I was a bit nervous about my first trip to New York in a few months on Tuesday morning – the weather forecast called for snow, freezing rain and ice pellets. Diana dropped me off at the airport in plenty of time, and sure enough, the flight was cancelled. It turned out that every other flight was cancelled to ease traffic in to La Guardia with the adverse weather conditions. I was able to get on the next flight and arrived only 30 mins later than planned.
A documentary, “RBG”, about the life of the Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg helped pass the time on the flight.
I enjoyed a section covering how Ginsberg’s husband promoted her strongly for the court vacancy during the Clinton administration. Clinton describes his interview with her, which quickly turned to a deep discussion on various legal matters, as sealing the deal very quickly – “Within 15 minutes I was confident that she was the right choice”. I also enjoyed the discussion on her relationship with Antonin Scalia, the most right leaning justice on the court and as such her philosophical opposite. They seemed to find a way to become close friends despite their differences. Ginsberg is indeed a legal giant and made huge contributions to the advancement of equal rights for all under the law.
Vince, a good friend from AIG, and his daughter, Alex, joined me for dinner and drinks on Tuesday evening. We started with a “smoking sipper” at the InterContinental hotel bar – one of our favourites, and then braved the rain and slush for a short walk to Bar Centrale, a speakeasy style place close by.
Bar Centrale is popular with celebrities looking to escape the hustle and bustle of Times Square and the theater district. We were interested to see Anderson Cooper, the CNN news lead, a couple of booths down from us.
It was very nice to catch up with Vince and to hear about his new job as CTO of insurance company QBE. I miss our time together in New York catching jazz performances and enjoying meals together.
Wednesday took me to 10 Hudson Yards, the office of BCG Digital Ventures – a company we are in partnership with to stand up a new digital business. The view from the 46th floor office down the Hudson river was amazing. I enjoyed experiencing the modern, hip office that I imagine is commonplace in internet 
companies like Google and Facebook – complete with a full espresso bar and all kinds of snacks and drinks. Most of the folks working with us on this project are based in Sydney and Diana is promoting the need to visit their home office pretty strongly. She really misses Sydney and would love to visit all her friends there.As I was enjoying all the accoutrements of the modern office, I was entertained to find AIG featured in the crossword puzzle.
BCG hosted us at a New York Nicks basketball game on Tuesday night. My nephew, Struan, would be jealous as he’s a huge basketball player and fan. I’m not that interested in basketball these days but enjoyed the experience in the iconic Madison Square Garden very much. Can you spot Madison Square (actually round) in the foreground of the Empire State Building in this picture from the office?
The flight home on Thursday was smooth and uneventful. I watched the movie “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, and was very impressed by Melissa McCarthy’s performance. She plays Lee Israel, a biographer who has fallen on hard times and makes money by forging letters from famous literary figures – Noel Coward, Dorothy Parker and the like. This is quite different than the typical comedic performances that McCarthy is known for, and a pleasant change. I saw her interviewed on CBS Sunday morning today and she talked about visiting bookstores each weekend to pick up a physical book rather than an ebook – in the course of a week she climbed significantly in my estimation. During the movie I heard an excellent trumpet song and further investigation revealed a Chet Baker song that I’ll include in the musical section later in the blog.
I arrived home around 2:30 in the afternoon and was just heading out to pick up something for Saint Valentine’s dinner when Diana arrived in the garage. She had teased me with a 6pm arrival at home so that she could surprise me, and had already been to the store to pick up dinner. What a nice surprise!
We exchanged gifts and enjoyed a nice Valentine’s dinner at home. I loved Diana’s gift – a hand painted cheese board with part of the melody from “True Companion” – our wedding dance. I wanted to include a picture here 
but it’s already packed for Austin and I can’t remember where it is. My gift was a book of my blog entries from last year and we laughed when we compared it to the book from a couple of years ago – much fatter. Apparently I have a lot more to say about our activities these days. Dinner of sea bass, green beans, and eggplant was delicious – thanks D!
but it’s already packed for Austin and I can’t remember where it is. My gift was a book of my blog entries from last year and we laughed when we compared it to the book from a couple of years ago – much fatter. Apparently I have a lot more to say about our activities these days. Dinner of sea bass, green beans, and eggplant was delicious – thanks D!I was very proud of the card I found – a couple of octopi (second in our animal affinity to penguins).
