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27 February 2008
More neighborhood drama earlier
in the week. When will we catch a break? I think the perpetrator will be banned from the site, which will help.
No news on the romance front,
but the editor and I are talking again. We would have seen each other again by
now, but he got the flu and I don’t want it.
No gym this week: I’ve
got a cold, my I wrenched my back during the neighborhood drama, and it’s making me cranky. In lieu of the gym last night I read another Patrick O’Brian book.
This time: The Reverse of the Medal. One of the better ones. Did you know I was a fan of the Aubrey and Maturin novels? You might like them, too.
24 February 2008
I am not watching the Oscars
(no TV, haven't seen the nominated movies), and I am not attending the Academy of Friends gala (no tuxedo). Alas. I did watch a DVD of “Seven Year Itch” which was unwatchable and unfunny. “Paris Je T’Aime” was a little better, although, predictably, the Coen Brothers’
effort was unwatchable and unfunny and even more trite than the mime episode.
Farmers’ market report:
kumquats, navel oranges, red Russian kale, rapini, pork, eggs, white guavas, and red and yellow tulips. I used some of the kumquats to make a caipirinha of sorts: two or three kumquats quartered; seeds flicked
out with the point of the knife; muddled with sugar; ice and brandy added; and stirred until v. cold.
This was the first weekend in
which I had no work at all. I am very relaxed and well-napped.
On the trip to Orlando last week I read two more Raymond Chandler novels: Farewell, My Lovely and The High Window. I also read Balzac's Interdiction (sorry, I don't know what it's called in English). I recommend all three to your attention.
22 February 2008
I'm back from Central Florida. I wouldn't want to live there, but the trip
was good and our hosting co-workers were fantastic. Florida Airport Commission: what's with the blaring TVs everywhere?
And fellow travellers: why sigh when someone sits in the middle seat? Do you think I like being there? And United Airlines
travellers: if you have the money, the $50 or so extra for Economy Plus (lots of extra leg room) is worth it. Completely worth
it. The person ahead of you can tilt back her seat without squashing you. You can get out of the middle seat without rubbing
your crotch or your butt in the face of your neighbor, someone's chubby husband in an ugly polo shirt and chinos.
18 February 2008
Another day off. Heaven. It’s
almost springtime. The flowering plums and the acacias are all in pink and yellow bloom. The birdies are chirping, and the
sun is clearing away the clouds.
17 February 2008
I’m going to central Florida
(!) this week for work, so I don’t know how much I’ll be able to post. It
seems that there are really no decent restaurants in the whole Orlando area, except perhaps some Asian places. Lots of fine dining “concepts” that are more about the glitz than the food. Do admit.
I
am bringing some of my own provisions. I’m willing to be surprised.
Farmers’ market report:
prunes, blood oranges, bacon, rapini. And then a long, long nap.
I saw In Bruges at the
fancy new Sundance Kabuki. Pleasantly huge seats, lots of leg room, and adult drinks (we had beer, but most people had wine). Still. The smell of popcorn pervaded. And at every tense, quiet moment, Chomping Lady in front of us noisily
rustled her bag of potato chips and bit into each one, mouth agape. Collin Farrell
was easy on the eyes as he chewed the scenery from top to bottom.
I enjoyed my day off. Read the
Sunday papers, packed, and went to Green Apple Books with the editor (!) (we’re back on speaking terms). I did
not find anything by the Mitford sisters, alas, but did find a few cheap Aubrey/Maturin books and a nice thick dictionary for work. None of the ones we had at the office included "perseverate."
We then had a lovely 4 p.m. lunch at Pizzetta 211: a salad of roasted golden beets with goat-cheese toasts, and then I had a pizza with browned butter, sage, and sweet potatoes,
and he had one with fava greens, crecenza cheeze, and farm eggs (no tomato sauce on either).
14 February 2008
Happy V.D. to you, dear readers.
