So Much Rain

Summer in England: rain pants, sweaters and long hot showers.

What Was I Thinking?

Today, tearing out pages in a journal—out of desire to recycle not destroy—that I had used to take notes during cheese class and write shopping lists. When I got to this page, I paused and wondered how someone had snuck the journal away and added such things. Still haven't figured it out. Guess the other option is that I'm the culprit.

Spinach, Potato and Chick Pea Curry

Link to cooking blog: Spinach, Potato and Chick Pea Curry

Pictures Come Off the Fridge

With only 2 1/2 weeks left in our flat (gulp), it's time to take the photos off the fridge.

Post-Lease, Pre-USA Trip

10 Sep: dep. Cambridge, arr. Amsterdam
12 Sep: dep. Amsterdam, arr. Rotterdam
15 Sep: dep. Rotterdam, arr. Stuttgart (+1 day, 16 Sep)
23 Sep: dep. Stuttgart, arr. Dubrovnik
25 Sep: dep. Dubrovnik, arr. Sepan
28 Sep: dep. Sepan, arr. Dubrovnik
28 Sep: dep. Dubrovnik, arr. Cambridge

....then we leave the UK on 1 Oct for Washington, D.C. How long will we be there? Will we return to Europe? West Coast/ East Coast? Let you know as soon as we do.

Sad Happy

I've been packing-up our flat: It's sad. Happy moments do present themselves, however. I came across some photos that I had shoved in a book when we were leaving for Cambridge. They are from February 2000, when my sister and our friend Gary came to visit me in Los Angeles. That was such a fun long-weekend, despite the torrential downpours that required us to roll-up our trousers to our knees to get to the car. It was also an important weekend, as that is when I got Brea and Titchou. I've finally done the smart thing and scanned the images.

Gary and Carolyn, martinis in hand, at Boardners in Hollywood
Carolyn and me at Griffith Observatory

Our mutual friend Dom, Gary, Carolyn and me at The Bounty in Koreatown
Rockstar Fluffy—costume design by Carolyn and Gary

A Summer Punch, but No Summer

Click on image for larger view.

I cut this punch recipe out of a magazine that my sister left—some Martha Stewart publication. We have a basil plant and a bottle of rum, and I thought it would be great for a hot summer afternoon. But we haven't really had one yet. Maybe someone else could make it and report back.

Rice Boat

Red dots mark the stand-out items.

Yes, a photo of the two of us from our anniversary dinner at Rice Boat would have been nice, but instead all I have is a scan of our bill. There is good reason for this though. The meal was so good that I want to remember the dishes we ordered. Hopefully I will be able to replicate them in our kitchen. Rice Boat features Kerala Cuisine from India, and some of the dishes, especially the thoren, appam and rice "breads", I haven't found in other Indian restaurants. I think the beans thoren was our favorite—chopped green beans sauteed with shallots, mustard seed and coconut.

Just the Two of Us

Some photos from our anniversary day at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

Gluten-free Banana Banana Nut Muffins

Link to cooking blog: Gluten-free Banana Banana Nut Muffins.

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With

The title alone is enough to get me to see this movie. Throw in Sarah Silverman and Amy Sedaris, and I am soo there.

This Is Not Photoshopped

The daily crossword from dictionary.com is usually quite chaste, and I was quite shocked the other day when I was left with no choice but to put a 'B' in as the first letter of 15 across. I immediately looked up dictionary.com's definition of boner—perhaps it meant something that I wasn't aware of.

The following definitions were given. After some thought, the last one still works the best. Pull in not the verb typically used with errors, blunders or mistakes. It is, however, common enough with 15 across.

1) a person or thing that bones.
2) a foolish and obvious blunder; stupid mistake.
3) a blunder or an error.
4) an erection of the penis.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

M* remembers that Dahlias were in my bouquet.

Flowers surrounded by cards from friends and family across the pond.
M* never just gets me one bouquet. I like that.

