Music – Page 9 – Keith Robertson

Week in Review – January 22nd, 2023

“Cowboys Lose”

Monday was a beautiful day for January – 76 degrees. I drove Penelope over to Watters Creek for a haircut, and she was excited to have the convertible top down for the first time in 2023. Diana had a dental cleaning around the same time, and so we were able to meet at the Lion and Crown (used to be the Londoner when I lived there) and enjoyed some scotch eggs and “English nachos” – waffle fries loaded up with all sorts of goodies. A nice treat to start out the week. A fun couple who had just moved from Woodland Hills, CA sat next to us as we were finishing up. We could easily have stayed and chatted with them longer.

Diana finished up her cacti puzzle before the Cowboys played on Monday night. Yes! – they beat Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to advance in the playoffs. Can they best San Francisco tonight? Of course, if the right team shows up!

I gave Diana her next puzzle, a Hawaiian sunset, and she made fast work of that one. A minimum of 1,000 pieces from here on out.

I took Finn to get his wisdom teeth out early Tuesday morning. All went smoothly except for his seizure type thing at the beginning, when he saw the needle. Just like his first COVID shot experience. The dentist was all over it – “I just cranked up the oxygen and raised his feet above his heart.” Apparently Finn apologized when he came back around. Poor guy. He slept for a few hours at our home, and then wanted to rest in his own bed. Isn’t that a nifty ice pack setup that straps around your head.

He had some pain on Tuesday night and has been doing really well since.

I had my annual eye exam on Wednesday, and as usual the crossword was tracking along with my activities. I was doing it while waiting for my eyes to fully dilate:

We watched a new to us series during the week. “In the Dark” stars a blind girl who is involved in solving a crime. We enjoyed it a lot and have three more series to enjoy.

We had an outing to Denton on Saturday afternoon. “A Taste of Herb”, a Herb Alpert tribute group, was playing at Dan’s Silverleaf. It’s been a while since we made that drive, and I almost turned around. The traffic with all the new building North of us was brutal.

We persevered and finally arrived at a new restaurant, “Barley & Board.” The blue cheese chips with bacon were ridiculously good. We followed that with a shared burger and fries. Equally yummy. We’ll have to try the closer version of this place again sometime.

Dan’s Silverleaf was packed when we arrived – very unusual for a weekend matinee show. We stayed for a little while and enjoyed the band and the eclectic crowd of patrons.

Sunday began with a workout at Apex and then Diana treated me to breakfast at “House of Bread.” She used a gift card from Finn – thanks Finn! That store smells so good, with the aroma of freshly baked bread wafting about.

This video of the waves crashing into the parking lot in Pacifica is pretty scary. We hope all the storms are over for a while.

Speaking of Pacifica, we chuckled on receiving a note that Eric Lindell is playing at the Longboard margarita bar when Diana is next visiting. That’s the dive bar where I went to watch football over the holidays. Apparently Lindell’s Mum lives in Pacifica.

Sunday ended poorly. The Cowboys lost to the San Francisco 49ers. Most everyone played well except the quarterback, with two costly interceptions. Campbell says he might not be able to support the Cowboys next year if they have the same quarterback.

I hope Will didn’t waste his money on these Cowboys items for Ollie – no more opportunities to wear them in support of the team this year.

I started “The Hero of this Book” by Elizabeth McCracken this week, and am really enjoying it so far. Here’s the online summary:

“Ten months after her mother’s death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book takes a trip to London. The city was a favorite of her mother’s, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself reflecting on her mother’s life and their relationship. Thoughts of the past meld with questions of the future: Back in New England, the family home is now up for sale, its considerable contents already winnowed.

The woman, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary—her brilliant wit, her generosity, her unbelievable obstinacy, her sheer will in seizing life despite physical difficulties—and finds herself wondering how her mother had endured. Even though she wants to respect her mother’s nearly pathological sense of privacy, the woman must come to terms with whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal.

The Hero of This Book is a searing examination of grief and renewal, and of a deeply felt relationship between a child and her parents. What begins as a question of filial devotion ultimately becomes a lesson in what it means to write. At once comic and heartbreaking, with prose that delights at every turn, this is a novel of such piercing love and tenderness that we are reminded that art is what remains when all else falls away.”

Here’s a passage on what it feels like to walk around Texas in areas that are only really intended for driving:

“The sidewalk of my suburban youth was like God, omnipresent and irregular. In Texas, where I’d lived for a decade, walking was seen as a form of peculiarity, perhaps a sign of northern-ness, even among my largely unarmed Texan friends. Sometimes in Texas as I walked, I would suddenly feel the presence of all the hidden guns around me, as though I were an x-ray machine.

Here in London, I knew that not a single civilian or police officer, for that matter- was armed.

Already I was lost. But there was a sign at the edge of the ungreen green that showed the neighborhood: what was within a five-minute walk of You are here, what within a fifteen-minute. Some things only the city itself can tell you, and other things you must learn from a map.

In Austin there are enormous streets called Lanes, as well as Drives and Streets and Circles and Boulevards; in my mother’s suburban Boston neighborhood, dead ends called Terraces. Trevor’s place was on a Close, and I was headed for Jerusalem Passage. Surely I would be changed upon it. I passed the Belgian bar Trevor had mentioned, now closed. A shared workspace, closed. Early Sunday morning in the business district: Everything was closed.”

Here’s a song that popped up to remind me of my time in Basingstoke – this album got a lot of play:

I get email invites to a house concert series in Austin, but have never gone. This one sounded interesting. Werner has entertaining lyrics about New Orleans.

And finally, something from Funky Friday on our local radio station, 91.7 KXT:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all.

Week in Review – January 15th, 2023

“Penelope Hates Me”

I followed Diana over to the Volkswagen dealership on Monday. She was dropping off the BBB (Big Black Beast, VW Atlas) for a service and to get some minor things sorted. I picked her up and we headed home. Diana headed up to the grocery store in Penelope. About 30 minutes later, I got a panicked call telling me that Penelope wouldn’t stay running. We arranged for AAA to come and see if they could help.

You can tell from the above picture that things didn’t go well. I walked to the grocery store, arriving just as the AAA guys had decided that they couldn’t get things fixed and would need to tow Penelope to visit Alex. We Ubered back home with the groceries, and a nice gentleman came to pick up Diana when BBB was ready. He had quite the repertoire of jokes to share with her on the drive – she even remembered a few to tell me later.

I watched a really heartwarming movie about the power of music in the evening. “I Used to be Famous” is wonderfully acted and directed, and is a story about a washed up rock star who befriends an autistic drummer. I loved this movie – apparently having seen some of it before (must have fallen asleep early.)

Diana started a new puzzle on Tuesday morning. It’s the album cover for Jackson Browne’s classic “Late for the Sky.” And it’s double sided for extra complexity. One of my all time favourite albums, with amazing guitar from David Lindley – perhaps the best supporting guitar ever!

Diana concocted some kind of strategy where she did the less challenging parts of both sides of the puzzle, then flipped one to match up. What she thought was going to be impossible lasted less than 3 hours.

It’s hard to pick a favourite song from this album, but here’s what I’m going with – so amazing when we heard Jackson and David Lindley play it live many years ago in Grand Prairie, as a tribute to Little Feat drummer, Richie Hayward, who had died a few days earlier:

If you’ve never listened to this album all the way through, you should do that today.

We picked up Penelope on Tuesday afternoon – something about a vacuum fuel line in a manifold – I just nodded and agreed with Alex. I did let him know that McD was driving, as is typical when things go wrong with Penelope. I think he gave a small German chuckle – hard to tell.

We completed our Golden Globe award ballots and started a new show while recording the awards – there are so many things that you need to fast forward through. The new show was “Georgia and Ginny” on Netflix. The first episode was mediocre, and then it started to become pretty funny and entertaining.

How did we do on the ballots? Here you go:

That’s 14-7, for those keeping track.

The storms in California continued to wreak havoc with power and roads. Clorinda lost power to her house, and the line coming down caused a bunch of things to blow out – including the fridge, toaster and coffee maker. PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) came out to assess the situation – fortunately Caroline went to High School with the PG&E guy, and soon there were 6 vehicles working on the repair.

Diana ordered up replacement appliances, and worked hard the rest of the week to coordinate delivery of the fridge. Thankfully, it was completely installed on Friday night.

Finn texted me that he had a day off on Wednesday – would I like to meet up for lunch. A first! I finally delivered his Christmas coffee table, and took him to a new place, Yaba Java, for lunch. This place was great – lovely design, great service and delicious food. I had a Mediterranean panini – it came served on pita bread straight from the pizza oven, reminding me of Shaya in New Orleans.

On Friday night, we watched an episode of “Break Point” on Netflix. This is a show about tennis players, filmed last year. The first one featured is Nick Kyrgios, the Australian bad boy. It’s amazing to consider that he doesn’t have a trainer or a coach, and just plays when he wants. He had a great run in the U.S. Open, and has more natural talent than anyone else – just can’t keep himself under control mentally. You have to wonder what he could do with professional coaching – maybe it’s too late.

Saturday started with an overdue trip to the APEX fitness center. We followed that with a trip to Yaba Java, so that I could show Diana what a great place I had found. The food was great, but the coffee operators were hopeless – creating what Diana described as the worst cappuccino she’d ever tasted. The avocado and egg toast was given a big thumbs up.

This weekend marks the start of the NFL playoffs, with a host of great games to watch. I proactively ordered a 1,000 piece puzzle to keep McD entertained while I watched. She might be making quicker progress than desired on Saturday afternoon.

Before the playoffs started, I watched a bit of the Grammy tribute to Paul Simon. Greg had recommended this when we were in New Orleans. What an amazing show – each performance better than the last. “The Boxer” by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, is my favourite so far.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” was one of my Dads favourite 8-tracks to play as we drove around as kids. Listening to this performance brought all of that back to me – I think I can even tell you where the click-thump is when we change to a new one of the 8 tracks.

The San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks playoff game provided some good entertainment, with the 49ers pulling ahead nicely after halftime.

McD took a break from her puzzle and we watched an episode of “Emily in Paris.” A silly but pretty entertaining series.

We sampled a bit of the evening playoff game. The Jaguars won with Trevor Lawrence, their quarterback, throwing 4 interceptions – a very unlikely win.

As I submit this post, Diana is still plugging away at the cacti puzzle. It seems to be lasting well.

I continued to work my way through “Like a Rolling Stone” by Jan Wenner this week.

I really enjoyed the first section, and am now becoming a bit disillusioned. It seems like the purpose of the book is for Wenner to tell us about all the famous people he befriended, and how much fun he had. That gets a bit tiresome. I met up with Jackie Onassis, and then met John Belushi in the evening – blah, blah, blah.

I did enjoy a couple of sections on the passing of Ralph Gleason, who helped Wenner start Rolling Stone magazine:

“It started with Lucille Armstrong, Louis’ widow, and Mercer Ellington, Duke’s son. Dizzy Gillespie wrote, “I have been knowing him about thirty years and he hasn’t deviated one centimeter from what he sees as the truth – in music, in politics, or any other field of human endeavor.” There was a letter from Lenny Bruce. Frank Sinatra called him a “rate and gifted friend.” Miles Davis wrote one line: “Give me my friend back.” Jerry Garcia, Paul Simon, Robbie Robertson, and John Lennon all paid tribute, too. He had helped them all.”

“the last words Ralph ever wrote: “Stone is the journalist as incorruptible man, honesty personified and as such brings to life an American myth: that the honest journalist is a saint who can save us all by his integrity and his dedication to truth. He is reporter as a poet, Knight of the Holy Grail of Truth. He cares passionately about humanity and about truth, he doesn’t expect people to be perfect or truth to be absolute, but he does care. He is a testament to the possibilities left in man, and we need the inspiration he can give us these grim days.”

I really hope the remainder of this book tends more to substance than fancy friends and capers.

Jeff Beck passed away this week. We were fortunate to see him a few years ago as part of the Eric Clapton guitar festival, where he was joined by Johnny Depp. Here’s one of my favourites:

I read an article where the drummer for Blur was talking about his five top albums. He talked about “Spirit of Eden”, the 1988 album from Talk Talk. I agree it’s one of the best technically recorded and emotional albums. I listened on Saturday morning. The unique sounds from organ, trumpet, and guitar are amazing. And the songs are given the time to develop and layer.

This led to the wonderful Blue Nile, and this gem – also beautifully recorded by Linn:

Finally, an excellent cover that played after the Blue Nile. What excellent musicians – the little slide guitar touches from Gary Clark Jr. just make the recording:

Sad that this song is still so relevant.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all.

Fortnight in Review – January 8th, 2023

“Happy New Year”

We finally made it up to Amy and Adamo’s home to exchange gifts on Monday afternoon. Bad wind and rain was forecast for the evening and we wanted to be home before that. It was a very strong storm, keeping us awake most of the night. Francesca was quite pleased with her doctor kit. She listened to our hearts, took blood pressure, gave shots as needed. “I think you’re ok.”

We got clever gifts. Our first matching tee shirts:

And a round jigsaw puzzle with fancy words. They even have definitions and “use it in a sentences” inside the lid.

I took a minute to inspect the treehouse in the back yard that Adamo has been improving. The decks and views are very impressive, with the original building needing some repair/upgrades.

Tuesday was a rainy, lazy day. We watched the huge waves crashing on the pier from inside. And, of course, Diana started on the jigsaw puzzle. Thankfully, she didn’t stay up all night working on it. It must have been Clorinda’s help that allowed completion at a regular hour.

The kids invaded in the afternoon, and opened their gifts from Grammie.

Wednesday was the first day that I had felt up to a workout – so we started our day with that. Then we drove down to Redwood City and enjoyed a fun and delicious lunch at Pasha with Sean and Sheri. Such good Mediterranean food, just around the corner from Will’s place. It’s been a long time since we got to catch up with the Meeksies.

After lunch we drove over to Marco and Julie’s home to meet the new, as yet unnamed, Havanese puppy – Gianluca is pushing hard for “Yeti.” The dog arrived on Monday – just in time to complete the move back into their home.

The Havanese is the national dog of Cuba and is part of the Bichon family. He’s very fluffy, soft, and calm.

The move wasn’t entirely complete. We helped Marco move Julie’s desk setup and the food from the freezer, before driving back up to Pacifica. I did really enjoy seeing this picture that Marco’s cross country students made for him pre-surgery.

We flew home to McKinney on Friday. This is an interesting cloud formation from the plane:

We were home just long enough to unpack, do some quick laundry, then repack for our flight to New Orleans midday Saturday.

Alex and Laura hosted the New Year’s Eve gathering this year, and it was very pleasant to be able to relax and catch up with friends that we hadn’t seen in a while. Here are a selection of photos of the attendees:

The ladies commandeered the dining room for their private session:

Here’s our midnight selfie:

Denny was up early on New Year’s Day, making all of his oyster sauces and getting organized.

He dictated various recipes to Anne as he worked away – “In case somebody asks how they can help – I just give them the recipe card and off they go.”

You’ll notice an important note on the spinach salad card – “Do Not Ask Keith.” That was after I spent a solid 30 minutes de-stemming the spinach leaves.

Folks started showing up around 1pm, with most leaving by 7pm or so.

The oyster shucking team did great work – Greg commenting that he hires a shucker for his parties. Fred has some real skills, and as always, Frank was a big help.

Then it was down to the Three Musketeers – Greg, Denny, and Kenny, with the girls retiring early. Denny was finally kicked back and relaxed.

And then it was just Denny and me. “There’s a good show at the Maple Leaf.” “I’m in.” Joe Krowne was joined by an excellent drummer and amazing harmonica player. Always a great venue to see a show. My phone died prior to any video opportunities – it had been providing the patio soundtrack all day.

We had a lazy start into 2023 on Monday morning. The boys left for Cooter Brown’s to watch college football games. I opted for some more sleep, and then joined Diana and Anne at Basin Seafood for a late lunch. We had a pleasant chat with saxophone Derek and his Mom as they arrived at the same restaurant. The food was yummy – blue crab beignets and those wonderful little goat cheese croquettes in the beet salad.

We arrived home to a surprise. All the guys were back, and had decided to fry the remaining oysters for po-boys. Delicious.

Our flight home on Tuesday was a bit delayed, but overall, we continue to be lucky with our travels.

Settled at home, we started to worry about all the rain and very high wind in California. As it turns out, we had good reason to worry. Here’s Amy giving a tour of the damage:

And the challenges continued as the storms kept coming. Fortunately Adamo and his crew were able to make quick work of unblocking the driveway:

I spent Saturday and part of Sunday on a bit of a silly mission. The fluorescent light in the laundry room has been down for a while. I replaced the bulbs and they still flickered dimly. Time to replace the ballast. I spent some happy time extracting it so that I could get a replacement at Home Depot. In a call with Damon, he told me that I could get a new LED replacement unit for the same price as a ballast, and never have to replace a bulb again. Sold! Why didn’t I research that before all that work?

A new light unit was purchased, but now it’s smaller than the old fixture, and so the ceiling had to be painted before installation. Next is to patch the part of the hole that sticks out.

After that fun, I moved on from playing electrician to plumber. My Grandpa would be pleased. Alicia’s sink has been stopping up, particularly when the A/C drains into it. We had an A/C “expert” out again to look at it. He gave me an illogical story, and I decided to purchase a drain snake and try to unblock it myself. After some fun pushing and pulling the snake, and getting splattered with dirty gunk, the sink is now flowing freely.

A wobbly ceiling fan is next on the Handyman list for me.

While I was messing around with all of that, McD tackled the puzzle Mum gave her for Christmas. Here she is 2 hours in:

And completion at the 5 hour mark. So much patience.

Campbell was another year older on Sunday – sharing his birthday with Elvis. He celebrated with a meal at Louisiana Purchase – a New Orleans style restaurant. They had an alligator and andouille cheesecake, similar to the one that we enjoyed with them at Jacques-Imo’s in New Orleans. Looks delicious.

Clorinda really enjoyed “West with Giraffes” by Lynda Rutledge, and I have it a shot these last few weeks. Here’s the review summary:

“Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.”

I enjoyed this passage from the book – I agree that life is all about collecting interesting stories.

“It is a foolish man who thinks stories do not matter – when in the end, they may be all that matter and all the forever we’ll ever know. So, shouldn’t you hear our story? Shouldn’t you know how two darling giraffes saved me, you, and your mother, a woman I loved? And it is a selfish man who takes stories to the grave that aren’t his and his alone. Shouldn’t you know your mother’s brave heart and daring dreams? And shouldn’t you know your friends, even though we’re gone?

I knew, then, there was something an old man could do. I found a pencil and I began to write.”

I found this tale a bit slow at times, but did really enjoy the history of the Depression era and the Dust Bowl challenges in the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.

Let’s start out with some classic Stevie Wonder:

And continue on with some classic funk:

Finishing up with some Aretha:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

Week in Review – December 25th, 2022

“Christmas is Here”

John and family joined us again on Monday for brunch. I loved watching Lilly assemble a meat and cheese platter, and then, without any prompting, creating a plate for Grammie.

On Wednesday evening, Diana and Alicia drove down to San Jose for a special “Cousins Christmas”, hosted by Joelle. I made Clorinda a dinner that she wolfed down, and then described as “fine.” She asked where Diana was. I tried to tell her but she couldn’t hear me. Ahh – I’ll use the notepad. “Who’s Tooey?” Good grief. Finally, the lower case version worked. “Why weren’t we invited?” “It’s only for cousins.” “But I’m a cousin.” So entertaining.

The girls had a nice time at their exclusive event:

Thursday was the anniversary of the night that Will and Christine got engaged in San Francisco. Diana and I had dinner at the Tadich Grill that night, next door to where the newly engaged couple was celebrating. Will suggested that we all have dinner at the Tadich to celebrate. What a great idea!

The restaurant was nicely decorated and I always like the old school white dinner jackets on the waiters and bar staff.

The seafood was just as wonderful and fresh as we remembered – oysters Rockefeller, lobster, petrale sole, cioppino, sea bass. What a feast!

We celebrated the Robertson family Christmas on Friday evening. Diana did a great job of putting together the first of three dinners in a row. Alicia’s stuffed mushrooms were yummy. I contributed a tiny bit to the rack of lamb – finding the recipe and helping set them up to marinade.

Dinner was very well received all around.

Campbell enjoyed his Mardi Gras themed gifts, and Clorinda wrestled her very large candle open:

Thanks Diana and Alicia for all the cooking and cleaning.

The Cowboys played on Christmas Eve, and the San Francisco 49ers played at the same time. Diana and Alicia were gracious enough to offer me the home TV, and they would go to the bar. I thought it would be a better idea for me to watch from the dive bar – the Longboard Margarita Bar – one of Pacifica’s finest.