I’m not sure what I am doing this evening other than trying to go to the gym. Yesterday I woke up nearly unable to walk:
knee trouble (old hiking injury aggravated by a Paris Metro injury). Doctor was not much help, so I am going to see an orthopaedist.
I looked with envy on joggers and anyone else able to walk up or down the street. Daddy’s getting old.
I continue to be amazed at the
amount of attention the steroids-in-baseball investigation is getting. Does anyone really care?
11 February 2008
Well, let’s see. Slightly
burnt out. I worked a lot this weekend.
We’re having our usual
Washington’s Birthday Warm Spell, so I thought I’d be damned if I went into work on Saturday after the Farmer’s
Market.
The report: blood oranges, sausages,
baby cabbages of two types (Savoy and something pointy), tulips for home and the office, and one other thing whose nature
I do not recall and for which I do not care to get up and look in the fridge at this point.
I somehow ended up going to Rainbow
twice on Saturday, and saw old flames both times. The first time, it was a guy I dated 21 years ago, when I was just a wee
pup (and about 50 pounds lighter). He’s still delightful. The second time,
I had a nice chat with my Brazilian crush, and, dear reader, we have a type of date tomorrow evening. I don’t know what
that means besides dinner. I’ve known him for years, but we’ve never,
ever done anything outside of work. Perhaps he’s thawing toward me. Keep your fingers crossed.
And also: a delightful dinner
on Sunday with friends who cook well and keep a good cellar.
8 February 2008
The second palindromic date of
the year. How could I not post?
Working late, barely made it
to the gym, but thus did not have to break my Lenten vows.
Came home only to be LOCKED OUT.
My jackass landlord’s jackass handyman changed the lock on the front door and (1) did not warn me, (2) did not attempt
to contact me, and (3) did not arrange for me to get the new key. Fortch, a neighbor was home to let me into the building.
Turds all around (but not the neighbor, who was already in his PJs.)
Time for bed now. Weekend
plans: farmers’ market, grocery store, the gym, work (both days), and perhaps a little sunshine, and a nap or two, dinner
with friends on Sunday, and perhaps a little appreciation.
6 February 2006
Well, it’s the beginning
of Lent. I’m giving up something that will be difficult, but it’s time. And no, I won’t say what it is.
I am also giving up making excuses not to have good workouts at the gym, which is another bad habit I’d like to give
up.
Obamamania,
not so much yesterday. Maybe he’ll be ready eight years from now. And those damn Indian-gambling compacts won. Grr.
31 January 2008
Yesterday, Chimpy showed up in the neighborhood but is still TOO AFRAID to visit San Francisco. Hah. Stay away. We don't care for you either.
Still working like crazy. Going
to have a mellower day, I hope, today. A long lunch with my first boss – it’s something we’ve done for almost
25 years now. I’m running late for work – I had to take the car in to the shop to get a new battery – it
barely started last night, when I moved it for street sweeping, and this morning was even more tremulous. After 7 years and
68,000 miles, I can’t complain.
No news on the dating front,
etc., etc. I’ve forgotten how. I am enjoying my new gym, and a friend who came to visit me there pointed out that it
is chock-a-block with gays.
Going up to Sonoma this weekend,
to my country cottage. For the first time in my life, I can say that I have a country place. Slight exaggeration, but I do
have a share in a little cabin overlooking the Coleman Valley. Let’s hope for nice weather. A good friend is coming
from New York, which means that I have to clean the cesspit of an apartment wherein I reside.
26 January 2008
Farmers’ market report:
ham, navel oranges, tulips, eggs, and chard.
I slept 11 hours last night,
by accident. I must have needed it. Unfortunately, I’m behind in my work. I’ll be there all day tomorrow and will
likely have to cancel a date (my first in ages, for those keeping track).
It’s still stormy, but
it was warm enough for folks in my neighborhood to have brunch outside. It could be worse.
Mercury is about to go retrograde, so make back-ups.