London: New River and Hamstead Heath

New River, Islington

Walking over to Upper Street in Islington on Wednesday morning for brunch, Thea formulated our route to pass by the New River—another body of water that I didn't know existed in London. As I learned, the water is neither new or a river. It is an out-of-use, man-made waterway opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water. The water is slow moving, hence the algal bloom.

One of the many striking trees on Hampstead Heath.

After brunch, Thea took me to Hampstead Heath, in the Hampstead area of north London, which sports the highest point in London. The area is 791 acres of grasses, trees, ponds and recreation areas. The weather was lovely for our tour around Parliament Hill and the surrounding areas.

The knees are the only giveaway.

I read later that Parliament Hill is also known as Kite Hill because it is so popular with kite flyers. I did see a boy with a kite, but he wasn't successful at getting it airborne. The top of this hill offers vistas of London, which mean a bit more if you know what buildings you are gazing down upon.

This man-made enclosure must be quite spooky at night.

London: Regent's Canal, Bicycle Commuters and Gay Bars

Last Tuesday I traveled down to London to visit my friend Thea, who I met on my first day of work at KCRW in 1998. Thea's been living in Miami for a few years, but she has the good fortune to have a sister who has a place in the Hackney area of London. We spent a good deal of time walking around Shoreditch, Brick Lane (very good Indian lunch), Spitalfields, Angel, Hackney and Islington.

Regent's Canal, London

Maybe it's because Thea bikes around London or maybe it's because the area around Hackney is more amenable to biking, but I noticed so many people cycling in the city. When Thea took me to Regent's Canal, I was amazed at 1) the existence of the canal and 2) that the canal is used as a commuting route for cyclists. We walked west on the canal path, and everyone on cycles was heading east out of the city.

A fish with a saddle? Never seen that before—on or off a riverboat.

After hours of walking, we had just enough time back at Thea's for a refreshing glass of Provencal Rosé before heading out to Hoxton Square (which she warned me was awful on weekends (packed with puking partiers) but would be mellow on a Tuesday). Two of Thea's Swedish friends had a friend playing at a bar there, but we got there too late. So we settled for a round of drinks before heading off to the gay bars.

Thea and me, Hoxton Square

As far as I know, Cambridge has no gay bars, and I must say it's lovely to be around gay men again. I know that Cambridge must have a gay population, but they don't seem to congregate en masse. London certainly has diversity—amazing that it hasn't been completely priced out of the market by now.

Penis faucets. I definitely wasn't in Cambridge anymore.

Chester (1998-2007)

After being a loving companion to my sister and brother-in-law for nine years, Chester past away on Friday. He was a great dog/ friend/ Wacha-piglet/ pupparoni. He will be missed.

Me and Chester in 2003.

Daisy and Chester relaxing by the pool (2006).

Chester and his toy (2007).

Chester goes for his final swim on Friday.

BBC Breaking News

Funny. I thought indulgence in all those things led to a long life.

Three Things I Like

1) The neighbors cat. I still don't know its name, but we are quite good friends. The kitty is often lying on the sidewalk in front of its owner's house, and whenever I walk past the area, I always look for it. As the cat is so calm and amenable to petting, I gather it's not young. We've had a bit of sun recently, I've found it dozing in a patch of light quite frequently. Sometimes I let the kitty sleep, and other times I can't resist scratching behind the ears, on the neck and under the chin. Since it will roll on its back and give me its belly, I think the cat likes me. Such activities help temporarily assuage the longing for our cats.

2) Sancerre Rosé 2006 Les Baronnes, Henri Bourgeois. "This refreshing, very fruity rosé will seduce you with its bouquet of ripe red fruits. It's easy to drink, fresh and particularly well-balanced in structure and aromas."

I'm so happy that a trip to Provence last summer brought on a rosé epiphany—these lovely, tasty wines are perfect for summer and bare no resemblance to U.S., boxed wines of the 1980s.