We headed to downtown Dallas on Saturday afternoon in preparation for a concert at the Kessler. We checked into the Canvas hotel (formerly the Nylo) and then drove over to Oak Cliff. I had a quick browse through the Wild Detectives store, and picked up a book which seems promising based on the first few pages. Then we enjoyed a cocktail and delicious chicken liver mousse and salumi at Macellaio (Italian for butcher). This is a new tiny, 55 seat restaurant from the owners of Lucia (our favourite Italian restaurant in the Dallas area) which specializes in salumi: sliced, cured meats and sausages – right up D alley.
From Macellaio we drove over to the Kessler for the Mark Broussard 
concert. We saw an excellent show at the same venue from Broussard last year. I thought it was around May but Diana was correct that it was almost exactly a year ago. This time around they didn’t offer cocktail tables downstairs (standing only) and so we had seats in the wrap around balcony upstairs. We claimed our seats and then enjoyed a yummy burger at PhD (across the street from the Kessler) before the show. Can you tell how cold and gloomy the weather is from the sky behind the Kessler?
concert. We saw an excellent show at the same venue from Broussard last year. I thought it was around May but Diana was correct that it was almost exactly a year ago. This time around they didn’t offer cocktail tables downstairs (standing only) and so we had seats in the wrap around balcony upstairs. We claimed our seats and then enjoyed a yummy burger at PhD (across the street from the Kessler) before the show. Can you tell how cold and gloomy the weather is from the sky behind the Kessler?Broussard started out very strongly with some upbeat soul and Motown style music. Here is doing a medley including Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”:
We had a tough time with the booming sound from the bass kick drum and the noise from the standing audience below – not what we have come to expect from the pristine sounding and respectful Kessler. My Dad said it well today – “You’re just getting too old for that”.
About half way through the show, Mark switched to a solo set, and we enjoyed that very much. Here he is doing the heartbreaking “Gavin’s Song” – Gavin is his oldest son, now 16 but this song was written for him at 2 weeks old. I think it speaks to all parents, no matter what age their children.
The band rejoined Broussard and he kicked off with his classic “Lonely Night in Georgia”- always a crowd pleaser:
We enjoyed the concert a lot – just not as much as previous concerts – the price of progress and popularity.
After a good night’s rest, we enjoyed breakfast, coffee, and a crossword at “Opening Bell” – a very cool coffee shop across the street from the Canvas hotel. Their avocado toast with bacon crumbles was just what we wanted. Then it was home to McKinney and to packing up for moving some of our stuff down to the new apartment in Austin.
I finished the book “Let’s Go, So We Can Get Back” by Jeff Tweedy this week. I enjoyed the conversational style of this book very much and highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this style of music.
Some excerpts that I particularly enjoyed:
“My Dad also loved “Hummingbird”. He loved it so much for years he’d ask me , “Why don’t you write more songs like “Hummingbird?” I’d tell him, “I have no idea. I can’t. I’m not even sure how I wrote “Hummingbird.”
“Hummingbird” is one of my favourite Wilco songs and so I can relate to Tweedy’s Dad’s advice.
Tweedy continues:
“Something I heard a lot when I was in rehab was this totally awesome way counselors would shut someone down when they started arguing that they didn’t have to listen, they were going to do it their own way. The counselors would point out that “You’re best thinking is what put you here.” Most of the time everyone would laugh at the undeniable truth of it all.
Watching the Melissa McCarthy movie, I heard a trumpet solo that I liked enough to look it up – no surprise it was Chet Baker, perhaps my new favourite:
Brandi Carlisle popped up a couple of places this week – on the Joni Mitchell 75th birthday show and the Grammy awards. Here’s a song that caught my attention:
The Tedeschi Trucks Band released a new album recently, featuring a couple of amazing songs as usual. Here’s a good one:
Jeff Tweedy had a couple of “Fame” references in his book and this one in particular. I always thought this was a great song:
Work occupied most of my bus ride down to Austin on Monday morning. An AIG colleague, Vinod, joined my new company and I arranged a welcome aboard dinner with him on Monday night. He’s vegetarian and likes Thai food, so I suggested Thai Fresh, a restaurant that came recommended that’s located in a neighborhood close to the office and the Carpenter hotel. Vinod was early to the restaurant and texted me to let me know he was outside. I asked him if the place looked okay. His reply made me chuckle – “It does not look 
good”. Thai Fresh is a bit of a hole in the wall kind of place and is located in a residential neighborhood – not what Vinod is used to in the Dallas area but quite typical of Austin, and part of the charm of the city. He enjoyed dinner a lot and we may have another convert to the excellent off the beaten path Austin restaurant scene. Another plus is that I walked to the restaurant and back – a 2.5 mile round trip that gave us some good exercise early in the week.