22 Jan 2008
Well, let’s see. I’ve
been busy, busy, busy with work. One of the cases I worked on turned out last week.
Since then I’ve been placed on another project that I find fascinating. I also went from having a dreadful cold
to enduring stomach upset (fantastically slimming, but otherwise disagreeable).
And Heath Ledger’s death
today. Shocking and very sad. Only 28.
It’s about 59 degrees in
my apartment. Snow level down to 1,500 feet. It will be another morning where I fry my eggs while wearing a puffy down
jacket.
And I said hello to the cute
guy at the gym. Perhaps too young to date, but still, it would be nice to have someone at the gym to chat with. I know NO
ONE there. He seems quite friendly, and he had a lovely haircut, which is always a good sign.
Farmer's market report: beef, dandelion greens, heirloom
navel oranges, prunes, Hachiya and Fuyu persimmons, and half a loaf from della Fattoria.
13 January 2008
Working tons. Got a cold (likely
as a result). Lots of nasal symptoms.
Farmers’ market report:
blood oranges (at last), pork, broccoli di Chicco (slender sprouting broccoli), and prunes. I was sick and could not imagine
cooking. I’m now feeling better and wish I had bought more.
I have been reading Balzac.
Still don't know where or when I'll take a little vacation.
Hawai'i? New Orleans?
I am looking forward to a new
week.
8 January 2008
The first Palindromic Date of
the year. I hope you enjoyed it. I worked very hard. Lots of thinking and writing.
I didn’t see any of my
inspirations working out at the gym tonight. Perhaps I’ll be luckier tomorrow.
I haven't written any thank-you notes yet. No manners.
6 January 2008
Epiphantic episodes today, anyone?
Farmers’ market report:
it was a very small market, and more than one person commented that it was like the market back when it was at Green Street,
which, in retrospect, has turned out to be everyone’s favorite. I got:
sausages, Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons, very tiny cabbages, and prunes. No flowers today. Friday’s rainstorm would have
knocked them all to the ground. (The power was out at my parents’ for almost 24 hours. They did their taxes by candlelight.
Over five feet of snow in the Sierra, too.)
I worked most of yesterday, and
then went to my downtown gym, expecting it to be empty. But no. Many of my favorites were there, which was inspirational.
Who knew that so many straight guys liked to work out?
Today: more work (but from home),
bill paying (does the word “Rent” mean anything to you?), tidying, shredding, working out, and so forth.
Here are my resolutions from
January 2007, and a little update:
- Pay off all credit card bills by February
1, 2008.
- Not a chance. Still working on that
one.
- Tidiness at home.
- Somewhat better, with periodic lapses
into wanton squalor.
- Entertain more at home.
- Accomplished. I have re-arranged my
front room to better accommodate guests
- Visit Rio in March.
- Learn more conversational Portuguese
before I go.
- Barely done, but I managed
- Meet the two bloggers I did not meet
last year.
- I met one, and he turned
out to be more delightful than I thought
- A good final semester in school.
- Well, I did not hate it, but my grades
were not “good.”
- Pass the Bar exam in July.
- Progress at the gym.
- Begin a long-term relationship.
- Done, but alas it ended after eleven
months.
- Maintain a good balance between work
and life.
- More to do in this department. It was
part of the reason for the break-up of the preceding item.
- Keep on cookin’.
- Done. Because of the editor, I did
a lot more cooking at home than I had in a long while.
3 January 2008
Just finished the letters of
Mitford sisters. I could not put it down.
Good news from the doctor today:
blood work all came out fine, though the cholesterol has been creeping up over the last few years. Probably due to my increased
girth.
Obama and Huckaby. Who woulda
thought. This could get interesting. But still, is Iowa anything like the U.S.? I think not. Or perhaps I live in a bubble
(more likely).
Minor work drama yesterday. Someone
feels threatened. But at least it clarified where and with whom the problem lies.
