It must have been something I ate

2011-12-10T13:29:00.000+01:00

This blog is moving to a new home;

2011-11-23T08:32:00.002+01:00

I've made a whole blog about our Irish vacation.

2010-06-12T10:02:00.004+02:00

They say "seven" but it's really 8 minutes icing. The trick seems to be not to forget the water ... like I did last time

in the top of a double boiler; 2x eggs whites, 1/2 cup water, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1t vanilla extract, 1/2 t salt, 1T light cornsyrup, mix for one minute and then mix on high until soft peaks form.

I've sent these two pictures off to be printed on 20 in square canvas for DH's office. I'm very nervous about this. I hope they come out 'presentable'.

2010-05-07T08:10:00.009+02:00

It was fun reverse engineering the ginormous bouquets;

everything must be anchored to a central support;

We got to watch them set up the lilies displays

click to go to gallery;

2010-03-02T15:42:00.007+01:00

Schladming/amade 2010

Allan had yet another job interview in Belgium on the Thursday before we left. Some progress was made but no definitive offer resulted.

The five women had gone grocery shopping together a week earlier to supply the house we'd rented.

Friday 19 February 2010
lard-licious
Andy's school had declared the Friday before spring break a 'study day' (I think it's the equivalent of teacher's institute in the states) we left around 4:30 am ... delayed by an unsuccessful search for Al's reading glasses. I drove the first leg. It was scary. Some of the highways had lights but they weren't lit. Listening to Podcasts helped up fill the hours until we arrived in Salzburg around 3:30.

The hotel wouldn't be open for another half hour so we took the opportunity to tour the quaint village. A darling church encircled by an even more adorable graveyard was adjacent our hotel. I was hoping we'd be back before night fall to shoot some pictures there. After a quick photowalk around town and the Mirabell gardens with a chic cappuccino stop we met our friends at the hotel. Oh! And we had a lard-licious sausage from a street vendor. By the time we got back it was already dark. We ate dinner early – the only option in our hotel since a large group was booked for later in the evening. I was dismayed to find people smoking in the combination bar/dining room. I had chicken with blue cheese and a side of tator tots. I think the meat had been marinated in garlic laced lard.

The hotel was clean and adequate and sported...WIFI! Al and I played Scrabble on our ITouch/IPhones and then tucked into the very hard and lumpy beds. We could hear some very loud giggles through the walls.

Saturday 20th
Lost mittens
I braved the black ice in the parking lot at daybreak to capture some images of the picaresque cemetery. Breakfast was included in the price of the room. It was a nice spread. I was pretty sure the eggs were already boiled but the proprietress quickly corrected me. The egg cooking appliance made the most astonishing chirping noise to alert us that they were soft boiled. I tried some of Al's cheese. I have never in my life had anything so vile tasting in my life!

We drove to Zell am See for our interim stop – we'd decided to ski somewhere midway. For some time we'd talked about making a pilgrimage to The Schober Alm but in previous years the snow hadn't been that great or we'd been too far away.

Andy had lost both his skiing mittens and gloves so he wore my mittens and I made do with gloves. My goggles were nowhere to be found. I recall putting them in my helmet but I think someone removed them while they were packing...Thank goodness I had my prescription sunglasses.

One of the nicest things about skiing on the switchover day is that the slopes are not crowded in any way shape or form. We were blessed with fresh snow. After a few false moves we lunched at the Alm – veal ragout in a giant baked potato. Mmm.

We couldn't program the GPS to find the exact tiny street where our house for the week was located. We drove up and down as dusk fell. Finally Allan asked for directions at the gas station and we found the local road with a number of hairpin turns up to our house. As we approached I saw some children's silhouettes as they sledded down the hill in front of the house.

The 18 of us gathered in the open kitchen/dining room. There was the most wonderful old fashioned wood burning stove which had an oven that the top surface got hot enough to cook on. Loved that. Claudia made delicious macaroni with lots of vegetables and smoked sausage. We had two rooms. I tried in vain to make the fitted sheets I'd brought fit the unusual sized mattresses – to no avail. I think Andy only lasted about a half hour in his own room. Which was fine because our room was a triple. It was rather odd with three singles that stretched wall to wall.

Sunday the 21st
Ice, Ice baby
Paul collected our fresh kaiser & wholegrain rolls from the nearby Schnapps establishment for breakfast. Al cooked some eggs to fortify me in the morning, Schladming/amade encompasses a main four mountain area. We'd (okay Al) decided on the Reiteralm for our first day. Andy tried a speed run and managed 52 km/hr. Not bad for a 10 year old. I found skiing on the ice hard going and my legs tired quickly. Lunch was a yummy pork slice. We got back to the house in time to take a walk and shoot a few pictures. Apparently we were staying on a summer panoramic walking path route.

We really had no idea what to expect of the skiing area. Because skiing was actually a secondary consideration – we were more concerned with finding an acceptably large house that could affordably accommodate the 18 of us. (8 children & 10 adults). But I am happy to report that we were pleasantly surprised and impressed. The area is gearing up for hosting an alpine world cup in three years. To that end the facilities are extremely modern and all the staff are service minded.

Simone made smoked sausage over a bed of mashed potatoes cooked with kale – all topped with crunchy bacon cubes and brown gravy. The corner bench at one of the dining tables broke under Al. Joss collected his tool box out of his van so the men could fix the damage.

Monday 22nd
Ch-ch-ch-chili
Al kept his Iphone nearby in case the company he'd interviewed called about the results of his meeting. At the top of the Planai gondola is a fabulous fun park called 'Horsefeathers' I enjoyed the bright sun lounging in a beach chair there while the boys played on more demanding slopes. Al lead me down some gentle blue slopes. In some places we had to take T-bar lifts/”mushrooms”.

This was Al's night to cook. We stopped and bought about a cows worth of ground beef. He attempted to brown the hamburger on the wood burning stove but it took a long time. We ate finally around 7:30. By candlelight. Afterwards Al brought out a blue alcoholic drink called 'glacier'. The damage for the day was a sled and a chair. I think an old man who lives in an unrented part of the house turned up after I'd already gone to bed.

Tuesday 23rd
It only hurts when I ski
I awoke very early and spied some incredibly pink clouds wafting outside our northern facing window. But I was too lazy to grab a camera (& get dressed) to go get a picture of them. Besides I estimated they wouldn't last long enough for me to get out there to shoot them. As I was the first up I swept the common room floor.

Hochwurzen was surprisingly uncrowded considering that it was the school holidays. I'd heard lots of different languages...just a smattering of Dutch. We met the other group for lunch (pizza) and I just took the gondola down so I could catch the free ski bus back to the car. My shins hurt like the dickens after the hard day of skiing on the ice. For some reason I just could not get my boots adjusted comfortably.

That night we feasted on local specialties – four kinds of dried sausage, bread and cheese and soup. I had some amazing fat pretzel type of bread. We went to bed early and I laid there for a while listening to Allan snore. The old farmhouse where we were staying creeped me out for some unknown reason. It was enough to give me pause when I woke up at night and considered did I really need to go to the bathroom or not. The wooden floors creaked like the crazy. Our rooms were on the top floor and had some very dark corners. The bathroom was clean and okay but sported a variety of clashing 1960's brown patterned tiles.

Wednesday 24th
Lazy day for some
I decided to take the day off to try and let my shins recuperate. Besides I wanted to explore the local walking paths. That and play with the pictures I'd taken so far. Just about everyday I had been backing up the cards from both cameras on my old lap top we'd brought along. First I washed my hair and then enjoyed a pot of tea while playing with the computer. Al had taken my point and shoot camera so I had the SLR – which was a bit scary for me. I almost always still take better pictures with my own camera but am trying to learn how to use the 'big camera'. I played around with trying to get some shots of some creepy dolls that sat atop a cabinet but there was no light. Then I contented myself by doing some shallow depth of field pictures of the foosball table. I managed to get my walk in after lunch. I chose which paths I took in consideration of whether I would have to walk uphill on the way back. The walking trails were much more extensive than I'd first thought. I tried to sit outside and listen to music on my nano but it was really too cold.

Five of the others (including Al & Andy) had opted for a four mountain ski tour.

That night's meal was 'grillen'. Tons of meat and vegetables were cut up beforehand and then we cooked our food ourselves on a tabletop grill. There was way too much food. Way, way too much chicken, pork, steak, sausages and thick bacon slices.

Thursday 25th
lard-tastic
Andy had been asking lots of questions about the local glacier. Around every turn he would point at a mountain and ask, 'is that the glacier?' We all were curious so that's where we headed. The day greeted us with new snow fall. I was a bit concerned when we saw car after car heading down the mountain that we were driving up. It seemed to be an overly long way. Surprisingly we came out into a huge flat high meadow (Ramsau) on the way. There was hardly anybody in the parking lot for the Dachstein ski area. First you have to take a hanging gondola over to the glacier. We were so socked in that we couldn't see a thing. Which was a pity because it was supposed to be quite scenic. My glasses would fog up immediately which would make me completely disoriented in the white out and I fell.

Andy got cold and started to complain despite the wonderful fresh snow. We practically had the (albeit tiny) entire ski area to ourselves. We stopped for a yummy apple streudel with vanilla sauce to warm up. And ventured out again. It was simply too unpleasant. The last bit back to catch the gondola was a miserable uphill walk. I was rescued by an extremely kind man on a snowmobile. I wished I spoke German so that I could've asked him to go back and get Andy. The fog abated as we descended so I snapped picture after picture on the return gondola ride. We found a delightfully sunny cafe for lunch in Ramsau. My garlic laced pork cutlet was lard-tastic. I repeatedly heard the sound of milk being steamed for cappuccino while we ate and could not resist ordering one after my meal. Andy was willing to share his hot fudge sundae but Allan had spied some ice cream blintzes on the next table over which he ordered.

We found a back road from Ramsau to where we were staying. It was so beautiful with horse drawn sleds and many, many cross country skiing trails. That evening Claudia cleverly created a meal out of the left over meat from the previous night. We had it with a sauce over rice.

Friday 26th
Where are my pants?
Andy wanted to go back to Planai and play in the fun park. I hurridly got ready in the morning and while locking our room door went through a mental check list of stuff I should remember to have with me that day...helmet, gloves, money...I looked down and I was only wearing my (much beloved – I might add) long underwear on the bottom. I'd forgotten my ski pants! It was a tad rainy as we left – hopefully that would translate to new snowfall higher up. My glasses kept steaming up in the fog and heavy wet snow. Al lit upon the idea of smearing the lenses with a thin coating of soap – which worked a treat. Have to remember that! Still the wet snow would collect as ice on my straggling hair and turn to balls of ice. We stopped at a charming hut mid morning where I had hot Alpine punch (I think it was berries, black currents and cloves) which was divine. During a bathroom break we stumbled upon a real party tent! With a live accordion player in leder hosen even.

Afterwards we embarked on a fruitless kaiserschmarren mix quest (a sweet egg dish Al really likes). My guess is that all the visitors had already cleared out the shelves. That evening we'd arranged to have an early pizza at the nearby schnapps brewery. I couldn't resist the free shot glass at the end of the meal. I think Simone said it best, 'I won't be bothered by my cold now.'It did indeed taste like cough medicine to me.

At 3:30 or so the next morning we hopped in the car for the 11 hour drive home. Al played all the Leo Laporte podcasts he had. Al checked his email the minute he got home to find that he had yet another interview scheduled for Monday. They finally made him an offer. Yay!

Pictures

2010-02-01T13:22:00.000+01:00

Two takes on expats

and

A Day in America According to a (Baffled) Foreigner

2010-01-07T17:03:00.006+01:00

The Journey

I don't think it's a very big secret that United Airlines overbooks it's flights. But sometimes their blatant shenanigans are outrageous.

(Al never mentioned DS vomiting multiple times throughout all this - isn't travel romantic?)

Originally we booked our 2009 US Christmas trip in March. Nancy used our favorite reliable travel agent in Naarden, Helma. Helma found us a reasonably priced flight on Virgin. Atlantic-with a plane change in London Heathrow. Then in October, we received an email from our travel agent indicating that Virgin had cancelled the London Chicago route, but we were not to worry as we had been rebooked on KLM and United flights. This was slightly less convenient for us as it meant our neighbors needed to bring us to Schiphol at 5AM to be on time for the first leg of the flight. Thank goodness we had passed through Heathrow before and knew to only take minimal carry on luggage (we only had one backpack a piece).

When we arrived at Schiphol we were directed to an agent after trying to use the automatic check-in kiosk. It took some time at the counter but after some concerned looks we were able to check in to the flight to London. The KLM agent behind the counter mentioned a problem in that there was an indication that Andy did not have a US passport. She also informed us that she could not check us in for the connecting flight to Chicago as it was with another carrier.

After 45 Minutes our KLM flight arrived at Terminal 4 at LHR. United left from Terminal 1 so we proceeded to the bus connection. to Terminal 1. Upon arriving and passing the security check we stood at the United check-in counter.

After a lengthy wait in line we stood before an agent. After looking at our papers and keying several codes into the computer terminal she looked back at us with some concern. She told us there was a mistake in the booking and we should go see the Virgin agent in terminal 3 to get it straightened out as Virgin was the issuing agent. She said she could put us on standby, but the outlook was gloomy as all flights were over booked to Chicago and many people were already waiting. (Nancy glanced back at the girl's nametag at this point it was "Emma" - because experience has told her that the next person most likely would ask 'who told you that?')

So we returned to the bus stop and reboarded the bus to Terminal 3. We passed through another security control, which of course involved getting the laptop out, taking our shoes off and passing through the metal detector. Then we headed towards the Virgin Agent.

After another lengthy wait in line we were directed to the Virgin ticket agent. The agent promptly informed us that the problem was with the travel agent (highly unlikely, Helma doesn’t make mistakes – that’s why we’ve used her the last 20 years) and he could not help us. At all. He also said that all of the flights with all the carriers were fully booked to Chicago and it would likely be several days before seats would be available to Chicago. He could offer us a hotel coupon but only after we returned to terminal 3 to get put on standby with United.

By this time Nancy had left several voice mails with all of the agent’s numbers she could find. But since it was Saturday our hopes of contact were dim as we knew that the offices were.

But the phone rang and somehow Helma was on the other end of the line. She said there was no way it was an agent problem but she would call her Dutch booking agent to see what they could find out. In the meantime we headed back to the bus transfer to Terminal 3.

Another bus ride. Another line. Another security control. Get the laptop outtake our shoes off, and take our place back in the line at the United counter. After a wait in line we once again stood at the counter looking at another smiling ticket agent. He put our names on two stand by lists and informed us not to worry about our bags as they would (wink) follow us where ever we went. And with that happy thought we went to wait until the gate opened so we could wait in standby and watch our flight leave.

Gloominess and cynicism was starting to set in as we went for food and drink with the little amount of UK currency we had.

We received another call from Helma who informed us that the problem was with United and she and the ticketing agent Roelof were very angry. She said the United had canceled our seats an hour earlier (!!!) and she suspected some shenanigans from United to deal with their overbooking problem. She said we should be very angry with United and to go back to the counter and raise a fuss. She would send us an SMS (text message) with the reservation details so we had some evidence of the United’s mischief. I decided to sit tight and await the outcome of the first standby before escalating and raising our voices.

When the gate number was announced, we walked towards it heads down. It was looking more hopeless when I asked what the standby possibilities were. We received dour looks all around.

So I decided to stage the next escalation. I went to the gate counter and proceeded to explain our story and providing the newly obtained reservation number. This resulted in some curious looks as the supervisor started to make some calls. She instructed us to sit over to the side and she would get back to us.

Our hearts sank as the first class passengers began to board the flight. At this low point we were called to the counter and handed 3 boarding cards.

This was curious because this was before the calling of standby passengers. Was it their concern of my impending threat of an escalation? Or was it their realization that we had uncovered some dubious behavior of canceling our seats in favor of direct United customers? We probably will never know and were not about to stir things up by asking, We are happily sitting in our seats at the back of the plane on the way to Chicago. ;-)

(sent from Al's IPhone)

(Now you know why I keep a link to our travel agent on this blog, she is worth her weight in gold)

2009-12-28T13:05:00.003+01:00

Getting Together with Family over the holidays

FIL has traveled to many known and unknown corners of the world. Here he is pouring over the map with his youngest grandson.

Christmas gallery pictures can be found here.

2009-12-24T18:57:00.001+01:00

Kat helped the boys put the finishing touches on the snowman this morning (& incidentally snapped this pictures)

2009-12-16T12:52:00.000+01:00

Dutch / American friendship holiday greetings

original artwork by DS

2009-12-10T16:28:00.002+01:00

Some Holiday Stuff Here;

Sinterklas pictures.

Santa parade

2009-11-22T09:37:00.002+01:00

Sint Nikolaas came to town last night;

more pictures

2009-11-16T11:33:00.002+01:00

In front of the Almere concert hall before last year's guitar concert. My retouching skills have improved enough that I could finally hide my bra strap ^5 :D

2009-10-19T11:54:00.000+02:00

Sometimes he looks so much like me that it's freaky

2009-10-17T14:06:00.007+02:00

DS's class gave a skit on 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' here he is as a plum...

Soccer

2009-10-16T07:41:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning;

2009-10-15T17:00:00.003+02:00

It's been a busy long weekend;

Bike ride in the polder on Friday;

walk around Naarden, Saturday morning;

Brabant Saturday evening;

and Monday to Amsterdam;

2009-08-19T06:33:00.001+02:00

1933 - 2009

My Mother taught me that being a woman doesn't mean you are weak or inferior.
She taught me the love of words and the alchemy of books
She taught me that cooking isn't just about sustenance - it's art and therapy

My Mother taught me that motherhood is the most important job in the world (alas it is underpaid and even less recognized and valued)

I am very lucky to have been Eula Grinstead's daughter.
By some miracle of hard work she insured that we four children had a taste of education knowing that none of us would be satisfied with such a tidbit.

I miss her voice even though I hear it every time I speak.

Eula lived a long and full life. She believed in the hereafter. I believe in the hereafter. Be sad at her passing...for an appropriate time. But then be joyful that she is now released from her limitations. Heaven won't know what hit them.

2009-08-06T14:33:00.002+02:00

Guess Where I went last night?

My dear brother in law generously gave me his ticket to the Crosby, Stills & Nash concert. It was an amazing night.

2009-06-29T16:06:00.001+02:00

Here is DS getting a haircut;

2009-06-09T12:54:00.002+02:00

End of year special soccer training

DS's team did very well this year. They were rewarded with a training session with a famous Dutch soccer player.

2009-05-29T02:30:00.001+02:00

Today My son turns 10! Happy Birthday!

2009-05-08T12:31:00.004+02:00

Kaleidoscopes, IPODS, drinking deep from the Well of Inspiration

I took my newly rebuilt IPOD out for a spin and what a walk down memory lane it was! Does anyone recall 'Tales of Brave Ulysses'? by Cream. Is teh awesome if you've ever holiday-ed in Greece. I found a few songs that are worth going deaf over like parts of the soundtrack to The Last of the Mohicans. World music doesn't get any better than The Chieftains in China.

And I tried to shoot some pictures of vapor trails/sunflares through with DS's open-ended kaleidoscope. I wonder if I am the first person to ever try this?

Gallery

2009-04-24T06:30:00.006+02:00

Here's just a couple of shots from yesterday;

We decided to take advantage of DH having the time off so we took the cameras to Keukenhof.

Keukenhof is carpeted with tulips. Say what you will about tulips but they are not subtle;

I worked up the nerve to try my hand at macro shots with the 40D. I thought this little emerging bud looked very hopeful;

After looking at an ocean of eye-popping colors for a couple of hours I really enjoyed this playful pink bloom peeping out among the leaves;

I still despair of ever taking a picture in focus. Even with all the electronic/high tech assistance I'm still having trouble with that. But I will say that I truly enjoyed attempting macro shots. It's so much fun to control the depth of focus so that your eye is drawn to the subject.

2009-04-13T19:25:00.009+02:00

I've been having fun with something called 'Kaleidofractals'

here's one example;
(click to enlarge - you won't regret it)

And I've been trying to figure out how to let the computer do all the work on an Escher division of plane. Look real close, there are both black and white dogs here;

If you like these then you'll love this.

And I've been messing around with frames and as always beauty retouching.

Maybe I should change the name of my blog to 'It must have been something I Photoshopped.' :D

2009-04-08T11:57:00.006+02:00

We met a friend in Amsterdam yesterday.

And of course we took the cameras. Here's a vase Al shot which I've made into a kaleidoscope;

Gallery.

Also. I've been having fun making repetitive images;

I've updated my Photoshop gallery.

2009-03-30T06:49:00.005+02:00

A few pieces I've made lately;

Link to my Flickr

2009-03-10T21:11:00.001+01:00

Goofiness embodied

You can do it too at The Hero Factory.

2009-03-02T17:18:00.010+01:00

Cold Play

Cold Play – this trip is dedicated to the band that made all that time in the car much more bearable. I’ve named the sections after some of the songs on their album ‘Parachutes’

(Austria) Friday the 13th, 2009 – Don’t Panic

Tender is the schnitzel?

We got up at 5 am. I’d had a cold for the past two weeks so I wasn’t really prepared. Or at least I hadn’t done my usual OCD planning and organizing. I had laid in a supply of new toys and games to entertain Andy once we were there. But he had discovered my cache a few nights before we left. So there was going to be no surprises for him.

So I just threw a few things – including my new skis in the car and we left.
The IPOD played; the Who’s ‘Magic Bus’ and Rama Das to keep us awake.
We stopped at a McDonalds in Augsburg.

The snow in Innsbruck was of the pretty kind. After checking into our darling room we headed off to the local shopping center to find a helmet for me. I was appalled to see so many people smoking…inside! We found a deal on a back-pack and a pair of sunglasses (not a deal) for Andy but not a helmet to fit my funny shaped head. There was a tense +/- 45 minutes when we went back to the car and simply could not find it. Despite combing every floor. Had it been stolen? That couldn’t be. No. We were in the wrong parking garage.

Exhausted we went directly to the Weisse Lamm – a local restaurant that our friendly Inn keeper recommended. Once past the unassuming (okay, shabby) entrance we were pleasantly surprised by the homey atmosphere and the delectable and affordable food.

(Innsbruck)Saturday 14th – Shiver

First thing we hit the grocery store and stocked up for the week. We figured it was cold enough outside that our car could act as an impromptu refrigerator. I left the challenge of finding room for all our purchases to Al while I visited the loo.
The plan was to ski in near-by Stubai since we couldn’t get into our room until 3 in the afternoon. Al and Andy had skied on before me. The ski run forked into a “Y”. So I thought I’d just go in between to see if I could spot them. I didn’t really fall so much as sink into the un-groomed snow. I figured the best thing to do would be to take my skis off and walk out. That worked but I didn’t notice that one ski binding wasn’t cocked. Well, no matter how hard you try and no matter how many cuss words you use in various languages you cannot reattach your ski to your boot unless the binding is cocked.

Just as I managed to cock the binding and seat my boot, Al yelled at me from the lift
to stay where I was because he was coming to rescue me. Yes, indeed. This whole spectacle had taken place directly under the chair-lift. I just waved and smiled at the people going up.

Other than seeing a prefect-and-too-expensive-helmet in a shop on the mountain the day came off without further incident. It was cold and I did need to fortify myself with a big plate of Kaiserschmarren (sweet scrambled eggs) but other than a little altitude sickness not much else interesting happened that first day. The slopes were gloriously abandoned. Saturday was turn-over day. Most people were still driving there. We had got lucky because Andy’s school had declared Friday the 13th a ‘study day.’ (teacher’s institute)

We got stuck in a terrible traffic jam at the exit before we had to get off. I snapped a couple of pictures of the snow covered pines as we waited.
Arrival at Residence Oswald in Ortesei found us ‘stupid/tired’. We unloaded the car (they had an elevator, hooray!) and decided to just have cheese and bread for dinner. As I unpacked and stowed things I discovered that I hadn’t packed a fleece layer to ski in.

Our neighbors the Biarts(Brian, Sally, Joe and Sam) had arrived before us and were in an apartment on the same floor across the hall. Hannie, Willem and Luuk were staying in the same building but on the floor below us.

I was a bit surprised to see that we had Pullman beds but other than that the apartment had a great location and was in great shape. I just pretended I was on a boat in the tiny kitchen. And realized. I would have to ‘make nice’ for a full week in a 10 x 12 foot room. This was going to take a lot of chocolate.

(Seiseralm) Sunday 15th Trouble

I made a full Austrian breakfast for the first and only time. It was too much trouble and made us late. Al was furious when tried to buy week-long lift passes at the lift by us and was told he had to traipse across town to the office by the other lift..

The crowd at the bottom of the Seiseralm gondola was horrendous. (Whoever manages to bring queuing to Europe will have my eternal gratitude.) But once we got by the first run it was blissfully empty.

I was shocked by the high cost of lunch. So far our lift tickets had been the most expensive – more than the room. Food was going to take a big chunk of our budget over the next week.

We sought in vain for a grocery with Brian in the evening. Our toilet paper situation was getting dire. Hanny helped us out by giving us a few spare squares to tide us over. Andy and Joe were playing in the snow. Unfortunately it was on a ledge hanging over the parking garage with a good 12 foot drop to the hard pavement.

The evening found us all together in a lovely pizzeria. Al and I made a mistake by having Latte macchiatos after dinner. That meant we were both awake in the middle of the night.

(Sella Ronda) Monday 16th – High Speed

“A day on bad skies beats a good day in the office.”-Brian

We drove the 10 minutes to Wolkenstein early to score a good parking spot close to the lift. Fortified with B3 (Niacin) I donned my ski boots.

The crowds were terrible. The first run was a busy, steep nightmare. But after successfully navigating that – I figured I could handle anything. I found the skiing challenging but not impossibly frightening. It was remarkable how well the kids got along. The gentle runs were covered with funny flour-consistency snow. All around the Dolomites offered up spectacular scenery. I spied some extra rolls of toilet paper in a rest room and considered taking one but decided against that because they were of the recycled newsprint type.

It was cold with improbably blue skies. We finally stopped at a grocery on the way home. I bought the nicest toilet paper they had. That used up all my cash.

Back in the room we played ‘Blokus’. For future reference – to have any chance at winning – all the players have to gang up on Allan. I made tosti’s (paninis to you Americans). For dinner and that was that. I’d traded my hammock-like bed for Allan’s rock-hard one. At least I could at last lie flat.

Tuesday 17th

I was planning to take the bus later in the morning to join up with our group. So I was able to have a lovely leisurely morning. I met my girlfriend for coffee. She was extremely helpful in arranging the bus because she spoke Italian.

After a quick soft pretzel I hopped on the local bus to Wolkenstein. I got off at the wrong stop (maybe. I think). So Al and I had to triangulate with cell phones. Everybody else was very tired so after only one perfect, long, glorious red run we called it quits for the day.

That allowed us time to visit the local swimming pool. Again there was a miserable queue going in but then the huge facility could accommodate quite a crowd. Despite the warm water in the outdoor pool – I caught a chill while lounging outside trying to catch snow-flakes on my tongue. So I spent the bulk of my time curled up on the splendid heated tile bench.

We had pizza in ‘The Mill’. I calculated that my lunch had been in the neighborhood of 800 calories and dinner +/-1400.

I sipped star anise/peppermint tea while the group played Zombie Fluxx. And yes, I think the point of the game is that you are supposed to argue endlessly about the rules.

Wednesday 18th Yellow

This was my favorite day.

I walked to the bakery in the morning but I was too early. Never mind. The brisk air and alone time was refreshing.

Again we drove back to Wolkenstein with the goal of reaching Corvarra. We got side tracked by Forcelles, because the pistes were beautifully inviting and empty – except for us.

For the morning break I couldn’t resist some nut torte. I was still so full at lunch that I just had a few ounces of Als’ schweinxhaxe (pork knuckle) and a bowl of fruit salad.

I got into a lovely rhythm again and again on the lovely, gentle and empty rums. And then I got bored.

I followed Joe into a jump – which I made successfully but I was so intent on staying lent forward that I didn’t turn to stay on the groomed snow. Once again I was forced to take off my skis and walk out.

I got cold so I took my ski boots off in a café. We were just horsing around like I couldn’t get them back on and then a kindly waitress came over and helped me cram my feet back into my ski boots. People can be nice.

I was in the groove. The horrible chopped up bumps at the end of the day were no problem for me for the first time. I could ski over, between or any which way I wanted through them. We tried to ski all the way back to the parking lot but I went too fast over a series of small bumps and fell ‘plop!’ in the soft snow.

(Seseiseralm) Thursday 19th

Finally we all got to ski together. (with the exception of those who took to snowboards – first Brian and Joe and later Sam and Andy). The difference with the crowds was night and day. We stopped early in the morning where I ordered a marocchino (espresso, chocolate and cream) – which was a very nice change from my usual warm apple-gluh mix/skiwasser (hot grenadine).

The children needed gentle slopes to learn snowboarding. I discovered that I hated green runs with a passion now that I could really ski. Sam did very well on the snowboard at first but eventually got tired. Andy was extremely frustrated at first. I skied on ahead because I could not stand to watch. So I left the job of supervision to his father.

We had to rush! Rush! Rush! to get back in time for the last lift. I found that extremely tiring. Also there was far too much traversing and walking uphill for my taste.

