Peteenablog

Holiday Hackery

2012-01-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful holiday vacation in Texas, though I brought back the worst cold I've in quite some time (sore throat and horrible, hacking cough - my eternal gratitude to Brian for not making me get a motel room yet so he can get some sleep).

Went to a holiday party at my sister's neighbor's house, where I was surprised to see guys this age totally engrossed in their phones. Important messages, or social awkwardness?

Went to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, and snapped this pic of downtown Austin from the grounds of the Palmer Center. Beautiful, sunny day in Texas!

In San Antonio, we had the opportunity to drive my step-mom's Miyata a couple of times (thanks, Chris!) and could not resist putting the top down after catching a matinee of the new Tin Tin movie (which was better than I thought it might be - good holiday fun).

We stopped at Mission Concepcion on our way to a new section of the San Antonio River Walk.

Detail shot from inside the church at Mission Concepcion.

On the River Walk, south of downtown San Antonio.

Time for some cute animal shots. This is Cisco, the last dog standing at Dad and Chris's house. Best guess has Cisco at about 15 years old, and if that's true he's in pretty good shape.

And this is Chica, Dad and Chris's supremely anti-social cat. She is gorgeous, and once in a while I manage to stroke her while she's on the move, but basically she likes my Dad and that's about it.

Four Keys

2011-12-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

I recently left my job at Golden Gate Audubon after three years, and now realize that my life can be defined by the four keys on my keyring: house key, car key, church door key, and bike lock key. I am working from home for Columbia College Chicago, and really excited about both (the working from home and being back with CCC for my primary gig). Hopefully I will not drive Brian too crazy, and I think Morty definitely appreciates the change (Violet does not seemed to have noticed yet).

And, since I just can't help myself when it comes to compulsively snapping imgaes, here are some recent photos:

Brian and I managed a short getaway to Marin between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is a cold cloudy Monday morning in downtown Tiburon.

Cloudy and cold can be a good thing when it comes to getting a table at the awesome New Morning Cafe.

Brian and Mort pose by the Bay, with San Francisco in the background.

December Pug Meetup was last Saturday, and we were fortunate to have a nice sunny day (last December it rained cats and dogs, so to speak, and Morty and I were the only ones there for our pug party). This is Prince, who is giving me what I can only describe as the hairy eye ball.

That's it for now, Happy Holidays, everyone!

Visitations

2011-11-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes visits with friends or family can be over-the-top awesome, other times they can disappoint. And sometimes they're juuuuust right. I've had wonderful times lately with friends in Chicago, and with my family here in the Bay Area. First up, Thanksgiving with Mitch and Shelly!

My wonderful sister, Shelly, and her husband, Mitch "The Master Carver" visited us from Austin, Texas, for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Friday we went to Land's End and walked from the Legion of Honor to the the Cliff Trail head, then to Cliff House and back. Kind of cloudy, but a beautiful day - we had so much fun!

Overlooking Sutro Baths and Cliff House.

Looking down from our seat in the lounge, where we had beverages and clam chowder. My sister had a Nutty Saint Nick, and I had a Snow Shoe (our husbands, for better and for worse, did not of the spirits imbibe).

Walking back to our car on the road, overlooking the trail we had been on earlier.

And before that, I had a few days in Chicago, finding just the right balance between work and play.

Waiting with Jason and Michael for the 146. Or the 145. Or even the 151, which we finally got on after hanging out at the bus stop for 40 minutes.

What would blogging about my trip to Chicago be without a beautiful sunrise shot?

The hosts with the MOST, Jason and Michael.

Bus stop ad on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Really, Usher? EVERY BOTTLE of this particular vodka you endorse actually saves lives in Africa? How does that work?

If you believe that, I've got some Little Green Patches I'd like to send you.

Jason and I went to American Science and Surplus (thanks, Zipcar!) and did some shopping. My only question - How could Celebriducks not have caught on?

And here are a few recent random favorites:

Was in SF last week, and could not resist the sparkliness that is Holiday Macy's.

Breakfast at Homemade Cafe in Berkeley before November Pug Meetup. We managed to get two spaces at the counter, where we had a bird's eye view of the grill.

Nice weather for our monthly Pug Meet-up, so we had lots of people and pugs taking advantage of the mild day. This is Melanie (I think), who clearly wants some attention.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Explore Elko

2011-08-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

www.exploreelko.com manages to make Elko, Nevada seem way more exciting than it is while missing its real charm. We stayed at the Shilo Inn, which was pet-friendly, had a pool AND had a movie multi-plex, two restaurants, a Starbucks, a Joann Fabric and a Famous Footwear within walking distance - that's my kind of place!

Brian and I spent a few days there recently, visiting family (on Brian's father's side). Here's the view up I-80 from the Shilo, which I had a lot of time to contemplate while waiting for Morty to do his business.

We had a hillbilly picnic while on the way to the Ruby Marshes.

The Ruby Marshes themselves were incredibly beautiful, and almost completely devoid of people on a Saturday afternoon.

Brian (right)and his brother, Thayer, after a little rock-climbing.

Brian at the height (ahem) of the afore-mentioned rock climbing expedition (overlooking the South Fork of the Humboldt River).

It was all a bit much for Morty, who is old, fat, AND lazy. Fortunately for him, Brian's mom, Pam, had a broken foot and was not as mobile as usual, so Mort and I hung out with her. On the other hand, he got more meaty treats on this trip than he's probably had in the entire previous year, so it wasn't really so awful.

Taken while walking in one of the campgrounds at Lamoille Canyon. The campgrounds host's campsite is at the base of the mountain.

Basque Family Style Dining at the Star Hotel, where they bring you bread, soup, salad, Basque beans, green beans and french fries before plopping down in front of you the biggest piece of animal flesh you've ever seen. (Yes, I did cave and have the salmon, which would have been three salmon entrees at any other restaurant.)

All in all, a lovely getaway. Go ahead, explore Elko!

Is It Spring Yet?

2011-04-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Was in Chicago recently (did some work for Columbia College Chicago, spent time with friends - especially the awesomest hosts in the world, Jason and Michael) where spring is still taunting them with its nearness while staying just out of reach. Missed what will probably amount to about half of the 70-degree-plus days for the year here in the Bay Area, but am not complaining (much). After that little spate of warm days it has cooled off again here, but hopefully will also dry out a bit so I can start to get my garden in. Right now, it looks like summer (stuff is blooming everywhere) but feels more like fall - that's the Bay Area for ya.

Here are a few of my favorite recent photos:

San Francisco Airport. I'm not sure what to make of this. You should eat before you go through security? Is there more secure dining elsewhere? Or perhaps there is a time machine where you can go back to before 911 when we were so much less secure?

I was shocked to find my favorite Walgreens, the one that has stood forever on the corner of State and Jackson, closed. It was crowded and dingy, the clerks were rude and the customers downright savage. God, I loved that place.

Beautiful night-time view of N. Lake Shore Drive at Belmont Harbor.

Got back in time to have a couple of days with Brian's parents, visiting from Baltimore. And I did get to enjoy one of the those beautiful, warm days I mentioned before. Here we are at Miller-Knox Park at Point Richmond.

Had to take Violet in to get some teeth pulled a few days after I got back. She was not happy, and the kicky bandana and tourniquet they gave her at University Vet Hospital did nothing to improve her mood. If she ever does get her fondest wish (the power to decide who lives and who die), I'm a goner.

The Season of Light

2010-12-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

I was looking at recent images on my phone, and realized I must really like taking pictures with light sources in them.

At the Oakland Airport VERY early in the morning to catch a plane to San Diego (and then on to Texas) for Thanksgiving. You don't really expect to see an awesome sunrise while on the moving walkway, but there it was.

On our way to dinner in Oakland. You've got to love a theater that uses all that juice to protest increased parking fees.

I met my friend, Linda, in San Francisco recently for dinner, and we walked through Union Square on our way to the train. The skating rink had exactly one guy in it, and I'm pretty sure he was getting paid to skate around in an effort to entice more business.

OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT ANGEL DOING TO THAT REINDEER! MY EYES, MY EYES!

Evil. Pure Evil.

2010-11-09T21:09:00.000-08:00

I never know what to expect (weather-wise) when I go to Chicago in November, but (after rain the first evening) I got really lucky this time. Sunny, temps in the 50s and then even 60s on Sunday.

The Admissions staff for Columbia College Chicago Fall Open House was in the new Spertus Museum on Saturday, and it is really an amazing building. And you'd think I'd be used to spectacular lake views in Chicago after working downtown for several years and now staying with The Greatest Hosts Ever when I visit (thanks, Jason and Mike!) but they still take my breath away.

Looking out from the 10th floor of the Spertus.

Looking out over Belmont Harbor from the World's Greatest Hosts' fab pad.

I even had a chance for a walk along the lakefront, from Belmont up to Bill Jarvis Bird Sanctuary (nice walk, no binocs, no birds of note).

I saw so many friends and had a really great time. And then....

...O'Hare Airport, Terminal 3, K Concourse, women's restroom. These are mirrors when you stand in front of them, and ads when you're looking at them from an angle.

They charge you for bags, they won't give you any food, and now this.

Evil. Pure evil. And all the automatic faucets and soap dispensers in the world can't cleanse me of it.

Ikea Cast-offs: a Semi-Regular Recurring Feature?

2010-08-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Dear Reader may be aware that I am not a huge fan of Ikea. For one thing, I don't eat meatballs, Swedish or otherwise. For another, I find going there extremely dispiriting, a cross between going to the airport and going on an endless tour of campus dorm room models. And, of course, there's the fact that it's all horribly cheap crap, designed to be in vogue one season and tossed out the next time you move. Or redecorate. Or get paid.

But after the tossing out, that's where I start to like Ikea. We now have six Ikea items in our house, each of which one of us has found abandoned on the curb. (We have lots of things in our house now that we've found abandoned on the curb, one of the benefits of living in an extremely ecologically-minded city with a large student population and a climate in which it is guaranteed not to rain for a large chunk of the year).

Here's my latest find: a metal table. Not sure where it's going to go yet, and we didn't really need it, but it was in perfect shape and I couldn't pass it up.

We also have two tables, the smaller of which is featured here. We have another one, just like it only much larger, that's currently in our kitchen. These two items were definitely the most work getting home of any of our Ikea cast-offs.

We also have two lamps, one of which is in the corner in this picture (kind of hard to see). The shades were not in great shape; one of them was so bad we threw it away, but then Brian found a shade that fit it one day - where else? on the curb in our neighborhood. Ikea? We're not sure about that one. The final item is a lime-green waste basket (that one was easy to get home).

So, do you have any Ikea cast-offs? Send me an email, with text or a picture, and I'll put it my blog.

Logic-free

2010-08-09T19:24:00.001-07:00

Can I just ask a question, please? Why would you develop ice cream flavors based on your coffees, make a big deal of calling them coffee free, and then put an asterisk next to the words "coffee free" and put a tiny disclaimer in the corner that says "not a caffeine-free food"? Just, WHY? Ladies and gentlemen, that does not make sense!

Vacation? What Vacation?!

2010-08-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

My plan to quickly get up a series of posts about our vacation while it was still fresh in my mind has, of course, gone by the wayside even more quickly. I do have photos up on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21380180@N08/sets/72157624433600761/.

But, in the spirit of Better Late Than Never, here are some photos from the early part leg of the trip.

On our way north to Oregon, we stopped off for lunch at William B. Ide adobe State Historical Park, where there were lots of picnickers with dogs, and a family of wild turkeys. There was an adobe house, too, but it was not the original one, and in my opinion the dogs and the turkeys were far more interesting.

We spent the first night in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and attended meeting at Klamath Friends Church on Sunday.

In Klamath Falls, we spent some time pondering how, exactly, recliners, mattress sets and tables were different from sofa's and loveseat's and therefore merited different punctuation.

From there we went north, and made a couple of stops in the Klamath Basin. This photo is from Klamath Marsh, where we saw a Black Tern (one of several lifers on this trip).

Mountains!

Here's our cheese shot at Crater Lake (see previous post for more shots from Crater Lake).

The Rogue River, at a place called Natural Bridge. We would not have stopped at this place but for a tip from the guy who gassed up our car in Prospect, where we stayed while visiting Crater Lake. Awesome spot, there a place where the river flows through a big lava tube, making a natural bridge (get it?).

Mountains! With explanatory displays!

On to Portland!

Crater Lake Blue

2010-07-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

I hope to get up a series of post about our last vacation without too much delay. I have some great photos (which are also up on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21380180@N08/, though I'm not done organizing them yet) and probably-not-so-great thoughts to share.

One of the things that was most memorable was Crater Lake. It was little bit like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time; you know all about it, and have seen pictures, but nothing can prepare you for the reality. Crater Lake is such an intense blue that you can't help but stare and stare, and take LOTS of pictures. I'll restrain myself here and only present a few.

Starting with my favorite one of just the water:

This is overlooking Wizard Island.

Scenic Crater Lake, with snow!

And more snow! Here's Brian on a big pile of it.

More soon.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

2010-06-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung, and I've been trying to get out and take advantage of it in various ways.

Got to watch some bird banding action at Richardson Bay Audubon Center. The woman is disentangling a Bewick's Wren that caught itself caught in the mist net. For the second time, apparently, as it had already been banded, so they recorded the date, time, and location and sent him on his way.

Morty and I went to see some artists who were have Open Studios near our house. Unfortunately, he could not come in with me, but he found a nice spot to wait for my return.

Kitten season is upon, and this friendly little calico was hanging around a block or so from our house recently. Sure, I already posted this on my Facebook page, but, really, could you see this picture too many times?

Brian consults Sibley's while Morty tries to figure out why we made him go on a forced march at Briones Park on Memorial Day. He thinks it's hot when it gets over 65 degrees, good thing he doesn't live in Indiana anymore.

I took a mosaic workshop recently at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland, where there are many amazing mosaiced things to see.

This is my own feeble effort at a stepping stone, done in the "Exterior and Garden Applications" class.

And, out of the blue, on the sidewalk on 8th Street near the new Berkeley Bowl - tidings from the Old Country! How this plastic bag from Nebraska wound up in Berkeley, California I'll never know.

The Ladies of the Needle

2010-04-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

We have a knit/crochet club at Berkeley Friends Church that meets once a month, and I'm once again learning to crochet (my friend Felice tried to teach me once, many years ago, but I didn't keep at it and never learned much). One of our sometime attenders in this club suggested that we call our selves "The Ladies of the Needle," which has a certain ring to it but also sounds a bit like a knock-off of a John Le Carre novel.

Anyway, today Dorothy brought the quilts that her mother had made to show us, and they were so amazing that we all started taking pictures. And here they are:

This one is all done with Hawaiian print fabric squares.

Detail shot of same.

Dorothy shows us the second quilt she brought.

This one is actually laid out on the first one, the peach and dark blue that look like borders on it are the borders from the first quilt.

Detail from the second quilt. They were both totally awesome! I have a couple of quilts that my grandmother Strait made, but they are not in good repair. I actually used to use them as quilts - imagine that!

CAKE!!?!??!?

2010-04-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ah, Red Velvet Cake. It holds a special place in my heart, because, well, because it holds a special place in the folklore of me and my friends. There's the B.W. Red-Velvet-Cake-vomiting story (in which scenario he gets drunk, eats red velvet cake, vomits it up, and his friends insist on taking him to the hospital, not realizing that the reason for his velvety red vomit is, in fact, red velvet cake), the J,-and-M.-order-red-velvet-cake-for-dessert-after-breakfast story (after which Brian waits at least a full hour, until we're alone, to turn to me and exclaim, "CAKE!!?!??!?." And, if that weren't enough, there's This is Why You're Fat, with it's chocolate velvety balls .

So, imagine my joy when I saw this at Yogurtland (self-service frozen yogurt, 30-cents and ounce!). I hate to say it, but that particular flavor of frozen yogurt isn't that great, and not even particularly evocative of red velvet cake (though maybe it is of the batter, which I've never sampled). Still, as conceptual art, it can't be beat.

Oddities

2010-03-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

Every day has it's share of oddities. It's only when they come one after another that you start to notice them.

I went to San Francisco today (DSW gift certiicate for Christmas - thanks Dad and Chris!), and what a beautiful day to go shopping; it was a glorious, sunny day even in clammy, foggy, SF.

Anyway, while I'm grooving on the Muni Bus with a MacDonald's ad in Vietnamese...

...suddenly I find myself in the middle of a quite massive anti-war rally.

I hang with them for a while, and then peel off to go to the DSW, where I have the odd pleasure of being able to stop in the middle of Geary Street downtown and take a picture, because the police have traffic stopped and no cars can go through.

So, I spend my gift certificate (thanks again, Dad and Chris!), hit the Body Shop on my way back to BART (where I stop, of course, at Beard Papa's for a chocolate cream puff), get on the train and go back to the East Bay. I get off at MacArthur, and - honest to God - there's a guy busking (am I spelling that right - as in playing for money?) on an upright piano. He's going to town on some very bombastic classical piece - it might have been Rachmaninoff, but I'm no expert - and people are practically throwing money at him.

I go home and decide to take Morty out for a quick walk. We see our good friend, the long-haired cat Sylvester, who lives at the end of the block. This is quite a treat, because we haven't see him in a few days and were starting to worry (well, at least I was). Turns out on the kids in the family that owns him tried to trim the huge mats he had behind his ears and accidentally cut him, so they had to take him to the vet and get him stitched up (and, thankfully, get the mats trimmed - they really were bad). Poor guy is sporting several stitches in blue surgical thread; it looks like someone tried to cut his throat (though he really didn't want to let me take a picture of it, and my cameraphone probably wouldn't have been up to it anyway).

So Morty and I continue our trek around the block, and we find this outside the house of the Chinese family that owns that dry cleaner around the corner from our house.

They're big drying racks, enclosed in mesh, and I think it's chicken strips that they're full of.

And poor Morty went absolutely nuts, because he couldn't find the meat! I guess it just goes to show you that everything evens out in the end. Some days you find a half a brat on the sidewalk, and other days you just can't find the large quantities of chicken strips hanging right over your head.

A Little Taste of Winter

2010-03-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

Had a lovely few days in Chicago recently, working Columbia College Chicago's Spring Open House. Temps in the 30's (that's below zero in California!), dirty snow, good food, good friends and I get paid for it! The only downer was that I only got to see my dearest friends (and perennial hosts) Jason and Mike for a few minutes. I guess they'll have to come out here so we can catch up.

Here's are some photo highlights of my visit:

Sunrise over Lake Michigan.

In the new Media Production Center at 16th and State Streets

In a flower shop on Broadway, buying flowers for my hosts

Saw The Hurt Locker on Sunday afternoon (just in time to be able to feel a totally vicarious thrill when Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar the very next night) at the Logan Theater, two blocks from my very first apartment in Chicago. Clearly they have not redecorated since the last time I was there (and several decades before).

Same view as above. One day you can see practically all the way to Indiana, and the next day you're in a Star Trek episode. Heavy fog off the Lake; I kept expecting to look out and see faces pressed up against the glass.

Did everyone know that Elvis Costello has a cable show now where he jams with and interviews other musicians, dressed as a hillbilly fop?

Flight out of O'Hare delayed? It's time to treat yourself to a spinach salad with baby beets, and a nice glass of wine at Wolfgang Puck's. Celebrate that extra hour in the Windy City!

Better Late Than Never, Right?

2010-01-18T17:48:00.001-08:00

Sure, we moved in September, and even allowing for settling-in time it's a bit late to be putting up pictures of our new house, but (see post title). For a refresher on how it looked before, go to my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21380180@N08/. The outside looks pretty much the same so far, that's a project for the future!

Very happy kitty, in a pillow fort, in the master bedroom or our new house.

The living room...

... the dining room...

...and the guest room (working on an application process, in the meantime, if you'd like to stay with us please send us the dates of your proposed visit, the names and phone numbers of three personal references, and a damage deposit of $100).

And now, for a few random shots not of our new house:

Christmas lights in our neighborhood (honestly, Berkeley didn't exact impress with its Christmas light efforts - we saw much better in my sister's neighborhood in Austin, and we didn't even make it to 37th street this year).

No, it's not a UFO, it's close-up of the very silly lighting fixture in the Starbucks in San Antonio, Texas.

I must admit I have a fascination with the inexplicable lighting displays you see in airports and other public spaces (like Starbucks). Maybe it's because they're so shiny! This one is in the Denver airport, where we spent many hours on our way to Texas for Christmas.

Lastly, here's my favorite storefront in our new neighborhood. I have never seen a business like this in my life. My favorite is in the little white spot near the door knob that you can't read in the photo - it says, "By Appointment Only."

NotWinterNotSummer

2009-11-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

Here in the East Bay we don't really seem to have seasons, we just have weather. During the "winter" we some more cool rainy days, and in the "summer" we have a few warm days (and the occasional day that one might be tempted to call "hot" if one didn't know better). But that's about all the difference there is, as far as I can see.

Take Thanksgiving weekend, for example. Thursday was beautiful - sunny and not quite warm. Friday was cool and rainy. Saturday was sunny and very windy and again not quite warm. And Sunday - oh, wait, that's tomorrow. We'll just have to wait and see.

Brian's family is here for the holiday, and it's great to spend some time with them. Point Isabel and Golden Gate Park yesterday, Point Reyes today, and they'll all be taking off tomorrow so I hope they enjoyed themselves. Looking forward to seeing my family at Christmas.

Realized when I looked at the blog today that I still have not posted any pictures of the new house since the repairs and redecorated have been (mostly) completed. Promise to do so soon. In the meantime, here are some recent pictures from my wanderings in Berkeley and a trip to Chicago in early November:

My two new favorite products. Quake Hold because it holds stuff in place during an earthquake (or at least it makes you feel as if you've done something meaningful to prepare for one), and Potty Mouth, because, well, look at that package!

Yes, it's true, the check-cashing place on San Pablo and University actually has the nerve to call itself a "community service."

Morty looks out the window during a recent outing to Cesar Chavez Park (we've seen Burrowing Owls the last three times we've been out there - very cool!

Someone has painted these shadows around the fire hydrants on Alcatraz Avenue. I only walk there after dark with Morty on our last walk of the day, and they fool me into a double-take almost every time.

Evening foliage and streetlight on Belmont Avenue, on my way back to my friends Jason and Michael's apartment after working a long day for Columbia College Chicago.

Early Christmas lights on State Street in Chicago.

The floor of the elevator in Jason and Michael's building. I guess I have a tendency to get distracted by shiny things.

Seriously, who would feed the pigeons on the corner of Wabash and Van Buren?

The Boxes, the Boxes!

2009-10-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, we still have lots of boxes in big piles, in almost every room (the kitchen, bathroom, and master bedroom, however, are now box free). Had some trouble getting all the curtain rods back up, which has prevented us from reassembling our bookshelves, which would enable us to unpack and shelve the books, which would allow us to get rid of most of the remaining boxes.

I promise to post pictures of our new house as soon as it's presentable. I know it's gonna be worth it, even though the past few weeks have been quite the rollercoaster:
Morty actually sits nicely on the lap of our neighbor, Venesa, so she can say goodbye (you might not know it, but he's NOT a lapdog!).

Our other, neighbor, Miss Dorothy (President of the Frank Mugsy Mordecai McWhinesalot Fan Club), puts on a brave face on our last day on 7th Street...

...and actually poses for a picture with me!

We visit the friendly puppy on our last official walk in our old neighborhood (we think her name is Xena, but we're not sure).

My favorite picture of friendly puppy Xena from the day.

Morty and I shop for drapes at Bed Bath and Beyond, where they let you bring your dog inside as long as he's in a cart or being carried (Morty was not very happy about this, but bore it reasonably well).

