Vacation in La Cocina?

Hello:

Despite my best intentions, I have fallen WAY behind on the proper care and feeding of my BLOG. Not only have I not made any new posts, I haven't even responded to all the great comments I've gotten in the last couple of weeks. I'm tempted to blame it on the wisdom tooth I had pulled last week, but the truth is I just haven't had the power surges that ocassionally come along and allow me to take on the world. So today, I'm going to recognize my current limitations. I'm going to distract you all with a virtual tour of my kitchen and work in a couple of long overdue "shout-outs".

A good friend of mine spent several hours yesterday mapping every detail of the design into these scale images. Apparently the new kitchen will be haunted. I've hardly started knocking walls and the budget for this project has all ready exploded. I suspect that this year I'll be vacationing in La Cocina.

Something about these images keeps reminding me of Second Life, the new 'virtual' existence that seems to be taking both the personal and business world by storm. When I think of what a challenge it is for me to maintain a BLOG, I can't imagine spending the energy to live a parallel life.

My first shout-out today goes to my good friend Kathy Sheldon. Kathy is a reporter and editor at The Sporting News here in St. Louis. I recently gave Kathy a copy of And God Said, "Play Ball!": Amusing and Thought-provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Baseball and she was kind enough to publish a review of it on her Sporting News BLOG! Is she a great friend or what? If you've read Dark Glass very often, you've probably seen me talk about And God Said, "Play Ball!". I hit that one a lot. Next to our cookbooks, "Play Ball" probably has the broadest appeal of the Liguori Publications' line. Later this Fall, author Gary Graf will be treating us to "It's Good!" a football themed title designed to help the sports fan to get in touch with their spiritual side.

My second shout-out goes to Chandira, the Hope Fiend. Chandira is a fellow spiritual pilgram walking the BLOGosphere and encouraging the flames of enlightenment she encounters. I don't pretend that much wisdom resides here at Dark Glass, but she is a comfort to me none the less. She is also a favorite of Br. Secundo over at Mystic Alchemy and that is a BLOG with wisdom in residence.

Last but not least, a big shout out to Kiwi Nomad. Kiwi is another of those of BLOG friends who always lend their support and encouragement - even if she did recently say that I am still an absentee landlord! Kiwi is actually up to 3 BLOGs now (and I can't find the time to keep this one). I suggest starting with Kiwi Nomad's Wanderings and branching out from there.

WOW - for a quickee this has turned into a long-winded post! I have a lot of ideas for where I want to take Dark Glass in 2007. Most are concepts that will take a little more care and attention than what I can spare to publish several times a week. Until I get that going I'm going to try to catch up on my shout-outs and ramble about my kitchen.

Peace,

P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass