Local Neighborhood Parachutist

Parachutist practising—just what I'm not exactly sure—on Llamas Land. I took the photo while I was biking, so I wasn't able to focus or zoom with any precision.

Another Evening Walk Through Grantchester Meadows

I look forward to warmer weather enticing people to use this rope ladder.

Play Time

M* and the other Judge MBAs are working on their Global Consulting Projects. While they are very busy, they don't have classes to attend and numerous group meetings to juggle. So M* and I have been able to be a little more social.

Wednesday night, we met-up with Tialda, James and Manuela and saw a play, "Old Times" by Harold Pinter, at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. It was a short play—under two hours including an intermission. "Dark and erotic, intense and comic"—it was a thought provoking play that lends itself to many interpretations.

Thursday night we headed to the Hat & Feathers again. A few drinks and a game of Klaverjas (Trumps) makes for a nice evening.

Fact or Crap

When M* and I were in Belize two years ago with my sister, we spent time at the bar of the resort—the wonderful Victoria House. One night after dinner we returned for a before-bed drink. To enhance our enjoyment we played one of the bar games—Fact or Crap. We never learned the rules; we just had fun holding up our Fact or Crap signs.

Carolyn, M*, me and Joy at Victoria House bar in Belize

A birthday package arrived on Saturday from my sister including two games: Fact or Crap and Man Bites Dog. We brought Fact or Crap to the pub, Hat & Feathers, last night, and Michael, Tialda and James were happy to play. We were disappointed that the game no longer included the signs—instead there were two answer cards (one Fact/ one Crap) that you place face-down down on the table.

Fact or Crap answer card

If you are correct and the first one to answer, you get two Fact or Crap tokens. Else, if you are correct, you get one token. All incorrect answers require one token to be returned to the pot in the middle of the table.

Tokens

After an hour, we thought the game needed to be energized, so we added an element of betting. You could wager up to five tokens depending on how confident you are in your answer. The game was cut a bit short as the pub closed earlier than expected (11:30pm). M*'s stack was the largest of the remaining players. It's not surprising as he kicked ass on all the science questions.

M*'s large stack of tokens in back, James' to the left and mine, the smallest, to the right

The funniest part of the evening occurred when a woman asked us the name of the game: she had watched us playing and thought her grandchildren might like it. Michael, as he was sitting the closest to her, answered, "Fact or Crap." Luckily, the woman laughed.

Michaelhouse

The Michaelhouse Cafe & Centre is located in a medieval church (1328) on Trinity Street in the center of Cambridge. The space has rooms available for meetings, areas for exhibitions and the chapel is set aside for meditation and prayer. There is also an award winning cafe open during the day. The menu changes daily with less than 10 dishes—a mix of hot dishes and sandwiches. Their coffee and cappuccino are excellent.

Since I've been working across the street from the cafe, M* and I have met a few times for lunch, and I have gone by myself to read and enjoy a hot drink. The other day I noticed the 'Breastfeeding Welcome' sign, and I was amused that the only baby in the cafe was accompanied by a father.

Welcome, but luckily not required.

Entrance to Michaelhouse.

Side view of Michaelhouse. It's hard to get a wider shot, as buildings surround the centre.

Foggy Mornings

Afternoon temperatures increased this week to the mid 50s, but the mornings have been chilly and foggy. Foggy enough for me to stop, although already late for work, and snap photos of King's College and the facade of the Old Schools, where I work, and Senate buildings.

King's College Chapel

King's College

Old School (left) and Senate Building (right)

New Favorite Shirt

A birthday package from my pals at KCRW arrived with fun presents inside: the new Of Montreal CD, a copy of the The New Young Pony Club's CD, a stellar mix by the very talented DJ Dashone and a top from Brat that immediately became my favorite t-shirt. I wear it a little while every day; it makes me feel good.

Signs of Spring

Magnolia (we think) blossoms

Magnolia (we think) blossoms

Although last week was the coldest in about a month—including strong winds blowing in snow showers while the sun shone brightly, updrafts hurtling the flakes back up in the air, and, soon, gusts urging the clouds on to new territory revealing the blue sky once again—signs of spring are around. The most noticeable one, after daylight savings time began this past Sunday, is the sun setting at 7:30pm.

The hydrangea bush that will eventually flower and hide our trash can.

New hydrangea leaves

Explosm

from an email today from my sister.

"Diana turned me on to this....this one in particular made me think of
you - no segues...."

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

A Week Without Blogging

Having an almost full-time job and volunteering has impinged upon my blogging time (as well as cooking, cleaning and shopping time—but I don't miss those as much). Last week was additionally busy as Monday after work I took part in a four hour perception study for an autism research project, Tuesday I had my penultimate "Intro to Film" class at the Arts Picturehouse and Wednesday M* and I went to dinner at Bangkok City with James and Manuela.

