Since my last blog post, I moved to San Francisco, joined Facebook, and accumulated a lot more stuff. I have adjusted to writing in soundbites, and I don't quite know what to say when provided with so much space.
Take one room of your current house, apartment, dorm room, or any living space and examine how much stuff you have managed to fit into it. How many of us live with simply a mattress and enough clothes to make it to the next laundry cycle? Not many, I would say.
The funny thing is that taking a cleanser to your space is actually quite rewarding. Getting there is the hard part.
If you don't have the objective of an upcoming move, here's what I suggest. Just give it a try. Take a few empty boxes and put those little gifts that someone gave you and you can't seem to give away into one of them. Put the clothes that you haven't worn in the last year into another one. Finally, add the things you love that you do use/wear all the time (too much of the time) into the last box. Put the boxes in a storage closet or a friend's house.
Give it a few days. Isn't it a wonderful feeling? Those items that ended up in the first couple of boxes were just taking up space. Those items in the third box were so worn out, and now you have a chance to get new, updated, and more modern versions of whatever they were.
Call your friend and tell him or her to bring the boxes to a local charity. Don't forget the receipt. Use the tax write-off to add to your savings and don't buy so much stuff next year!
It seems to me lately that cancer is pervading the lives of everyone I know and love. Throat cancer, brain cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, luekemia, melanoma, and lymphoma have affected my immediate friends and family. It is almost impossible not to become a bit of a hypochondriac. After all, catching "it" early can be a lifesaver.
I have recently discovered that more and more pets are also getting cancer. Today, a friend told me that she and her husband decided to have chemotherapy administered to their dog. This is a very tough decision to make. Should we do the same or similar things for our pets that we do for our other loved ones?
Rather than answer these tough questions, I would rather we found a cure. Is it possible? Will it ever be? Perhaps we need more scientists and less lawyers.
I very much enjoyed our pumpkin carving activities at Keren's last night. Nelly referred to it as "pumpkin stabbing," and that seems fair in light of the great joy we all took in pulling out the knives to attack these guys.
Some highlights from my emails to my friends last week:
Oct 16th:
Our reservation for the cheapest compact car panned out to be a manual deisel-fed BMW. So, we are zooming along everywhere we go. It is a ton of fun. Although I had not slept much on the plane, I was in good spirits at 9a.m., and we headed straight for Sintra, just northwest of Lisbon.
It is a vibrant town. After finding a small cafe where I discovered the secret, special pastries that were hidden behind the counter (not sure if this discovery had anything to do with my batting my eyelashes at the garcon), we headed to the Moorish Castle. Well, at least, that is where we thought we were headed. We were soon plucked off the side of the road by Antonio the bus driver (who was driving an empty tour bus). That was quite fortunate because it turned out that the castle is miles up a steep winding road with nosidewalks, where the buses and cars cross paths with little more thanan inch between them.
We enjoyed walking around the castle and Pena Palace before heading back into town. Shortly thereafter, though, we realized that we had no idea where we had left the car (the streets all looked the same!). We found it, eventually, and had a bite to eat before heading down to the Algarve. That is where you find me now. After a wonderful breakfast overlooking the ocean in Salema, I am ready to walk to Sagres -- at the end of the world, as it is known.
Oct 17th:
I write to you now from a place far more wonderful than even the end of the world -- the island off the coast of Tavira.
After visiting Sagres on the far southwestern tip of Portugal, Amy and I travelled along the coast of the Algarve to a number of small towns and beaches. We spent Monday night in Lagos (unfortunately remembered as the firstport where the African slave trade was initiated). After a 3-course meal that included a shared bottle of red wine for <9 Euro.
On our way east, we stopped off at Praia de Rocha (just south of Portimao) and sat out in front of the rocky coast on the white sandy portion of the beach, sipping sangria. It turned out to be a beautiful beach day, but we decided to continue on after relaxing a bit, walking the boardwalk, and dipping our toes in the ocean. I have to point out here that coming to the Algarve after the tourist season ends (in mid-September) is a really good move. The weather is great,and the areas that must normally be packed -- at least based on the number of tables out in front of all of the restaurants -- are only mildly populated. We took our mini-beemer along to Albufeira and had a short adventurethere before winding up back on the highway to Tavira. We have now settled here for a couple of days. This morning was so lovely that we decided to hit the island nearby. It has the longest stretch of undeveloped white sandy beaches that I have ever seen. The sky is the same color as the ocean and stretches high and wide in every direction. I went for a long run to see if I could find the end (I did not) and came across very few folks. The ones that I did see were quite naked. I cannot say that I turned a blind eye, but rather let a smile creep onto my face as I tried to keep pace.
Oct 19th:
Lisbon is a lot like SF -- hilly and fabulous. We earned our keep hiking the narrow switchbacks and enjoyed wonderful local food at Velho Macedo on Rua de Madelina (sp?) for dinner lastnight. We followed that with excellent jazz on Rua de Rosa atCaracass (sp?), and a stop at the hottest night club, Lux. In between, we discovered that Rua de Italia is THE spot to enjoy a fewbeers on the street. There were people and music shutting out thetraffic, but it appeared to be a regular and natural occurrance (rather than a street festival).
The power of friendship is enormous, but the words of wisdom that come from others that you know and trust can be even grander. I very much enjoyed a wonderful weekend of friendship and the sharing of each other's wisdom. I also made and was treated to some homemade local food, which was just plain old good for the soul.
While I realize that this is out of context, I was reminded of my long lost blog in part because I wanted to share these words of wisdom:
I need to think about peacemaking mostly
I already feel empowered
just impatient
with the problems we face, the divisions between us
no reason to be impatient
life is made up of a series of problems
we prove ourselves as human beings by how we calmly address them.
Well, it's a snowy Valentine's day. No hearts or flowers, but I did get an early birthday present in the mail at my office. What a treat!
I had a blast at my annual shindig. Lots of drinkin' and dancin' and a good time had by all.
I look forward to a large group ski trip this weekend with folks coming from NYC to SF, I really appreciate the love. The best part is the chefs who have come out of the woodworks. We are having macadamia encrusted chicken one night and seafood gumbo the next, not to mention pancakes and snazzy desserts.
Ohhh -- I can't wait to hit the slopes after this big storm is over!
A week of sun and sand was refreshing and much needed, but I still did not manage to read just one book. I am not sure that I even read more than 4 chapters.
We're not talking tough reading, here, either. And, ahem, we're not talking about the book club book for next week which I have yet to start, or, um, even purchase. What happened? A few short years back -- in the 3rd grade -- I listed "reading" as my favorite hobby. Perhaps I was really just looking for brownie points, but you get the point here.
I went south. I went north. I saw my best friend from kindergarden. I saw my best friend from high school. I saw my best friend from band camp. Need I say more?
All three of these occupied my mind this past week.
On Thursday, a new ice skating rink opened. On Friday, a fire closed off most of the area surrounding the rink. Alas, I have turned my attention to skiing. Utah is a definite, Vermont a very likely, but I just cannot commit to the ski trip to VA. There's just something about it that doesn't feel right.
So, let's see. Dude, I've totally let the blog slide, but my interest in food and drinks has not. Still, I got to a few cultural events and parties this weekend.
On Friday night, I went to Pilobolus followed by a late-night outing to Petit Robert. Both were phenomenal, and the company was an added bonus. Saturday morning, I went to my first baby naming. It was long, but again accompanied by good company and good food. Saturday afternoon, Alison and Carrie and I went to the Holiday Market, which was a bit of a disappoinment after last year. I still walked away with good gifts.
Saturday evening, I walked away with a tool kit at the Yankee Swap. I was quite happy until the dance club later that evening took it from me on the condition that it might contain weapons.
Sunday morning, Gretch and I went to the Columbus Cafe. In the afternoon, Aquene and I had tea at Trident, and Sunday evening I went to Paul's "sketchy" show. That was a way to end the weekend!
I have been off-line some of the time, but Blogger has been deficient more of the time.
Anyway, turkey day was fantastic. It started off strong at 9 a.m. with my completing the gobble gobble gobble in the rain with a good crew from college (Gretch, Sandy, Brad, Mere, Melissa, and Dave). My mom and I then made a 16 pound turkey. By Thursday night, 14 pounds remained. Today, there are less than 10 pounds of turkey left.
It's a good thing I'm going through that turkey quickly. This Wednesday's book club meeting may result in our choosing the Omnivore's Dilemma as our next read. This month, we read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I loved and recommend. At a minimum, the book makes you ask yourself, are those cute shoes really worth it?
I am so looking forward to this weekend. I know it will be great. I just hope that I don't catch another cold on the plane ride home.
It is not yet Halloween, but I made good use of this year's costume. Friday night was an event calling for costumes or creative black tie. I have yet to determine what creative black tie is, so I opted for the former.
Saturday night, I hosted my own shindig, which (if I might say it myself) was quite a success. Around 75 people; all but 3 came in costume. It was a good time, but it didn't help me to shake my gnawing cold.
Sunday night, my "boss" had the core folks who I work with daily over to his house -- in costume. Families were invited; the kids were adorable and had a blast.
Now, Halloween is tomorrow, but I think the time has come to throw in the costume!
I just sampled a new herbal supplement to try to curb a cold. It's called Airborne. I haven't seen great results, as I am probably too far into the cold this time. What's interesting about the name of it, and true for me, is that I always seem to get a cold shortly after I fly. Why is this? Do planes really maintain higher concentrations of the virus? Wouldn't subways carry just as many germs?
Perhaps it also has something to do with my trying to fit in one too many activities during my travels (and sleeping too little). Then again, that is not so different from my everyday life.
I regressed throughout the weekend, managing an intermediate stop between dinner and dancing for drinks (surprise, surprise) at Mie N Yu Saturday night. Kudos to Alysa for the suggestion (even though she wasn't joining us). I love the play on words. Good atmosphere. Great cocktails. Only the beer-drinkers were a little unhappy that there was no tap at all. They felt a little better about that, though, after enjoying a 20 oz. Bass out of a bottle made them feel better about that, though.
As to cuisine, I hit a few oldies (Sake Club) and a few newbies (Grill from Ipanema and Neyla), but shook it off with a little merengue at Paper Moon and a run on the Rock Creek Loop.
The highlight, though, was probably the orangutan under the sheet. He just made my day.
Andrea went home after her BMT and hospital stay. I am so happy! I look forward to trying out the new cookbooks and making her time at home as much fun as possible. For her, I'll even try to do better than chilli and pasta.
It might surprise you that the answer is yes.
I attend a lot of events. Last night's was a ton of fun, but it had one key flaw. They served the delicious molten chocolate cake 20 minutes before the Keynote speaker began. As I know her personally and was excited to hear her speak, it was disappointing to see half of the room leave before she got started. The event was essentially over before it really began.
Now, a dessert buffet, where one can go up after the speaker is done and mingle with others over coffee and such, seems like a much better call.
They are the bain of my existence. When I was in college, my mother would send me a roll of quarters every so often to help me out. Now, I am on my own, and I need to scrounge up my own quarters.
I finally got myself to the bank during banking hours to get a pound of 'em, but it turns out they won't serve you if you're not a member. I guess I will have to keep on giving the confused cashier one dollar and 17 cents when the fruit/gum/chocolate comes to 67 cents. (For all of you that took Hypercard instead of Math, my change in that scenario is 2 quarters.)
I went apple picking for the first time this past Saturday. After a lot of debate as to whether it should be Doe or Honey Pot, we ended up at Applecrest. It was fantastic. There are still 7 varieties available, the activities were numerous, the kids were playing, the sun was shining, and we tasted (illicitly?) along the way.
With a little nudge from Tom that we stop to pick up an Apple Corer on the way home and a couple of calls to my mom as to what ingredients I needed, I *easily* baked my first apple pie. I brought it to Aquene's birthday party. I got lots of compliments. (Thanks Mom!)
I have to throw in that I also had my first night on a stage in a karaoke bar with Ky and Steve, but it is certain not to be my last. Whatever was in that pie, it gave me a little extra singing ability (or so it seemed by that point in the evening).
In other highlights, I had a fantastic reunion with the ChemE women and a beautiful fall-colored drive out to the Cape for Jim's send-off.
I want to salute Columbus for taking credit where credit was not necessarily due. His day was a good day, as was the entirety of the weekend that was all the more enjoyable because I knew it would be a long one.
There was fun in the sun -- on the roofdeck and at the 10k (kudos to Sandra and I). There was even greater fun after dark as I hit some of my favorite spots each night with some of my favorite people -- Tonic, Kashmir, Eastern Standard and Tapeo. Got to celebrate birthdays, too (Paul and Ruthie have almost caught up to me!). Big thanks go to Alison for helping me to finally get curtains up -- it was getting beyond ridiculous. Now, if I can just get to those light fixtures!
