Scrappy Blog

We were packing up the last of our bags and K went down to drop off something at the front desk.  On the way back he stopped to say hello to a grey kitty sunning herself in the yard.

Grey kitty decided K is nice people and trotted upstairs after him to see where he lived.  We’d left the door ajar, and she let herself right in.  She explored our room with enthusiasm and then decided the bathtub was just the most fascinating place she’d ever seen.  She stepped on and off the rubber bathmat, apparently marvelling at the texture difference between her paws. 

We lingered as long as possible but eventually had to leave. So I told K that I’d herd her outdoors by walking into the bathroom and being scary (presuming she was too wild to enjoy being in a confined place with me).  I walked in and she looked up and gave a chirping “hello” sort of meow, and didn’t show any sign of leaving the room.

I considered just heading out and just reporting her at checkout “Oh, by the way, the tub drains slowly, the toilet clogged up this morning, and there’s a grey cat exploring the bathroom; otherwise the room’s in fine shape”.  But worried they might be mean to her so I picked her up instead.  And found that she must weigh about three times what our little Koshka weighed; I felt I’d hefted a sack of irish potatoes.  It’s possible she’s pregnant but she also has a lot of heft around her shoulders and neck, which presumably wouldn’t be all pregnancy weight.  Anyway, the instant I picked her up she snugged down into my arms and set to purring.  At that point, the new challenge was for K to convince me to put her down rather than trying to somehow smuggle her onboard….

The flight home was otherwise uneventful.  Home feels nice and it’ll be good to sleep in our own bed tonight.

We’re staying at this place in Berkeley called the Rose Garden Inn.  It’s small, more of a bed-and-breakfast, and is very pleasant if you’re OK with rather a lot of twee.  The grounds, while small, are beautifully landscaped with flowers and fountains and quite a lot of those concrete statues that make me think of cemeteries or perhaps Versailles.  Indoors, the furnishings include lots of floral fabrics, dried flower arrangements, and hand-painted wall murals of floral themes. 

Then today, they got started with their Halloween decoration.  So the entryway, already graced with a vine-draped trellis, has been adorned with a large inflatable arch of black fabric topped by a smirking vampire.  The back garden features a leering skull in long, drapy shroud, right next to the statue of some classical-looking woman gathering flowers in a concrete basket.  Indoors, candles and ghosts and cauldrons compete with chintz and scented candles… 

I rather like the effect.  Nightmare before Valentine’s, anyone?

auspeople says “Weather. Food. Total beauty of the location. Access to different types of scenery in a relatively short drive.  These are all things that explains why so many people want to live in California.”

Admittedly, the weather’s been great.  The scenery, too, is pretty wonderful – though I think we tend to take some of the coolness around Houston for granted.  Sure, I can drive a couple hours and see a redwood forest, but from Houston I can drive a couple hours and take close-up pictures of alligators in the wild.  Each has its charm.

But the food… has been really sort of disappointing.  Maybe because I live in Houston where good ethnic food is plentiful, authentic, and cheap?

I’ve had two really fantastic meals here.  One was prepared by our friend and hostess (Ann), so I don’t think I can credit SF for that one.  Ann’s an awesome chef.  The other was at the little seafood restaurant that got featured in one of the iphone commercials.  Nicely prepared sushi and edamame, scrumptious sweet potato fries, and a creative, sinful dessert.

Beyond that, though, I’ve been repeatedly disappointed.

The trendy little cafe in the Marin area served me a really nasty sandwich. Perhaps this was my fault for being a bad communicator.  The menu advertised a tuna sandwich; I specifically asked if there was any mayonnaise on the sandwich.  We were being served by the restaurant owner herself (apparently they were short-staffed) and she said “of course not”. She neglected to clarify that it was a tuna SALAD sandwich (tuna MIXED with mayonnaise).  Blech.  But, on the bright side, the little feral tortoise shell cat lurking near our outdoor table was pretty psyched about the whole episode, as she got to eat most of it!

The bowl of clam chowder at a highly-recommended restaurant on Fisherman’s wharf – was served in a sourdough bowl.  The sourdough was pretty tasty but the soup was awful.  The potatoes were overcooked which lent a starchy, glue-like consistency to the overall soup, which was also really underseasoned.

The Italian restaurant on Russian Hill had high prices and crowded seating.  The gnocci in creamy tomato sauce was competent but the accompanying bread tasted like Wonderbread and the olive oil tasted off somehow.

The popular pizza place in Berkeley served undercooked pizza though I did enjoy all the nice veggies on it.

The bowl of noodles I nearly passed out into was overcooked and underseasoned.

The mexican food last night involved chips that tasted like they’d been purchased in a large bag from Sam’s, nasty american cheese, bland pico de gallo, but a really generous serving of very tasty guacamole. 

The Chicken Tikka Masala I just had for lunch was the blandest Indian food I’ve ever eaten.  Not only could you not taste any Masala spice, you could barely taste the tomato.  Naan was good, though. 

Tonight’s the big dinner associated with the conference so who knows what we’ll be served.  I’m pinning my hopes on tomorrow night, when we’re supposed to have dinner with some old friends who are longtime gourmets.

