How to Care for Introverts

E sent me this picture, which I think I've traced back to its original source:



Granted, I was already having a bad day when I read these, but I cried.  I cried.  The reason I'm having a bad day can be traced to violations of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 12.

10 and 11 are constant problems.

I wish I were an extrovert.  I wouldn't have to fight this fight every day.

UPDATED 11:03PM:

I was at work tonight and one of my first customers asked for books on careers.  I helped him find the books and picked up a copy of Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Your Personality Type, Revised and Updated, by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron.  I flipped through it and found this:

"Essentially you can use your functions [extroversion or introversion] in either of two ways: in the outer world or in the inner world.  Extraverts [sic] use their dominant function in the outer world, with other people.  They use their auxiliary function in their inner world, when they are alone, or when the situation relates more personally to them.

For introverts, the opposite is true.  Introverts use their dominant function in their inner world (which is why you have to get to know Introverts before you can appreciate their greatest strengths).  They use their auxiliary function in the outer world (which places them at somewhat of a disadvantage, since what others see most is not their strongest function)."

Perhaps this partially explains why rules 10 and 11 can be so troubling.

Goal #31

Goal #31: get it together.

Guys, I'm feeling a little (okay, a lot) overwhelmed.  My single-day to-do list in my planner now takes up three days.  My house is a disaster area.  My pile of dirty laundry is as big as me.  My dog has been on one walk in the last three days.  Things are not good.  What's more, I'm not likely to get much of these things taken care of this week - I'll be very busy with work stuff.  I'm going to take a little break and just try to get things as organized as possible, so I can feel a little more sane next week.

Recap of Goal #30: I barely squeaked by with this one. At 10:14 tonight, I finished my filing!  (See what I mean?)

Random Links

Baby elephant vs. mud pit.

Call a spade a spade (or the bigger picture).

Great photos.

I'm not sure how well this plan was thought through.

It's about time, big box stores.

You choose when and where to see the movie.

I love this ad.  Couldn't have said it better myself.  Nice work, ad agency.

Conservatives are neat freaks; liberals are slobs.

What I Watched -- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

I've been having so much fun lately that I'm way behind on posting!  I don't even know when it was that I watched The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest - sometime before I left for vacation.  Anyway, it's the last movie in the Swedish trilogy (others: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Who Played with Fire).  Only the first one is out so far as an American remake.

Speaking of, I know I watched the American version of Dragon Tattoo fairly recently, but I guess I forgot to blog about it.  Also, this stupid search feature really stinks, so maybe I'll blame it even though I'm pretty sure I really did forget to blog.

Anywho, Hornets' Nest was fairly loyal to the book, and the parts that were cut out for length didn't hurt the flow a bit.  If you haven't read the book, you won't have any idea that you're missing anything.

Bottom line: same as the other two - very entertaining and punky, no best actors/actresses.

So . . . Chicago happened.

I went to Chicago!  It was a while ago (early July - same as last year, and the year before), but I was so busy with running around the city that I didn't have time to post.  Here are the highlights:

- I saw J&T, C&A!  Due to a minor e-mail miscommunication, we thought we were going to miss each other, so imagine my surprise when I opened the door of their house and there they were!  And imagine their surprise when someone was opening the door to their house!

- I took my bike, which was the best idea EVER.  The weather was warm but great, and I rode it all over the place.  Saturday I left my car at J&Ts and scooted around using some combination of bike, el, and my own two feet.  Sunday, I drove part of the way into the city so I would be able to jump on 55 in the evening, but just found a place I could park my car for the day and rode away.

- I had two tasty dinners!  Friday night I met up with M&M at Ombra in Andersonville.  It's Italian tapas, was good, and [highlight!] I had an oyster!  I haven't had oysters since I lived in Bethesda, and I didn't really like them the one and only time I tried them, so I had held off.  But M had one and said it wasn't too briny, which was my big issue with the first ones I had.  It came with a sauce that tasted like vinegar, onions, and lime juice, and it was actually not bad.

Saturday a bunch of the rowing peeps went to The Counter in Lincoln Park, a design-your-own-burger place. I basically used toppings I would normally put on a salad - baby spinach, craisins, herbed goat cheese, apricot glaze - all slathered on a 2/3-pound burger.  With onion straws and sweet potato fries.  Mmm mmm good.

- I got my Potbelly's!  I went on a Sunday bike ride with C and we stopped in for lunch - my usual: a wreck and an Oreo shake.

- I won a gold medal!  Against high schoolers, but whatever!

Brothers of the Sun

So much goodness!

Let's back ourselves up to Day 2 in Denver.  T came out for a short weekend, and we went to see Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney!  We spent a little bit of time walking around the city, so we missed both of the opening acts: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Jake Owen.  (C'mon, the concert started at 4:30!)  I actually did want to see Jake Owen (who looks a lot like Luke Wilson); I like a lot of his songs.  I don't know much (okay, any) Grace Potter aside from the duet of "You and Tequila" she does with Kenny, which I got to see her do, so...no love lost there I guess.  Jake Owen didn't come back out until the last song of the encore though.  A little bummed about that.

But everything else was fantastic!  I mean, really.  It's two of country music's biggest superstars performing together.  So...yeah.  Words don't really do.  The set list is here.  Pictures will tell you the rest:

Tim spent a lot of time out amongst the fans.

T is my photographer.  He even got a butt shot!

Well hello!

"...the things I've done for foolish pride,

The me that's never satisfied,

The face that's in the mirror,

When I don't like what I see,

I guess that's just the cowboy in me."

He practically kicked us in the head.

It was hard to get a good shot of Kenny because he just didn't stop moving!

Super high-energy show.

Kenny seemed to prefer the main stage.

Kenny with Grace Potter

Yes, that's him!

The whole crew: Tim, Grace, Kenny, and Jake Owen.

 Signing autographs after the show

Oh, what a night!

Goal #30

Goal #30: file, file, file.

Everyone has those papers which are allegedly important and you know you should keep, but even if you do, you rarely look at and aren't totally sure why you have them: receipts for major purchases, financial statements of various types, payroll info, vehicle maintenance records, etc.

My super-duper filing system works like this: I pile all those papers up in a big pile until it's about ready to fall over or I can't fit any more into my container of choice, then I actually sort through them and decide what I need to keep, what I can shred, and what to file where.  It's gettin' to be that time.

Recap of Goal #29: I started reading!  Yay, I'm finally reading a book!  I'm about halfway through and it's actually a pretty quick read, although I think I will go back and read some of the more nitty gritty sections (training schedules, nutrition) again once I have the full picture in my head.

Denver, Day 2

Big deal of the day and the reason I'm in Denver: Brothers of the Sun!!  I will write about this in a separate post, because it deserves it.  T got some seriously awesome pictures, and it was phenomenal!

Prior to the big show, I spent the morning much as I did yesterday: coffee, breakfast, reading.  Dad and D headed off to a wedding just shortly before T got into town, so we did a little bit of wandering around and shopping, and had hamburgers at The Cherry Cricket.  Then off to the show.

A couple more thoughts on Denver.  First: a reprise - bathrooms.  Not as impressed with the public-ish restrooms I experienced in Denver as I was in North Carolina.  Twice I had to literally straddle the toilet in order to get the door closed (see Mom's comment posted today in response to my recent props to NC bathrooms).  When they (probably men) are designing those bathrooms, does it ever occur to them that someone has to actually fit inside a stall?  And be able to close the door?  It does not appear so.

Second, flowers. The flowers in Denver (and in Breck, for that matter) are AMAZING.  Like the flowers in Santa Fe last year.  They're everywhere, they're vibrant.  Heck, as far as I'm concerned, they're alive, which is more than I can say for anything at home.  I want to be good at keeping plants alive!  Alas, I am not.

Denver, Day 1

Welcome to Denver, please don't mind the mass shootings.

Normally, I live under a rock, but even I heard first thing in the morning about the gunman who opened fire on a theater full of people in Aurora, Colorado.  And, as is so often the case, he "seemed like a totally normal, nice, smart guy, maybe a little quiet but I never thought he'd do anything like this."  But he did.