Getting used to being a commuter again (crossing San Pablo to at dusk in this shot).

This is the block I work on, about 7:00 p.m. on a recent evening. We're looking towards my office, which is half a block down on the right.

This odd guy is actually inside the door, stuffed between the push bar and the glass at the futon shop on San Pablo. I'm not sure what he's supposed to be doing there, but he's very eye-catching.

Bad Blogger! Bad!

2009-09-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since I posted. Brian and I have bought a house in Berkeley and are in the process of fixing it up (which Brian has done a great job of making happen) and packing -- things have been moving very quickly for the past few weeks! But by October 1 we'll be in our new house and hopefully things will settle down. In the meantime, here are some recent pictures:

Here's the amazing bench cover that my sister, Shelly, made for Brian's office.

Here's the lovely peach cobbler we had for dessert at Sea Salt, where we went for dinner to celebrate buying our house.

Brian has a hot dog at the Labor Day sale at one of the appliance mega-stores we went to; we had to buy a fridge and washer/dryer for our new house.

Hot buy! Woot!

In the atrium of SF MOMA during a recent visit.

I pass this sign often, and it always cracks me up a little bit. Maybe the program will get better one day.

Out for a walk with Morty the other day (I was picking up his poop and he decided to let fly right in front of me)...

...And then he had a good laugh.

Thomas Frank Owes Me Money

2009-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been several years since the Baffler folded. And yes, it wasn't his fault, there was that pesky fire that took out their offices, blah, blah, woof, woof. But still, I had just re-subscribed, and I got nothing from them: no note, no email, no refund check - NOTHING.

So now the guy's publishing books and has a column in the Wall Street Journal and is going on speaking tours and talking about the Baffler like some beloved deceased relative and he never once mentions that HE OWES ME MONEY.

I went to see him speak here in Berkeley a while back, and when they asked me to pay for it I told them that Thomas Frank, in fact, owes me money. They were not impressed, nor swayed from their desire to part me from my hard-earned $15. When I showed them the event listing in the Daily Planet that said the event was $12 and made no mention of the fact that it was $12 in advance and $15 at the door, they grudgingly let me in for $12. After which I sat politely in the audience (at a church, mind you) and watched him work his way through a gigantic bottle of beer while talking and fielding questions about his latest book. Highly entertaining stuff, don't get me wrong, but if you're going to sit around talking and drinking beer you should bring enough for everyone. And if your tiny underground magazine goes under and you subsequently pop up with your own column in the Wall Street Journal, you should not be surprised when your former subscribers post blog entries with titles like, "THOMAS FRANK OWES ME MONEY."

Hot Enough For Ya?

2009-07-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't actually heard anyone say that since I moved here - must be a Midwestern saying. But even in "Paradise" people do talk about the weather. "How do you like the heat?" seems to be the California equivalent phrase for when it gets over 80 degrees. I think they're getting annoyed with me laughing at them.

Neighborhood News:

The colorful crowd who live on the opposite corner of our block cleaned up their yard recently (right before they apparently got evicted). They put all the empty case boxes of liquor and the toilet in their front yard into shopping carts - perhaps for easy move out.

In the winter, they made me a snowman in my cafe mocha at Cafe Cacao, in June they made a flower pot...

... but the end result was pretty much the same.

Mysterious street art, taped inside a box lid and found at the park outside the Bayer parking lot at 7th and Heinz while out on a walk with Morty (who was not impressed with it, by the way).

Looks kind of spooky, maybe even extraterrestrial, but it's really the reflection of my desk lamp on my desk.

Brian and I went to the old ball game, and saw the Orioles lose to the A's - but not as bad as they had the night before, so I guess we lucked out.

I'm not sure what of mine Carter-West.com will sell on EBAY, but I assume it's not my actual stuff or they wouldn't need the quotation marks.

Had such a fun time with Shelly and Mitch when they visited (see my pics on my Flickr page or Mitch's on his Flickr page). But then they went back to where it's REALLY hot.

Proof of Life

2009-06-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

No, not the crappy movie from 2000 with Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe, but actual proof of life.

We thought for a while that there were House Finches nesting in the vines over our front door (we even used the back door for a couple of weeks) but we couldn't see a nest and weren't really sure until Brian cut back the vines (after several days of no finches flitting around our porch). There were several old nests in there, and this is one of them. No, we're not psycho enough to let the foliage take over the whole house! We had to cut them back, really!

In other news: we took a quick trip to Marin County last weekend to go to Point Reyes National Seashore. Borrowed a scope from Golden Gate Audubon; in this picture Brian is scoping out a bird on the rocks below which may have been a common murre (but even with the scope we couldn't tell). Cool and cloudy all weekend, but we had a great time nonetheless.

On Saturday we took a walk along the beach to go by one of the nesting sights (in the wire enclosure) of the endangered snowy plover. We were very lucky to see the mother away from the nest foraging for a little while, otherwise we wouldn't have seen anything because the nest is very well hidden and you can't get very close.

We think this was an egret of some kind that we found on the beach.

HUGE amazing thistles. The picture doesn't really convey how massive and thorny they were. You definitely would not want to fall into one of these.

On our way home we stopped at Audubon Canyon Ranch to see the heron rookery. Each of the white blobs in the lower right of the photo is a great egret on a nest, and this was only one of several popular nesting sites at ACR. It was pretty cool

We took the long way home and went over the Golden Gate Bridge, which neither of us had done since we moved here. It is far superior in every way to the Bay Bridge, except it costs $2 more to get on.

Roses Very Beautiful

2009-05-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

They're not bigger than my head, but they're as wide across as my hand.

And then there are the runnunculus...

And whatever these are...

And then there are the snails, everywhere...

And then you get to Cafe Trieste on your way to work and have to wait in line and you know it's all downhill from here.

2009-04-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Easter Weekend - so much going on. Lots of stuff to do at Berkeley Friends Church, Brian's folks are visiting from Baltimore, and Spring has sprung with a vengeance. Not enough time to blog properly, but here are some favorite recent photos:

I was happy to see some lilacs in our neighbors yard, I miss my Midwestern spring flowers! Haven't seen any peonies anywhere yet, though, and they're my favorites of all.

Wisteria everywhere out here (just learned what it was today when Pam told me, I had been wondering because it's everywhere). Did I mention the wisteria everywhere?

The Calla Lily plant in our backyard continues to make huge, amazing blooms.

Most ridiculously phallic blooming plant in my neighborhood so far.

Brian works the scope (borrowed from GGAS - there are some fringe benefits) during a recent birding outting to Martin Luther King, Jr. Shoreline in Oakland.

Morty waits at the Peace Post outside the Farmer's Market in downtown Berkeley (because the People's Nazi Farmers wouldn't let him in).

Is it just me, or is this sign kind of naughty?

Someone tied two Corgis to a parking meter right across the sidewalk from us (Pam, Eric, Brian and I) while we were eating lunch at Metro Cafe in Montclaire today. Cute, cute, cute!

Tax The Dandy

2009-03-16T21:00:00.001-07:00

That was the best drink name on the current menu at the Violet Hour, where Jason and I had drinks Friday night. I had a great time in Chicago last weekend, working Open House for Columbia College Chicago and hanging out with my dear friends Jason and Michael. Here are a few photos from the trip:

The big news in Chicago...

Sunrise from the window at my hosts' apartment...

The view up Wabash Avenue, with the new Trump Tower in the center background...

The Eggs Florentine with hash browns, which I had at "Tweet Let's Eat" for Sunday brunch...

...and the big handful of Hollandaise sauce they gave me when I asked for it on the side. I'll be eating a bit lighter for the foreseeable future.

Rainy Day Miscellany

2009-03-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

Not much time to post lately; very busy at work and at home. Excited about going to Chicago weekend after this one - I'll be working Open House for Columbia College (and will be busy there, too!). Brian and I do our best to time the daily dog walks between showers, but even when we do it's so wet out that his paws and tummy almost always need toweling off when we get back. And, for the record, french fries that have been laying in the grass for several days in the rain are really, really disgusting.

Here are some photos from recent days:

Waiting for a smoothie at the Jambo Juice in Emeryville (right across the parking lot from Trader Joe's!).

Brian's new favorite place in San Francisco.

When did Pier 1 start selling worse crap than Target? And when did Easter get so scary?

Morty snarls for the camera.

Shouldn't People Who Twitter Be Called Twits?

2009-02-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

If you're one of my Facebooks friends and you're already tired of this line of inquiry, my apologies. While I still find Facebook somewhat mystifying (no, you didn't Bob For Apples with me, and if sending each other Little Green Patches could really stop global warming then we should all just sit at our computers all day and give each other Little Green Patches, shouldn't we?), I've been even more befuddled by Twitter. And then it occurred to me that maybe Twitter is like Facebook without all the useless, time-wasting accessories. No Little Green Patches, no Hatching Eggs, no Super Poking, no 25 Random Things I Never Wanted to Know About You.

Anyway, it's just a theory. And, because I can't countenance putting up a post without a picture...

2009-01-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

I've been very busy trying to settle into my new job. Feel like I'm making progress, and almost know what I'm doing this week (week 4). The work is challenging, it benefits birds, the people are terrific, you can't beat the commute (5 blocks!) , and, considering the state of the economy, I feel very lucky to be gainfully employed.

Nonetheless, it's been difficult to adjust to working full-time again. I work 9am - 5:30 pm with a half hour lunch break, and the nature of my job is such that I work like crazy all day and never come close to getting everything done that needs to be done. I'm hoping that, at some point, I'll get in the groove and be able to make time to do things like cook and update the blog and get in a garden this spring - which is closer out here than I think. I'm still amazed at mild winters and having tomatoes ripening on the plant in our yard in January. I hear spring migration is about to get underway, and it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to plant outside!

In the meantime, here are a few recent photos that haven't yet made it online:

Saw this van near ultra-trendy 4th Street (maybe I should start a series on super-tricked out autos - there are a lot out here!).

We had a really nice (but too short) visit with Brian's mom, Pam...

...on which we took Morty to the dog part at Point Isabel. (He enjoyed it much more than this photo would suggest. Really.)

On my last free Friday before starting work, Brian and I took the train into San Francisco to see the miniature San Francisco model train exhibit at the SF Botanical Gardens.

Lots of people came to see the model trains (it was a pretty neat exhibit).

One of my favorite random shots in the botanical gardens.

Beautiful ornamental ironwork on the pathways at the botanical gardens.

Carnivorous pitcher plants, with Brian in the background.

We stopped at the merry-go-round on the way back to the train; way cool!

Obamarama

2009-01-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

Feeling a bit left out of all the inauguration hoopla out here on the West Coast. Thinking of jumping on the Obamawagon and renaming the pets after Sasha and Malia. Question is, which one should be which?

The Dastardly Deeds of Perfesser Mortyarty

2009-01-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

In which Morty, the pug, acts out his displeasure at spending time Home Alone now that both of his humans have jobs.

Episode I: "I Can Haz Choklats?" LOL Pug (AKA Count Chocupug) will find the last holiday chocolates and eat them all, even if they're closed in a box and under a pile of stuff! Your puny ipecacs will have no effect on his cast iron stomach, and will only make him thirsty. Very, very thirsty.

Episode II: "Barky Barkerson's All Night Barkathon." People talking in the street? BARK! Neighbors coming home late? BARK BARK!! Invisible, silent-but-deadly terrorists lurking outside at 3AM? BARK BARK BARKITY BARK!!!!!!!!

Episode III: "What's In This Bag?" If Mr. Pottymouth finds himself barred from using the cat's litter box as his own personal snack tray, scattering fresh kitty litter all over the floor is his idea of poetic justice!

Episode IV: "What's In This Bag, Redux." There might be an IED in the recycling - you can't be sure until it's been knocked over and its contents examined thoroughly! Your loyal dog risks his life for you, even when you're not home!

Episode V: "Barky Barkerson's All Night Barkathon, Part II - Electric Boogaloo!" Join Barky for another Bark-O-Rama, with special guest stars Sir Whinesalot and the Growlinator!

Stay Tuned - more exciting episodes are, no doubt, coming your way!

Christmas Misc.

2009-01-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

Well, we've weathered our first Christmas in California (though the weather itself has been quite mild, in our opinion, despite what the locals say). Have been on some nice hikes, spent time with some wonderful folks, and Yours Truly even landed a job (at the Golden Gate Audubon Society, where my daily commute will be ten blocks, round trip!). Even managed an overnight getaway to Monterey, from whence we went on the Monterey Bay Christmas Bird County Pelagic Birding Cruise (will post a link to the complete list from the count once it is posted).

Here are some highlights:

Brian and Stephanie go hiking at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

Morty got his vaccinations updated at the Pet Food Express recently, where I snapped a photo of this little cutie, blissfully unaware of the needle in his future.

There are many extensively decorated cars in the area, this one was parked outside the artists studios near our house the weekend before Christmas.

View of San Francisco under a very dramatic sky, shot from the car window on a recent jaunt.

Sunset at Point Pinos , near the inn where we stayed during our trip to Monterey.

Jellyfish in Monterey Bay, shot from the deck of the boat.

Birds, otters and sea lions sunning themselves on the breakwater at Monterey Bay.

Jet trails over the lighthouse at Point Pinos - said lighthouse being the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast (now don't say you never learn anything on my blog!).

Birders on the rear deck of the boat. Yes, that's Sibley's Western in the waistband of the guy in the middle, and no, the guy on the right doesn't really have a bird perched on his head, it just looks that way.

Dude, I said use the BIG lens!

Bri with sea gulls.

White Christmas

2008-12-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

While here in the Bay Area we don't have snow (we do have rain - lots and lots of rain, not that I'm complaining), one can still find winter white if one looks closely enough:

The latte I was served at Awakening Cafe in downtown Oakland (and kudos to them for being open on Saturday morning, when Starbucks and Tully's were both closed - downtown Oakland not a very happening place on Saturdays, apparently).

The Calla Lilies keep coming (we had seven blooms all together).

Cowboy the cat (who lives in Austin Texas with my sister Mary Cam and her kids).

Obama in the White House! (OK, he's actually ON it, not IN it - picky, picky!).

The cafe mocha I was served at Cafe Cacao, the restaurant run by Scharffenberger's Chocolate at their plant six blocks from our house).

That's right - there's a chocolate factory SIX BLOCKS from our house!

SIX BLOCKS!!!!!!!!! And, yes, they make a darned fine mocha with their own chocolate.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!

We Query the Community Hermeneutic (TM)*

2008-12-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

We were looking through the photos from our glorious trip to Asia (taken by our minion, Stephanie, though she hates it when we call her that) when we came across this image, and have fallen into musing about the curious phrase in the bottom right quadrant of the frame.

We surmise that the word "Dunkin' " refers to Dunkin' Donuts, where the photo was taken, "White" refers to our own wonderously white, creamy complexion; clearly there is some sort of proposal being made to us - but what? What?

We implore our Legions of Fans to help us discern the exact meaning of this phrase. We are open to other interpretations than those along the lines of our own reasoning, we suppose.

Kisses to All!

P.

* - TM 2008, Brian C. Young

Little Monstrosities

2008-12-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

Lest anyone think I'm getting soft in my middle age, I've come across a fair number of odd, hideous, or just plain scary things as well. Like...

The world's worst snack. Got these in the Star Alliance Lounge in the Shanghai Airport. They're dried plums, only they've been preserved using some sort of horrible salty process that makes them absolutely disgusting.

Purple broccoli. PURPLE BROCCOLI! It's just wrong, WRONG I TELL YOU! (Correction: Brian has reminded me that these vile veggies are actually cauliflower, not broccoli - which makes them far more evil, in his opinion.)

Come to think of it, the entire produce section in the San Ramon Safeway was pretty scary. Produce really shouldn't be so perfect and orderly.

Speaking of scary, Morty found it quite alarming when the guy from PG&E came to our house to light the pilot light in our heater and had to crawl under the house to do it. He was talking to us from underneath the grate, and the Mortster just about came unhinged.

Little Miracles

2008-12-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's a hangover from the Thanksgiving spirit, but I keep seeing amazing things (and sometimes even managing to get pictures of them).

There are actual Calla Lillies growing in our backyard!

Violet and Morty peacefully co-exist! (Sunbeams have that effect on them sometimes.)

Origami baboon and elephant! Only two of the amazing creations at the wonderful welcome party that the folks at Berkeley Friends Church had for us on Sunday.

Cats that can read - upside down, even! This is Baby, one of my sister Mary Cam's cats in Austin, Texas.

Great shots at Thanksgiving - good work, Bri! My dad is on the left, my sister on the right, Cam's dog Sophie in my lap, and her boys Burke and Ash behind the couch.

Afterthoughts

2008-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Finally finished listing all my expenses for reimbursement by Columbia College Chicago - spent considerably less than last year (a big chunk of that was using Skype exclusively for telecommunications). Have been sleeping a lot, but haven't had any of that waking up after a few hours and not being able to go back to sleep that plagued me last year upon return. Am working on my pictures and hope to get them all up on Flickr much mroe quickly than last year. Before that, though, I have to prepare my presentation for Columbia College, so that's my next priority.

I'd like to put up some pictures that I really like but that didn't fit in previously. Here are a few from week 1...

Street scene ini Bangkok.

Vendors outside the temple near our hotel. The stacks of yellow and purple things are garlands of flowers.

Singapore by day.

Singapore by night.

The fried rice from the restaurant of the Kuala Lumpur Hilton hotel (the pink things are salmon chips, and they were better than I thought they'd be).

The chocolate ferris wheel in the KL airport. Each car has the brand name of a different chocolate on it. Mmmmm..... chocolate.

More to come!

California Here I Come!

2008-10-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely final morning in Tokyo before I had to be on the 11:45 bus to the airport.

Started with breakfast at the Palace Hotel...

...then went for a stroll at the Imperial Palace Gardens...

...with my friend Rosemary from Calvin College...

...after which we went to the lounge on the top floor of the hotel...

...where I had an $8 ginger ale.

Arrived in San Francisco approximately three hours before I left Tokyo, thanks to the International Dateline. Very glad to be back at home with Brian and Violet and Mort. Will post some more favorite pics that haven't made it onto the blog yet in the next few days. My thanks to everyone for their comments and support!

Allonsiy!

2008-10-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had our last IIE fair (four hours of soul-crushing boredom), our last school visit (my table was mobbed after one kid who wants to play drums in a jazz band talked to me for a while, then brought all his friends over), and our farewell dinner (we almost got away without any karaoke but failed in the end to restrain ourselves and most assuredly shamed our entire nation). I've been to the Meiji Temple (see below) and have made a date with Rosemary for breakfast tomorrow and a stroll through the Imperial Gardens across the street from our hotel. If all goes according to plan, I have only to board one more bus and two more planes to get home. I've had a great time this year, but am really looking forward to being home.

Some highlights from the past few days:

Sunset at the Beijing Airport.

Mt. Fuji from the plane window.

Favorite building in Harajuku.

Favorite business name in Harajuku.

There was a huge antique market outside the venue of our last IIE fair, causing many of us to stampede the only cash station within several blocks (the vendors did not take credit cards).

My apologies for the fuzzy picture, but the item on the left was called "Barbarian Pumpkin Scone." At least one other person in our group got a better picture than me, I'll try to get it. I did purchase and eat the Barbarian Pumpkin Scone. It was somewhat pumpkiny but not at all barbarous.

Visited the Meiji temple with Emily, Jennifer, Monica, Joan, and Jason on a beautiful fall morning. Am ashamed to report that we stopped at Starbucks both before and after we were there.

Emily, Joe, Jason, and Erick having way too much fun at our farewell dinner at Fujimama's (great food and open bar, it's a wonder we ever left).

Winding Down in Tokyo

2008-10-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Seoul came and went pretty quickly this time, which is a shame since I really like the city. Managed to get to Dunkin' Donuts the morning we left. We had a gathering in the hotel lounge one of the nights in Seoul to help Aaron celebrate his birthday (he travels a lot for his school, and spends his birthday every year now on the Linden fall tour in Asia).

Beijing was very interesting and, according to those in the know, we continued to reap the benefits of the 2008 Olympic games in the improved air quality. There has to be some upside to see those little gymnast girls being replayed on every screen in town.

Took a taxi to Tian 'anmen on our last day in Beijing with my tour buddy, Jeff. Or, at least, we thought we were going there. Taxi driver dropped us off in front of the Palace Museum, where you have to pay the equivalent of about $6 to go into the Forbidden City. No, it's not a lot of money, but just on general principal we decided we would walk to the Square. After much comical consulting of Chinese maps and a seemingly endless trek down a rather dodgy side street, we reached out destination. Peteena insisted on posing with the Mao portrait (knew I shouldn't have brought her!).

Pictures below, first of Seoul and then Beijing.

The plane from Beijing to Seoul featured video from a camera mounted under the plane. The white curved line at the left of the monitor is runway lights. Seeing the plane land in real time and images is not as reassuring as it might seem.

Even the school toilets in the girls washrooms in Seoul come complete with bidet.

Homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey, shot in the walkway between wings of the Lotte Hotel Seoul.

No, it's not the Swine store, it's the S. Wine store in Seoul.

My favorite buildings in Beijing.

Jeff and I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment after finally reaching Tian 'anmen Square.

Erick relaxes with a beer while Aaron listens to us entreating him to cut the cake...

...which we made short work of.

Me with my amazing interpreter, Tony, at the IIE fair in Beijing.

Arrived in Tokyo last night. The schedule is starting to lighten up - we have an IIE fair today (a much more polite affair here than those in China!) and a school fair tomorrow. Scheduled to leave Tokyo on Tuesday around 5pm. Should arrive in San Francisco around 1pm on Tuesday, some four hours before I even left Tokyo. Amazing! Will try to get up one more post before we leave, we get free broadband internet here at the Palace Hotel.

We Meet A Local Deity

2008-10-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

We have seen many amazing things on this trip, and met some interesting people. None seems to be as revered as the gentleman pictured with us here. Throngs of people came to pay homage to him, and many gazed upon our person with reverence as well. While we respect the local deities, we find the attire very common and uninspired.

Countdown

2008-10-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

I've reached the point where I've begun counting down everything - how many days, how many cities, how many planes, how many schools (6, 2, 4 and 4 (plus two more big fairs)).

We were in and out of Shanghai pretty quickly. In fact, it felt like we spent more time at the airport than in the city. We got there early for our flight out to Beijing yesterday and had some time to kill (FYI: the airports in socialist/communist countries are not the ones you want to have significant down time in). Then, our plane had a mechanical problem and they changed planes and gates on us, necessitating a LONG walk through the airport (they list well over 200 gates at the Shanghai Pudong Airport), followed by a one-hour delay and jam-packed bus rides to the plane.

Made it to our hotel fairly late, but it is a nice one; much nicer than either of the hotels I've stayed at in Shanghai. But then, if you name your hotel "Shangri La" I guess it had better deliver the goods. My room is huge, but unfortunately a smoking room.

Have not been to Beijing before, and so was quite interested to get a look at it on the bus to International School Beijing this morning. At one point we passed the Olympic Bird's Nest and Swimming cube - much snapping of photos, mine are below.

I'll start with a few (or is that several?) photos from Shanghai and move on to Beijing:

It's not every hotel room where you find your very own, easily accessible, cabinet full of electrical wiring (this in the Hua Ting Hotel and Towers in Shanghai).

Took a nice walk our first day in Shanghai, starting at the hotel and heading toward Shanghai Stadium. Don't even ask me what this guy's about.

The infamous Shangai Institute of International Education Fair.

