Saturday, August 31, 2013

in remembrance




Tulips were my sister's favorite flowers.  These, from daughter Alex, are on my bedside table on this, the fourth anniversary of Vicky's death.  Bless you.





Wednesday, August 28, 2013

lunch in Bend, OR





Alex and Em took off early yesterday morning on their trek back to Walla Walla.  First stop:  Bend, for lunch at the Deshutes Brewery.  Looks pretty tasty to me.  They're staying in Redmond, OR last night, then on home today.  Em has to be on campus  tomorrow.  It was so good to see them if only for a day.  Next sighting will be at Thanksgiving in Bozeman.

Meanwhile, Mr. C set up the "packing table" in the bedroom so I can lay out everything I'm planning to get into one carry-on suitcase and one "personal item" to last for two months.  I'm betting there's going to be a lot of culling.

Monday, August 26, 2013

there went the bride



We're home after a lovely three days in San Diego.  The weather was uniformly gorgeous, the hotel comfortable an, in contrast to our usual hotel stays, quite luxe, with a huge flat screen TV hung on the wall of the living room and another, smaller one in the bedroom, a dishwasher in the kitchen, a newspaper delivered at the door on Sunday morning.  Of course, it was the San Diego Union/Tribune masquerading as a newspaper, but it had a couple of good travel articles!  We caught a cab to the airport for an 11:30 flight home and, by the time we made it into the garage, Alex and Emily had already settled in for a 2-night stay.

And now to the wedding.  We strolled down 6th Avenue to the cathedral for the 4 o'clock nuptuals.  There was a fine turnout of enthusiastic family and friends to witness the marriage and wish Heather and Ben well.  She was accompanied down the aisle by her beautiful red-headed 6 year old daughter, Audrey.  This was the cause of many "ohhs" and smiles.  They were married by the Episcopal priest who had been dean of St. Paul's  before he became Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  Something has happened to the marriage liturgy while I've not been paying attention.  No more "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered together here and in the sight of God to join together this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony . . ." etc.  No more "I now pronounce you Husband and Wife" or in fact any mention of the word "marriage" anywhere.  So although they may think they are married, I have my doubts.  Way to casual and conversational for my taste.  What I want is ritual, BIG ritual with a lot of the Book of Common Prayer in sonorous evidence.  It's all gotten too modern.  Lord, I sound like my mother!

On to the reception which was held at the Bahia Hotel on Mission Bay.  Here are the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Benjamin Warren.  She looked utterly radiant; lovely dress, spectacular flowers.  They both looked happy and relaxed.


We have here one happy groom.  A sort of cat who swallowed the canary look, don't you think?



Then it was on to the venue for dinner and dancing, the Bahia Steamboat.  Guests were welcomed aboard by this delightful Dixieland band playing all sorts of loud, bouncy music.


The two youngest guests were Audrey and Ben Johnson, the groom's nephew who is 9 years old and lives in New York.  He was gorgeously outfitted in a pinstriped suit, bow tie, and these splendid shoes.


But forget Ben's shoes.  Concentrate instead on Audrey's pedicure.



 The two of them found a nice spot out of the way of the circulating guests where they opened up a laptop and proceeded to watch movies and chatter together.


The cocktail hour was followed by a sit-down dinner (where did that expression come from?  Have you ever heard of a stand-up dinner?).  This is the stained glass ceiling on the upper deck of the boat.  The late afternoon light coming through cast all sorts of colorful splashes over the tables set for dinner.


 The boat was due to begin a cruise on the San Diego bay at 8 PM and Mr. C was not up to that much socializing, so we bid our adieus to the groom's mother and to the B & G, and cabbed back to the hotel.  I would have stayed and danced the night away, but we DID have to get up early to catch a flight so it's probably just as well we folded early.

It was a lovely celebration for a man (I think of him as a boy!) I first met when he was 2 years old.  My very best wishes to them both.

Friday, August 23, 2013

in the inn


Just a few minutes before we were to leave the house for the airport, I checked my email and lo! Two messages from Southwest detailing two flight delays ~ from 11:45 to 1:25 to 1:45 .  We got here at 3:15 and checked into this gracious old hotel.  Come along on a brief tour of our quarters.

Our very comfortable living room

Dining area
Compact but functional kitchen; dishwasher, good fridge, microwave, 2-burner stoveto

Bedroom with very comfy big bed
 There is a nice little balcony off the living room with a table and chairs, perfect for morning coffee. But we opted to go upstairs to the buffet breakfast. With a view like this, why stay in the room?


We went out for a long trek after breakfast, up to the local Whole Foods for provisions.  Nice route along Balboa Park and through some neighborhood areas that are famiiiar to both of us.  We actually met and wed here, almost 50 (gasp!) years ago!  We didn't make it in to the park this afternoon but I am determined to do so tomorrow.  The wedding is not until 4 PM so we have plenty of time.

I must say a word here about San Diego.  It's not the place we left in 1964 as we headed up to Berkeley and Boalt Hall.  It was still a relatively low-rise spot with not a whole lot going on.  Now it is a city spiked with hi-rise office and apartment buildings, a major league baseball team and a really tawdry mayoral scandal.  Just what every city aspires to!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

wedding bells



We're off to San Diego this morning to attend a wedding.  The son of my dear friend (and La Jolla hostess) will marry his long-time sweetie at St. Paul's Cathedral up by Balboa Park.  We're staying at the Inn at the Park and plan to spend ALL of tomorrow wandering through that marvelous green haven.  Perhaps a visit to the Timkin or the Mingei, the Museum of Art, followed by lunch at El Prado on the patio.  The wedding is Saturday, then home on Sunday to greet Alex and Emily on their way up to Walla Walla when Em will enroll as a sophomore at Whitman.  She decided (no surprise here!) that she and USC were not a good mix.  They'll be here for two nights before heading on to Bend, OR.

Note on the book I'm reading (see below):  The author uses a "citation" device by which she notes where the character got the idea or quotation he/she is using.  At first I thought this clever.  Then I looked up some of her "authors" and titles.  Mostly fictitious.  After 250 pages of this pastiche I'm getting really annoyed.  These interruptions in the flow of the story are no longer anything but irritants.  Just thought you'd want to know.


Monday, August 19, 2013

currently reading





There's been a lot of ink spilled over the past month or so over Marisha Pessl's newest novel, "Night Film."  It's much too soon for it to be available through the LOC, so I decided to start at the beginning of her novelistic career with "Special Topics in Calamity Physics."   This is a BIG undertaking; 500 densly-writ pages centered on the life of Blue Van Meer, a slightly obnoxious, overly-bright, wry teenager and her vagabonding political science professor father.  If you, the reader, are not widely and/or eclecticly read it's going to be hard going.  But if you are, or if you're willing to work at it, this is a great read.  At first I thought it was just the author showing off her familiarity with a stunning selection of literary names, titles, places, plots, characters, etc.  But after several chapters, I've decided she's just having a high old time telling a funny and wicked tale. Her chapter titles read like the summer reading list from an up-scale high school.  Enjoy!


Saturday, August 17, 2013

he's back!



Oh, I guess I forgot to write that he was going in the first place.  Well, Mr. C took his annual safari to Ohio to visit family, attend a family reunion, tromp around the old farm, visit his childhood haunts.  During his 10 day absence I caught up with friends, went out to lunch (with Jackie, who came up from the Bay Area for an overnight)  and dinner with Erin (neighbor and gardener par excellence).  I also ruminated on why I have neglected this blog for so long.  I came up with no excuse.  Ennui, pure and simple.

Air® and a Spare
One important thing I did get done, however, was the transferring of all "vital" info from my iMac to the new Air®.  Mac genius Andy spent several hours fine tuning both machines and they are now in sync.  Mr. C took the LapMac with him so it is still mired in its 2005 iteration.  These two, however, have all the latest and greatest bells and whistles.  The Air® is now all ready for the upcoming trip which gets underway in less than three weeks.  Or so we hope.

After dropping substantial bucks on the computer business I then had to go out and buy a new printer.  My old workhorse just quit on me.  True, it was nine years old.  That's probably as much printing,copying/scanning as one should expect from a machine one didn't buy in the first place.  It was an Apple give-away when I bought the LapMac.  This spiffy new printer is wireless, has everything including FAX capability, and is allegedly easier on the wallet as far as ink cartridges are concerned.  That will be a welcome relief.

After waiting for two months, the furniture leaves this afternoon for the re-upholstery workshop.  It should all be back in about a week.  I've almost forgotten what I ordered!

I've been a fan of the author Louis Auchincloss (some vague relation to Jackie O).  He writes (wrote) such urbane, sophisticated novels of life mainly in the East coast corridors of social, financial and political power.  Today I finished "The Rector of Justin", set in an East coast private boys' prep school between about 1915 - 1945.  There's a lot going on here.  Much meat to chew over, especially for one who went through the religious boarding school experience.  Haven't chosen next read yet; any suggestions?