A Smudged Moon and Mysteries

Karen told me that there would be a full eclispse on Monday night. I happened to notice the night before that a huge moon was filling my bedroom window. Well, that's what it seemed like to me. One of the advantages of never sleeping through the night is that you are sure to see whatever passes by. She said it would happen between 2:00 and 4:00. She said more numbers, like 4:24 or something like that, but I always ignore the last numbers.

I did wake at 2:00. No moon. I thought the fog was high and thick. Oh well. Then I woke at 4:00 and saw just this image. How nice that LAObserved had this picture on their blog today. It was about this size. Not window filling. But fascinating, even at 4:00. It didn't have the crisp lines of a waning moon. Smudged.

I've just finished two mysteries. I really have to put on my glasses when I select a book to read from my ipod. Many books come in two parts. I thought I'd picked the top book in the list, but I started listening to Kingdom of Shadows in the middle. What does it say about this book that it was okay anyway? Not a lot, I'm afraid. It was a little difficult to figure out who these guys where, but they did interesting stuff and I could follow what they were doing. It ended abruptly, but then it started abruptly. This has to be the all time champ of reading the end first.

Then I read the first half. That explained a lot. This is set in Paris pre-WWII (strange not to type www.) Wealthy counts rescue desperate people. The war advances, Nazi's are just high-stepping and arrogant, not unbearably brutal - yet. Furst was on the panel with McCarry at the Festival of Books years ago. He loves this era. He understands the texture of the time. For that reason, it's interesting reading, no matter how you approach it.

Talk about someone who understands a city and the period he is writing about. And talk about a reader who can croon a book. Will Patton is wonderful. Burke writes about detective Dave Robicheaux dealing with Katrina and Rita in The Tin Roof Blowdown. Sure there is the mystery, but there is New Orleans, too. He weaves a story that you enjoy unraveling. He tells about the impact of the hurricanes on the city, the 9th ward and the people living in and around those areas. He tells about what the people did and how life in the city before the disaster affects how they act during and after the storm.

Can you tell I liked it? Eric turned me on to Burke a long time ago and I've enjoyed him ever since. And now Will Patton reads with a dark honey voice that draws you into the city. Another plus is that I started to read it at the beginning. That was very helpful with this book. I had to keep going back to catch a little nuance I missed. Great writing.

And great joy in the old HelpDesk. Some guy is back and Clif is having a much easier life. We are still trying to work out exactly how things will work for this small group in the long run. But a burden shared is certainly easier to carry. I hope we are able to work all this out before I leave. We move into steady state at the end of the month. Yep, Friday. We are working like little beavers to get things completed. Michael Batton and Bill Urban are grabbing at loose ends and getting them under control. Fingers-crossed.

To Read or Not to Read

What do you do when you and a book don't see eye to eye? Do you finish it because you can't "waste" the book and the money? Do you finish it because it could be better at any moment? I once read a book in Paris that I hated. Hated. It was the Celestine Prophecy. I hated it and I finished it. When I was done, I tossed it across the room into the trash can. I was traveling with Rachelle and I'm sure she remembers the image of the flying book as much as I do. Why did I finish it? It just wasn't worth the trip in the end.



I have been faced with such a dilemma again this week. Twice. First there is White Jazz by James Ellroy, writer of LA Confidential. I liked his non-fiction book about the death of his mother. What is it about this one? First, I like the style. It's written like the clipped, hard-boiled detective fiction of the 50's. But like the 50's and, for that matter, Goodbye Darkness, it represents a time when people's opinions of others were expressed differently and the feelings were different. He uses more terms for black people that I would never use or think in a life-time. It reminds me of that detective Fuhrmann in the Simpson trial. "Did you ever use that word?" "Yes, but it was when I was helping a writer with a book." Was it this book? It's everybody but most white guys. Women, Jews, latinos, Armenians. Holy Cow! It's not just the words but how these people act. I hate this in the book. I like the writing, the story is fairly interesting, but is it worth it to relive the awful 50's?



Then there is the ghastly P.J. O'Rourke with his sick humor in On The Wealth of Nations. The idea is good. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is a bitch to read. Some authors got together and thought it was good for us all if a modern writers could explain some of these classics. Adrian and I started to listen to this on the drive up north. We both finally looked at each other and said, "Bleek." I listen to a podcast of the NPR show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. It's a fun quiz-about-the-news show. They rotate in amusing people to be the panelists each week. The only one that makes me cringe is P.J. O'Rourke. The problem is, he thinks he's really funny. Wrong. But I thought maybe he had a governor on this self-image when he writes. Wrong.

Adrian asked who this guy is who thinks he's so darn funny. I agreed it was pretty horrible and we started to listen to Goodbye Darkness. But, you know, can't just not-read a book. So I tried again this week.

What am I going to do? Throw O'Rourke's book across the room into the trash can before I read another word. And just give Ellroy's book a pass. Dreck and racism be gone. Maybe when you finish something bad, you are giving it tacit approval. Can't do. So on to the search for new reading treasures.

Goodbye Brightness, Goodbye Darkness

Dean left on Friday. We have been preparing for leaving for so long that the actual leaving seems anti-climactic. It won't make Monday any less sad. Dean has always been a rock. He was my go to guy for a hundred things, not the least was all thing Mac. Maybe the leaving is different now that I don't need a go to guy, since I'm not answering calls. People at The Times do. They called him until the end about their Mac issues, because they knew there would be a long wait if the issue went to India and then the guys next door. Long, you understand is relative. My camera's battery died as I was taking pictures. This is one I took before I went to India.

Just as Dean was about to leave, I went to the publisher's birthday party for all who had a birthday in August. I must admit being skeptical about yet another Chicago flunky coming in to take a top position at The Times. Sorry David, but from our view point, the line is very long. And without knowing you well, you all look pretty much the same. Remember Bohica? I learned that before Tribune bought us. Change happens constantly, it seems, at the top of this newspaper. After Otis left way back when, we've had VP's and publishers flowing in and out like water.

They were all sincere and caring men (mostly - mostly men, mostly sincere.) You want to trust. You want to believe that they have the good of the paper in mind. Old initiatives fly out the window, new ones come in. Trust me, trust me, trust me. I really want to. I can feel the hope rising again and it is scary. We saw Sam Zell on Thursday. He may have just bought the Tribune. Boy, I like that guy. Hope rising. Then the party with David Hiller on Friday. Hope continues to rise as he quietly takes notes about comments. I don't think he did that to mark who was bad or who marketed himself the best (and that guy would know who he was because he came with notes. Imagine.) It was a great discussion. I hope all these birthday parties help David get to know all who are staying.

Because I left that with uplifted spirits to come down to the Help Desk area and bid Dean farewell. Goodbye, brightness.

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Someone asked how I find these books. I have no idea how this one got into my book list. It was written in 1980. This is the one that Adrian and I started to listen to on our drive up to Sonoma. Manchester is a very good author. He wrote biographies of Krupp, Churchill and McArthur. He also wrote two books that I remember well, The Death of a President about the day Kennedy was shot and Portrait of a President about Kennedy's presidency. He really didn't like McArthur as a man, but thought he was a master tactician. I bet American Caesar would be a good read.

And that's how you find strange new books to read. As for this one, it takes us island hoping in the Pacific Theater of Operation in WWII from the view of a very young marine. Manchester was a student at Amherst when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He joined immediately.

This is a well written story of that part of the war and about the men who fought the war. It also tells about the United States in the 40's and the 80's. He is writing from his perceptions of that long past time, but he also tells about what we were thinking in 1980. For someone who loves history, this is enthralling. You do have to listen to a lot of battle and killing. That isn't so easy. It's hard to skip pages when you listen. Another thing that was hard not to notice was his feelings about the Japanese. He talks from time to time about how they were just like us, determined, hard-fighting men. But then he calls them Nips and Japs. Am I too politically correct? He didn't say it nicely, he said it demeaningly. It gave a good sense of his feelings, take them how you will.

You also get a sense of his pride in America and its fighting men. This is from a man who lived through Viet Nam and could see how times were changing. I was happy to hear it end, however. There is only so much horror that one man and one reader can take.

Goodbye darkness.

If You Get to be 60, You May As Well...

Invite your entire family to cook your birthday lunch for you. They did a fabulous job. We had so much fun cooking and playing with each other and our food. There we all are in the picture above. We've eaten. We've changed from our cooking clothes into our Indian clothes. For those who saw the skinny-legged pants for the boys and didn't know how they would fit - they fit. They are below as well, but here they all are in the picture above:

Top row: Gabriella and Chris, Trina and Mark, Sandi and Jeff

Middle row: Karen holding Torin, Ivan and Tara, Eric on one side of me with Cindy on the other, Julie and Adam, Peter

Bottom row: Natalie and Kevin and Maggie, Adrian and Palmer.

Pshew. That's a lot of folk. We cooked at Ramekins in Sonoma and they organized the day very well. Everyone had a printed recipe and the work station had ingredients that were pretty much measured out, knives and bowls. Chris and Gabriella aren't singing there on the right. They were studying the recipe for the grilled peach and blue cheese salad. The peaches were beautiful. Jeff was hanging around with the pretty young ladies. Tara and Julie had knives, he should have been careful around them. Trina appears to be grilling. Tara and Julie cut corn, asparagus and zucchini for the mixed vegetable ragout.

It wasn't all work. Who knows why Mark and Kevin decided to attack each other with cleavers. Maybe it was just the camera. They were involved with one of the sauces. I think it was the one that went on the steak. To their right is their chef/assistant.

I worked with the group on the left. Mary was our chef. Adam, Palmer and I made the dessert. Palmer is 7. He did a very good job with everything he touched. He got to use one of the very sharp knives to slice the peaches and strawberries. He used one of those hand squeezing juicers to squeeze a lemon. He had a ball. He got involved with different stations and was given a board scraper as a souvenir. His grandfather is in the background setting up his camera. Peter took movies of the whole event. I advise you not to ask. I carry the resulting DVD in my purse.

Jeff and Sandi prepped the mushrooms for the Mushroom Quesadilla. The quesadilla used hand made tortillas. Many in the group helped roll them.

Cindy and Eric are with the last chef, Elizabeth. Poor Cindy loves to cook. She got to make the roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Talk about a thankless job. Elizabeth had her run them through a food mill. Eric kept offering to help with that chore, but Cindy is tough. I'm not positive, but I think she did it all by herself.

Natalie and Adrian fixed a crowd favorite - shrimp skewered with basil and prosciutto. Num. Adrian grilled them later. They both helped make the mustardy mayo that was used as a dipping sauce. Wow, those were good.

Karen was the pied-piper of the two little ones. She and I have cooked at Ramekins a few times. And she does adore her grandchildren. We had thought the kids could help do things like roll tortillas. What they really wanted to do was play with Grammy. I got the three grandchildren together for a group shot in Indian clothes. Maggie looks like she will be asking for alms at any moment. There are more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/pnorman811

I think we all had a great time. And if you get to be 60, you may as well.

It Continues

But wait, there's more:

Friday we were lucky enough to have Natalie and Maggie join us on our trip to Sonoma. Kevin is working hard to develope a better ebook for Sony. He is a reader, but not an e-reader. I used to be an e-reader and this is a good device for that. It only does one thing - books. It's fun to see how this can be modified to give it features that would make me want to buy it as well.


We four drove to Sonoma to meet Cindy and Eric. Cell phones are little miracles. How would we have known what to do without it? We knew where they were at every step and could make reservations at the Girl and the Fig restaurant. Adrian and I are attacking the tower of cheese. It was expensive and not bountiful. The waiter said it would be good for a table as an appetizer, but extreme sharing was necessary. Adrian and I split a hamburger and salad. The food was good. I've wanted to eat there for some time. I'd recommend this.


Then we all went to the Chocolate shop, http://www.winecountrychocolates.com/. Rachelle's husband's cousin owns this place. They have great chocolate there. I didn't know that Karen had been there earlier in the day. We had tastes and purchased a bit and then looked for the wine tasting that was supposed to be in the complex. It was there, but closed.



We went back to Sonoma to drop Natalie and Maggie at the Cambells' farm. The kids, above, are in the wine tasting room of the farm. Pretty nice to have a bunch of wine across the street from your house. Adrian and I visited, I tasted wine and joined yet another wine club. Then we went on to Ramekins to check in just before going to eat yet again.


We joined my brothers and Eric's children
for dinner at the El Dorado Kitchen. You can't see them very well. I'll be using mine until I can figure out how to get full sized pictures from everyone else. The El Dorado Kitchen was very good. I had tomato soup and frito misto like vegetable tempura. I also ate Sandi's ricotta gnocchi. Loved the meal and the company. We had to have a kid's table. Adrian joined us old folk. The kid's table looked like a lot of fun, though.

Just Once Before You Die

I know, that's pretty ominous. But everyone should try to have a weekend or month or year that includes such joy as I experienced this weekend. Since my happiness meter tends to move more toward joy than dispair, I often get close. But let me tell you about this last weekend.



Thursday: Adrian and I drove up north, picking up bags of stone fruit and staying with the Fremont Campbells. I like to listen to books while driving. Having a picky listener in the car with me meant that I had to select very carefully. Like picking a wine. Red or white? Fiction or non-fiction? Non-fiction. Adrian likes fantasy as well, but I didn't have that. Born on a Blue Day written by an autistic man? or Goodbye Darkness written by William Manchaster about WWII in the Pacific? So we picked the Merlot, Manchester and the war on Guadacanal. Relax, no drinking occurred on the road.



The stop at Andy's Orchards wasn't as wonderous as I thought it would be. There was a lot of variety, but the fruit seemed a little hard. I got a lot, but not as much as I would have if... If I had known that these varieties would ripen by the time we drove the 30 miles to Fremont; if we had known that they would drip down your arm and neck with the sweetest juices. OMG. We couldn't stop eating.



I had brought shirts that Laura sent me. Most were too small for me, so I took them north to share. Natalie is wearing one. One was too funny. It had a huge dangling bobble on the neckline. Natalie was correct in thinking that it would look best on a four year old. Maggie wore that and her tiara. What a princess.



Natalie cooked a wonderful dinner of grilled vegetables and Hawaiian marinated beef. The focal point was the lemon pudding cake. Natalie once asked us all what our favorites were. The only one we remember is - what is your favorite dessert. Mine is lemon pudding cake. It wasn't on the menu for the dinner at Ramekins, but Natalie decided we had to have it for my birthday. It was beautiful and tasted great.

A Reason to Celebrate

♫I just want to celebrate, another day of life♪

But some days require just a little bit more celebrating than others. This Saturday, therefore this extended weekend, will be just one of those “days”. I’m having a little birthday celebration in Sonoma, CA with most of my family. Here’s the agenda:

Thursday – Adrian and I drive north and pick up lugs of stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines) to share with family. Staying with my nephew Kevin, Natalie and Maggie in Fremont.

Friday – All but Kevin leave after rush hour to drive to Sonoma. We’ll be meeting my brother Eric and Cindy in Sonoma for lunch. We will find a chocolate shop that is owned by Jack (please, don’t ask this relationship)’s cousin. Ummm, chocolate.
Then to my sister Karen and Peter’s weekend residence to meet up with the rest of the family for wine and visiting. They are staying at a winery! Is that not too cool?
Nephew Mark and Trina arranged dinner in Sonoma for most. Some will be staying at the winery because they have ALL the children and they will need to rest up for the next day.
My brothers and I will be staying at the cooking school that night. Ramekin’s beautiful and has a great B&B upstairs. Jeff and Sandi are flying up from San Diego. Eric and Cindy fly in from D.C. Eric’s 3 adult children will be staying at a small, cute hotel in town. Besides Mark, there will be Chris and Gabriella and Tara and Ivan.