My favorite shop in the Shanghai Pudong Airport.

Inside the fabulous Shangri-La Hotel Beijing.

Outside the fabulous Shangri-La Hotel Beijing.

We had a nice lunch in a Chinese restaurant near our first school visit today.

The Swimming Cube from the Beijing Olympics (can anyone tell me how to rotate a picture after I've uuploaded it to the blog? I'm too lazy to re-do it.)

A fleeting glimpse of the Bird's Nest.

I must say, they're really milking the Olympics in China. I've seen endless replays in the airports, on outdoor advertising marquees, even in hotel elevators.

Tomorrow, on to Seoul!

Shakin' It In Shanghai

2008-10-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

I managed to survive the Shanghai Institute of International Education Fair for a second time - it's probably as close as I'll ever get to the trading floor at the stock market. Or and insane asylum (keeping my fingers crossed on that one). People mob every table, regardless of what school it is, and take everything that isn't nailed down (including my bottle of water!). They elbow each other aside and talk over each other and don't seem to be phased at all when they find out that my school doesn't have an MBA, engineering program, math major, or whatever else they're looking for. They still want to know what our minimum GPA and TOEFL requirements are.

Had a spot of stomach trouble after we left Hong Kong. It was short lived and I'm doing fine now, but I don't have many pictures from Shanghai. Off to Beijing this afternoon (the one city on this tour I haven't been to before). Here are a few pics from our stay in HK:

We chow down at the cafe in the mall below our hotel.

Visited Stanley Market (where I managed not to buy alot of cheap crap).

We gather in the lobby for VERY early morning departure for school visits (don't we look perky?).

Stav and Phi Phi try on sunglasses at the Night Market (yes, there's Stanley Market, a day market, a night market, a weekend market, and probably more in Hong Kong).

We Wait

2008-10-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings to our Legions of Fans. We know our beloved Legions are concerned for our welfare.

After many months at leisure, we are traveling again. Many hours in darkness, followed by sequestration in various hotels (admittedly fine ones, but prisons nonetheless). We presume these are safety precautions to protect us from our enemies, though how any could not adore us we cannot fathom. Briefly we returned to the land of our great glory, but were cruelly whisked away again. Rumors of unrest; alas, they are not ready for our return.

Morty, Goodwill Ambassador Par Excellence

2008-10-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Walking the dog makes meeting people in our neighborhood much easier. Just this week I've met two families who live on our block, both with kids--the kids are usually interested in Mort, and the moms think he's cute (or at least say he is), and he's his easygoing self, happy to sniff them and be petted or (gently) tugged around. One of the families lives in the house to the north of us, and the other just bought the house that was for sale several doors down.

But Mort's most effective act of good neighboring has been winning over the woman who lives across the street. This is an older woman who is always concerned about where people park. She has (loudly and publicly) expressed her displeasure at our parking in the street rather than in our driveway because it takes up space that folks without driveways could use.

There are a whole bunch of reasons we don't park in our driveway, beginning with the impracticality of shuffling around three cars and a truck belonging to two households, etc., etc. I had been meaning to talk with her at some point, and offer to move our car into our driveway temporarily if she had family or friends visiting her who couldn't find a place to park. In keeping with my conflict-avoidant nature, however, I hadn't quite gotten around to approaching her, afraid that she wouldn't be mollified by this offer, and we'd end up further at odds.

... but it turns out she loves our dog. She called out to Mort & I as we were returning from an afternoon walk earlier this week--actually, what she said was, "I love your puppy." So we had to go across the street and say hello. She couldn't get enough of Mort, just kept petting and praising him, and was perfectly civil to me. Neither she nor I said anything about the whole parking thing. To tell the truth, I wasn't completely sure this was the same woman, because she was much more pleasant.

Then today she was out and greeted us again as we were on the home stretch, so we went over and she invited us into her yard. We hung out for ten or fifteen minutes, she alternately loving on Mort and talking to me. He, of course, made himself right at home on her porch. We eventually got around to talking about the parking issue. Turns out she can no longer drive, but used to have a handicapped designation on the space in front of her house. She likes to have her children park there when they come to visit. I did offer to move our car whenever her people need space, but she said that wouldn't be necessary... I think she just has some frustration about the neighborhood in general (parking, people don't pick up their trash, etc.), but when your neighbors have a pug, how frustrated can you be, really?

So here's a short video in celebration of Mort's natural diplomatic skills. OK, it has nothing to do with that, really, but here's a new Morty video anyway, with a brief cameo from Violet. Sorry it's so underexposed:

Now if only we could convince him that it doesn't behoove a good diplomat to bark at everyone who goes by the side windows...

Odds and Ends

2008-10-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a little down time in Hong Kong. We don't have any full days off this trip, but Friday and Saturday are pretty light. We have an IIE fair (Institute of International Education) in the hotel across the street Saturday, but it's over at 4pm and then we have an evening to ourselves. Sunday we check out at noon and head to Shanghai.

Here are some of my favorite pictures that I haven't posted yet.

Melissa entertains us while we wait for a school fair to start.

A banner with the school motto at Overseas Family School in Singapore

Godlove (or, as we call him, G-Love) poses with the scary DHL mascots at the IIE fair in Bangkok.

Passing through clouds on the plane to Ho Chi Minh City.

Elections were drawing near in Bangkok, and there were candidate posters everywhere. Each candidate had a number that had to be listed on their poster. This guy had TONS of posters - he always looked pissed, and usually had the binoculars.

And here are a few new pictures from our brief stop in Kuala Lumpur:

Passing by a huge shopping complex on the bus.

WOW (also shot from the bus).

Lots of people get in each other's way at the reception desk of the JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur.

The younger kids at Mont Kiara School in KL were into some serious jumprope. At one point they had five kids in, and managed to keep that up for half a dozen jumps.

And lastly, while there is little opportunity to go birding on this trip, I have managed to identify a couple of the birds I saw hanging around the pool in HK, like the Spotted Dove:

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/green/birds/en/bird_1.html,

the Chinese Bulbul: http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/green/birds/en/bird_7.html,

and the Black Kite: http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/green/birds/en/bird_2.html

Ga Ran Kentucky

2008-10-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

Alternate title: Milling about in District 7.

We had a very full day today - two school visits, then a four-hour fair in a hotel not too far (but not really close) to our hotel. We arrived early at the second school visit, which was in District 7, Saigon South (the school was the Saigon South International School) and were kicked off the bus but unable to enter the school. Security is VERY tight in these places where the families have lots of money -- my interpreter at the IIE fair later that day told me that Saigon South is the richest part of the whole city, and it looks like it.

So we wandered down the street, 25 Americans looking for someplace to get out of the oppressive heat. A few of us split off from the main group and wound up what was hands-down the coolest place to be: the local KFC, called here "Ga Ran Kentucky." I opted for a Diet Pepsi (called Pepsi Light in Asian, as Diet Coke is called Coke Light) in a can as I did have some gastro-intestinal upset here last year).

You know you're in the rich part of town when you start seeing dogs as pets, and the really rich part of town when you see a dog-grooming shop.

Others from our group went to the Viking Family Restaurant (whether that's a Viking restaurant for families or a family restaurant for Vikings wasn't entirely clear).

What was clear is that there were many meaty treats to be had at the Viking Family Restaurant.

This is our tour guide for Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh. He was a great guy, very knowledgeable and articulate. He even invited us our for beers with him and his friends (I don't know if anyone from our group took him up on it).

Obligatory shot of the jaw-dropping traffic in HCMH.

Obligatory shot of a traditional street vendor, this one selling grapes.

Obligatory shot of the truly terrifying phenomenon that is electrical and telephone wiring in HCMC. The amazing thing here is that there's actually a guy up there working in the tangle of cables. How they know what goes where and how you find someone who's actually willing to go up there and touch any of it is beyond me.

We left our hotel at 7am, took an interminable bus ride to the airport, landed in Kuala Lumpur around 1pm and headed directly to the University Fair at our hotel via another interminable bus ride. Got into my room around 8:30pm and have to check out tomorrow morning at 7:30am. We have a full day of school visits tomorrow and then fly to Hong Kong in the evening. Scheduled to arrive at our hotel in HK around midnight, then off on the bus to school visits at 6:30 am the following day. As you might imagine, we're not exactly happy campers right now, but everyone seems to be hanging in there, and this is the toughest week in terms of our schedule. Have an afternoon off on Friday in HK, hope to go to the Stanley Market (didn't make it there last year). Will post when I can!

Downpour in Singapore

2008-10-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

Arrived at our hotel in Singapore (the Hilton this time, not the Pan Pacific where we stayed last year, though the rooms look eerily similar) shortly after 11pm and got to the hotel around midnight. When you're traveling with 30 or so people, even the simplest things are a big production, so I didn't actually get into my room until close to 1am. Fortunately, today's university fair was in our hotel, because it poured rain for most of the day. Managed to get out earlier this evening, however - the rain had ended and the sun was out.

Here's a shot from the lobby of the Hilton Singapore.

Singapore loves to shop, even as much as Tokyo (if that's possible). Michigan Avenue in Chicago on the the day after Thanksgiving has nothing on Orchard Street in Singapore on a random afternoon. I just turned right from the hotel and went with the flow. Contrary to popular myth in the US, people do jaywalk in Singapore, and they don't get thrown into prison for it.

On the street outside our hotel.

Found the Toast Box in one of the many malls near the hotel - cue more insane jealousy from Brian.

There's a DQ/Orange Julius nearby. If anyone connected with the Richmond Art Museum is keeping up with the blog, tell Barry Johnston I had Mocha Waffle Chip Blizzard in Singapore today.

You all know I can't resist a bakery window full of fanciful cakes!

There's a Fernando Botero sculpture across the street from the DQ, in which I seemed to be the only person who was remotely interested.

There's also a "McCafe" - has anyone seen these in the US yet? It's basically an open-air McDonald's, you order at the counter and dine al fresco outside the mega-shopping complex.

A full day of school visits tomorrow, then off to Ho Chi Minh City!

Cabbages and Condoms

2008-10-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a great picture of the pool at the Four Seasons Bangkok, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it's the cleanest pool in the world (or at least the cleanest pool I've ever had a swim in).

This is where you take your pre-swim shower. The water comes out of the top of the rock formation in the center of the wall.

Went to the Linden Fall 2008 Asia Tour official welcome dinner Thursday night (which was Thursday morning for you in the States) at an interesting little place called, "Cabbages and Condoms," a colorful open-air restaurant serving yummy Thai food and donating a portion of their profits to AIDS research and prevention. They really work the theme, with mannequins dressed in outfits festooned with condoms and multitudes of AIDS-themed posters on the walls.

Jayson eats a whole sea bass, while Matt and Jason (left to right) look on.

This morning we did our first school visits, heading out to International School Bangkok on the bus. Heavy rains the night before left deep water on the streets, which didn't seem to phase anybody.

This is the courtyard at ISB (not flooded, though it kind of looks that way, just a pond).

After we got back to the hotel I went for a walk, and came across this shrine on the sidewalk just as it was getting dark. It was a very busy place on a Friday evening.

Ronald McDonald gives passersby the traditional Thai greeting.

This is my favorite shot of the trip so far, an image I got by accident when Monika walked in front of the shot I was taking as we entered Cabbages and Condoms.

Tomorrow we have our first big IIE Fair (Institute of International Education), after which we head straight to the airport and fly to Singapore.

I Love Thailand! (This Time)

2008-10-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Bangkok around 11pm Oct. 1, after a long but blessedly uneventful flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong (and a shorter one from HK to Bangkok). Was fortunate enough to have a colleague (Aimee Thompson from Rider University) on my 2nd flight, and she had booked car service to the hotel and let me tag along.

