Paul's Corner

Happy Birthday, Paul! :D

Liz, to answer your question from the previous thread: no, I do not sing Wagner. I am not what one would consider a "Wagnerian soprano" much to the dismay of one of my early vocal coaches. :D

I hope all are well. I'm battling a nasty cold, and hoping it won't go into a sinus infection. At least Spring seems to be here finally. :D

Again: Happy Birthday, Paul! May it be a fabulous day of celebration for you that sets the tone for wonderful things to come in the year ahead of you. Best wishes to you in every respect!
Glad you are feeling so upbeat right now! :)

Dear Paul,

best wishes to your birtday from Stuttgart,Germany.
I am very happy to find yoer website an your corner.
46 is no age. I am 52.
have you ever been at germany. You should go to there, because we hav very good food an very good wine.

My best wishes an god bless you an your family.

gerhard

Dear Paul,

best wishes to your birtday from Stuttgart,Germany.
I am very happy to find your website and your corner.
46 is no age. I am 52.
have you ever been at germany. You should go to there, because we have very good food an very good wine.

My best wishes an god bless you an your family.

gerhard

Hey Paul!

Happy birthday, happy chappy!

And, of course, Sto Lat! (May you have 100!)

Dear Paul,
Happy birthday! ¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Happy Birthday Paul!
Have a great day!
Lots of love.
Clair. XXX

P.S. Click on my name to see a little birthday greeting!

Happy birthday, Paul! 46 seems a bit like a spring chicken. I just turned 58 ten days before you.

I wonder if you know why you are happy now but were unhappy earlier? I remember you didn't know why you were unhappy. If you compare the two times of unhappy/happy, perhaps you will find a little insight. Usually I am happy when things are going my way and unhappy when they are not. Such is life. We should all be like St. Paul who said he has learned to be content in plenty and in want, etc.

¡Muchas Felicidades!
Have a great time!

Happy Birthday, Paul!!!

If you are in NZ, did you hear about the April Fools joke in Melbourne? It was on the news here in Oklahoma, USA!

Cling-wrapped cars!!!!

Happy belated birthday dear sweet HAPPY Paul. Keep moving in this direction. I am so pleased and relieved to hear you doing so well. You deserve it! Keep remembering that you do deserve happiness. So were you separated from your wonderful family on your day? I know you are never alone with a good family in your corner, but I hope you were not alone. What did you do to celebrate?? Will the cook book be available in the U.S.? I find your recipes more exotic than what I am used to, but would love to have a copy. Exotic may not be the correct word. The ingredients just seem different than what we use in America. I am Italian, but don't mostly cook Italian. I cook allot of vegetables, chicken and fish. I am absolutely CRAVING a good artichoke, but they are not too fresh here in Colorado. In California, where I am originally from, they are so delicious. I'm going to have to have one soon. Well, anyway. You share a birthday with my sister, who survived cancer treatment this year, so I actually forgot yours! She's doing well and we just live each day to the fullest and hope for continued good health. I'm so extra glad that YOU are also doing well!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!!!!!

Hello to everyone. Hope you are all having a great week. Yesterday I was informed by my manager that I have escaped yet another round of layoffs. I am so very thankful to still be employed for now!

Happy Birthday Paul. I wish you a very happy year with much joy and success. You have brought such joy to others, you deserve it back a hundred times over.

I'm happy too. Well sorta. I went to England with my son and my sis and had a great time and now I'm back home working..the daily grind. It's hard to get back into the swing of things after such a fun time.

But thankfully it's Friday tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend and getting lots done around the house.

Paul thank you for sticking with this blog. It sure is sweet of you to continue to reach out to us, your fans.

Love and much affection,
Tea

P.S. You do have a wonderful family!!

I'm a bit late, Paul, but I had some eye surgery,
and it's a little blurry as I type this, but anyway, I want to wish you a Happy 46th!

46? A mere child; if I adopted you, you would
be my "baby"; our twins, Marcia and Leah will be
50 on May 2nd.

