Month: January 2022

Week in Review – January 30, 2022

“Let the NOLA residency begin”

This week was all about packing up and organizing for our “residency” in New Orleans.  Diana did a fantastic job of getting everything ready and packed in the Atlas – lots of room thankfully.

Before we left I had one last follow up appointment from my hand surgery.  The doctor said it looked great and it was clear that I had been doing all the recommended exercises.  I’m not sure McD believes that, but I really have been pretty good about doing them several times a day.

We split up the drive to New Orleans with a stop in Shreveport on Friday night.  We didn’t have very high expectations, but were delighted to find the Fat Calf brasserie.  What a wonderful meal – one that I would drive the 3 hours from Dallas to repeat – just amazing.  We selected four appetizers for our meal – all were excellent.  Moules frites, escargots, a duck and foie gras parfait, and quail with dirty rice.  I don’t know which was my favourite, all so well done and delicious.  We’re already plotting a visit on our return drive.

We arrived in New Orleans at 2pm on Saturday and met our hosts in the Villa Vici furniture store below the condo.  Very pleasant folks who helped us unpack and carry things upstairs.  The condo is very sleek and modern as advertised.  We’ve been enjoying the lovely outdoor spaces – balcony overlooking the street out front (great for people watching), and extensive rooftop garden area out back (gets wonderful sun in the morning for coffee and the crossword.)  There are a few sheep happily grazing on the rooftop:

We met Kenny, Kara and crew at the Westin in the French Quarter around 4pm for the Happy Hour show by Kenny’s cousin, Tim Laughlin on clarinet.

It was a real treat to meet Kenny’s Mum, Miss Sue.  We really enjoyed the excellent music and time to relax and catchup.

The view of the Mississippi and the Quarter from the Westin are quite impressive.

After that lovely arrival music, the Ogans and Kirschs came back to the condo with us and we ordered Thai food from Pomelo – directly across the street.  Pomelo describes their food as “street style Thai.”  It was quite good, but different than the traditional curries that we’re used to.  We had a great time hanging out and catching up with each other.

Denny and Anne arrived with a Mardi Gras starter kit:

Sunday started with a long walk down the Nashville Avenue “neutral ground.”  This is what the grass area between lanes in the middle is called.  There’s a nice path winding all the way down.  We made a turn on to Freret Street (Kenny’s neighbourhood) and enjoyed a coffee from Mojo before walking back home.

Our appetites were suitably worked up now for brunch at Atchafalaya – one of the more popular weekend brunch restaurants.  I absolutely loved my duck confit hash.  The blackberries and mangos listed on the menu made me a bit nervous, but they complemented the duck very well.  Diana loved her Bayou Benedict.

I made it back to the condo in time to watch the Bengals defeat the Chiefs by 3 points in the AFC Championship football game – the result that I had predicted on a work call on Friday.  That was only after a very nerve wracking overtime session.

Kenny and Kara had us over for burgers and to watch the NFC Championship – Rams versus 49ers.  The team I was hoping would win was again victorious.  It will be the Rams and Bengals in the SuperBowl in a couple of weeks.

What a great couple of starter days to the residency.

I added a new puzzle to my daily crossword routine.  “Wordle” is a game that was created by a gentleman in the U.K. to play with his wife.  You get zero instructions – just 6 chances to find the Wordle of the day.  Each attempt is highlighted with green for the correct letter in the correct spot and yellow for the correct letter in the wrong spot.  I think I had significant beginners luck on my first attempts:

This is embarrassing.  I read 50 pages of William Kent Kreuger’s “Ordinary Grace” before convincing myself that I must have read it before.  It didn’t seem overly familiar but there were occasional passages that sounded just like something I’d heard before.  I finally did a search of the blog and found that I read it back in 2018.  Silly K!

After those 50 pages, things got too busy for me to settle down with a book.  I’m looking forward to making up for that next week with some good book time in the rooftop garden.

Here’s one of my favourites from Tim Laughlin, the clarinetist that we saw on Saturday:

An interesting cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”:

A favourite from the excellent Tom Waits that popped up on a playlist this week:

And finally something great from Radiohead that I heard on the soundtrack of a show I was watching, just don’t remember which show that was:

Stay safe, calm and kind!

 

Week in Review – January 23, 2022

“Spouting Volcano on the Horizon”

Monday was Martin Luther King Day.  Here’s an essay he wrote in 1964, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, for the Berlin Jazz Festival.  What wonderful writing, capturing the role music has played in social change in a compact essay:“God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.

This is triumphant music.

Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.

And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.”

I caught a flight to Guatemala City on Monday afternoon for work.  There were several guys sitting near us who were with an organization called “Stoves for Guatemala.”  Apparently rural Guatemalans often cook on unventilated wooden stoves in single room dwellings, leading to bad respiratory disease.  This organization has built 600 clean burning and well ventilated stoves already.

https://helping-guatemala.com/

Here are some aerial pictures of the Guatemala City area during landing:

BP was excited to be allowed on the trip, and insisted on having his picture taken on arrival at the airport.

I stayed in an area called Cuidad Cayala – a planned city done in the Colonial architecture style.  The GoWork office and restaurants were all a short walk for the hotel, which made things very easy.  Cayala is very pretty and safe – with many high end shops and restaurants.

I met some work colleagues for an Italian dinner at Tre Fratelli on Monday night.  We sat outside and it was very chilly for Guatemala (high 50s).  I needed my puffer coat as the evening cooled off, with no humidity at all.  The city is at 5,000 feet and so cools quite quickly this time of year.

Here’s a picture of a volcano spouting in the distance, taken from my hotel room balcony:

Tuesday breakfast was at Cafe Saul – a great spot that I found on my last visit.  It’s so nice to be able to get a perfect macchiato with no fuss.

My first meeting of the day was a one on one with Jorge, and we decided to sit out on the patio of Cafe Barista and enjoy another coffee.  Such a pleasant way to do business and get caught up before the rest of the day inside.

Lunch was again enjoyed al fresco – this time a Greek place called Arena.  The pulpo (octopus) and falafel were both delicious, and the setting delightful.

After a long afternoon of team meetings, we enjoyed a seafood dinner at Atuna.  The croquette appetizer was delicious and then I enjoyed a very impressive lobster thermidor.

Sunset behind the volcanoes after dinner was quite something:

Back in Pacifica, the girls were enjoying the sunny day and then afternoon tea – complete with some very fancy finger sandwiches.

Diana sent me this lovely video of Frankie showing me her penguin sweatshirt.  She can be so adorable when she’s not being quite stubborn and opinionated:

Wednesday was another busy day of meeting various teams.  That was followed by a steak dinner with the leadership team at Montanos.  We had a private room with a TV that allowed us to share videos and photos of hobbies.  Damon gave a short talk about his basement garden where he grows peppers and vegetables during the winter.  Josue shared videos of him drumming with his band that won the Guatemalan Battle of the Bands contest.  A fun evening.

With the new US COVID rules – test no more than 24 hours prior to flight departure, I had to take a test before dinner.  Here I am working away while awaiting the test:

We met with our Project Management team on Thursday morning, enjoyed another delicious lunch at Arena, and then made our way to the airport for the flight home.  I had an Ensalada Fatouch that was very fresh and yummy.  Finn always has a chuckle about “Fatouch”.  I don’t really remember why – think there was somebody he worked with that liked it.

I was fortunate again, with a smooth and on time flight.  Customs at DFW was very quick and I just had to wait a short while for Diana to arrive from San Francisco.

It’s always pleasant to return to my home office, and I worked in it most of Friday morning.  Then we picked up Finn from work and had lunch at the Mexican Cactus.  Diana tried the ceviche with barramundi and it was really fresh and delicious.

Will supervised the loading of Finn’s car on to a transporter that should deliver it here on Tuesday.  Will has put a lot of time and money into getting the car absolutely perfect for Finn to enjoy.  I only have a limited number of days to wake up at 4:30am to deliver Finn to work, and I know the retiree is quite happy about that.

Jens and Glenda are coming over for dinner tonight.  We’re looking forward to it as it has been months since we’ve caught up with them.  I think McD is planning her excellent shrimp and scallops – yum!

