Category: Books

“Happy New Year”

We finally made it up to Amy and Adamo’s home to exchange gifts on Monday afternoon.  Bad wind and rain was forecast for the evening and we wanted to be home before that.  It was a very strong storm, keeping us awake most of the night.  Francesca was quite pleased with her doctor kit.  She listened to our hearts, took blood pressure, gave shots as needed.  “I think you’re ok.”

We got clever gifts.  Our first matching tee shirts:

And a round jigsaw puzzle with fancy words.  They even have definitions and “use it in a sentences” inside the lid.

I took a minute to inspect the treehouse in the back yard that Adamo has been improving.  The decks and views are very impressive, with the original building needing some repair/upgrades.

Tuesday was a rainy, lazy day.  We watched the huge waves crashing on the pier from inside.  And, of course, Diana started on the jigsaw puzzle.  Thankfully, she didn’t stay up all night working on it.  It must have been Clorinda’s help that allowed completion at a regular hour.

The kids invaded in the afternoon, and opened their gifts from Grammie.

Wednesday was the first day that I had felt up to a workout – so we started our day with that.  Then we drove down to Redwood City and enjoyed a fun and delicious lunch at Pasha with Sean and Sheri.  Such good Mediterranean food, just around the corner from Will’s place.  It’s been a long time since we got to catch up with the Meeksies.

After lunch we drove over to Marco and Julie’s home to meet the new, as yet unnamed, Havanese puppy – Gianluca is pushing hard for “Yeti.”  The dog arrived on Monday – just in time to complete the move back into their home.

The Havanese is the national dog of Cuba and is part of the Bichon family.  He’s very fluffy, soft, and calm.

The move wasn’t entirely complete.  We helped Marco move Julie’s desk setup and the food from the freezer, before driving back up to Pacifica.  I did really enjoy seeing this picture that Marco’s cross country students made for him pre-surgery.

We flew home to McKinney on Friday.  This is an interesting cloud formation from the plane:

We were home just long enough to unpack, do some quick laundry, then repack for our flight to New Orleans midday Saturday.

Alex and Laura hosted the New Year’s Eve gathering this year, and it was very pleasant to be able to relax and catch up with friends that we hadn’t seen in a while.  Here are a selection of photos of the attendees:

The ladies commandeered the dining room for their private session:

Here’s our midnight selfie:

Denny was up early on New Year’s Day, making all of his oyster sauces and getting organized.

He dictated various recipes to Anne as he worked away – “In case somebody asks how they can help – I just give them the recipe card and off they go.”

You’ll notice an important note on the spinach salad card – “Do Not Ask Keith.”  That was after I spent a solid 30 minutes de-stemming the spinach leaves.

 

 

 

 

Folks started showing up around 1pm, with most leaving by 7pm or so.

The oyster shucking team did great work – Greg commenting that he hires a shucker for his parties.  Fred has some real skills, and as always, Frank was a big help.

Then it was down to the Three Musketeers – Greg, Denny, and Kenny, with the girls retiring early.  Denny was finally kicked back and relaxed.

And then it was just Denny and me.  “There’s a good show at the Maple Leaf.”  “I’m in.”  Joe Krowne was joined by an excellent drummer and amazing harmonica player.  Always a great venue to see a show.  My phone died prior to any video opportunities – it had been providing the patio soundtrack all day.

We had a lazy start into 2023 on Monday morning.  The boys left for Cooter Brown’s to watch college football games.  I opted for some more sleep, and then joined Diana and Anne at Basin Seafood for a late lunch.  We had a pleasant chat with saxophone Derek and his Mom as they arrived at the same restaurant.  The food was yummy – blue crab beignets and those wonderful little goat cheese croquettes in the beet salad.

We arrived home to a surprise.  All the guys were back, and had decided to fry the remaining oysters for po-boys.  Delicious.

Our flight home on Tuesday was a bit delayed, but overall, we continue to be lucky with our travels.

Settled at home, we started to worry about all the rain and very high wind in California.  As it turns out, we had good reason to worry.  Here’s Amy giving a tour of the damage:

And the challenges continued as the storms kept coming.  Fortunately Adamo and his crew were able to make quick work of unblocking the driveway:

I spent Saturday and part of Sunday on a bit of a silly mission.  The fluorescent light in the laundry room has been down for a while.  I replaced the bulbs and they still flickered dimly.  Time to replace the ballast.  I spent some happy time extracting it so that I could get a replacement at Home Depot.  In a call with Damon, he told me that I could get a new LED replacement unit for the same price as a ballast, and never have to replace a bulb again.  Sold!  Why didn’t I research that before all that work?

A new light unit was purchased, but now it’s smaller than the old fixture, and so the ceiling had to be painted before installation.  Next is to patch the part of the hole that sticks out.

After that fun, I moved on from playing electrician to plumber.  My Grandpa would be pleased.  Alicia’s sink has been stopping up, particularly when the A/C drains into it.  We had an A/C “expert” out again to look at it.  He gave me an illogical story, and I decided to purchase a drain snake and try to unblock it myself.  After some fun pushing and pulling the snake, and getting splattered with dirty gunk, the sink is now flowing freely.

A wobbly ceiling fan is next on the Handyman list for me.

While I was messing around with all of that, McD tackled the puzzle Mum gave her for Christmas.  Here she is 2 hours in:

And completion at the 5 hour mark.  So much patience.

Campbell was another year older on Sunday – sharing his birthday with Elvis.  He celebrated with a meal at Louisiana Purchase – a New Orleans style restaurant.  They had an alligator and andouille cheesecake, similar to the one that we enjoyed with them at Jacques-Imo’s in New Orleans.  Looks delicious.

 

Clorinda really enjoyed “West with Giraffes” by Lynda Rutledge, and I have it a shot these last few weeks.  Here’s the review summary:

“Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.”

