Another year older! Started the day with a delicious “D” omelet served in bed. Then proved my brain hadn’t completed deteriorated by completing the New York Times crossword in record-tying time – 9 minutes (but it was a Monday, the easiest puzzle).
Apparently Google knows it’s my birthday – see the screen I got when logging in to check the definition of a word in my book.
The heavens opened around 8am with a “bouncing” thunderstorm and it seems we can expect more of the same most days this week.
Diana brought me my favorite comfort food for lunch – the Crunchwrap supreme combo from Taco Bell. It’s probably been a year or more since I had one and I still love them just as much.
I’ve been playing Sonny Rollins “The Bridge” album while working in my home office today. It’s sounding great – “God Bless the Child” is a real highlight.
I wandered through to the living room after lunch and came across an unlikely sight. Diana was assembling a new end table for my end of the sofa – needs to be a bit skinnier to accommodate the new wine fridge unit that was installed a couple of weeks ago. I got in trouble for this “unauthorized” picture and was told I should be glad it’s my birthday.
I read this article in the New York Times that I thought was spot on about the need for some arts education in technical fields. Talks about how liberal arts and music majors make some of the most elegant coders.
Might attribute it to the additional year on my age, but I was doing some minor organizing in my home office today and came across this New York Times article that I had saved from the end of 2015 that made a few great points. You can read the full article at the link above but here are a few or my favorite paragraphs:
“Literary fiction lives. You see a lot of Fox news-generated trash and formula fiction on the best-seller lists. American reading tastes have gone the way of the American diet. Yes, but. This year, “All the Light We Cannot See,” Anthony Doerr’s magical, World War II-era story of a blind French girl and a Hitler youth nerd continues to sell like tickets to “Hamilton”. The prose is luminous, the characters unforgettable, the themes universal.”
“Trump and Putin find each other. The bromance between two of the most odios, bullying, narcissistic tyrants has been building for some time. Now, they have professed their mutual affection for each other….Trump sneers at women, the disabled, blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, veterans and anyone who is unattractive. “He is a really brilliant and talented person”, said Putin. The vulgarian and the war criminal, together at last.”
I had an amazing surprise birthday dinner – I was banned from the kitchen for a couple of hours – not even allowed to glance in the general direction. Diana manufactured some meat pies (like the New Orleans ones that I love) with her famous mushroom medley.
Desert was a grape pavlova from my Mum’s recipe – the one that was used to disguise the mailing of the 50th birthday pictures to Diana. D was very proud of her first ever pavlova – it did turn out really nicely. And there’s lots of leftovers to enjoy all week.
The present opening took place after dinner. Here I am with several of my gifts. A HUGE martini glass full of Maltesers from Alicia, a Steve Earle album from Melanie, and an Eric Clapton album from Campbell.
Diana said the imported Maltesers to fill up the martini glass were more expensive than the glass. We’re taking bets on how long until the glass is ready for an “auto-refill”.
I think I’m as difficult for my Mum and Dad to buy gifts for as they are for me. They did a great job with a really modern and sleek looking candle set. The snuffer is my favorite part of the design.
Diana’s gift was a Go-Pro camera and lots of special accessories to use on our scuba diving trip to Cozumel in July. One of the accessories is a head-strap so that the camera sees what you see. Going to have fun using that one around the house and during the Sweet Sixteen party on Saturday.
When Finn and I spent the day in San Francisco, we visited the Giants stadium gift shop. I was telling him about the Jerry Garcia night at the Giants game and the special t-shirts they make. Finn surprised me with one as a gift.
Before dinner we watched the finale of “The Voice” singing competition. My pick for the winner was Adam Wakefield. Here he is singing Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name”.
On Wednesday I made Crispy Catfish with Yuzu-Kosho Udon and Snow Peas. Yuzu-Kosho is a traditional Japanese condiment made from the zest of Yuzu (an East Asian sour fruit), chile peppers and salt. The Udon noodles and ponzu sauce were great.
On Thursday Adamo (Diana’s youngest brother) and Diana’s Mum (Clorinda) arrived in the evening. We were busy with preparations including moving a bed downstairs into Diana’s office and this entertaining hot tub repair – a seal had to be replaced so that the hot tub didn’t drain in the evenings when the pool pump is off.
The big sixteenth birthday on Friday started out with Alicia’s driving test in a city an hour away called Bonham – apparently the only place that she could get an appointment on her actual birthday. It was raining heavily and the hour drive to the test office was quite trying for Diana and Alicia. In the end it was worth it. Here’s Alicia with her temporary license after passing her test.
After that excitement, Adamo and I picked up Kris and Cat (Alicia’s godparents) from the airport. On Friday evening, the group plus 3 of Alicia’s best friends had a special birthday dinner at Gregory’s Bistro in Adriatica (a development styled after a Croatian village in walking distance of our home). Gregory’s recently moved to this location and we’re very happy to have them so close. Everyone loved their meals and Lydia and Gregory were very gracious hosts.
Here I am with Penelope and Clorinda arriving for dinner.
Here’s a series of pictures taken in Adriatica before dinner. Three generations, Alicia with her godparents, the whole crew of girls, and my favourite (Alicia with her Grammie).
Gregory made his famous (and rarely created these days) chocolate souffle for everyone. Here’s the birthday version:
After all that excitement, it was time to get organized for the big party at the house. Decorations were hung, a photo booth with streamers and silly accessories assembled, flowers distributed, snacks set up, the outdoor inflatable movie-screen erected, balloons blown up and tied to the mailbox, and the largest project – photo boards of Alicia’s life – assembled with great precision.
We had 25 kids and somewhere around 20 adults for the evening. Cavalli’s set up their portable brick pizza oven in the driveway and everyone got to choose their personal pizza. The pizza and appetizers were a big hit with all. The party ended up being a huge success. Here’s a video that Alicia’s friend Andrews (headed for film school now that he’s graduated from high school) put together:
On Sunday Clorinda and Adamo headed home. We took Kris and Cat to Deep Ellum (an eclectic neighbourhood just East of downtown Dallas) for drinks at the Twilite Lounge and dinner at the Freeman (a fantastic New Orleans restaurant). There was a great jazz band playing during dinner. Diana and I split the shrimp etouffe (spicier than usual but still amazing). On the drive home we replicated the infamous J.F.K drive through downtown Dallas past the school book repository and the conspiracy laden grassy knoll.