Hope you had a wonderful day with all your beautiful girls...

Shalom and Love.

Grandma Mil

G. Mil I hope you are feeling better after your eye surgery; Sarah,hope you got better too; Clair from the UK, how did you do that wonderful card? do you have to have an html document to link it to? great card!

Paul working very very hard with his Chef Buddy:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=MERM2+008+Tweed+Valley+Peppers+Story&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#

Yummm!!! I want some of this food!!!!

Agree with you Evelyn, Paul makes cooking seem fun and to enjoy what you make in the end looks fun; the part with the swimming pool and wine, even better; looks like he makes up the menu depending on what he finds fresh--so the menu is not set. Like he thought of the mango salsa on the spot, or is that scripted?

Also can you make a chocolate porter cake some time on the menu where you can use stout or porter? Thanks.

Ps.: Grandma Millie, how are you doing post surgery? (you would call this a senior moment, that I forgot to ask in the earlier post, but I'm way too young for that :D, so what will you call my moment of forgetfulness?)

Paul, enjoyed the Tweed segment--some nice jeté action there!

The food looked great, sad that I have shellfish allergies--but looked fabulous. I really hope MM can make the States.

Thanks, Liz for posting!

Grandma Millie--I hope things are better for you to enjoy the holiday with Ellie and the family.

MaryS, glad you still have your job--it's so scary these days. Fingers crossed!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Getting over some sinus activity myself and some crazy Chicago weather. We had some snow showers--not too sure the clouds know it's April! ;)

Hi Paul, I'm sorry it's a little late but happy birthday. Your great and it's good that your so happy.I'm happy too. It sad that your not on DWTS here is Australia. I miss you and I miss your comments.

Keep smiling
From your biggest fan (well, one of them)
Becky.

Hi Paul, Great to see you are busy. Belated Happy Birthday. (I'm 45 this year) You must be doing something right if you are getting ghost hugs! I think I liked Ulrike, that is what can happen if you don't connect. Life still goes on. Better to live it as happy as possible as u are doing. Congratulations for all your success. You're even making ghosts happy. Cheers, Terry.

Here is a review of MM:

Mercurio's Menu
Channel Seven, 5pm
THIS is what you call a small show: in scope, in budget, in ambition. On the upside, when so much telly is so hyperbolic, there's something awfully nice about a series that's utterly without pretensions. Helping things along is our host. Paul Mercurio is a natural in front of the camera, relaxed and unaffected, never unprofessional but always willing to acknowledge the faint absurdity of what he's doing. There's a kind of no-nonsense honesty about him that's really appealing. Plus, of course, Mercurio's Menu gives us gorgeous landscapes, quirky characters, and fabulous food. What's not to like? Tonight we hit an unlikely gourmet destination: Portarlington. It's famous to most of us for its extensive caravan park, but Mercurio manages to discover mussels, abalone, blueberries and goat's cheese, and whip up a beachside feast therewith. (from The Age 4/6/09)

Disagree with calling it small--but if by small you mean local and homegrown, it is intentionally small; which is part of what makes the show stand out. and the part about Paul and the no nonsense honesty, I agree.

I agree that the "small" wasn't appreciated. Sounds like a put down followed by a pat on the back unless, as Liz says the term was used to indicate "local and homegrown". Perhaps an Australianism?

Ellie and I wish all you PCers a Happy Easter; may
the day be filled with friends and family in good health and peace.

Tonight is the start of our Passover..7 days of eating matzos and all other goodies. Very bad for the waistline (what waistline) but filled with the quiet joy of sharing the holiday with family and friends also.

I am due to have a cataract removed from my right eye next Tuesday...oh, joy, the first eye
was operated a week ago, and I still can't see so
well...there is a cloudiness that will be removed
by a laser in two weeks. The doctor is well known,
and has a wonderful sense of humor, which helps when one is tethered during surgery...some hip hop music was playing, and when I suggested that
some opera be piped in, everyone groaned, and I decided I had better shut up or else...

Have a wonderful Easter!