As we reviewed the trip’s pictures with everybody that evening I realized I’ve turned into THAT PERSON- the one who insists on showing you an interminable series of boring pictures of their vacation.

We dined again at the ‘Moulin’ only this time we met up with my friend, her husband and 2 boys. Her boys left most of their pizzas in favor of helping Andy finish his fries. We had a lovely wine.

I had weird dreams that night. I dreamt we lost the car. And then I was at the beach by the local amusement park watching Asians being baptized. I thought they must be cold. More strange dreams were that I thought my Mother had too many cutting boards and that we hadn’t fed the cat-which we couldn’t find anyway.

We don’t have a cat. Anymore. Odd.

(Seceda) Friday 20th Everything's Not Lost

We rushed in the morning to get to the Seceda lift. A short walk across the village and then up and up many escalators found us at the foot of the enormous gondola.

The wind was biting at the top. And while I could manage I seemed to have no strength left in my legs. So I stopped. Joe had fallen earlier. I had lunch alone at the restaurant at the top of the gondola. Afterwards Brian spotted me and I saw that Joe was sporting a disposable sling on his right arm. The 3 of us made our way back to the apartments. I gave Joe so ice and what wrist braces I had but he really needed one that went further up his arm.

When Al got back he grabbed his camera we took a long and meandering walk through the village. Ortisei is crammed with charming wood carving shops. Anri’s originate in nearby Wolkenstein. I lusted after a little exorbitant figurine of a child sleeping peacefully amidst a flock of adorable lambs. I also liked a sweet baby Jesus with a bird perched at the head of his crib.

After a stroll through the local museum we stopped for coffee. I had a latte macchiato and layer cake. It was divine but I was still beyond tired.

I sent Al on to the grocery with my list and money while Andy and I returned to the apartment. When I got there I discovered that the pocket where I kept the key was unzipped. I checked and rechecked all the numerous pockets in my jacket. But.There.Was.No.Key. I sent Andy to stay with the Biarts while I retraced my steps hoping against hope that the durn thing had fallen out of my pocket at the place where I’d had cake. It wasn’t there.

Shortly after I returned to the apartment, Al came up and said, ‘didn’t I remember giving him the key?’ Actually, no, I didn’t. I was way too tired. In my head I’d already filed the insurance claim for having to pay to replace all the locks in the building.

The car was for the most part packed when we went to bed.

Saturday 21st

At 4 a.m. Al woke me up and we had a good breakfast of the last of our eggs. It took us 45 minutes to get going. The snow was pretty heavy when we drove North ito Austria. After we got by Munich, I took the wheel for a little under 4 hours so Al could nap. It was extremely pleasant to drive full-out on the German Autobahn. It’s a pity that full-out in a Honda mini-van was only about 140 km/hour.

I drowsed when Al took over driving. Al one point the traffic just stopped all of a sudden. We skidded to an adrenaline rush stop. Luckily, there was room between the lanes or we would have back ended someone. I think that all three of u s fell head over heels in love with our Honda at that point. It really saved us. Traffic was slow in places but there were no other incidents on our 12 ¾ hours trip home.

NEXT TIME: Al wants to use the group owned roof-top ski carrier. I must remember my gray footie-house sock that makes my left foot big enough to fit my ski boot. I’d tried various jury-rigs during the trip but rued not bringing it. And I need to pack a fleece to ski in.

Now that I am working through the mountain range of laundry I think it would be a terrific idea to take less clothes. You really only need four outfits:

1. One to ski in. (layered for warmth)
2. One to sleep in
3. One to travel in
4. One to go out in the evening in.

That’s it. Photos.

2009-02-22T09:19:00.003+01:00

We're baaaaaaaaaack!

Picture Gallery.

2009-02-12T14:25:00.000+01:00

Gah! I love playing around with double exposures.

2009-02-12T07:46:00.001+01:00

Funny tan. lol

Thanks to Tanakawho at Flickr for the uber-kewl texture.

2009-02-10T12:38:00.001+01:00

Wishing for Spring.

2009-02-09T15:47:00.004+01:00

Men in Trees and the Girl with the Golden...

2009-02-08T21:21:00.002+01:00

The Weird and Wonderful World of Photoshop.

2009-02-03T07:27:00.002+01:00

Three from Sunday's lesson on the artificial slope

2009-01-30T13:40:00.003+01:00

Luck is when preparedness...like a charged Flip meets opportunity...like being stuck in traffic for two hours.

The results;

Inspiration;

and I think he's been watching too much Miranda Cosgrove.

2009-01-25T09:36:00.003+01:00

What I do for fun.

Here is a tribute to one of our favorite places to eat when we are in the states:

(click picture to enlarge)

2009-01-15T14:32:00.002+01:00

Here is a little bit of what I've been doing;

2009-01-12T16:41:00.001+01:00

Family on Ice.

2009-01-11T16:43:00.001+01:00

Netherlands on Ice.

It's been frozen here enough to skate.

2008-12-12T13:53:00.003+01:00

You better not cry ... you better not pout!

2008-12-05T12:52:00.002+01:00

It's beginning to look a lot like...Sinterklaas!

I love the way it looks like the little angel is just about ready to bean the baby-monkey Jesus with her wand.

This is a conglomeration of all our Play Mobile. Somehow we've ended up with four wise men - I'm pretty sure one of them is actually a pirate...but which one?

Yesterday DS had a party at school and today we'll celebrate with the neighbors. For the first time this year DS drew names in his class and had to make a cleverly wrapped present and write a poem.

2008-11-25T10:47:00.003+01:00

My favorite birthday message;

When Gloria Steinem turned 50, a reporter told her that she didn't look 50. Her response, yes I do. This is what 50 looks like!

This is what 50 looks like!

2008-11-16T11:54:00.003+01:00

And now for something completely different;

Ummm,

2008-11-14T19:48:00.004+01:00

I found This while going through last year's Christmas pictures;

Link to Portraits.

2008-11-08T09:23:00.003+01:00

How cool is this.

Slideshow of before and after;

Click here to watch.

2008-10-25T06:18:00.009+02:00

All PhotoShop. All the Time.

Here's my pathetic attempt at da Vinci's style;

And;

Aaarrr!

2008-10-19T13:08:00.001+02:00

Photoshop love affair part deux.

I'm trying to find a home for my before and after shots. Right now I'm using my old Flickr account.

View more here.

2008-10-10T14:23:00.002+02:00

My love affair with PhotoShop begins;

Fairies courtesy of www.brushes.obsidiandawn.com
Stars courtesy of http://luciferous-glow.deviantart.com/art/Starry-Night-Brushset-15213768

2008-09-18T15:49:00.002+02:00

The Hurrier I go The Behinder I Get

This was taken back in May during 'crazy week' & I just noticed it. Sheesh!

2008-09-01T12:51:00.001+02:00

The Asia Photo Book is done!

After many false starts I have finally finished a photobook of our two years in Thailand. The stories in 1998-1999 have been re-edited. And you can find some of the pictures on my SmugMug account.

2008-08-25T13:38:00.001+02:00

Here is DS at summer camp;

2008-08-25T13:35:00.003+02:00

DS is in the front row 2nd from the left (all in black);

This was a year end school production. Each class performed a different kind of dance, his class's type was break dancing. You can see his two teachers in the lower left hand corner.

2008-08-09T18:47:00.002+02:00

Amsterdam - Dim Sum in the Sun

This is what we did today. First we had dim sum with friends at the floating Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam. And then we had coffee at a street side cafè on the Nieuwmarkt.

2008-08-01T21:57:00.002+02:00

A 'hut' with a view;

DS at summer camp this week.

2008-07-03T19:48:00.004+02:00

The Virtuoso

We are so very proud!

2008-07-01T11:13:00.005+02:00

DS took these cat pictures in Greece last year. We decide to make LOL Kats out of them. My apologies for the 9 year old humor.

Click on the picture to view.

2008-06-12T18:06:00.002+02:00

Birthday party pictures.

I've upload a few pictures from the party here:

Click for link.

2008-06-08T13:55:00.006+02:00

On May 28th Andy played in a guitar concert;

We celebrated his birthday at the climbing wall;

Left to right; Laurens, Andy, Marc.

2008-05-28T14:40:00.003+02:00

Birthdays!

Congratulations to Allison and Dustin on the birth of their baby daughter!

Guess who's going to be 9 tomorrow?

So far today we've made 48 cupcakes (I burnt the first batch, I guess I'm still getting used to my oven) and 35 brownies. DS has a guitar recital tonight so it's a very busy week.

2008-05-07T09:06:00.003+02:00

LibraryThing.

I've achieved 100 book reviews on My LibraryThing site.

Since I started cataloging the books I've read/am reading at this site I've had an extremely good run of books to read.

2008-05-06T12:30:00.001+02:00

The finished garden;

The lights along the path were installed Saturday. Allan filled the pots with annuals Sunday;

2008-05-04T09:29:00.002+02:00

Kat's visit;

The first two pictures are from Queen's day.

Cousins giving a good-bye hug before she boarded the bus back to Paris;

Kat with her friend Sarah. On Saturday we had two double (!!!) birthday parties. Nice shades.

2008-04-14T09:22:00.003+02:00

Yay! The paving is done!

We have to wait for the grit on top of the bricks to settle before we can move the pots to their final resting places and fill them with potting soil and plants.

Still in the plans are a new mailbox, a fountain and lights to line the path.

2008-04-10T13:41:00.003+02:00

Some Lights I like:

Yesterday they didn't work very long but they did finish the two parking spaces;

2008-04-09T10:53:00.001+02:00

Wednesday morning.

Yesterday they concentrated on putting the 'puzzle' pieces together on the round top of the East parking space. And preparing the trench to plant the bushes. Which should happen Saturday.

2008-04-08T16:17:00.002+02:00

We have dirt.

In the three white bags are the rest of the gravel and the soil to plant the bushes in.

Here is where they'll go.

2008-04-07T09:58:00.001+02:00

Monday morning;

(my apologies for the crooked horizon)

2008-04-06T09:22:00.002+02:00

Extreme Make-over, Garden Edition.

Saturday they started laying the paving stones;

They ran out of time and tiles by the end of the day. Today (Sunday) they are supposed to put down the membrane and cover it with loose gravel.

2008-04-01T12:00:00.004+02:00

Garden Refurbishment.

Before:

They delivered some dumpsters Friday;

Saturday with two back hoes and much elbow grease the garden was cleared;

Sunday the men placed stakes to mark where the hard paving will go.

(Click to enlarge)

What it looks like out my front door (Monday);

Stuff arrives:

Today they delivered the new paving stones and other things. And took away the dumpsters.

2008-03-28T17:05:00.002+01:00

DS playing the guitar:

2008-03-15T13:59:00.000+01:00

Nine Buddhist monks, eighteen holes and 007

‘9 monks’

This past week I had the pleasure to attend the opening of the new office for Origin Thailand. Origin is a large IT software & services company which operates throughout the world. Origin is also one of the prime subcontractors for the project with I am working on. This is no real surprise as Origin is an 80% owned subsidiary of the Philips Corporation.

Origin decided to open an office in Thailand once they received an outsourcing contract from Philips Semiconductor’s Thailand for all computer operations related activities for the factory. A new office opening in Thailand, as well as much of Southeast Asia, is as much a religious event as it is a business event. The purpose of the religious ceremony is to insure that the spirits which are already located in or that will enter the new premises are only good spirits.

Upon entering the new office facility the first thing I noticed was the podium where nine padded backrests stood adorned with Thai writings and bordered with gold leaf. The number nine is significant as good fortune come in sets of three with nine being the most fortuitous. It is for this reason that arrangements are made for nine monks to preside over the opening ceremony in place of a lesser number. This is true of most religious ceremonies in Thailand, such as weddings, new homes, a new child, etcetera. However, for some of the poorer families there may by only three of six monks, depending on the wealth of the family.

I must admit that some compromises were made for this particular ceremony due to the number of Westerners, (farangs) that were attending. The most noticeable was the fact that we were allowed to sit in chairs instead of kneeling on the floor. I had heard from others that this was quite uncomfortable after the first five or ten minutes.

The ceremony was to begin at 10:30 in the morning. We were all seated as the nine saffron robed monks entered the room and walked up onto the podium. Once seated the ceremony began. With shoes removed the senior staff member from Origin Asia made his way forward to the small shrine on the left-hand side of the stage. Whereupon he kneeled, clasped his hands and bowed three times. Moving on his knees towards his left, he lit three candles and the joss sticks (incense). He then carefully arose and returned to his seat. During this process my Thai colleague sitting next to me instructed me to press my hands together and holds them close to my chest.

The head monk began to chant as he unrolled a ball of white silk thread and passed in on to the monk to his left. This continued down the row of monks until the thread reached the last monk. The thread symbolizes a barrier, which is to prevent evil spirits from entering the premises. With the thread held between the thumbs and forefingers the monk droned several chants. This lasted around 30 minutes. Towards the end of the chanting, the monk on the right began to roll up the ball of thread and pass it onto his right. This concluded the first phase of the ceremony.

It was now time for the monks to eat. The monks always eat first and are served symbolically by those for whom they are performing the service. In this case, once the food had been placed in front of each of the monks, the new management staff went forward - again barefoot and on their knees - to present the food to each of the monks. The audience sat patiently understanding that we were entitled to the ‘leftovers’ once the ceremony was completed. It is interesting that Buddhist monks are only allowed to eat up until noon; Where after they are only allowed water, as this shows that they do not need to give into the temptations or desires of the body.

Having completed their meals the monks were presented with two gifts. The first being a basket of household, everyday goods (detergent, soap, some food, etc.), the second being an envelope containing money. The money is also considered to be a gift to their temple.

This is followed again by a round of prayer where the new management of Origin sat on their haunches in front of the rest of the group. Of course there was another round of chanting which signaled that the ceremony was towards its end. Then the head monk rose and blessed the audience by sprinkling prolific amounts of water around (of which I was sure that I received more than my fair share). I hope that this means that I will be blessed in the future with lots of good fortune, which our project presently needs.

The final piece of the ceremony was the blessing of the entrance to the office. Once again, the head monk performed this, while the other monks and the audience watched. Above the entrance the monk wrote several stylized Thai characters which were intended to allow only the beneficial spirits onto the premises. It is bad luck to remove the writings, which are always left to wear off on their own. The ceremony concluded with a brief prayer and the departure of the monks. Last we were allowed to eat lunch - which there was more than enough despite this being the monks leftovers. The ceremony itself lasted around one and a half hours.

’18 holes’

Thailand is a country where golf can be considered the national sport. There are numerous courses and for the most part fees are inexpensive. It is also one of the key company events within Philips Semiconductor which occur roughly on a monthly basis. Although not having my own clubs yet, (our container is scheduled to be unpacked on April 30^th), I had been yearning to play. Initially, I looked into buying a new set of clubs in Bangkok. However, after some investigation I have found that prices in Bangkok for clubs are about 25% higher than in the US. And since I’ll be visiting there soon enough it seems wiser to make my purchases there instead of here. In the mean time, my secretary Renu was able to loan me an old small set of her husband’s clubs. Initially I planned only a few trips to the driving range in the evening.

The driving range that I visited was also a new experience for me. The ‘Hole in One’ has a lower and an upper deck. So, while you’re practicing on the lower level you see balls flying in the same direction but coming from above. The driving range was also nice as there was also table service for drinks - or a complete meal if you liked - while you are hitting balls. I may try this with Nancy for an evening out once she’s her. On the more extreme side were those practicing with a ball boy. The young Thai was crouched down placing balls on the tee one after another while his employer stood above him swinging away.

In any event, my secretary asked if I would like to join her for a round of 18 holes last Saturday. Even though she waited until the last possible moment to ask, Saturday morning around 10am for a 1:30 tee time, I decided to go ahead and join her. She had planned to play at Muang Ake golf course. This was indeed a good opportunity as this course was one of two, which are in close to our future residence.

Upon arrival my small sack of clubs was immediately whisked away by one of the attentive female caddies. I located the group I would be playing with. There would be two groups in all, a group of four Thai gentlemen, followed by Renu, her friend and myself. The start time had been changed to 2:30, as this reduced the green fees to half price. The green fees were then 750 baht or around 20 USD.

The course itself was well laid out with plenty of water and sand hazards. Palm trees, providing only minimal shade in the strong afternoon sun, sparsely covered the course. My caddy was a diminutive Thai woman. I may have been provided with the smallest caddy, due to the small size of the golf bag that she had to carry. Most of the players had full sized ‘pro’ bags which are quite large and heavy. The other caddies seemed to have no difficulty with this, despite the sun and the heat.

Playing was pleasant enough, even though my performance was far from my expectations. One pleasant surprise was the white circle, which provided a 2 feet perimeter for the home. Once inside you are allowed take a gi’me, which assumes that even the worst of players could make the short put. This was done to help speed play. Strategically placed about every fourth hole was a shaded snack stand that provided cool drinks as well as some food including of all things, fried chicken legs.

The caddies were quite skilled. Mine not only provided valuable course information, ‘left ok, right water’, and ‘wait, too close’ or ‘green go left’, she also provided valuable support such as, ‘ball go in water’ and ‘shot OK’. At the end of the round of 18 the caddy fully deserved the 200 baht fee or about $5. I still always find it a nice touch when the Thai’s wai to you after receiving their payment. The wai is a gesture of thanks, which is performed by pressing the hands together and bowing the head. Returning the wai is not done and a simple smile is more than expected.

‘007’

Another event which is of note, although more brief that the previous two encounter, is that of going to the movies. Movies are very popular in Thailand, which are most of the Hollywood production type. Similar to Europe, the introduction of new films to the marketplace lags the US premiers by 3 to six months. I do think that films tend to however show-up in Thailand somewhat earlier than in Europe. On this occasion I decided on breaking up my routine by going to see the latest James Bond. I chose the MGM theaters at the Emporium shopping complex that is one of the better I have seen. Inside the theatre it is quite modern and large (in any event larger than many in the Netherlands), with comfortable seat with full backrests. The price of a first run film is about 100 baht or USD 2.5. There are also several fast food restaurants in the mall, it is not unusual to have persons eat a meal inside the theater. This seems to be tolerated by the theatre staff. After the previews and commercials, the audience is required to stand during the national anthem while they pay homage to the ruling monarch, Bhumiphol. This may by one of the last democratic monarchies where the sovereign still commands the respect and reverence of the entire population. -Allan

2008-03-14T18:13:00.013+01:00

Fountain Gladness

Logistics with my husband are never simple. So after the fiasco of trying to take the train to meet him two years ago, we flew.

DS had school in the morning so I agreed that the neighbor would drive me to the train station immediately after school. Except that she had been delayed at the hairdresser and wasn’t home yet when I returned. Shortly thereafter she appeared and the adventure began.

I managed to check myself in at the automated kiosk. The last time I had tried this it didn’t work so I was directed to a real live person behind a counter. As I was walking towards the first check point a KLM employee said, ‘hello.’ I said hello back and continued on. Well it wasn’t a rhetorical American hello but a European I-want-your-attention-so-I-can-talk-to-you hello. She just wanted to know if I needed any help. What is it with these people? If you need help they’re angry and if you don’t need help they’re angry.

Please note, Troll beads will indeed set off the airport metal detector. And the security guards did not like at all the brick size converter I had in my carry on for DS’s Nintendo DS.

Al was there to meet us at the Munich airport (still in his ski pants by the way) and we climbed in the car for the two hour drive to Neukirchen. DS was puzzled how our own car was there to meet us so we tried to explain that daddy had driven it there a week ago. DS was still skeptical.

Before the trip I’d had an IPOD adapter installed in my car. It was more that worth the outrageous price. We met the others who’d been skiing at a restaurant in town. There was a little dog there named ‘Tin Tin.’ Malous magically transformed a sheet of paper out of my purse into a frog- that really jumped! I enjoyed some venison stew before going to sleep in my lumpy potato sack of a bed. I had weird dreams about a borrowing a Lincoln Continental and falling into a whirling vortex because the brakes failed.

Saturday February 23, 2008 – Sledding is for lugers
In the morning we enjoyed a hearty breakfast including fresh Kaiser rolls, mystery fruit juice and my very own private jug of coffee. There was a dog named Tin Tin. Hmm, are all the dogs in these here parts named that? I apportioned my belongings among the five (!) pockets on my skiing jacket, which is to say they all were as good as lost. Then we were off to go sledding. It was wet. DH and I almost but not quite fit on one sled. The bumps were murder. It was a lot of giggly and roar out loud fun although I questioned the wisdom of starting a one week skiing holiday by getting drenched to the bone soaking wet. This was when DS came up with the travel log’s name.

The whole group had lunch at the Dorfstube. I realized that the dog named Tin Tin belonged to one of our party. Duh. After a prolonged discussion and debate we decided that the mystery juice at the mornings breakfast was maybe surely…pear? Afterwards we said good bye to the group that was returning to Holland while we explored further. The first stop was the mineral store of family Steiner. Andy found a lump of smoky quartz that spoke to him. And after asking about stone discs the lady brought out several trays of them! I confined myself to only 7 – one for each day of the week – with much difficulty. And then we made our way to the Grand Hotel in Zillertal for tea. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. It was going to be a warm week.

The ski rental was very crowded! We’d left it until too late and had to compete with all the others. I sprung for premium skis and we got twin tips for DS.

I unpacked and put the room in order. DS would have the potato sack bed. DH and I would have our own adjoining room with a much more comfortable bed.

That night we walked in the dark along an icy rushing river to a restaurant in the woods. As we approached the inviting lights cut through the trees and beckoned us welcome. The entire inside of Siggen restaurant is clad in wood (as are most eating establishments in that area) and the warmth radiated from same is incredibly cozy. DH and I shared the mixed grill- which was MORE than enough for two. I couldn’t resist a piece of the Mozart chocolate cake.

Sunday February 23rd
I decided to water down my pear juice to a) increase my hydration and b) because I’m such a good little dieter. DH eschewed the bottle of water I’d brought down from the room and so I slurped down some from a pitcher by the pear juice. Then I poured myself just a glass of ‘water’. It was sweet. Very sweet. Turned out it was sweetened elderflower water.

DH had decided that’s we’d go high and remote for this first day of skiing. His choice, Weissee is on the North side of a mountain so the sun shouldn’t make it too slushy and a bit difficult to access by a road full of winding hairpin turns. It was a wonderful decision. While the area is tiny it is exquisite. It wasn’t terribly crowded. On the first gondola ride up we saw people training dogs to find people in avalanches. I really liked my skis. DS liked his twin tips. Twin tips are turned up a bit in the back so that they are very easy to ski backwards with. After a typical lunch at the top of the mountain I took one more run and I was done.

Back in Neukirchen I enjoyed a cappuccino while sitting in the sunshine. Again that night we walked to dinner- but to a different restaurant- Kerkplatz. The stars were amazingly clear and sparkly. I slept like the dead.

Monday, February 25th
Today we chose to ski Gerlos Platte. DH was worried that it would be too warm but I was secretly pleased that I would be able to wear my white furry gloves. Normally it’s way too cold for these so I wear mittens. If Gerlos Platte didn’t suit us we could just go over to the adjacent resort and ski there.

In the morning we enjoyed virgin groomed slopes. There’d been no new snow but it had been cold enough the night before to keep the slopes from being slushy. Some people might not like the crunchy, icy flat runs but I love them. I learned to ski on an artificial slope so these were perfect conditions for me. After a mid-morning stop for a huge soft Bavarian pretzel the trails had softened slightly. DS enjoyed the bumps. His skiing nickname is ‘Mogul Midget’. He loves the challenge of a mogul field.

We ended up somewhere that we had to take a T-bar. DH went with the little guy. I was alone behind them. It seemed to go on forever and I was thinking it must be terribly painful for DH to have that bar behind his knees. He had to do it that way so that the bar would hit our 8 year old at the top of his thighs. We agreed not to do that again.

It was so sunny that the umbrella bar at the bottom by the parking lot was sans umbrella! On the drive down the mountain we stopped and marveled at a waterfall.

Back in the room DH & DS puzzled over some Sudukos. I listened to Elvis Costello’s ‘Beyond Belief’ over and over again on the IPOD- because I could.

We went down to the common room so we would have a table big enough to play Mexican Train Dominoes. Simon and Laura (grandchildren of the owner) joined in. That night we drove up a scary road to Stockenbaum. We passed masses of teenagers walking up on the way.

Tuesday February 26th
When I woke up it feels like someone has taken a blow torch to my face. I *thought* my facial moisturizer had a sunscreen in it. Alas.

I asked DH if breakfast at the farm was like breastfeeding. You know if the baby sucks and sucks, the next day there is more milk. And if the baby doesn’t take it all there is less the next day. It appears that our breakfast is growing exponentially every day. Is there anything better than a hostess with an inferiority complex? We were staying on a working farm. Complete with small children and the smells of wonderful food being preserved and distilled. After breakfast we’d take our dirty dishes to the kitchen where there was this magnificent huge cast iron stove with uncountable burners and ovens. I still covet that stove.

If it’s Tuesday it must be Kitzbuhel. Half the time it seems I could get into this marvelous rhythm and the other half of the time I couldn’t. It was tiring. Somehow we managed to get way too much food for lunch; half a chicken with French fries, another generous order of French fries and both custard and apple streudel. Oh and soup. I think we could simply point our skis downhill and gravity would pull our oversized girths to the bottom. For some unexplained reason Kitzbuhel made a very bad impression on me. It was crowded with people who didn’t know how to ski. Many, many of them were taking lessons in these enormous groups. At the slushy bottom by a lift a very sweet teenage boy and I slid into each other. It was probably a combination of the too warm snow and the aggressive crowds at the lifts that put me off. I tried to get into a skiing rhythm by singing, ‘Hot! Hot! Hot!’ and fell immediately. I don’t know why but ‘Jeremiah was a Bullfrog’ worked much better. Why is it that some songs like; ‘Iko, Iko’ and ‘Follow the Leader’ work so well? We dined at a non-descript restaurant with very good silverware. The food wasn’t bad but after dinner the other patrols all lit up cigarettes. We skipped dessert.

Wednesday, February 27th
Today we’d go to Zillertal Arena Konigsleiten. I felt like my skis were worth their weight in gold. I could not imagine the agony these slopes would be on highly flexible beginner’s skis. I was so tired I just looked at the tips of my skis and told them to get me home. They obliged.

At one point, at a crossroads I lost DH & DS. Then I remembered that both my cell phone and DH’s Blackberry had been left in the car that day. I took off my skis and went into the nearest Alm. I took out my map and asked (where the heck!) I was. The waiter pointed and I thought, ‘now what?’ I had a vague idea that DH would come back to get me. But we were in the middle of a very long run. I decided to head to the very bottom where I was pretty sure where we’d agreed to go. Did I say it was a very long run? I took some rests and took my time. I stopped at an umbrella bar halfway but eventually the smoke drove me out. As I was approaching the bottom lift DH & DS hollered at me from the lift going up to ‘wait!’ So I did.

We stopped at the far edge of the resort at the Fussalm for lunch. The weather kept getting warmer and warmer. I felt like I was trying to glide through quick setting concrete.

After skiing we browsed the wool store where DH bought his felt hat on an earlier trip. We also stopped at the ham store. Surprisingly they didn’t sell any local jam. The previous week DH had ordered a swinehaxen for the both of us. The road up to the Sahnalm is so treacherous that they pick you up in a van at the town church and drive you up. It was a darling inn. The pork was out of this world. I so didn’t need to order a side salad. As far as I could tell the sauce for the meat consisted of an emulsion of butter, lard and cream. The three of us split a chocolate sundae for dessert.

Thursday, February 28th
Although the chances of it being too warm were high we still wanted to try the local ski area-Wildkogel where we’d sledded on Saturday.

Wildkogel is a very sweet small area. It would have been amazing if there had only been good snow.

DH had it all planned out but missed the turnoff for lunch. Which meant was had to ski all the way down to the bottom and ride the lift back up again. It took awhile to make our way down the sno-cone consistency run. My skis began to talk to me. “Trust me. Put some more weight on my tips.” Honestly the skis really did ALL of the work. I couldn’t because I was too tired. I started singing (to the tune of ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’) ‘Keep the weight on the tips of your skis’. Before that I was singing ‘Yellow Submarine’ but I guess I just needed something stronger.So we didn’t get to the Berghut with the best kaiserschmarren in the area until 1:30 or so. I was beat. It truly was delicious kaiserschmarren but I’d had enough of skating over the slush and simply went to the middle station and rode down.

That night we had dinner back at the Dorfstube. Our frog folding skills had improved so much that we started to be an attraction for the other tables. DH had reverse engineered the frog from Malous had folded Saturday at lunch. We were in business.

Friday, February 29th
Today we’d ski Gerlos. It was very cold at the top in the morning. What a refreshing change after the warm week! But I had left DH’s gloves outside on the balcony to air out overnight and they hadn’t dried. At the first restroom I alternated blowing hot air into them from the hand dryer and waving them over the radiator. We had every kind of weather. Wet. Windy, Sunny, Gray. The wait-just-5-minutes-and-it-will-change kind of weather. I hadn’t really dressed for it. And after the warm week we didn’t even have mittens or an extra layer in DH’s backpack.

