“It’s Beginning to Feel…”
There was quite a bit of activity after I posted last Sunday. Diana and her elf, Alicia, put up Clorinda’s Christmas tree very efficiently.
Then Diana single handedly assembled a new bedside table that she had secretly ordered up for me. Thanks D!
Later in the afternoon, Andy and Jude came over and shared stories and pictures of their visits to New Orleans and France. Marco and Gianluca joined for a brief visit later in the evening. I enjoy chatting with Gianluca about the World Cup.
Tuesday was a full travel day. We dropped Amy in Burlingame to pick up her repaired Volvo, dropped Marco’s car back in Redwood City, then delivered Marco to his friend Pete to watch the USA vs Iran football match. Marco had decided, earlier in the morning, that watching the football was a much better offer than driving Keith and Diana to the airport. So, we had to Uber to SFO, making it to the Admirals Club in time to watch the exciting end to the football match.
The flight home was uneventful. I watched “Bullet Train” with Brad Pitt – a quirky and hilarious movie, spoiled by unnecessarily egregious violence. Why do they do that to clever movies?
Wednesday was back to working in my office for most of the day. I do enjoy spending time in my office with all my toys at hand.
We put up our Christmas decorations on Thursday. When I say “We”, you know I mean Diana – all I did was heft a few boxes downstairs. The Christmas tree is up and several decorations are out – including Santa Peaty (because he’s cradling some nice peaty Scotch.) I always enjoy listening to Diana unboxing ornaments – “Your parents gave us this one in 2013, and this one in 2016.” We are surrounded by even more penguins now.
Here’s the finished tree with the special Angel on top:
I enjoyed an “Eater San Francisco” email that I received on Thursday – “24 Food-filled hours in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.” They mention starting at Soul Grind – our favourite Pacifica coffee shop, the most beautiful Taco Bell on the beach next door, and a restaurant in Half Moon Bay with octopus, ceviche, and piscos that we’ll need to try on our next visit.
https://sf.eater.com/2022/11/30/23486527/pacifica-half-moon-bay-best-restaurants-bars-guide
It was funny that Will texted D just a few minutes after I sent her the article, asking what she thought about these recommendations.
On Thursday evening I dragged Diana to watch the “Neil Young: Harvest Time” movie at the iPIC theater. This is a film from 1971 when Harvest was being recorded in various locations and with various musical groups – including the phenomenal “A Man Needs a Maid” with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO).” The movie was only shown for one night in theaters across the country, so I’m glad I was able to convince McD to accompany me and that she didn’t snooze through the entire show. The section with the LSO was the highlight for both of us. Young was very frustrated that the orchestra was dragging behind the beat and had to work with the conductor to watch his hands on the piano and sync things up. I think the result is excellent and was going to include a link, but Neil has removed all his albums from Spotify.
Saturday was project day. I assembled the coffee table that we got for Finn – a solid 2 hour process with supervision (but no help) provided by McD. The World Cup did keep me entertained as I slaved away.
My next project was much less time consuming. Drilling a drain hole in the bottom of a plant pot that is going to house a new cactus baby from C-Boy for Finn. Unauthorized video was captured and Diana chuckles when she watches my satisfaction with the work at the end.
And the finished product:
Sunday has been Christmas prep day so far, with wrapping and cards in progress in both offices. We’re off to a Christmas concert tonight with Marica Ball, Carolyn Wonderland and Shelly King. Should be good – we saw them a few years ago and enjoyed it very much. I’ll give an update next week.
My first book this week was “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin. Here’s the online summary:
“The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women’s issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism, generating a mixed reaction from contemporary readers and critics.The novel’s blend of realistic narrative, incisive social commentary, and psychological complexity makes The Awakening a precursor of American modernist literature; it prefigures the works of American novelists such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and echoes the works of contemporaries such as Edith Wharton and Henry James. It can also be considered among the first Southern works in a tradition that would culminate with the modern masterpieces of Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, and Tennessee Williams.”
I enjoyed the characters and the Grand Isle plantation setting in this tale quite a bit.
My second book this week was “Less is Lost” by Andrew Sean Greer. This is the follow up to the Pulitzer Prize winning “Less” – a book I loved a few years ago.
I think the descriptions that Greer comes up with are wonderful. Here is a sampling:
“Less and the van have taken a while to get to know each other; he is certainly used to old cars, but not to something that feels so human. Every time he moves, it moves with him, like a drunken dance partner. And the reverse is true; since it vibrates dramatically, and he is clenched to its controls, he finds himself vibrating right along. Like driving a martini shaker. “
“The landscape is reversed; the desert is now in the sky, streaked with heliotrope and tawny gold as if along the crests of sand dunes, and below it spreads a dark galaxy of spiny plants; the Joshua trees. They lie out on the horizon in clumps, Holy Rollers at a revival, lifting their heavy arms.”
“Out of a mute gray sky comes a confectioners’ sugaring of snow, revealing massive Kaibab Plateau outcroppings; frosted towers above some unseeable abyss. The snow, at first just handfuls of flour thrown by playful gods in their divine kitchen, grows in intensity until it becomes a cream-pie food fight: one of those whiteout storms common to high desert plains.”
“Less and Dolly pass through Amarillo and into a land of sagebrush, dead armadillos, more churches than doughnut shops and more doughnut shops than gas stations. The rest is sun and hard earth.”
“Beyond the streaked windshield, a view of Orleans Square, presided over by a parliament of live oaks, bearded in Spanish moss, their long arms frozen in the uncanny gestures of inverted octopuses.”
“The miles go by, as does a relay race of local radio stations.”
“How well he knows this route, and, after a few scratches, how easily the stylus falls into the vinyl groove of memory.“
This is a book that manages to be very funny and poignant at the same time. Highly recommended and going in my “Best Reads” section of the bookcase.
Luke Winslow King, Vince’s buddy and one of my favourite musicians, has a new album out. His slide guitar is featured more than usual – definitely a good thing:
We watched a couple of episodes of “Down to Earth” on Netflix. This is a show featuring Zac Efron focusing on environmental issues – this series from Australia. I heard an interesting song on the sound track – by an Australian band named Bonjah. Here are a couple of their songs.
I also watched “Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues” – an excellent documentary, which led me to this masterpiece:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!