“The Blue Hour” by Douglas Kennedy was my companion on the trip this week.  What a well written and constructed book.  I was hooked on the first page and wasn’t disappointed after that.  Page one:

“First Light.  And I didn’t know where I was anymore.

The sky outside: was it a curved rotunda of emerging blue?  The world was still blurred at its edges.  I tried to piece together my whereabouts, the exact geographic location within which I found myself.  A sliver of emerging clarity.  Or maybe just a few basic facts.

I was on a plane.  A plane that had just flown all night across the Atlantic.  A plane bound for a corner of North Africa.  A country which, when viewed cartographically, looks like a skullcap abreast a continent.  According to the flight progress monitor illuminating the back-of-the-seat screen facing me, we were still seventy-three minutes and 842 kilometers (I was flying into a metric world) from our destination.  The journey hadn’t been my idea.  Rather I’d allowed myself to be romanced into it by the man whose oversize frame (as in six foot four) was scrunched into the tiny seat next to mine.  The middle seat in this horror movie of an aircraft.”

A good plot summary from Amazon:

“Robin knew Paul wasn’t perfect. But he said they were so lucky to have found each other, and she believed it was true. When he suggests a month in Morocco—where he once lived and worked, a place where the modern meets the medieval—Robin reluctantly agrees.

Once immersed into the swirling, white-hot exotica of a walled city on the North African Atlantic coast, Robin finds herself acclimatizing to its wonderful strangeness. Paul is everything she wants him to be—passionate, talented, knowledgeable. She is convinced that it is here that she will finally become pregnant.

But then Paul suddenly disappears, and Robin finds herself the prime suspect in the police inquiry. As her understanding of the truth starts to unravel, Robin lurches from the crumbling art deco of Casablanca to the daunting Sahara, caught in an increasingly terrifying spiral from which there is no easy escape.

For fans of thought-provoking page-turners such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, Douglas Kennedy’s The Blue Hour is a roller-coaster journey into a heart of darkness that asks the question: What would you do if your life depended on it?”

An example of the excellent descriptions:

“Simo insisted that I sit in the backseat, where I had both windows wide open to rid the car of his incessant cloud of smoke, and to provide some ventilation on a torpid night when the humidity and the actual mercury level made the air seem as glutinous as maple syrup.”

For a pleasant change, the ending of this story wasn’t rushed but unfolded at just the rate pace.

I really enjoyed the story, the writing style and the surprising twists of this book very much.  I understand that Kennedy is much better known in the UK and France than in the US, and maybe those folks appreciate this kind of writing for the same reasons that I do.

Cafe Saul in Guatemala plays an eclectic mix of music, with some really unusual covers of popular songs.  I had to use Shazam to identify who was playing this hit from David Bowie.  A typically subtle arrangement from M. Ward:

Something from my Spotify Discovery Weekly list.  The level of musicianship on a Bela Fleck album is always extraordinary:

A song from The National that I think I heard on a movie soundtrack, but can’t remember the details:

And lastly, a lovely song from the excellent Rodney Crowell:

Stay safe and kind!

Week in Review – January 16, 2022

“Pretty Pacifica Sunsets”

I dropped Diana and Alicia at the airport on Wednesday morning, then dropped the VW Atlas off with Tony in downtown Plano – she’s (or is it male?) getting a ceramic coating treatment (Christmas present from Will).  I enjoyed a coffee at the 1418 coffee house before the drop-off.  They have really good coffee and a nice atmosphere.  Tony is a character from New Orleans, who recently sold his shop there and has just opened the shop in Plano.  I think he would have happily chatted with me all afternoon.

Diana sent some amazing sunset pictures from Pacifica.  These from Wednesday night are the prettiest I’ve seen there:

And then almost as impressive later in the week:

I used my solo time to enjoy a couple of movies.  I read “The Tender Bar” a few years ago, and was looking forward to seeing the recently released movie.  As is typical, the movie didn’t really live up to the book, it was enjoyable, Ben Affleck pretty good, but just not what it could have been.