3) Rome—HBO/BBC
Thanks to a friend, we were able to watch the complete first and second (also the final) season of Rome, a joint HBO and BBC production. Having not had a television since last August, we couldn't stop ourselves from plowing through the 22 episodes in two weeks. Season one just blew us away, and we were a bit disappointed to find season two put less emphasis on historical and political issues and more on soap opera style intrigue. Still, the entire series is captivating viewing. It also came in handy to temporarily distract us from the facts that we now have less than a month in Cambridge and we still don't know our future plans. After back-to-back episode viewing, M* and I would withdraw to our laptops and Google characters, battles and trivia that had just been presented to learn what was fact, fiction or a blend of the two. It's nice that we can geek-out together over such things.

Shakespeare in the Gardens

Trinity College Gardens
Trinity College Gardens

This summer, one of the unique Cambridge experiences we've taken advantage of is the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. For eight weeks in July and August, Monday-Saturday one can see The Bard's plays performed by professional actors in some of the loveliest college gardens. "Taming of the Shrew" (St John's College), "Much Ado About Nothing" (King's College), "Romeo and Juliet" (Robinson College), and "Hamlet" (Girton College) were presented for the first four weeks, and we managed to see all but "Hamlet." The comedies were without a doubt our favorite—"Taming of the Shrew" was the best of the lot, but our favorite actor appeared as Benedick in "Much Ado."

Beginning of "Much Ado About Nothing"—Signor Leonato, Beatrice and Hero

The second set of four plays began last week, and M* and I went with some friends to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Trinity College Gardens, and this play has turned out to be the most impressive and hilarious performance yet (our favorite actor reappears as Lysander). I wish they had let us take photos during the ceremonies so I could show the creative costuming devised for the fairies.

Curtain call for "A Midsummer's Night Dream"

We still have three more plays to see:"The Tempest" (Downing College), "Macbeth" (Girton College), and "Twelfth Night" (Robinson College). Since "Romeo and Juliet" was our least favorite, I'm wondering if the Cambridge summer nights lend themselves as a better backdrop for a comedy than to a tragedy.

M* and me before "Much Ado"

Our friend Francis, who has accompanied us to all of the shows, noted that he would have liked and appreciated Shakespeare much better if he had seen it in performances such as these. I completely agree. As a teenager and even in college, I don't remember being taught that these plays were often performed for and had to appeal to the common man and that Shakespeare was a businessman. Then, even the comedies that I saw performed seemed to be imbued with the weight of "this is a Shakespeare play." Those young folks who get to see the plays at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival are quite lucky.

M*, Monique and Francis at "A Midsummer's Night Dream"

Captive Audience

There are three TVs at the gym M* and I joined for our last two months in Cambridge. The TVs are positioned in a row in front of the cardio machines, and I was looking forward to catching up on programs that I'd missed this year, as we don't have a TV. Unlike gyms I've belonged to in the past, you cannot change these channels. The set on left is set to a video channel, B4, the middle one is all-news BBC 24 and the one on the right is another video channel, The Hits.

Since I've only had cable for a total of two years, I am not very familiar with music videos, and I am blown-away by the pornification of the modern video. There have always been sexy women, much less often men, in music videos, but there were also cutting edge, artier videos to balance them out. It's not just male groups/ singers have a room of bikini-clad women all vying for the chance to seduce them (although there is plenty of that), it's the female singers writhing on the floor, slithering through the legs of Amazons in short skirts and glancing longingly at the camera. What's worse is that the two video channels often repeat the same videos. How does a 24 hour news channel reviewing the endorphin-killing issues of the day get any attention when surrounded by barely covered large breasts, jiggling bums and stunning, pouty-lipped visages? I've contemplated asking the gym to change one of the channels to an all-sports station. I'd so prefer to work-out to a cricket match.

I do have to say that occasionally The Hits plays music videos on a theme, which can be a fun trip down memory lane. Last Sunday it was Best of the Electronic 80s—Michael Jackson, Culture Club, Band Aid, Wham—I didn't turn my iPod on once. Even the super cheesy video for the super cheesy song "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off (To Have a Good Time)" was more palatable than Beyoncé's tortuous new Green Light video