I enjoyed this passage from the book – I agree that life is all about collecting interesting stories.

“It is a foolish man who thinks stories do not matter – when in the end, they may be all that matter and all the forever we’ll ever know.  So, shouldn’t you hear our story?  Shouldn’t you know how two darling giraffes saved me, you, and your mother, a woman I loved?  And it is a selfish man who takes stories to the grave that aren’t his and his alone.  Shouldn’t you know your mother’s brave heart and daring dreams?  And shouldn’t you know your friends, even though we’re gone?

I knew, then, there was something an old man could do.  I found a pencil and I began to write.”

I found this tale a bit slow at times, but did really enjoy the history of the Depression era and the Dust Bowl challenges in the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.

Let’s start out with some classic Stevie Wonder:

And continue on with some classic funk:

Finishing up with some Aretha:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

 

 

 

“Christmas is Here”

John and family joined us again on Monday for brunch.  I loved watching Lilly assemble a meat and cheese platter, and then, without any prompting, creating a plate for Grammie.

On Wednesday evening, Diana and Alicia drove down to San Jose for a special “Cousins Christmas”, hosted by Joelle.  I made Clorinda a dinner that she wolfed down, and then described as “fine.”  She asked where Diana was.  I tried to tell her but she couldn’t hear me.  Ahh – I’ll use the notepad.  “Who’s Tooey?”  Good grief.  Finally, the lower case version worked.  “Why weren’t we invited?”  “It’s only for cousins.”  “But I’m a cousin.”  So entertaining.

The girls had a nice time at their exclusive event:

Thursday was the anniversary of the night that Will and Christine got engaged in San Francisco.  Diana and I had dinner at the Tadich Grill that night, next door to where the newly engaged couple was celebrating.  Will suggested that we all have dinner at the Tadich to celebrate.  What a great idea!

The restaurant was nicely decorated and I always like the old school white dinner jackets on the waiters and bar staff.

The seafood was just as wonderful and fresh as we remembered – oysters Rockefeller, lobster, petrale sole, cioppino, sea bass.  What a feast!

We celebrated the Robertson family Christmas on Friday evening.  Diana did a great job of putting together the first of three dinners in a row.  Alicia’s stuffed mushrooms were yummy.  I contributed a tiny bit to the rack of lamb – finding the recipe and helping set them up to marinade.

Dinner was very well received all around.

Campbell enjoyed his Mardi Gras themed gifts, and Clorinda wrestled her very large candle open:

Thanks Diana and Alicia for all the cooking and cleaning.

The Cowboys played on Christmas Eve, and the San Francisco 49ers played at the same time.  Diana and Alicia were gracious enough to offer me the home TV, and they would go to the bar.  I thought it would be a better idea for me to watch from the dive bar – the Longboard Margarita Bar – one of Pacifica’s finest.

A couple of friends were there to watch with me.

The Philly cheesesteak guy showed up and set up his station outside the bar.  Yum!

This sign made me chuckle:

There was a nice crowd of folks in the bar, including one Cowboys fan, Mike.  The 49ers fans were quite loud, but we had fun together.  And the Cowboys were able to eke out a win against the league rival Philadelphia Eagles.

The Saturday evening sunset was amazing – all the reds and oranges that made me think of our Cozumel wedding sunset.

Then it was time for another feast.  This time the pseudo feast of the seven fishes – angel hair pasta with anchovy sauce, and a bouillabaisse with excellent mussels and other seafood.  Adamo and family joined us, along with surprise guests Ken and Barbara, and Andy and Jude.  It was a lovely evening and we were all remiss in our photography – probably a sign of a good night.  The only picture I got was Frankie showing her manners, while serving me up a nice tea party.

Christmas morning started with Timmy sharing his creative reindeer and candy cane breakfast.

Clorinda enjoyed her new swiveling patio chairs and particularly her new, warm jammies.

I think Grammie enjoyed opening Alicia’s stocking just as much as she did.

Then Diana and Alicia were back in the kitchen for the third big feast in a row – lamb and ham this time around.  Marco and Giancarlo and families arrived and the festivities got underway.

Marco was delighted to finally get the Sorel boots he’d been hoping for 40 years ago.

It’s always heartwarming to see Clorinda enjoying a visit from her family.

Thanks once again to Diana and Alicia for all the time in the kitchen over the three day marathon.

In other news:  Raj sent me this delightful video of what happens when Pakistan and Scotland collaborate – the sound is really different and top quality:

And Vince sent this treat on Frank Zappa’s birthday.  Such a creative musician and excellent guitar player:

One of our project managers in Guatemala sent this out.  We are all on edge during our busiest days of the year, with most of the team on vacation:

My book this week was “Walking with Ghosts” by Gabriel Byrne, the Dublin born actor, best known for is roles in “The Usual Suspects” and “In Treatment.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir, finishing it in just over a day.  This review captures my thoughts well:

“In pared down prose both luminous and raw, Walking with Ghosts is about first things–parents, siblings, loves, heartbreaks, parts, failure, success, loss, but most of all it is a tender embrace of the past as Byrne discovers and accepts the truth of who he is in all his human struggle to be at peace with oneself and one’s imperfections. In a voice full of warmth, compassion, humor, and wonder, Byrne steps into the role of writer with the same assurance, humility, and intensity that he brings to his acting roles. More, this debut marks a welcome new voice that blends memory and imagination for an all-encompassing and wise memoir that reads like a novel.”

Speaking to his mother at the end of the book:

“I sat by the bed. You were smaller, the roots of your hair showing through the dye.  I thought of the gratitude I owed for what you had given me.  Your love of poetry, your love of the sound of words.  Yeats, Robert Burns.  Your favourite quote was from Shelley.  “Fear not the future, weep not for the past.”  I try to live by that still.

That last time we sat in a crowded room at a party, you recited Keats:

“O what can ail thee, knight at arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has wither’d from the lake,

And no birds sing.”