“Swan Song”, starring the wonderful Mahershala Ali and Glenn Close, is based on an interesting premise:  Ali is a husband and father, diagnosed with a terminal illness.  He is presented with a controversial alternative solution to shield his family from losing him – replace himself with a carbon copy clone.  The acting is good, but the story just doesn’t have that much going for it after the premise is exposed.

After two mediocre movies, I was absolutely delighted with “Get Back”, the new Beatles documentary, directed by Peter Jackson of “The Lord of the Rings” fame.  It shows the band on a sound stage, preparing for a TV show that will feature new material – the idea being a new album performed live with a studio audience.

It’s fascinating to see how much Paul McCartney is the catalyst that makes everything work – orchestrating the rehearsals, one minute telling George what to play on guitar, then immediately pivoting to dictating a rhythm to Ringo.   How passive George Harrison is during the sessions is also interesting – he takes direction from Paul constantly and seems quite happy to just go along with what he wants.  Paul and John really don’t seem to even acknowledge him when he does speak up.  The band does a run through of “All Things Must Pass”, written by George, and it doesn’t really go anywhere.  Of course, this became the title for the fantastic triple album that George released after the Beatles breakup.  In one interesting sequence, George talks about how Eric Clapton can improvise an idea, shape it and take it somewhere, admitting that he doesn’t have that kind of talent at all.

George comes in one morning with a new song he’d written the night before, in response to a BBC2 program.  The song is “My Me Mine”, and there’s a great moment when the band runs through it (sounding great) when John and Yoko dance a waltz.  The rest of the time Yoko is just sitting next to John saying nothing for hours on end.  Similarly, George has a couple of Hari Krishna friends who sit on the floor, saying nothing for the duration.

My favourite moment from Episode 1 is Paul creating “Get Back” from nothing – strumming chords and humming and then, out of nowhere, the song appears.  Just stunning.  Other favourites are the footage of Paul messing around on the piano, while the others are taking a break – the beginnings of “The Long and Winding Road” and “Let it Be” come out almost fully formed, except for the lyrics.  I had been on the John Lennon was the genius, with Paul being the second fiddle bandwagon, but this documentary completely upended that perspective – Paul was clearly the creative driving force.  The episode finishes with George quitting the band- and this diary entry.

I’m looking forward to the watching the remaining episodes.

Tony finished up the ceramic coating on Friday, and Finn drove Penelope to the shop so that I didn’t have to Uber over.  The job looks very good and should protect well for several years.  And Finn did a good job of not scaring me as he drove Penelope home solo up Central Expressway – a very intimidating highway.

Thanks again to Will for orchestrating all of this with Tony.

I’ve been in a pretty regular routine this week – wake up at 4:30am, drop Finn at work, come back and read for a while in bed, then fall back asleep for a couple of hours.  He started at 4am one day, and that’s where I have to draw the line – he was helping his boss unload a truck before the day started.

I picked Finn up from work on Saturday, a very cold and windy day in McKinney with minor snow flurries, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bengal Bay Grill – an Indian/Mexican/American fusion place that has delicious food.  Plenty of leftovers for both of our dinners.

Saturday afternoon looked like fun in Pacifica from these pictures of a get together with Andy and Jude.

Finn is coming over to watch the Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers playoff game with me this afternoon – a flashback to the classic playoff games that happened between both teams routinely in the 90s.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger this week.  The story reminds me a lot of my recent read, “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles.  Here are some of the quotes that led me to read this book – particularly the “Where the Crawdads Sing” reference:

“If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love This Tender Land by best-selling author William Kent Krueger. This story is as big-hearted as they come.“ —Parade Magazine

“A picaresque tale of adventure during the Great Depression. Part Grapes of Wrath, part Huckleberry Finn, Krueger’s novel is a journey over inner and outer terrain toward wisdom and freedom.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Crafted in exquisitely beautiful prose, this is a story to be treasured – outstanding and unforgettable.” —Historical Novel Review

“If you’re among of the millions who raced through Where the Crawdads Sing this year and are looking for another expansive, atmospheric American saga, look to the latest from Kreuger.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Long, sprawling, and utterly captivating, readers will eat up every delicious word of it.” —New York Journal of Books

“Rich with graceful writing and endearing characters…this is a book for the ages.” —Denver Post

Here’s the Amazon summary of the plot:

In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.

Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.

I enjoyed learning about how Native American children were rounded up and placed in these special boarding schools – just horrendous treatment and a huge effort to stamp out an entire culture by “Americanising” the entire generation.  The description of the struggle by so many to survive during the “Great Depression” was also quite interesting.

As is typical lately with the books I’ve been reading, I was disappointed with the rush in the last 20 pages to tie up all the loose ends and bring the story to a conclusion.  A slow moving and highly descriptive book moves to a rapidly paced and rushed ending.

I really enjoyed this read and am looking forward to exploring some more of Krueger’s books.

Let’s start this week with an excellent song by Rich Robinson, guitar player with the Black Crowes, and brother constantly fighting with Chris Robinson.  I love the feel of this song.

It’s been too long since I listened to Jackson Browne.  This song popped up on “The Tender Bar” soundtrack to remind me of what I’ve been missing:

One of my magazine’s had an interview that mentioned this soundtrack by Pat Metheney and friend – it’s excellent relaxing music:

I’ve been delving back into the Radiohead catalog this week.  How does a band go from the relatively straight ahead rock of “The Bends” to the art pieces that comprise “OK Computer” in a couple of years?

and then…

I tell the story of going to see R.E.M in Dallas with opening band Radiohead, back when they had just released “Pablo Honey.”  They blew R.E.M. off the stage with an excellent performance.  I didn’t know any of their songs and thoroughly enjoyed the entire set.  I can still hear the crowd going wild for their performance of “Creep.”

Stay safe and kind to everyone.

 

Week in Review – January 9th, 2022

“Congratulations to Retired D!”

This was the big retirement week for Diana.  Can you believe it?  Yes, after more than 35 years battling away in the IT world, she’s going to become what her Mom describes as “A Lady of Leisure.”

If you have worked with Diana, then you know nothing is done half-way.  This was true of the last week also, with several 5:50am alarms to make sure she was fully prepped for her 7:00am calls.  Here she is leading her last ever Thursday morning 7:00am call:

You can tell from the layers that it’s been very cold outside this week – temperatures down around 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the mornings.

Friday was retirement day, and flowers and cards arrived to celebrate McD.

Here she is with the official retirement sign:

If you didn’t zoom in, here’s what the top part says:

I thought I was pretty funny with that one.

Diana showed me over 60 congratulations emails that she received during the week.  Very impressive, I certainly don’t think there will be that many people sending me notes if I retire.  Here’s the farewell note she sent to her NTT colleagues:

Scott is going to try and replace Diana, and he must have had the most complete turnover that I’ve ever seen.  Would you expect anything less?

We enjoyed a lovely retirement dinner at C.T. Provisions on Friday, with Brent as our waiter.  Finn and Alicia were able to join us.  The food, company, and service were all excellent.  Diana toasted her retirement with an Old Cuban (first experienced at the Moonshiner speakeasy in Paris.)  C.T.’s was very busy, and Finn got a kick out of watching Brent buzzing around.  Here’s D reading Finn’s retirement card, I think she liked his message about “sip and dip” and “fun in the sun”:

We tortured the kids with a mathematics problem during dinner.  I was impressed that Finn remembered the order of operations and was able to get it right on the first attempt:

Yes – that’s the kind of exciting stuff we do when out for dinner.

So, what do you do with your first day of retirement.  Well….it seems you get up early and attack one of your Christmas jigsaw puzzles.  In this case, a hummingbird shaped challenge from my Mum.

You can see that the outline had to be completed before we decided to get dressed for the day.  As I sit here at almost 1pm on Sunday, the puzzle is more than 90% complete.  I’ve heard a lot of comments about how difficult this puzzle is – apparently all the pieces are almost exactly the same shape and size.  I remember watching an interview with Rob Gronkowski after he retired from the Patriots and the NFL.  He was doing a jigsaw puzzle and talking about how it was helping to heal his brain.  I think D is substituting one challenge for another, and hopefully doesn’t do what Gronk did and come right back out of retirement.  I don’t think I’d put any money on that happening.

Changing locations to Stewarton, Scotland.  Mum sent this lovely picture of a snow scene in the back garden.  Pretty to look at, but not ideal for driving.

Late breaking news, as I finish up this post, the puzzle was just completed.  It’s a very pretty one.

And lastly, happy 26th birthday to Campbell, celebrating in San Diego yesterday, and finally feeling much better today.  We’ll see you in New Orleans soon Campbell.

I thoroughly enjoyed “South and West: A Notebook” by Joan Didion this week.  After her passing a couple of weeks ago, this was the only one of her books available at the library, and fortuitously, one of the few that I haven’t read at least once.  She is one of those authors whose books you have to read a few times to really fully appreciate.

The book traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, and a ladies’ brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Convention.

From the Foreword:

“The idea was to start in New Orleans and from there we had no plan.

This has been the idea of so many people who have come to New Orleans.  It was the idea of the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who in 1684 set out to establish a city near the base of the Mississippi River, only to fail to find the river’s mouth from the Gulf of Mexico and, after three years, to be murdered by his mutinous crew.

It was the idea of William Faulkner, who quit his job as postmaster at the University of Mississippi and moved to New Orleans because he despised taking orders, and of Tennessee Williams, who wrote in his diary, ‘Here surely is the place that I was made for if any place on this funny old world.’  One does not have to stay long to learn how easily plans in New Orleans, like its houses, become waterlogged and subside into the mud, breaking to pieces.”

She writes about the stifling heat, the slow pace of life, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. And from a different notebook: the “California Notes” that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento.

Back in New Orleans:

“In New Orleans, the old people sitting in front of houses and hotels on St. Charles Avenue, barely rocking.  They have mastered the art of the motionless.”

“They had many suggestions for understanding the South.  I must walk Bourbon or Royal to Chartres, I must walk Chartres to Esplanade.  I must have coffee and doughnuts in the French Market.  I should not miss St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytere, the Cabildo.  We should have lunch at Galatoire’s (where I had my bachelor party lunch): trout almondine or trout Marguery.   We should have dinner at Manale’s (where Diana has her oyster meetings with the girls), tour Coliseum Square Park.  I should appreciate the grace, the beauty of their way of life.”

Some classic Didion as her road trip moves on to Mississippi:

“A somnolence so dense it seemed to inhibit breathing hung over Hattiesburg, Mississippi, at two or three o’clock of that Sunday afternoon.  There was no place to get lunch, no place to get gas.  On the wide leafy streets the white houses were set back.  Sometimes I would see a face at a window.”

I highly recommend this short book.  A delightful afternoon read.

Here’s an interesting version of the Todd Rundgren classic that I stumbled on this week.  Rick Wakeman doing his thing on keyboards:

It would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday yesterday, he shares it with Campbell.  So here’s a couple of my favourites:

Keeping the Rick Wakeman theme alive, here’s his excellent take on the same song:

We had tickets to watch a Bowie cover band celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” on Friday night, but decided it would be safer to have a local dinner.  Here’s my favourite from that classic album:

Stay safe and be kind!

 

 

Week in Review – January 2nd, 2022

“Happy New Year!, and Happy Birthday Jack and Mason”

Boxing Day afternoon was spent hosting Andy and Jude at Clorinda’s house.  It’s always so nice to visit with the best neighbours ever.  We had a very entertaining time and even had Clorinda telling some old stories to much hilarity.  We have some good videos of the stories, but are still working on getting them in the right format to be able to share with you here.

Earlier in the day, Diana participated in a virtual Secret Santa with Alicia and John and Joey’s families.  Bonna was D’s Santa and she put together a lovely champagne themed basket.  Diana was really delighted with the detail and with everything in the basket, and she had the perfect hoodie to complement it.

 

 

We flew home on Monday and were subject to the delays that thousands of other travelers experienced.  Our flight was delayed with a 3:30am arrival, and fortunately we were able to change to an earlier flight, making it home just before midnight.  Not too bad considering all the cancellations.

We were able to get out for walks and runs during the week, after no exercise in California last week due to the cold, rainy weather.  The weather in Texas was great this week with highs in the 70s – just like pleasant Spring days.