Saturday – This is the birth day. Everyone is coming to Ramekins to cook lunch. My niece Julie and Adam will be there with their boys, Palmer and Torin. Palmer is 7 and will be my cooking partner. I am very excited about this. This is what they will be cooking:

Valley of the Moon Spring

GrandeProsciutto and Basil Wrapped Shrimp with Garlic Dipping Sauce

Wild Mushroom Quesadillas with Smoked Poblano Pesto

Pear Gorgonzola Salad with a Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Grilled Hanger Steak with Salsa Verde

Roasted Garlic and Chive Mashed Potatoes

Spring Vegetable Ragout

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisps with Cinnamon Sauce Anglaise

We will be going out to dinner that night, although I just really can’t imagine being hungry. I guess we’ll have to just drink.


But wait, it isn’t over yet


Sunday – Cindy and I are Peju Winery club members. I can’t imagine how she found this place in D.C. We will be tasting wine there and will try to emulate a favorite Tuscan experience of mine. I had cheeses, salumi, bread and such with wine while at visiting a couple of years ago. I decided at that time that wine goes best with food and that was the best way to do a tasting.
Probably a stop at Karen and Pete’s in Albany, then back to Kevin and Natalie’s to play with Maggie. I’m taking Monday and Tuesday off.

To synopsize:
Thursday – drive eat
Friday – eat drink eat
Saturday – cook eat eat
Sunday – drink eat drive

Yup, on Monday we all all be singing the hang over blues.

A Good Story, Well Told

The people I lunch with at The Times hate it when I’m in the middle of a good non-fiction book. The books take forever to read. As the painful process goes on and I get more absorbed in whatever story is unfolding, it is all I can talk about. I’ve been able to control myself fairly well with my Demon book, “The Demon Under the Microscope.” I still have 4 hours left, however many pages that is. The connections to other flotsam floating around in my brain is causing overload.

I loved Chemistry in high school. I wanted to be a lab tech, but found out you work alone and have no one to talk to. What a bore. Of course, that was before CSI and the knowledge that you get to look through microscopes and carry a gun. Now that would have been fun. One day when my mother and I were in the car, I was telling her about the wonders of the carbon chain and how you could tell so much about the composition of the compounds just by their names. Jabber, jabber, jabber. It was thrilling to me. Then I lost my chemistry book and had to learn everything from lectures and an adorable lab partner. But that’s a different non-fiction story.

The Demon book is about the discovery of how sulfur can be used to cure strep related illnesses. Probably more types of illness, but that may be told in the last 4 hours. How bad were these illnesses? Thousands of women dying of child-birth fever; more people dying of infections after an operation than were helped by the operation. This book tells a good story. The author makes it very clear how dangerous life was before these cures were discovered. Little Calvin Coolidge jr. was running across the White House lawn in tennis shoes without socks. Got a blister, it became infected, he died. And then the stories of all the women who went into “lying in” hospitals to have their babies. They may as well have just slit their throats.

Then the synapses in my brain started to connect to stories I’d heard when I was a kid. What about Cinderella’s mother? She pricked her finger and died! Same thing almost happened to one of the researcher’s children. She broke a needle in her finger and almost died, but was cured by a sulfa compound. And I remembered hearing my parents and neighbor talking about a famous singer who had an injury in her leg and the “whatever” spread to her heart and she died. Man, I lived in horror of having a leg injury. But it was probably pre-sulfa and she had an infection.

Then there is the political intrigue of this book. The discovery was made in Hitler’s Germany, pre-war. Patents are involved, money to be made. The Franco-German rivalry plays a part in this story. Keeping Jews out of the lab; testing on animals is frowned on by Hitler, he calls it a Jewish tactic. Yes, that man was insane. The release to the public of these wonder drugs was delayed for years because the Germans were afraid of losing their patent, which only covered the process, not the drug. The French knew that and exploited it to their advantage. Maybe in the last 4 hours, Hitler stomps the French to get even.

This type of story combines all my favorite genres: mystery, history, science, biography. If any of those interest you, this is a good book. And the science is presented very clearly. You don’t have to worry about the author assuming any prior knowledge about chemistry. Just don't lose the book, because I don't think they make cute lab partners anymore who will share theirs.