Thursday M* and I decided that we were going to jointly make dinner—something we enjoy and have not had time to do this year. We decided upon sushi, and M* was going to make the special sushi rice and I was going to pick up the other ingredients after work. Our plans did not progress smoothly, and we felt as though the universe was conspiring against our efforts. First, M* forgot to put the rice on until just before I arrived home at 6pm. Since the rice takes one hour in the steamer and we needed two batches, we almost put the sushi off for one night. Instead I started one batch on the stove. Right before the rice in the steamer was done, I noticed a container of risotto sitting by the rice cooker. M* had used risotto instead of the sushi rice. Instead of giving up, we made another pot of sushi rice on the stove. We also got past the unripe avocados, the knocking over of the organic vegetable box which spilled dirt on the flour, the discovery that the beets we were going to use were actually just small swedes covered with a lot of dirt and the falling salt shaker which spewed its contents everywhere. We are very happy that we persevered and manufactured excellent, though not always the most tightly rolled, sushi.

Friday was also a busy as I volunteered the full day for Shape East at a meeting entitled "Delivering High Quality Public Art In Cambridgeshire," hosted at the SmartLIFE Centre at Cambridge Regional College. The morning only required me to work check-in and usher people back to the meeting room after coffee breaks, and I was able to hear the four speakers: an art consultant, a developer, a public arts officer and a member of a visual arts development agency. In the afternoon I recorded the discussion of a break-out group which contemplated several questions: what is public art, how do you achieve success and what do developers pay for. The group I was with was made up of two artists, one architect, a retired city planning official, two urban planners and two people involved with public art (not sure of their exact roles). The discussion was lively, thought provoking and unpretentious.

The SmartLIFE Centre; sustainable features include the wind turbine, ground source heat pump and solar thermal hot water heating.

I made a few contacts and found people willing to talk to me about their experiences in the field. M* and I have both found the Cambridge community to be inclusive and non-competitive. If I don't continue with my part-time job, I will be increasing my time with Shape East. Although I am not getting paid, I am learning about sustainability, development, architecture and related issues, which will help me decide if this is an area that holds a viable career option. One thing I know, the crafting of policy is not a path that I want to pursue.

Best Adult Bike with Baby Seat

There are thousands of bikes in Cambridge, and it is very common to see ones with baby seats. Some seats are directly behind or directly in front of the adult rider's; some are a separate contraption attached via a hitch to the back of the bike. The hitch ones make me so nervous.

Since I started working, I've seen an unusual bike: one with the front wheel replaced with two smaller ones on either side of a metal, half-oval covered with a red plastic with clear windows in back and front. If I had to travel via bike with a baby, I think I'd want this bike.

Things I Like: Pete Tong Live from WMC

Sooo good. Sat down to do some writing and played Pete Tong's show from last night on BBC Radio 1. He was live, poolside, from the Winter Music Conference in Miami. The house tunes were just flowing. Besides throwing down his own mix, he had Eric Morillo and Cedric Gervais spin. If only I could find a club that played such music that has a capacity about 1/20 of that of Fabric's: there has to be one in London.

You can listen to this show until next Friday night on the BBC Radio 1 web site.

Saturday, 17 March: London

We wanted to do something to celebrate the end of M*'s Lent Term at Judge, but he had less than 24 hours free. He has signed up with two non-Judge projects that often use-up the little down-time he has. Since my friend Alicia, who now lives in Pars but who I met during graduate school at UCLA, was in London for a few days of theatre going and Jessica invited us out Saturday night and to crash at her place, we took another trip down to London.

We're beginning to really like the area where Jess is currently living: Highbury/ Islington. We had a pre-dinner drink at The Alma. They had an interesting selection of New Zealand snacks in addition to a real menu, and their wine-by-the-glass list was impressive for a pub. The tables were large and, on a Saturday evening at 6pm, there was plenty of room as well as a few babies.

M* and I Tubed down to Piccadilly to meet Alica at Melati—a restaurant that features Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean food. Since Alicia is fond of this place and she is originally from Singapore, M* and I were really excited. The prices were good, but the food was below our expectations. I ordered the sea bass sambal—one of the most expensive items on the menu but I love sambal and sea bass. What appeared did not resemble sambal or sea bass. Alicia agreed that the sauce was more of a sweet chili sauce than a sambal, and we all were expecting a meatier fish. I'd go to Melati again, but with lower expectations and a mind to ordering a less expensive dish.

