Happy Birthday, Sweet Son

He never reads this. I should write all kinds of personal and icky stuff that he will hate me for. But I can't think of any icky stuff. For his BD I went to the Farmer's market this morning and bought all kinds of stone fruit. Then I went to Nicole's in South Pas and bought Pain au Chocolat. OK, so here's a very tiny personal thing. When we drove through France together, he would run into bakeries to get pain au chocolat every now and then. Hum, not very revealing is it. Or maybe it is. 

So I woke him up with the croissants and strawberries and stone fruit from the market. Such love. Of course, I was on my early morning Farmer's Market schedule and he was on his Saturday sleep in until noon schedule. He was not mindful of my sleeping all those years ago, so . . .  We never forget.

I had fish in the fridge that I had to cook. Adrian is going back on his diet on Monday, so I made potato wrapped fish for dinner. Doesn't it look like it's wrapped with bacon? The salad is the Bistro salad from Trader Joe's. Kale, almonds, cranberries, edamame and tomatoes. Num. But the fish is amazing. And pretty easy to make. Potatoes will be off the diet come Monday. Until then, we have several more pieces of fish that look just this good. Lucky us.

Time to Roll it Up

Sick of my stories about famous authors I've met? Too bad. Before we had big award ceremonies for winners of The Times Book Prizes, we had smaller affairs in our executive offices and auditorium. That's where I met Carl Sagan's son. The dad was up for an award, but he had died. The son and his wife or girlfriend were under my wing. I got to introduce them to people I didn't know and sort of hang with them. They weren't old hands at this sort of thing like the dad would have been. So we made a perfect trio.

Then one year, Ray Bradbury won the award for career performance. He walked in the door and I sidled over to say, "I loved Dandelion Wine." There were so many more of his books that I loved, but I had just read that one. He was very old, very kind. I didn't keep him long. Then our new VP of Human Resources came in. I worked for her. She was suspicious of how I kept turning up at all these great events. I don't think she stayed around long enough to find out. She walked in that day and saw Mr. Bradbury and breathed those same words, "I loved Dandelion Wine." I was still close enough for Ray and I to look at each other and smile. Just one more thing for her to wonder about.

The bottom is done!! When I've completed everything up to his shoulder, the bottom half will be done. Such good news.


Bad news, Scott Walker is still governor of Wisconsin. That must be why I'm stitching so much. Listening to books, not watching the news.

Balance in Life

There should be balance in life. I don't do it right. If I did, I'd walk around the block more. But here's my attempts to balance.

I have two wonderful Tom's in my life. One is the dear Tom who I had breakfast with last Saturday. He, Donna and I met again in Northridge to eat breakfast in front of fasting John. Poor John. But he is diminishing slowly in size and that is a good thing. The other Tom lives in New York and will be out to visit in late September/early October. I asked him if he makes grown women squeal with delight very often. That was my reaction when I read that he was coming out here. This Tom was responsible for putting the Times Book Awards together for years. When life at The Times was really good (two years in a row) I would go to NYNY to help him with one aspect of the awards and then Karen would come down and we would help him with another part. What a joy to have two Toms in my life to balance  - what? The squeals?

 The balance of summer fruit. OMG, Adrian made this total decadence. Buttermilk biscuits and bourbon whipped cream. I have a big container of fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in the fridge. They loved mingling with this dessert. But wait, there is balance. I also got some little peaches that were early for peaches, but heaven in my oatmeal. Balance, right? Oatmeal must balance out whipped cream and biscuits, right? Even if you don't agree, nod your head. OK, so I bought a little maple sugar from TJs to sweeten my Irish oatmeal; but I added almonds and sunflower seeds to make it even more well rounded. And non-fat milk? Have I hit balance yet?

Where is the balance in this picture? I have touched (and finished) the lower right corner of the picture and touched the lower left corner as well. Left hand looks a little scant, but it is much more filled in this evening. I still haven't gone all the way across the bottom. There is a bunch of yellow/orange that must be stitched to the bottom of the left side reflection. But I alternate quick and easy half cross stitches (all that reflection) with the full cross stitches of black, brown and red. It really amazes me that those silhouettes are finally filled in, as are their shadows. But hold out your arms, straight out to your sides. Pretend you are touching the right side of the picture and pretend that you are touching the left side of the picture. Close to balancing, right?

My Life

Stitch, stitch, stitch. But look at what that does. I just have one of the guy's legs to blacken and, OK, a strip on his knee. The bottom has been found and has grown remarkably in just a few days. That long strip on the right is the cone of blackness that lives there. The pink on the left (how appropriate) is just a ruse. That long outlined rectangle is filled with black. Fortunately, I have reflections of light that are half-cross stitches and don't take as long to grow. 


Between stitching I have visited a fun multi-cultural grocery store in Altadena. Not just Mexican, but lots of middle-east. My friend, Joyce (soon to be 85), was amazed at how I threw things into my basket just because I was intrigued. What do you do with sour plums? We'll find out. Raw garbanzos that I have to cook tomorrow. I also bought Tuaca. Look it up. We had it with lunch with a salad Nicoise. Henry, her significant other, and I thought it was great. Good to know there is another drinker in the house. It's a little sweet for me, so I mix it with bourbon. Good.


The brand new car got water splotched in a light rain, so I took it to a car washer. We are now (as of today) dusting the car so water splotches won't be so ugly. Other than that, the car is running great. Gas mileage is still low because we spend a lot of time sitting at railroad tracks. Give me the open road!


Books: just finished Merchants of Doubt. Great topic. Dry listening. Did I mention the gang of scientists who helped develop bombs moved on to Star Wars, Acid Rain, Hole in the Ozone Layer and Global Warming. Argh. The Audible reader is just not outraged enough. He needs to be dripping sarcasm when he mentions how these things connect. It deserves verbal underlining.


Secret pleasure? Nora Roberts. Well read pulp fiction. Well written. The Witness is good. In fact, I've read a lot of good mysteries or mystery light (like The Witness) lately while stitching away - V is for Vengeance by you know who (that was good),  The Chalk Girl (did I already write about this?), Hell is Empty (OK, but just OK+, not great), and Live Wire (too New York for me, but OK.) Thank goodness for Audible sales. I also got discounted credits. 4 credits in waiting. 16 books yet to be read. I better wait. 


Good podcast? Slate's Lexicon Valley. Told me why I start so many sentences with So. So, what else is up? Breakfast on Saturday with Tom, John, and Donna. If you have fun, keep doing it until it breaks. Dinner with Joyce and Henry sometime soon. We are also cooking a Greek dinner for lots of friends at the end of June. (lots = 6 of us all together.) I cook just for people in this house. Flap meat and beef cheeks from that market mentioned above. Zucchini and tomato gratin ala Jaques Pepin. Strawberry ice cream. Actually, there is a lot of cream. Maybe I'll make chocolate ice cream tonight. Or sour plum.