It is sadly true: I have white ankles and white feet. This was not apparent to me until today when I went shopping for some short, light-weight pants to wear to work. We can wear jeans to work but in this 95 degree weather jeans are just too heavy.
Standing in that depressingly unflattering dressing room, I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to see that my legs from the knees down are tannish until the area where my short socks would be. Then my feet are as white as mayonnaise!
Since my knee surgery five months ago, I have been very careful about wearing good walking shoes and those shoes need socks. Short socks, but socks nonetheless and socks and shoes obviously prevent skin from tanning. It looks very silly, but there's not much to do for it other than begin wearing flip-flops more often when I walk the dog.
Sigh. The things you notice in department store dressing rooms.
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Friday, June 29, 2018
"Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles
Just a quick review: this is Towles first novel. His second, "A Gentleman in Moscow," is a book I devoured and one which I totally enjoyed.
"Rules of Civility" takes place in New York in 1938, just as America is beginning to climb out of the terrible dungeon of the Great Depression. The story follows a young woman, Katey Content, as she makes her way through the web of friendships, jobs, romance and disappointment. It is a very good story, told well. Yes, there is similarity with "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Great Gatsby" but not enough to put one off. (And those two novels take place in different time frames as well.) Towles often has a glimmering turn of phrase, wry observations and poignant details that all converge to give the reader (or the listener in this case) a wonderful portal into the characters' emotional lives as well as their day-to-day experiences.
Towles is a great teller of stories. In the end, whether it's a gentleman in Moscow or a young woman in Manhattan, he weaves a story of many threads and creates a fabric of rich characters, locations and situations. I hope he writes many more books.
If you find this at the library, read it. You will enjoy it.
"Rules of Civility" takes place in New York in 1938, just as America is beginning to climb out of the terrible dungeon of the Great Depression. The story follows a young woman, Katey Content, as she makes her way through the web of friendships, jobs, romance and disappointment. It is a very good story, told well. Yes, there is similarity with "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Great Gatsby" but not enough to put one off. (And those two novels take place in different time frames as well.) Towles often has a glimmering turn of phrase, wry observations and poignant details that all converge to give the reader (or the listener in this case) a wonderful portal into the characters' emotional lives as well as their day-to-day experiences.
Towles is a great teller of stories. In the end, whether it's a gentleman in Moscow or a young woman in Manhattan, he weaves a story of many threads and creates a fabric of rich characters, locations and situations. I hope he writes many more books.
If you find this at the library, read it. You will enjoy it.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Kids in Grown-up Places
Yes, I am a curmudgeon, I admit it. But I sincerely believe that there are places where small, noisy, bratty children are not meant to be. The place I work is one such location.
Billed as a quiet retreat, this summer it has become a kind of unsupervised summer camp for all manner of kids under the age of ten. Screaming at the top of their lungs, running through the property waving sticks they find on the grounds, (this morning one kid had a stick on fire!), throwing rocks and pine needles into the outside fire pit, stomping on the sprinklers, tossing trash on the ground instead of in a trash receptacle, basically acting like a young cast of "Lord of the Flies", the kids we have had lately have been awful.
And the parents are worse. While the kids are doing all of the above and more, parents are either totally absent (in their tents or Airstreams, oblivious of their offsprings' whereabouts) or sitting on lawn chairs furiously working their social media contacts on their phones. These parents have zero contact with their children until we, the front desk or housekeeping or maintenance staff confront them about their out-of-control kids. And even then, they look up with a blank face, as if they have completely forgotten those kids belong to them.
It is a sad commentary on so much of the current realm of what's appropriate. The abdication of responsibility, whether in parenting or in the workplace or in our world, is rampant. Telling a kid over and over to not throw any kind of material (paper, leaves, pine needles, rocks, balloons, potato chips, etc) into the fire pit and getting no backup from the parental units is infuriating. For the other guests, those trying to have a peaceful stay in the redwoods without kids, it is annoying, frustrating and anything but peaceful.