A couple of friends were there to watch with me.

The Philly cheesesteak guy showed up and set up his station outside the bar. Yum!

This sign made me chuckle:

There was a nice crowd of folks in the bar, including one Cowboys fan, Mike. The 49ers fans were quite loud, but we had fun together. And the Cowboys were able to eke out a win against the league rival Philadelphia Eagles.

The Saturday evening sunset was amazing – all the reds and oranges that made me think of our Cozumel wedding sunset.

Then it was time for another feast. This time the pseudo feast of the seven fishes – angel hair pasta with anchovy sauce, and a bouillabaisse with excellent mussels and other seafood. Adamo and family joined us, along with surprise guests Ken and Barbara, and Andy and Jude. It was a lovely evening and we were all remiss in our photography – probably a sign of a good night. The only picture I got was Frankie showing her manners, while serving me up a nice tea party.

Christmas morning started with Timmy sharing his creative reindeer and candy cane breakfast.

Clorinda enjoyed her new swiveling patio chairs and particularly her new, warm jammies.

I think Grammie enjoyed opening Alicia’s stocking just as much as she did.

Then Diana and Alicia were back in the kitchen for the third big feast in a row – lamb and ham this time around. Marco and Giancarlo and families arrived and the festivities got underway.

Marco was delighted to finally get the Sorel boots he’d been hoping for 40 years ago.

It’s always heartwarming to see Clorinda enjoying a visit from her family.

Thanks once again to Diana and Alicia for all the time in the kitchen over the three day marathon.

In other news: Raj sent me this delightful video of what happens when Pakistan and Scotland collaborate – the sound is really different and top quality:

And Vince sent this treat on Frank Zappa’s birthday. Such a creative musician and excellent guitar player:

One of our project managers in Guatemala sent this out. We are all on edge during our busiest days of the year, with most of the team on vacation:

My book this week was “Walking with Ghosts” by Gabriel Byrne, the Dublin born actor, best known for is roles in “The Usual Suspects” and “In Treatment.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir, finishing it in just over a day. This review captures my thoughts well:

“In pared down prose both luminous and raw, Walking with Ghosts is about first things–parents, siblings, loves, heartbreaks, parts, failure, success, loss, but most of all it is a tender embrace of the past as Byrne discovers and accepts the truth of who he is in all his human struggle to be at peace with oneself and one’s imperfections. In a voice full of warmth, compassion, humor, and wonder, Byrne steps into the role of writer with the same assurance, humility, and intensity that he brings to his acting roles. More, this debut marks a welcome new voice that blends memory and imagination for an all-encompassing and wise memoir that reads like a novel.”

Speaking to his mother at the end of the book:

“I sat by the bed. You were smaller, the roots of your hair showing through the dye. I thought of the gratitude I owed for what you had given me. Your love of poetry, your love of the sound of words. Yeats, Robert Burns. Your favourite quote was from Shelley. “Fear not the future, weep not for the past.” I try to live by that still.

That last time we sat in a crowded room at a party, you recited Keats:

“O what can ail thee, knight at arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has wither’d from the lake,

And no birds sing.”

Everyone applauded and I realized maybe you had missed your career, that you might have been an actress or a performer of some kind, because you were so alive and so happy in that moment.

Had marriage and children been enough?”

Highly recommended!

An excellent solo piano rendition by Dr. John:

I Shazamed this in Thom’s Market in Austin, and was disappointed with myself – I love that album:

What a great rhythm and feel on this one:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

Fortnight in Review – December 18, 2022

“Going to California”

Week Ending December 11th:

When I left you last week, we were headed to see a concert at the Kessler. Marcia Ball, Carolyn Wonderland, and Shelley King, affectionately known as King Wonderball, shared some excellent Xmas and holiday themed music.

Jens and Glenda joined us. We enjoyed dinner at Paradiso in the Bishop Arts area and all thoroughly enjoyed the show.

The highlight of the show for me and Diana was this cover of The Band’s “Christmas Must be Tonight”. It took us a few days to get the chorus out of our heads. Such a great song!

Here’s the original version:

The show reminded me of the impromptu birthday concert that Diana arranged for me in Austin a few years ago. We were only expecting Shelley King, and then the other two showed up to jam. That was the night we met the two wonderful Aussie couples.

I missed the Cowboys versus Indianapolis game due to the show. And what a game that turned out to be. The Boys won 54-19 with a massive 4th quarter. Campbell had texted during the show that Dak didn’t look too great. Well – that all changed at the end of the game with 33 points in the last 15 minutes. The defense and Tony Pollard were amazing.

After my doctor visit on Monday morning, I helped McD rake and bag way too many leaves from our massive oak tree. There has to be a better way for next year. It took us a collective five hours to complete the task. 99% of the leaves are now off all trees – Diana has been busy emptying out the pool skimmers and Stanley’s (the pool sweep) bag.

Penelope’s brake pad warning light came on and Diana was kind enough to pick me up and drop me off at Auto Hans to get them replaced on Tuesday. Always a hefty hit on the wallet.

By mid week, both of us were coughing up a storm with some kind of cold/flu bug that we haven’t quite beaten yet.

We finished up Christmas shopping at Cost Plus World Market on Friday – they always have some unique and different stocking stuffers. After that we dropped off jewelry at Tiffany’s for cleaning, and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Tommy Bahama’s. My Thai curry shrimp and scallops and crab bisque were delicious. We always forget what a good place this is.

The World Cup has been very entertaining this week. I particularly enjoyed the underdog stories with Croatia besting the favourite, Brazil, and Morocco playing a wonderful game to beat Portugal, and become the first African nation to advance to the semi-finals.

We were back at the Kessler on Saturday night for Marc Broussard.

Jon Muq, a young man from Uganda, was the opening act. He had wonderful intra-song banter and a very smooth voice. He was very excited to announce that he had recently been signed to Dan Auerbach’s record label.

Marc Broussard and his band were excellent. A much better experience than the last time he played the Kessler – it was all standing downstairs that night and very noisy.

I had an early start to attend the Cowboys game on Sunday morning, and so we decided to stay at the Doubletree hotel – pick up point for the bus to the game.

A vendor took several of us from work to the game, including a lovely brunch at a new hotel by the stadium.

I lost track of how many compliments I got on the special Cowboys jacket that Diana made me for the Saints game, several years ago.

The Cowboys tried very hard to lose the game to the Texans, pulling out an exciting last minute win. Tim and Robbie joined us back at the house for a small celebration after party. Thanks Diana for leaving us a meat and cheese platter before heading out for the day.

While I was at the game, Diana and Janelle enjoyed brunch and the Dallas Symphony Christmas Pops concert. Don’t get her started on what shouldn’t be included in a “Christmas” concert.

Phew – that was a busy week.