Shalom and love,

Grandma Mil

Have a happy Passover, Grandma Millie and Grandpa Ellie and may your surgeries go well and be a great success!!!

Happy Easter/Passover/time off-whatever you chose to celebrate!

Grandma Mil; wishing you great vision after the surgery! Thanks Evelyn and Happy Easter too. Marian I have been thinking of the review above and the words are so clever but I am not sure it meant anything, for ex faint absurdity or faintly absurd and it sounds very deep but I do not know what the reviewer means. Or can you even be a little absurd (cecked the dictionary: contrary to common sense or absurd as in Camus The Absurd?). The review has a negative ring to it but it cannot stop but acknowledge that Paul is great in the show and a natural before the camera.

G Mil maybe you can play the soundtrack of SB or MBF during your surgery. I love matzos with eggs but do not know if this is the proper way to eat it. Happy Passover and Easter!!!

Hey, Liz, matzos are soooo good with eggs!

Just pour some boiled water over bits of matzos
to soften them, and then blot the pieces a bit to absorb the water. Then, in a fry pan with hot oil, place the whole eggs mixed with the soft
matzos, and mush them around until the eggs are cooked...pure heaven, but not for dieters..one serving is not enough; too addicting!

Good idea about the soundtrack of SB in the operating room, but I'm sure the surgical staff has its own favorites...

Have a Happy Easter everyone!

Shalom and love,

Grandma Mil

First of all, about this "small" show comment--let's just add "but packs a big punch!" But the other commentary is on about Paul. I join all PCs in being happy for Paul that MM is doing well and getting noticed!

Grandmil Mil, that egg and matzos recipe sounds great!

Wishing Paul and all PCs a Happy Easter/Passover/Rite of Spring--may everyone have a joyous weekend!

(and NO more slush and snow in Chicago!) LOL

I just read my post after it mounted and that one sentence should read "But the other commentary is right on about Paul." Fingers are too fast for my own good at times!

Hi all computers, happpy easter!

Liz, aww thank you! I made it on Photoshop!

Happy Easter Paul and the PCer's, have a good one!

P.S. Paul, an Easter greeting, click on my name to see it!

Hey all!! HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY PAUL !!!

Ok, I know it has been a couple years (ok more like 1 year) since I have been on here to say Hi but I just wanted to say I had been thinking about you all alot and looked back at some of the old, old post from 2004 today and I can't believe how sooooo much can change in my life in such a short time period.

Hey Grandma Mil! Hope Eli is well. Hope your surgery Tuesday goes well, I will be thinking of you. I can still hear your soft voice in my ear, Mil.

Evelyn, hope all is well.

Sally, how is it going?

Well, I think it is a great time in my life for me to come back to the wonderful and loving friends I had hear at the corner.

PAUL, I am sorry to find out you are no longer producing MERCS OWN. I thought for sure in a couple years it would have made it's way to the states. I watched a couple of spots on Mercurios Menu on line and on You Tube. SUPER JOB! I love crab and never thought of stuffing crab into squid tubes. I buy my squid frozen with the tenticles seperated and it is already cut up. I will have to try to find it in the whole tubes.
Hope the family is great. You have only the best times in front of you and all the career possibilities just around the corner. You are lightning in a bottle, just remember that.

My family is well, Clay is almost 19 and in college, he passed up baseball & football scholorships to focus on engineering school. Smart boy. Paige is 16 and is a sofmore in high school and Tom is well. We still have the 2 black pugs and the cat but we bred the pugs and now have 2 fawn pugs which make Mom, Dad, brother and sister.

I never did find another corprate job but have settled into a 3rd shift grocery store job. It pays the mortgage and was a great diet plan. Who knew unloading trucks and throwing heavy freight all night would make you lose weight! Go figure.

I dropped a line on Paul's facebook page, if you guys want to drop me a line there, go ahead!

I am glad to be back to say hi to my old family, I won't be a stranger. Good to be home. I can't forget how full of love you all always were.

Love to all, Kelly

"I never did find another (corprate) job? hellooo no wonder with that spelling. Ok, Paul, you can still kid me about my typos...... Kelly

"I never did find another (corprate) job? hellooo no wonder with that spelling. Ok, Paul, you can still kid me about my typos...... Kelly

Hi Everyone. Wow, miss a few days on the corner and there are allot of new posts. That's so great!

Grandma Millie, I hope your surgery goes well. My mom had both of her eyes done in the last 6 or 8 months or so. She did very well with it. I know ou will too. I got new glasses last week and I feel like I have new eyes! lol. They said my prescription had barely changed..but I think my lenses were so old (about 4 yrs old) that they were getting scratched and cloudy. It's nice to have clear vision again!

Tomorrow I'm going to be with friends who are like family to me. It'll be nice. I hope you all have a wonderful day. This is the season for new beginnings and I hope anyone who is in need of one, gets the chance.

Love and Peace to you all!

Sorry to have been absent for so long. One of my other favorite "celebrities" has been taking up a lot of my time. I'm actually headed up to Montreal tomorrow to see him. :D

Grandma Mil, I love matzos! Now I want to go to the diner and have their matzo ball soup. (If my friend's mom had made a pot I'd be eating hers.) As for the actual matzos "crackers" - I can just sit and plow through a box of them. Definitely not something anyone watching their waist should do. LOL I hope your second eye surgery goes well. I want to wish you and your family a blessed Passover.

I arrived in Brooklyn yesterday, and tomorrow my best friend and I are driving up to Montreal for the week. I'm happy to be going, and hope the blue skies we have today are still present tomorrow. :)

I hope everyone is well. Happy Easter/Passover to all!

G. Mil have a good rest day before your surgery. Off to a long day at work; Give us an update as soon as the anesthesia wears off; with love, Liz.

Sarah, have a great trip to Montreal..they speak
French there.

I am doing my best to delay getting to work but I am on my way; will watch the SB clip before I head to work.

Welcome back, Kelly! Glad to hear things have worked out despite not returning to the corporate world.

Sarah--love Montreal, although I haven't been there in some time. I enjoyed my stay there and it's certainly a city I'd return to. Have safe travels and a great time!

MaryS, new glasses do make a difference--especially when kept clean. I wear mine after returning home to watch TV and don't clean them daily. I'm more a contact lens user--trying to dance (especially spins) with glasses are a trip!

Hope everyone had a good weekend--ate too much myself! LOL

Grandma Millie, I hope your cataract surgery went well today and you rested quietly this evening. I'll be anxious to hear how you are doing asap.

Sarah, I wish I could travel like you do! Girl, you are constantly on the move! I hope you had a blast up there and maybe we'll see some new pics of your "other favorite". ;)

The glasses are working out well. Thanks Melody. :)

It's back to work tomorrow for me. I'm exhausted from my weekend and wish I had one more day. I mowed the front yard for the first time this season. Our town homes were painted this past few days, so I had to move all the stuff off of my porch and my patio and then put it all back. I have iron benches that must way about 60 pounds and a very heavy coffee table on the patio made of iron, with a very heavy piece of glass on top. I had to move this stuff out of it's normal place and then back in. I'm sore!
Easter was lovely. I spent it with friends. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Dear Friends,

I am recuperating from the eye surgeries..my doctor was pleased with the outcomes of both eyes, and now it's eye drops, eye drops, eye drops, eye drops, and thank God my Ellie is doing that task 4 times a day with no complaints..now I owe him one, he says...

I will still need glasses for reading, and glasses
for the computer, better to communicate with you all, my dears!

Kelly, can't believe that Clay is 19, and your girls lovely young ladies...I remember when you were rooting for him when he was playing sports in elementary school! Welcome back!

Shalom and love,

Grandma Mil

Dear Friends,

I am recuperating from the eye surgeries..my doctor was pleased with the outcomes of both eyes, and now it's eye drops, eye drops, eye drops, eye drops, and thank God my Ellie is doing that task 4 times a day with no complaints..now I owe him one, he says...

