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Spending the holidays with my brother and his family. He has twin girls who are almost four years old. We went to McDonald's and let them play in the play structure. Watching them, I turned to my brother and said, "That thing is pretty tall." I recognized a bit of trepidation in my voice, concern, and worry that they might hurt themselves. I mean, I don't think I would even go in there and slide down a 15-ft plastic slide. That's kind of risky, no?
Well, after thinking all of that I thought again, "When did I become such a wimp?" I mean, these kids have no fear for anything! I wondered if, as a kid, I was also as fearless as they are now. Then again, I hardly remember anything that happened when I was four, let alone anything before that.
The Sunday Chronicle's Style Section has a column titled "Speaking of..." Some months ago it was about Chez Panisse. If you don't know what that is, or who Alice Waters is, then please feel free to move along.
Speaking of... Homage to Chez Panisse
>> You can enjoy sex without knowing biology; why not enjoy food without knowing agriculture?
Good one, Leah Garchik!
Speaking of... Homage to Chez Panisse
>> You can enjoy sex without knowing biology; why not enjoy food without knowing agriculture?
Good one, Leah Garchik!
Talking about her husband, [Rita] Moreno continued, "He was Jewish and inflexible, and I'm rowdy, emotional and impulsive. It drove him crazy. Sometimes I asked myself, 'Am I really better off without him?' But if you are with a really fine person, as I was, despite the difficulties, you stay."
Despite the difficulties. You stay.
Despite the difficulties. You stay.
Mona Simpson delivered a eulogy at the memorial of his brother, Steve Jobs. Her eulogy was poignant, heartfelt, and inspiring. She is obviously a writer. One paragraph in particular moved me. Or rather, it stopped me in my tracks and made me re-read it to let the meaning truly sink in.
We all -- in the end -- die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories.
I sometimes wonder what would happen when I die. Not about after life, that I know I am secure. But more about who would miss me, what would people say at my funeral, if people would remember me, etc. Someday I will die in the middle of a story, my story, in which I am the main character. But I am also a character in other people's stories, albeit a side character, but a character nonetheless. Here's to hoping that my story and the other stories I am in, would be interesting enough when the time comes.
We all -- in the end -- die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories.
I sometimes wonder what would happen when I die. Not about after life, that I know I am secure. But more about who would miss me, what would people say at my funeral, if people would remember me, etc. Someday I will die in the middle of a story, my story, in which I am the main character. But I am also a character in other people's stories, albeit a side character, but a character nonetheless. Here's to hoping that my story and the other stories I am in, would be interesting enough when the time comes.
A couple weeks ago I wrote this to a friend, in regards to our current single-ready-to-mingle life:
Do you hold out for the one? Or should you settle for good enough? Because you can't date every one to make sure that the one you've got is really, truly good enough. And even if you do settle for the good enough, you can't possibly tell (or even hope) that good enough will one day become great.
In a less cynical way, Kelly Clarkson said this in a recent interview (she claimed never to have been in love before):
Because I haven't found anybody yet to open to that I feel like, "OK, you're worth breaking down that wall for."
Essentially we're talking about a similar thing. For I continue to stronghold the walls around me as long as I don't make a decision if this one is the one.
Do you hold out for the one? Or should you settle for good enough? Because you can't date every one to make sure that the one you've got is really, truly good enough. And even if you do settle for the good enough, you can't possibly tell (or even hope) that good enough will one day become great.
In a less cynical way, Kelly Clarkson said this in a recent interview (she claimed never to have been in love before):
Because I haven't found anybody yet to open to that I feel like, "OK, you're worth breaking down that wall for."
Essentially we're talking about a similar thing. For I continue to stronghold the walls around me as long as I don't make a decision if this one is the one.
What if we had to show our love every 20 minutes to every person we love[?]
-Regan McMahon
Proving Your Love -- One Ice Pack at a Time
Proving Your Love -- One Ice Pack at a Time
Just finished reading this book, now wanting to watch the movie. Good book, nevertheless I am not quite willing to hold on to it. So tomorrow it will sit on the counter of the office's communal kitchen, up for grabs. Before I give it up, though, here are some memorable lines. (You'll forgive me for quoting so many lines, it is after all, a lengthy book with many beautiful lines).
Though not a childless couple, they had retained an air or romance to their marriage as the barren often do. They seemed never to have quite brought their courting to a proper close.
...someday the world might be ordered so that when a man uses the term slave it be only metaphoric.
It was a strange time of war fever, and even young men previously considered dull and charmless suddenly acquired an aura of glamour shimmering about them, for they all suspected that shortly many of them would be dead.
She was so taken aback by this tale of her creation. She could not at that moment easily frame herself anew, not as some staid erratum but as the product of passion extended against great odds.
With mixed feelings she said aloud, I am living a life now where I keep account of the doings of particular birds.
[Pain] goes eventually. And when it's gone, there's no lasting memory. Our minds aren't made to hold on to the particulars of pain the way we do bliss. It's a gift God gives us, a sign of His care for us.
Marrying a woman for her beauty makes no more sense than eating a bird for its singing. But it's a common mistake nonetheless.
...no matter what a waste one has made of one's life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial.
Come back to me is my request.
Ada had to admit that, at least now and again, just saying what your heart felt, straight and sumple and unguarded, could be more useful than four thousand lines of John Keats. She had never been able to do it in her whole life, but she thought she would liek to learn how.
Come back to me is my request.
...this lonesome place, now still as a held breath.