Here are a few pictures from California that I enjoyed. Grammie on the loose in Target:

Marco and his friend Jessica posing by the Golden Gate Bridge – he looks better and better every day:

Will with some artificial intelligence app that doctors his pictures:

Week Ending December 18th:

Christmas gift exchange with Finn was on Monday night. He was delighted with his stocking and the new coffee table that I labored so hard to assemble for him. He had some very thoughtful gifts for us. I laughed at my “Nope” Sunday t-shirt and our new penguin blankie.

The penguin key ring has a great message:

Diana has rarely taken off her penguin slippers since:

What a lovely night we had with Finn.

I dropped Diana at the Cooper Clinic early on Tuesday for her full head to toe physical appointment. She’ll be happy to tell you that she accomplished a “Superior” score on the heart stress test – one of only twelve this year.

After that, we made the drive down to Austin for my work holiday party at Bar Peached, a creative restaurant on West 6th street. Some folks were very festively dressed, including Tim:

We enjoyed the Nido rooftop restaurant when the party ended, staying out way too late for old folks.

I went to the office for a while on Wednesday and Diana met up with Lisa for a Mediterranean lunch. I chuckled as a colleague reported back that he had spotted them going out for a “coffee” on the patio. In fairness, there is coffee on the table.

We had an early fancy birthday dinner for Diana in the evening. The bar at Jeffrey’s was perfect – a lovely setting with wonderful food. Steak tartare amuse bouches, foie gras, duck with seared foie gras, and pork with lobster, finished up with a chocolate granache desert – all very decadent indeed.

After the traditional lunch at June’s All Day, we made the drive back to McKinney on Thursday afternoon. We had time for a quick unpack and pack again for the flight to San Francisco on Friday afternoon. And then it was time for our Christmas gift exchange. I think we did very well with our stockings and gifts – much more sensible than trying to cart gifts to San Francisco. Diana loved the fuzzy Christmas pants from Ogan Enterprises in New Orleans.

I watched an excellent movie, “The Swearing Jar” on the flight. A very emotional tale that was wonderfully acted.

Sunday was Diana’s birthday, and we were treated to a visit from John and Joey and their families. It was very sweet of them to make the drive up to celebrate with us.

The kids were a delight and wonderfully behaved. Lilly made a card for Diana based on what Alicia had told her were her favourite things. I love the “Itfulle tower” with the Koala climbing up.

Clorinda enjoyed having the kids around:

Brianna really has some flower arranging talent:

Caroline had a yummy lemon bar as a cake for the birthday girl:

Diana had such a lovely time!

My reading companion this week was “Like a Rolling Stone” by Jann S. Wenner.

Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner offers a “touchingly honest” and “wonderfully deep” memoir from the beating heart of classic rock and roll (Bruce Springsteen).

I only made it a couple of hundred pages into this massive volume, so will save some more commentary for when I finish it up back in McKinney.

We’ve had a lot of music already, so I’ll skip that section this week.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all.

Week in Review – December 4th, 2022

“It’s Beginning to Feel…”

There was quite a bit of activity after I posted last Sunday. Diana and her elf, Alicia, put up Clorinda’s Christmas tree very efficiently.

Then Diana single handedly assembled a new bedside table that she had secretly ordered up for me. Thanks D!

Later in the afternoon, Andy and Jude came over and shared stories and pictures of their visits to New Orleans and France. Marco and Gianluca joined for a brief visit later in the evening. I enjoy chatting with Gianluca about the World Cup.

Tuesday was a full travel day. We dropped Amy in Burlingame to pick up her repaired Volvo, dropped Marco’s car back in Redwood City, then delivered Marco to his friend Pete to watch the USA vs Iran football match. Marco had decided, earlier in the morning, that watching the football was a much better offer than driving Keith and Diana to the airport. So, we had to Uber to SFO, making it to the Admirals Club in time to watch the exciting end to the football match.

The flight home was uneventful. I watched “Bullet Train” with Brad Pitt – a quirky and hilarious movie, spoiled by unnecessarily egregious violence. Why do they do that to clever movies?

Wednesday was back to working in my office for most of the day. I do enjoy spending time in my office with all my toys at hand.

We put up our Christmas decorations on Thursday. When I say “We”, you know I mean Diana – all I did was heft a few boxes downstairs. The Christmas tree is up and several decorations are out – including Santa Peaty (because he’s cradling some nice peaty Scotch.) I always enjoy listening to Diana unboxing ornaments – “Your parents gave us this one in 2013, and this one in 2016.” We are surrounded by even more penguins now.

Here’s the finished tree with the special Angel on top:

I enjoyed an “Eater San Francisco” email that I received on Thursday – “24 Food-filled hours in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.” They mention starting at Soul Grind – our favourite Pacifica coffee shop, the most beautiful Taco Bell on the beach next door, and a restaurant in Half Moon Bay with octopus, ceviche, and piscos that we’ll need to try on our next visit.

https://sf.eater.com/2022/11/30/23486527/pacifica-half-moon-bay-best-restaurants-bars-guide

It was funny that Will texted D just a few minutes after I sent her the article, asking what she thought about these recommendations.

On Thursday evening I dragged Diana to watch the “Neil Young: Harvest Time” movie at the iPIC theater. This is a film from 1971 when Harvest was being recorded in various locations and with various musical groups – including the phenomenal “A Man Needs a Maid” with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO).” The movie was only shown for one night in theaters across the country, so I’m glad I was able to convince McD to accompany me and that she didn’t snooze through the entire show. The section with the LSO was the highlight for both of us. Young was very frustrated that the orchestra was dragging behind the beat and had to work with the conductor to watch his hands on the piano and sync things up. I think the result is excellent and was going to include a link, but Neil has removed all his albums from Spotify.

Saturday was project day. I assembled the coffee table that we got for Finn – a solid 2 hour process with supervision (but no help) provided by McD. The World Cup did keep me entertained as I slaved away.

My next project was much less time consuming. Drilling a drain hole in the bottom of a plant pot that is going to house a new cactus baby from C-Boy for Finn. Unauthorized video was captured and Diana chuckles when she watches my satisfaction with the work at the end.

And the finished product:

Sunday has been Christmas prep day so far, with wrapping and cards in progress in both offices. We’re off to a Christmas concert tonight with Marica Ball, Carolyn Wonderland and Shelly King. Should be good – we saw them a few years ago and enjoyed it very much. I’ll give an update next week.

My first book this week was “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin. Here’s the online summary:

“The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women’s issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism, generating a mixed reaction from contemporary readers and critics.The novel’s blend of realistic narrative, incisive social commentary, and psychological complexity makes The Awakening a precursor of American modernist literature; it prefigures the works of American novelists such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and echoes the works of contemporaries such as Edith Wharton and Henry James. It can also be considered among the first Southern works in a tradition that would culminate with the modern masterpieces of Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, and Tennessee Williams.”

I enjoyed the characters and the Grand Isle plantation setting in this tale quite a bit.

My second book this week was “Less is Lost” by Andrew Sean Greer. This is the follow up to the Pulitzer Prize winning “Less” – a book I loved a few years ago.

I think the descriptions that Greer comes up with are wonderful. Here is a sampling:

“Less and the van have taken a while to get to know each other; he is certainly used to old cars, but not to something that feels so human. Every time he moves, it moves with him, like a drunken dance partner. And the reverse is true; since it vibrates dramatically, and he is clenched to its controls, he finds himself vibrating right along. Like driving a martini shaker. “

“The landscape is reversed; the desert is now in the sky, streaked with heliotrope and tawny gold as if along the crests of sand dunes, and below it spreads a dark galaxy of spiny plants; the Joshua trees. They lie out on the horizon in clumps, Holy Rollers at a revival, lifting their heavy arms.”

“Out of a mute gray sky comes a confectioners’ sugaring of snow, revealing massive Kaibab Plateau outcroppings; frosted towers above some unseeable abyss. The snow, at first just handfuls of flour thrown by playful gods in their divine kitchen, grows in intensity until it becomes a cream-pie food fight: one of those whiteout storms common to high desert plains.”

“Less and Dolly pass through Amarillo and into a land of sagebrush, dead armadillos, more churches than doughnut shops and more doughnut shops than gas stations. The rest is sun and hard earth.”

“Beyond the streaked windshield, a view of Orleans Square, presided over by a parliament of live oaks, bearded in Spanish moss, their long arms frozen in the uncanny gestures of inverted octopuses.”

“The miles go by, as does a relay race of local radio stations.”

“How well he knows this route, and, after a few scratches, how easily the stylus falls into the vinyl groove of memory.“

This is a book that manages to be very funny and poignant at the same time. Highly recommended and going in my “Best Reads” section of the bookcase.

Luke Winslow King, Vince’s buddy and one of my favourite musicians, has a new album out. His slide guitar is featured more than usual – definitely a good thing:

We watched a couple of episodes of “Down to Earth” on Netflix. This is a show featuring Zac Efron focusing on environmental issues – this series from Australia. I heard an interesting song on the sound track – by an Australian band named Bonjah. Here are a couple of their songs.

I also watched “Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues” – an excellent documentary, which led me to this masterpiece:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

Week in Review – November 27, 2022

“Give Thanks”

The Pacifica weather has been unusually beautiful all week. Only very minor bouts of fog rolling in. Amazing sunsets have been served up every evening. It’s hard to tire of the view from Clorinda’s deck.

Here’s the view South from our room with interesting contrails on a pleasant day, and then with the fog rolled in:

We enjoyed a coffee at Soul Grind and then a pleasant walk along Lindamar beach on Monday afternoon. I captured this picture of the sun going down over the Pacific Ocean on our walk back to the car.

The exercise put us in the mood to join the 24 Hour Fitness gym, down the hill from Clorinda’s home, and we’ve been there every morning since for a workout to start the day. Don’t get the wrong impression, I’m not complaining – I’ve enjoyed watching World Cup matches from the elliptical.

So much work goes into preparing a Thanksgiving feast. I did provide a little assistance as McD slaved away with the meat and vegetarian stuffing creation. We eye-balled the proportions of bread, veggies, and meat, and I have to say the end result was delicious.

Diana and I were trying to plan out the Thanksgiving Day oven schedule at Clorinda’s home – ham, various dishes of stuffing, artichoke dip, all had to be warmed and transported up the hill. Thankfully Adamo took pity on us and took the ham up to his oven – he was scared we were going to dry it out as we shuffled trays in and out of the oven.

Campbell came to Clorinda’s house early in the afternoon to watch the traditional Thanksgiving Cowboys game – this year playing the New York Giants.

It really was a rare treat to watch the game with Campbell (and later arriving Marco and Gianluca) – I typically just get to exchange text messages with him as we cheer or groan about plays during the game. Maybe we can do it again over the Christmas break. We had to migrate up to Amy and Adamo’s home mid-game, but got to see the conclusion – another great win for the Cowboys!

Here are a couple of pictures that I love that were snapped before we migrated up the Hill:

We had 24 folks for dinner. The view from outside looks very welcoming as you can’t get a good sense for the volume inside.

Here’s what it looked like inside as dinner was served:

Will and Christine joined us for dinner, with Christine providing some excellent appetizers. Will really enjoys Adamo’s company.

It really was heart warming to see Marco and Julie both looking so great:

After dinner, it was time to head out for some pictures before the sun was completely gone.

We had to reprimand Uncle Marco for encouraging more loud vocal activity from the youngsters:

And another crazy Campagna Thanksgiving was in the books!

Some other interesting activity from the visit. Diana entertaining her Mom with some instructions:

A sign that we saw in the coffee shop that really resonated with me:

Earlier today, I enjoyed Clorinda’s company for breakfast on her deck. It’s a joy to sit and listen to her stories and commentary with such a wonderful view:

We’ve been enjoying the Stanley Tucci series about food in Italy with Clorinda in the evenings – she really enjoys all the commentary and food. I do highly recommend this series.

In other movie/TV news, I started watching a movie called “The Swimmers” in the gym this morning, and it looks excellent. About a couple of girls, excellent swimmers with Olympic aspirations, trying to escape from the horror of Syria. I left the movie at a particularly traumatic boat journey scene, and have some trepidation about picking it up again:

What I saw so far is excellent, and I will hope to finish this movie soon.

My book this week was “Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm” by Laura Warrell, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It’s hard to imagine this is a debut novel from Warrell. This was reviewed on the Today show, and I remember Diana turning to me and commenting that she thought I would enjoy it.

“It’s 2013, and Circus Palmer, a forty-year-old Boston-based trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man, lives for his music and refuses to be tied down. Before a gig in Miami, he learns that the woman who is secretly closest to his heart, the free-spirited drummer Maggie, is pregnant by him. Instead of facing the necessary conversation, Circus flees, setting off a chain of interlocking revelations from the various women in his life. Most notable among them is his teenage daughter, Koko, who idolizes him and is awakening to her own sexuality even as her mentally fragile mother struggles to overcome her long-failed marriage and rejection by Circus. Delivering a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Warrell spins a provocative, soulful, and gripping story of passion and risk, fathers and daughters, wives and single women, and, finally, hope and reconciliation, in answer to the age-old question: how do we find belonging when love is unrequited?”

A passage that ties into the title and features Maggie, Circus’s true love:

“‘How do you know what your doing?’ Kamar asked.

‘Rhythm,’ she answered over the shimmy of the high hat. ‘Everything is rhythm. Our bodies, time, the plane, man. It’s all moving in beats you just have to catch.’

Maggie struck a slow roll against the snare because she’d missed hearing the sound, her eyes closed so she could feel its hum deep in her fingers. She doubled her stroke, building to a buzz, then let the beads of the sticks roll against the toms before shifting to the pattern she’d dreamed up the night before and had been drumming into tabletops all day so she could get it into her hands. Within seconds, she found it and played the pattern until her muscles started to know the rhythm’s shape.”

This is what I imagine Circus from my book sounds like:

A classic John Lee Hooker/Van Morrison collaboration that I came across again this week:

And finally, some typically English music that popped up on a playlist:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

Fortnight in Review – November 20, 2022

“The Busy Travel Season Begins”

The fortnight began with a mostly quiet week. On Monday we watched the latest Olivia Wilde movie “Don’t Worry Darling”, starring Harry Styles. This was a really interesting film, featuring an alternate reality in the 1950s that virtual reality clients can sign up to participate in. Styles wife is a stressed out doctor working 30 hour shifts and he plans to offer her a better life as a 50s housewife – and then it all starts to go awry. Worth a watch.

Our midterm elections happened on Tuesday. For the most part, we’re just delighted that all the crazy, inflammatory commercials on TV are finally over. I’ll spare you the rest of my political commentary.

I love the New Yorker magazine regular “Table for Two” articles. They are wonderfully written and feature so many wonderful gems of New York dining. The example this week is a very good sample:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/a-dominican-celebration-at-jalao-nyc/amp

As I said at the start, the week was pretty quiet – we went for a walk on Monday, a run on Tuesday, and a swim on Wednesday. We took Finn to lunch at the Legacy West food hall on Thursday – maybe the first time he’s been outside the McKinney city limits in months. He and D chose Velvet tacos (Finn said his brisket might have been the best ever taco), and I chose a really tasty Indian street food place.

We drove down to Austin early on Sunday so that I could watch the Cowboys and Packers game at the hotel. That was a mistake – poor coaching decisions caused the Cowboys to lose in overtime.

Sunday wasn’t a complete loss though – we ran into my CEO in the lobby on our way to dinner in the hotel roof top restaurant, Nido. It was his birthday, and we had a lovely celebration dinner – great service, yummy food, and entertaining story telling.

I loved my redfish Provençale and squash beignets, D her octopus carpaccio and oysters. The view of downtown from the8th floor across the river was lovely.

The Loren is a brand new luxury hotel on the Austin riverfront. It has a lot of kinks to work out. On our first night the smoke detector was shining some kind of bright green laser light in the room every few seconds. We moved to a new room, with the same problem, and then learned that the lights are controlled by a solar powered heat sensor – problem is the sensor isn’t anywhere close to light. The engineer came up and shone a torch to charge the sensor. The next morning a fake fire alarm woke us very loudly at 5am. Good grief – two nights with interrupted sleep. Tape on the smoke detector had improved things, only to be replaced by loud announcements. The next morning at 6am, we had a reprise of the loud fire announcement. Needless to say we have free rooms to use in the future. A shame because the hotel and staff were really nice.

On Monday night we were lucky to score a reservation at Este, the new seafood restaurant from the Suerte (one of our favourite Austin places) folks. The food was fantastic from start to finish – amazing ceviche, and several other seafood delights whose names I can’t remember.

Este is in a small house in an East Austin neighborhood and I can’t recommend it enough.

We met our old CEO (still a Board member) back at the rooftop Nido after dinner and that was interrupted by some Pacifica health scares – all fine in the end. I did learn a new toast “Here’s to cheating, stealing, fighting and drinking. May you cheat death, steal the heart of a woman, fight for your friends, and drink with me.” I love it. Nido has this beautiful fig tree in the entrance.

I had Board meetings all day on Tuesday, followed by a wonderful Executive Committee dinner, with special guests Diana and Lisa, at Qi – a wonderful Chinese place in downtown Austin. That was followed by a very entertaining after dinner session at Nido – our CFO telling a more detailed version of his first trip to Burning Man.

On Wednesday, we executed our typical drive to Dallas day ritual – lunch at June’s all Day – always a lovely experience. And the drive was very easy for once. My Boursin omelet was delicious, as was D’s standard steak tartare order.

As if I hadn’t spent enough time with my work colleagues, I had another work dinner with the Executive crew on Thursday night. It took forever to get to downtown Dallas, but we had a delicious meal at Sachet. The octopus appetizer was a real highlight.

Friday morning came early, and fortunately our flight to San Francisco was delayed a few hours. We Ubered down to Redwood City to borrow Marco’s car and then had an early night in Pacifica.

For some reason I thought a jazz show in San Francisco on Saturday night would be a good idea. Diana was too tired to make it, so Alicia and I made the drive up. An Arcade Fire concert, Opera, and Symphony were all going on at the same time within two blocks of each other. Parking was a disaster. I’m glad Alicia was driving, because I would have given up and driven back home.

We were only a few minutes late to SF Jazz, and quickly got our seats to watch Joe Lovano and John Scofield – two giants in the jazz world. I have enjoyed Scofield in New York a few times, but had never heard Lovano.

There was a lot of what I call “noodling” in the early parts of the show – showing off musical ability without necessarily being musical. The drummer, Joey Baron, was the star – demonstrating the amazing acoustics, as we could hear every delicate brush stroke and cymbal tap. McD would certainly have been sleeping early on. Things picked up towards the end with better musicality and this gorgeous saxophone sound:

Alicia did a very nice job of driving us home, just in time to say “Hi” to Julie and Marco as they collected Gianluca from his boring day hanging out on the Hill.

Watching the Cowboys game today was much more pleasant. From the first play – Parsons sacking the Vikings quarterback, until the last it was total domination, leading to a 40-3 final score. Where was that team last week?

Marco and Julie came by after Gianluca’s soccer game in San Francisco. Always so much fun to spend time with them.

My book this week was “All This Could Be Different” by Sarah Thankam Matthews. The wonderful Lauren Groff (author of my book last posting) says:

“This book is spiny and delicate, scathingly funny and wildly moving. Sarah Thankam Matthews is a brilliant writer, one whose every ringing sentence holds both bite and heart.”

I found this book a bit silly and plodding to begin with, but was completely hooked and invested in the characters by the last hundred pages or so.

Springsteen has a new R&B cover album out this week. Great stuff:

The wonderful Lukas Nelson with a song I first head this week, reminding me of Nathaniel Rattelife’s “It’s Still All Right”:

And finally, some classic Credence jamming:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

Week in Review – November 6th, 2022

“Freedom”

Ahh – a nice, quiet week at home for the first time in a while, and my D was home with me as well.

I reprised my William Wallace costume for Halloween on Monday. Last seen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where nobody had ever heard of him.

We didn’t have much in the way of trick or treaters – no little kids at all. Diana shut it down around 7:30pm and we have a lot of candy leftover. The only cute little kids we saw were in pictures from Pacifica. Massimo was a scary dragon, Luciano a “sick skater”, and Fairy Frankie was not feeling so great.

We met Finn for sushi lunch on Thursday. He seems to be doing well and was talking about investments and 401K savings plans. We’ve come a long way. Campbell needed some comfort food and Molly’s shepherd’s pie looks perfect.

Rachel came over for dinner on Saturday night and, as is typical, entertained us with stories about her love life. The latest guy is very picky about how towels are folded, and cushions positioned. Diana’s chicken enchiladas were delicious.

Will and Christine sent out their “Save the Date” cards for the wedding in May.

You can review all the details at http://robertson2023.wedding.

We got a couple of swims and runs in, followed by coffees and snacks at Duino and Filtered. It’s nice that Diana is now joining me for the swims – we have our standing 10am Sunday session on the calendar and try to fit another one or two in during the week.

We watched one of the best series yet on Netflix over the last couple of evenings. “Inside Man” with Stanley Tucci and a wonderful performance from Atkins Estimond is highly recommended. The acting, dialogue and cinematography are all excellent.

The Cowboys have a bye week and so we’re heading out soon to see the new Julia Roberts and George Clooney movie:

I finished up “Florida” by the very creative Lauren Groff. All of the short stories in this book are great and I really enjoyed the read. Palmettos make frequent appearances in the book and I asked Diana what they looked like. Had to go to Google as a back up: “any of several usually low-growing fan-leaved palms”:

I highly recommend this book.

I hadn’t heard this excellent song from Glaswegian, Paolo Nutini, until this week. It’s been on heavy rotation.

The lyrics of this one from Todd Snider make me smile:

Let’s finish out the week with something peaceful:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

Fortnight in review – October 30, 2022

“A ‘Work’ Trip to Roatan, Honduras”

Tuesday was passport day. I had made an appointment at the downtown Dallas emergency passport office. All the necessary documents were reviewed and I was sent to another window, anticipating receiving my shiny new passport. Not so fast – “You have to come back tomorrow afternoon to pick it up.” “But I live so far away and can’t afford to take time off work again, and if I don’t go on this trip I’ll get fired.” My fabricated sob stories were all in vain.

Deciding to make the best of another drive downtown, I invited Diana to accompany me and have lunch afterwards in Oak Cliff. The passport was ready – all set to travel again. I surprised Diana with a new place for lunch – Paradiso in the Bishop Arts district. We sat in the courtyard and enjoyed an excellent lunch – one of the best salads that we’ve had in a long time. A nice new find to add to our Oak Cliff rotation.

After lunch we strolled around the corner and enjoyed a browse and a coffee at the delightful Wild Detectives book store. This is my favourite retail establishment in all of Dallas.

We woke up very early on Friday morning, grabbed our passports and luggage and headed for the airport to catch our 7am flight to Miami. A quick change, and we were on our way to Roatan, Honduras. Here’s a picture from the plane as we flew over the beautiful Caribbean islands:

“Where is Roatan?”, you ask. Here’s a map to help you get oriented:

Roatan is a Caribbean island, about 40 miles off the coast of Honduras, with a population of around 100,000. It has the second largest coral reef in the world, after the Australian Great Barrier reef. We had the choice of attending year end award celebrations in Las Vegas, Roatan, or Cancun, and decided to try somewhere new. What a great choice that ended up being!

A bus was waiting for us at the tiny Roatan airport (4 gates) to shuttle us to the Grand Roatan resort.

This is located on the very West end of the island and was just gorgeous. Not too big, with an awesome beach and beach front restaurant. Here are some pictures of the resort.

Our condo was behind the tropical forest on the right hand side of the last picture, and had a wonderful view out over the reef.

The advance party, Blair (COO), Lachie (CEO), Nikki (CRO) and Lisa (Blair’s wife) were already installed at the beach restaurant, and we joined them for lunch and margaritas.

We hung out chatting on the beach for the afternoon, and then an impromptu dance party broke out.

Jorge (VP for LATAM) arrived in the late afternoon, just in time to teach McD some new dance moves:

And to sing for Lisa:

I am very fortunate to work with such fun and kind people.

After the sun set, we walked down the beach and enjoyed a yummy meal on the deck of the Argentinian Grill. D’s lobster tails were gobbled up.

Lachie had planned on renting a boat on Saturday, but the rainy season was in full force in the morning, so we pushed that to Sunday. As we were heading down to the beach in the afternoon on Saturday afternoon, we ran into Lachie, who joined us for the afternoon. We told stories and he worked on both of us to try and push my retirement date out as far as he could. “You want to work from the south of France? That’s totally fine with me.”

I forgot to mention that we did get one workout in on Saturday morning. The gym was brand new and very well equipped, with a terrific view.

When the rain let up, we had a nice walk down to the far end of the beach.

Sunday was one of those fantastic days that just evolve. The rain came again during breakfast, so we relaxed for a while and waited for it to pass. Around 10am, we made the short walk down the beach and boarded our boat for the day. We cruised around the island, stopping for some snorkeling, and then pulled into an isolated restaurant, “The Cove”, for another great meal. Blair and I hiked into the jungle to “The Brewery” in search of cigars – no luck. I did have a good chat with the owner – used to work the front of the house at the Granada theater in Dallas – where we’ve seen many concerts.

The girls made me a bit nervous making their way to the bow of the boat for a better view and sunbathing.

Unfortunately the rain came again in the late afternoon. We were out beyond the shelf in 2,700 feet of water, and so our captain put some lines out, hoping to catch some dinner. No luck on that, but we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow.

There are not many better ways to pass a day than cruising around a lovely island with good people.

Our award winners arrived on Monday morning. We greeted them at reception, got them checked in, and then participated in some games on the beach. Everyone got a welcome bag with a swim shirt and button down shirt for the evening. Here’s the crew in their swim shirts.

I really didn’t enjoy the “beach skiing”, but did well at the canoe race.

While we rested up for the evening event, Diana and Lisa went off down the beach shopping with the wonderful Alex as a tour guide. He took pictures of them on the oversize chair.

I’m so fortunate that Diana has become such good friends with Lisa – they really enjoy hanging out together while we’re “working.”

The awards dinner was so well produced with so much heart. The stories and videos of the winners were really touching.

The after dinner dancing got off to a slowish start until the two party starters took over – doing an excellent job of getting everyone on the dance floor.

Diana was having so much fun dancing that I kept getting the “Just 15 minutes more” story when trying to head to bed.

Tuesday was a free day and we spent it relaxing on the beach and reading. BP made an appearance – although the park ranger did tell me “no penguins allowed on the beach.”

We enjoyed a late lunch with Pepe and Rebecca – such a nice couple, and Rebecca was a good, chatty addition to the D and Lisa duo.

Travel home on Wednesday was smooth – just a short delay in Miami and, as is typical these days, folks behind us that talked for the entire flight. My new passport worked without any issues.

There had been some storms in McKinney while we were gone, so it was straight back into pool girl cleanup mode for McD.

My book this week was “The Dark Remains” by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin – two authors that I enjoy very much.

McIlvanney’s Laidlaw books were a completely new force in crime fiction when originally published years ago. When he died in 2015, he left half of a handwritten manuscript about Laidlaw’s first case. Ian Rankin finished what McIlvanney started.

This is an excellent tale of the criminal world in 1970s Glasgow, and the Laidlaw character is wonderful as always.

From a conversation with both authors transcribed at the end of the book – McIlvanney:

“I come from twenty miles outside Glasgow – “How can a Kilmarnockian write about Glasgow?” It’s twenty miles! There’s buses and things! But it was regarded as kind of preposterous that he would have Camus and so on.”

Thanks for letting me steal this book, Mum.

“Walking Wounded”, McIlvanney’s short story collection, has pride of place in the Top 10 books I’ve read section of the bookshelves.