he wishes he'd actually married one of the 'great
gals' hat he let get away.

I do feel sorry for his kid, though. It's never fair for a kid to start
out on this planet with 1 parent absent by selfish choice.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Cheers dear!

So ya think Mr. "wrong" learned anything?

Unfortunately not.......I heard from friends about a year ago that his
girlfriend was pregnant, and he was asking for advice on how to be a
good father without ever living with his girlfriend and kid, and how to
stay civil with her and the kid if he took another promotionin another
city. At this point in time, when he was considering another move, she
was apparently about 5 months pregnant. From what I hear, he moved out
of state when she was 8 months preg and has a new girl in his new city.

Oh lord...
He's going to remain forever broke paying child support if he keeps THAT
up! What an idiot!

Quoted message said:

I think Mr Wrong is going to be like my uncle, the "confirmed
bachelor", who admitted that once he hit 70 and the pretty young women
he used to date becasue they liked his connections were no longer
interested in him, that life got pretty lonely without any long-term
companionship, and he wishes he'd actually married one of the 'great
gals' hat he let get away.

I do feel sorry for his kid, though. It's never fair for a kid to start
out on this planet with 1 parent absent by selfish choice.

I dunno... Better an absent parent than an uncaring one? <sigh>
Which is the lesser of two evils?

Hopefully she will get lucky and find Mr. Right, and someone who is
willing to be a dad to her kid.

Quoted message said:

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Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson