Kids are so cute. I find myself smiling whilst going through my daily doings, thinking about the funny things the kids in my life say. I can't get my third graders to pronounce Valentine's correctly. But I guess I don't really try too hard because I love the way they say it. It sounds so innocent. I love their excitement about this holiday too. It's so achingly sweet. Heartache, heartbreak, rejection, unrequited love - it's all there waiting for them in the not too distant future. Inevitably a part of life's journey - and the lessons, though hard and cruel - will strengthen them, make them wiser, worldly, and better at equipped for life. But for now, what a treat it is for me to experience vicariously the pure innocence of childhood. So wrapped up was I in the kids and their excitement that when a colleague asked about my Valentine's Day plans I realized I hadn't even given it a thought. Aren't we a bit past that? She then proceeded to tell me about the gift she got her husband and I have to admit, it sounded such a juvenile thing to me - for people past middle age (she's past 60) to be exchanging Valentine's Day gifts. Daryl and I acknowledged the day by having a somewhat better than usual meal at home - roasted butternut squash and portobello mushroom risotto. For dessert I made a chocolate souffle served witha raspberry and Grand Marnier sauce. It was as delicious as it sounds, in case you're wondering!
At the moment I'm sitting by the fire o=in our living room. A storm is brewing. It's windy, grey and cold outside. We've had a pretty wet February so far and this storm is supposed to bring quite a downpour. After a dry and very mild January we are relieved that this isn't going to be another drought year. Two days ago we got a dusting of snow on the mountains near us. So it's been cold.
It's President's Day weekend. We get a 4 day weekend. Didn't go anywhere. Tried to do gardening chores - planted more fruit trees (Daryl's on a role!). And I really should be working on my manuscript.
15 February 2009
08 February 2009
Birthday celebrations and things
On Friday evening we had our annual joint celebration of Daryl's and Adrienne's birthdays. And boy, did we celebrate! Bisi opened up his 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon from Buttonwood Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley. But there was a lighter wine with starters and then French champagne afterwards. I know this sounds quite crass in the current economic climate. But, believe me, the economy and the stimulus package was all we talked about. Leftist liberals that we are, we lamented the diluted Keynesian proposal the Obama folks have come up with. More spending, much more spending, like Paul Krugman says, we muttered, shaking our socialist heads. Bisi kept filling our glasses with the excellent wine and the conversation got increasingly animated.
The next morning - Saturday - I awoke with a vicious headache. I felt awful the entire day.
It was film festival week in Santa Barbara with hundreds of excellent movies in town. I don't go to them because of the crowds and endless lines and lousy seats you end up getting. But we miraculously got seats for a free showing of YES SIR, MADAM, a documentary about Kiran Bedi an Indian Police Commissioner. It was a terrific movie and got my mind off my hang-over.
We've had a wet, wet week. Yippee!!
The next morning - Saturday - I awoke with a vicious headache. I felt awful the entire day.
It was film festival week in Santa Barbara with hundreds of excellent movies in town. I don't go to them because of the crowds and endless lines and lousy seats you end up getting. But we miraculously got seats for a free showing of YES SIR, MADAM, a documentary about Kiran Bedi an Indian Police Commissioner. It was a terrific movie and got my mind off my hang-over.
We've had a wet, wet week. Yippee!!
01 February 2009
Post Inauguration
In the past I never had the least bit interest in the inauguration of a new president. But this year, like many millions around the world, I watched the entire ceremony. I watched it in my classroom with my third graders. It was all very touching. Every few minutes I'd tell my students, "You are watching history in the making, guys." They were completely captivated. They even patiently listened to Obama's speech which they thought was great but couldn't tell me what it was about. The rest of that school day my students practised pronouncing the word "inauguration".
In these early weeks I flinch each time there's a criticism of Obama. Timothy Geithner not paying taxes raised a few sharp words. Nobody wanted any of Obama's appointments to have bumps, but alas, it isn't to be so. Geithner is the best there is, folks are saying, and so his appointment as Treasury Secretary gets approved. Now Tom Daschle is found not to be squeaky clean either. Jeez!
The NYT had an article with some details about the stimulus package Obama is trying to get passed. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a lot of the money will be used to help schools, universities, and other social programs. The NYT had a lot of enthusiasm for it, but was critical of the fact that there isn't any mention of money for high speed rail and other mass transportation programs. Well, it's already a hard sell to the Republicans.
Even though politics seems to dominate our conversations these days, we are definitely balancing our lives with other stuff too. Last weekend Daryl and I went to see Mozart's "The Magic Flute" performed by the LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Concert Hall. It was a terrific production. We spent the night in LA at a hotel - Mikayo - in Japantown. the hotel was reasonably nice, about a mile from Chandler - and the area filled with Japanese stores and restaurants quite interesting.
Later in the week I had some author friends of mine - Caroline Hatton, Alexis O'Neil, and Kate Hovey - over for dinner. They are all from the LA area and were the authors for an event called "Author-Go-Round" organized by Santa Barbara County schools. It was great to get my mind off teaching and to talk about writing. Caroline had told me about a YAbook called MANY STONES which is mostly set in South Africa. So we discussed the book a bit. She had a lot more enthusiasm for the book than I did. But, given that my current work in progress has some elements in common with MANY STONES I'm really glad to have read it.
We are spending the weekend arguing about fruit trees. Daryl went out and bought four fruit trees, and then decided to plant them in places that I, let's just say, found "unsuitable". So I huffed out of the garden and decided to update my blog!!
In these early weeks I flinch each time there's a criticism of Obama. Timothy Geithner not paying taxes raised a few sharp words. Nobody wanted any of Obama's appointments to have bumps, but alas, it isn't to be so. Geithner is the best there is, folks are saying, and so his appointment as Treasury Secretary gets approved. Now Tom Daschle is found not to be squeaky clean either. Jeez!
The NYT had an article with some details about the stimulus package Obama is trying to get passed. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a lot of the money will be used to help schools, universities, and other social programs. The NYT had a lot of enthusiasm for it, but was critical of the fact that there isn't any mention of money for high speed rail and other mass transportation programs. Well, it's already a hard sell to the Republicans.
Even though politics seems to dominate our conversations these days, we are definitely balancing our lives with other stuff too. Last weekend Daryl and I went to see Mozart's "The Magic Flute" performed by the LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Concert Hall. It was a terrific production. We spent the night in LA at a hotel - Mikayo - in Japantown. the hotel was reasonably nice, about a mile from Chandler - and the area filled with Japanese stores and restaurants quite interesting.
Later in the week I had some author friends of mine - Caroline Hatton, Alexis O'Neil, and Kate Hovey - over for dinner. They are all from the LA area and were the authors for an event called "Author-Go-Round" organized by Santa Barbara County schools. It was great to get my mind off teaching and to talk about writing. Caroline had told me about a YAbook called MANY STONES which is mostly set in South Africa. So we discussed the book a bit. She had a lot more enthusiasm for the book than I did. But, given that my current work in progress has some elements in common with MANY STONES I'm really glad to have read it.
We are spending the weekend arguing about fruit trees. Daryl went out and bought four fruit trees, and then decided to plant them in places that I, let's just say, found "unsuitable". So I huffed out of the garden and decided to update my blog!!
19 January 2009
MLK Weekend
It's mid-January and the temperature is in the mid 70's. It's been like this for 6 - 7 straight days - warm days, blue skies, summery. Weird! But I ain't complaining. I didn't say that. At least, I didn't mean that! Xmas holidays have faded into the past. The evenings are already getting longer and in Santa Barbara, just as we are ready to embrace winter, we see visible signs of spring. The daffodils have sprung out of the ground already! This is why I love this city. I hate this city too, but that's another story. If you think I'm contradicting myself, congratulations. You've detected my greatest personality flaw!
Heady days for us in the US. Finally, finally we get to shut the door on a most godawful administration. I remember so clearly eight years ago on the morning of Bush's inauguration I woke up engulfed in a black cloud of depression. Daryl's colleague, Juan Porti from Barcelona, was visiting and staying with us. When I went down for breakfast I said to him, "Today is a very sad day in America." I remember this so clearly. But I couldn't have guessed then just how terrible it was going to be. Four years ago for Bush's second inauguration I was thankfully far, far from home - in the antipodes!!
But this year I can't even describe the excitement. Tomorrow, as we embrace Barack Obama as our new president, it will truly be a day for celebration. I'm afraid I have to confess my expectations are high for this guy. When people say he is a moderate, a centrist, etc., I get annoyed. But that's not as bad as Daryl who gets very defensive over Obama's decisions.
(Daryl spent most of his spare time this new year refinishing our dining table. It looks superb! )
All the media are going on about the inauguration speech. Obama always impresses when he speaks and so expectations keep going up. I feel nervous for him. so many great speeches were made by previous presidents and he is expected to deliver a speech which will make history. Will he do it? I don't know.