I wavered between being irritated at DH for the very traits for which I love him. His adventurousness. His spontaneity. We stopped early which was a good thing. As we were loading the car it began to rain in earnest. During our drive to the Norhtwest side of Munich it was pretty nasty. We took a detour into the center of Munich for dinner at the Rathskeller and then continued on to our hotel. In 1985 we’d stayed a week at a pension in Obermenzing. We’d passed it several times while driving back and forth and this year DH had noted the name. I had Googled the telephone number and then DH had one of his German speaking friends make a reservation there at Pension Hartl.

We didn’t get there until much later than we had intended. DS was already asleep. I waited in the car thinking, ‘what in the car do I have for a weapon if necessary?’ And, ‘what is the emergency number in Germany?’ I had decided on a ski pole when DH came back to the car with the room key. I plopped the GPS, IPOD and DS’s Nintendo in my purse. DH took the SLR and his laptop in.

It was the best night’s rest I had the whole vacation. We were tucked up the three of us cozy in one little pristine room.

We got an early start after loading up on pastries at the bakery below the hotel. It took us a very long time to get home with all the wind, icy sleet and road works. Thank goodness we had our IPOD’s to entertain us. DH had filled his with ‘Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me’ Podcasts which just made the time fly.

We stopped at Thomas’ return the skis he insist that DH borrow. DH’s own skis are floppy beginner’s ski. I guess it’s time to go shopping.

2008-03-11T07:40:00.003+01:00

He was a good cat.

After a long- 18+ years- and full life Vincent van de Ashram drew his last sweet breath yesterday afternoon.

He was a sweetheart. It's going to be very quiet (&clean) around here.

2008-03-10T13:17:00.002+01:00

Here is a little video of me skiing;

ta-dah!

2008-03-07T09:07:00.003+01:00

The reformation of a technophobe.

What have I been up to? Well, I've been messing around with my SmugMug account. And wasting far too much time at LibraryThing. It really cool to have all my book reviews in one place.

and I've been trying to decide between a PowerShot SD1100 or a Panasonic Lumix FX35.

I'm getting the hang of my IPOD and my TomTom GPS.

2008-03-02T10:36:00.004+01:00

We're baaaaaaaaaack! We're back from skiing in Austria. We're all safe and sound. The only casualty was my camera (Canon Powershot A540). May she rest in peace.

Here's a few pictures.

2008-02-11T07:25:00.001+01:00

Christmas Photos Update

DH helped me pare down the 600 pictures to a minuscule 190! I'm playing around with a SmugMug account right now for a couple weeks.

I'm wondering. Is this necessary? In my hand bag are;

My mobile phone (has a radio & a camera)
My digital camera
IPOD MP3 player - now that I can use it in the car
TomTom GPS - includes MP3 player and could be used as a hands free phone IF my cell only had Bluetooth.

Who needs to go to the gym when they hauling all that around? This is nuts! I'm waiting to upgrade until there is just one little wallet size electronic box that can perform all these functions. Until then I will keep my weekly appointment with my chiropractor/physical therapist.

I need to budget my online time better. Right now I am assessing photo hosting sites and bouncing between various bulletin boards - fitness (4), books(2) and Cnet for gadget reviews & various Dutch shopping sites. The madness has to stop! LOL. Could someone sit me down to sort out my priorities? Then maybe I could make out a time budget to mete out accordingly.

2008-02-05T13:58:00.000+01:00

Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near

I Stumbled upon this book after posting an article about Google (data) Clouds on some internet bulletin boards I frequent.

While I believe it is rather arrogant to think one can come up with a better design than biology that is pretty much the premise of this book.

No one would accuse Kurzweil of being mystical. Maybe I just don’t have a wide enough imagination but I can’t see how you could ever animate the chemical equivalent of a human being. Of course I don’t see how you get from a monkey to man either, without some kind of divine spark that is. But that’s just me. I do find it rather unsettling to think I’m just a handful of salt and a couple buckets of water though. Human conceit, sigh.

At first it appeared that Kurzweil was ignorant of human nature but he does address this at the end of the book. Apparently the progress of technology is so rampant that it will happily steamroller any human objection.

I think I am experiencing cognitive dissonance. On one hand I’m reading this book about how wonderful the future will be because of technology. On the other hand I am dealing with trying to get my kitchen floor heating thermostat repaired. Which is quickly turning into a task that is taking many more steps than I would have thought possible. And I am dealing with having an MP3 player jack installed in my car. Again something that is consuming much more time that I had budgeted for the job. Not to mention the fun (not!) of attempting to return some music CD’s to the (automated – gah!) library. I mean has this guy ever tried to work with a Microsoft software product? Come on!

Kurzweil is a cock eyed, psychotic optimist if he thinks that technology is going to make our future better. Already we are contracting newfangled diseases like adrenal burn out when trying to cope with the exponential pace of modern day life.

Because computation underlies the foundations of everything we care about, from the economy to human intellect and creativity,…

Umm, it does?

Kurzweil reminds me of a boss I used to have - Ian. I was in charge of automating some reporting. Ian would promise his higher ups some pie-in-the-sky unattainable data because he had heard from someone somewhere that it might just be possible -- one day. Or that our competitors had such data about themselves. Of course our database was incomplete, inaccurate and poorly designed. It would never, could never produce such data on our company without a serious overhaul. And then he would expect me to deliver said data according to his unrealistic schedule. I would lie in my bed in the morning in that mystical dawn between slumber and waking and promise that today would be the day I would get along with Ian. We were both professionals and adults, how hard could it be? It never happened. Always within less than a minute of being in a room together we both would be yelling. It was curious. Back to the book.

Kurzweil seems to been a master delegator. He doesn’t quite know how it’s going to be done but he’s confident that some mastermind somewhere will come up with an answer to the problem. Bully for him. I’m just not confident about things unless I understand them fully. Only at that point would I be secure in making any kind of assertion about it.

Recently in the British news there was a story about a sprinter who was born without legs. He was fitted with ‘blades’ which actually help him to run faster than any human with normal legs. If technology is going to ‘make us better than biology’ I just find it really disturbing to think that humans will be redesigned to such a standard.

I see a whole new meaning to the word ‘nostalgia’ if at some point our biology is completely replaced by ‘better’ nano-engineered designed. Scary indeed.

2008-01-24T18:04:00.000+01:00

I'm working on sorting, organizing and uploading all the Christmas pictures, honestly, I am! There's just so much other stuff to do!

2008-01-24T16:43:00.000+01:00

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

Mary Doria Russell wrote in the introduction,

"I am sufficiently fed up with my species to share Walter Miller's resigned amusement at this bleeding world, which would surely convince sentient vultures that God created it for them."

The priest kept wondering how it was possible for such a youth (not particularly intelligent insofar as he could determine) to manage to find occasions or near-occasions of sin while completely isolated on barren desert, far from any distraction or apparent source of temptation. There should be very little trouble a boy could get into out here, armed as he was with only a rosary, a flint, a penknife, and a prayerbook.

IT WAS said that God, in order to test mankind which had become swelled with pride as in the time of Noah, had commanded the wise men of that age, among them the Blessed Leibowitz, to devise great engines of war such as had never before been upon the Earth, weapons of such might that they contained the very fires of Hell, and that God had suffered these magi to place the weapons in the hands of princes, and to say to each prince: “Only because the enemies have such a thing have we devised this for thee, in order that they may know that thou hast it also, and fear to strike. See to it m’Lord, that thou fearest them as much as they shall now fear thee, that none may unleash this dread thing which we have wrought.”

But the princes, putting the words of their wise men to naught, thought each to himself: If I but strike quickly enough, and in secret, I shall destroy those others in their sleep, and there will be none to fight back; earth shall be mine.

Historians list nothing but trivia.

When you tire of living, change itself seems evil, does it not? For then any change at all disturbs the deathlike peace of the life-weary.

“Ignorance has been our king. Since the death of empire, he sits unchallenged on the throne of Man. His dynasty is age-old. His right to rule is now considered legitimate. Past sages have affirmed it. They did not unseat him.

“Tomorrow a new prince shall rule. Men of understanding, men of science shall stand behind his throne, and the universe will come to know his might. His name is Truth. His empire shall encompass the Earth. And the mastery of Man over the Earth shall be renewed. A century from now, men will fly through the air in mechanical birds. Metal carriages will race along roads of man-made stone. There will be buildings of thirty stories, ships that go under the sea, machines to perform all works.”

“And how will this come to pass?” He paused and lowered his voice. “In the same way all change comes to pass, I fear.” And I am sorry it is so. It will come to pass by violence and upheaval, by flame and by fury, for no change comes calmly over the world.”

Men must fumble awhile with error to separate it from truth, I think – as long as they don’t seize the error hungrily because it has a pleasanter taste.

They belonged to a race quite capable of admiring its own image in a mirror, and equally capable of cutting its own throat before the altar of some tribal god, such as the deity of Daily Shaving. It was a species which often considered itself to be, basically, a race of divinely inspired toolmakers; …

In was inevitable, it was manifest destiny, they felt (and not for the first time) that such a race go forth to conquer stars. To conquer them several times, if need be, and certainly to make speeches about the conquest. But too, it was inevitable that the race succumb again to the old maladies on new worlds,

The closer men came to perfecting for themselves a paradise, the more impatient they seemed to become with it, and with themselves as well. They made a garden of pleasure, and became progressively more miserable with it as it grew in richness and power and beauty; for then, perhaps, it was easier for them to see that something was missing in the garden, some tree or shrub that would not grow. When the world was in darkness and wretchedness, it could believe in perfection and yearn for it. But when the world became bright with reason and riches, it began to sense the narrowness of the needle’s eye, and that rankled for a world no longer willing to believe or yearn.

Speak up destiny, speak up! Destiny always seems decades away, but suddenly it’s not decades away; it’s right now. But maybe destiny is always right now, right here, right this very instant, maybe.

From a distance, one’s adversaries seemed fiends, but with closer view, one saw the sincerity and it was as great as one’s own.

The trouble with being a priest was that you eventually had to take the advice you gave to others. Nature imposes nothing that Nature hasn’t prepared you to bear.

Ashamed of his fright, he tried to pray, but the prayers seemed somehow unprayerful—like apologies, but not petitions—as if the last prayer had already been said, the last canticle already been sung. The fear persisted. Why? He tried to reason with it. You’ve seen people die, Jeth. Seen many people die. It looks easy. They taper off, and then there’s a little spasm, and it’s over. That inky Dark—gulf between aham—and Asti—blackest Styx, abyss between Lord and Man. Listen, Jeth, you really believe there’s Something on the other side of it, don’t you? Then why are you shaking so?

2008-01-13T07:33:00.000+01:00

Holidays 2007

We took 600+ snapshots over the holidays. This is one of my favorites;

Al took this right before sunrise at Big Powderhorn Mountains in the Michigan U.P.

2008-01-12T12:52:00.000+01:00

Endymion - Dan Simmons

The past few years have been one improbability after another, each more marvelous and seemingly inevitable than the last.

How could anyone stay sane with entire lifetimes stored in one human mind?

“Meaning no disrespect, sir,” says the other man, “but there’s no way in the Good Lord’s ******* universe that anyone can bar accidents or the unexpected.”

Why am I seeking logic or sanity here? I’d asked myself at the moment. There hasn’t been any so far.

Sounds like and IPhone to me;

All were capable of being used as communicators, of storing massive amounts of data, of tapping into the local datasphere, and – especially with the older ones – of actually hooking into planetary fatline relays via remote so that the megasphere could be accessed.

"..What he wanted -- what he wanted his shepherd to learn -- was how exalted these things could be -- poetry, nature, wisdom, the voices of friends, brave deeds, the glory of strange places, the charm of the opposite sex. But he stopped before he got to the real essence."

"What real essence?" I asked. Our raft rose and fell on the sea's breathing.

"The meanings of all motions, shapes and sounds," whispered the girl. "...all forms and substances/ Straight homeward to their symbol-essences..."

The universe is indifferent to our fates. This was the crushing burden that the character took with him as he struggles through the surf toward survival or extinction. The universe just doesn’t give a sh*t.

On the debate on whether Artificial Intelligence has a soul;

“And what was our DNA designed to do for the first few hundred million years, my son?” Eat? Kill? Procreate? Were we any less ignoble in our beginnings that the pre-Hegira silicon and DNA-based AI? As Teilhard would have it, it is consciousness which God has created to accelerate the universe’s self-awareness as a means to understanding his will.”

How Artificial Intelligence fits into evolution;

Father Glaucus turned his blind eyes in her direction. “Precisely, my dear. But we are not the only avatars of humanity. Once our computing machines achieved self-consciousness, they became part of this design. They may resist it. They may try to undo it for their own complex purposes. But the universe continues to weave it’s own design.”

“I attribute no definitive and absolute value to the various constructs of man. I believe that they will disappear, recast in a new whole that we cannot yet conceive. At the same time I admit that they have an essential provisional role – that they are necessary, inevitable phases which we (we or the race) must pass through in the course of our metamorphosis. What I love in them is not their particular form, but their function, which is to build up, in some mysterious way, first something divinizable – and then through the grace of Christ alighting on our effort, something divine.”

Connectedness;

“In the Cantos,” I said, “the scholar character seems to discover that the thing the AI Core had called the Void Which Binds is love. That love is a basic force of the universe, like gravity and electromagnetism, like strong and weak nuclear force. In the poem Sol sees that the Core Ultimate Intelligence will never be capable of understanding that empathy is inseparable from the source…from love. The old poet described love as ‘the subquantum impossibility that carried information from photon to photon…’”

“So you’re saying that there needs to be another Isaac Newton to explain the physics of love?” I said. “To give us its laws of thermodynamics, its rules of entropy? To show us the calculus of love?”

I was really disappointed when I finished this book. It was just like a chapter in a saga. I wanted to know WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! But when I reread the passages where I had turned down the page corners. I could see that it was a whole book on it's own. And a good one at that. Writing like this makes me think that Dan Simmons is really cool.

2008-01-03T12:02:00.000+01:00

The Mountain Meadows Massacre

For Brigham Young and his religion, the haunting consequences of mass murder at Mountain Meadows was undeniable. Like many great crimes of power, the criminals expected to get away with it. Young's confidence was justified, for he was never indicted for any act connected to Mountain Meadows--and the only legal charge ever brought against him for these murders was drawn at his own request. But he could never escape the conviction of most of his contemporaries that he had masterminded an atrocity. Even if he burned every incriminating piece of evidence and persuaded every believing resident in the Utah Territory to swear that he had nothing to do with the horror at Mountain Meadows, Brigham Young could not change the past. He knew the full truth of his complicity in the crime. The Mormon prophet acted with the certainty that he was the instrument of God's will, but he initiated the sequence of events that led to the betrayal and murder of one hundred twenty men, women and children.

-Blood of the Prophets - Will Bagley

Which reminded me of this encounter with the Church of the Latter day Saints by Martha Beck in her book "The Joy Diet";

One day a local religious leader came to my house and told me outright that I had to stop making "inappropriate" statement.

"Here's my position," I told him carefully (I spoke more slowly than usual that year, trying to make sure before it came out of my mouth that everything I said was really true). "I respect the people who run the church. So far as I know, they're very good men. But if one of them told me to do something that I believed in my heart to be wrong, I wouldn't do it."

He sighed uncomfortably. "Well, I understand," he said. "But if you ever say that publicly, we'll have to take action against you. And by the way,terrible things happen to children in this town whose parents aren't in good standing with The Church. We can't control what happens to you."

In retrospect, this seems bizarre and creepy, like being targeted for assassination by the Brady Bunch (actually, come to think of it, that's exactly how it felt at the time).

,The Joy Diet by Martha Beck

2007-12-20T17:52:00.000+01:00

I ski, you ski. Here are two examples of our various skiing styles:

Me.

DH

You be the judge. More.

2007-12-16T06:04:00.000+01:00

Santa Claus is coming to town!

DS got to ride on the school float in the Santa Claus parade this year. It was on my birthday! The theme was India. He's a snake charmer, you can see an elephant in the background.

Here is DS checking out his 'naughty & nice' list for the year.

2007-12-15T13:23:00.000+01:00

Love Walked in by Marisa Del Los Santos

Ms. Santos comes from a background of writing poetry and it shows beautifully in her words. Her writing is to linger over. She holds a double black belt in similes and other literary devices. Her clever and appropriate choice of adjectives is a gift. In an interview the author said she was aiming for ‘’fresh’. I think that she hit the bullseye.

So this is chick lit. Who knew? This is an anti-Cinderella/Show White story. The Mother and step mother get along. The step child accepts the adopted step parent immediately. Actually, I had a problem with that. I can't see how a child who loses her mother would just walk into the arms of a stranger and bond. Okay it was fiction. There is another character that acts inconsistently – he’s perfect in every way except he’s cold to children. Huh?

On Suffering:

“So much heartbreak and disorder. How can the world hold all of it?”

On Parenthood:

…as far as I could tell no matter what the circumstances, parenthood is thrust upon a parent. No on is ever quite ready; everyone is always caught off guard. Parenthood chooses you. And you open your eyes, look at what you’ve got, say “Oh, my gosh,” and recognize that of all the balls there ever were, this is the one you should not drop.

On Mindfullness:

…fears were a roaring, blinding storm that could lift her up and suck her in before she knew it was happening. “My mother might be dead,” shrieked the storm, and in that second Clare would be overtaken, lost, whisked out of the sunlight world in which other people lived.

She found that if she paid extremely careful attention to what was around her, really concentrating, and noticing every detail, the terror would fall back.

The Secret’s new Clothes

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Okay I admit I didn’t read this book from cover to cover. I just skimmed it. I don’t think I could have read every word because it just made me too angry.

Let me explain. Do I believe in positive thinking? Absolutely. I think that affirmations can be scary they work so well. Do I think that everything is connected? Yes. But I do believe that Buddha had this idea first some time ago. Do I believe that all people who get sick actually make themselves ill with ‘stinkin’ thinkin’’? No. If only the universe was simply ordered. Do I think that our thoughts create waves that go out into the ether and can do things like make a distant butterfly wing flap? No. That is call magical thinking in my book. And while it can be fun I wouldn’t mistake it for reality.

If Oprah admires and promotes people like Rhonda Byrne and Gary Zukav she’s an idiot. They are just regurgitating new age hippie voodoo bullsh*t.

2007-12-14T14:47:00.000+01:00

Even more book reviews:

The Reluctant Fundementalist - Mohsin Hamid

I have no idea what to think of this book. His recollection of being an outsider rang familiar with my experience in business school. He succeeds but all his illusions are shattered at one point. That’s the way I felt after getting my degree and working 2 jobs (7 days a week). I thought that was supposed to make me happy. Self actualized. Get ‘there’ finally. Arrive. All the media and peer pressure had insinuated that such ‘success’ was the way to enlightenment. They were wrong and it was not.

I can’t help but be disappointed that the Changez didn’t find a more creative way to wield his power in the business world. I thought Erica – an anorexic -- was supposed to symbolize the worst parts of America.

I could sympathize with his odd reaction to 911 in a small way. I hoped that those oblivious ones would finally wake up and wonder why so much of the world harbored such huge animosity towards America. It’s like the old joke of my mothers. One man asks another. ‘Can I ride your mule?’ And the 2^nd man says, ‘Yes. But let me get a 2x4 first.’ ‘Why do you need a 2x4?’ ‘Well, first I have to get his attention.’

I could fall into and live in Mr. Hamid’s voice. Podcast.

Love Life by Ray Kluun

Another book I have no idea what to think of. Even after discussing it with my friends at the book club. This was a difficult book for me to read because it brought back so many memories – good and unpleasant. It’s set in my old stomping grounds in the south of Amsterdam. And I really enjoyed the ‘fly-on-the-wall’ aspect of watching Dutch yuppies. But the question still remains – does two weeks of devotion make up for years of infidelity?

I don’t believe anyone should judge someone in that situation, I suppose you do what you have to to survive. But. Yes, I agree with all the characters that repeatedly tell Dan that he needs help. And I find it rather surprising that the episode of euthanasia is so overshadowed by the repeated adultery that no seems to have bothered to comment on it. I guess it just goes to show you that leading a charmed life in no way prepares you for hardship.

I found it frustrating that the author didn’t go into any character development in the sense of what made Dan tick. What was his childhood like? What in the world was he trying to find in all those casual sex encounters? Affirmation? Validation? Why? Didn’t he already have everything?

Times Online Interview. Isn't if funny how irritated the literary community is with how good he is marketing his book?

Marie Claire Interview. I suppose the French will say, ''what's the big deal?' Like they did with Fatal Attraction.

The White Masai - Corinne Hofmann

A Swiss woman is on holiday in Kenya and falls truly, madly deeply in love with a Masai warrior. She goes home sells her business and all her possession, returns to Kenya to set up housekeeping with the Masai.

I’m sorry but this relationship had no chance. The power difference between the two was so great. Maybe she felt she was in love, and she certainly was. But not with the man but her idealized idea of him. If she had truly loved him she would have never pursued him. Because even an idiot could see that a relationship with her would destroy him. When the reality turns out to be incontrovertible the relationship falls apart. He was dazzled by her -- by her Westerness and seemingly endless wealth. There was no way her could ever feel confident of her fidelity with such vast disparity between them.

I think a great deal of this book is revisionist. She’s telling the story in retrospect which certainly must contain abridgments. I think the word I’m looking for here is ‘denial’. In the sense that Corinne rewrites her personal history to her liking.

2007-11-27T16:25:00.000+01:00

More book reviews --

The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai

Everybody was miserable and then their dog is stolen. The language was like being dragged through a briar patch.

Art and Fear – David Bayles & Ted Orland

I wish I could quote the whole book here. It just made me giggle again and again. For example, this is me reading Tarot cards;

Art is exquisitely responsive. Nowhere is feedback so absolute as in the making of art. The work, vibrates in perfect harmony to everything we put into it – or withhold from it. In the outside world there may be no reaction tow hat we do; in our artwork there is nothing but reaction.

The breathtakingly wonderful thing about this reaction is its truthfulness. Look at your work and it tells you how it is when you hold back or when you embrace. When you are lazy, your art is lazy; when you hold back, it holds back; when you hesitate, it stands there staring, hands in its pockets.

And this is the recipe for changing someone else’s mind;

When Columbus returned from the New World and proclaimed the earth was round, almost everyone else went right on believing the earth was flat. Then they died – and the next generation grew up believing the world was round. That’s how people change their minds.

Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

I really liked the unobtrusive language in the book. I didn’t much care for the way the author tried to build tension by switching back and forth between the main character as a young man and then again as an old man. I thought it was unnecessary and jarring. I don’t like to be distracted from a story once it gets going – just ask my husband who like to channel surf during commercials!

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khalid Hosseini

There was a character in this book that I just adored. She had all kinds of hardships in her life but somehow she managed to radiate kindness. And her kindness paid forward to others. Imagine how bad things would have to be to consider going to Pakistan as a refuge-- bad. I thought it was charming how Hosseini wrote this story as a love letter to Kabul. And I will say that if I managed to build a life where my children were finally safe I would not leave it. Hosseini gave detailed backgrounds of the female characters. But there was one male character I could not understand and I would have liked to have known more of what made him tick.

I was going to put this with my other book reviews but there's a limit to how long a post can be.

2007-11-22T14:03:00.000+01:00

I ♥ Dan Simmons.

While waiting for my copy of ‘The Fall of Hyperion’ I read ‘The Terror’. What a weird book. I don’t mean weird in a bad way it’s just that it’s hard to categorize something that starts out so realistically and subtly deteriorates into strange conjecture. The book I’ve read that is most like it is ‘Life of Pi.’

The first half of the book is well written historical fiction. Simmons peppers his work with references to literature and poetry I suppose he collected during his years of teaching. The general theme of first half of the book is of British arrogance along the lines of Nathaniel Philbrick's ‘Mayflower’ and Giles Milton's ‘Big Chief Elizabeth’. But halfway through the story turns to science fiction/fantasy based on Inuit myth. It’s a cool twist.

I think it would be difficult to read ‘Hyperion’, like it and not want to read ‘The Fall of Hyperion too. There were two themes in the second book that made me think the kind of ideas that gnaw away at me. First was the ‘Core.’ While the book must have been written in the late 80’s for me ‘The Core’ symbolized a science fiction version of the internet as an evil collective unconscious. I have a problem with this. My views were shaped by the first astronauts who dreaded being in the black void of space. But that isn’t what they reported feeling. They felt the vacuum was welcoming and teeming with warmth. Buddhism teaches that joy, not evil -- lies in the moments between dreading the future and regretting the past. There comes a time in the book where the Core disconnects from humans and the effects are madness and chaos. I wonder if that is what would happen if technology suddenly became impossible.

The other compelling theme was an anti-aging therapy called ‘Paulsen’s treatments’. Of course we are bombarded by what celebrities are doing in attempts to fool Mother Nature. In the book I like how Simmons unflatteringly described the characters who partook of such treatments.

There is a terrible monster in ‘The Fall of Hyperion’ called the ‘Shrike.’ It reminded me of the ‘Stobor’ in Heinlein’s ‘Tunnel in the Sky’. I guess science fiction books always need and have a terrible monster?

When I first picked up ‘Hyperion’, it felt too familiar – like Mary Doria Russell’s ‘The Sparrow’. In the ‘Sparrow’ Russell explores Jewish mysticism. I would say on first glance that with the two Hyperion books, Simmons is simply angry at the Old Testament God.

2007-11-11T12:14:00.000+01:00

I subscribe to the Lyle McDonald newsletter. I thought this week's was extremely interesting. Here is an excerpt (he's interviewing a contestant from 'The Biggest Loser'):

BL: Our goal was to lose 1lb per day (3500 calories). Our particular trainers philosophy was that she was going to BURN it off you in the gym and if you had a poor day in the gym the VERY first question that was asked was "Did you eat". It had to be pounded into us that we had to eat. It seemed counterintuitive for many of us in a weight loss contest but it proved itself out when a teammate of mine upped his workouts to 6 hours per day and shrank his food to 500 calories per day (on his own) and only lost 3 pounds in 7 days while everyone else averaged 7-10.

My comments: This is an interesting idea as it's something I noted years ago and have commented on previously. The combination of lots of exercise with big caloric deficits tends to work extremely poorly and seem to slow instead of hasten fat loss for some reason. This is part of why I strongly recommended against lots of exercise in the Rapid Fat Loss handbook; the deficit inherent to the diet is already large enough to the point that adding a bunch of training seems to cause more harm than good. I don't know if the issue is simply metabolic slowdown or if there's something else going on (this my current new project now that the protein book is finally done) but I've seen it happen time and time again: excessive caloric deficits plus excessive amounts of exercise seem to do more harm than good. If you are burning a lot of calories through exercise, you have to eat. If you want to cut calories hard, you have to reduce activity.

After spending a good four years on weight loss boards and maintaining a +/- 25 lbs loss myself it appears that weight loss (& maintenance) is not a matter of eating as little as possible but instead-- of finding a *sweet spot* where calories are high enough to maintain metabolism but still the deficit is low enough--from diet or activity to allow for weight loss.

2007-11-07T08:49:00.001+01:00

Sailing on the gooimeer;

Kicking a penalty at last Saturday's game;

2007-10-31T10:14:00.001+01:00

I've worked my way through the Outlander series of books. I turned down the corner of the pages where passages spoke to me. Here are my comments:

Voyager-Diana Gabaldon

On big fat books:

“What is it—twelve hundred pages? Aye, I think so, After all, it is difficult to sum up the complications of a life in a short space with any hope of constructing an accurate account.”

“True. I have heard the point made, though, that the novelist’s skill lies in the artful selection of detail. Do you not suppose that a volume of such length may indicate a lack of discipline in such selection, and hence a lack of skill?”

“I have seen books where this is the case, to be sure,...an author seeks by sheer inundation of detail to overwhelm the reader into belief. In this case, however, I think it isna so. Each character is most carefully considered, and all the incidents chose seem necessary to the story. No, I think it is true that some stories simply require a greater space in which to be told.”

“Of course, I admit to some prejudice in that regard,…I should have been delighted had the book been twice as long as it was.”

Since Gabaldon’s novels run to 1000 pages + and nothing is superfluous I’m wondering if she shares my high opinion (and love) of big fat books.

We often look at the past as some kind of idyllic Eden but would you really like to go back in time to pit toilets and no antibiotics?

I had been taking careful note of the machines—all the contrivances of modern daily life—and more important, of my response to them. The train to Edinburgh, the plane to Boston, the taxicab from the airport, and all the dozens of tiny mechanical flourishes attending—vending machines, streetlights, the plane’s mile-high lavatory, with its swirl of nasty blue-green disinfectant, whisking waste and germs away with the push of a button. Restaurants, with their tidy certificates from the Department of Health, guaranteeing at least a better than even chance of escaping food poisoning when eating therein. Inside my own house, the omnipresent buttons that supplied light and heat and water and cooked food.

On stubbornness:

“And it’s no use to shout at a stubborn man, or beat him either; it only makes him more set on having his way.”

Gee, whatever could she be talking about?

On living somewhere foreign:

“You’ll not know how it is, to live among strangers for so long.”

“Won’t I?”…

“”Aye, maybe you will”. He said. ”You change, no? Much as ye want to keep the memories of home, and who ye are—you’ve changed. Not one of the strangers; ye could never be that, even if ye wanted to. But different from who ye were, too.”

After about five years living abroad, for me anyway the guest culture becomes what feels like ‘home’ and home starts feeling and sounding foreign.