Some of you may recall that I didn't have the greatest time in Bangkok last year. After three nights in Singapore, two nights in Kuala Lumpur and then one in Chiang Mai, Thailand, by the time we hit Bangkok we were pretty wiped out, so I definitely wasn't at my best here last year. Feeling OK so far this year (actually slept for a few hours last night). Had a fine breakfast here at the Four Seasons Bangkok, and ran into some colleagues already. It's funny how quickly you bond with people on an expedition like this. I don't make friends terribly easily, and we only traveled together for less than four weeks last year, but it's hugs all around when we see each other again. We're all in the same boat and we're all trying to do our jobs, and we support each other unreservedly during the time we're together.

Have a 2PM meeting this afternoon, basically an orientation for the tour by the Linden Tour folks, then we all go out to dinner together before the real work starts tomorrow. Perhaps its all the eating and drinking together and makes us such great friends in so short a time (you think?).
Here are some pics of the trip so far:

Not only do they have an aviation museum in the San Francisco airport, but they had an exhibition up on the art of airline route maps (cue insane jealousy from Brian).

Flight attendants from Singapore Airlines go through security (their line was MUCH shorter than the one I was in!).

Had the row to myself on the overseas flight, so Peteena could have her own seat. She is totally psyched about her new outfit for this trip.

At the breakfast buffet I ran into lots of old friends, including Patricia and Kristina.

This is just the fruit table at the Four Seasons breakfast buffet. This year I even found the omelette station, which I never managed to locate last year.

Coming soon: Poolside at the Four Seasons Bangkok!

Ready, Set, Go!

2008-09-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Very busy with last minute stuff before I leave for Asia tomorrow. A couple of people have expressed surprise that I wanted to do the trip again, considering what a tough time I had last year. All I can say is that I thought about it quite a bit, and saw a lot of things that I could do differently and better, and I really wanted to do it again to see if I actually could do that. I feel like I barely scratched the surface last year, and wanted the chance to visit the amazing places I visited last year again and see if I could push myself and get out more and get more out of the trip. Plus, I'm unemployed, and can use the money!

Next post will be from Bangkok. In the meantime, here are some pics from a few of the cool things we managed to squeeze in over the last few days:

Took Morty to the off-leash dog area at Point Isabel (man, it's BIG!). It was a beautiful, clear day and there were tons of people and dogs of all sorts there. In the pic at right, Morty gets himself into a three-way.

Three German Shepherd-type dogs, apparently on a time-out.

Peace activist Kathy Kelly spoke at Berkeley Friends Meeting Friday night, she was amazing. Even the poet who opened for her was good (hope I'm getting soft in my old age!).

Hala the neighbor-cat kept coming into the meeting house, and we kept escorting her out. She's very friendly, and wears a tag on her collar that says, "Not all those who wander are lost."

I've completed my volunteer training to be a dog-walking at Berkeley Animal Care Services, and spent some time the other day with Embry, the lab-mix puppy. He was adorable, and just wanted to lay in my lap.

Figmania!

2008-09-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

They are everywhere. Black ones, purple ones, gold ones, green ones. There are over a dozen varieties in places like the Berkeley Bowl and the Monterrey Market. There are hundreds in the tree outside our house right now, and there are critters that use our roof as a platform from which to feast on them at night. Must be the season of the fig!

Took the Trans Bay Bus to San Francisco the other day to go to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

SFMOMA had lots of cool stuff, including yet another dose of contemporary Chinese art (man, those guys and gals are HOT right now!).

They also had a Frida Kahlo exhibit, which people lined up to get into. I'm not a huge fan, so I went to the photography gallery instead.

Getting ready to go on the Linden Asia Fall 2008 recruiting tour for Columbia College again, leaving on Tuesday. This year's itinerary has us in 9 cities in 21 days: Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo. Stay tuned!

A Guy's Walking Down the Street With 3 Goats...

2008-09-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

... and that's not the set-up to a joke, that's just life in Berkeley. It was about 9 p.m., so I couldn't get a picture with just the Treo phone, but Brian and I recently saw a guy walking down San Pablo (a pretty busy arterial street that runs north-south in west Berkeley) with three goats on a leash.

And then, about a week later, our neighbor in the back brought home a vending machine full of Clif Bars! I did not manage to get a picture until she had nearly emptied it and now it is covered with plastic and looks very forlorn. So, everyone, take heed - if a couple of guys walk by your window with a vending machine full of Clif Bars on a dolly and drop it in your yard, don't wait, get that photo right away!

Here's the best part - it takes credit cards!

In other news:

The neighbors' cat perches on the gate to our yard like he owns the place.

Another sight you could only see in Berkeley.

Morty gets some water at the Tofu-Yu Deli after a long walk on a warm day yesterday.

Cormorants sunning themselves at the Aqautic Park, as seen on the aforementioned long walk.

When Vegetables Go Bad

2008-09-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Who knew that if you left an artichoke on the stalk, this would happen?

It grew a big purple flower, for fuck's sake!

And, to Julie and the rest of our ESR friends, fear not about the distinct lack of books on the shelves in Brian's new office. He has been hard at work filling up those shelves (and getting books out of our rather cramped house). Will post another pic once he's done.

Alternate title for this post: "Cuidado! Hippies!" We ate with friends at Cafe Gratitude a couple of weeks ago, where every table has a board game that you can't win and every day has a question (that day's was: "What are you a YES to?" to which I replied "Global Domination!" They assumed I was joking). Cafe Gratitude somehow manages to be irritatingly hippie and annoyingly touristy at the same time. Quite Berkeley.

Brian on the tree swing at the park on Albany Hill, where we had a nice hike last weekend.

Morty on guard in the kitchen. Hey, even though you're constantly alert and ready for action, it's nice to have a something soft to lie on.

Violet demonstrates her Patented Pose of Ultimate Relaxation.

Mid-Week Getaway

2008-09-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Brian and I were very fortunate to have his father, Eric, and brother, Thayer, invite us to visit them last week while they were visiting Eric's sister in Elko, Nevada. They rented a dog-friendly condo near Lake Tahoe and we joined them for some fine food, hiking, and conversation. Brian's mother was able to join us for the final night, on which we watched a VHS copy of "The Terror," one of those crazy Corman films with an awesome pedigree - starring Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff, assistant director Frances Coppola (no "Ford" in his name back then) and cinematography by Monte Hellman (who would go on to direct "Two Lane Blacktop" in a few more years).

Morty very intrepid on the hikes, though we did have to resort to pug portage and hoist him over a few boulders. A very beautiful area (even if I am, apparently, allergic to it). I fear my Treo camera does not do it justice, but here are a few pics:

The drive up was very hot, but Morty still couldn't resist the lure of the window.

The condo was very comfortable and cute, even though it had a large, scary chair featuring what looked like buffalo hide in the living room. Brian's mom, Pam, sat in it - she's much braver than I am.

Half of the houses seemed to be under construction, the other half for sale or even abandoned.

The Young family men contemplate nature.

Morty sits and pants while we have lunch.

Lake Tahoe had the biggest pine cones I've ever seen!

Spectacular scenery everywhere we went.

Weary hikers stop for ice cream.

More Stuff: Good or Bad? Debate!

2008-08-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, our stuff has finally arrived. And while it's nice to have a bed to sleep in (actually, it's beyond nice, it's just about the greatest thing ever), it's discouraging to see how much stuff we have. Yes, I have lots of clothes to wear now, and more than one saucepan and one skillet in my kitchen, but we also have a box of MST3K VHS tapes that we never opened after we moved from Chicago (we have many - I'd say several or even quite a few, but that doesn't do it justice - boxes that we never opened after we moved from Chicago). I guess the first step towards getting help is admitting that you have a problem.

Can't be too depressed, though, when the weather is glorious, the produce is fantastic, fresh, and local, and the Westside Bakery and Cafe (from whence I blog) is kicking out jams like Curtis Mayfield's "Pusher Man" (from the soundtrack of what film? Superfly, of course!) on a Tuesday morning.

Recent photos:

Got lost coming home from downtown Oakland the other day (that's where the nearest branch of our bank is) and wound up WAY up in the hills!

Brian and I wait for the bus around the corner from our house.

Brian's new office at Berkeley Friends Church.

Super amazing topiary house in our neighborhood.

Mystery fruit in our front yard. They're about the size of eggs, and get very orange when ripe. Persimmons is my best guess right now.

Took a walk at the Aquatic Park, a few blocks from our house, over the weekend. Hard to see in this photo, but the background are I-80 and beyond that you can see San Francisco.

Close up of one of the frisbee golf stations in the park. Brian not as excited about this as I thought he'd be, but I hope he gets over there and plays soon.

Home, Strange Home

2008-08-19T10:04:00.001-07:00

Doing my best to settle in to my new home and city. All very strange. There are big hills in the distance, and I don't know what most of the plants are. And there are plants everywhere. Quite a riotous display of vegetation everywhere one goes.

Berkeley seems like a nice city with lots of cool things to do and great places to eat. Have several great restaurants within walking distance of our house. Can't wait to show family and friends around when we have visitors!

Will be much happier, though, when our furniture arrives. Moving company now says August 24 (original estimate was August 19-21, but what's their hurry - it's not them sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags). Coping with the delay as best we can, though we're both getting a bit cranky. The pets seem happy, though - especially Morty, who thinks it's great that we all sleep on the floor together. That's the way it should be, right?

There's a drawer in the kitchen just for energy bars! Is this a city ordinance?

There are artichokes growing on our back deck. Neither of us are huge fans, but we ate one last night nonetheless. Food doesn't get any more local than this! We also have a huge fig tree in our yard, with actual figs. And our neighbors have a pear tree.

Morty waits for us to come to bed, so he can lay right next to my sleeping bag and keep the communists at bay (much tougher here than in Indiana!).

Violet loves sleeping in a sleeping bag.

Went to the East Bay park the other day - quite the spot for kite flying.

Finally figured out at least one plant we were seeing - anise. I had never seen licorice in its feral state before, very interesting.

2,470 miles

2008-08-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

Made it to Berkeley around 5pm yesterday (Pacific time -that's going to take some getting used to!). Brian very happy to see us, and we very happy to reach our destination. All things considered, we had a pretty good trip. Yes, it was a long, exhausting drive, but we had lots of fun and no major problems along the way. My eternal gratitude to Shelly, World's Greatest Sister, for coming along with me - I don't know if Morty and I would have made it without her!

Here are some pics of the last two legs of the journey (no internet access Thursday night, so we were unable to post from Elko, where we spent the night with Brian's Aunt Sid and Uncle Bruce).

Parts of Wyoming very beautiful....

... others not so much.

The Bonneville Salt Flats (very miserable stretch, Shelly did great).

Welcome to the East Bay!

Morty meets the new neighbors....

... who came bearing gifts!

Brian gives us the low-down on Berkeley.

Who, us? Tired? No way, we could have gone another 2,000 miles easy!

Stay tuned for: "Bri 'N' Steph's New Neighborhood", and "Will All Our Worldly Belongings Ever Arrive?"

To the Peanut Gallery

2008-08-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

Communist Bear was a gift for Shelly, purchased on the Asia Fall 2007 trip. He has now been named Mao Tse Ted. And, yes, we let the dog get on the bed during this trip. As Shelly put it, we had to throw him a bone! On a trip like this, all bets are off, and everyone deserves special treatment.

We ARE the new Road Warriors!

The New, Improved, Laramie Project?

2008-08-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

Made it to Laramie, Wyoming, today. Checked into the Days Inn (pet friendly, if over-priced) and then had a nice dinner at the Altitude Brew Pug -- I mean Brew Pub. Mort now settled enough that we could leave him in the car (don't worry - we parked in the shade and it was a cool evening) without high-pitched keening ensuing.

Tomorrow we hope to make Elko, Nevada, where we'll spend the night with Brian's aunt Sid. After that, it's only 500 miles to Berkeley!

Recent Photos:

Passed several wind farms in Kansas and Colorado (also many sunflower farms, which were really hard to get a good shot of from a moving car).

Some threatening clouds, but only a few sprinkles on us.

The road to Laramie.

The Lincoln Monument, also on the road to Laramie.

Mort, not happy but being a very good boy!

Four States in One Day!

2008-08-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

We drove about 650 miles today, and made it from Plainfield, Indiana to Salina, Kansas. We were going to stop in Junction City but they SUCKED so we went on to Salina. Nicer Days Inn (slightly) than last night in Plainfield -- no holes in the floor, but the beds are higher and Morty can't make it up on his own (poor baby!).

Morty lolls in the back seat.

The Strait sisters in their motel room in Salina, Kansas.

Peteena and the Communist Bear from the Hong Kong airport giftshop.

A few of the really cute things Shelly brought, two of which she made herself!

I'm Outta Here!

2008-08-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

Survived moving day. Barely. Two hours waiting for movers to arrive, four hours waiting for movers to move, four hours cleaning, hour and a half to Indy, an hour waiting for Shelly's plane to arrive from Austin. Made it to Salina, Kansas on this, our first full day of driving. Morty VERY good in the car, not so much whenever I'm out of his sight. High-pitched keening ensues. Glad to have Shelly along!

View of the moving procedures from inside the front door.

Mort waits for me to get done cleaning.

Parting Shots

2008-08-10T08:40:00.001-07:00

I'm actually somewhat surprised at how nostalgic I'm getting about leaving Richmond. Will miss the ample parking, lack of traffic, and generally friendly folks. Will definitely miss my neighborhood, where I know everybody and talk to them all the time. Will also miss, in no particular order: Blue Jays, Carolina Wrens, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees, Red Squirrels (though I don't really know yet what color the squirrels are in California), the ground hog that hangs out on our back porch, Fiditch the Golden Retriever who lives down the street (yes, he's named after the Scotch), Frank the pug who lives up the street (yes, he's named after the pug in Men in Black), and Cuddles, the mutt two houses down who barks her head off at everything.

Here are a few odds and ends from the last few days:

Baby animal rescue fun never stops at HELP the Animals. These are baby possums in a cat carrier.

Mort is never too upset, as long as there's still a patch of sun to lie in.

It's astonishing how much stuff we have. This is only one section of one room - we have boxes EVERYWHERE.

Regardless of the chaos that surrounds her, Peteena reigns supreme.

Bye, Bri!

2008-08-08T05:24:00.000-07:00

Saw Brian off to Berkeley on Wednesday. For those of you who don't know, we're moving to California! Movers coming Monday, then Shelly flies up from Austin to ride out with us and share the driving.

Bri's last meal in Richmond was, of course, Tim Horton's! That's Violet in her carrier in the foreground, ready to go on an airplane for the first time.

Timmeh's comes through with the veggie sandwich - yea! You gotta ask for it, though, it's not on the menu.

Self portrait, eating Tim Horton's outside the abandoned ice cream parlor across the street (only problem at Timmeh's - no outdoor dining!)

Summer Not In the City

2008-06-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in a meeting not long ago, waiting for a couple of other people to show up, making chitchat with my friends at WCTV. One of them said that he couldn't wait to "...move out of the city...". I said, "Wait, what city, are we in the city? What city are we in?" They looked at me like I was crazy.

Anyway, recent developments in Richmond and environs...

The groundhog who either lives under, or really likes to hang out by, our side porch. Name contest underway (for the dog, not the porch!) make a comment to leave your suggestion.

The fabulous chocolatier Ghyslain from Union City (yes, Indiana) has opened a new restaurant in Richmond (whooo-hooo!)

As if the fantastic chocolate weren't enough, check out the wallpaper in the bathroom...

The moon, and the very last rays of the day's light, seen from outside Matt and Heidi Hisrich's house on Abbington Pike (better photo than I thought I'd get of this on the Treo, actually).

Travelled to McNabb, Illinois earlier this week to hear Brian speak at Illinois Yearly Meeting. Very beautiful and bucolic location, very friendly and welcoming people. This is the view from the side door of the meeting house.

Brian gives the keynote address, on "Whose Ministry of Reconciliation?" It was an incredible evening, filled with conversation, contemplation, and prayer. Had to come right back to Richmond to work this weekend, unfortunately, but looking forward to having Brian back home tomorrow.

The Fateful Mile

2008-05-27T17:46:00.001-07:00

Seems like it's been a long time since we had a weekend without either one of us traveling. It was nice to for Brian and I to spend some time together with no place we had to be or people we had to meet with.

Went to the Farmer's Market in Oxford, Ohio, on Saturday; passed a momentous mileage number on the way.

Morty was very excited to go along with us

It was a beautiful sunny day in downtown Oxford

Later that day, at HELP The Animals, baby wildlife rescue season continues (don't worry, they'll be released out into the wild when they're old enough)

East Bay State of Mind

2008-05-21T18:21:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful whirlwind weekend visiting Berkeley Friends Church recently. Great people, great food, great cities to visit, great places to bird. Here are some highlights:

Birding near San Francisco Airport

Self-portrait with camera movement

Egret photographed from moving car on I-80

Looking up while standing in the entryway of Bette's Diner in Berkeley

Looking down while standing in the entryway of Bette's Diner in Berkeley

The lemon tree outside the home of our hosts, Cornelia and Giuseppe - you can't tell from the picture, but they were the biggest lemons I've ever seen

Sally and Joe's cat, Junior

Having a smoothie at the Sea Breeze

On the San Matteo Bridge

Crossing the Rocky Mountains on our way home

Serendipity at the Denver Airport

Last Weekend at Marienbad

2008-05-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Another fun weekend in Chicago. Ate like a pig, did a little shopping, and saw a new print of Last Year at Marienbad at the Music Box. Here are some pics...

The view from Jason and Michael's balcony, looking north up Lake Shore Drive

There's a DQ on Southport Avenue?!!??!?

Gas was really, really, really high at the BP on Clark and LaSalle

Tourist guy I saw while riding the bus down to Union Station

Crossing the river on aforementioned bus

Weekend activities

2008-05-12T09:17:00.001-07:00

Here's Mort on sunny Saturday afternoon, watching me trim the hedges, trying to stay awake...

Originally uploaded by splaestro

And here he is this morning at Cope, after a long, rather muddy walk.

Originally uploaded by splaestro

Very proud of his accomplishments...

Originally uploaded by splaestro

Birding highlights included:

A nice long look at a Veery;

A few fleeting glimpses of a Scarlet Tanager;

First-of-year observations of Common Yellowthroat & Eastern Kingbird;

White-eyed Vireo (a lifer!)

Had two looks at the vireo, the first one quite close and several minutes long. Unmistakable gray-colored eye and yellow forehead markings. Something about the shape didn't say vireo, however, so it took me a long while to find it in Sibley's. Its song is somewhat catbird-like, in that it has a mewing note in the middle, but it's much more regular than a catbird's.

Springtime in Indiana

2008-05-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

Baby Screech Owls arrive at the animal shelter...

All the purty flowders are blooming...

The new Tim Horton's breaks ground (YEA!)

Morty looks longingly out the window.

Saturday in Cincinnati

2008-04-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed to admit that we've been here two and a half years and never driven the 50 miles to Cincinnati. Quite a nice city, actually. Brian and I had a lovely day there on Saturday, starting at the legendary Jungle Jim's. They don't allow photography inside, but we managed to sneak a few pics. (If you don't know about the shopping extravaganza that is Jungle Jim's., go to www.junglejims.com.) Being out for the day, we couldn't buy any frozen goods or perishables, and still somehow managed to spend nearly $100. No one needs four million different kinds of tea (or hot sauce - see below), but it sure is fun to look at them all.

Then we went for a hike and some birding at Winton Woods (lots of Blue Gray Gnatcatchers and Blue Winged Teals, among others). Met our friend Patrick and went out to dinner with him and his daughter, Emma - yummy Indian food! Their dog, Eloise, was quite enamored of me. (OK, I was quite enamored of her.)

The hot sauce aisle at Jungle Jim's.

Springtime at Winton Woods.

Brian checks out the bat box at Winton Woods.

Eloise wants to sit on my lap.

Eloise sits on my lap.

More Travel Adventures

2008-04-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Had a really fun weekend in Denver with Shelly (my sister, in case you don't know). We met up there for a (relatively) cheap weekend getaway. The hotel I picked wasn't quite as close to all the fabulous shopping action at Cherry Creek as I thought, but then that's probably why it was under $100 a night. Nice hotel, though. Desk staff very blond and did their best to be helpful. Cranky old Greek man running the breakfast buffet. Nice view, Mongolian BarBQ and Barnes & Noble a few blocks away, Cherry Creek proper less than a mile away with a nice hike-bike trail taking you there, what more could we ask for?

Added plus, a quite hoppin' pub called the "Bull and Bush" nearby, where we had fish & chips and microbrews and watched the Kansas/North Carolina game (at least I think that's who was playing). Very animated crowd, one woman had to have her infant daughter taken away from her by a concerned friend.

On Sunday, we went to the new REI store. It's in a restored vintage building that used to be a train station. It's HUGE, and packed with tons of stuff, and has a park, hike/trails, a bike testing course and a kayaking practice area on the grounds. It's situated right at the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, and they really make the most of it. It didn't hurt that the day we were there was a glorious spring day, sunny and temps in the 60's, and everyone out on their bike or with their dog (or both). A little shopping, a nice stroll in the park, a visit to the on-site Starbucks, a quick cab ride back to Cherry Creek. That night, a truly exceptional meal accompanied by a nice chianti at an Italian place called NoRTH (don't hold the pretentious spelling against it, the food was terrific).

Breakfast buffet and flights out on Monday. TCBY at the Denver airport. Air travel is so tedious these days, but it was worth it!

Here's a sampling of my pictures from the trip:

The view from our hotel room.

Outside the REI store.

Tyler, the nice Bernese Mountain Dog we met at REI.

Inside the store, a view from the Mezznine.

The Strait sisters in the park outside REI.

Inside "NoRTH, Modern Italian Cuisine"

Drop it!

2008-04-05T19:17:00.001-07:00

Dear Steph,

Took Mort on a long trip to campus today and played fetch on the front lawn for a while on our way back. He had a lot of fun running around. We all miss you, and Peteena says you're in big trouble for not taking (one of) her with you!

Drop it!
Originally uploaded by splaestro

Frisbee?
Originally uploaded by splaestro

Frisbee!
Originally uploaded by splaestro

Fries Are Up!

2008-03-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it's taken forever but I've finally got the bulk of my photos from the Asia trip up on Flickr. A few of them you've seen (if you followed the trip) but there are lots you haven't, so feel free to take a look! Go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21380180@N08/ to check them out.

I've still got more to add, mainly the ones with my colleagues in them, which I wanted to add better captions to, so stay tuned!

It's a Freakin' Winter Wonderland!

2008-03-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like the weather hysteria that grips this town every time there's a little snow in the forecast was right this time. Apparently this is the biggest snow we've had here in 10 years. Had to cancel our trip to Cincinnati, which was just fine with Morty until we took him outside with us when we tackled the shoveling. Got the car out and went for groceries, then stopped at the new Chinese buffet place over by IUEast (mixed bag, let's hope for improvement).

Notes From a Perfect Weekend

2008-01-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

Well, near-perfect, anyway. Getting towed on Friday evening was the only sour note, but I think that if that hadn't happened I might have had to kill myself. Because of the perfection of my weekend in Chicago and all and the impossibility of ever topping it, you understand.

There was shopping. There was great food. There was more shopping. And more great food. And great company throughout.

Had lunch on Friday at Tamarind in the south loop with Howard from Columbia College Chicago. Highlight was when one of the bamboo pieces adorning the wall fell off and hit Howard in the head (not to worry, no admissions personnel were harmed during the course of the meal). Then saw the new ceramics exhibition at the Cultural Center, "People of the Mud, II (in which I just happen to be close personal friends with one of the artists).

Got together with some other folks from Columbia College on Friday evening (too busy gabbing to take any pictures, though there was a moment when we all got out our cell phones and showed each other pictures of our pets). Great to catch up with everybody. FYI: the Pomegranate Marguerita at Bar Louie is much better than the Black Cherry Cosmo.

