Stopping to Take Some Time

Reid and I decided to take a day to celebrate moving in together by having an(other) oyster picnic.

We have a whole extra kitchen set now so I took one stainless steel pot out to make into a pot we could use on the grill. It came in really handy for a pound of clams we bought.

We followed the basic instructions provided by the girl at Hog Island Oyster farms:

* Melt butter in a pot.
* Cook chopped shallots in butter
* Add some beer or wine (we used Red Stripe, a lager)
* Add parsley (optional -- we didn't have any)
* Put unopened clams into pot, not too crowded, and make sure the liquid covers them
* Cover pot and cook until clams open



* Eat with fork (and bread) and give a little happy sigh because it's the middle of the week, you're taking time to enjoy your life, and it tastes so damn good.



It was a wonderful day.

ADDENDUM: I completely forgot that we had some near-misses with exploding chestnuts during this picnic -- always slice the skin of your chestnuts before putting them on the grill, unless you want them to go off like shotgun shells in a poof of powdery chestnut.

Practice Makes Perfect

I'm not sure what to say about this, except that, in a live debate environment, you'd think you would get away from the repetition seen in political ads.

Thanks to Cris Logan for sharing with me.

A Big Surprise

I turned 29 last month and had the best birthday week ever!

I took most of the week off at Reid's suggestion (sneaky Reid!) and spent my birthday selling my furniture on Craigslist, which was pretty much exactly what I wanted to do. Reid and I had decided the night before my birthday that we were going to move in together, YAY.

Later that evening Reid picked me up and told me that my surprise was that we were going to dinner at a restaurant we had watched being remodeled on the Filbert steps, and that it was opening night and my hero, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, was going to be there. I was very excited. He told me he forgot my present at his house and so we walked a block over to get it. We walked in the door and I noticed party decorations and that his apartment was very very clean.

You can guess what happened next.

A ton of smiley, party-dressed friends burst out and scared the crap out of me. All I could do was stare around at everyone and their smiling faces!

And then--

And then!

My mom came walking out from the hallway. My mom, who lives in Utah and who I had just been talking to that morning about how we needed to get together soon and how it had been too long, came walking down the hallway. I couldn't believe Reid had done the whole thing and pulled it off! My mom and I saw each other and just started crying!

After we wiped off our tears and gave big hugs, we had a great time. All the different groups of friends and my mom were together in one room talking to each other and having a good ol' time. Our neighbors, Reid's sister, my oldest friend, work friends, Reid's friends--everyone was there.



All my friends got to see my new place (Reid's place!) and admire the view. Reid was the best host ever and kept everyone well-supplied with tasty hors d'oeuvres and wine. Everyone loved Reid for doing the whole thing.

My mom and I got toasted.

It was the best party ever.

When we were good and drinkity and most of the guests had gone home Reid decided that I should open up presents, which is problematic because the next day I had to figure out who had given me what.

Reid decided I needed a present-opening hat.

I decided that Reid needed a hat, too.

Reid liked his hat.

We were having a good time and my mom was having a good time taking photos, apparently :)


After all the presents were opened we decided we should put other things on our heads.
Like Reid's rabbit fur.

And a random wig someone left at the party (Reid said it must be a good party if someone leaves a wig).

The next day my mom and I just spent recovering.

...and my mom got to put some things on her head, too.

That Saturday I had made Reid plan me a different birthday gathering, since I was unawares of the other party, and so we headed off to Pt. Reyes again for another oyster fest, exactly what I wanted to do. The similar group of friends all got to hang out together again, now knowing each other. All the photos I took there were with my Holga, so I'll scan and post them another time.

The Stars at Lake Shasta

At the end of September a big group of friends took a trip to Lake Shasta, a massive reservoir up north, to have a weekend of houseboating and good times.

This was my first time on what has been a long-running annual trip for them.

There was a lot of this


a lot of this




Hip E


and a little of this.


And a lot more which I can't show.

By the second day it was all a bit overwhelming, with too many people on a boat at once and I started to feel sick, which is somewhat inevitable for me. The last night was a blow out with everyone going nuts dancing and partying, and I partook for a while before feeling too sick and hiding out.

Eventually everyone settled down to bed and Reid and I were sleeping on the roof of the boat with a few other people. Someone put on Stars of the Lid and I drifted in and out of consciousness looking at the massive amount of clear bright stars in the moonless sky.

When very ill our senses are somewhat more heightened for sensation as we search our bodies for causes and needs. I lay in the dark and felt the breeze and my eyes would open as the music swelled and I glimpsed the stars of the universe and my eyes closed on their own again as the music died. There was a cold breeze that ran across the top of the boat as we lay warm in our sleeping bags side by side.

It's hard to describe without actually hearing the music, and I have no pictures of the night sky at Shasta, so I have an activity for you.

Click the Youtube video below to play, but ignore the visuals and only pay attention to the audio, and then click this link. Open and close your eyes as the music swells and dies, and imagine lying on the roof of a boat in the middle of a quiet lake as a chilled breeze blows across your cheeks, and you will feel much better, too.

Dissasembly

Remember the supersonic rocket ship facility? Well, here's what we were doing there . This was shot over 4 days in 113 degree heat in Downey, California. Big nod to the guys in the red jumpsuits. They're working even harder than it looks like.

A Busy Summer

What a crazy summer it's been, with mainly work making my life hectic, but managing to squeeze in fun here and there.  

I went to Chautauqua, New York, to visit with Reid's parents over the 4th of July.  It's an incredible literary, cultural, and art community, and I had a great time with them.

Reid and I went camping in Gold Country at the Yuba River.
"Come! take chances!"
Old gold claim



Visited Emily's new apartment
Went back to LA, stressed out, watched other people eat things with eyeballs.

Went white water rafting with the Jo-tel, the Fell-tel, and the Haigh-tel.

Went to Ghent, Belgium for work
Ate some Belgian food.
Met a Belgian in cowboy boots who flies to Texas to cook Italian food for a wealthy family.
Saw some very old buildings

Was lucky to travel with a very nice colleague

When we were both very tired and hangry we still managed to get along, Jose Luis putting up with some very corny jokes from me about cupcakes.
Saw some more amazing sights in Ghent while walking around.


Some wonderful old friends came to see me from Cambridge while I was there -- Haylie and Jim.
Drank some good beer here -- De Koningk and La Chouffe.

A clever way to get hold of the right person in a full house. (click to see)
Worked with some wonderful people, Tamara and Pascal.

Took a train for a day trip to see more friends in Amsterdam.


Ubiquitous snack stand in Amsterdam.  
My wonderful friend Jordi.
I rode a bike around Amsterdam with a very happy and adorable couple, Jordi and Jolly.
Went back to Ghent to finish up, celebrated a successful working relationship and our departure with beer in a garden.

The next morning we got up at 5 to catch a train to a train to Paris to catch a flight, as the Brussels airport was on strike (of course).

When we got back and launched, we toasted the team at Trattoria Contadina in North Beach.

Took a break over a weekend for another camping trip with Reid, and some early morning rope-swinging into Bass Lake.
And I'm turning 29 in a week.  Hard to believe.  

With all this crazy work stuff I did have to cancel two trips this summer, which makes me really sad.  One to visit my friends in England (two of whom instead came to visit me while I was in Europe) and one to go to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with my mom.  I had such a wonderful time on my solo trip last year, just passing through. The other trips I've taken this summer only were for weekends. 

I have a bunch of vacation time and am trying to figure out what to do with it, all alone as no one else has time. Any ideas?