I was able to sneak out of work early on Tuesday evening to catch the happy hour show at the Saxon Pub. I’ve been trying to catch David Grissom’s regular Tuesday night performance since I started working in Austin, but something always gets in the way. Here’s an excerpt from Grissom’s online bio that indicates what an amazing guitar player and musician he is:
After the concert, I met another colleague, Jeff, for dinner at Shady Grove on Barton Springs road close to the hotel. This is another classic Austin restaurant that’s been around for over 20 years with an amazing patio. Jeff told me a story about watching a kid who got his head stuck in one of the wagon wheels surrounding the patio, while eating there with his family. Apparently it ultimately took a visit from the EMTs to free the head from the wheel. I really enjoyed my green chili chicken a lot and the ambiance was great – amazing to be sitting outside eating at 8pm in February.
On Wednesday, I had dinner with a potential new partner company at the Carpenter hotel restaurant. I was pleased to find blood sausage on the menu as an appetizer. It wasn’t quite the same as the Stornaway black pudding that my Mum gets for my breakfasts when I visit Scotland, but very tasty nonetheless.
trying to ration myself to once a week now. Jeff and Greg joined me and we all enjoyed the breakfast snacks. I should mention that breakfast tacos from Taco Deli were served before and after a Town Hall at the office on Tuesday morning where I delivered a presentation on an exciting new business opportunity that we’re presenting. I did enjoy a migas taco after my presentation.
I can’t claim to be that smart and driven, but I did score a personal best time on the USA Today crossword on Wednesday during a coffee break- 5 mins and 36 seconds. Things were back to normal on Thursday – over 11 minutes.
This was an amazing musical performance. The band was comprised mostly of jazz musicians with Jon Cowherd (piano) and Brian Blade (drums) as co-musical directors. I have a recent album by both Cowherd and Blade form a french jazz label that I really enjoy and to find them leading the band was a nice treat. Seal’s performance of “Both Sides Now” was an outstanding highlight of the show. Chaka khan did a couple of songs and I was surprised by her faithful interpretations. Diana Krall’s control of 
both vocal and piano dynamics was amazing on her two contributions. Lastly, Los Lobos with La Marisoul on vocals was another outstanding performance. I highly recommend this show (available now on DVD) to anyone who enjoys the music of Joni Mitchell – the musicianship is superb. Joni herself looked very frail (she suffered a brain aneurysm a few years ago and has not spoken or appeared in public for a while). Kris Kristofferson (now 82 years old) also looked a bit confused in his performance with Brandi Carlisle – apparently he has some memory issues due to Lyme disease.
One of our favourite musicians, Delbert McClinton, received a Marquee Star in front of the Austin Paramount theatre on Friday. This is only the third star given to a musician, with previous honorees including Lyle Lovett and Jerry Jeff Walker (see my post a couple of week ago where I talked about Jerry Jeff’s biography). Lyle Lovett wrote, “If we could all sing like we wanted to, we’d all sing like Delbert.” McClinton also received the Nobelity Projects “Feed the Peace” award at the Four Seasons on Saturday for his support of many great charitable causes.
I read “What Belongs to You” by Garth Greenwell this week. I can’t remember where I picked up the recommendation for this book but it was named a best book of the year by over fifty publications in nine countries, including the New Yorker, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Guardian.
I also very much enjoyed the short story “What Can You Do With a General” by Emma Cline that was published in the New Yorker magazine this week. The dialogue and descriptions of family interactions are perfectly done. I read that Cline received a $2 million 3 book advance in 2016 around her first novel, “The Girls”. I’ll have to put that book on my future reading list.
The weather in Austin this week was chilly but significantly warmer than most of the rest of the country. Chicago was particularly badly impacted by the polar vortex with the entirety of Lake Michigan freezing. Scotland had a decent amount of snow and I received excellent pictures from both Merrick View and Aberdeenshire.
The night sky as I headed out to Second Bar was very colourful as the wind began to really whip up. I know a red sky at night is supposed to be a “shepherd’s delight” but this one felt a bit ominous.
I ate dinner at Carpenter Hall on Tuesday evening as well. The wild mushroom pasta and charred broccoli were both excellent. I look forward to staying at The Carpenter again. There is a very good wine bar right next door with 100 wines available by the glass and many interesting selections. Can you make out that the sign on the back of the building, that I captured from my hotel room balcony, is made from corks?
I read the book “Asymmetry” this week. This book had some of the most positive reviews of last year from the New York Times and several other well respected publications and I had been looking forward to digging into it.
This is the first of Ezra’s favourites from Asymmetry. I love the theme from this piece and the performance by Yoyo Ma and the London Symphony with Andre Previn is excellent.
I dropped my bag in the rental car at the Hyatt and walked to the Continental Club on South Congress (SoCo) to enjoy the free show by the Peterson Brothers. This was less than a 10 minute walk and so will be easily accessible from the new apartment.
I had read that the Peterson Brothers were the next big band in Austin and about to make it big. They put on an excellent show that was a gumbo of soul, blues, jazz and funk. Imagine Weather Report, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Miles Davis and Al Green mixed up in a band and that’s a bit of what they sound like.
The weekend was nice and relaxing with workouts, coffee and crossword sessions, and time for reading. We had a nice late lunch at Toulouse in Legacy West on Sunday. This is the place that Diana and Anne visited for champagne and steak tartare on their visit in October. We started with steak tartare and then we both had great salads. My whipped goat cheese and beets salad was delicious.
I read the book “At Home with the Armadillo” by Gary P. Nunn this week. This was an excellent review of the Austin music scene in the 1970s and 80s. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the stories about all the characters involved in developing the Texas music movement. Nunn played in the bands of both Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Martin Murphy in the 70s and tells a great story about opening for Elton John at the Palmer auditorium, a building that I drive by every day on my short commute to the office each morning. Another story I enjoyed was of Nunn seeing a very young Joe Ely play in Lubbock and thinking that he was going to be a big star. He worked to arrange Ely’s first record contract with MCA. It’s interesting that we just saw Joe Ely last weekend (in his seventies now) and I’m reading this week about how he got his first recording contract.
Monday took me to Guatemala City for a few days of work. I had done some pre-reading on my destination but wasn’t really sure what to expect. Customs and immigration was a very quick process and I found myself looking around for my car service and without mobile phone service (should have double checked that before leaving). I had been strongly warned not to take a regular taxi but was close to taking that risk. Fortunately, the driver showed up about 20 minutes later and, after a short ride, I was checked into a very modern Marriott hotel and enjoying dinner. This was the view from my balcony.
This view from the office balcony shows shacks built into a valley, right next to a very modern office complex. It was a bit disconcerting to learn that all the executives in the office drive heavily armored and bullet proof cars but I was happy to know that on our way to dinner on Tuesday through some very interesting neighborhoods.
Wednesday was a long work day and so we opted for a local restaurant in walking distance of the hotel. Kacao provided a good sampling of local cuisine – very similar to the Mexican food we are familiar with . I had a very good mixed seafood ceviche.
We awoke to a light dusting of snow on Saturday morning and it’s been so cold this weekend that it hasn’t quite melted yet. You can imagine how much McD is enjoying the cold weather and biting wind. I heard the classic, “I’m ready to go and lie on a beach now”, comment this morning. Quickly followed up with “and I mean a warm beach!”.
The Kessler beckoned us to another excellent concert on Saturday night. We checked into the Nylo (now called the Canvas) hotel and Ubered over to Nova for a pre-concert dinner. The special of scallops on a bed of ratatouille was excellent.
The concert was by Joe Ely, a performer that I’ve seen a couple of times over the last close to 30 years and always enjoyed. He was born in Amarillo in 1947 and has spent most of his life based in Lubbock, TX (famously the home of Buddy Holly). Here is his performance of “Dallas”, one of his best known songs and the 2nd in the setlist:
There was some hilarity on our Uber ride back to the hotel after the show. We commented on a huge new gas station that we passed and our driver told us that the owner kept a bison, a longhorn, and a zonki behind the store. What’s a zonki? Exactly – we had no idea either. My Dad guessed correctly earlier today – a cross between a zebra and a donkey.
I chose Standard Pour as our brunch destination. This was our first time trying the food here (we learned from Martha, sitting next to us at the concert, that our favourite brunch location in South Dallas, Smoke, had closed a few weeks ago) and we enjoyed the whole experience. Diana chose the economical carafe of mimosas but didn’t quite finish it. That washed down a very stacked burger. We have lots of leftovers for dinner.
Will is spending the weekend in Lake Tahoe, snowboarding at the Heavenly resort. They have several feet of new snow and the conditions should be excellent. This is the first time Will has felt his knee is strong enough to ride in several years. I hope he’s having a great time, being safe, and has a smooth drive home after the snow abates a bit.
I finally finished “Independence Day” by Richard Ford this week. This 450 page, small font book has been with me for several weeks now.
Back at Clorinda’s home, it was time to start the preparation for Christmas dinner. Diana had purchased both rack of lamb and honey ham for dinner and we set about preparing those together. The matriarch didn’t like what we did with the lamb but enjoyed how it tasted at the end, so we’ll let that go (kind of). It was a gorgeous day in Pacifica as evidenced by this picture of the view from the prep kitchen.
I had to work on the morning of the 26th and so didn’t attend the service. The videos I’ve seen of both Marco’s eulogy and the reading/performance by Olivia/Alicia were both beautiful. Boxing Day was another gorgeous day and I worked outside on the deck with this view before heading down to the beach coffee shop for lunch.
We used a coupon at the Tommy Bahama restaurant in Legacy West on Friday night and had a very good meal. This is not a restaurant we would have thought of trying without our $50 off card and we were both very impressed with the food, service and ambiance. These ahi tuna tacos were an excellent appetizer. Then I had Thai curry scallops and shrimp and Diana had a rib-eye steak and shrimp – all very fresh and well cooked. We’ll be back for sure.
I read two of my “suggested Christmas gift” books this week – the first was “Calypso” by David Sedaris. It’s been 20 years or more since I last read one of his books and it was such a welcome treat to revisit this witty, funny, sometimes disturbing, and often sarcastic author. His descriptions of the antics of his family are insightful, humourous, and heartbreaking – often all at the same time. Not a book for the easily offended or shocked, but one that I enjoyed very much.
The second book was “French Exit” by Patrick DeWitt. Apparently a “French Exit” is when guests sneak out of a party without saying goodbye – have you ever heard that term? I know I haven’t – is it supposed to imply the French are lacking in manners? Weird. The book is quite strange also – an upper East Side New York socialite and her son flee to Paris when their money and social status are lost. Their cat which may embody her deceased husband also makes the trip. The exploits in Paris with a gaggle of entertaining characters are intended to be a farce and certainly come off that way. It reads like a cross between a witty Noel Coward play and a quirky Wes Anderson movie. I’m not a big fan of either (can never understand why Denny thinks the Anderson movies are so hilarious), but did enjoy the book overall as a light and entertaining read – just what’s needed during the holidays.
Can you believe my baby turned 30 this week? He does seem to be doing quite well and I’m proud of the man he’s become and all that he’s accomplished in his first 30 years. Will has always been a car nut – BMWs in particular – solidified when he visited the factory in Germany during his internship. He treated himself to an early birthday present which you can see here. I think it looks pretty fierce and here is Will’s update on the engine:
This week was a heavy one of work and travel for both of us. Diana dropped me at the Dallas airport very early on Monday and I had plenty of time to make my flight, which arrived early even though it was foggy in Austin. I enjoyed a breakfast taco at the airport (as promised last week) and then headed to the office. That’s another one of the cards that McD spoils me with on the table – found it as I was getting something out of my briefcase. The Cowboys pretended to play football on Monday night and I watched the game at the hotel until I got disgusted and fell asleep before the game was over. Diana traveled out to St Petersburg, Florida again Tuesday through Thursday for a big client presentation that went well.
around the corner to the Saxon Pub, where Dave Grissom plays a free early show at 6pm most Tuesdays. I didn’t get there until 7pm and so all seats were taken and the place was packed. I stayed for a couple of songs (both excellent) and then left. I wasn’t able to identify the folks who rode their horses to the show – maybe it was the performers? I will be back in a future week to catch a full show. Dave Grissom is an excellent guitar player who started in Joe Ely’s band, played in John Mellencamp’s band, and has gone on to become a much in demand session musician (particularly in Nashville). I suspect that his show covers multiple styles and varieties of music – I’ll let you know when I get there on time in the future.