Everyone applauded and I realized maybe you had missed your career, that you might have been an actress or a performer of some kind, because you were so alive and so happy in that moment.

Had marriage and children been enough?”

Highly recommended!

An excellent solo piano rendition by Dr. John:

I Shazamed this in Thom’s Market in Austin, and was disappointed with myself – I love that album:

What a great rhythm and feel on this one:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

“Going to California”

Week Ending December 11th:

When I left you last week, we were headed to see a concert at the Kessler.  Marcia Ball, Carolyn Wonderland, and Shelley King, affectionately known as King Wonderball, shared some excellent Xmas and holiday themed music.

Jens and Glenda joined us.  We enjoyed dinner at Paradiso in the Bishop Arts area and all thoroughly enjoyed the show.

The highlight of the show for me and Diana was this cover of The Band’s “Christmas Must be Tonight”.  It took us a few days to get the chorus out of our heads.  Such a great song!

Here’s the original version:

The show reminded me of the impromptu birthday concert that Diana arranged for me in Austin a few years ago.  We were only expecting Shelley King, and then the other two showed up to jam.  That was the night we met the two wonderful Aussie couples.

I missed the Cowboys versus Indianapolis game due to the show.  And what a game that turned out to be.  The Boys won 54-19 with a massive 4th quarter.  Campbell had texted during the show that Dak didn’t look too great.  Well – that all changed at the end of the game with 33 points in the last 15 minutes.  The defense and Tony Pollard were amazing.

After my doctor visit on Monday morning, I helped McD rake and bag way too many leaves from our massive oak tree.  There has to be a better way for next year.  It took us a collective five hours to complete the task.  99% of the leaves are now off all trees – Diana has been busy emptying out the pool skimmers and Stanley’s (the pool sweep) bag.

Penelope’s brake pad warning light came on and Diana was kind enough to pick me up and drop me off at Auto Hans to get them replaced on Tuesday.  Always a hefty hit on the wallet.

By mid week, both of us were coughing up a storm with some kind of cold/flu bug that we haven’t quite beaten yet.

We finished up Christmas shopping at Cost Plus World Market on Friday – they always have some unique and different stocking stuffers.  After that we dropped off jewelry at Tiffany’s for cleaning, and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Tommy Bahama’s.  My Thai curry shrimp and scallops and crab bisque were delicious.  We always forget what a good place this is.

 

The World Cup has been very entertaining this week.  I particularly enjoyed the underdog stories with Croatia besting the favourite, Brazil, and Morocco playing a wonderful game to beat Portugal, and become the first African nation to advance to the semi-finals.

We were back at the Kessler on Saturday night for Marc Broussard.

Jon Muq, a young man from Uganda, was the opening act.  He had wonderful intra-song banter and a very smooth voice.  He was very excited to announce that he had recently been signed to Dan Auerbach’s record label.

Marc Broussard and his band were excellent.  A much better experience than the last time he played the Kessler – it was all standing downstairs that night and very noisy.

I had an early start to attend the Cowboys game on Sunday morning, and so we decided to stay at the Doubletree hotel – pick up point for the bus to the game.

A vendor took several of us from work to the game, including a lovely brunch at a new hotel by the stadium.

 

 

I lost track of how many compliments I got on the special Cowboys jacket that Diana made me for the Saints game, several years ago.

The Cowboys tried very hard to lose the game to the Texans, pulling out an exciting last minute win.  Tim and Robbie joined us back at the house for a small celebration after party.  Thanks Diana for leaving us a meat and cheese platter before heading out for the day.

While I was at the game, Diana and Janelle enjoyed brunch and the Dallas Symphony Christmas Pops concert.  Don’t get her started on what shouldn’t be included in a “Christmas” concert.

Phew – that was a busy week.

Here are a few pictures from California that I enjoyed.  Grammie on the loose in Target:

Marco and his friend Jessica posing by the Golden Gate Bridge – he looks better and better every day:

Will with some artificial intelligence app that doctors his pictures:

Week Ending December 18th:

Christmas gift exchange with Finn was on Monday night.  He was delighted with his stocking and the new coffee table that I labored so hard to assemble for him.  He had some very thoughtful gifts for us.  I laughed at my “Nope” Sunday t-shirt and our new penguin blankie.

The penguin key ring has a great message:

Diana has rarely taken off her penguin slippers since:

What a lovely night we had with Finn.

I dropped Diana at the Cooper Clinic early on Tuesday for her full head to toe physical appointment.  She’ll be happy to tell you that she accomplished a “Superior” score on the heart stress test – one of only twelve this year.

After that, we made the drive down to Austin for my work holiday party at Bar Peached, a creative restaurant on West 6th street.  Some folks were very festively dressed, including Tim:

We enjoyed the Nido rooftop restaurant when the party ended, staying out way too late for old folks.

I went to the office for a while on Wednesday and Diana met up with Lisa for a Mediterranean lunch.  I chuckled as a colleague reported back that he had spotted them going out for a “coffee” on the patio.  In fairness, there is coffee on the table.

We had an early fancy birthday dinner for Diana in the evening.  The bar at Jeffrey’s was perfect – a lovely setting with wonderful food.  Steak tartare amuse bouches, foie gras, duck with seared foie gras, and pork with lobster, finished up with a chocolate granache desert – all very decadent indeed.

After the traditional lunch at June’s All Day, we made the drive back to McKinney on Thursday afternoon.  We had time for a quick unpack and pack again for the flight to San Francisco on Friday afternoon.  And then it was time for our Christmas gift exchange.  I think we did very well with our stockings and gifts – much more sensible than trying to cart gifts to San Francisco.  Diana loved the fuzzy Christmas pants from Ogan Enterprises in New Orleans.

I watched an excellent movie, “The Swearing Jar” on the flight.  A very emotional tale that was wonderfully acted.

Sunday was Diana’s birthday, and we were treated to a visit from John and Joey and their families.  It was very sweet of them to make the drive up to celebrate with us.

The kids were a delight and wonderfully behaved.  Lilly made a card for Diana based on what Alicia had told her were her favourite things.  I love the “Itfulle tower” with the Koala climbing up.

Clorinda enjoyed having the kids around:

Brianna really has some flower arranging talent:

Caroline had a yummy lemon bar as a cake for the birthday girl:

Diana had such a lovely time!

My reading companion this week was “Like a Rolling Stone” by Jann S. Wenner.

Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner offers a “touchingly honest” and “wonderfully deep” memoir from the beating heart of classic rock and roll (Bruce Springsteen).

I only made it a couple of hundred pages into this massive volume, so will save some more commentary for when I finish it up back in McKinney.

We’ve had a lot of music already, so I’ll skip that section this week.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all.

“Give Thanks”

The Pacifica weather has been unusually beautiful all week.  Only very minor bouts of fog rolling in.  Amazing sunsets have been served up every evening.  It’s hard to tire of the view from Clorinda’s deck.

Here’s the view South from our room with interesting contrails on a pleasant day, and then with the fog rolled in:

We enjoyed a coffee at Soul Grind and then a pleasant walk along Lindamar beach on Monday afternoon.  I captured this picture of the sun going down over the Pacific Ocean on our walk back to the car.

The exercise put us in the mood to join the 24 Hour Fitness gym, down the hill from Clorinda’s home, and we’ve been there every morning since for a workout to start the day.  Don’t get the wrong impression, I’m not complaining – I’ve enjoyed watching World Cup matches from the elliptical.

So much work goes into preparing a Thanksgiving feast.  I did provide a little assistance as McD slaved away with the meat and vegetarian stuffing creation.  We eye-balled the proportions of bread, veggies, and meat, and I have to say the end result was delicious.

Diana and I were trying to plan out the Thanksgiving Day oven schedule at Clorinda’s home – ham, various dishes of stuffing, artichoke dip, all had to be warmed and transported up the hill.  Thankfully Adamo took pity on us and took the ham up to his oven – he was scared we were going to dry it out as we shuffled trays in and out of the oven.

Campbell came to Clorinda’s house early in the afternoon to watch the traditional Thanksgiving Cowboys game – this year playing the New York Giants.

It really was a rare treat to watch the game with Campbell (and later arriving Marco and Gianluca) – I typically just get to exchange text messages with him as we cheer or groan about plays during the game.  Maybe we can do it again over the Christmas break.  We had to migrate up to Amy and Adamo’s home mid-game, but got to see the conclusion – another great win for the Cowboys!

Here are a couple of pictures that I love that were snapped before we migrated up the Hill:

We had 24 folks for dinner.  The view from outside looks very welcoming as you can’t get a good sense for the volume inside.

Here’s what it looked like inside as dinner was served:

Will and Christine joined us for dinner, with Christine providing some excellent appetizers.  Will really enjoys Adamo’s company.

It really was heart warming to see Marco and Julie both looking so great:

After dinner, it was time to head out for some pictures before the sun was completely gone.

We had to reprimand Uncle Marco for encouraging more loud vocal activity from the youngsters:

And another crazy Campagna Thanksgiving was in the books!

Some other interesting activity from the visit.  Diana entertaining her Mom with some instructions:

A sign that we saw in the coffee shop that really resonated with me:

Earlier today, I enjoyed Clorinda’s company for breakfast on her deck.  It’s a joy to sit and listen to her stories and commentary with such a wonderful view:

We’ve been enjoying the Stanley Tucci series about food in Italy with Clorinda in the evenings – she really enjoys all the commentary and food.  I do highly recommend this series.

In other movie/TV news, I started watching a movie called “The Swimmers” in the gym this morning, and it looks excellent.  About a couple of girls, excellent swimmers with Olympic aspirations, trying to escape from the horror of Syria.  I left the movie at a particularly traumatic boat journey scene, and have some trepidation about picking it up again:

What I saw so far is excellent, and I will hope to finish this movie soon.

My book this week was “Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm” by Laura Warrell, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.  It’s hard to imagine this is a debut novel from Warrell.  This was reviewed on the Today show, and I remember Diana turning to me and commenting that she thought I would enjoy it.

“It’s 2013, and Circus Palmer, a forty-year-old Boston-based trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man, lives for his music and refuses to be tied down. Before a gig in Miami, he learns that the woman who is secretly closest to his heart, the free-spirited drummer Maggie, is pregnant by him. Instead of facing the necessary conversation, Circus flees, setting off a chain of interlocking revelations from the various women in his life. Most notable among them is his teenage daughter, Koko, who idolizes him and is awakening to her own sexuality even as her mentally fragile mother struggles to overcome her long-failed marriage and rejection by Circus. Delivering a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Warrell spins a provocative, soulful, and gripping story of passion and risk, fathers and daughters, wives and single women, and, finally, hope and reconciliation, in answer to the age-old question: how do we find belonging when love is unrequited?”

A passage that ties into the title and features Maggie, Circus’s true love:

“‘How do you know what your doing?’ Kamar asked.

‘Rhythm,’ she answered over the shimmy of the high hat. ‘Everything is rhythm.  Our bodies, time, the plane, man.  It’s all moving in beats you just have to catch.’

Maggie struck a slow roll against the snare because she’d missed hearing the sound, her eyes closed so she could feel its hum deep in her fingers.  She doubled her stroke, building to a buzz, then let the beads of the sticks roll against the toms before shifting to the pattern she’d dreamed up the night before and had been drumming into tabletops all day so she could get it into her hands.  Within seconds, she found it and played the pattern until her muscles started to know the rhythm’s shape.”

This is what I imagine Circus from my book sounds like:

A classic John Lee Hooker/Van Morrison collaboration that I came across again this week:

And finally, some typically English music that popped up on a playlist:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

“The Busy Travel Season Begins”

The fortnight began with a mostly quiet week.  On Monday we watched the latest Olivia Wilde movie “Don’t Worry Darling”, starring Harry Styles.  This was a really interesting film, featuring an alternate reality in the 1950s that virtual reality clients can sign up to participate in.  Styles wife is a stressed out doctor working 30 hour shifts and he plans to offer her a better life as a 50s housewife – and then it all starts to go awry.  Worth a watch.

Our midterm elections happened on Tuesday.  For the most part, we’re just delighted that all the crazy, inflammatory  commercials on TV are finally over.  I’ll spare you the rest of my political commentary.

I love the New Yorker magazine regular “Table for Two” articles.  They are wonderfully written and feature so many wonderful gems of New York dining.  The example this week is a very good sample:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/a-dominican-celebration-at-jalao-nyc/amp

As I said at the start, the week was pretty quiet – we went for a walk on Monday, a run on Tuesday, and a swim on Wednesday.  We took Finn to lunch at the Legacy West food hall on Thursday – maybe the first time he’s been outside the McKinney city limits in months.  He and D chose Velvet tacos (Finn said his brisket might have been the best ever taco), and I chose a really tasty Indian street food place.

We drove down to Austin early on Sunday so that I could watch the Cowboys and Packers game at the hotel.  That was a mistake – poor coaching decisions caused the Cowboys to lose in overtime.

Sunday wasn’t a complete loss though – we ran into my CEO in the lobby on our way to dinner in the hotel roof top restaurant, Nido.  It was his birthday, and we had a lovely celebration dinner – great service, yummy food, and entertaining story telling.

I loved my redfish Provençale and squash beignets, D her octopus carpaccio and oysters.  The view of downtown from the8th floor across the river was lovely.

The Loren is a brand new luxury hotel on the Austin riverfront.  It has a lot of kinks to work out.  On our first night the smoke detector was shining some kind of bright green laser light in the room every few seconds.  We moved to a new room, with the same problem, and then learned that the lights are controlled by a solar powered heat sensor – problem is the sensor isn’t anywhere close to light.  The engineer came up and shone a torch to charge the sensor.  The next morning a fake fire alarm woke us very loudly at 5am.  Good grief – two nights with interrupted sleep.  Tape on the smoke detector had improved things, only to be replaced by loud announcements.  The next morning at 6am, we had a reprise of the loud fire announcement.  Needless to say we have free rooms to use in the future.  A shame because the hotel and staff were really nice.

On Monday night we were lucky to score a reservation at Este, the new seafood restaurant from the Suerte (one of our favourite Austin places) folks.  The food was fantastic from start to finish – amazing ceviche, and several other seafood delights whose names I can’t remember.

Este is in a small house in an East Austin neighborhood and I can’t recommend it enough.

We met our old CEO (still a Board member) back at the rooftop Nido after dinner and that was interrupted by some Pacifica health scares – all fine in the end.  I did learn a new toast “Here’s to cheating, stealing, fighting and drinking.  May you cheat death, steal the heart of a woman, fight for your friends, and drink with me.”  I love it.  Nido has this beautiful fig tree in the entrance.

I had Board meetings all day on Tuesday, followed by a wonderful Executive Committee dinner, with special guests Diana and Lisa, at Qi – a wonderful Chinese place in downtown Austin.  That was followed by a very entertaining after dinner session at Nido – our CFO telling a more detailed version of his first trip to Burning Man.

On Wednesday, we executed our typical drive to Dallas day ritual – lunch at June’s all Day – always a lovely experience.  And the drive was very easy for once.  My Boursin omelet was delicious, as was D’s standard steak tartare order.

As if I hadn’t spent enough time with my work colleagues, I had another work dinner with the Executive crew on Thursday night.  It took forever to get to downtown Dallas, but we had a delicious meal at Sachet.  The octopus appetizer was a real highlight.

Friday morning came early, and fortunately our flight to San Francisco was delayed a few hours.  We Ubered down to Redwood City to borrow Marco’s car and then had an early night in Pacifica.

For some reason I thought a jazz show in San Francisco on Saturday night would be a good idea.  Diana was too tired to make it, so Alicia and I made the drive up.  An Arcade Fire concert, Opera, and Symphony were all going on at the same time within two blocks of each other.  Parking was a disaster.  I’m glad Alicia was driving, because I would have given up and driven back home.

We were only a few minutes late to SF Jazz, and quickly got our seats to watch Joe Lovano and John Scofield – two giants in the jazz world.  I have enjoyed Scofield in New York a few times, but had never heard Lovano.

There was a lot of what I call “noodling” in the early parts of the show – showing off musical ability without necessarily being musical.  The drummer, Joey Baron, was the star – demonstrating the amazing acoustics, as we could hear every delicate brush stroke and cymbal tap.  McD would certainly have been sleeping early on.  Things picked up towards the end with better musicality and this gorgeous saxophone sound:

Alicia did a very nice job of driving us home, just in time to say “Hi” to Julie and Marco as they collected Gianluca from his boring day hanging out on the Hill.

Watching the Cowboys game today was much more pleasant.  From the first play – Parsons sacking the Vikings quarterback, until the last it was total domination, leading to a 40-3 final score.  Where was that team last week?

Marco and Julie came by after Gianluca’s soccer game in San Francisco.  Always so much fun to spend time with them.

My book this week was “All This Could Be Different” by Sarah Thankam Matthews.  The wonderful Lauren Groff (author of my book last posting) says:

“This book is spiny and delicate, scathingly funny and wildly moving.  Sarah Thankam Matthews is a brilliant writer, one whose every ringing sentence holds both bite and heart.”

I found this book a bit silly and plodding to begin with, but was completely hooked and invested in the characters by the last hundred pages or so.

Springsteen has a new R&B cover album out this week.  Great stuff:

The wonderful Lukas Nelson with a song I first head this week, reminding me of Nathaniel Rattelife’s “It’s Still All Right”:

And finally, some classic Credence jamming:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

 

“A ‘Work’ Trip to Roatan, Honduras”

Tuesday was passport day.  I had made an appointment at the downtown Dallas emergency passport office.  All the necessary documents were reviewed and I was sent to another window, anticipating receiving my shiny new passport.  Not so fast – “You have to come back tomorrow afternoon to pick it up.”  “But I live so far away and can’t afford to take time off work again, and if I don’t go on this trip I’ll get fired.”  My fabricated sob stories were all in vain.

Deciding to make the best of another drive downtown, I invited Diana to accompany me and have lunch afterwards in Oak Cliff.  The passport was ready – all set to travel again.  I surprised Diana with a new place for lunch – Paradiso in the Bishop Arts district.  We sat in the courtyard and enjoyed an excellent lunch – one of the best salads that we’ve had in a long time.  A nice new find to add to our Oak Cliff rotation.

 

After lunch we strolled around the corner and enjoyed a browse and a coffee at the delightful Wild Detectives book store.  This is my favourite retail establishment in all of Dallas.

We woke up very early on Friday morning, grabbed our passports and luggage and  headed for the airport to catch our 7am flight to Miami.  A quick change, and we were on our way to Roatan, Honduras.  Here’s a picture from the plane as we flew over the beautiful Caribbean islands:

“Where is Roatan?”, you ask.  Here’s a map to help you get oriented:

Roatan is a Caribbean island, about 40 miles off the coast of Honduras, with a population of around 100,000.  It has the second largest coral reef in the world, after the Australian Great Barrier reef.  We had the choice of attending year end award celebrations in Las Vegas, Roatan, or Cancun, and decided to try somewhere new.  What a great choice that ended up being!

A bus was waiting for us at the tiny Roatan airport (4 gates) to shuttle us to the Grand Roatan resort.

This is located on the very West end of the island and was just gorgeous.  Not too big, with an awesome beach and beach front restaurant.  Here are some pictures of the resort.

Our condo was behind the tropical forest on the right hand side of the last picture, and had a wonderful view out over the reef.

The advance party, Blair (COO), Lachie (CEO), Nikki (CRO) and Lisa (Blair’s wife) were already installed at the beach restaurant, and we joined them for lunch and margaritas.

We hung out chatting on the beach for the afternoon, and then an impromptu dance party broke out.

Jorge (VP for LATAM)  arrived in the late afternoon, just in time to teach McD some new dance moves:

And to sing for Lisa:

I am very fortunate to work with such fun and kind people.

After the sun set, we walked down the beach and enjoyed a yummy meal on the deck of the Argentinian Grill.  D’s lobster tails were gobbled up.

Lachie had planned on renting a boat on Saturday, but the rainy season was in full force in the morning, so we pushed that to Sunday.  As we were heading down to the beach in the afternoon on Saturday afternoon, we ran into Lachie, who joined us for the afternoon.  We told stories and he worked on both of us to try and push my retirement date out as far as he could.  “You want to work from the south of France?  That’s totally fine with me.”

I forgot to mention that we did get one workout in on Saturday morning.  The gym was brand new and very well equipped, with a terrific view.

When the rain let up, we had a nice walk down to the far end of the beach.

Sunday was one of those fantastic days that just evolve.  The rain came again during breakfast, so we relaxed for a while and waited for it to pass.  Around 10am, we made the short walk down the beach and boarded our boat for the day.  We cruised around the island, stopping for some snorkeling, and then pulled into an isolated restaurant, “The Cove”, for another great meal.  Blair and I hiked into the jungle to “The Brewery” in search of cigars – no luck.  I did have a good chat with the owner – used to work the front of the house at the Granada theater in Dallas – where we’ve seen many concerts.

The girls made me a bit nervous making their way to the bow of the boat for a better view and sunbathing.

Unfortunately the rain came again in the late afternoon.  We were out beyond the shelf in 2,700 feet of water, and so our captain put some lines out, hoping to catch some dinner.  No luck on that, but we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow.

There are not many better ways to pass a day than cruising around a lovely island with good people.

Our award winners arrived on Monday morning.  We greeted them at reception, got them checked in, and then participated in some games on the beach.  Everyone got a welcome bag with a swim shirt and button down shirt for the evening.  Here’s the crew in their swim shirts.

I really didn’t enjoy the “beach skiing”, but did well at the canoe race.

While we rested up for the evening event, Diana and Lisa went off down the beach shopping with the wonderful Alex as a tour guide.  He took pictures of them on the oversize chair.

I’m so fortunate that Diana has become such good friends with Lisa – they really enjoy hanging out together while we’re “working.”

The awards dinner was so well produced with so much heart.  The stories and videos of the winners were really touching.

The after dinner dancing got off to a slowish start until the two party starters took over – doing an excellent job of getting everyone on the dance floor.

Diana was having so much fun dancing that I kept getting the “Just 15 minutes more” story when trying to head to bed.

Tuesday was a free day and we spent it relaxing on the beach and reading.  BP made an appearance – although the park ranger did tell me “no penguins allowed on the beach.”

We enjoyed a late lunch with Pepe and Rebecca – such a nice couple, and Rebecca was a good, chatty addition to the D and Lisa duo.

Travel home on Wednesday was smooth – just a short delay in Miami and, as is typical these days, folks behind us that talked for the entire flight.  My new passport worked without any issues.

There had been some storms in McKinney while we were gone, so it was straight back into pool girl cleanup mode for McD.

My book this week was “The Dark Remains” by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin – two authors that I enjoy very much.

McIlvanney’s Laidlaw books were a completely new force in crime fiction when originally published years ago.  When he died in 2015, he left half of a handwritten manuscript about Laidlaw’s first case.  Ian Rankin finished what McIlvanney started.

This is an excellent tale of the criminal world in 1970s Glasgow, and the Laidlaw character is wonderful as always.

From a conversation with both authors transcribed at the end of the book – McIlvanney:

“I come from twenty miles outside Glasgow – “How can a Kilmarnockian write about Glasgow?”  It’s twenty miles!  There’s buses and things!  But it was regarded as kind of preposterous that he would have Camus and so on.”

Thanks for letting me steal this book, Mum.

“Walking Wounded”, McIlvanney’s short story collection, has pride of place in the Top 10 books I’ve read section of the bookshelves.

Somebody, likely Lachie (Aussie), was playing this INXS song on the trip.  Such a great band:

This was a staple on Jorge’s playlist.  Something a bit different for me but a super catchy hook:

And finally, some sweet singing and guitar from Gary Clark Jr.:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

 

 

“A busy travel month”

I’m back.

Did you miss me?  It’s OK – you can be honest.

This is the first time in 6 years of posting that I’ve gone a solid month between updates.  Sorry – been too busy bouncing around the country.

I started the month by finally taking the plunge into U.S. citizenship.  I showed up on a very hot Tuesday morning to stand in line with 800 other new citizens from 91 countries.  Almost an hour elapsed before I made it through the process and into the air conditioned facility.

The Oath that we all recited did make me wonder: “abjure”, “potentate” – not words I ever hear spoken – particularly not by a group of folks who may still be learning English.  Also entertaining in that I’m not renouncing my British citizenship.  Oh well – I went along with it and obtained my certificate, and a letter from the President.

The next day, I flew out to San Francisco to meet up with Diana and support Marco (and Julie) in his surgery.  We drove up to Sacramento, made sure they got checked into their hotel for the pre-surgery rest, and then checked into our Airbnb.

I picked a place in Midtown, Sacramento – a historic neighborhood just East of downtown, with a lot of old Victorian and other interesting houses.

While Marco was starting the lengthy surgery (9.5 hours with 6 surgeons), we walked to a local breakfast restaurant.  Jennifer, the owner of Morning Fork with her husband, was very welcoming.  When we asked her if there were always so many firemen in her restaurant, she replied, “Oh no, if I’d known I would have worn something cuter.”

Diana thanked her for her kindness and mentioned how important that was to us on surgery day.  She rushed off and came back with a complimentary bottle of champagne for us to enjoy at home.  We were really liking this neighborhood already.

Although very extensive, Marco’s surgery actually went a bit better than expected.  He looked amazing the next day, although in tremendous pain.

A few days later and Marco was on to a liquid diet – very exciting for him after eating nothing orally for so long.

We were amazed at Marco’s strength as he quickly was up and walking around – adding more distance each day, until he was able to quickly climb two flights of stairs.  Julie was a wonderful advocate, managing the doctors and nurses at a very detailed level and making sure she had all necessary information.

 

 

We continued to explore the Midtown neighborhood – enjoying a very unexpected dinner at Moxie – a few blocks from the farmhouse.  It looks like a real hole in the wall from outside.  Then you step into a lovely restaurant with excellent food and presentations.  The menu is very accommodating – if we’ve got it or can find it nearby, we’ll make it for you.  D’s seafood medley and my seabass were both wonderful.

Adamo came to visit on Saturday and we went walking around for several hours before he visited Marco.  All the way down to the Capital building and the river, before randomly bumping into Julie meeting her friend, and getting an unexpected ride home.

We couldn’t let Adamo leave without trying dinner at his namesake restaurant.  We had a very good meal and he loved telling everyone the place was named after him.

After a week, our time at the Midtown farmhouse was coming to an end and extending wasn’t possible.  We relocated to the Kimpton Sawyer hotel downtown – a very comfortable and kind establishment – more on that later.  Amy dropped off Frankie with Diana one day so that she could go and give Marco a Reiki treatment.  She is incredible at that – took Marco’s pain from a 15 out of 10 to zero for a while.  Even when he was standing up.  How does that work?  And why isn’t it being used more often?  Diana was exhausted after a few hours babysitting fearless Frankie at the pool – and had certainly earned her champagne flight at Fizz, just outside the hotel and beside the Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings basketball team.

We enjoyed dinner one night at the nearby Brasserie du Monde – wonderful duck liver mousse.

Diana worked with Nina at the Kimpton front desk to extend the room day by day as we anticipated Marco’s release from hospital.  This lady was amazing – said “Hi D”, every time we passed through the lobby, asked about Marco daily, provided D with drink tickets, and comped almost all of our room and other charges on checkout.  Wow!  If you ever find yourself in downtown Sacramento – this is the place to stay.

And finally the day was here – Marco broke free.  He was so happy to be out.

I forgot to share this silly picture he took with his favourite nurse, Boris.  Boris witnessed some of the crazy tales and behaviour the day that Diana sat with Marco during his delirium phase.  You’ll have to ask D for those stories.

We spent the night at the same hotel Julie had been using in Elk Grove, close to the hospital, and then Diana drove Julie’s car home, while I drove Marco’s Subaru to Clorinda’s house and then was dropped at the airport by the wonderful and lovely Caroline.

I had a few days at home before Diana was scheduled to fly back on the Monday.  Anne and Denny tag teamed trying to convince me to fly down for Gretna fest on Sunday.  I checked American Airlines and let them know it was way too expensive for a quick trip.  Denny persisted, and so late on Saturday I checked Southwest, finding prices not too bad.  In a weak moment, thinking of how much I would enjoy a day of music in New Orleans, I booked it.  I was at Denny’s home by 9:30am on Sunday and on the 11:00am ferry across the Mississippi to Gretna at 11:00am.

Jack, Thom, and Alex joined us for this wonderful day of music.  The crowds were very small, the weather perfect, and the bands all outstanding.  We started with the New Orleans Nightcrawlers on the Riverfront stage.  A perfect opener.  They are such a great local brass band with Craig Klein on trombone.

I always  enjoy a good sousaphone solo!

Anne joined us in time for Eric Lindell with their friend Derek Huston on saxophone.  Derek was happy to have his local cheering section on hand.  This was the best band that I’ve heard supporting Lindell – just outstanding musicianship.

We visited “Asian Village” for lunch and I enjoyed a combo plate of two different bao sandwiches – delicious.  I thought the t-shirt on sale at the stall was very clever.

Here are some pictures of the group enjoying the festival.

And then it was time for the band I’d been looking forward to – one of my favourites, Govt Mule.  Warren Haynes and the gang gave us a great show.  It was so nice to be able to stand comfortably up front and enjoy the guitar excellence.

The sunset on the 6:30pm ferry back to New Orleans was impressive:

We stopped in our old neighbourhood, Magazine Street next to our condo, for pizza on the way home.  Theo’s pizza is so yummy.

 

 

I worked from the Webster street patio on Monday morning, and then enjoyed a fun lunch with Anne and Jack at the Chloe.  It was a perfect day to eat outside.  The desert was really creative – sweet potato brulee served in a sweet potato.  The chef was quite proud of his creation when he delivered it to the table.  Then it was time for me to head to the airport and complete my last minute quick getaway.  I’m so glad the Ogans talked me into it.

I landed at Lovefield airport on Monday night, then made the quick drive over to DFW to pick up my D, finally returning from California.

At some point during the week, Diana chatted with Cat and decided that we should fly to San Diego last weekend for Kristina’s 60th birthday.  Another last minute trip was underway.  We flew out on Saturday morning, dropped our bags at the hotel, and enjoyed brunch at the nearby Mission restaurant.

After that we met up with Kris and Cat at their new house – getting there but a lot to be done before they attempt to obtain an occupancy permit on December 1st.

Cat suggested that we stop in La Jolla to pass some time before our dinner reservation.  Great idea – let’s go to Herringbone!  The ladies enjoyed happy hour oysters and I loved my “campfire Old Fashioned” – complete with toasted marshmallow, smoke, and a Graham cracker rim.

I chose “Et Voila” for dinner.  We chuckled thinking of David and his “Voila, Merci” commentary.

This restaurant was outstanding – great service and food, with Missy Burns doing an excellent job of managing the joint while the owner was away.

Everyone loved their meal – yummy baguette, scallops, mussels, and veal.  And all topped off with authentic profiterols.

The night wasn’t over yet.  Our hotel was right next to Petco baseball stadium and the Padres were in position to win their playoff series with the LA Dodgers on Saturday night.  We visited the rooftop bar and had a great view into the stadium.  It was funny to hear the roar of the crowd and then see what happened on TV after a delay.

I think we successfully distracted Kris and Cat from the home building stress for a few hours.

No visit to San Diego is complete without meeting up with Campbell and Mary Bartlett (Molly).  We enjoyed crab and lobster benedicts at the Harbor breakfast restaurant in Little Italy.  They both seem to be doing really well.

I was able to watch the first half of the Cowboys and Eagles football game on the plane home.  It didn’t go the way I wanted at all.  And another last minute weekend getaway was complete.

Mid-month, Will and Christine flew to Spain for a wedding.  Here are the well edited and doctored pictures from that expedition:

We were very pleased to get the news that Dad was finally accepted into a care home, after a year in the hospital ward.  He seems to be settling in okay on most days, with the usual ups and downs.  Here’s a picture of his new digs:

We hope he continues to adjust well to his new environment.

My book this week (I’ve struggled to find the time or inclination to read much recently) was “Upgrade” by Blake Crouch.  I loved this book – a combination of a perfectly paced thriller and near-future sci-fi.  I’m  not usually a sci-fi fan but this story about gene manipulation really didn’t seem too far fetched.

On initially having his DNA “upgraded”:

“Imagine walking through Times Square in New York City and registering each environmental stimulus equally and simultaneously.  The tiny chip in the sidewalk underfoot being given the same priority as every last detail of every incoming pedestrian and the smell of exhaust and food trucks and steam venting out of the subway and urine and every snippet of passing conversation crashing through the auditory inputs right alongside an avalanche of distinct sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations of a city in full operation.

The absence of sensory gating is a key maker for schizophrenia, and actually contributes to making people go insane.  An existence without gating would be torture.”

Miriam, the main character’s mother, on why humans continue to destroy their planet:

“”So you’re saying that people are too stupid?” Basri asked.

“Not just that,” Miriam said.  “It’s denial.  Selfishness.  Magical thinking.  We are not rational beings.  We seek comfort rather than a clear-eyed stare into reality.  We consume and preen and convince ourselves that if we keep our heads in the sand, the monsters will just go away.  Simply put, we refuse to help ourselves as a species.  We refuse to do what must be done.  Every danger we face links ultimately back to this failing.””

I highly recommend this book.

I watched a new Brian Wilson movie on one of my many flights this month, and really enjoyed it.  Most of the movie is a music reporter driving Brian around Los Angeles and visiting historically significant locations from his life and career.  They listen to music along the way, with Brian telling some great stories about the creation of iconic Beach Boys songs.

Here’s an excellent collaboration with Jim James of My Morning Jacket from the soundtrack:

And a lesser known Dennis Wilson track:

I enjoyed an interview with Sir Elton John in the movie where he talks about the chord structure in “Someone Saved My Life Tonight: being a copy of that in “God Only Knows.”  Can you here it?

Two of my dessert island disk selections for sure.  I’ll leave it at that for this posting, and remind myself that it’s too much work to go this long between postings.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!