And thank you, too.

Thanks to Alex, I know exactly how to avoid ugly traffic on my drive from Sacramento airport to Santa Rosa tomorrow afternoon. Thanks, Alex. Have a margarita on me, with a mango chaser. And I will enjoy myself, thanks, and leave my guilt where it belongs, on the curb.

And thanks, Mimi, for helping my friend get the word to Congress that financial support for lung cancer research is vitally important. Mimi is an alienym (how's that for a word?) for my sister. She did that work not only for my friend, but in memory of my Dad, who died of lung cancer.

I have to thank Nicole, too, for sending me her recipe for Tom Yum Soup. Tom Yum Soup is one of my favorite things in the world (as of today...I am fickle, though). Here is Nicole's recipe. Some among you will find some things odd about the recipe, like the spelling and a few words that are totally unfamiliar. Nicole is from Australia, via Amsterdam and Croatia and places in between. She brings to you things from the world. Her husband does the same.

Tom Yum Soup

• 1 litre water
  
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
  
• 3 tablespoons Tom Yum paste
  
• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, lightly pounded, cut into 4cm segments
  
• 1/4 cup sliced galangal (John says: I think this is ginger root...right, Nicole?)
  
• 6 kaffir lime leaves, chopped in half
  
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms (champignongs, straw or shiitake)
  
• 1 tablespoon Prik Pao roasted chillie in oil (you see this thick, oily, deep red hot sauce in lots of Thai restaurants)
  
• 20 prawns, medium size
  
• fresh coriander, roughly torn
  
• 1 fresh red chillie, sliced
  
• 2 spring onions, sliced
  
• juice of 1-2 limes
  
• Boil the water.
  
• Add stock cubes and stir to dissolve.
  
• Add Tom Yum paste and stir to dissolve.
  
• Add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and fish sauce.
  
• Add mushrooms and cook for a minute.
  
• Add prik pao and stir to dissolve.
  
• Add prawns and cook for a minute or two until just done.
  
• Turn off heat and stir through fresh chillie, spring onion and lime juice.
  
• Sprinkle with coriander.
  
• Serve immediately.
  Note: Use as little or as much of the paste, mushrooms, chillie and
  lime juice as suits you. This can all be adjusted to taste. Regarding
  the mushrooms, I like the flavour of the shiitake, even though straw
  mushrooms would be more traditional and a lot of people use the
  easily obtainable fresh champignon. If using dried shiitake, put
  about 4-5 mushrooms into a bowl, pour over boiling water and weigh it
  down with another bowl until the mushrooms have softened, takes about
  15 minutes. Then you can slice them and use in the soup. I usually
  like to add the soaking liquid to the soup as well, as it adds
  flavour. Instead of prawns you can use sliced chicken breast fillet
  or pieces of a firm white fish.

I'm waiting with bated breath for Teresa to tell me what she thinks about some of my writing. Teresa is a new and rare visitor who is an incredibly good writer and someone whose criticism would be very valuable to me. Most of the few of you have not read much, if anything, of mine that I consider truly worth putting on a page. I've actually asked her to give me candid feedback on some of my "favorite" pieces. So what if I'm sacrificing myself to a sharp sword? I want to know.