Py and I had an amazing honeymoon, almost 15 years ago. We started in London, where we saw some plays and ate some bad food. We then spent a few days in Amsterdam, and went to the Anne Frank House, and ate yummy shwarma. Finally, we spent almost a whole week in Paris, in a hotel with rooms that looked like dungeons (not on purpose, just old buildings), and went to museums and ate wonderful yumminess. The best Chinese food I’ve ever had in my life was at a little deli type shop around the corner from our dungeon. We had the best meal of our lives there, too. (When…

(picture found here) I was IMing with Dot yesterday, musing about ideas for an ‘I’ post. Ice Cream. Ikky. iPod. Ichabod Crane. Isolation. Isolation…I like that one, so I’ll run with it. Sorry, Dot, if you wanted it. You can have Ichabod, or go with Idolatry, Idiots, Ingenious, Idealism, Inspiration, Instant Messaging…whatever you want. Really, I shouldn’t take this one from Dot, because she gave me the thought as well, which was how we all feel, at least sometimes, like we’re alone in this world, that we’re the only one going through crap and no one really understands. And yet, you talk to someone, and they say, Yes, yes, I…

(click to enlarge) (warning…I started this post with a simple idea, but it sort of took over and became unwieldy. In other words, I lost control of it. So it’s not completely coherent and doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. At least not as I would define them. But I can’t think of what I would change, because that’s how my brain works anyway.) Pursuant to yesterday’s post on grace, a post on happiness came easily to mind. After all, I firmly believe that one of the main components in living one’s life with grace is a sense of gratitude, and the ability to focus more on the…

(The image is one of the stained glass windows at Grace Cathedral, a Catholic church in San Francisco.) What does it mean to you, to live your life with grace? To a religious person, I would assume that it means living in God’s grace. But what does that mean, and does it mean the same thing to an atheist? I can’t speak to the religious side as well as Tracy or Dot might, but I can say that for me, to live my life in grace is something to strive for. Sadly, not something that comes exactly naturally. It means letting go of anger and bitterness, and embracing your forgiving…

(our haul from the day) Friday, Py and I took the day off of work to have some fun. It was the last day of Maya’s spring break, and originally we thought we might go to a local amusement park, but it turned out that they were closed. Most of the school districts in our area had their spring break either the week before Easter, or the week after. Including those of all of her friends. but not hers. So what else do you do with a 12 year old on spring break in Northern California? That’s right, you go wine tasting! We went up to Napa Valley for the…

Is it wrong that this knife is more tempting to me than jewelry or clothes? (Update at 10:30am…Ooh…I just had a thought…if I had this knife, I could make tuna tartar! Drool indeed!) And then there’s this. Drool. I think I may start saving my money, and get the real deal, just what I want, perfect knife and dutch oven. But it might be awhile, because they aren’t cheap, and I don’t want a Target knock off. Why wasn’t I born rich?