LG’s Neighborhood

Some new things have come to light in regards to the Nook.

A) You can only lend a book once - IN THE LIFETIME OF THE BOOK. Not
only that, but not all books are lendable, it's up to the publisher.

B) You can't use B&N giftcards to purchase eBooks, because they have
to be associated with a credit card. That means I can't be gifted
during the holidays.

C) I already knew this, but it's coming back repeatedly to bite me in
the ass. Kindle has MUCH better prices on eBooks - period. They also
have more. I'm sure that B&N will eventually catch up, but until then
I'm screwed.

But...but... the Kindle is UGLY. Watching the videos of it doesn't
make me want to use it at all but when I watch the videos of the Nook
I do. So, do I pay more for the books now and limit myself to
selection because the device is better - and HOPE that B&N catches up
- or do I go with the Kindle and hope that the Kindle catches up in
regards to hardware?!

Oh, and I found out that the Nook is selling out like hotcakes,
they've already pushed the preorders (well, if you preorder now - mine
hasn't been pushed back) to the second week in December from the last
week in November. Maybe I can sell it via eBay and get all my money
back and then some?

Yesterday we finally made it to Disneyland! Paul & I have season passes, we
bought them in June, but we hadn't gone back since because we needed someone
to come along and help us with Evy. Paul & I decided to gift my sister early
this year for Christmas with a one day pass to Disneyland - so she could get
a season pass too. It was a lot of fun, I'm glad my sister went because she
kept reminding me not to stress out (like I always do) because we had season
passes. Our trip was filled with a lot of bumps, but just laughing through
them.

We got a late start, good traffic though. Once in Anaheim we stopped at a
Burger King for something to eat - but they wouldn't take our credit cards
so we had to go across the street to another place. We got a bit lost on the
way to the parking because Disneyland was redirecting to a different parking
structure and the signs they had were confusing. Then once we'd parked we
had to ride a bus to the park. Then we got to the park entrance and
discovered that Paul had left his wallet (and his season pass) in the car so
he had to go back. That took awhile because he had to wait for a bus, get to
the parking center, wait for another bus, and then come back. My sister & I
decided to go into the park and get her season pass, but then I discovered
I'd left HER ticket in my purse which was in the car. Luckily Paul was able
to grab it and we got into the park around noon.

We didn't ride very many rides, but we still had a really good day! Pirates
of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain - bit of
the Christmas parade. We ended up leaving pretty early because we just got
such a late start, but since we have season passes we'll be going back :)

It was a big day for Penny yesterday as she completed and graduated from her Family Dog I class.  For the past month and a half or so, we’ve been working on sitting and staying and heeling and coming when called – all the things that are needed to be a good dog citizen.
 

I will have to say that Penny didn’t really love the classroom environment, because she couldn’t quite conceive of a place where there were half a dozen nice dogs and that she wasn’t supposed to play with them.  What else could they be there for???
 
Still – when called on to do her series of behaviors, I have to say that she did really really well and passed with flying colors.  After the final class, there was a little graduation ceremony and all the dogs received their diplomas to everyone’s cheers, though I’m pretty sure Penny was everybody’s favorite (not that I’m biased or anything).
 
After the class, Penny got an extra treat and then got to go play with her BFF Roxy the Vizsla at dog beach.  They ran and ran and ran together and just had a great old time.
 

Afterwards, we all tramped over to a dog-friendly café in Del Mar for a late breakfast, relaxing well into the early afternoon over good food, pleasant conversation and tired pups.
 
Good job, Penny!

The news is a little late, but I have a new nephew! His name is Ty and he was born on October 22.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let these do the talking for me.

I always find it odd when local wine geeks refuse to try local wine, but are so quick to buy from any new wine region which the lickbo is promoting. True our region only has a limited number of wineries with limited to no support from lickbo or the local hospitality industry, so trying them requires effort...much more effort than it should btw.

So what happens when we take a local wine and have it go against a Sonoma, then a French wine. How can it hold up?

Last night we bbq'd some lamb, so what goes with this??? Syrah of course. Add to that we made an Herbes de Provence infused olive oil to marinade the chops and the Rhone wine should shine..right??.

We started with the Californian, Cline Syrah. This is a fine wine that Vintages carries all the time. It lacks that burnt fruit tastes and seems a bargain at the price.

Next was the Syrah from Ruthven via Mastronardi. My review tells what I think of it. Lean, not burnt fruit (basically can't happen here). It goes to say that I like this wine. Syrah can't grow here of course...but I love the local ones who somehow defy the spoken truths of the wine snobs.

Third was Venus Lauree, Cotes du Rhone Villages from of course the Rhone Valley in France. A very nice wine.

All are about the same price so there isn't a ringer.

The lamb chops marinated for about 2 hours. The oil was an extraction from Herbes de Provence and garlic. I was saddened that we didn't get local lamb but this was still good. We grilled them with pecan wood chips. Frenched green beans in garlic butter and a free form gratin aided as sides.

So how did it go? All 3 were great with the lamb and what was interesting was that all were fairly similar and none either stood out nor fell behind. That is interesting as the three regions are very dissimilar, but they had basically the same grape ( the Frenchy was a Grenache-Syrah blend which is typical from the Rhone). All blended well to the next.

It just confirms what a local winemaker keeps telling me. He believes that this area is wonderful and is the best area other than Napa and Sonoma in North America. He points to the development of the grapes which mature completely at harvest time. In hot areas the grapes may have the sugar, but they aren't mature therefore the have to hang and the sugar goes way up and the acid falls way down. The result is a 15% Pinot that is all fruit and no subtleties. Here the acid stays up and the sugar is there but not too high resulting in12-13% Pinot which is right in the sweet spot. Besides that, the good stuff in wine is more abundant in cool climate wines so the local wine is really good for you.

So it was fun and good to see that the local champion held its own . A winner wasn't chosen but I liked them all.

We just have to keep screaming that our local wine is as good or better than the imports. Just wish that the lickbo would support them rather than Yellow Penguin.

Tootles

CIDER UPDATE

getting ready to rack it as the primary fermentation looks to be almost done. Maybe Thursday

Today was Mike's funeral. I went to the pre-cemetary memorial service, in a church. I like churches, for the most part, they have art and architecture and in their best light are a gathering place of people. Today the people were in shades of grey and black, somber for the most part. Some attendees treated it like a reunion, there were fleeting jovial moments tempered by the memory of what brought everyone together. Pictures of Mike in various stages of his recent life surrounded the entryway to the interior of the church: Mike and his helicopter, Mike in his uniform, Mike working on the helicopter, Mike and his wife Anita and their son Riley.

Riley is C's age. He meandered around but was never far from his mother. The gravity of the occasion may have tempered a typical "boy" reaction but at the same time he wasn't particularly teary. The occasional grin and introduction to some family friend or relative you could tell he hadn't seen in years peppered his pre-funereal experience.

I spent the ceremony crying quietly. Ween didn't cry all that much but, as she told me, she did her crying the last few days. I think she's numb, and I think she's probably got some more cry in her.  Me, I hadn't cried yet. I cried and cried and cried, as his friends talked about their "Monty" (our "Mike") and brought up all of the traits we remembered him having way back when: the quick reply, the sense of honor, the expectations he had of himself and others that could not be compromised. All I could think about was here is his wife and child, who would not have him in person ever again. They would have pictures, they would have memories, they would have tokens of "honey" and "daddy".

A funeral is for those left behind; Mike is either in a blackened oblivion or in a happy afterlife (and never do I get closer to wishing I had the capacity for religion as when I want there to be an afterlife for those departed). His wife is left behind and his son is left behind and now the question is how their life will change, irretrievably and irrevocably.

It makes me look at all of my daily problems and classify them as petty and stupid.

I came home and decided I would not go to book club. I cleaned a bit, which I find a sense of comfort in, and I sewed a bit (a Luke Skywalker costume I'm making for the C). 

I'm enjoying, and appreciating, the quiet. 

Besides eating and sniffing, being cosy is probably one of my favorite things.

The other night I just couldn't get comfortable! Then I discovered this position!

 

It was perfect. Not only was I totally comfy on My Billy, but positioned so if he moved to get chips or a treat I would certainly wake up!

I'm so smart, and pretty.

Xkcd is usually pretty good -- but this is genius.

Happy Friday!

So, one of the things I’ve gotten to spend some more time with during my – err – sabbatical from gainful employment – is my piano.

For those who’ve been around here a while, you might recall that a couple of years ago, I was stressing about and then actually enjoying learning a little music theory in the last piano class I had before I started taking private lessons.

So, last year, after I’d settled in and developed a bit of rapport with my teacher, I’d described the things I’d liked and not-liked about the classes I had taken.  One thing I’d said I’d appreciated (and that maybe it was my analytical-science side coming out) was the introduction to music theory that I’d had – how it helped shaped the way I heard and learned new pieces.  She suggested that I start a series of workbooks on music theory for the piano.

I think this series is pretty good, and after a year or so I’m right in the middle of the set.  I’ve really enjoyed learning the hows and whys of how a musical composition is put together.  We’ve covered meter, scales, keys, intervals, chords, ornaments, motifs and have begun to analyze different compositions for melodic phrase structure.  There are also sections for ear training and sight-reading.  Altogether, I think they’ve really helped me be a better (and I use this word very generously) musician.

So, of course, reading and dissecting music naturally began to make me curious about how it gets created.  Do you start from a motif and build?  Do you start with a feeling and go?  What are the “rules” that make something sound “good”?  And so on…

And so, last month, I started another series: “The Craft of Music Composition”.  This also has several levels and naturally I’m starting at the entry level, since I’ve never written music in my life.  The first book has a sort of a lead-you-by-the-hand way that takes some of the intimidation out of the idea of putting notes to paper (or notes into Finale’ as the 21st century equivalent might be…) – while learning some of the common techniques used by composers.

I’ve never really considered myself a “creative” person.  Insightful, maybe.  Analytical, for sure.  So composition is way out of my comfort zone – and maybe that’s good.  I don’t know that there will be any critical successes coming from my brain, but it sure is fun to sit and plink-plunk-plink at the keys and decide what you think sounds good.

Wish me luck!

I took these pictures of Tiger yesterday afternoon as he was napping in the middle of the living room floor.

I wish I could relax like that at a moment's notice ...

Oh, and I hope this next one isn't offensive to anyone.  I suppose someone could construe it as "kitty" porn ...