Wednesday was Finn’s day off and so I took him for a walk and then to Trader Joe’s to pick up some nice meals for the weekend, while we’re gone to New Orleans.  The rest of the day was catching up on some admin tasks that had been ignored over the break – expense reports and health care claims all filed now.  I know – very exciting stuff, but it feels good to have everything caught up and organized for the New Year.

“Emily in Paris” has a new season on Netflix and we’ve been enjoying that in the evenings.  It’s way too long since we’ve been able to visit Paris.

We flew to New Orleans on Friday morning for the fourth annual celebration of Jack and Mason’s birthday on January 2nd.  We spent the afternoon enjoying the new Ogan patio, and exchanged some gifts.  Anne loved her “champagne clutch” and Diana her tennis skirt (in preparation for taking up tennis during our NOLA residency.)

After enjoying the lovely weather on the patio, we got changed for New Year’s Eve dinner at Costera.

Costera was an excellent choice for dinner (thanks Denny) with multiple courses of Spanish tapas.  The menu was fixed and included a plethora of delicious courses – beef shank Bombas, scallops, and an amazing seafood paella were the standouts.  We were joined at dinner by the Kirshes, Krieks, and Eisles – what a fun group.

There was a bit of a wild party in progress when we returned to Webster street after dinner (and a few minutes after midnight.)  Things quietened down quickly and we were able to get a decent sleep.  Apparently a good enough sleep for McD to pop right up on New Year’s Day and head out for a run in Audubon park with Laura and Kara.  She particularly enjoyed the band playing at the park entrance.  Great job of starting out on the right foot Diana!

Denny and Anne hosted an open house on New Year’s Day afternoon, with oysters served 7 or so ways.  Frank and Macon showed up early to help shuck several hundred oysters – quite a special skill that Frank certainly has mastered.

Denny is an excellent chef, creating all kinds of delicious sauces for the oysters.  My favourite is the grilled version, and I’m glad Fire Chief Kenny was on hand to supervise the process.

Merry Lee, Jeff, Donna, and Steve (our friends from California) were able to secure an invite to oyster fest.  Merry Lee and Jeff have a condo in New Orleans now.  They seemed to enjoy meeting everyone and sampling the various types of oysters.

 

Chef Denny was finally able to relax with old friends and enjoy the evening with a cigar.  What amazing weather we had for both days.

The weather changed on Sunday as we planned to celebrate Jack and Mason’s 19th birthdays.  Can you get a better birthdate than 01/02/03?  We bundled up and headed to Cafe Sbisa in the French Quarter for brunch.  Other than an overly loud but very talented jazz trio, the lunch was perfect.  The boys invited some friends and seemed to really enjoy their lunch.  We had a brief ramble in the Quarter after brunch, and then retreated to Webster Street to watch the Saints game – they still have a shot at making the playoffs.

Have you read a book by Stuart Woods?  Apparently a lot of folks have.  He’s written over 70 books, and occupied almost an entire shelf at my local library.  I was looking for something light and easy to enjoy on the New Orleans trip, and decided to give him a try.

“Bombshell” is part of the series featuring ex-CIA agent and Hollywood producer, Terry Fay, and is co-written with Parnell Hall.   This is certainly easy reading, with each chapter 3 or 4 pages long.  You can tell that Woods has a formula that he deploys to crank out these books.  I don’t have any quotes as the writing is quite basic and used to drive the action forward, rather than set the scene or develop the characters.  I’m not sure I would select another Woods book, except maybe for some mindless poolside or beach reading.

Diana and I were chatting with Derek Huston, New Orleans saxophone player extraordinaire, at Oyster Fest, and D asked him who was his favourite musician.  After some thought, Derek gave an eloquent explanation of why that was Charlie Parker.  Here’s one of the more mellow and accessible Parker pieces:

Here’s a calm and relaxing guitar piece from an album that I love, Julian Lage’s “World’s Fair”:

And finally, the ultimate calming piece for me, Bill Evan’s “Peace Piece” – this is right up there with “Kind of Blue” as music that I can listen to every day and not tire of:

Please stay safe and be kind in 2022!