1 January 2008
Well, here we are in the new
year. I had a few friends over for dinner last night. We were chatting away before
we noticed the sounds of fireworks in the park and the hooting and hollering from the neighbors at midnight. I made a golden beet soup, then braised artichokes (more or less à la Barigoule, but with whole coriander
seeds—the secret), then a beef roast with a tompette de la morte (black trumpet mushroom) butter, roasted carrots with
cumin, and lacinato kale, and then a Meyer lemon tart.
I have been reading my New Favorite Book and therefore getting
none of my chores done. It’s The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters, edited by Charlotte Mosley (2007). Very amusing and very thought-provoking.
31 December 2007
Farmers’ market report:
beef, black trumpet mushrooms, Meyer lemons, carrots, tangerines, leeks, beets, and no flowers, alas.
A look back:
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I passed the California Bar
Exam.
-
I was graduated from law school,
hurrah, and cannot ever be made to go again.
-
I got a small bit of my writing
published.
-
I started a long-term relationship
with a great guy, the first one in seven years(!)
-
That relationship ended, alas.
-
I started a new job.
-
I still have the same car.
-
I have new nieces.
-
I did not gain any weight,
but I got pudgy.
-
I got another gray hair.
-
I visited Rio de Janeiro, Buenos
Aires, Montevideo, New York, Santa Cruz, Montreal, and Chicago.
27
December 2007
Well, let’s see. Santa
brought me a lovely indoor-outdoor thermometer from L.L. Bean. The result: it was 35 degrees this morning outside (some of
you are laughing at the warmth). However, it was also 52 degrees inside this morning. I ate my breakfast in a down coat. So
don't be thinking that the mild California weather does not engender moral fibre.
Xmas was fun. Lots of family. I cooked three big meals in four days. For
the shopping extravaganza on the 22nd, we had a soufflé of Swiss chard, and then a marvel of a ham, carrots with cumin, and
a straw potato cake, and then an apple-quince galette. For the 24th, we had a
turkey broth with a garnish of celery root, fennel, and shallot (in a tiny dice), and then polenta with cod in a red sauce,
and Meyer lemon meringue pie. For the 25th, we had tortellini in my grandmother’s special red sauce, a pork roast (seasoned
with juniper berries and coriander), kohlrabi and Savoy cabbage, a potato-fennel gratin, and roasted carrots, and then a salad
with a Meyer lemon dressing, and then a delicious pumpkin cake my sister made.
I am still in want of an inspiration
(at least wiith respect to gentlemen).
26 December 2007
Happy Elizabeth David's Birthday! Not everyone celebrates Xmas, but everyone can (or should)
celebrate the birthday of the Goddess.
It has been a fun, but exhausting few days. Back to work today. Santa
was good to me.
19 December 2007
Somehow it feels as if it should
be Friday today. And someone stole my morning paper, so I was reduced to reading yesterday’s news.
I’ve been reading a lot.
As you know, I read Hammett’s Maltese Falcon last weekend. Since
then, I’ve also read Raymond Chandler’s Big Sleep (much better) and Joan Didion’s Year of Living
Dangerously. And yes, I omitted the article in the title of each work. Leaving
the article there is an abortion, and it’s not English to follow a possessive with an article,
even though you see it done all the time.
Not having the comics to read
in the morning makes me cranky!
I got my holiday cards done last
night. I picked a new Elizabeth David recipe this year. I’ll post it in a day or so, when I get the scanner warmed up.
18 December 2007
Well, let’s see. It’s
raining and water has been leaking into my apartment from the various things my landslumlord has not or will not fix.
He’s trying to ruin his own investment.
I went to a nice party on Sunday
and met a couple of very nice people, both gay, and both single. Thoughtful and opinionated, too.
Goal #2 is that I am not going
to be late for work today again.
