June 2009
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May 31
We did a repeat of the bike ride around Davis Island, along Bayshore, and to the air force base.
May 2009
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May 30
Finally, at the ballpark for a win.
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May 29
I had such a busy night, I almost forgot to have dessert. At midnight, I made a bowl of turtle trails and peanut butter zig zag, with a generous squeeze of chocolate sauce. Oh yeah.
'Breakfast with Barack Obama'
Unfortunately, I can’t find Craig Brown’s genius take on “Breakfast with Barack Obama” from the June 2009 issues of Vanity Fair online. Here’s a few bits of it: MONDAY - These cornflakes are real and they are everywhere. And I tell you this, Michelle, I say. The packet may have been shaken, but the flakes will recover. So it is with profound gratitude and great...
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blue plumbago
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May 28
I’ve driven by this old fence on the side of the road several times. I love the cascading letters and the old wooden planks. I finally decided to pull over to grab some pictures. I’m not particularly cute, but I was subjected to a few “hey baby”s and several honks. I only took a few photos and then hightailed it outta there.
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Kennyi Aouad
I was totally charmed by Kennyi during today’s Bee. (Last bee post, I promise.) Here’s the clip from his appearance two years ago, when the word “sardoodledom” set him giggling.
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word of the day
That William Faulkner certainly knows his way around a dictionary. Stumped by a word and wondering if it may have been a typo, I turned to Merriam and Webster. In the spirit of today’s Bee, here’s my word of the day: Copse, n. [Contr. from coppice.] A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. Context, in case you were curious: The young dog was not yet two years old;...
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'C-O-I-N-C-I-D-E-N-C-E? Spellers united by dreams'
I am so stoked for the bee tomorrow, and I loved this AP article on Indian-American kids in the bee and their aspirations. (The AP is really doing it for me lately, I guess.) Sidharth, above, is my favorite: Sidharth is a different case altogether. He came home one day as a fifth-grader with news he had won his school’s bee. His mother had no idea what he was talking about, but from that...
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May 27
Step into my office, baby.
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Vienna
From Cesky Krumlov, I’m for Vienna. Photo from flickr user Zamer.
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May 26
Trying Faulkner. Again. I’m totally intimidated, and I’m on a time crunch as I leave in about a week. Although he has Faulkner’s entire works, my dad finally admitted he’s never made it through any of his books. He said that my grandmother would have recommended Sartoris, though she read it in German. Here I am, fingers crossed and nose firmly in book.
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May 25
At the airport, so glad to be home.
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May 24
The best part of the wedding from hell was probably this moment, when we were dropping off a few things at the church before anyone had arrived. Ahh, silence.
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May 23
Apples at the Union Square Saturday Farmer’s Market. I just now noticed that the description of Empire Apples reads, “Sweet & Tart (Like Most New Yorkers).”
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May 22
Warhol at the MoMA. I think I’ve just really realized how very much I love art museums over the past few months. The other highlight of the day was seeing Jon Stewart at the Apple store in the Meatpacking District. Sadly, no photo.
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May 21
New York!
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May 20
It’s not Philadelphia without a cheesesteak. (Vegan GG Special from Gianna’s Grille, eaten across the street while taking in a nail-biter of a little league game. Go Panthers!)
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May 19
We did all the typical touristy Philadelphia stuff, but my favorite was Elfreth’s Alley, supposed to be the oldest continuously-occupied residential street in the U.S.
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brotherly love, large apples, etc.
I’m off to Philadelphia and New York for the week. I’ll be back next week with 365 and trip pictures!
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May 18
I suppose no one rides roller coasters in the rain.
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May 17
Dad and I went for a bike ride around downtown and some of the surrounding areas. I stopped to grab a few photos of the minarets at the University of Tampa, just across the street from where I went to high school. Lovely lovely.
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and quiet flows the don
Finishing And Quiet Flows the Don (Mikhail Sholokhov) gave me a greater sense of accomplishment than I usually get after completing a novel. It was compelling and I loved the book, but at the same time a bit of a slog. Any time a book is prefaced with a lengthy list of main characters, it’s a good sign that the reader’s in for a ride. I toted Sholokhov around with me for a few weeks,...
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Cesky Krumlov
From Prague, I’ll head south to Cesky Krumov, a quaint and apparently very picturesque Czech town. Photo from flickr user nathan_bergeron. Lovely, lovely! Even though my departure looms ever closer, I really can’t believe that I’ll soon be experiencing the places that I’ve read about for so long.
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May 16
I don’t have too much use for a night light anymore, I’m proud to say, but this one (a gift several years ago) is too darn cute to put away.