Children do not have the right to ruin anyone's vacation weekend. I don't care how cute a parent thinks his/her kid is, if that kid is out of control then that kid needs to be controlled. Kids do not belong everywhere.
So sue me for being politically incorrect. Kids do not belong everywhere.
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Billed as a quiet retreat, this summer it has become a kind of unsupervised summer camp for all manner of kids under the age of ten. Screaming at the top of their lungs, running through the property waving sticks they find on the grounds, (this morning one kid had a stick on fire!), throwing rocks and pine needles into the outside fire pit, stomping on the sprinklers, tossing trash on the ground instead of in a trash receptacle, basically acting like a young cast of "Lord of the Flies", the kids we have had lately have been awful.
And the parents are worse. While the kids are doing all of the above and more, parents are either totally absent (in their tents or Airstreams, oblivious of their offsprings' whereabouts) or sitting on lawn chairs furiously working their social media contacts on their phones. These parents have zero contact with their children until we, the front desk or housekeeping or maintenance staff confront them about their out-of-control kids. And even then, they look up with a blank face, as if they have completely forgotten those kids belong to them.
It is a sad commentary on so much of the current realm of what's appropriate. The abdication of responsibility, whether in parenting or in the workplace or in our world, is rampant. Telling a kid over and over to not throw any kind of material (paper, leaves, pine needles, rocks, balloons, potato chips, etc) into the fire pit and getting no backup from the parental units is infuriating. For the other guests, those trying to have a peaceful stay in the redwoods without kids, it is annoying, frustrating and anything but peaceful.
Children do not have the right to ruin anyone's vacation weekend. I don't care how cute a parent thinks his/her kid is, if that kid is out of control then that kid needs to be controlled. Kids do not belong everywhere.
So sue me for being politically incorrect. Kids do not belong everywhere.
.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Anthony Bourdain: The Congo Episode
Like probably thousands of Bourdain fans, I am watching his "Parts Unknown" series from the beginning. It is disconcerting to see a man who was alive four days ago, now dead, now alive on TV, back and forth in one's mind.
If you have Netflix, the entire series is free. I suggest you watch it, not simply for the pleasure and pain of seeing Bourdain but for the intensity of each episode. (Plus I just read that the entire series is leaving Netflix on June 16. Because of his death, that may change, but check it out quickly.) I just finished watching Episode 7 of the first series. The focus was not food, it was all about the struggle of the Republic of the Congo to try to survive given its ruination from so many colonizing countries. It is Bourdain at his humanitarian best, not sentimental but clear and direct.
So much of his journalism was just that: clear and direct and instructive. Decades ago we had Charles Kuralt who not only reported on the Vietnam War but who traveled across America reporting on small towns, small people, everyday life. Bourdain did that but because of TV and internet and social media, he was able to connect in a bigger way all over the world.
In the Congo episode he harkens back to Joseph Conrad many times. One quote, paraphrased from Conrad, resonated with me: "I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice." In other words, whatever path I have chosen, I accept the consequences, good or bad. I will be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. Think about that.
Nothing else to say but try to watch some of the "Parts Unknown" series before it leaves Netflix. It is Bourdain at his social consciousness best, less food and more society. He was a great advocate for social integrity and social interaction and inclusion. And change.
Peace out.
.
If you have Netflix, the entire series is free. I suggest you watch it, not simply for the pleasure and pain of seeing Bourdain but for the intensity of each episode. (Plus I just read that the entire series is leaving Netflix on June 16. Because of his death, that may change, but check it out quickly.) I just finished watching Episode 7 of the first series. The focus was not food, it was all about the struggle of the Republic of the Congo to try to survive given its ruination from so many colonizing countries. It is Bourdain at his humanitarian best, not sentimental but clear and direct.
So much of his journalism was just that: clear and direct and instructive. Decades ago we had Charles Kuralt who not only reported on the Vietnam War but who traveled across America reporting on small towns, small people, everyday life. Bourdain did that but because of TV and internet and social media, he was able to connect in a bigger way all over the world.
