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Quinoa Salad with Oranges
When we were in Portland last month, my step-mom Julie made a wonderful dinner for the family on the night before the party. She had lemon chicken, green salad, pasta salad, quinoa salad, and a lot of patience. I say that because as she was cooking, family kept coming in and telling her things they didn’t like that were included in the recipes she was making. If I were trying to get chicken and three salads on the table, as well as drinks, bread, and so on, for 10 or so people, this would have bugged the crap out of me. She is perhaps used to it, though, as it…
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Music vs. Words
When I was perhaps 7 or 8 years old, we lived in downtown Fairbanks, Alaska. We were on 2nd street, which was 2 blocks from the river, and 1 block from the city library. I don’t know if there were other branches. Why would I? I lived a block away. It was a traditional Alaska frontier building, made of logs (as was our house) with I think, grass and flowers growing on the roof in the summertime. I think.* Being a reader, living a block away from the library was a wonderful thing. Being home schooled for one year (perhaps I’ll tell you why sometime, but it had nothing to…
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Tuesday Randomness
It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. What’s new? Well, I guess, several things, both good and bad. More good than bad, which I like. I’ve decided that I need to start using the term, “Jackass” more often. Whenever I hear “Jackass”, I think of Ted’s father, and my grandmother. Because his father, when teaching Ted to drive, gave this very helpful advice: “Just assume everyone else on the road is a Jackass.” My grandma often told me, “Drive Defensively.” Isn’t that pretty much the same thing? Our poor Camry was broken into last week. We live in a townhouse/condo complex, and our cars live under a carport. No protection. …
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Cutting the Cord
We’ve noticed that most of our TV use lately is Maya playing video games, or us watching Netflix. For awhile there, we were getting good use out of our cable On Demand service, but not lately. Perhaps that’s because we don’t have a DVR, so when there’s a new show on that we want to watch, we seldom watch it live. We keep hearing about people cutting the cord and getting rid of cable, so we decided to give it a try. We can use the XBOX 360 for Netflix, Hulu Plus, whatever else. But what about our local channels? Nance successfully uses an indoor antenna to access local channels,…
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Catching Up
I’m a bit behind here. Somehow I think when I have time off from work, I’ll have more time to write here, and to read your blogs as well. Instead, I find myself doing other things, away from the computer. I guess that’s a good thing, living my life and all, but still, I’m thinking of spending a bit of time this morning poking around blogs. But first, I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been up to. As you know, we went to Portland last weekend for my father’s birthday party. We flew up on Friday and home on Tuesday, and we saw family every day while we were…
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Little Bee / The Other Hand
“Little Bee” is the name chosen for herself by a young Nigerian girl running from “the men” who have come to burn her village and kill its occupants, so that the oil field below may be developed. She takes the name to hide her identity, as her real name would clearly identify her as a member of a particular family, all of whom are supposed to be dead. Little Bee has lived a happy life in an impoverished village, where there is no running water or electricity, but there is a tire swing and a lot of fun to be had. When the village is destroyed by the men, she…
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Happy Birthday Dad!
Today is my Dad’s 70th birthday, and this is us back in 1988, when he was a few years younger than I am now. Crazy. I met my dad for the first time in 1987, when I was 21, and then in January of ’88, I flew up to Portland to visit him and meet my sisters, who are twins. The story of why we didn’t meet before, and how we did end up finally meeting, is a long one, and if you’re so inclined, you can find it here. My dad is a wonderful man, a great person, and a fabulous father. He’s been involved in the counter culture…
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Rules of Civility
Graphic found on the New York Times review of the book, here. The preface of Amor Towles Rules of Civility finds our heroine, Katey, and her husband attending the opening of a photography exhibit in Manhattan, in 1966. The exhibit is of photographs taken with a hidden camera on the subways, some 25 years before. She is stunned to find, amongst all of the other photographs, two of a man she recognizes, Tinker Grey. In the first picture, he is wearing a custom shirt and a cashmere coat, and is clearly enjoying life. In the second, taken perhaps a year later, he looks as though he hasn’t had enough to…
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Jocelyn’s Balsamic Vinaigrette
Picture found here. That salad looks mighty good…it’s pear, walnut, greens, tomatoes, red bell peppers, and feta cheese. Always one to give credit where credit is due, here’s a recipe for a delicious vinaigrette that I especially like with an herby salad. Really easy, really good. Many years ago, in the late 90s, I worked with Cherry and Dorothy (who used to be my blog friends, but Dorothy quit hers, and Cherry blogs even less often that I do, as she works many hours and has 2 little ones….1 of whom is almost 1! I also worked with Don, who is NOT my blog friend, but he’s a good guy,…
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In Defense of Charles
I know there are plenty of you out there who could not care less about the Royal Family, the Royal Baby, any of it. Move along, I’m sure there are plenty of blogs out there talking about important things. Or silly things. Or interesting things. Something that interests you while this does not. For anyone that is still here, I have noticed a lot of Charles bashing in the American Press these last few days/weeks. Everyone wants to know if William and Kate will raise Prince George in the method of dear departed Diana, or in the method of evil bad guy Charles, with the majority of support going towards…
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Growing Up
Of course, Maya has been growing up for over 17 years now. Seeing the Royal Baby in the news reminds me of how little my own baby once was. I remember, sometimes fondly, how sweet and dependent she once was. And now…now she’s 17, with a driver’s license, going to appointments and the grocery store on her own. Taking the train into Berkeley to see a movie with her friends. I confess to being a bit over-protective. I make her appointments for her, pick up her prescriptions for her, that kind of thing. She could do these things for herself, and probably she should. She needs to be ready when…
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Friday Randomness
OK, it’s been awhile, so let’s just dive in, OK? Last weekend, we went to a party that was held at the clubhouse of a fairly unique condo complex. I was in love, and Ted was in love on my behalf. This particular condo complex includes about 80 townhouses, 2 to 3 bedrooms, right on the border of Mt. Diablo. What makes this complex different is that they have stables right there on site, for approximately 40 horses. They also have people hired to clean stalls, and they feed the horses. They also have 4 riding areas, one covered, and an area where you train your horse on a lead.…
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The Way Way Back
“The Way Way Back” is a summer coming of age movie, in which Duncan and his mom, her newish boyfriend and his daughter, go to his beach house to spend the summer. Gosh, how can anyone in their 40s afford to take the summer off from work, aside from (perhaps) school teachers, who are generally out of work all summer anyway? Yes, we thought that. Let it go. Duncan is about as awkward as a teen without braces and glasses and a neck-gear can possibly be. He desperately needs his father, but his father is out of the picture, and he’s stuck with a toad in the body of Steve…
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20 Years!
Wow….20 years ago today, Ted and I were married. I used to say it didn’t feel that long, but I guess I’m feeling older now, and the details sometimes fade a bit. Funny how that happens. What I do remember is that it was a very hot day, that we were surrounded by family and friends wishing us well, and that it was a lot of fun. I remember at the end of the ceremony, wanting to do it all over again! Then there was the reception, which was a LOT of fun, and I’ve not been to another wedding with so much dancing, or such a lovely view. The…
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Janet’s Banana Bread
(photo found along with recipe, here) Friday afternoon found me lunching with two of my dear friends, Janet and Katie. I met J & K way back in Junior College, lo those many, many years ago. Katie lives just across the Bay in San Francisco, and for some stupid reason we don’t get together as often as we should. Janet lives in Texas, so her visits are of course precious. Janet was sent to our neck of the woods last week for business, and was able to make time for lunch with Katie and me. Yay! Often when I lunch with Janet &/or Katie, we go to Va de Vi,…