On the sudden joy found in being present:

“It had happened many times before, but it always took me by surprise. Always in the midst of great stress, wading waist-deep in trouble and sorrow, as doctors do, I would glance out a window, open a door, look into a face, and there it would be, unexpected and unmistakable, a moment of peace.”

We don’t know everything yet:

“”Well, I say it is the place of science only to observe,” he said. ”To seek cause where it may be found, but not to realize that there are many things in the world for which no cause shall be found; not because it does not exist, but because we know too little to find it. It is not the place of science to insist on explanation—but only to observe, in hopes that the explanation will manifest itself.””

Drums of Autumn-Diana Gabaldon

Gabaldon states in an interview that she was tired of romances that stopped at the altar. So she wanted to tell a married love story. Marriage is hard. It’s hard to be half a couple—it's hard to support the relationship without forfeiting yourself.

“…ye canna be my conscious.”

In spite of everything, I felt a lightening of spirit, as though some indefinable burden had dropped away.

…

“You’re the best man I’ve ever met,” I said. ”I only meant…it’s such a strain, to try to live for two people. To try to make them fit your ideas of what’s right…you do it for a child, of course, you have to, but even then, it’s dreadfully hard work. I couldn’t do it for you—it would be wrong to try.”

A coping strategy I have is to memorize every detail about a nice moment. Then I recall that memory when things aren’t going well. My recollections are usually at the beach. But they can be anything:

It was one of those strange moments that came to him rarely, but never left. A moment that stamped itself on heart and brain, instantly recallable in every detail, for all of his life.

There was no telling what made these moments different from any other, though he knew then when they came. …the still moments, as he called them to himself—they came with no warning, to print a random image of the most common things inside his brain, indelible.

On loneliness;

At first he had thought the loneliness would kill him, but once he had learned it would not, he came to value the solitude…

While I do realize that not everybody gets their energy from being alone-like I do, I am still mystified that more people don’t seek out solitude just for the reflection and peace-what’s so scary about that?

The Fiery Cross-Diana Gabaldon

Some of us are utterly porous to the feelings of other; we wonder how those in the helping professions manage. Obviously they aren't like this.

I knew the proximity of people with disfiguring conditions or obvious illness bothered her, though she did her best to disguise it. It wasn’t distaste, I thought, but rather a crippling empathy.

I just thought this was cool and clever quote of John Adams;

‘I am a warrior, that my son may be a merchant – and his son may be a poet.’

Another;

“Let pass the judgment of God.”

What it’s like to pray with a friend (a Quaker named Husband):

Husband’s soft gray eyes had flecks of blue in them, and tiny splinters of black. His lashes were thick, and there was a small swelling at the base of one, a healing sty. The tiny dome was smooth and red, fading from a ruby dot at the center through such successions of crimson, pink and rose red as might have graced the dawn sky on the day of Creation.

The face before him was sculpted with lines that drew rough arcs from nose to mouth, that curved above the heavy, grizzled brows whose every hair was long and arched with the grace of a bird’s wing. The lips were broad and smooth, a dusky rose; the white edge of a tooth glistened, strangely hard by contrast with the pliable flesh that sheltered it.

…stood without moving, wondering at the beauty of what he saw. The notion of Husband as a stocky man of middle age and indeterminate feature had no meaning; what he saw now was a heartbreaking singularity, a thing unique and wonderful; irreplaceable.

It struck him that this was the same feeling with which he had studied his infant son, marveling at the perfection of each small toe, the curve of cheek and ear that squeezed his heart, the radiance of the newborn skin that let the innocence within shine through. And here was the same creation, no longer new, perhaps less innocent, but no less marvelous.

He looked down and saw his own hands then, still gripping Husband’s smaller ones. A sense of awe came on him, with the realization of the beauty of his own fingers, the curving bones of wrist and knuckle, the ravishing loveliness of a thin red scar that ran across the joint of his thumb.

Husband’s breath left him in a deep sigh, and he pulled his hands away. …felt momentarily bereft, but then felt the peace of the room settle upon him once more, the astonishment of beauty succeeded by a sense of deep calm.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes-Diana Gabaldon

Unfortunately, I know this feeling;

“They do say that God protects fools—but I think even the Almighty will lose patience now and then.”

When I first became an expat I viewed living abroad constantly with wonder and awe. But after awhile real life took over again;

I remembered what it was like, that feeling that one was living in an elaborate make-believe. The feeling that reality existed in another time, another place. I remembered and with a small shock, realized that is was now only a memory—for me, time had shifted, as though my illness had pushed me through some final barrier.

Anyone who has tried to diet successfully for any length of time knows;

‘The body has nay conscience’. I dinna ken that that’s so—but it’s true that the body doesn’t generally admit the possibility of nonexistence. And if ye exist--well, ye need food, that’s all.”

Earlier I wrote a review of Outlander.

Other book reviews:

Phantoms in the Brain

Hyperion and the Third Chimpanzee

The Mermain Chair

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The Trouble with Testosterone

2007-10-29T19:47:00.001+01:00

The keeper:

Apple pie:

2007-10-22T12:46:00.000+02:00

It's all about Balance:

The rake.

2007-10-21T12:25:00.001+02:00

We have a new toy.

Allan took these with our new Canon SLR.

2007-07-26T18:07:00.001+02:00

Frappé Holidays

Me enjoying a frappe (iced coffee)

Last fall we visited friends, Mo, Nina and their 5 year old son Marco in London. While there we mentioned that we’d like to make another sailing trip with them the following summer. We’d been to Greece with them several times before.

We exchanged e-mails and schedule a holiday for the middle two weeks in July.

Mo bounced the idea off of Allan of maybe trying a large catamaran this time. We’d sailed a small one in the past so we agreed.

I had a devil of a time arranging the transportation with our travel agent. The flights we could get on points through Athens to Kos had a terrible connection. And we’d still have to pay more for the domestic flight than for a direct charter flight to Kos. There was a problem with the charter though, it only ran on Tuesday & Thursday and the boat we were renting was from Saturday to
Saturday.

After pouring over the brochures and detailing our plight to our wonder travel agent she called a few companies to see if one of them would give us a two week package and cut out the middle week while we were sailing. The first few said, ‘no’ but with persistence she found one.

I chose a large hotel with three pools that was near but not in Kos town. We had been to Kos 11 years earlier and didn’t much like the beer and beach scene. We remembered hotels and sunbed crammed cheek to jowl on the beach all amid loud blaring music. Not.Our.Scene.

Thursday July 12th

A very good neighbor drove up to the airport at 2:30 a.m. for our 5 a.m. flight.

There’s that word again ‘fanatic’. Here’s how to get a free cookie. Feel faint and nauseous so go to the bathroom. They’ll slap an oxygen mask on you and accuse you of fanatical dieting for not eating before a 5 a.m. flight. I don’t know about you but I never eat at that time. Anyway after that I needed a doctor’s release before I am allowed the board the plane home.

Oceanis Beach Resort

The Oceanic Beach Resort was beautiful. Maybe a little shabby but luxurious and quiet. Right on the Mediterranean(Aegean). I think Allan is the reincarnation of Moses. It sure felt like we wandered around for 40 years. We dine at a little open air restaurant across the road from our hotel. The power goes off from time to time. Which is no problem as the food is cooked over an open fire. After our meal the waiter- who is probably the owner/chief dish washer presents us with complimentary drinks. Al gets an Ouzo and I get banana liqueur/schnapps. I wasn’t going to drink but what the hell?

Window shopping in Kos town

Friday, July 13^th.

Breakfast is served buffet style. Nutella hazelnut/chocolate butter is served in a four quart bowl. Europeans must consume simply galloons of this stuff every morning. I wonder why you see; mud & Jello wrestling but never Nutella wrestling?

We explore all the hotels pools, the one near the beach is salt water. There is a freshwater pool in the front- Andy’s favorite. The beach is a stone’s throw away, first there is a grassy area with some large mature trees for shade. The hotel supplies some sun loungers and umbrellas on the mostly rocky beach. It’s heaven. I arranged to meet with the hotel doctor once I got back for her to issue a ‘fit to fly’ statement on my behalf. We hung out and enjoy gyros on the beach for lunch.

Later in the day we heard that our friends have arrived. We agree to meet them at their hotel in Kos city for dinner. They stayed at the newly remodeled hotel Art. It was quite stark and minimalistic. Andy has fun snorkeling in the Aegean. It’s hot.

We meet our friends and the other family that will be with us on the boat. They’re all Greek but have lived a time in London. Janni & Vasso have two adorable little girls, Christina 8- born the same week as Andy & Phedra 4) While the adults lingered over dinner the four children plot, I mean bond. I made the mistake of giving my digital camera to Christina. I thought she’d snap a picture or two but after about 10 minutes of Phedra Vogueing, I demanded it back. We ate at the hotel restaurant, H20 which offered excellent modern Greek fare. I loved the dishes the food was served on.

Mo told us the boat we had wanted to rent was never returned by the previous charterer. So the charter company had purchased another boat, the same make and size but with a slightly different configuration and that the boat should arrive sometime the next morning. We were given a discount because we would not be able to use the two front single cabins. Evidently Mo had sent Allan an e-mail detailing this but Allan had never opened it. Which is just as well, that way we never worried about it.

Saturday July 14^th

We ordered a taxi to take us and all our luggage from the hotel to the harbor in the morning. We took our time. We could stay in the hotel until noon and the boat would only arrive then. The chartering company said they would take a few hours to ready the boat for us.

It took a very long time for them to show the guys the boat and all it’s accoutrements. In the meantime Nina went to get provisions and I despaired over bringing to much, way too much, again.

Our boat- a Lagoon 440.

We got a very late start, it was very windy. Nicoli, from the chartering company maneuvered the boat out of the tight harbor, one of his colleagues collected him from the back of our boat in a dingy. I took a ginger capsule against sea sickness and gave Andy a package of kiddie Windmills cookies. Mo & Al thought it would take us about an hour to get to Pserimos but after 2.5 hours of going straight into the wind we finally arrived. The boat we had chartered was very large and it was very windy. Luckily a tire was tied to the dock as a fender. We stumbled off board and began to search for a restaurant for dinner. It was very late, the waiter took our order but it seems an eternity before any food or drink arrived. The children started falling asleep at the table. Many plates of food were left half uneaten because it wasn’t that great.

The wind howled much of the night. It was coming from the direction in which we wanted to sail.

Sunday, July 15^th

The wind was still blowing. Just about everyone told me in private that they just wanted to stay put for the day but they were afraid of telling the others. We were docked in an adorable bay, so why not stay? Andy and Al donned their snorkeling equipment and made their way to shore from the boat. When Andy came back he said, ‘This is the best vacation ever!’ Later Al and I enjoyed a frappe on shore while Andy played in the surf. It was extremely pleasant. I took several long walks during the day from our berth to the end of the beach.

Around noon I made Andy some French toast. When the other kids saw that they wanted some too. Later I had an apple with peanut butter which the other kids were also eager to try.

Some other friends of Mo & Nina had chartered a Bavaria 50 for the 11 of them. They joined us.

That night we had more time to choose a restaurant. Janni inspected the kitchens of several before deciding on one. We had the most amazing fresh white bream, fresh fried potatoes, squid, octopus, red snapper. I gave it 10 our of five stars. We cleaned every plate.

Monday, July 16^th

Sailing an 18 foot Hobie cat catamaran prepares you in no way for a 44 foot sailboat with motors. I felt like we were in a floating city.

The wind was still blowing hard but we wanted to see some more of the Dodecanese so we left. One of the local offered to help us with the lines. He let go too soon which made our boat scrape the anchor of the Bavaria 50. I tried to fend off the other boat with my feet but it was like pushing against a brick wall. There goes our damage deposit, we thought. It was a very bumpy ride. Later Al told me that the gusts were up to a force 8. Catamarans feel very different from mono-hulls. They are quite jerky sailing into the wind. I was nervous about having the four children riding on the flying bridge. You just can’t turn off being a mother. It’s hard enough managing your own child, multiply that by four and it’s impossible.

We arrived in Embrios where there are fixed moorings. But the boat was so high that we couldn’t catch one of the buoys from the boat. We lowered the dingy and Al went to take a look and figure out how to tie up the boat securely. The first attempt was not successful. The line was so long that even with no power the boat simply sailed itself over the buoy causing the taught rope to damage the boat. After some time we ended up tying the front of the boat in a “Y” shape to the buoy. The wind alternated directions so the boat would jerk from one side to the other.

We took the dingy on shore and found an amazing family restaurant. The other boat had already finished eating (the children ranged from age 1-12 so they were happy to eat earlier). That left the restaurant staff free to concentrate on us. Again the fresh seafood was amazing. They served something called whitebait. The best I can describe is that it’s like goldfish crackers made from real goldfish. Whole tiny fish are dipped in flour and then deep fried. You pop the whole thing in your mouth. Yum! We ordered schnitzel for Andy(breaded deep fried pork tenderloin) and I am happy to report that he actually ate some of it. It was good.

Here are before and after pictures of a 1.6 kg fresh white bream.

The other boat’s dingy wasn’t that great so they used ours to ferry the 11 of them back and forth. Al was going to take the last load but wasn’t too keen to come back alone so Andy and I said we’d join them/him. Well when we got close to the Bavaria 50 it’s anchor appeared to have drug and they seemed to have blown ashore. So we took everyone to our boat. In a very short time they reset their anchor and the whole party was transported back to their boat. That left Andy and me on board alone. I heard a might ‘crash’ which scared the bejesus out of me. A few minutes later Al and the rest were back so I told them about the crash. They decided that with the crazy winds we’d bumped against the buoy so they rearranged the lines so that one was shorter than the other. No other bumps were heard that night. Every star in the sky was visible. I could clearly make out the milky way.

Tuesday July 17^th

We had a lazy morning and then made our way to Lakki on Leros. It was hot. It was windy. Al found a restaurant that served frappe with…Bailey’s! The harbor had hot showers and we refilled the boat with water. That night we took taxis to another part of the island-Milos where we ate by a windmill. The Castro at the top of the island was beautifully lit.

Wednesday July 18^th

I guess I'm not nearly as fat as I thought.

I tried to take one last shower in the morning but the drain was blocked making the whole enterprise unpleasant. It was so hot that a one piece bathing suit was almost too much clothing. I insisted on finding a full English breakfast for myself. You know how cranky I can be if I don’t get my eggs in the morning. We walked around awhile in the heat first to find a place and by the time I got there all I could mutter was, ‘Eggs! Bring me eggs!’ Well they did but first I got some yummy apricot juice.

Finally the conditions were perfect for sailing a catamaran. You want flat water and a steady strong, but not too strong breeze.

Me at the helm. It drove like a Buick.