I can hardly wait for tomorrow.
Heady days for us in the US. Finally, finally we get to shut the door on a most godawful administration. I remember so clearly eight years ago on the morning of Bush's inauguration I woke up engulfed in a black cloud of depression. Daryl's colleague, Juan Porti from Barcelona, was visiting and staying with us. When I went down for breakfast I said to him, "Today is a very sad day in America." I remember this so clearly. But I couldn't have guessed then just how terrible it was going to be. Four years ago for Bush's second inauguration I was thankfully far, far from home - in the antipodes!!
But this year I can't even describe the excitement. Tomorrow, as we embrace Barack Obama as our new president, it will truly be a day for celebration. I'm afraid I have to confess my expectations are high for this guy. When people say he is a moderate, a centrist, etc., I get annoyed. But that's not as bad as Daryl who gets very defensive over Obama's decisions.
(Daryl spent most of his spare time this new year refinishing our dining table. It looks superb! )
All the media are going on about the inauguration speech. Obama always impresses when he speaks and so expectations keep going up. I feel nervous for him. so many great speeches were made by previous presidents and he is expected to deliver a speech which will make history. Will he do it? I don't know.
I can hardly wait for tomorrow.
31 December 2008
Another Year Rolls Away!
I am sure 2008 will not be a year that merges with the others and becomes a blurry memory. Oh no. Too much has happened. Each month has been way too unique in my life's experiences. So let me take it month by month.
JANUARY
The year began for me in South Africa at Pam's beautiful home in Hillcrest, Durban where the entire family was together recovering from hard partying the night before. Then the next day I flew east and landed in hot, muggy, gleaming Singapore. After an interesting couple of days of exploring airconditioned state of the art shopping malls, I landed in frenetic India. Sure seems like a long time ago now. In India I felt like I had temporarily left our planet. Everything around me was so, so exotic. But in the evenings, in my hotel room, I'd watch what went on in the'real' world. The primaries had begun and it was looking good for Hillary to win the nomination.
FEBRUARY
Relaxing, enjoyable days in exciting Sydney, Australia. I enjoyed bonding with Fabian and hanging out in the Darling Harbor area. Sydney in its summer months is one heck of a terrific city. Meanwhile, the primaries in the US where taking an exciting turn. Barrack Obama won Iowa and on super Tuesday neither candidate came out the outright winner. Everyone was on pins and needles. Hillary was getting negative press and Obama became the darling of the mainstream media.
MARCH
I explored the north island of New Zealand. I came to the conclusion that NZ was like a promising movie with no plot. You keep waiting for something to happen but NOTHING does! Definitely worth a visit, though. Then I returned to Santa Barbara after eight months of living abroad. Election excitement was high. My main concerns were to promote my teen fiction book htat had come out a few months before and to make progress on my writing projects.
APRIL
Glorious springtime in California. We killed our lawn and made raised vegetable beds and planted tomatoes, basil, and arugula. I did author visits and signings and did some writing.
MAY
At this point it was pretty obvious that Barack Obama was going to win the nomination. We were all very excited about this.
JUNE
Italy. Tuscany. Indulged in wine, truffles, funghi porcini, and more time with Fabian and his mother Julia. The day I flew back I managed to be in four countries. I flew out of Pisa, Italy and landed in Paris, France. After two hours I flew into London. Then from there I flew into LA. Later in the month I signed my book at the big BEA fair and met my publishers. At the end of June Pam and family descended.
JULY
The main news was the GAP fire. Big fire near us- we had to evacuate. Most of the month was spent enjoying and entertaining Pam and family. We had a very hot summer with almost no fog. I went to the pool practically every morning. Another big event for me was going to the LA SCBWI writer's conference. I had fun getting to spend time with Caroline Hatten and also to be among other writers.
AUGUST
Vacation comes to an end. A frantic attempt to revise a manuscript to submit to an editor I met at the conference. Then I had to face the harsh world of work and teaching again.
SEPTEMBER
School. Teaching. And an addiction to the news, after all it's a historical election year.
OCTOBER
The world as we knew it came to an end. Financial institutions left, right, and center were collapsing, declaring bankruptcy. Job losses, soaring oil prices, the economy in free fall. Everyone's panicking. Obama takes a commanding lead in the polls.
NOVEMBER
A miracle has happened. America votes for a black man to lead the country. We're in ecstasy. The holidays are approaching and the weather has turned cold. I get grumpy.
DECEMBER
San Francisco. We do a house swap with a family who have this amazing, huge, modern house right in the city of San Francisco. We go to many different, expensive restaurants in the city. Our two favorites - Greens and Dosa (South Indian) - get multiple visits from us. We went to the new planetarium in the Golden Gate Park. The place was crowded and we had to wait in long lines for everything. The big attraction is a simulated journey through space to visit the planets. It was quite wonderful. The museum has a pretty nice aquarium and rain forest theme 'park' as well.
We walked on the Golden Gate Bridge on Christmas Day and ate Chinese food at an all veggie place called Shangri - La. I loved being unconventional and of course, not cooking.
Among the fun things we did in SF was meandering through the ferry building on the embarcedero. Here, there are gourmet food places that carry truffles, wild mushrooms, caviar, etc. There's also a farmer's market with a huge selection of fresh produce. SF is definitely food paradise.
And now, I'm going to spend some time thinking about whether to make New Year's resolutions.
Happy New Year everyone.
JANUARY
The year began for me in South Africa at Pam's beautiful home in Hillcrest, Durban where the entire family was together recovering from hard partying the night before. Then the next day I flew east and landed in hot, muggy, gleaming Singapore. After an interesting couple of days of exploring airconditioned state of the art shopping malls, I landed in frenetic India. Sure seems like a long time ago now. In India I felt like I had temporarily left our planet. Everything around me was so, so exotic. But in the evenings, in my hotel room, I'd watch what went on in the'real' world. The primaries had begun and it was looking good for Hillary to win the nomination.
FEBRUARY
Relaxing, enjoyable days in exciting Sydney, Australia. I enjoyed bonding with Fabian and hanging out in the Darling Harbor area. Sydney in its summer months is one heck of a terrific city. Meanwhile, the primaries in the US where taking an exciting turn. Barrack Obama won Iowa and on super Tuesday neither candidate came out the outright winner. Everyone was on pins and needles. Hillary was getting negative press and Obama became the darling of the mainstream media.
MARCH
I explored the north island of New Zealand. I came to the conclusion that NZ was like a promising movie with no plot. You keep waiting for something to happen but NOTHING does! Definitely worth a visit, though. Then I returned to Santa Barbara after eight months of living abroad. Election excitement was high. My main concerns were to promote my teen fiction book htat had come out a few months before and to make progress on my writing projects.
APRIL
Glorious springtime in California. We killed our lawn and made raised vegetable beds and planted tomatoes, basil, and arugula. I did author visits and signings and did some writing.
MAY
At this point it was pretty obvious that Barack Obama was going to win the nomination. We were all very excited about this.
JUNE
Italy. Tuscany. Indulged in wine, truffles, funghi porcini, and more time with Fabian and his mother Julia. The day I flew back I managed to be in four countries. I flew out of Pisa, Italy and landed in Paris, France. After two hours I flew into London. Then from there I flew into LA. Later in the month I signed my book at the big BEA fair and met my publishers. At the end of June Pam and family descended.
JULY
The main news was the GAP fire. Big fire near us- we had to evacuate. Most of the month was spent enjoying and entertaining Pam and family. We had a very hot summer with almost no fog. I went to the pool practically every morning. Another big event for me was going to the LA SCBWI writer's conference. I had fun getting to spend time with Caroline Hatten and also to be among other writers.
AUGUST
Vacation comes to an end. A frantic attempt to revise a manuscript to submit to an editor I met at the conference. Then I had to face the harsh world of work and teaching again.
SEPTEMBER
School. Teaching. And an addiction to the news, after all it's a historical election year.
OCTOBER
The world as we knew it came to an end. Financial institutions left, right, and center were collapsing, declaring bankruptcy. Job losses, soaring oil prices, the economy in free fall. Everyone's panicking. Obama takes a commanding lead in the polls.
NOVEMBER
A miracle has happened. America votes for a black man to lead the country. We're in ecstasy. The holidays are approaching and the weather has turned cold. I get grumpy.
DECEMBER
San Francisco. We do a house swap with a family who have this amazing, huge, modern house right in the city of San Francisco. We go to many different, expensive restaurants in the city. Our two favorites - Greens and Dosa (South Indian) - get multiple visits from us. We went to the new planetarium in the Golden Gate Park. The place was crowded and we had to wait in long lines for everything. The big attraction is a simulated journey through space to visit the planets. It was quite wonderful. The museum has a pretty nice aquarium and rain forest theme 'park' as well.
We walked on the Golden Gate Bridge on Christmas Day and ate Chinese food at an all veggie place called Shangri - La. I loved being unconventional and of course, not cooking.
Among the fun things we did in SF was meandering through the ferry building on the embarcedero. Here, there are gourmet food places that carry truffles, wild mushrooms, caviar, etc. There's also a farmer's market with a huge selection of fresh produce. SF is definitely food paradise.
And now, I'm going to spend some time thinking about whether to make New Year's resolutions.
Happy New Year everyone.
22 December 2008
Winter Holidays
Finally, a day to relax. It's Monday, midday, a few days before Christmas. I'm in San Francisco, where despite a crispness, the weather is acceptable. Yesterday, when we arrived from Santa Barbara it was raining heavily. We are doing a house swap with a family. They have an amazing house in the Pacific Heights neighborhood. The house - one of those original Victorian houses - has an uber-modern interior. Three levels - open plan - practically no interior walls with wooden and bamboo floors and leather, chrome, glass furniture. Everything here is state of the art. When you enter through huge, old world style double doors you come into an enormous entry hall which is visible from all parts of the house. A huge skylight above keeps the interior bright and airy. We are thrilled to have this place for a week. We hope the family isn't too disappointed to put up with our simple abode back in Santa Barbara.
The last weeks of teaching were bloody draining. I had my students perform a play called SANTA CLAUS FOR PRESIDENT. It turned out to be a lot more work than I expected. But they enjoyed making posters and flags and various little props for their performance. So it was worth it. Another big project I was forced to do on account of it being a tradition at the school was gingerbread houses. Using graham crackers, frosting,a nd the most ghastly candy imaginable, the kids created little alpine like houses. They had fun, but my big thrill came when it was all over and every tiny morsel of candy was cleared out of the classroom.
Christmas in the northern hemisphere is definitely not my favorite. Perhaps it's because when we are in South Africa it's so much fun. Warm weather, beaches, pools, tropical fruit salads, sipping cold beer on a terrace watching giant waves crashing, and being with the family. How can a cold, gloomy, grey Christmas compete with that?
But while we are here in San Francisco we are going to live it up.
We started out by going to Greens Restaurant for dinner. This veggie place is famous and upscale with the best view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the city. They always have unusual, innovate dishes on the menu. I've never eaten anything there that wasn't superb in every way.
This morning I walked out to California Street and found a few gourmet markets. I bought chanterelle, portobello, and shitake mushrooms. I also got freshly ravioli stuffed with porcini. So tonight's meal is going to be top notch.
I hope to get a lot of reading and writing done in the next two weeks.
I wish everyone an enjoyable festive season.
The last weeks of teaching were bloody draining. I had my students perform a play called SANTA CLAUS FOR PRESIDENT. It turned out to be a lot more work than I expected. But they enjoyed making posters and flags and various little props for their performance. So it was worth it. Another big project I was forced to do on account of it being a tradition at the school was gingerbread houses. Using graham crackers, frosting,a nd the most ghastly candy imaginable, the kids created little alpine like houses. They had fun, but my big thrill came when it was all over and every tiny morsel of candy was cleared out of the classroom.
Christmas in the northern hemisphere is definitely not my favorite. Perhaps it's because when we are in South Africa it's so much fun. Warm weather, beaches, pools, tropical fruit salads, sipping cold beer on a terrace watching giant waves crashing, and being with the family. How can a cold, gloomy, grey Christmas compete with that?
But while we are here in San Francisco we are going to live it up.
We started out by going to Greens Restaurant for dinner. This veggie place is famous and upscale with the best view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the city. They always have unusual, innovate dishes on the menu. I've never eaten anything there that wasn't superb in every way.
This morning I walked out to California Street and found a few gourmet markets. I bought chanterelle, portobello, and shitake mushrooms. I also got freshly ravioli stuffed with porcini. So tonight's meal is going to be top notch.
I hope to get a lot of reading and writing done in the next two weeks.
I wish everyone an enjoyable festive season.
27 November 2008
Thanksgiving Day!
I find the winter holidays in the US strangely depressing. Thanksgiving and Christmas demand the kind of attention that disturbs my routine quite obnoxiously. I don't want to make huge meals and hang out with people. What a waste of a day.Let's not even talk about all those millions of unsuspecting turkeys callously murdered for the sake of some ridiculous tradition.
Admittedly, it was nice not to have to go to work yesterday (Wednesday) and today. It rained most of yesterday - a nice, steady drizzle quenching our parched grounds. I spent most of the day by the fire rereading Obama's DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. This morning the sun shone brightly and the sky was blue and cloudless. I started the day by reading the blogs on Huffpost I enjoyed Jamie Lee Curtis and Erica Jong expressing what they are thankful for. It helped lift me out of my depression. Paul Krugman's article defending Obama's choice of economic advisers was a good read too. I'm so glad he wrote this. It's so weird that folks on the left are being so critical. As Obama himself pointed out yesterday at a news conference, with the current economic crisis, experienced advisors are necessary. He cannot risk hiring all new people under these extraordinary circumstances.
Last Tuesday I went with some friends to a talk by Maureen Dowd who is a columnist for the NYT. I have mixed feelings about Dowd. I used to enjoy her clever, insightful criticisms of Bush, et al. but during the primaries she turned me off with her constant and consistent cattiness and pettiness toward Hillary Clinton. So I wasn't sure if I would enjoy listening to her. The talk turned out to be quite enjoyable. Maureen Dowd seems very gung ho about Obama. She was part of the press crew who accompanied him on his trip to Europe and Israel in the summer. When someone in the audience asked what she thought of Obama's appointees she expressed support. She thought it was wise to hire people with diverse ideas. She also mentioned that a lot of the people from the Clinton administration that Obama is hiring are the best and brightest who hadn't been able to do the work they hoped to do under Clinton. They now had another opportunity to use their talents. After the talk I decided I liked Maureen Dowd after all!
We spent Thanksgiving with our friends, Premi and Sri. We prepared tofurkey (tofu turkey), roast potatoes, brussels sprouts, and other veggies. Premi prepared roast leg of lamb, shrimp and crab, and a rice dish. Earlier in the day we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went for a walk on the beach. It was fabulous. The air after a good rain is so exhilarating.
And now it's evening and I'm glad for it all to be over. But starting tomorrow I'll have to endure godawful Christmas music and jingling bells and flickering lights and stupid snowmen and Santa decorations. Is there anyone out there who would like to join me in petitioning to abolish this ghastly holiday?
Admittedly, it was nice not to have to go to work yesterday (Wednesday) and today. It rained most of yesterday - a nice, steady drizzle quenching our parched grounds. I spent most of the day by the fire rereading Obama's DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. This morning the sun shone brightly and the sky was blue and cloudless. I started the day by reading the blogs on Huffpost I enjoyed Jamie Lee Curtis and Erica Jong expressing what they are thankful for. It helped lift me out of my depression. Paul Krugman's article defending Obama's choice of economic advisers was a good read too. I'm so glad he wrote this. It's so weird that folks on the left are being so critical. As Obama himself pointed out yesterday at a news conference, with the current economic crisis, experienced advisors are necessary. He cannot risk hiring all new people under these extraordinary circumstances.
Last Tuesday I went with some friends to a talk by Maureen Dowd who is a columnist for the NYT. I have mixed feelings about Dowd. I used to enjoy her clever, insightful criticisms of Bush, et al. but during the primaries she turned me off with her constant and consistent cattiness and pettiness toward Hillary Clinton. So I wasn't sure if I would enjoy listening to her. The talk turned out to be quite enjoyable. Maureen Dowd seems very gung ho about Obama. She was part of the press crew who accompanied him on his trip to Europe and Israel in the summer. When someone in the audience asked what she thought of Obama's appointees she expressed support. She thought it was wise to hire people with diverse ideas. She also mentioned that a lot of the people from the Clinton administration that Obama is hiring are the best and brightest who hadn't been able to do the work they hoped to do under Clinton. They now had another opportunity to use their talents. After the talk I decided I liked Maureen Dowd after all!
We spent Thanksgiving with our friends, Premi and Sri. We prepared tofurkey (tofu turkey), roast potatoes, brussels sprouts, and other veggies. Premi prepared roast leg of lamb, shrimp and crab, and a rice dish. Earlier in the day we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went for a walk on the beach. It was fabulous. The air after a good rain is so exhilarating.
And now it's evening and I'm glad for it all to be over. But starting tomorrow I'll have to endure godawful Christmas music and jingling bells and flickering lights and stupid snowmen and Santa decorations. Is there anyone out there who would like to join me in petitioning to abolish this ghastly holiday?
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