"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self."
-- Ernest Hemingway
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Goal #13
Goal #13: survive. And maybe get a workout in.
Is this a legit goal for healthy living? I feel like this is really the threshold question: "Are you alive? Yes? That's a good start."
This week is a bit busy. I have two cases set for trial. My boss left town Thursday and will be gone for 12 days. My secretary was out W/T/F of last week. Everything is super backed up. I have a full weekend booked this coming weekend, and we have depositions in my biggest case next week that I have to get ready for! Ay, dios mio!
I went all last week without working out. I went this weekend without working out. So at least if things are going to be so completely insane, I'd like to get in a workout. Just one.
Recap of goal #12: no, no, no. Turns out I have too much going on right now to cook/eat at home. I did pretty well at lunch and only went out on Friday -- oh, and Thursday, with a client and one of the partners. Regarding dinner, I knew I would go out Wednesday for T's birthday, but I also went out Saturday for G's birthday. (And if I had looked at my calendar carefully enough, I would have known that was coming up anyway.) But I worked late lots of nights this week and more than one meal was pretzels with hummus. Not eating out, exactly, but not a healthy, balanced meal either.
Is this a legit goal for healthy living? I feel like this is really the threshold question: "Are you alive? Yes? That's a good start."
This week is a bit busy. I have two cases set for trial. My boss left town Thursday and will be gone for 12 days. My secretary was out W/T/F of last week. Everything is super backed up. I have a full weekend booked this coming weekend, and we have depositions in my biggest case next week that I have to get ready for! Ay, dios mio!
I went all last week without working out. I went this weekend without working out. So at least if things are going to be so completely insane, I'd like to get in a workout. Just one.
Recap of goal #12: no, no, no. Turns out I have too much going on right now to cook/eat at home. I did pretty well at lunch and only went out on Friday -- oh, and Thursday, with a client and one of the partners. Regarding dinner, I knew I would go out Wednesday for T's birthday, but I also went out Saturday for G's birthday. (And if I had looked at my calendar carefully enough, I would have known that was coming up anyway.) But I worked late lots of nights this week and more than one meal was pretzels with hummus. Not eating out, exactly, but not a healthy, balanced meal either.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Random Links
The dogs run on, despite some trajectory corrections.
The English language; or, "Is spelt spelled spelt or spelled?" and other questions and comments.
Okay people, it's a dog show. This has gone too far.
March madness, book style.
A milestone for my favorite little guy!
Welcome to St. Louis, old friend with all the delicious candy.
The English language; or, "Is spelt spelled spelt or spelled?" and other questions and comments.
Okay people, it's a dog show. This has gone too far.
March madness, book style.
A milestone for my favorite little guy!
Welcome to St. Louis, old friend with all the delicious candy.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Sailboats! (Day 5)
Virgin Gorda to Anegada
I sailed! Sort of. I had an awful lot of instruction, but I got to drive the boat! And I didn't crash!
It was not a day without adventure though. First, we nearly lost a hatch cover that had not been properly secured when we got underway. Then, as we were coming about one time, the line caught on the jib halyard clutch and loosened it enough that the jib fell about two feet. Here is the offending clutch, hiding behind the green line:
The navy line which runs through the clutch is the jib halyard, and it's what was released when the clutch was loosened by the jib sheet, the line which attaches to the loose bottom corner of the jib that you let out or trim in order to control the direction of the sail. The halyard is what hoists the sail to the top of the mast, so we could still sail, but the jib tended to luff in the wind. There was too much wind to hoist it back up though, so we just had to deal.
Our third misadventure involved the loss of the gas tank out of our dinghy. Nobody is quite sure how that happened, except to speculate that it was windy and maybe we caught a big wave. In any case, off it went. We circled back to get it, but couldn't get close enough to catch it with the boat hook, because our wake pushed it away from us. So into the water T went to retrieve it. And retrieve it he did, but he ruined his cell phone in the process. Turns out, they're not waterproof. That was a bit of a downer.
Eventually we made it to Anegada, and Capt. J decided to anchor rather than see if we could find an available mooring ball. R and I spent half an hour digging around in the foreward hold looking for this mysterious snubbing line that the Capt. said should be there. Nothing. So eventually he came up himself and fashioned a snubbing line out of a bit of loose line that was lying about.
We all headed to shore, but we left T on the patio at the Anegada Reef Hotel (internet access!) to set about repairing or replacing the lost electronics. The rest of us cabbed it to Cow Wreck Beach for a swim. (Yes, as you might have guessed, a ship full of cows wrecked offshore, and cow bones washed up on the beach for years afterwards.)