In the Congo episode he harkens back to Joseph Conrad many times. One quote, paraphrased from Conrad, resonated with me: "I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice." In other words, whatever path I have chosen, I accept the consequences, good or bad. I will be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. Think about that.
Nothing else to say but try to watch some of the "Parts Unknown" series before it leaves Netflix. It is Bourdain at his social consciousness best, less food and more society. He was a great advocate for social integrity and social interaction and inclusion. And change.
Peace out.
.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Anthony Bourdain
About Anthony Bourdain's suicide there are too many questions and no answers, a lot of sadness and no resolution.
I read his original article in the New Yorker in April of 1999. The first sentence of that article is: "Good food, good eating, is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay." From that moment, I was a fan. That article soon morphed into his first non-fiction book and he was surprised by its success. I saw him at Book Passage in Corte Madera that summer, on a book tour to promote his work. He was tall, skinny, awkward, uncomfortable standing in front of a crowd talking. But once he began, once the stories started taking shape, you could see him relax and feel his confidence rise.
A year or so later he was a guest chef at Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur. While we waited in line for the doors to open, Bourdain strolled past us and I got to chat with him for about fifteen seconds. Again, he was a little embarrassed, it seemed, that he was the reason we were all there. I asked why he wasn't in the kitchen and he answered "Are you kidding, I don't cook at these things, I come to eat!" He had not yet begun his TV shows but for those of us who love reading and cooking and eating, he was already an icon of all three of those passions.
If you ask many people what their dream job would be, many would answer "unlimited travel." That would be my answer. To watch Bourdain do just that, to see him in so many countries and for us to vicariously enjoy the food, the people, the culture was to get a peek at other sides of the world. He was funny and irreverent but always respectful of the differences in each place. Sometimes an episode had little to do with food but we watched anyway because his was the job we wanted, he was going to the places we wanted to visit. He was a great storyteller and an amazing entertainer.
It is almost impossible to imagine the darkness one must experience to commit suicide. The despair, the depression, the utter desolation that must envelope a person. There must be so much pain. We never saw that, of course, which makes his death that much more incomprehensible.
Many of us will miss Bourdain's wit and wisdom, the incredible adventures he willingly shared with us and his infectious laugh. We will miss the writing he had yet to do and the experiences he had waiting for him.
He wrote: "As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."
Anthony Bourdain certainly left his mark on me.
.
I read his original article in the New Yorker in April of 1999. The first sentence of that article is: "Good food, good eating, is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay." From that moment, I was a fan. That article soon morphed into his first non-fiction book and he was surprised by its success. I saw him at Book Passage in Corte Madera that summer, on a book tour to promote his work. He was tall, skinny, awkward, uncomfortable standing in front of a crowd talking. But once he began, once the stories started taking shape, you could see him relax and feel his confidence rise.
A year or so later he was a guest chef at Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur. While we waited in line for the doors to open, Bourdain strolled past us and I got to chat with him for about fifteen seconds. Again, he was a little embarrassed, it seemed, that he was the reason we were all there. I asked why he wasn't in the kitchen and he answered "Are you kidding, I don't cook at these things, I come to eat!" He had not yet begun his TV shows but for those of us who love reading and cooking and eating, he was already an icon of all three of those passions.
If you ask many people what their dream job would be, many would answer "unlimited travel." That would be my answer. To watch Bourdain do just that, to see him in so many countries and for us to vicariously enjoy the food, the people, the culture was to get a peek at other sides of the world. He was funny and irreverent but always respectful of the differences in each place. Sometimes an episode had little to do with food but we watched anyway because his was the job we wanted, he was going to the places we wanted to visit. He was a great storyteller and an amazing entertainer.
It is almost impossible to imagine the darkness one must experience to commit suicide. The despair, the depression, the utter desolation that must envelope a person. There must be so much pain. We never saw that, of course, which makes his death that much more incomprehensible.
Many of us will miss Bourdain's wit and wisdom, the incredible adventures he willingly shared with us and his infectious laugh. We will miss the writing he had yet to do and the experiences he had waiting for him.