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May 15
I really should wear my cute red asian-motif shoes more often.
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Prague
In addition to Rick Steves and Thorn Tree, Flickr has been really great as I plan for my trip next month. I’ve been drooling over pictures of the places I’ll soon be visiting, deciding where I have to go, and what I most want to see. After a half-day in Dublin between arriving from the states and heading farther east, I’ll spend several days in Prague. Behold: Image from flickr...
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May 14
I’m not sure if this is really how I look, but trying to take a representative self-portrait is proving to be a difficult task. Does everybody feel this way?
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May 13
One of my dad’s patients has been bringing him homegrown produce lately. Tiny vegetables are always so adorable. I don’t much care for the taste of radishes, but they’re so beautiful.
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Yum Yum
I was going through old boxes today and found Yum Yum, a now-faceless cat that once smelled of peppermint. (I scratched her tummy and sniffed, just to check.) My grandma bought her for me years and years ago, after a lunch at the mall with my favorite sasparilla soda. Definitely did not go in the donation box.
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things i like lately
- Local blueberries. (Stems still on!) - Flickr, a lot. - Other people’s 365 blogs: +Untitled (Hipsters playing in parks in boston.) +Create Joy! +Gallery 32 - Almond Breeze! - Maybe too much travel planning, with Rick Steves. (I leave for the tri-state in less than a week, and Europe in less than three!) - Gardenias - Billboards - My new book, Enemies: A Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer)...
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moo
Cows have long been my favorite animal, so I went nuts over this photo from flickr user henriette71’s photostream. (Found via explore.)
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naming pluto
I hate to sound morbid, but New York Times obits are really the best. Today, I especially enjoyed “Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto.” Basically the eleven-year-old Phair had some high-up family connections and her suggestion for the erstwhile planet was finally chosen after a bit of debate over the apparently satanic connotations of the name Pluto. Mrs. Phair...
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May 12
Vegan zebra striped doughnut (my favorite) with the final chapters of And Quiet Flows the Don during my break at work.
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May 11
I met my mom at her office before we went out for lunch. We fed the resident ducks (one was hiding) some leftover bread. Quack!
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May 10
I made my mom a scrapbook with pictures of Sweetie for mother’s day.
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Happy National Train Day! From Vote for the Worst: For some reason, Amtrak has tapped Randy Jackson as a celebrity headliner for National Train Day on May 9. … In response, Randy said, “Yo dawg, we got a hot one tonight! Dude, dude, I always say this is a transportation competition, and this train can really move! You in the dining car tonight, dawg!”
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May 9
I had kind of a bad day, which started with dumping my lunch onto the ground (all the more tragic because it was a pretty stellar meal of fettucini with a coconut-lemongrass-ginger sauce) and did not end when I poured steamed milk down my leg and onto my feet, but when I did the same with water that evening. I decided that as a treat, I’d pick up a couple of avocado rolls, which I think is...
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May 8
I really love my… Edme & Esyllte pink floral blouse.
downtown, too
Other snaps downtown: As skyscrapers stretch toward the heavens, we mere mortals are content to stay on the ground.
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May 7
I detoured through downtown on the way home from work and really loved the contrast of the cracks on the faded side of this building and the budding tree beside it.
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seis de mayo
Is this a Corona commercial or what? Florida does have its charms, I must admit.
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May 6
Blueberry pancakes for dinner! With chocolate almond milk. Meals don’t get much better.
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May 5
I’m kind of into self-portraits lately, hopefully in not too much of a self-indulgent way. I still honestly feel like I don’t really know how I look, after all of these years and so many reflections and photographs. Unfortunately, nothing particularly interesting came from a little set of self-portraits I took this evening, but I decided to put this one up because I don’t have...
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april mosaic
April! My, how the months pass.
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May 4
I went on a little photo (and doughnut) romp before leaving Sarasota this morning. This massive sculpture, “Unconditional Surrender,” was in Sarasota on a temporary basis during my third year of college. People either love or hate it, and while I ought to be in the latter camp I must admit that I sort of love the kitsch factor. The city bought a replica and put it along the bayfront....
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May 3
R and I finally successfully put together and flew a kite at the beach this weekend. We watched “the Spinner” go round and round until we got tired of it.
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May 2
We took on the Red Sox and lost, the only game in the series, thankfully, that we didn’t win. Still a fun night at the Trop.
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May 1
Curse you, Borders, and your forty percent off coupons. I took home Haldor Laxness’ Independent People after promising myself that I’d curtail my spending. One more book can’t hurt, I suppose.
guilty pleasure:
chocolate chips in my cereal. every morning. (this has to stop.)