I will still need glasses for reading, and glasses
for the computer, better to communicate with you all, my dears!

Kelly, can't believe that Clay is 19, and your girls lovely young ladies...I remember when you were rooting for him when he was playing sports in elementary school! Welcome back!

Shalom and love,

Grandma Mil

Hey all,

It's my weekend and I am doing nothing but spring cleaning. Doors, walls, baseboards and weeding out all the gardens and tilling the soil getting ready for new flowers. I really want to get a veggie garden going! The cost of produce in Michigan is ridiculous!

Mary I guess you are half way through your work week by now, wish I were, I go back tommorrow night.

Mil, so glad everything went ok with your surgery. Whewwww.... a load off all of our minds.

Well, the hubby is calling me to watch some t.v. I spent most of today doing insurance papers with my son as his apartment building burned to the ground last month and he needs to replace everything. It started in the 2cd floor apartment underneath Clay's apartment and the smoke alarms did not go off. Clay was in the shower and smelled smoke and got out and there was smoke coming through the vents and he could not see out of the windows due to black smoke. He dressed, ran out and got down to first floor and outside and no-one else was outside so Clay went back in and tripped the alarms and buzzed everyones door to notify them of the fire. NO one was hurt in the fire. THANK GOD. I am just glad he was ok, items can be replaced, children can not.

Well, he is hollering now so gotta go the old man wants some snuggle and cuddle time. ohhh fun.

Love to all,

Kelly

Oh my goodness Kelly! I'm so sorry to hear about the fire, but so relieved that nobody was injured! Whew! What a close call!

Millie, I know about those drops. My mom had to do that herself for both eyes..only a couple of weeks apart. It seemed like it would never end!

We had a lot of snow mixed with rain here in this last few days and believe it or not will hit a high of 76 by the middle of this week! It's so crazy with the weather here! My lawn is the greenest it's ever been at the beginning of Spring! Even my little "hot box" of a backyard was pretty much looking hopeless at this time next year, and it's green, green, green already! I'm excited to welcome the new season on it's way.

Have a great week everyone!!

Hang in there Millie!

MaryS--I don't know about all this global warming--it's still like March here in Chicago! Or maybe the earth's cooling off!

Kelly, make good that cuddle time! Welcome back!

Have to run some errands and then off to the movies--"17 Again". (My niece thinks Zac Efron is overrated. Very cute, but overrated.)

Hey all,
One more night and then my weekend! WOOT WOOT !!

Paul, I got to thinking, here in the states we have THE FOOD NETWORK and they show cooking show after cooking show and all kinds of shows about food. Is there such a network in Australia?

Melody, cuddle time is few and far between and unfortunately it came and went and probobly wont be back for some time. Darn, gone are the good old days you actually wanted to spend every waking moment with each other. Oh wait, I actually embrace that new tradition at times!! oops I forgot! But, a good cuddle is wonderful at times.

Off to tend to the dogs.

Love to all,

Kelly

Welcome Kelly!

The ff is a Paul interview: it mentions this site. What a great "mission statement" on what guides you--you are indeed remarkable; best to you and your family!

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/tv--radio/the-interview/2009/04/22/1240079711131.html

KELLY! Great to hear from you as it has been such a long time! Funny isnt it though that you can be away from here and come back and in a lot ways nothing has changed. A friend rang me last night - we have been close friends for a long time but havent seen each other for more years than i want to admit nor have we spoken in ove a year or more and yet on the phone last night it was like yesterday! Glad to hear the family including the pugs - are good and your still with hubby. You sound happy.

Grand Ma Mil I hope you are feeling better each day and I am certainly happy that the operation all went well.

Liz thanks for posting the interview. I did it a fair while back and was wondering what angle the writer would take - well now I know.

New post coming.

Paul,

Thanks for not forgeting me!!! I am happy, for the most part. I have happy moments. I have had my share of struggles recently but I refuse to crawl under the covers and dissapear. I am making the choice to live happy and I think it is working. I am super happy to be back and that gives me alot of comfort.

I am going to be taking online classes, (OMG.... so scared) I may be going part time at work and my son just moved home last night for at least 3 weeks before he gets a new apartment. He found out that they think a BBQ grill may have started the fire that burned down his apartment building but they are not sure. Clay still thinks it started under his apartment but we'll never know.

SUPER NICE INTERVIEW, PAUL.
Through all the ups and downs you have to be content and happy." THIS IS TRUE!!!
Thats how I feel right now I have my happy moments and my moments of reflection.

"I realised that I was either living with angst because of the past or living in fear because I don't know what's going to happen in the future."
HOW TRUE THIS IS!!!! It is exactly what I was feling after I lost my job. I am still afraid of what lies ahead but a litte excited, too.

THESE WORDS ARE SO THERAPUTIC RIGHT NOW as I am sending out a new batch of resumes tommorrow.

PAUL, you spoke about when you were digging ditches and that is the time in your life that I started posting on you site, well at least reading it... I told you there was no shame in providing for your family and I have to remind myself of this very thing as I came from a well paid corprate job to stocking shelves 3rd shift at Wal*mart for just over minimum wage. But it pays the mortgage and I am grateful. I have all the same blessings I had years ago when I met you all except a few have been added. (my dogs, bless there hearts as a pug can bring even the deeply depressed out of thier darkness.

Liz, Thanks for posting the article!

Love to all!
Kelly

Kelly not so sure about the power of the pug??? They really are ugle things......and my daughter - Erin the youngest - loves them!!!hahahah. Each to their own and that is what matters most finding your own place of happiness and sitting comfortably within it. From there you can do quite possibly anything.

I havent dug any ditches for a long time but if I had to I wouldnt hesitate because as you said it doesnt bring shame although sure there are little twinges of it in the background - but that is ego saying hey what the F^%@ - instead it gives a sense of pride because against the odds you are doing something positive, something important.

Yes lifes journey is a funny old thing!

Paul,

Yes pugs are very ugly, so ugly they are cute! I always said fawn pugs (yellow) are ugly but black ones are cute so Tom got me 2 black pugs for valentines day 3 years ago and they were such good dogs and soooooo cute, people asked us to breed them so after several vet visits, we did. Who knew 2 black pugs could make 6 fawn pugs and 2 black ones. We thought we would get mostly black ones as you can ask more money for them.
2 of the fawn pugs had dry eye and an ulcer in one eye so we kept them. Thats how we got 4 pugs.

Now I think fawn ones are still ugly but so ugly you cant help but love them. Tell Erin she is in very good company in loving the pug. I wish I knew how to post photos of them on here I would show you all how ugly cute they are!

Lifes journey is a funny old thing, I just wish it got easier as you went along, not harder.

I won one victory tonight, my hubby finally agreed to help me put in a large garden in our backyard! Wahooooooo!! We spend so much per week on produce! We are planting carrots, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and romaine lettuce.

YUM

Love to all,

Kelly

Hey!

PAUL I just responded to your Facebook comment about the new cookbook, and it got me thinking (not just about my photo being out there, uuuhhh)
but you guys can all go onto my facebook under Kelly Lee Haggard and request to be my friend and you can view my photos and see my beautiful family, and dogs!!! Just a thought. I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE MY FAMILY WITH "THE CORNER" IF YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED.

Love to all,

Kelly

On the topic of pugs: I love my cat :D!

Hello everyone! Just stopping by! Been very busy, very productive and oh so tired!

Kelli, don't be afraid of the classes, enjoy them! Just sent you a FB friend request btw. You are in K'zoo? I'll be there May 7-10 for a conference and REALLY need to get working on my conference presentation ...

Off to some well deserved sleep. did I mention, I'm in love with sleep?

Evelyn, Yes, you have found me, email me and I will give you my phone number and we can get together when you are in town if you have time!

I have a cat as well, he is 14 his name is Boots but we cal him booty.

Love to all

Kelly