He wrote: "As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."
Anthony Bourdain certainly left his mark on me.
.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Wow, did I write that?
Sometimes I go back and read what I have written and often I think it's fine, but not great. But just now I re-read the review I wrote of "The Unseen World" by Liz Moore and I am amazed by my clarity of thought and my quite smart (for lack of a better word) insight and explanation of this novel.
Again, it's a book that I think everyone would enjoy reading. Read my review, go find it and read it. I wrote the review on March 26. Check it out.
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Again, it's a book that I think everyone would enjoy reading. Read my review, go find it and read it. I wrote the review on March 26. Check it out.
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Holy cow! Election Day! Zoltan and Akinyemi face off for Governor!
First, I am seriously NOT making fun of people's names. But where else in America do you have a person running for Governor of one of the most (if not THE most) influential states who is named Zoltan? And another named Akinyemi? And Mission Statements of some of the other candidates: Robert Newman is pro-God and anti Con-Con. (I am 100% uncertain what that means. I google it and there are six things that are at the top of the list and none of them are related to the others.) Candidate Peter Y. Lui wears a charming hat in his photo but has no statement other than a cryptic hashtag. One guy says "teach your children calculus." Another, Johnny Wattenburg says "Why not?" and I sort of like that. Coming back to Zoltan, he says he is a "Transhumanist Lecturer" and that almost frightens me into voting for him. "Transhumanism" is a real belief and I will not denigrate it because I know too little about it but if you take the "...ism" off of the word you have "transhuman" and what is that? Oh, Zoltan, you worry my soul.
And how many people are actually running for Governor? Dozens, more than we need. A good race could be five or seven but as I was perusing my ballot (the mail-in kind) I stopped abruptly because I did not see Gavin Newsom's name on the list. I thought "hmm, I am not up on politics but I was pretty sure he was running" and then I saw the discreet line at the bottom of that skinny page saying "Please turn over" so I did but then I realized they meant that you needed to turn over the ballot, not turn over on the couch on which you were reclining, and YES there was Gavin's name. I was a bit relieved. But there should not be that many names, come on Zoltan, give it up. You ain't gonna win. Richard Pryor has a better chance of being Governor than you do and he's dead, just admit it and toss your 23 votes to someone else.
It's a crazy way to pick our governing body here in California, that's for sure. And don't get me started on the whole initiative process in this state. Stand outside Safeway and Starbucks and Target and get lame-ass people who can barely read to sign a petition and you can get anything on the ballot if you get enough signatures.
If you are reading this and you did not vote, shame on you. If you did vote, yay for you. Let's see how it all shakes out. I will be happy if Zoltan gets ten votes, at least his transhuman community (maybe they are vampires???) may have voted for him. Or not. We will never know, all that secret ballot stuff makes it a mystery. Too bad.
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And how many people are actually running for Governor? Dozens, more than we need. A good race could be five or seven but as I was perusing my ballot (the mail-in kind) I stopped abruptly because I did not see Gavin Newsom's name on the list. I thought "hmm, I am not up on politics but I was pretty sure he was running" and then I saw the discreet line at the bottom of that skinny page saying "Please turn over" so I did but then I realized they meant that you needed to turn over the ballot, not turn over on the couch on which you were reclining, and YES there was Gavin's name. I was a bit relieved. But there should not be that many names, come on Zoltan, give it up. You ain't gonna win. Richard Pryor has a better chance of being Governor than you do and he's dead, just admit it and toss your 23 votes to someone else.
It's a crazy way to pick our governing body here in California, that's for sure. And don't get me started on the whole initiative process in this state. Stand outside Safeway and Starbucks and Target and get lame-ass people who can barely read to sign a petition and you can get anything on the ballot if you get enough signatures.
If you are reading this and you did not vote, shame on you. If you did vote, yay for you. Let's see how it all shakes out. I will be happy if Zoltan gets ten votes, at least his transhuman community (maybe they are vampires???) may have voted for him. Or not. We will never know, all that secret ballot stuff makes it a mystery. Too bad.
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