At the appointed time, our cab returned and fetched us back to the Anegada Reef, where we rounded up T and headed back out to the boat. Quick showers of sorts, dressing for dinner, enjoying the sunset and a cocktail, then back to the island for the hotel's nightly lobster grill.
I've mentioned before and will come to discuss again the high winds that night. It was colder at dinner than anyone was ready for! My lobster pasta was quite delicious, although incredibly rich. I think I only ate about half of it, and shared the rest with T and J.
It's pretty impressive that everyone survived the perilous steps from the dinghy back onto the boat. T and I headed to bed fairly early that night, but not before being slightly amused at R and Capt. J's post-meal intoxication. I'll let you decide which one of them passed out at the table.
I sailed! Sort of. I had an awful lot of instruction, but I got to drive the boat! And I didn't crash!
It was not a day without adventure though. First, we nearly lost a hatch cover that had not been properly secured when we got underway. Then, as we were coming about one time, the line caught on the jib halyard clutch and loosened it enough that the jib fell about two feet. Here is the offending clutch, hiding behind the green line:
The navy line which runs through the clutch is the jib halyard, and it's what was released when the clutch was loosened by the jib sheet, the line which attaches to the loose bottom corner of the jib that you let out or trim in order to control the direction of the sail. The halyard is what hoists the sail to the top of the mast, so we could still sail, but the jib tended to luff in the wind. There was too much wind to hoist it back up though, so we just had to deal.
Our third misadventure involved the loss of the gas tank out of our dinghy. Nobody is quite sure how that happened, except to speculate that it was windy and maybe we caught a big wave. In any case, off it went. We circled back to get it, but couldn't get close enough to catch it with the boat hook, because our wake pushed it away from us. So into the water T went to retrieve it. And retrieve it he did, but he ruined his cell phone in the process. Turns out, they're not waterproof. That was a bit of a downer.
Eventually we made it to Anegada, and Capt. J decided to anchor rather than see if we could find an available mooring ball. R and I spent half an hour digging around in the foreward hold looking for this mysterious snubbing line that the Capt. said should be there. Nothing. So eventually he came up himself and fashioned a snubbing line out of a bit of loose line that was lying about.
We all headed to shore, but we left T on the patio at the Anegada Reef Hotel (internet access!) to set about repairing or replacing the lost electronics. The rest of us cabbed it to Cow Wreck Beach for a swim. (Yes, as you might have guessed, a ship full of cows wrecked offshore, and cow bones washed up on the beach for years afterwards.)
R, J, and Capt. J
A wrecked cow
At the appointed time, our cab returned and fetched us back to the Anegada Reef, where we rounded up T and headed back out to the boat. Quick showers of sorts, dressing for dinner, enjoying the sunset and a cocktail, then back to the island for the hotel's nightly lobster grill.
I've mentioned before and will come to discuss again the high winds that night. It was colder at dinner than anyone was ready for! My lobster pasta was quite delicious, although incredibly rich. I think I only ate about half of it, and shared the rest with T and J.
It's pretty impressive that everyone survived the perilous steps from the dinghy back onto the boat. T and I headed to bed fairly early that night, but not before being slightly amused at R and Capt. J's post-meal intoxication. I'll let you decide which one of them passed out at the table.
Imagine climbing into and out of this little boat in 28 knot winds. After several drinks. Not pretty.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Sailboats! (Day 4)
Day 4 -- Cooper Island to Virgin Gorda
I rose early on the fourth day. In fact, I was the first one up. It was nice to be on the quiet boat early in the morning. The thing about being stuck on a boat with people is that you're, well, stuck on a boat with people. It's hard to get away, to get a break. But as it happens, if you're the first one up, you get a break.
Eventually the rest of the crew awoke, and sampled what I call coffee (which is far stronger than what some of our other crew called coffee). Even T had a mug, although I think it was more milk than coffee.
We kept seeing this pirate ship looking craft. As best as we could figure, it was the next novelty cruise idea. "Been on a Carnival cruise that wasn't your cup of tea? Try our pirate cruise instead!" It was great to see a real, multi-masted sailing ship though, rather than just fancy yachts and single-masted cruisers like ours.
Once we got underway, we headed into the Drake Channel and set our sights on the Dogs, a group of three islands in the middle of the Channel, individually named Great Dog, George Dog, and West Dog. Once we got there, we passed by the Dogs on our port and began tacking our way between Necker Island and Prickly Pear Island, both of which are owned by Sir Richard Branson. You can see his residence, humbly titled the Great House, on the highest spot on the island.
(Incidentally, I think I forgot to mention that we passed by St. John's on our ferry trip from St. Thomas to Tortola. On the north side of the island, the side we passed by, is Cinnamon Bay. Anyone remember the line from that Kenny Chesney song, "I watched boats sail in and out of Cinnamon Bay"? I didn't look for it, but he used to have a house there. I think I remember hearing that he sold it.)
We tucked in for the evening at Bitter End, and thought we made the smart choice by heading to land to pay a few bucks for a real shower. Turns out, no. The resort apparently decided to stop maintaining these particular showers, and the wiser (and probably easier and definitely more sanitary) choice would have been to take a cramped boat shower.
A benefit of the long walk around at the Bitter End Yacht Club, though, was just that: walking. Moving. We had all started noticing that our appendages were getting swollen from being on the boat all the time. It was hard to get rings on and off, and shoes (on the rare occasions that you got around to wearing them) felt a little tighter.
We grilled on the boat that night for dinner. Chicken and veggies, which were quite delicious. Also, lots more drinking. Pattern?
I rose early on the fourth day. In fact, I was the first one up. It was nice to be on the quiet boat early in the morning. The thing about being stuck on a boat with people is that you're, well, stuck on a boat with people. It's hard to get away, to get a break. But as it happens, if you're the first one up, you get a break.
Eventually the rest of the crew awoke, and sampled what I call coffee (which is far stronger than what some of our other crew called coffee). Even T had a mug, although I think it was more milk than coffee.
Our rigging, before raising the sails
We kept seeing this pirate ship looking craft. As best as we could figure, it was the next novelty cruise idea. "Been on a Carnival cruise that wasn't your cup of tea? Try our pirate cruise instead!" It was great to see a real, multi-masted sailing ship though, rather than just fancy yachts and single-masted cruisers like ours.
It was a fairly sizable vessel!
Once we got underway, we headed into the Drake Channel and set our sights on the Dogs, a group of three islands in the middle of the Channel, individually named Great Dog, George Dog, and West Dog. Once we got there, we passed by the Dogs on our port and began tacking our way between Necker Island and Prickly Pear Island, both of which are owned by Sir Richard Branson. You can see his residence, humbly titled the Great House, on the highest spot on the island.
(Incidentally, I think I forgot to mention that we passed by St. John's on our ferry trip from St. Thomas to Tortola. On the north side of the island, the side we passed by, is Cinnamon Bay. Anyone remember the line from that Kenny Chesney song, "I watched boats sail in and out of Cinnamon Bay"? I didn't look for it, but he used to have a house there. I think I remember hearing that he sold it.)
Learning to sail
We tucked in for the evening at Bitter End, and thought we made the smart choice by heading to land to pay a few bucks for a real shower. Turns out, no. The resort apparently decided to stop maintaining these particular showers, and the wiser (and probably easier and definitely more sanitary) choice would have been to take a cramped boat shower.
A benefit of the long walk around at the Bitter End Yacht Club, though, was just that: walking. Moving. We had all started noticing that our appendages were getting swollen from being on the boat all the time. It was hard to get rings on and off, and shoes (on the rare occasions that you got around to wearing them) felt a little tighter.
We grilled on the boat that night for dinner. Chicken and veggies, which were quite delicious. Also, lots more drinking. Pattern?
Monday, March 23, 2015
Sailboats! (Day 3)
Day 3 -- Norman Island to Cooper Island
The third day of our trip was our first full day on the boat, morning to night. I awoke feeling more rested than I expected -- I slept well on the boat! (Yes, it was air conditioned.) I was not the first to rise, so thankfully there was coffee (though not nearly as strong as I like it).
We had gotten some snorkeling gear at Nanny Cay, and we were near a pretty good spot to do that, so we headed into the water and over towards the reef, little breathing pipes extended above the water line.
Breathing through snorkeling equipment always takes a little bit of getting used to. It seems weird and a bit terrifying at first, but after a few breaths you settle in and realize that you're not going to drown and can just start enjoying the view. It's a totally different world down there!
I wish I had an underwater camera, because the fish were something to see. I especially liked the black ones with blue-tipped fins, because they looked awesome when they all swam together in a school. There were a couple spots that I dove down to get a good look at the coral, but you can't go too far before the pressure on your ears is enormous. There were also plenty of areas where the reefs were just below the water; to get over them, you float and barely kick your flippers, lest to get a nasty gash!
It's also very strange to see your own hands moving below the water. Except that you're telling them what to do, they look like they belong to someone else, almost like you're watching a movie that someone else filmed.
J and J had enough of the snorkeling, then T did too, so we headed for the boat, and breakfast. Then we pointed ourselves in the general direction of Cooper Island.
Upon arrival, there was another opportunity to snorkel, so I headed into the water again. I saw three barracudas and a really cool ray of some kind, brown with white spots. I followed the ray all over the place, until he got so deep that I couldn't see him. As it turns out, being brown with white spots and having an insanely long tail is pretty good camouflage in the ocean. Whenever I would look somewhere else and then try to find the ray again, I had to wait for him to start moving! Neither the ray nor the other fish seemed to be bothered by the presence of the barracudas, who were just hanging out there a couple of feet below the surface, very still. You could have swum right into them if you weren't watching!
I attempted my first full shower on the boat, which was a bit cramped and awkward, but I had washed my hair already in the hose on deck, so that made it a bit easier. Dinner was ashore, at the Cooper Island Beach Resort, or some similar but equally clever name. It happened to be delicious though! I picked out an appetizer of seared scallops and pork belly (how can you go wrong?!?) and a main course of chicken curry roti.
(Aside: the chickens are everywhere down there! I actually saw a chicken cross the road! I asked why, but got no answer.)
Back to dinner. Ty had a plate of lemongrass meatballs as an app, and seafood fettuccine for a main, and he was kind enough to let me have a bite. Everyone else in our party had far too much to drink (this was a theme), but somehow we made it back into the dinghy, found our boat, and nobody fell in the water while climbing aboard.
The third day of our trip was our first full day on the boat, morning to night. I awoke feeling more rested than I expected -- I slept well on the boat! (Yes, it was air conditioned.) I was not the first to rise, so thankfully there was coffee (though not nearly as strong as I like it).
We had gotten some snorkeling gear at Nanny Cay, and we were near a pretty good spot to do that, so we headed into the water and over towards the reef, little breathing pipes extended above the water line.
Breathing through snorkeling equipment always takes a little bit of getting used to. It seems weird and a bit terrifying at first, but after a few breaths you settle in and realize that you're not going to drown and can just start enjoying the view. It's a totally different world down there!
I wish I had an underwater camera, because the fish were something to see. I especially liked the black ones with blue-tipped fins, because they looked awesome when they all swam together in a school. There were a couple spots that I dove down to get a good look at the coral, but you can't go too far before the pressure on your ears is enormous. There were also plenty of areas where the reefs were just below the water; to get over them, you float and barely kick your flippers, lest to get a nasty gash!
It's also very strange to see your own hands moving below the water. Except that you're telling them what to do, they look like they belong to someone else, almost like you're watching a movie that someone else filmed.
J and J had enough of the snorkeling, then T did too, so we headed for the boat, and breakfast. Then we pointed ourselves in the general direction of Cooper Island.
T found the only patch of shade in our corner of the ocean
Upon arrival, there was another opportunity to snorkel, so I headed into the water again. I saw three barracudas and a really cool ray of some kind, brown with white spots. I followed the ray all over the place, until he got so deep that I couldn't see him. As it turns out, being brown with white spots and having an insanely long tail is pretty good camouflage in the ocean. Whenever I would look somewhere else and then try to find the ray again, I had to wait for him to start moving! Neither the ray nor the other fish seemed to be bothered by the presence of the barracudas, who were just hanging out there a couple of feet below the surface, very still. You could have swum right into them if you weren't watching!
I attempted my first full shower on the boat, which was a bit cramped and awkward, but I had washed my hair already in the hose on deck, so that made it a bit easier. Dinner was ashore, at the Cooper Island Beach Resort, or some similar but equally clever name. It happened to be delicious though! I picked out an appetizer of seared scallops and pork belly (how can you go wrong?!?) and a main course of chicken curry roti.
(Aside: the chickens are everywhere down there! I actually saw a chicken cross the road! I asked why, but got no answer.)
Back to dinner. Ty had a plate of lemongrass meatballs as an app, and seafood fettuccine for a main, and he was kind enough to let me have a bite. Everyone else in our party had far too much to drink (this was a theme), but somehow we made it back into the dinghy, found our boat, and nobody fell in the water while climbing aboard.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Goal #12
Goal #12: enough with the eating out.
I have been eating out WAY too much. There are two days this week that I know I will eat out. One is T's birthday, the other is our traditional Friday lunch. Other than those two meals, my goal is to eat in all week!
Recap of goal #11: today I am test driving a car which I hope will be mine. I have a few other options if this one doesn't work out. Stay tuned....
I have been eating out WAY too much. There are two days this week that I know I will eat out. One is T's birthday, the other is our traditional Friday lunch. Other than those two meals, my goal is to eat in all week!
Recap of goal #11: today I am test driving a car which I hope will be mine. I have a few other options if this one doesn't work out. Stay tuned....
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Sailboats! (Day 2)
Now that spring has sprung (unless you're in the Mid-Atlantic under a blanket of snow), take yourselves for a moment back to the sunny Caribbean to continue your vicarious adventures!
Day 2 -- St. Thomas to St. John; Our New Boat
I awoke on my first morning in the Caribbean to a lovely view off our little balcony, but unfortunately barely a trickle of water coming out of the shower head. (I later learned that apparently there was an issue with the water main down at the main road, which was preventing water from reaching us up all those steps.)
We didn't have time for breakfast at the hotel, but did have time to grab a damn good cup of coffee before decamping for the ferry terminal. Our ferry ran to Tortola, and we passed by a couple of cruise ships on our way out of port. They truly are floating cities -- probably 20 stories tall or more, plus the bridge on top of that. They're huge! We arrived at the West End port, got fairly quickly through customs, and then we were in the United Kingdom!
Our bus/cab delivered us to Nanny Cay, the home of our charter company. We got some breakfast and awaited J and R, the remainder of our crew for the week, but it turns out that they had missed the ferry. (Damn, I could have had that second cup of delicious coffee after all!) Their delay gave us a bit of time to explore the harbor; there is a little restaurant there, a pretty well-stocked grocery store, a one-woman laundromat, an overpriced ice cream shop, and the last full-size bathrooms you'll see for several days.
Our boat was a Fountaine Pajot Lipari Evolution 41' catamaran named Precious Time. Eventually J and R arrived, we were fully provisioned, the very British harbor manager drove us out of port and sent us on our way.
With our bow pointed generally in the direction of Norman Island, I learned some of the basics. Running up the mainsail and maneuvering the jib are the two biggest tasks in a sailing day, provided nothing goes wrong. Once the sail is up and the jib is out, all you need is an occasional tack to get where you're going. Figuring out when and where to make those adjustments depends a lot on the wind and gets easier with experience.
Most of the time when you're under sail, though, is pretty easy.
We arrived at Norman Island safe and sound, ate a ridiculous amount of cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, and then started in on our dinner. By the time we were finished, every was so tired and stuffed that we went straight to bed below decks.
Day 2 -- St. Thomas to St. John; Our New Boat
I awoke on my first morning in the Caribbean to a lovely view off our little balcony, but unfortunately barely a trickle of water coming out of the shower head. (I later learned that apparently there was an issue with the water main down at the main road, which was preventing water from reaching us up all those steps.)
We didn't have time for breakfast at the hotel, but did have time to grab a damn good cup of coffee before decamping for the ferry terminal. Our ferry ran to Tortola, and we passed by a couple of cruise ships on our way out of port. They truly are floating cities -- probably 20 stories tall or more, plus the bridge on top of that. They're huge! We arrived at the West End port, got fairly quickly through customs, and then we were in the United Kingdom!
Our bus/cab delivered us to Nanny Cay, the home of our charter company. We got some breakfast and awaited J and R, the remainder of our crew for the week, but it turns out that they had missed the ferry. (Damn, I could have had that second cup of delicious coffee after all!) Their delay gave us a bit of time to explore the harbor; there is a little restaurant there, a pretty well-stocked grocery store, a one-woman laundromat, an overpriced ice cream shop, and the last full-size bathrooms you'll see for several days.
Our boat was a Fountaine Pajot Lipari Evolution 41' catamaran named Precious Time. Eventually J and R arrived, we were fully provisioned, the very British harbor manager drove us out of port and sent us on our way.
T, protecting himself from that Caribbean sunshine!
With our bow pointed generally in the direction of Norman Island, I learned some of the basics. Running up the mainsail and maneuvering the jib are the two biggest tasks in a sailing day, provided nothing goes wrong. Once the sail is up and the jib is out, all you need is an occasional tack to get where you're going. Figuring out when and where to make those adjustments depends a lot on the wind and gets easier with experience.
Most of the time when you're under sail, though, is pretty easy.
We arrived at Norman Island safe and sound, ate a ridiculous amount of cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, and then started in on our dinner. By the time we were finished, every was so tired and stuffed that we went straight to bed below decks.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Where Did the Sunlight Go? / Why Is It Still Light Out?
Is anyone else totally messed up by the time change this spring? I left work on Monday sure it was 5:30. It was 7:03 when I got in my car. And I cannot get out of bed in the morning!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Sailboats! (Day 1)
Finally, again only a month late, I will post about a vacation!
For as many years as I have known J, he has taken a week every February to go on a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands. Last November he invited T and I to join him. A week in the Caribbean in February? Yes please!
Day 1 -- St. Louis to St. Thomas
We were off to a rocking start when T called to say that the gate to his parking lot wouldn't open, so I would need to drive to the airport. No problem. We made it in plenty of time for our early flight, which took us to Charlotte.
A bit fuzzy, but at the airport!
A few things about the Charlotte airport: 1) love the rocking chairs; 2) they may have more restaurants per square foot than any other airport I've been in (including Bojangles'!); 3) same with Starbucks; 4) same with charging stations; 5) a bathroom attendant?! and 6) so much sunshine (although maybe that's just compared to the still-dark, normally-gray St. Louis that I left behind). Really, if you weren't stuck in that weird traveler's limbo, it wouldn't be a bad place to be!
From there we were St. Thomas-bound. It was a bit of a long flight, but I don't remember quite how long because I slept a significant part of the flight. I shut off my phone and disconnected from the world.
The little airport at STT didn't have jet bridges, so we got our first dose of fresh ocean air as soon as we stepped out of the plane; that was shortly followed by a shot of rum inside the airport terminal.
Our hotel for the night definitely fit into the "budget" category. It was a place called The Galleon House. However, we had a clean room, a little balcony from which you could see the ocean, and just getting to the hotel certainly made you realize that you were in the islands: to get to our bungalow, you had to climb 134 steps from the street (although there's a place where the cabs can do drop-offs that cuts off about 50 of those steps). And it's not a just any staircase -- it's one of these twisty, windy, outdoor island staircases, where at every landing there's a little walkway going off this direction or that.
Our pool, and looking across the hill
The view from our balcony
We went ever farther past our hotel -- now not just going up stairs, but up, down, around, and back up again -- to get to dinner at the Sweetwater Cafe. T got jerk chicken skewers as an appetizer, and we both got grilled mahi mahi with mac and cheese as a main course. My additional side was fried plantains, which I LOVE. J got the seafood medley pasta, and he was kind enough to share a few bites. It was all quite tasty, and we enjoyed the ocean breezes coming up the hill.
St. Thomas at night
After dinner T and I went for a stroll down the main drag along the harbor, but all the shops were closed and we didn't want to wander too far from the busy street, so we didn't see much besides the usual weekend revelers.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
What I Watched -- The Theory of Everything
I don't even remember how long ago it was now, but T and I watched The Theory of Everything on his fancy TV.Theory was nominated for five Oscars this year, and had one win: leading actor (winner), leading actress, picture, original score, and adapted screenplay. That's a pretty impressive collection of nods, no matter how you measure it. And while I certainly believe that Eddie Redmayne deserved his win (truly, he was incredible), somehow I was left at the end of the movie feeling a little dull. All those pieces didn't add up to a movie I loved. I'm not sure why. It just wasn't all there for me. I was bored.
As T commented, it was impossible to get to the end of the movie and not feel that Stephen Hawking's wife Jane was a saint. Indeed, the movie was based on Jane's book, Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen Hawking. Coincidence? Perhaps not. This is not to say that her sacrifices for the benefit of his career weren't heroic in their own quiet right, but nobody is that angelic.
Bottom line: more of an Oscar-bait success than a movie success, but neither was it a total waste of three hours.
Monday, March 16, 2015
What I Read -- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
I read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake while I was on vacation last month. It seemed like a good beach read, and since I was going to be in a beachy place, it was just what I needed.There were some parts of this book I really liked. Some, not so much. The basic plot is a twist on Like Water for Chocolate. Our protagonist, Rose, is celebrating her ninth birthday when the book opens. She takes a bite of the lemon cake her mother made and realizes, to her horror, that she can taste her mother's emotions in the cake. Rose explores and tastes other things. She can taste everyone's emotions in whatever food they make.
What I liked: I enjoyed Rose as a narrator. She is a child who knows too much. The author succeeds in providing older-than-her-age perception and explanation while maintaining a child's voice. I liked all the talk of food, and the just-edging-on-magical-realism idea that your emotions end up in your food.
What I didn't particularly like: Rose's brother plays a big, and really quite odd, role in the book. This is serious magical realism, and has put me off any desire I might have had to get my first sample of Gabriel Garcia Marquez since high school.
It was a mixed bag.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Goal #11
Goal #11: the car.
I need a new car. Everyone who knows me knows this. I don't know what I'm going to figure out this week, but something.
Recap of goal #10: if you are reading this, and if you have been a loyal blog reader since last Sunday, you know that I failed miserably at my goal this week of being a good blogger.
But wait! There is good news! I spent a few hours yesterday writing, editing pictures, eating M&Ms and drinking coffee, and writing some more, so there are blog posts planned for this week! Your withdrawal symptoms will hereby cease.
I need a new car. Everyone who knows me knows this. I don't know what I'm going to figure out this week, but something.
Recap of goal #10: if you are reading this, and if you have been a loyal blog reader since last Sunday, you know that I failed miserably at my goal this week of being a good blogger.
But wait! There is good news! I spent a few hours yesterday writing, editing pictures, eating M&Ms and drinking coffee, and writing some more, so there are blog posts planned for this week! Your withdrawal symptoms will hereby cease.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Human Rights
There are certain things that most people can agree are human rights. I will throw out life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as examples. (I didn't come up with those myself. I think somebody famous did.) The UN has a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which lots of folks could probably get on board with. The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights describes human rights as follows:
"Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible."
I do not believe that the right to experiment with scent is a human right.
This clip is from an NPR story on a new trend in LA: scents. There's a bar where people just come in and sniff and buy rare perfumes, and a lab where they can make their own. The first voice you hear is the reporter. The second is the gal who runs said lab.
When did it happen that whatever it is that you want to do became a human right? That whatever you think is important became a human right? That thing might be worthwhile or important, but that doesn't make it a human right.
The right to experiment with scent is a human right? Really? Truly ridiculous.
"Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible."
I do not believe that the right to experiment with scent is a human right.
This clip is from an NPR story on a new trend in LA: scents. There's a bar where people just come in and sniff and buy rare perfumes, and a lab where they can make their own. The first voice you hear is the reporter. The second is the gal who runs said lab.
When did it happen that whatever it is that you want to do became a human right? That whatever you think is important became a human right? That thing might be worthwhile or important, but that doesn't make it a human right.
The right to experiment with scent is a human right? Really? Truly ridiculous.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Breckenridge
My whirlwind February (yes, last month) began with a shorter-than-planned trip to Breckenridge. But it was fun nonetheless!
I arrived on Friday after catching the early flight to Denver. We headed off to pick up some skis and hit the slopes for the afternoon -- no sense in wasting time! When we sat down for dinner, I discovered what the wonderful smell was that had been permeating the house all day: red beans and rice for dinner. It was delicious and extremely filling, and it put us all directly to sleep.
In the couple of years since Peak 6 was opened for skiing, somehow I have never made it over there. We remedied that by heading straight there on Saturday morning. We didn't quite get what we bargained for:
We had a slow start on Sunday, lazing around a bit before heading out to ski the late morning and early afternoon. Some of that lazing included a trip into town for coffee and pastries, and to see the ice sculptures. Some of my favorites:
This is the front and back of the one we all agreed should have one, but it didn't. (The one that did win was so weird and abstract and boring that I didn't even take a picture of it.)
The slopes were WAY more crowded than normal for Super Bowl Sunday (maybe due to the gorgeous sunshine), but it did lighten up eventually. We skied as long as we could before we had to set off for our Super Bowl party with G and M. I have never been to a party where there was so much food per capita, and everything was delicious! Meats and cheese from all the land, little skewer caprese salads, fruit, veggies and dip, chips and cheese sauce, little puff-pastry-wrapped hot dogs -- and those are just the appetizers! There were also kobe burgers and chili mac for dinner, brownies and ice cream for dessert! When I think back about it, I am still amazed at how much I was able to consume, regardless of how many hours I spread it over. It was incredible!
Because no trip anywhere is complete without some shopping, we managed to squeeze that in at the tail end. We drove down to Denver on Monday and did some directed wandering around the home goods shops in Cherry Creek: Room and Board, Arhaus, and HW Home.
Dad drove me to the airport a bit early for two reasons: to avoid traffic and so I could try to squeeze in a GOES interview. The process of getting in to get my interview was so tortured and unfortunate (yes, we pay these people's salaries) that I won't even recount it. But eventually it happened, I passed the test, and I headed home.
Headed for the mountains!
In the couple of years since Peak 6 was opened for skiing, somehow I have never made it over there. We remedied that by heading straight there on Saturday morning. We didn't quite get what we bargained for:
It was just a wee bit foggy.
