Thursday 30 September 2010

Day 2 of air-drying towels in the living room. PB&J on toast, served on "my" plate.

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Tyler Clementi's facebook photo.
Today, a large part of my brain was occupied thinking about this young man. Tyler Clementi jumped off the Washington Bridge last week. Shortly before that, it seems his Rutgers dorm roomate used a digital camera to invade his privacy and broadcast, online, Clementi's encounter with another man. These could have been my students. The link is to the NYT article.


Edit. AP photo of vigil held 4 October at Brower Commons.

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Nasturtium. Sukkot.

Raindrops on the nasturtium, which is finally doing well. (Is that plant's name really spelled that way? That makes no sense to me.) Sukkot shows up in the neighborhood just as fall creeps in. I'm always a little jealous of this holiday that causes families to squeeze the last drops out of summer. This year, the structures also prompt me to think: this is the last time I'll be here to see them.

Monday 27 September 2010

Tree. Bagel.

The long dead tree finally came down. Either none of us in the building were home at the time or, despite our being here, it didn't make a sound. Specifically a damn good cinnamon raisin Bagel with walnut cream cheese. I have to ration myself here but doubt I'll be able to find one in San Diego.

Friday 24 September 2010

Grapes and bees. Locked bike.

This is a day where it is unclear which picture is "good" and which is "bad". I'm not yet sure.

I'd forgotten that the farmer's market would be open when I wandered through Union Square. Grapes are in season and there were bees everywhere. The chutzpah of the second got me to take out my camera.

I'm hoping to keep this relaunched blog up for a year, with maybe a few pre-announced, scheduled breaks. I usually post the day's pics late at night. But last night we were out late and I couldn't do it. I think I may start aiming for morning posts--so each days post will be of the previous day's activity. (Somehow announcing this feels like I'm revising a policy for practical reasons, rather than just being flaky.)

Thursday 23 September

Baby girl clothes. Chaat.

My camera is back, so 2 "good" pics. We have a new niece who, apparently, I think will be a mod. I made chaat. For dinner.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

I left my camera plugged in to my computer all night and ended up with two drained batteries. No pics.

So words instead:

1 thing: Once upon a time, there was a little girl who had to move away from San Diego. Though she was only five, she thought moving away was stupid. She'd never heard of the place her family was going to, some "Sacramento" in northern California. She let her parents know that she was unpleased.

Another thing: 2 co-habitating grown-ups can buy membership to the San Diego Zoo for $89 a year which allows admission to the zoo and Wild Animal Park, tours, and rides on the skytram. Kids under 3, should they appear or visit, get in free.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

View from the back of the Staten Island Ferry. Hot Tamales.

Old friends were in NYC for the high holidays and for some dental surgery. I took the ferry in to meet up; had the whole back deck to myself on this first day of fall with crazy gorgeous weather. Hot Tamales are relatively healthy, as candies go. But probably not if you eat the whole box in one sitting.

Monday 20 September 2010

Cake. Fairy Lights.

I made a marble, orange chocolate bundt cake. From scratch. And it was kinda easy. I may be vaguely domestic after all. During this year's brutal summer the squirrels, for the first time ever, decided to eat my fairy lights. Maybe LED is yummier? They cleared all the way through the wire in several spots. I was finding lights and wire bits for weeks. I was annoyed, but also assume this wasn't good for them. (They also ate a jalapeno. In that case, whatever they got was probably fair punishment.)

Friday 17 September 2010

Laundry Pile. Ye Olde teacup.

I no longer even remember what is in that basket, but at least it's clean. The teacup is favorite colors and from an antique shop in Edinburgh. It is (to my American ears) impossibly old. 18th century maybe? Early 19th?

Blogging about blogging navel-gazing comments: Maybe 5 people read this--but it is public enough that I'm not posting some pics of bags I picked up this afternoon--pics which could decidely be looked at as either happy or scary. Hm.

On a less-related note--Florence and the Machine rock. Yep.

Thursday 16 September 2010

Belated rain in garden. Ditto. Bad banana.

Keeping in mind the state of my garden all summer and my plan to make banana bread tomorrow, decidedly a "which is the good, which is that bad" series today.

(Sept 17 note. Bananas still there. No baking yet.)

Wednesday 15 September 2010

No pics, just words



Insomnia



Ambien

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Injured finger. Frog bear.

Did some rehab on the garden. Ended up slightly injured. Forgot to take a happy picture. But this bear frog always makes me happy. Siblings buy cool gifts.

Weekend Adventures: Monday 13 September 2010

Bridge. Dirty coffee cups, etc.

I'm leaving the east coast, after 10 years here, very soon. We've been spending weekends doing things and as I record these next few months, it seems a shame to leave out that fun stuff. So. A shot of the Brooklyn Bridge, which we finally walked over a wee while back. And a bin of dishes at Blue Bottle Coffee in that same borough. I actually think the bin is kinda cool looking, but I'd probably have a different view if I had to do the washing up.

Friday 10 September 2010

Dinner. Wee purse.

Seemed like a good idea at the time, not so much an hour later. The little bag from John Lewis in London lets me switch purses easily and reminds me of a fab trip.

Thursday 9 September 2010

Handsoap. Book and snack.

It's somewhat ridiculous to pay $12 for handsoap. But every time I use this stuff to wash my hand I think, "ooh, that smells good." Reminds me to take time to enjoy little good moments in my day. I'm rereading the book which, in and of itself, is quite good. But at the same time I'm trying to watch what I eat and it isn;t helping that at all.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Packaged up books. Bedside clutter.
Listing books, not worth moving, on Amazon. Even if it sells for 1 penny, it finds a new home and I make a bit of cash. Used magazines will be harder to unload.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Healthy snack. Stuff to clear out.

Trying to eat healthier. (Basically, trying NOT to live on sugar.) I want to try radishes, carrot, maybe some basil again--but first need to get all this out of the way.

Labor Day Weekend 2010

Bonus, overly positive, long weekend edition:

The Great Falls of Paterson, NJ. Industrial street and hills in Paterson. Pasteis de nata from Teixeira Bakery in Newark. Extra books in Edison.

As we gear up to move, we're visiting local sites. Paterson has waterfalls as well as some old industrial buildings. It is an oddly lovely area. When we visited, there was also a street fair being held in the state park: families, carnival rides, the smell of Latino foods in the air foods, and a man using a chainsaw to carve eagles out of woodblocks. The Ironbound in Newark has Portuguese bakeries with really good, really cheap bread, pasteries and coffee. Moving also means sorting through belongings. Who will take my stacks and stacks of unwanted paperbacks?

Friday 3 September 2010

Flower on a hyacinth bean vine. Twine and dead cucumber plants.

This past week the New York Times noted that this summer has been the hottest on record. It was also notably dry. Everyone's yards look terrible. For the most part, my garden is no exception.

Thursday 2 September 2010

Pile of recycling in the kitchen corner. Farm market potatoes, ready for roasting.

Recycling is good for the planet, but I get annoyed by the reality that we always have a pile like this to trip over next to the kitchen door. Cutting potatoes into regular sized chunks is simple, yet meditative--and they taste good too!

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Empty Soda Bottle. Boxes of stuff.

I'm back after a hectic spring semester and hot summer. Major changes are ahead this academic year. The soda bottle reminds me of a fabulous roadtrip that wrapped up the summer. The boxes remind me that my time on this coast is coming to an end.