And then she thought that you went on living one day after another, and in time you were somebody else, your previous self only like a close relative, a sister or brother, with whom you shared a past. But a different person, a separate life.
They were both at such an age that they stood on a cusp. They could think in one part of their minds that their whole lives stretched out before them without boundary or limit. At the same time another part guessed that youth was about over for them and what lay ahead was another country entirely, wherein the possibilities narrowed down moment by moment.
...the man that whips enerally feels better than the man that takes the whipping, no matter who's in the wrong of the matter.
Though not a childless couple, they had retained an air or romance to their marriage as the barren often do. They seemed never to have quite brought their courting to a proper close.
...someday the world might be ordered so that when a man uses the term slave it be only metaphoric.
It was a strange time of war fever, and even young men previously considered dull and charmless suddenly acquired an aura of glamour shimmering about them, for they all suspected that shortly many of them would be dead.
She was so taken aback by this tale of her creation. She could not at that moment easily frame herself anew, not as some staid erratum but as the product of passion extended against great odds.
With mixed feelings she said aloud, I am living a life now where I keep account of the doings of particular birds.
[Pain] goes eventually. And when it's gone, there's no lasting memory. Our minds aren't made to hold on to the particulars of pain the way we do bliss. It's a gift God gives us, a sign of His care for us.
Marrying a woman for her beauty makes no more sense than eating a bird for its singing. But it's a common mistake nonetheless.
...no matter what a waste one has made of one's life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial.
Come back to me is my request.
Ada had to admit that, at least now and again, just saying what your heart felt, straight and sumple and unguarded, could be more useful than four thousand lines of John Keats. She had never been able to do it in her whole life, but she thought she would liek to learn how.
Come back to me is my request.
...this lonesome place, now still as a held breath.
And then she thought that you went on living one day after another, and in time you were somebody else, your previous self only like a close relative, a sister or brother, with whom you shared a past. But a different person, a separate life.
They were both at such an age that they stood on a cusp. They could think in one part of their minds that their whole lives stretched out before them without boundary or limit. At the same time another part guessed that youth was about over for them and what lay ahead was another country entirely, wherein the possibilities narrowed down moment by moment.
...the man that whips enerally feels better than the man that takes the whipping, no matter who's in the wrong of the matter.
Hmm.., what to watch tonight? *browse*
There's so many movies I haven't seen! I think I'll just rent the first one that jumps at me. *browse some more*
Ooh... Source Code! Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty hawt. *browse*
Ah, look! Ceremony! I saw the trailer once and it looked pretty interesting. Plus, Lee Pace is in it. Not as hot as Gyllenhaal, but dorky-cute. Hmm... *browse some more*
They still have Never Let Me Go. Cool. I read the book before and depressing as it was, I kinda liked it. A possibility, a possibility. Just depends on whether or not I want to be depressed tonight. *browse*
Heh heh heh. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner: The Other Guys.
Because that's just the kind of mood I'm in tonight. :)
There's so many movies I haven't seen! I think I'll just rent the first one that jumps at me. *browse some more*
Ooh... Source Code! Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty hawt. *browse*
Ah, look! Ceremony! I saw the trailer once and it looked pretty interesting. Plus, Lee Pace is in it. Not as hot as Gyllenhaal, but dorky-cute. Hmm... *browse some more*
They still have Never Let Me Go. Cool. I read the book before and depressing as it was, I kinda liked it. A possibility, a possibility. Just depends on whether or not I want to be depressed tonight. *browse*
Heh heh heh. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner: The Other Guys.
Because that's just the kind of mood I'm in tonight. :)
I had dinner at Joel Robuchon's L'Atelier last week. Splurged on the $150+ tasting menu too. It was good, it was delicious, but I was not quite... happy. It wasn't about the portion, because I was pretty full at the meal's end. It wasn't about the taste, because every ingredient was surely at its freshest peak. I think it was the price. With wine, tax, and tips, I ended up shelling out close to $200. *cold sweat down the side of my forehead*
So here it is, I'm surrendering my foodie badge. I am no longer worthy. From now on, take me to $2 taco night, $5 appetizer happy hour, or if you really want to splurge, go ahead and get one of those 50% off coupon deals. Because, as gross as this may sound, that $200 meal was flushed down the toilet the very next morning.
So here it is, I'm surrendering my foodie badge. I am no longer worthy. From now on, take me to $2 taco night, $5 appetizer happy hour, or if you really want to splurge, go ahead and get one of those 50% off coupon deals. Because, as gross as this may sound, that $200 meal was flushed down the toilet the very next morning.
Mick LaSalle, the film critic at San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a fairly good review about Friends With Benefits. A part of the review praised the movie's unpredictability, which is a trait most often lacking in the romantic comedy genre. He wrote, "Of course, as this is a romantic comedy, we know from the beginning who belongs together. But for once a romantic comedy gives its characters the dignity of knowing things we don't know. They are adults and therefore scarred and have every reason to avoid pain."
That last sentence rings true to me. When you have lived a certain number of years, you become an adult and when you have lived that number of years, most likely you are scarred in one way or another. We are adults and therefore [we are] scarred and we have every reason to avoid pain. Hence the many, many walls surrounding us.
That last sentence rings true to me. When you have lived a certain number of years, you become an adult and when you have lived that number of years, most likely you are scarred in one way or another. We are adults and therefore [we are] scarred and we have every reason to avoid pain. Hence the many, many walls surrounding us.