15 December 2007
It was a mistake to not
break my fast before going to the farmers' market this morning. I was good, and ate nothing by mouth (just by eyes and wallet)
until I had my blood test (cholesterol, glucose, etc.). The report: ono (fish), white Malaysian guavas, turnips and their
greens, Splendour and Black Twig apples, a half-loaf of della Fattoria bread, eggs, wakame seaweed salad, and some yellow
lilies.
Last night, after my class, I went to the gym downtown, and then instead of going home, I took myself on a
walk to North Beach (losing my ATM card in the process). I had a square slice or two of pizza at Golden Boy, and then spent
a little while at City Lights Books, where I got The Maltese Falcon (fantastic--I finished it this morning) and a few other
items, including a new translation of Buson's haiku (trans. Yuki Sawa and Edith Marcombe Shiffert). To wit:
This evening
a crow
of autumn melancholy
speaks out.
Yugarasu aki no aware o tsugenikeri
11 December 2007
Well, where are we? There is
something about this time of year that makes me think of a significant anniversary of some sort in my life, but I cannot recall
what it is. Onset of senility, perhaps.
My girth expands unabated, but
at least now that my cold is waning, I can get back to the gym and do something about it.
I got the final, final confirmation
of my status as a lawyer today, so that’s done. Now, on to the next step. One goal is to be a happy lawyer. They
are out there; I’ve met them. On Saturday, an old friend pointed out that for the first time in a long time, I do not
have a concrete goal that I am working toward. Perhaps this ties in with my search for a muse.
Tomorrow: I must remember to
don my suit. I will be someone’s guest at a posh charity dinner directly after work. I think I shall bring my electric
razor to work also, so that I will not look too, too stubbly.
9 December 2007
Farmers’ market report:
a clandestine ham, a Pullman loaf from Della Fattoria bakery, tangerines (Darcy and Satsuma), bolted bok choi (surprisingly
tender and mild), and tiny orange lilies. I wasn’t in the mood to cook much or even think about it.
The office party was lovely,
even though it ended for me on a thought-provoking Heathers note; but I suppose it’s best to know what you’re up against than to stumble along in blithe ignorance.
Dinner last night for a friend’s
birthday at the new Bar Jules, which I think I might come to love.
Still having fantasies about
taking a quick trip somewhere to get the Hell out of Dodge.
It is a new moon today, so it's time to think about a few
resolutions for the next phase of my life.
6 December 2007
Well, let’s see: I’m
single. I called in sick today, and used the excuse of moving the car at the
street-sweeping hour to have tea at Peet’s in the Castro (must get back into circulation). I spent the rest of my time
quite unproductively. Just puttering. I went to Kabuki Hot Springs to warm up and thence to the gym.
And I realized that I have a
muse. He’s inspiring, tall and handsome and well-built and very smart and has a very cool (& scholarly) job, and
he can quote Keats off the cuff, and he has a boyfriend I like very much. So he’s safe: I don’t want him, I want
to be like him.
Since it has been rainy and drizzly
all day, I ate tangerines, and made a little supper of lacinato kale (long-cooked), and some cannellini beans à la Bostonienne
(with bacon, mustard, and maple syrup).
5 December 2007
At 11:03 a.m. yesterday I became
a lawyer. I attended the mass swearing-in ceremony with my co-workers.
“FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur.
As Wordsworth once put it.
Actually, it’s more like
14 years from the time I first entertained the idea of law school, but then Steve got sick and my plans necessarily changed.
I saw Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress last night. Very enjoyable, even if all the singing wasn’t up to par.
3 December 2007
A very restful weekend. It involved
naps and other sorts of relaxation, and even rented DVDs (Me, You & Everyone We Know, which was unwatchable – L.A.
anomie does not make for a good movie; and Match Point, which was fine enough, although I had to fast-forward through the
last half to sustain any interest). Why are movies so long?
Farmers’ market report:
white Malaysian guavas!, pork, chrysanthemums for the office, Honey tangerines, Darcy tangerines, and cavolo nero.
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