It might be an understatement to say that we don't do big celebrations at the drop of a hat. Birthdays and anniversaries are low-key affairs, as a rule. It doesn't, however, indicate a lack of appreciation for the occasion or the person. It's a style thing. Probably more my style thing than Tom's. I'm the one who shies away from the attention. And the expense, sometimes, truth be told. Fortunately, Tom accommodates me, for the most part.
So, yesterday was somewhat typical of our anniversaries over the years. We go to dinner at some ethnically interesting restaurant. Sometimes we do more. But not usually.
As I said, though, there's no way it means we don't fully embrace the meaning and joy of the occasion. I've been married to a wonderful, warm, smart, gifted, hard-working, generous and interesting man for lo! these last 39 years! Yes, 39. Quite the lucky girl, I am! Next year, we'll probably do a more typical Big Observance of some kind. But I liked yesterday.
So, while it wasn't new to us, we found a nice Afghan restaurant called Bamiyan in Citrus Heights. "Bamiyan" refers to those giant Buddhas carved out of the cliff that were destroyed by Taliban a few years ago. Lovely food, if you haven't tried it, yet.
But before that, we went to the movies. It will seem odd to some, but it's a testament to Tom's generosity that he would willingly go to, and even find a special theater to see the 3-D version of "Coraline". We were the first ones in the theater. We sat exactly where we wanted. And he liked it. I loved it. I eat that stuff with a spoon. I could go on and on. I did, actually. And the 3-D is fabulous! (Tom would agree). See what a lucky girl I am? (Before that, we went to Costco. But, silly me, I forgot to take any pictures.)
So, there you have it. Not the Blowout Party or the Grand Tour (next time, perhaps), but a lovely day. And a lovely life. Go see "Coraline". In 3-D, if you can. Seriously.
So many blotter bits, so little time...
"8:12 p.m.--A caller from the Litton Trail between Hughes Road and Sierra College reported a suspicious fox. The fox reportedly "darted" onto the trail at the caller, then did it again 10 minutes later." [How's a person to appreciate nature with annoying foxes darting about?]
"2 a.m.--A woman from the 500 block of Silva Avenue reported hearing a "low" sound possibly coming from the ground that she hears only at night. She said an officer would have to come out and turn the car engine off and "calm down" to hear the noise, which she described as being similar to an earthquake sound. Officers were unable to hear the sound." [No kidding. One wonders if they stayed "calm"]
"9:50 p.m.--A caller from Hughes Road reported a driver doing "donuts". [Call me when they're doing "cinnamon rolls"]
"12:58 p.m.--A caller from a business in the 500 block of Sutton Way reported a tall, heavyset man pressing a "white machine" onto every vehicle, which then beeps." [Hard to say. Looking for studs? Feverish cars?]
"10:49 p.m.--A caller from the 300 block of Horizon Circle reported hearing what sounded like someone on the roof for an hour. It was found to be snow falling on the roof." [Seriously. Someone writes this stuff down?]
"6:07 p.m.--A caller from Highway 49 and Uren Street reported a woman "flapping around, trying to fly." She could not be located." [Did they look up?]
"1:15 p.m.--A caller from Jones Bar Road was reportedly having difficulty returning an uncooperative horse." [So, maybe you can't always lead a horse...]
"10:28 p.m.--A caller near the intersection of Gold Flat and New Mohawk Roads reported a fake cat in the roadway." [How would we manage without such observant citizens?]
"12:31 a.m.--A caller reported repeated calls from her ex-boyfriend. She did not know his last name." [Hard to imagine why that relationship didn't survive]
"10:16 a.m.--A man from the 15000 block of Goldcone Drive reported his neighbor accused him of stealing some "boat cans". ["Boat cans"? Sure it wasn't "tote fans" or "coat pans" or...?]
"A woman in the lobby of the Grass Valley Police Department Thursday afternoon was shopping at a thrift store when she put on a pair of handcuffs for which the store had no key. Officers got her out of the cuffs." [What was it like to walk from the store to the PD, one wonders...]
"9:05 p.m.--A woman from the 13000 block of Simple Justice Road reported her neighbors were shooting guns." [perhaps pursuing, uh, simple justice?]
"8:51 a.m.--A woman from Banner Lava Cap Road requested a welfare check on her mother. The mother said she was fine and her daughter was "dingier than heck" and heavily medicated." [Such family warmth...excuse me while I wipe a tear...]