Wish me luck?

Fair warning: This could well be the most shallow, self-absorbed post I’ll ever write.

I just walked past a mirror.  Those of you who know me, know that my hair is a wonky, frizzy, truly Hermione-like (the books, not the movies) disaster. 

Except that today, it’s not.  The frizz is negligible and the hair is entertaining itself with a multitude of crazy shiny cascading curls.  Looks like magazine hair or something.  I’m guessing it’s the lower humidity?  I’m not very mirror-oriented so I’m not really sure if it’s been this good all week.

I’ve always assumed all the beautiful magazine people simply spend hours every day having their hair primped.  But maybe it’s just that they all live in California? 

And for one brief unbelievably shallow moment I considered whether it would be worth moving here so I’d have great hair all the time… then realized I’d probably have to put on makeup so my face would live up to my hair and wouldn’t that be a total pain on a daily basis.

But maybe I’ll put on a spot of makeup for tonight’s conference dinner…

OK,done being shallow now.

I have a weird reaction to certain types of pain.  There’s a sudden rush of adrenaline, then my blood pressure plunges, and then I faint.  In particular, there’s a certain spot on my kneecap that seems to be linked directly to this reaction… I’ve passed out several times in my life by clobbering that spot.

It’s not much of an issue, since there’s a good wave of dizziness warning me it’s coming and so I can put my head down, ride it out, and then get on with life.

So today I was happily ensconced at the counter at this little noodle shop in Berkeley, reading a local paper and watching passers-by while I slurped my noodles.  And I shifted my position and WHAM, my knee impacted the counter support.  I felt the pain, thought “uh, oh”, and put my head down on the counter to try to avoid further problems.

Except that I was in a restaurant.  Alone.  Surrounded by earnest, caring college students who’d never seen someone suddenly drop her chopsticks, push her plate to the side, and quietly faint for about 30 seconds.  So I opened my eyes to find one earnestly offering to call 911 while another fetched the restaurant owner.  I was offered a cold towel for my face and a glass of water and (this one amused me) a fresh pair of chopsticks…

I managed to talk them out of calling an ambulance and left as soon as I could soothe their fears but now, hours later, I’m still mortified.

Maybe I should start wearing knee pads or something.

And I find I’m rather put off by the idea of noodles, now.

One of our staff members is leaving for another department.  They’re having a little party in her honor before she leaves.

The email announcing this was titled “Shonda go away party”.

Somehow that doesn’t convey the warmth and well-wishes that I think were intended…

You’re packing for a week in San Francisco.

What do you pack?

There’s this webpage that lets you upload a picture, then it searches celebrity photos and shows you people you match.

My first try was kind of a dud – a pic taken at work one day, I was sort of scowling and the thing was unable to find matches with greater than 60% compatibility. I was mildly amused to learn that my face in that shot was 49% compatible with Ronald Reagan!

But trying with another shot, in which I was actually smiling, gave me

Which is sort of fun.

G’wan, you know you wanna do it too!  Meme time!

I just listened to a decent audiobook version of Anne of Green Gables produced by Librivox recordings. Found it through the iTunes library but was sufficiently curious to go look for the source web page.

And it made me think of

, who has some formal training in audiobook reading and has mentioned trying to do it professionally.

Looks like Librivox publishes readings of works that are no longer under copyright.  Readers volunteer to read and then the site collects donations; half of the donation goes to the reader and the other half to site maintenance.  Strikes me that it would also be a good way to get a portfolio of work out there – the readers generally identify themselves and their website information at the beginning of each chapter.

Not that I’m aiming for that big of a career change, of course, but it was an interesting thought about whether this is actually a way to break into that business…

Last week was pretty taxing, what with nursing my husband through a nasty cold.  Then,

One of my dearest friends lost her grandmother last week, and had to endure the grief and the memorial service and so on… I feel I haven’t been nearly available enough for her and her husband, who I also care about a lot.

Another had a breast biopsy last Tuesday, so I spent the afternoon at the hospital hanging out with her and distracting her from the fears.

Another ended up in ER on Friday morning, with chest pain.  He’s out now, fortunately it wasn’t cardiac, but it was certainly disruptive for him, his wife, and his newborn daughter.  Have tried to help him sort things out with only limited success.

Another ended up in the ER Friday night coughing up blood – which bought her several days in ICU and she’s still in hospital…I was able to help out a bit Fri night but haven’t been much help since.

Another has been spending every afternoon at the hospice because her mother’s dying of liver failure – which is a particularly unpleasant way to die and there’s all sorts of unhappy family dynamics making it worse.  About all I’ve been able to do for her is check in by phone periodically, and she’s holding up OK, but I know she’s having a hard time of it.

Another was in town over the weekend because her mother has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and is doing very poorly… family stress going on there, too.

Me, I managed to catch a cold midway through this, which has undermined my ability to be as helpful as I otherwise would be.  Not to mention the level of support I could’ve given if things would just happen one at a time.  As it is, I’m a week behind on work and school deadlines and moving more slowly than I’d like.

So… count this as a general apology to all my friends who need my support, if you feel I haven’t been as good a friend as I ought.  I’m aware of it and trying the best I can…