M* and I walked up towards Oxford Circus to meet-up with Jess and a few of her friends. We went to a 60s soul/ indie pop night at Phoenix. I felt that dancing to 60s soul, that I like but rarely listen to on my own, would make me a bit of a poser. Also, the dancing mass that was singing every word to a popular chorus but flubbing the words on the lesser known verses was a bit of a turn-off. I did appreciate their enthusiasm though. Luckily we scored some really comfy chairs by the dance floor, so hitting the dance floor occasionally did not take much of an effort. I do think that not being able to drink beer (damn the gluten issues!) makes going out all night less enjoyable—unless their is a kicking dj that can garner all my attention.

Before Jess would let us sleep, she made us watch a few episodes of The Mighty Boosh—another sketch-type, BBC comedy show. It was funny and often disturbing: the "Ugly Gregg" episode had a remote British lake haunted by a half-man half-fish creature with a mangina (also called a downstairs mix-up); the other episode had two band members deserted on an island that they populate with coconut "people"—one of the humans becomes a victim of spousal abuse (he married a lady coconut) and accidentally kills his "abuser." This is very Adult Swim humor.

M* and I were so happy to have a LA type brunch at Kiki in Highbury/ Islington before heading back to Cambridge on Sunday. There are no such places in Cambridge—no Le, La, Les or Cafe named breakfast places that I seemed to frequent.

Jess and me recreating the classic Glamour Shots poses from 2002.

An impromtu, non-posed photo

Jess and M* in conversation

M*, Alicia (at month four of pregnancy) and me at Melati

Sepia Jess at Phoenix

M* and Jess sharing a laugh over a beer

Kiki for brunch

Surveying Coe Fen

Surveyors were out in abundance of Friday. Not the most exciting pictures. The zoom on the camera is limited, and I didn't want to make it obvious that I was recording their recording.

You Know You Are Getting Old When...

people gasp when you say your age. It sounds like a bad birthday card, but it happened.

I met up with some friends on Friday to celebrate three birthdays—mine was one of them. I was talking to someone when I realized that the "birthday girls" were being asked how old we were turning. Maria and Anna had answered already, but I didn't hear their responses. I already knew that I was the oldest, although not the only person in their 30s, so I prepared myself for some surprised reactions. When I said, "Thirty-five, " people actually gasped. I'm pleased that I look younger, but the gasping just can't help but make you feel different from those who uttered the exclamations.

Luckily this did not affect how much I enjoyed the lunch. The staff at La Tasca was very nice: they were helpful and did not rush us. The food was fine: some things were a bit cold and flavors were mild where I would expect strong or spicy. The sangria, however, is worth going back for. Tialda, Wakako and Yuri presented us with very sweet gifts: tulips, handmade cards and stylish tote-bags.

M* and I repeatedly say how fortunate (and surprised) we are that his classmates and their partners are such nice people. They Judge MBA generally fosters a collaborative, instead of a competitive, atmosphere. While it wasn't the same as celebrating with my friends in Los Angeles, the lunch helped make it feel like my birthday actually passed.

Birthday Flowers

Wednesday was my birthday, and M* gave me many awesome gifts (including 'the Cadillac' of binoculars for birding: Bushnell Nature View Plus). He has a great eye for flowers, and he did not disappoint on this occasion. The double daffodils are my favorite this time, as I don't believe that I've ever seen them before.

You Know Your Lettuce Is Fresh When...

you find a little slug nestled amongst the greens. The salad mix was part of our weekly organic vegetable delivery. I very thoroughly checked the rest of the salad before eating.

A Room With A View

Started a part-time job at the Univ. of Cambridge. Best thing about the position is that the office is on the top floor of a 600 year old building with windows that open and a view of King's College Chapel. After being in the basement of KCRW for eight years, natural light is a nice change.

Quick snapshot of the chapel from my office.
Didn't want to be caught, as I wasn't sure if taking photos
from one's office window would be considered proper on
one's second day of work.

Final Judge MBA Football Match

Today was the last tournament match for the Judge MBA Football Team: they lost to the Engineering team 0-3. Besides a possible game against Oxford's MBA team and a definite match at the 2007 MBAT in France, this is the last time the team competes. M* came home with the standard scrapes, bruises and minor bleeding. He's also sporting a jammed, possibly slightly fractured, ring finger.

Wish I took this photo. Luckily someone with a really nice camera was also present.

My photos

My photos

Grantchester Meadows

Saturday late afternoon walk along River Cam through Grantchester Meadows.

M* getting a little closer to the river.

M*'s hat belies the 65° weather we had today.

We were treated to a visit by a barn owl—although it was a bit camera shy.

Twilight

Twilight

Twilight