From the Saxon, I dropped the car at the hotel and wandered over to Antone’s in downtown Austin to see about their free Blues show. In contrast to the Saxon, this was a very quietly attended show. I settled in for 20 minutes or so but wasn’t drawn in by the music – too much old school blues and harmonica. And so it was off to find the next musical opportunity.
Hoping the third venue would be the charm, I walked around the corner to the Elephant Room on Congress Avenue. This is a basement jazz club that turned out to be very pleasant and a highlight of the evening for me. The sound was excellent with plenty of comfortable seating. Sarah Sharp and band were performing – I forgot to note the guitar player’s name but he was outstanding. I enjoyed Sarah’s voice and here are some quick snippets of the performance:
cocktails were both excellent and I look forward to walking back to this place again soon. My cocktail was a “Newgroni” – the normal negroni recipe with rhubarb bitters added – and it’s available on tap. I’m going to have to add some of these bitters to my barrel aging negroni because they really enhance the flavour very nicely. The scallops were fresh, perfectly cooked and paired with delicious sauces and carrots.
Turkish word meaning “olive oil”) at the Star in Frisco. It’s a mezze restaurant specializing in small plates like a Greek tapas place. We had tried Zaytinya once before and enjoyed the small plates and cocktails very much. This visit was equally positive – I had an ultimate G&T (Hendrick’s gin, Fever Tree Indian tonic water, lemon, lime, juniper berries) that took the bar tender some work to assemble, Baba Ghannouge (great presentation with pomegranate seeds), and a falafel wrap. Diana tried the lamb chops – delicious once the bartender supervised them being cooked properly and not overdone.
You might remember me raving about a brunch we had there about a month ago. I opted for the smoky mushroom toast and Diana had the omelette. The first mushroom toast was delicious with a perfectly cooked poached egg. The second toast featured a hard boiled egg trying to masquerade as a poached egg – very disappointing for a restaurant of such repute. Even worse was the attitude when I brought it to the attention of the staff. They did pay for our entire meal – I would have much preferred they just apologized appropriately and brought me another toast.
We made it from Boulevardier over to the Twilite Lounge in Deep Ellum just in time to see the end of the New Orleans Saints game – they beat up on the Cincinnati Bengals 51-14. The Twilite is an “official Saints watching destination” and has a jukebox with lots of great New Orleans music. One of Tim’s favourites, Bonerama, was playing today – it’s a band with 4 trombones that cover rock ‘n roll songs and Tim really doesn’t enjoy them.
After workout, coffee and crossword on Saturday morning, we drove by Patty and Brent’s to check on the moving truck progress. Things were moving along quickly with an extra long truck almost fully packed. They leave early Monday for the long drive to Corning, New York.
My first book this week was “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult. The title is from a Martin Luther King quote, “If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way”.
My second book was “Baby, You’re Gonna be Mine” by Kevin Wilson. This is a short story collection that was highly recommended recently by Anne Patchett (one of my favourite authors) and her staff at Parnassus books in Nashville.
I enjoyed the collection and the creativity in each of the stories but wouldn’t rate this book as highly as the Parnassus bookstore staff. I think I’m discovering that I’m not as huge a fan of the short story format as many of the reviewers that I follow. I do, however, still count “Walking Wounded” by William McIlvanney, a Scottish based short story collection, as one of my all time favourites.
For Saturday lunch we tried the Food Hall at Legacy West (right next to Haywire restaurant). The hall has about 20 very varied food vendors and lots of outdoor seating options to let us enjoy the first sunny, dry day in weeks. I really enjoyed my chicken tikka masala naan wrap and some samosas.
We thought the ladies were off for some shopping after lunch, until we received this picture. They decided that a nice bottle of half price rose champagne and steak tartare from Toulouse restaurant was a much better value than the workout attire they were looking at.
Our friend Jens was having a 60th birthday party on Saturday evening and we were able to stop in for a bit on our way home from the concert. It was nice to see his son again – probably close to 20 years since I last saw him in San Jose. Glenda did a lovely job organizing food and decorating for the party.
I finished a couple of books this week – a feature of my time off that I’m really enjoying. The first, “Less”, by Andrew Sean Greer, I found to be a very entertaining read. I liked these two descriptions of the Pulitzer prize winning book.
The second book, “The Reminders”, by Val Emmich, was an equally enjoyable read. I wasn’t sure about the story premise – thinking it might be a bit of a stretch and not something I would typically enjoy, but the folks at Interabang books were so positive about it that I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. Here’s a synopsis of the story from an online review: