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The Great Gatsby
“His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Perhaps I read The Great Gatsby in High School. I have vague recollections of spending time my Sophomore year listening to my…
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The Call
Jordan Turner is a 911 operator in Los Angeles, taking panicked phone calls from people who are having their worst days ever. Gah, within the first minute of the film, I knew this was a job far beyond my personal coping level. No way could I stay calm and help people through the stuff that’s going on. Jordan (Halle Berry) is cool, calm, and collected, but not as detached as she needs to be, and soon, she makes a critical error. Fast forward 6 months, and Jordon is no longer taking calls in the call center. She is haunted by her mistake, and unable to take the chance that something…
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What I Was/There is no Dog
The unnamed narrator of Meg Rosoff’s What I Was is an old man, 100 years old, telling the story of the happiest time in his life, when he was a teenager in the mid 1960s, attending a horrid boarding school near the ocean in the eastern U.K. It’s not that the school is so wonderful, it’s the friend he makes, Finn, who lives in a shack by the ocean, fishes for meals, gathers wood, and does odd jobs in town for the little money needed to survive. The narrator (some refer to him as H) is drawn to Finn, wishes he could live this simple lifestyle, free from interfering parents,…
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Friday Randomness
Friday again…what’s new pussycat? I hope you’re well. I haven’t been around here much lately, and it’s not because life is so darned exciting that I haven’t the time, or so darned horrid that I can’t manage it. It’s just how it’s been lately, I guess. The spirit hasn’t moved me. But it’s moving me a bit now, so I’ll give you some random ‘Thinking About…” type stuff, OK? Maya and her chorale group from school sang at a swanky fundraiser last night at our local swanky rep center. The fundraiser was to raise money for the city education foundation, which spends its money on crazy, extravagant things like librarian…
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Hood River Fresh Apple Cake
Totally cheating here, because this is a different cake. But I like the fact that it’s in a bundt cake shape, and I think that would be a pretty presentation for this cake as well. Ted made it in a square pan, as requested by the recipe. Maybe the cake is too dense and moist for a bundt cake pan, I don’t know. I found the photo here. I mentioned the lovely Apple Cake that Ted made for Valentine’s Day, and the world sat up and took notice. Since you’ve behaved, I’m rewarding you by posting the recipe here. Ted found it here. The author of the blog says she…
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Small Victories & Occasional Randomness
I went to the store the other day, in need of a new pair of jeans. I have a certain brand and cut that I like, and alas, they are phasing that cut out. No big pile with four washes from which to choose, which is how it was the last time I went to the store. So I looked all over, dug through pile after pile, and the only pair I found was 7 sizes too big. Rats. Every other pair in the store was a stupid low rise cut, meaning I can’t bend over without people knowing what kind of underwear I have on. I don’t like…
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Girl with a Pearl Earring
One of the benefits of membership to our local PBS station is that they sometimes have a ‘free member day’ at local museums. Several years ago, that took us to the SF MOMA to see a Picasso exhibit, and Maya and I spent a lovely day in San Francisco together. This time the ‘free member day’ was for the de Young Museum, one of two fine art museums in San Francisco. They have several exhibits, but the current Special Exhibit is a collection of paintings from the Mauritshuis in Holland, which is a museum that is being expanded and is under renovation until mid-2014. While they’re tearing up the place,…
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Wordless Wednesday – A Day in San Francisco
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Bella Trattoria ~ San Francisco
Sunday was a day in San Francisco, which we spent going to the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park, looking for Magnolia trees in bloom. It turns out it’s a bit early, even here in sunny California, so we didn’t see a LOT of blooms. OK, there weren’t many. But one thing I like about Magnolia trees (specifically, the ones called ‘Tulip Trees’) is how the branches and trunk look relatively delicate, and the sparseness of the branches with the beautiful pink and white flowers coming out, it’s somehow architectural or something. I love it. Anyway, after searching the Gardens for Magnolia trees for awhile, then stopping by Ocean Beach,…
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Chocolate Cake for a 90th Birthday Party
My lovely Grandma turned 90 last week, and on Sunday we celebrated with her in the care facility where she is recovering from the fall she took on Thanksgiving. Hopefully, the x-ray she takes later this week will show that she is recovered enough so that she can go home. For the party, I volunteered to bring the cake. Grandma says her favorite cakes are fruit cake and chocolate cake. I don’t know many people who like fruit cake, and I have no idea how to make it, so I opted for chocolate on chocolate love. Then came the question, to make the cake from scratch, or use a box. …
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Monday Meme – 48 Things
I saw this one over at Issa’s place, and shockingly enough, I don’t think I’ve answered more than 10 of these here before. So, in the spirit of over sharing, here we go. 1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes. My great aunt was SO amazingly important to my mom. She took her in when she was having trouble at home, made her feel like there wasn’t anything wrong with her after all, encouraged her that life in college would be far better than life in high school had been. Sadly, she died before I was born, so I never met her. Her name was Julia, but she hated…
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Friday Randomness
Happy Friday Everyone! We finished watching Season 3 of Downton Abbey this week. Agggghhh! How can it be over already? I know, you’re probably saying, “But I’ve only seen 3 episodes thus far, how can you have seen all 7 plus the Christmas Special?” The answer my friend is that I donated money to my local PBS station, and they sent me the DVD. I will not give any plot spoilers, but I will tell you that the LOOK of the show is much better on DVD than it is on broadcast TV. This was a big season in many ways, but I recommend not googling anything, since those in…
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Flight Behavior
“Number one. Bring your own Tupperware to a restaurant for leftovers, as often as possible.” “I’ve not eaten at a restaurant in over two years.” “Try bringing your own mug for tea or coffee. Does not apply, I guess. Carry your own cutlery, use no plastic utensils, ditto ditto. Okay, here’s one. Carry your own Nalgene bottle instead of buying bottled water.” “Our well water is good. We wouldn’t pay for store-bought.” “Okay,” he said. “Try to reduce the intake of red meat in your diet.” “Are you crazy? I’m trying to increase our intake of red meat.” “Why is that?” “Because mac and cheese only gets you so far,…
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Harvest Roast Chicken with Grapes, Olives, and Rosemary
This is a sad, pathetic picture of a delicious, wonderful dinner. We scarfed it down too quickly for me to take a picture of the whole plate of chicken and veggies, so you get the leftovers in a cold bowl. Sorry. One of my gifts for Christmas was the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I was thrilled, because I’ve tried a few recipes from Deb’s blog, and I’ve enjoyed them quite a bit. Last night I decided to try my first recipe from the cookbook, and then I decided to pair it with another recipe from the cookbook. Why not, right? Because I’m nice that way, I suggest you try them. Then,…
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Friday Randomness
Jumping right on in here…. I enjoyed my time off from work. Sunday we had some friends over that we haven’t seen in ages. There’s something about having kids who are in school and sports and trying to support them, that doesn’t leave one with much time, so it can be hard to get together. Then there’s work, which is also a huge time suck. So between the work and the commuting and the kids and so on, we haven’t seen them in awhile. Finally we did. I made a huge meatloaf, we laughed and ate and relaxed. It was excellent. Also, went to Stockton to see my Grandma. She’s…