Got towed from Wabash and Balbo, though I swear I read every sign and even got out of the car to check. Unplanned expense, but surprisingly minor hassle - took me about half an hour to get the car back, and had the pleasure of being entertained by one of the guys working the desk at the impound lot with stories of animals encountered in towed cars (including two doberman pinschers, a thirty foot boa constrictor, and fifty rabbits). Picked up my dear friend Jason (the aforementioned artist, who always lets me stay with him in his fabulous condo on the Drive) and headed to Blind Faith Cafe in Evanston for some vegetarian Bibimbop (as good as I remembered it).

Went to Mitsuwa Market (www.mitsuwachicago.net) in Arlington Heights in the morning on Saturday (had a few things to pick up for Art Is... Japan, a program I run at the Richmond Art Museum that starts in less than two weeks). Then Jason had the brilliant idea to go to American Science and Surplus (www.sciplus.com). Looked up the address on Google with my Treo, then went to mapquest and we were off. More shoppping ensued.

Found a really great place for dinner and drinks that night. The Violet Hour, in Wicker Park. Who would ever have thought to make curried rice krispie bars? Sounds terrible but they were fantastic. Followed those with the deep fried bread and butter pickles with chipotle aioli (also fantastic). Cocktail wise: the 41 Jane Does was better than the Yellow Rose of Texas, but they were both terrific. Then we ordered the eggnog and achieved Perfect Happiness.

Way over the top and delicious breakfast at Tweet Let's Eat on Sunday (we had the vegetarian biscuits and gravy as an appetizer, let's just leave it there). Very cold but lots of sunshine on the way back to Richmond. Made good enough time to be able to stop at Trader Joe's in Indianapolis. Warm welcome from Brian, Violet, and Morty.

View from the gallery in the Cultural Center.

Very Scary Person of the Mud.

Too dark to photograph anything else with the Treo in the Violet Hour.

A view of Lake Shore Drive at Belmont on a very cold day. Steam rising off the water, very beautiful.

We Are Resplendent

2007-11-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

It has taken us some time to adjust to our inexplicable return to our previous abode in the U.S. Needless to say, we look back on our travels fondly, but also with a tinge of regret at missed opportunities. It seems that just as the world began to comprehend our greatness, we have been whisked back to obscurity, and our previous life, which once seemed so wonderful, strikes us as somewhat restrictive and shabby. No doubt the time was not right for our triumphal appearance on the global stage. Either that, or our control-freak of a manager has sabotaged us out of jealousy.

Rest assured though, dearest legions of fans, that we treasure the comforts of home. And we have at last managed to acquire an addition to our wardrobe that will always remind us of our great adventure in the Far East.

Feeding Frenzy

2007-11-04T15:37:00.001-08:00

Blogger has apparently fixed its photo uploading problem, so I can finally post some pics of my last morning in Tokyo wandering the grounds of the old Imperial Palace. A very beautiful and tranquil place, which my Treo camera will, unfortunately, not do justice. This first photo is the view from the street where we entered, across the street from our hotel.

This building is a music conservatory that's on the grounds, with mosaic tile murals of birds on the six-sided large structure in the back.

This grate is where the food comes out for the fish. They apparently know when to expect the good stuff to come out, because they were all swarming the area and went completely nuts when the grate opened.

I've finished my nightmare of an expense report (with its eight different currencies and receipts with no recognizable characters other than the numbers), and am working on preparing my report for Columbia College. Have a meeting scheduled in Chicago on December 3 to go over the trip with them. My recent travels figure less and less in my dreams, and I'm finally starting to feel like my head has caught up with the rest of me in the states. I have a vague plan to get my photos organized and get them up on Flickr (I have LOTS that no one has seen yet), and am trying to figure out what the heck to do with this blog now that I'm back. Will keep you posted.

Re-Entry

2007-10-30T16:15:00.001-07:00

It's good to be home, but my head is still partly in Asia. I dream of exotic places and traveling with a large group of people. A huge tour bus is always a fixture in these dreams, and there's often something odd about it (one time it was full of water, and the seats were floating inflatable pool chairs). And several times I've seen someone on the street here in Richmond and thought it was someone from the tour group.

Have, unfortunately, picked up some kind of bacterial infection (the severe abdominal pain kind, not the vomiting kind, and not the SARS kind, either), which manifested itself over the weekend. Am on some wicked antibiotics and feeling better. My main complaint right now is that I haven't been to a restaurant since I got back, and I've been SO looking forward to being able to read every word on a restaurant menu again!

Blogger is having a technical problem and images are not uploading properly. After several tries, this is the only one I got up so far:

Sunset from the plane window.

Still want to post on my exploration of the Imperial Palace Gardens, right across the street from our hotel, on my last morning in Tokyo, but that will have to wait. In the meantime and for the record, here is my pitiful bird list:

Common Myna (saw this one all over southeast Asia)
Olive Backed Sunbird (Singapore)
Spot Billed Duck (in the pond at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo)
Mute Swan (ditto)
Great Cormorant (ditto)
Common Raven (ditto)
Black Kite (saw this many times in Hong Kong and Shanghai, apparently it has adapted well to big cities)
Cattle Egret (many sightings in southeast Asia)
Oriental Magpie (Hong Kong)
Red Billed Blue Magpie (Hong Kong)
Rock Dove (can't have a big city without pigeons)

We Are Not the Backstreet Boys (Thank God)

2007-10-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Arrived back in Richmond about 5pm yesterday (10/23). Brian picked me up at the airport in Dayton and took me to Friendly's for some ice cream before we headed home. Mort very excited to see me, Violet feigned indifference. Peteena in denial, wants to know when room service is coming.

Have lots of processing to do, and pictures still to post. Will try to put some order to my thoughts about this amazing trip over the next few days (am also doing some on-line research in an attempt to verify a very short bird list). In the meantime, here are some further shots of Tokyo -- an extremely polite, orderly, beautiful city that seems to have one thing on it's mind: shopping.

Tokyo Station - a very dangerous place. If they don't run you down and leave you for dead in the train station on the ground level, you could wander until you drop dead in the endless series of connected shopping malls under ground.

Or, you could run into these guys. three self-described "drunken" men who attached themselves to me and couple of female colleagues who were looking for a currency exchange where they would take my Chinese money (which the hotel would not touch). Two of them spoke a little English. They were quite charming, but apparently had been drinking all afternoon, and their breath would just about knock you down.

The IIE fair in Tokyo was held at "Sunshine City," a huge convention center/shopping mall/hotel complex where, instead of having signs or a marquee to tell you what all is going on that day, they have actual live people (usually young, and usually female) wearing white gloves and holding up signs advertising these events. This is the view from the plaza outside where the fair was down to the street.

Live entertainment in Sunshine City. A very animated guy with a very listless money doing the kind of spiel where the monkey does everything except what the guy tells him to do, and the guy pretends to get frustrated and angry, and then the monkey placates him, etc. etc. Yeah, it was pretty depressing.

You could have a four-course meal at the crepe stand in Harajuku, because you can buy any conceivable foodstuff in a crepe (and there are pictures of all it on the front of the crepe stand).

Then, of course, there's the absolutely disgusting steaming bin of unidentifiable meats at the Seven-Eleven. Seven-Eleven is everywhere in Asia, but only in Tokyo did I see this. You grab a pair of chopsticks, pluck out the nasty tidbit that you want, put it in a cardboard cup and pay for it. Another pic that you all are very fortunate cannot be accompanied by its aroma.

Motorcycle parking in Tokyo. Each space is equipped with a lock you can rent. You plug coins in like a parking meter and lock up your bike.

The crown of photographers and other press people who were waiting for the arrival of the Backstreet Boys when we arrived at Narita airport on Oct. 20.

The rock garden next to the bus pickup at the airport.

The Palace Hotel (where we stayed) is right across the street from the Imperial Palace (hence the name). Spent a couple of hours there on the morning I left Japan, wandering the grounds. Will post on that in the next day or so, it was truly amazing.

Two More Planes

2007-10-22T15:59:00.001-07:00

Must check out soon to get on one last bus (to the airport) and then two more planes (Tokyo to Chicago, Chicago to Dayton). Will (hopefully) get home about an hour and a half after I leave, thanks to the international dateline. A few preliminary pics from Tokyo, and a more complete post from home.

We are ready for our farewell dinner.

The restaurant was in Harajuku (a crazy, crowded shopping district? In Tokyo? NO!)

Interesting signage abounds.

Self portrait on final night of the trip.

Our Fortunes Improve

2007-10-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

We have been taken out and fêted by a lovely and exuberant (if somewhat sparse, for what we merit) group of people in an enchanting little club. They seem to be celebrating something, or taking fond leave of each other. Much drinking and delicious, exotic food. Perhaps we are about to be re-installed to our former glory, so recently snatched away from us!

Get On The Bus

2007-10-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

My second night in Tokyo and I haven't posted about Shanghai yet. As the end of the trip draws near the pace gets even crazier, if that's possible. We left Shanghai yesterday morning and arrived in Tokyo late afternoon. Will try to do some justice to Shanghai tonight and post about Tokyo before I leave. I had to backspace just now, I originally typed "before we leave" but for the first time since Sept. 27, I'll be getting on a plane alone on Tuesday. I think I'm familiar enough with airports, immigration and customs by now that I can negotiate it comfortably solo. It'll be nice not to have to wait in long lines (we make our own long lines with our group, if they weren't long before we arrived), but kind of scary not to be able to look for people you know to make sure you're going in the right direction.

So, about Shanghai...

On Saturday night I went to the Bund with Geisa from La Sierra University and Maria from Creighton University (right). The Bund is a strip along the waterfront, and has a lot of old western-style buildings from the 1800's. It was like Chicago's Navy Pier on steroids (pics two and three). Neon everywhere, people everywhere, people selling stuff or begging everywhere. We had Chinese food at the New Bund Restaurant, and it was really, really good.

Shanghai was not nearly as dirty and unpleasant as I expected (which doesn't mean it wasn't dirty, and sometimes unpleasant). It was quite raucous and pushy, though, especially compared to Seoul, which we had just left. At the IIE fair people would push in front of each other and talk over each other at your table, which was kind of startling after so much extremely polite behavior for so long. Some of my colleagues were quite put off by this behavior. It didn't bother me too much, but it was exhausting to have to talk non-stop (and really loudly, and with a language barrier that was sometimes rather high) for four hours . Not the greatest way to spend an evening when you're getting over a cold, but I got through it.

Shanghai is huge and sprawling, the exact opposite of Hong Kong, which is compact and vertical. One of our school visits was about an hour's drive out from our hotel (which I would say was downtown, except that "downtown" Shanghai is so huge as to make the term almost meaningless) and as we were driving out there we passed countless new housing developments under construction. At just one of these was a group of at least 50 high-rise apartment buildings (I counted ten rows of buildings as we passed, and could see five or six buildings in each row), and each one of these buildings was in roughly the same stage of construction, they were building them all simultaneously. And this was only ONE construction site that we passed. In some places, where we were fairly high up and could see out over the city, you could look out and see two dozen or so cranes, near and far, in every direction. It was truly staggering.

And then there was the airport, which is so big that they load everyone into buses at the gates and drive you out to your plane (we drove for nearly fifteen minutes to get to our plane, and in the end there were three busloads of people brought to it, all packed in like sardines). There's a constant stream of people going out each gate and onto buses. And speaking of buses, I must say that I'll be happy if I never have to get on another bus in my life, especially a tour bus (even though our tour bus in Shanghai was a very pretty blue and had cranes on it).

We all fall asleep on the bus coming back from a school visit.

The view from my hotel room in the Shanghai Hilton.

The view in one direction, standing on a pedestrian overpass, about a block from the hotel.

The view from the other direction, same overpass.

The fountain in the lobby of the Hua Ting Hotel and Towers, where the college fair was.