"1:21 p.m.--A woman from a business in the 16000 block of Broken Oak Court reported a person was wandering around yelling that they are "giving up." [That's something you don't see every day--wait...]
"12:01 p.m.--A woman from a business in the 16000 block of Highway 49 reported her coworker was dangerous." [Hm. Isn't that the post off...?]
"9:02 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of Mill Street stated that her stepmother egged her house." [Just another warm family tradition around here, no doubt.]
"9:27 p.m.--A woman from Bradford Drive reported several youths in her yard vandalizing "something, unsure of what." [She could just tell...]
"12:43 p.m.--A man from the 19000 block of Connie Drive reported neighborhood children whistling very loudly." [Darn kids! When they're not "vandalizing something (unsure of what)", they're, uh, whistling!]
That's it for now...Big anniversary for us tomorrow. Hint: it's divisible by 13.
On Saturday, we chained up the tires and rolled several hundred yards to plowed road on our way to San Francisco to hang out with Dylan and Rachel for a couple of days. February is doing its best to make up for January by raining/snowing everywhere every day. Good thing, too. Got some great shots of the big snow on Friday/Saturday, some of which I'll post next.
Meanwhile, we had a fun time in The City. Dylan and his workshop buddies are moving into a new, MUCH improved workshop a short walk down the airplane-hangar-sized corridor from the old one. It's a two-level space with separate, walled areas for different kinds of work, plus offices, bathrooms, a kitchen, conference space and lounge. When they've finished fixing it up (and it DOES need a bit of a remodel), it will feel as though they'd moved from, let's say, the "Y" in the Tenderloin to Hotel del Sol in the Marina District. You can see Tom and Dylan near the wall Dylan is building on the first level.
Dylan has a lot of irons in the fire, at the moment. Some look pretty promising--doing some custom furniture, developing pieces for large scale production, and designing new lines of smaller items, too. He's also working on ways to use materials that might otherwise go to waste. He's an idea machine.
Rachel had invited us to crash at her place, which is fixed up like a magazine spread. It also has a lovely view of the city. Besides all of us hanging out there, we went out for sushi, helped her get the heavy piano from basement storage up to her apartment, went out for brunch, and just spent the time.
She can work from home, which is kind of convenient, right now, if not exactly her True Calling. And she gets to live in San Francisco--such a cool city! Difficult for folks like me who have trouble making decisions about food. I think there is at least one little restaurant for every man woman and child residing within the city limits. It's our duty to eat as often as possible when there.
We headed for the hills mid-afternoon on Sunday, after making one more stop at Dylan's shop. The rain had very little impact on traffic, fortunately. Also, we were pleased to find that the power had stayed on in our absence, though the phone service didn't get fixed until mid-morning, today (from Friday morning). However, the water heater apparently decided that it was as good a time as any to hang it up. 17 years was all it could manage. We can't complain. It's been seeping some kind of mystery ooze since we moved in. Ah, well.
Stay tuned for some snow shots...
Winter's here, again, and seems to want to hang out for awhile, this time, which is fine with us. It snowed Sunday evening-about 5 inches worth-and it continues off and on (melting some in the "off" times) and will probably continue for the rest of the week. Snow and power at the same time! Doesn't get much better than that!
So, with that as a backdrop, here are a few items of interest:
Dylan sent me this link on Monday. His furniture business is slowly picking up some steam. An online home decor catalog, Artful Home, which has carried a couple of his pieces for several months, has featured the "Twist" shelves on the homepage. It's resulted in an order, already! https://www.artfulhome.com/ Check it out!
You know that these hills are alive with music (ha!)! Sometimes, though, it's hard to pry ourselves out of our cozy house on a cold, dark winter's evening. Saturday evening, however, we overcame our inertia to hear some amazing Celtic music at a venue here in Grass Valley! Kevin Burke, an incredible fiddler (used to play with the Bothy Band back in the day) was appearing with his musical cohort, Cal Scott, a virtuoso guitar and mandolin player. We loved every minute! They were funny and interesting besides being crazy good musicians. Lots of jigs and reels, but also ballads and original stuff. A wonderful concert in a smallish setting! Check them out, if you like that sort of music (of course you do!) http://www.kevinburke.com/
http://www.calscottmusic.com/Portfolio/Home.html
I love these links! At least one of them, I've posted before, but it's worth another look, anyway. Enjoy!
Rachel sent this one, yesterday. Hilarious! Especially for those who know NYCity.
http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/i-lego-ny/
Posted by Mikey on FB, but harder to find out there due to "copyright claim by Warner Bros Music". Sheesh. Babies.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7b2df_star-wars-a-capella-pour-john-willi_music
Another one sent on by Rachel. Glorious simplicity!
http://www.youtube.com/user/Guerrillavox
More soon!
Birthday Fest 09 is, alas, all in the rear-view now. I stretched it out as long as I could. Yesterday, I drove the 460-mile round-trip Fresno route once again in order to continue basking in the bright light of birthday glory, and have now retreated back into the familiar grey shadows of anonymity for another year or so. Me 'n' Alan Alda, Sarah McLachlan, Elijah Wood, Joey Fatone, Jr., and Jackson Pollock. Actually, only me. Those other folks don't do anonymity when it's not their birthday. And Jackson Pollock hangs out in the even-darker shadows, but not of anonymity.
Fortunately, Terry had some time off and hung out with mom and me at the California Pizza Kitchen, where, as if they knew, the Pear/Gorgonzola was back on the menu after a glaring absence of several years. Here we are, in front of the rain-splattered windows where Mom treated us to lunch. Thanks, Mom!
Is the rain so great?! But the long time in the car (about 8 hours, more or less) reminded me (again) that my windshield washers need changing. It was like driving through and impressionist painting. I'll get right on that tomorrow. Unless it's raining.
January, every year, seems to amble along at a slow and humane pace. Then, and I don't pretend to understand this for one minute, February picks up the pace and, before I can blink twice, it's Valentine's Day, Easter and Thanksgiving. Statements like that betray age. Along with other, not-so-subtle signs.
But choir is in session again, it's still cold for a few more minutes (maybe snow tomorrow), I'm covered with ink half the time these days, and all that makes me a happy unbirthday girl! Hope your unbirthday is a good one, too!
This will interest, oh, no one in particular, most likely. But that never stops me. Besides, I've posted a cool link at the bottom to which you can skip immediately. Seriously, it's way cool.
Anyway, one of the amazing Christmas gifts that I lavished on my sister, mom and dad is a hack-job restoration of a photo taken of Terry (sister previously mentioned) and me when we were, uh, a lot younger. I guess, in that decade of yore, a photographer might actually come to one's home to take the pictures, even if one wasn't particularly famous. Which we weren't. So, this stranger and all his clunky equipment comes into our house and my sister is the only one who has the sense to freak out about it. Hence the concerned expression on her face (she's the smaller one, by the by). She's actually sitting on mom's lap (who is leaning 'way back so as not to show in the photo). It was the only way Terry would agree to be photographed.
So, one day a couple of years ago, I saw the picture in a frame at Mom's or Terry's and it was so faded that I knew that it would be gone for good if Something weren't done about it. So, in typical heroic fashion (ta-da! I will save the day!), I snapped it up, took it home and forgot about it for quite awhile. Finally, I decided that the planets were aligned in just the right way and I should work on it.
I have Photoshop and actually know how to work a few parts of it. So, I figured that if I scanned the picture in, I could push a few icons and it would magically restore itself. Who knew you had to actually know something about restoring pictures? So, after two solid days, countless help-file searches, quite a few websites and, finally, several crucial calls to my own personal Photoshop wizard, Dylan (who taught me how to love stamp-cloning), I got to within a reasonable range of acceptable quality. It's not professional, but good enough. Actually, now that I see it here, we look like Smurfs. The color is better as printed. Oh, well. See what you think (then don't tell me). Mostly I just want you to see how cute we were.
Here's the cool link, forwarded to me from Ruth. It's from last August. Make sure to read the particulars and hit "next" to see the other two photos. You're welcome!
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45149,features,brussels-in-bloom
It might be an understatement to say that we don't do big celebrations at the drop of a hat. Birthdays and anniversaries are low-key affairs, as a rule. It doesn't, however, indicate a lack of appreciation for the occasion or the person. It's a style thing. Probably more my style thing than Tom's. I'm the one who shies away from the attention. And the expense, sometimes, truth be told. Fortunately, Tom accommodates me, for the most part.
As I said, though, there's no way it means we don't fully embrace the meaning and joy of the occasion. I've been married to a wonderful, warm, smart, gifted, hard-working, generous and interesting man for lo! these last 39 years! Yes, 39. Quite the lucky girl, I am! Next year, we'll probably do a more typical Big Observance of some kind. But I liked yesterday.