In other and significantly less tragic news, it was super hot in Denver for yet another day, so we did our best to stay in the A/C as much as possible.  After sort of a slow start to the day, we stopped by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to check out their exhibit on gems and minerals, which is a stunner.  They have some amazing pieces, and many of them were found right here in Colorado!  What was especially interesting was that many of them, in their pre-polished or pre-extracted form, didn't look any different than any of the thousands of rocks you've walked past a hundred times and never given a second thought to.  Some of the huge local gems were found in the last couple of decades even!  So keep your eyes peeled!

The afternoon was more of the same - staying in the A/C and watching the news.  We stopped for a late lunch at a Mexican place after the museum and ran a couple of errands, but then I sat around reading (yes! I started my running book and even picked up a Runner's World magazine that D's daughter left behind) until dinner.

Speaking of dinner, T braved the heat to grill up some tuna steaks, and we had semi-local Olathe sweet corn, which was incredibly good - debate raged over whether it was the corn itself, or the addition of milk to the pot for cooking.  (Plus there were Olathe peaches on the salad!)  And I capped off the day my meeting H, one of the few people I know in Denver, for some fro yo.  (Yes, more fro yo.  Don't judge.)  We ate chocolate and peanut butter deliciousness (which tasted surprisingly of actual peanuts), and then she had to head off to day two of the Underground Music Showcase, at which many very hip bands I've never heard of will play at one of a number of venues.  Looking at the website, it seems that one could easily get overwhelmed by all the musical options.  There are a half dozen (at least, sometimes a dozen) different people or groups playing all the time, so you really have to pick your battles if you're going to make it through the weekend.  God speed, H!

Breckenridge, Day 3

Fishing is so fun!

Dad had planned a guided trip to a little stretch of the middle fork of the South Platte River yesterday.  It's private water and a fishing shop in Breck called The Mountain Angler has exclusive rights to fish it, but they're very careful with it and don't fish it every day so the fish don't get too much pressure.

We started fishing probably around 8:30, and were immediately onto the brown trout, which were everywhere.  After that came the rainbows.  Then T scored a brook trout and I landed a cutthroat, which put us both on track for a grand slam - I needed a brookie and T needed a cutthroat.

M, our guide, was fishing with me since T probably fishes enough to be a guide himself.  He had been on this water last week and found a spot right near the edge of the property where at least two brook trout were living, so off we went.  It was really a group effort: T stood on the bank spotting fish, M kept my line untangled, and I caught brown trout.  And brown trout.  And more brown trout.  Seriously, enough with the brownies.  And then a brook trout!  Grand slam!

At that point we broke for lunch.  M shagged ahead to get it ready. T and I fished our way back down, and arrived to find grilled pheasant stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos.  Not bad for a river lunch!

The afternoon was a little slower in terms of catching fish every time you put a fly on the water, which is to say, I think I caught four.  Two were teeny little browns, one was a pretty decent brown, and one....  Oh baby.  We were all on a little pool in the river, I was fishing the fast water up above and T was fishing the slow water at the base of it.  We fished and fished, and even using the teeny #20 zebra midge, caught zilch.  Then, at the same time, we were both on.  Dad had a brown

I never saw this fish.  It wasn't in a lot of water, but it was in the shadow of a rock, and it was big.  And it took a long time for him to tire out.  He ran a little bit down river, but luckily there was nothing there he could get hung up on; it was just a big flat pool.  So I reeled him back in, then he saw us and ran again.  Then I reeled him back in.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  When M finally netted him, it turned out he was a steelhead.  And he was big, probably 20 inches long, which I believe makes him (or her) the biggest fish I have ever caught.  What's better than a grand slam?

So, steelhead (I learned yesterday) are the same species as rainbow trout, except that they swim out to the sea, where they eat loads of food and get huge.  Then, just like their more famous running cousins the salmon, they swim back upriver to spawn.  So my question is this: different size, different habitat, different eating habits, different life cycle - at what point to they become a different species?

Anywho, you'll probably notice there are no pictures of these fish.  That's because none of us even had a cell phone.  But I have witnesses.

When fishing was over, we hit the road for Denver, only to get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for six miles because a giant sinkhole had opened up in one of the lanes of the interstate.  Oops.

We arrived much later than expected, but managed to make it to dinner at North in Cherry Creek.  We ordered calamari as an app, and it came basically as a calamari salad on a bed of arugula, which was unexpected but delicious.  My dinner was a spicy chicken sausage pizza with asparagus and peppers, which was a little less spicy than I expected (it didn't quite stand up to the wine), but was otherwise good.  Pretty much anything with asparagus is good.  We stopped at a design-your-own fro yo concoction on the way home whose name I don't know, but my mango fro yo with peaches was a prefect, refreshing end to a great day of fishing!

Breckenridge, Day 2

Mountain biking is so fun!

It's been a long time since I've done it, as I haven't had a mountain bike in years, but so, so fun!  It didn't hurt that I got to ride D's mostly brand new and very nice bike.  Due to my limited experience at this elevation, our ride was short and non-technical, as these things go, but no matter.  Probably better to err on the side of not dying.

We lunched at home but didn't let that dissuade us from a stop at the Cool River Coffee House, where I had a most delicious cherry turnover - I opted for that over a chocolate croissant!  Can you believe it? - and a chocolate malt.  Good combo.

Keys lounging on the balcony in the morning sun

It was a pretty low-key evening, since we knew we would have an early morning.  We just had dinner at home, watched the beginning of Fargo, and went off to bed.

Breckenridge, Day 1

I was off to a bad start this trip.  Really it started the night before I left.  I landed about 9:20 in St. Louis on my return trip from NC. My flight out to Denver was at 6:15 the next morning.  I overslept.  Oops.

I have this rule: I always set two alarms.  Always, always, always, because doing something like what I did yesterday morning (sheesh, was that just yesterday?  It feels like ages ago!) is perhaps one of my worst nightmares. But I got in bed about 12:20 after repacking my suitcase, and I could not fall asleep. I tossed and turned for over an hour, and this is not a problem that I have. Ever. Probably that's due to my constant state of mild to moderate sleep deprivation, which I guess I can't rely on after a 5-day vacation.

I tried everything. I tried writing down all the things in my head to clear my mind. I tried relaxing all my muscles one at a time.  I tried counting sheep. Nothing. I decided to try a change of location, but this necessitated leaving one of my alarms behind because it plugs in, which in turn necessitated turning it off so it wouldn't wake T, who was going to roll out of bed at 4:59 to leave for the airport at 5:00. Problems ensued.

When I woke up and it was 5:35, I yelled at T to get my bags. We raced to the airport, or at least part of the way there, before T realized he wouldn't make it if he didn't stop for gas. We got there in what would have been probably just enough time for me to race to the gate, but I think they had given my seat to someone else, because they wouldn't even let me try.  So after knocking over some guy's diet Coke, home I went. I came back for the 2:20 flight, which I made, but missed the shuttle that would take me from the airport up to Breckenridge by about 10 minutes, so I had to wait another hour and a half for the next one.  I did the only suitable thing and went to the closest bar for a beer, a Singletrack Ale, which was a little more bitter than what I'm used to, but just what I needed!

Dad and I were sad to have missed a day of fishing, but did not let that put a damper on our dinner plans.  We headed off to Le Petit Paris, this adorable French bistro with possibly the world's bubbliest proprietor, for food.  Their soupe a l'oignon is phenomenal, packed with so many onions, a big hunk of bread, and so much cheese, that there's hardly any room at all for broth - we both had that.  Dad got the last order of their nightly special - bouillabaisse - and I had the poulet, which was tender and sprinkled with kosher salt and came with delicious carrot puree with cumin.  We skipped dessert but had French cafe au laits (cafes au lait, I guess, but that looks weird), which, rather than coming with sugar, come with a molasses-flavored rock sugar stirring stick.  Clever.

Goal #29

Goal #29: read running book (or at least get a good start on it).

This is another crazy, crazy week for me (as you will note, I have been traveling and this post itself is two days late), so I needed a goal which could be accomplished while I am in a perpetual state of motion.

With that in mind, my goal is to start reading the Complete Book of Running.  I have an old version of this book, but for the basics (which I'm certain is all I'll get to this week - if that) I imagine not much has changed.

L asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in training for a half marathon with her.  I decided that my initial response (that I'd sooner die) might be a tad melodramatic, and while a half marathon may not be in my future (although who knows? Maybe it is), reading up on this business called running can't hurt.  Can it?

Recap of Goal #28: My goal of painting pretty much went away when I came home on my one paint-able night to find an espresso maker sitting on the counter with a note from T saying, "Learn how to use this <--.  I'll paint later."  Um, okay.

The sad truth is that I still haven't actually operated the espresso maker though.  I have a handful of owner's manuals I need to read, so maybe that'll crop back up on this list soon.

North Carolina, Day 5

I discovered today that North Carolina (along with many other places, St. Louis among them) still abides by the rule of "open for the weekend, closed on Monday."  Mom and I had a lovely breakfast of coffee, grapefruit juice, and leftover oatmeal bake, and spent the morning messing about her house.  We set off in the early afternoon to find a museum or fun something-or-other, as well as some pre-airport food.

Breakfast

First, the Nasher.  Closed.  Second, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill's Horace Williams House.  Closed.  Lunch at Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe?  Nope.  Maybe Italian: Trilussa La Trattoria?  Dinner only.

So we did the next best thing and went shopping.  We stopped at several cute boutiques: Uniquities, Scout & Molly's, Monkee's.  And we had a rather late lunch and/or early dinner at that old standby, Weathervane, the cafe at Southern Season.  Despite being slow, our meal was quite tasty: yellow tomato gazpacho, tomato basil bruschetta, and a spinach salad with candied pecans.

We were a tad late heading to the airport, but mom navigated the traffic and I got there just in time!

One parting thought: bathrooms.

I have to say, while not spectacularly-appointed, the restroom at Weathervane was nice enough, but there are a couple of things that are great.  1) The automatic faucets work.  Which is to say, they turn on when you get your hands in the vicinity.  How many times have you stood there waving your hands around in front of the stupid faucet like an idiot and it just won't turn on?  They work.  Winner.  2) The water is the perfect temperature.  Small victory, but a nice touch.  3)  This is one of my pet peeves, and they got it right: the faucets are far enough away from the back of the sink.  I hate it, HATE IT, when you have to jam your hands against the dirty porcelain of the back of the sink just to get the soap off of them.  Doesn't rubbing your hands all over some public utility defeat the purpose of washing them?  Makes me crazy.  Props, Weathervane.

So imagine my surprise when I was also pleased by a few oft-overlooked qualities of the RDU airport bathroom (I drank a lot of water, okay?).  1) Stalls big enough to bring your bags into.  All your hear at airports is "don't leave your bags unattended," but then you walk into the bathroom and see these microscopic little stalls all jammed together, so you leave your bags in a pile on the floor by the door.  First, dirty.  Seriously.  I read a study where they tested purses that women had set on the floor in a public restroom.  Fecal matter, people.  Gross.  Second, unsafe.  Either your bags could be stolen, which would seriously suck, or you could be thought a terrorist, which would suck even worse.  So, thanks, RDU, for saving our bags from theft and ourselves from jail time. 2) Once inside the stall, there are hooks on which to hang your bags to avoid the aforementioned fecal matter on the floor.  Big tough hooks that don't break off when you hang your wristlet from them.  I hung a duffel bag and purse full of magazines from the same hook and it didn't even bend.  RDU, I love you!

North Carolina, Day 4

More sleep! More food!  Are we starting to detect a trend?

This morning E made a delicious "oatmeal bake" for breakfast, basically an oatmeal casserole with some fruit and nuts baked into it.  Sounds weird (I was skeptical), but it's good!

We passed the early afternoon making phone calls (really I just talked to T for a long time), and then with another trip to Southern Pines, this time to go to their adorable one-screen Sunrise Theater to see their one movie (more on that later - sheesh, I'm getting backed up!).  Too bad I won't be here until Wednesday, because Sunrise does a classic movie, and this week it's E.T.!

Another trend: ice cream!  After the movie, we ran a couple of errands in SP, then stopped at the appropriately-titled Ice Cream Parlor for our ritual afternoon snack.  I had a duo of Mackinac Island fudge and a totally amazing honey-cinnamon frozen yogurt.  Surprisingly delicious, and I must try to figure out how to make it.

E heated up some dinner for us, mostly new twists on leftovers from earlier in the weekend, then mom and I packed up and headed off, leaving E to prep for her work week.  We capped of our day with a rousing game of Scrabble, which I haven't played in so long it's pathetic.  It's amazing I remember any words at all.

Something to ponder: If you had a house that was worthy of a name, what would you name it?

North Carolina, Day 3

Another day of sleeping in, followed by lazing around reading until E and I went to yoga - a hot vinyasa class this time, and I sweated like crazy, which is to be expected when the room is 100+ degrees!

We then drove to Southern Pines where I over-consumed calories at our lunchtime breakfast at Betsy's Crepes. I had the Popeye breakfast crepe: spinach, bacon, mushrooms, and some other goodies in a buckwheat crepe.  In lieu of also getting dessert crepes (some of which looked delicious and some of which looked, um, fascinating - cheddar and chocolate chips?), we crossed the tracks to Cup of Flow, a coffee shop with more flavored syrups than I have ever seen in my life.  I had possibly the most delicious frappucino ever in the history of ever!  Delicious iced coffee blended with white chocolate and vanilla syrups - what they call the Moonlight.  Yes, please!

We burned off all of those calories by driving back to Pinehurst and sitting around for a while, doing some more reading of wacky news stories, chatting, making sun-dried tomato dip, etc., then decided the only appropriate thing to do was replenish our calorie deficit by walking into town to get some ice cream.

 E in jail, also known as the old-fashioned elevator in the big house.  Which still works!

E again, this time in front of the super-cute pink door to her apartment!

Our destination was the Red Door Cafe, where we found the aforementioned ice cream (I had s'mores and peach; it probably would've been s'mores and mocha chip, except that the guy working the counter said the peach ice cream was made fresh with local peaches - how could I say no?) and a water bowl for the dogs.

Gah! So quaint, it's like a 1950's TV show!

E gave us a brief walking tour of town.  Well, really it was about as extensive of a walking tour as there could be; it's just that the town itself is brief.  It's the sort of cute, small, charming Southern place where shops close at 4:00 on a Saturday, women sit around on rocking chairs on their screened-in porches drinking their cocktails, and men traverse the small town in a horse-drawn carriage.  Not kidding.  Surya was quite taken by this, his second encounter with a horse (the first was last week).  It's not quite clear that he knows what to make of this enormous dog-looking thing; at first the tail wagged, then he shied away a bit as the horse passed, but then he followed it down the street (even breaking into a run at one point, which is big news if you know Surya) until E told him he had to come back.

Since our big walk around town burned off not nearly all of our ice cream calories, it was time to burn off a few more by cooking dinner!  E had a recipe for tempeh tacos that she had been wanting to try.  I didn't know what tempeh was until tonight; in fact, I'm still not sure I know what it is.  Whatever it is, it must be awesome because it has its own website!  (According to the all-knowing wiki, it's fermented soybeans.)  As far as I could tell, the tempeh itself didn't have much flavor (so, similar to tofu), but we marinated it in a combo of soy sauce, peanut oil, lime juice, cumin, and chili powder, and then pan-fried it, so that helped.  The tacos were piled high with slices of tempeh, salad greens, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, black beans (if desired, which I didn't), and E's homemade cilantro-lime sauce.  I had two.

So, while our tempeh was marinating, E and I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and this is what we saw on the way out:

Um, hello!

And on the way home:

Me, taking a picture of myself.

The road ahead.

E, figuring out that I was taking her picture.

I guess we know why they call it Pinehurst.

We capped of our vegan taco surprise dinner by watching Forks Over Knives, which I'll report on later, if all the animal protein in my diet hasn't fried my brain.

North Carolina, Day 2

OMG, I slept in!  Until 9!  And then didn't get up even then.  It was glorious!  Although I did wake up several times during the night: once the cat jumped on me, once the dog barked, and once the cat's kennel got banged around.  Regardless, sleep was brilliant.

We had a lazy morning of drinking cafe au lait, eating papaya, and reading our magazines/books, then set about the business of packing up the car to head to Pinehurst.  E is in Pinehurst for a summer internship, and she needs visitors.  So here we are!

Somehow E found this totally cute apartment above the four-car garage of a "cottage" here, aka a "six-bedroom, maybe seven, I can't remember" house.

E and I went to a "cool vinyasa" class at her studio here (between 83 and 87 degrees, rather than the usual 100-115 for hot vinyasa), and then off to dinner with mom at Rue 32!  It was another tapas-style meal, this one from all over the place.  We started with the Carolina cheese duo (a blue cheese and caraway cheese, served with flatbread, cantaloupe, and paprika jam) and the bread with dipping oil.  Our first round included the Carolina pork and peaches, Central American white bean queso with battered bananas, and a bowl of coriander sage lamb with noodles.  At this point we were all eyeballing other things on the menu, but also we were eyeballing the desserts.  And since clearly we make healthy life choices, we decided to get one each of the three main desserts, and none of them disappointed.

Something I forgot from yesterday: American Airlines needs to get with the recycling picture! During the course of my two flights, I don't think I had one single piece of waste that wasn't recyclable: aluminum cans (2), plastic cups (2), napkins (2), magazines (3), plastic container for my almonds (1).  Seriously people!  These are not even odd things that I'm talking about recycling, like electronics or food waste for compost.  What gives?

Although I should note that the aforementioned almonds were chocolate-covered.  I picked them up at Au Bon Pain at La Guardia when I was not really inspired by any of the food choices but figured I should probably have something to munch on on the plane.  If you need a snack and like chocolate, I recommend them.

North Carolina, Day 1

Why is it that, now that he is no longer a Cardinal, Albert Pujols is on my airplane? (Answer: the Angels are starting a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.)  We were flying into La Guardia and I'm pretty sure it's because Big Al was on my side of the plane that we got a pretty awesome tour of Manhattan.

And then, on my way from NYC to NC, I got this lovely, dreamy, pillowy view:

Doesn't that look like the nicest thing you've ever seen?

After two flights and a layover, there wasn't a whole lot of time left in the day, but Mom and I went to Saffron for dinner (we've been here before).  We did Indian food, tapas style: chicken, spring rolls (which were really more like egg rolls), veggie patties in sauce, fried fish bites, and pistachio ice cream.  I was going to look up the proper names for all this stuff, but alas their website is down!  Oh, but I do remember paratha.  We had that.

And after that, we got a few groceries, read things to expand our minds, pondered whether it was worth it to start a movie (decision: no), and headed off to bed.

Random Links

Unless you have a job as a circus performer, I'm not sure this counts as a life skill.  But still, pretty cool.

An ode to the Springsteen paracosm.

Text from dog.

Well now, that's an innovative use of otherwise wasted space.

My normal quote would be, "Someone needs a hobby."  But I think this is his hobby.

It seems to lean a little towards hard rock, but it's still fun to hear a brief history of rock 'n roll in 100 riffs.

Wanna live forever?  Become a noun.

How 'bout a little more music?  Here's to the enduring beauty of The Girl from Ipanema.

The Thirteenth Tale and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan -- Take 2

I can see why so many book groups were reading The Thirteenth Tale.  It's a good yarn; it's a frame story, which makes for interesting structural elements; it has an element of mystery without falling into the much-maligned category of "genre fiction"; and it contains more than a few acts of questionable moral judgment.  So much to talk about.

Since it is a mystery, I don't want to say too much.  But the basic plot is this: a popular but aging writer taps an unknown used bookseller to be the recipient of her life story and future biographer.  That doesn't sound particularly interesting, but as the writer starts to tell her tale, all the pieces start to come together - or fall apart, depending on how you look at it.

Ditto with Snow Flower.  The discussions are different - cultural traditions, friendship, and betrayal - but this book is chock full of talking points.  Lily and Snow Flower are laotong, "old sames," lifelong sworn sisters.  But their restrictive culture puts strains on their relationship that they may not be able to withstand.

A movie version of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan came out last year, but I haven't seen it.

Between the two, I'd give my vote to The Thirteenth Tale as more entertaining, but they were both easy listens if you need something to keep you going on a long road trip.

Goal #28

Goal #28: finish painting the sun room.

This one is going to be a stretch also, because I have exactly one night this week when painting is an option, but it needs to get done so we can put the sun room back together!

Recap of Goal #27: I actually got through more books than I expected, though certainly not all the books.  So...this one will probably make a reappearance.

What I Watched -- Melancholia

I had heard mixed things about Melancholia when it came out, and I really wasn't sure what to expect when I started it.  And even after I started it, it still took a while to figure it out, since the story was a bit slow to get going.

It opens with what I imagine to be Tree of Life-style montages of stars and planets colliding (although I never saw Tree of Life, so I can't be positive about that).  That is all you get in terms of setting though, and it takes a long time to get back to the central conflict of the film - which is the impending passage of Earth by a nearby planet, Melancholia.

So, plot.  The movie starts with the wedding of a girl we come to discover is very unbalanced.  Once the wedding ends, her husband disappears from the film and it focuses on the relationship between the bride, her sister, and her sister's husband.  It is a weird relationship indeed, with very little back story.  You're just dropped into the lives of these people and have to figure it out as you go.  As the possibility of a planetary collision grows, the bride seems to grow calmer while her sister becomes more and more unstable, and the sister's husband is a mystery all his own.

As an editing note, the volume differentials  in this movie are maddening!  I don't think I ever put down the remote because I constantly had to turn it way up or way down as the scenes changed from dramatic music (which I liked) to hushed whispers.

Bottom line: lots of interesting visuals, but I found it to be lacking in purpose.

The Lantern Festival

Yesterday it was finally time for my much anticipated trip to the Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden!

Dad was in town for some work stuff, so we started out a very toasty Sunday evening with dinner at Square One Brewery on Lafayette Square.  First things first, I tried one of their beer specials, the Taurus IPA.  It was good, but I think I liked my second one, the Park Avenue Pale Ale, a little bit better.  For apps I had a bowl of flank steak chili, as well as tastes of T's beer pretzels and Dad's Scotch egg.  Dinner was a pulled BBQ pork sandwich, and then we were off to the gardens!

We arrived a little later than we planned due to some technical difficulties (aka an unplanned nap), but we were able to see a few of the lanterns before the lights were turned on at 8pm.

My favorite lanterns - the lotus flowers

One of the porcelain dragons in front of the Climatron just before the lights came on

Fortuitously, we were standing right in front of the two big dragons at the Climatron when the gong sounded and the lights came on.  Once that happened, we just wandered about the garden taking in the sights of the silk.

The lights are coming on!

My Chinese zodiac sign 

Avalokitesvara, or Guanyin, who recognizes and relieves suffering

Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor

On the seventh night of the seventh moon, all the magpies fly into the sky to form a bridge which allows star-crossed lovers Niulang, a shepherd, and Zhinu, a weaver, to cross the Milky Way and be together.

A nine-dragon mural, which is auspicious in Chinese culture

The Butterfly Lovers - a Twelfth Night/Romeo and Juliet of Chinese proportions 

Heaven and Earth meet in the Heavenly Temple

Jiang Tai Gong, military affairs expert, waits patiently for the fish to come to him

A modern version of the Chinese sailboat, called a "junk."  This one is made from plastic water bottles.

Back at the porcelain dragons, which together consist of more than 40,000 individual pieces of porcelain (mostly plates), all tied together.

The Lotus Flowers at night