We had a slow start on Sunday, lazing around a bit before heading out to ski the late morning and early afternoon. Some of that lazing included a trip into town for coffee and pastries, and to see the ice sculptures. Some of my favorites:
Don Quixote
Gepetto
The slopes were WAY more crowded than normal for Super Bowl Sunday (maybe due to the gorgeous sunshine), but it did lighten up eventually. We skied as long as we could before we had to set off for our Super Bowl party with G and M. I have never been to a party where there was so much food per capita, and everything was delicious! Meats and cheese from all the land, little skewer caprese salads, fruit, veggies and dip, chips and cheese sauce, little puff-pastry-wrapped hot dogs -- and those are just the appetizers! There were also kobe burgers and chili mac for dinner, brownies and ice cream for dessert! When I think back about it, I am still amazed at how much I was able to consume, regardless of how many hours I spread it over. It was incredible!
Because no trip anywhere is complete without some shopping, we managed to squeeze that in at the tail end. We drove down to Denver on Monday and did some directed wandering around the home goods shops in Cherry Creek: Room and Board, Arhaus, and HW Home.
Dad drove me to the airport a bit early for two reasons: to avoid traffic and so I could try to squeeze in a GOES interview. The process of getting in to get my interview was so tortured and unfortunate (yes, we pay these people's salaries) that I won't even recount it. But eventually it happened, I passed the test, and I headed home.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
What I Read -- The Amateurs
I read The Amateurs in its entirety when I was on vacation. (It's short, don't get excited.) That's why you didn't hear about it when I started. I was on a boat trip, so I decided to read a book about boats. Sail boats, rowing shells, po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.This was a story I didn't know. David Halberstam is, believe it or not, an author I have never read. It would have been easy to make this a boring story. Several of his chapters start out by telling you how they'll end! But that doesn't take away from the suspense as he takes you through a race, stroke by stroke. (Full disclosure: I am probably more interested in this than most because of my many years of rowing.)
Beyond that, he is gifted with description of character. Each of the rowers you meet - and it's more than just the four in the subtitle - is memorable. Each one is a character in his own right.
Bottom line: would it be wrong to steal the Newsweek quote from the cover? Not if I cite it, right?
Monday, March 9, 2015
Trains and Bikes
I love trains. They're so cool. They're powerful and efficient and great settings for stories, both true and fictional. Some of my favorite moments biking along the Mississippi are times when there is a train running alongside us. The whistles, the chugga-chugga, the squealing on the tracks.
Yesterday, T and I were riding home on the Riverfront Trail. There was a train parked in the rail yard just to the west of the trail, and it was getting ready to leave. As the locomotive lurched forward against the weight of the loaded coal cars, the weirdly electric sound of the couplings tightening echoed down the yard. It was like a shock ran the length of the train. Ever so slowly, the wheels began to turn. Then, faster.
If you haven't heard it, I recommend finding yourself a rail yard. Then race the train on your bike.
Yesterday, T and I were riding home on the Riverfront Trail. There was a train parked in the rail yard just to the west of the trail, and it was getting ready to leave. As the locomotive lurched forward against the weight of the loaded coal cars, the weirdly electric sound of the couplings tightening echoed down the yard. It was like a shock ran the length of the train. Ever so slowly, the wheels began to turn. Then, faster.
If you haven't heard it, I recommend finding yourself a rail yard. Then race the train on your bike.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Goal #10
Goal #10: blog.
Can blogging be a goal on my blog? How very meta. But seriously, I owe y'all a few serious posts, but as time goes on they become less serious of necessity, because I forget things that I wanted to say. Sometimes I forget whole movies that I saw and they never get blogged about at all. So it needs to happen.
Recap of goal #9: I'm so close to being caught up through this week that I'm going to count it as a win!
Can blogging be a goal on my blog? How very meta. But seriously, I owe y'all a few serious posts, but as time goes on they become less serious of necessity, because I forget things that I wanted to say. Sometimes I forget whole movies that I saw and they never get blogged about at all. So it needs to happen.
Recap of goal #9: I'm so close to being caught up through this week that I'm going to count it as a win!
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
What I Watched -- The Art of the Steal
I think it was C who pointed me in the direction of The Art of the Steal. However, this particular version of The Art of the Steal was not the one that I intended to watch when I requested it from the library.I was hoping for the 2010 documentary. Instead, I got the
2013 crime comedy. But since I had it, I figured I might as well watch it.
It's a classic ensemble crime film -- lots of characters, each with their own personality quirks. Everyone is double-crossing everyone else. Somewhere in there, they steal some art. The big game is whether you can figure out who's who before the movie's over.
Bottom line: moderately amusing, but that's all. Certain not the serious art film I was expecting.