We anchored for a short time in the middle of nowhere. We were by two tiny islands. Later we moved the boat to a cove that we had to ourselves. The Bavaria came too. They invited us to a BBQ onshore. Once it got dark the stars were unbelievably bright against a velvety black sky.

Vasily and his catch.

Vasily (from the other boat) was a spear fisherman. He crawled out of the water around dusk with quite a haul. They made a fire and were prepared with grids to hold the sausages & rib eyes. Earlier they’d prepared baked potatoes. Plenty of wine and beer flowed. There was dancing. Someone had brought an I-Pod with a docking station. We’d contributed a salad and some bread. It was indescribably wonderful.

Andy (& honestly me too) were conking out so I asked Al to take us to the boat. He was to return with the makings for Gin & tonics. I put some ice in a Tupperware container and sent him back ashore.

Thursday July 19^th

In the morning Janni & Mo took some of the children for a walk. Andy and Al went snorkeling. After that we motored to Pendeli, another harbor on Leros.

Al swam with the three older children to shore. I took a nap. Janni went to pick up Al and the kids with the dingy.

A little before dusk I noticed that everything turned a wonderful golden color. I tried to take as many pictures as possible to capture this magic light.

Dinner at Pendeli.

The children played Anne Marie Kokook (Stop light/Go lilght) and the other children on the beach joined in. We ended up at a café for ice cream and Al tried a frozen frappe. It was a hit. Think iced coffee made in a slushy machine.

Friday July 20^th

I had strange dreams. We motored to Vathi, a last stop before returning to Kos harbor. On the way we saw one dolphin lazily porpoising in and out of the water. Vathi is very close to Kos, there are day trips that go there. It’s quite scenic tucked into a picturesque gorge. We moored stern to and I took a walk to explore the hamlet. One restaurant had a little stream full of fish. Andy snapped pictures of cats while Al & I enjoyed a snack.

Andy jumping off the front of the boat in Vathi.

Later I saw our little waitress swimming in the harbor. You can’t call it a beach it’s more like a concrete swimming pool that opens out into the water. Vasso had chosen the restaurant and the lady had already started making our meat & squid balls.

Again we’d stumbled upon some amazing home cooking. I doubt if Allan and I could eat so well without some native Greek speakers along. Our normal meal was served family style and consisted of; Greek salad- we encountered ones with hard bread at the bottom to soak up the yummy olive oil/vinegar dressing, tzatsiki, white bait, white wine, fresh fish, fresh potatoes, squid, octopus balls. With watermelon for dessert.

During the sail back Andy came to tell me that Marco was eating paper. When I went to look in the cabin Phedra had dismantled all her markers- a budding mechanical engineer? Marco had cut up his drawing and the pieces were scattered everywhere. I asked him if he was a good boy or a bad boy. He said, ‘good.’ I asked him then why he did bad things. He was mute. I asked him then what he thought would happen when his parents saw the mess he made. He said they’d be mad at him. I asked him then what he could do to prevent that. He on his own initiative cleaned up the paper.

Pretty, pretty.

We’d timed our arrival in Kos to not be too early so we enjoyed a stunning sunset on our last night. Before entering the harbor we radioed the chartering company asking for a pilot to come bring the boat in. It was a tight squeeze on the way out and we didn’t feel like risking any more damage. We kept thinking that it was going to be expensive, that we were sure to lose our damage deposit.

Nicoli came out in a dingy and climbed on board via one of the swim platforms on the back of a hull and easily put our boat in it’s berth.

We’d had a large late lunch in Vathi so we just went to bed.

Saturday July 21^st

I woke very early and went for a walk. I saw two really big boats one red and one blue. The blue one had a dog basket on the dock for people to put their shoe in. The red boat looked like a really cool racer.

The other family had to leave really early to catch a catamaran to Rhodes. They were going to stay a little bit longer over there.

I packed at my leisure and then we went back to our hotel. It turned out the chartering company was very generous to us and charged us only a miniscule sum for all the damage. Mo, Nina & Marco joined us at our hotel as their flight was later in the day.

We could not get Marcos out of the pool. I thought it was pretty funny. But I don’t think his dad did. He reminded me of Andy. Andy loves water. Anything to do with water. Fish, whales, dolphins, swimming, snorkeling, sailing. He loves to be wet. In fact I say if there is water, Andy will be wet.

We enjoyed a very lazy day and dreamt of the next time. Maybe the Southern Ionians. Nina said she didn’t need to bring any normal shoes nor as much make up. I’d vow that I really only needed 3 bikinis-tops! I was glad though that the only make up I’d brought or needed was; blush, bronzer & lip gloss. The only excitement that day was that I had the task of digging three sea urchin spines out of the side of Allan’s foot. I think he thought I enjoyed poking him with the needle. I didn’t. They’re not like normal splinters in that they have a barb at the end of them. So the only remedy is to dig them completely out.

During the holiday Al and I had dreamt up every vacation we’d ever like to take. I think Andy would like Maui with the whale watching. Al said you can watch whales in the Azores too. Of course some day we want to go skiing again with our friends in Colorado. We’ve always meant to return to the Schober mountains in the summer. And Andy would like to visit the Harry Potter Theme park they are building in Orlando. We'd all like to drive down the Florida keys.

We bid goodbye to our friends then later took the bus into Kos town. Andy ate his fill of McDonald’s chicken nuggets. Then we went to an intriguing restaurant that Allan had seen advertised. There was no one sitting at the tables out front so we hesitated. But then I said, ‘Sometimes you just have to take risks.’ And went in. The reason no one was sitting in the front was because everyone was in the exquisite back garden. We shared a mixed grill. I didn't finish my complimentary ouzo, we'd had wine- in the cutest decorated terra cotta pitcher with dinner and then lazily made our way back to the bus stop after Allan had stopped for an ice cream.

Sunday July 22^nd

Sometime during the night Allan took ill. That morning I took Allan some breakfast up to the room. Then in the late morning I took a very long walk on the beach. Soon it became very wild. There was a nature preserve. I’d only gone four bus stops but it took me over an hour. I was trying to find a hotel that l’d seen from the bus- Kipriotis Village. I was just curious to see how it compared to our hotel. I gave up before I found it and went back to the room. Al still wasn’t feeling well so after I got back Andy and I snuck into the hotel next door- The Grec Hotel. It was rather newer, and the pool was more modern, clear and extremely noisy. I savored my lunch from the poolside cafeteria while Andy enjoyed the pool. Later in the afternoon the two of us went to the beach where Andy played with the boogie board Marco had left behind. That night the only thing that appealed to Allan was pizza so we went into town. He had a romantica pizza so I felt obligated to order the erotica pasta.

Monday July 23^rd

We’d set two alarm clocks because my doctor’s appointment was at nine. That meant I would have to catch the bus. So far the busses had been fairy regular but you never know. I gave the driver the usual €1 and he handed me back 50 cents. Early bird discount? I’ll never know. I pushed the button before my stop but he didn’t stop so angrily I made my way to the front and finally he stopped two stops later.

Basically the exam consisted of her asking if I had problems with low blood pressure and I answered, ‘yes.’ She wanted to do a few blood tests just to be sure so then I was directed to the lab. The drew my blood quickly and efficiently and said the results would be ready later that day. I sent Al a text message that said since I was already in town that I was going to check out a flip-flop store I’d seen earlier. It was hot. Really hot. So first I had a granita (slushy) and then I bought two pairs of sandals. Do I look like Gisele Bundchen now? After all I’m wearing the same shoes as her.

I revived myself with a frappe with a scoop of ice cream in it and then took the bus to the hotel I was curious about (Kipriotis Village). It was big. Very big. You would need a bike just to get around the complex. The beach didn’t compare to our hotel’s though. I downed a sour cherry juice then took the bus the rest of the way back. Curiously this time the driver charged me €1.10.

Al still wasn’t feeling well, and Andy wasn’t hungry (he’d had some ice cream and a croissant) so I ate in one of the hotel restaurants. I’d seen tuna & spaghetti on the menu earlier and was curious. It was okay. I would have left out the tomatoes though.

Andy riding Shamu.

Andy had been an absolute jewel so we asked him what he’d like as a souvenir of the trip. He wanted an inflatable killer whale. So we walked across the road to a mini mart and bought him one. The nice man at the store even offered to blow it up for us!

Once my lab results were ready I went and collected them. I had an appointment Wednesday morning to go over them with the doctor. At which time she would issue my fit to fly letter. After examining the various boats and possibilities we booked a day trip to Bodrum, Turkey for the next day.

Andy had a crepe then we took the taxi to Nestorias, a restaurant we had visited and really liked on our previous trip. Andy was quite impressed with the 8 octopi drying in a case out front. You walk past the kitchen because the tables are on the grass in the back overlooking the water. Inside the kitchen I spied fresh seafood. Al and I enjoyed a lazy dinner while Andy fell asleep across two chairs. It was an interminable wait at the bus stop so Al finally flagged down a taxi.

How does that song go again, 'don't sleep in the subway, darling...'

Tuesday July 24th

Andy eating windmill cookies to stave off seasickness on the 40 minute boatride to Turkey.

Andy was very sleepy but we had a boat to catch. The bus finally came and took us into Kos town to meet the Maria Star. It was hot. We went a little ways and then were made to get off the boat to clear immigration. It was awful. My dear husband waited in line while Andy and I tried to find a patch of shade. I think our boat captain pulled a few strings because after awhile we were shuffled ahead of a bunch of other people. The immigration guy studied our American passports and then asked Allan where the heck were our exit stamps? We were sent to another window where the guy would have preferred to see our Dutch residents cards. I hadn’t brought them because advertised on the front of Maria Star it said ‘all you need is a passport!’ I’d left all my non-essentials including my Dutch resident's card back at the hotel. Al and the guy agreed on something I never understood and we were allowed to go to Turkey. I suspect Americans and their dollars are pretty much welcome there.

Right off the boat I saw a white leather bag to die for. I got the guy down from €150 to €80 but since it was the first thing I’d seen I said ‘later’ and walked away. We washed our feet at the mosque to cool off then made our way to the open bazaar. I found Andy a warm up suit and a polo shirt. We bought some pretty bowls and Andy some Pokemon cards. After that we took a taxi to a modern shopping center which had a gold center. It was huge. I spent some time dickering over a ring and some earrings but they really didn’t have what I wanted so we left empty handed.

Time was getting short and it was hot. Did I say it was hot? It was really really hot. The first place Al picked to eat I just couldn’t sit there in the heat so we persevered on. Finally we ended up somewhere, where I ate something and then we tried to find that darn white bag. The first shop didn’t seem quite right, Andy said it was the wrong shop and led up to the right one. Thank goodness he was along- his memory blows both his parents’ away. So we found the shop and the bag and persuaded the guy’s brother to sell it to us for €80 (can you imagine the talk around the dinner table that night, 'you let her have it for what!?' and then we headed back to the boat.

The trip back seemed shorter, it was still incredibly hot. Then back at Kos town Andy and I had crepes (his plain, mine was white Nutella with strawberries- yes it was orgasmic). All Al wanted was ice cream from the bakery by the Art hotel. So that’s what we did then headed back. I would have liked ice cream too but the crepe was really filling.

Wednesday July 25^th

In front of Paradise Beach.

We’d decided to rent a large ATV to explore the island. I had to get to the doctor at 9:30 but of course they didn’t have the ATV, we got a dune buggy instead. And again I was late to the doctor. I was shocked to learn that I was anemic but the doctor still issued my release with the orders for me to drink at least three liters of water today before my flight the next day. Then we were off. It was hot. Did I say it was hot? It was really, really hot. I was curious about the other side of Kos town so we sped off to Tigaki. It’s rather amazing that just a little ways aways things are wild and quiet. In Tigaki the people we nice, we had a frappe. We did a drive by of Marmari then stopped next in Mastichari. Both are remote and charming. Andy had some ice cream and we stopped at a wonderful grocery store. I wish I’d noted the name of the hotel outside Marmari (I think) but alas I didn’t.

Why do the Greeks hate

toilet seats? And say

'neh', when they mean 'yes?'

Next we crossed the island. It was rather like being in a world sized hair dryer, it was that hot. At Kefalos I hit upon the idea of getting my shirt wet. That helped for about 5-10 minutes until it dried. Then we swam for a little bit at Kardemena. Every little burg has it’s own personality. We never found a better beach than the one by our hotel. Although looking down on the Club Med beach we could see that it was very long and sandy, but still no mature trees. I can’t remember where but I had a terrible lunch of supposed bifteki- it was two bunless bugers. I guess it wasn’t served with bread because there was so much breadcrumbs in the patty. Andy tried to use a shower on the beach but the mean man said it was only for his restaurant! Somewhere I had a virgin pina colada. Andy didn’t like his strawberry slushy- no matter how much we watered it down it still was incredibly syrupy.

Allan was surprised that Zia, in the middle of the island was full of tourists. It was beautifully wooded. The smell of the cedar trees permeating the feverish air.

Allan explored some 300 bc ruins while Andy and I waited outside.

Our day ended at the Empros thermen (hot springs). After the last bus stop past our hotel you just keep going. First you come to a snack bar and then you just keep going. We parked our dune buggy and the bottom and then kept walking. Eventually we saw a ring of big stones in the sea. By it up the hill a little bit was the best restaurant. They had fresh fish but what I really wanted was spaghetti carbonara, which they had and was very very good. Andy swam a bit in the sea. I dipped a toe in the hot springs.

I had no trouble on the flight home. They showed the film ‘Wild Hogs’ which I thought was really stupid. Especially the scene where they're skinny dipping and the other family comes in and freaks out over the nudity.

It’s been three days and most of the laundry is done.

It’s so hard to believe that there are places in the world that are basically spontaneously combusting from the dry heat while here in Holland it’s its usual gray, rainy wet self.

2007-06-18T20:22:00.000+02:00

Andy's school picture. He looks eerily like my second grade picture:

2007-06-07T13:29:00.000+02:00

Dutch Apple taart

Make a pate sucree

2 ¼ cups flour

¾ cup butter

1 t baking powder

1 T vanilla extract

¼ C sugar

¾ egg beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F

Add the baking powder to the flour. Rub the butter through the flour. Add the vanilla extract & egg. If necessary add a few T of cold water to form a dough. Set aside.

Make the filling:

Peel & slice 6 apples (sweet/sour). Add the juice and zest of 1/2 lemon. Add 2 T cinnamon, ¼ C sugar (white, or brown or mixture of both) and ¼ cup raisins.

Butter a cake pan (+/- 8-9 inch round). Pat ¾ of the dough into the bottom of the pan, Make a rim with the dough (cover the sides). Put the apple mixture in the dough, pat it down. Drop small bits of the remaining dough on top. Brush the dough on top with the remaining beaten egg.

Bake for about one hour.

Variations, add 3 ounces of nuts.