"To love another person is to know God in the face"

I just saw Les Miserables, the movie, based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel.  Many of you may not have read the book, too bad Monsieur Hugo was paid by the word as the novel is a good 1000 pages, but well worth it!  The book was made into a musical and came out today (25 December 2012) on the big screen.  I saw the movie at Lighthouse Cinemas, in Pacific Grove, a quaint theatre nestled in the downtown of our sleepy town.

It was fantastic!  It really follows the passion that life can possess and the endurance of the human spirit - both for good and for bad.

If you don't know the story, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is enslaved (his punishment for stealing) and then released but violates his parole -  he assumes a new identity and starts a new life as an honest man, but he is not free as he is hunted from that point on by Javert (Russell Crowe), the unwavering face of the law who has made it his personal vendetta to seek justice.  Now we also have Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a mysterious factory worker who we discover from the other jealous co-workers, has a child, Cosette, whose father left and is being taken care of by an inn-keeper and his wife, although it is unbeknownst to Fantine that her Cosette is not treated very well.  After it is revealed that Fontine has a child, illegitimately, she is kicked out of her job and forced into prostitution to provide money to the inn-keepers for Cosette.  She falls ill and is discovered by Valjean who takes her to a hospital and promises to raise her child.  All the while, Javert has discovered Valjean's true identity and is determined to see justice served.  Doesn't happen.  Valjean finds the innkeepers (TheThenardiers), who feign the role of caring parents and pays them to take the child and Valjean and young Cosette escape into hiding.    

Much later, we see the grown Cosette, indeed under the (great) care of Valjean but living in secrecy as they are still hiding from Javert.  We are now in the midst of the French Revolution and the young revolutionaries are out in full force, including Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) who sees the grown Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) in town one day and falls in love immediately.  Now in between the revolution, we also have a love story, a hopeless love and a secret (as Valjean's true identity is unknown to Cosette).

I will leave it at that because I really don't like spoiling the end of stories.

The music from the musical is fantastic and it was very well done in the movie. Who knew Russell Crowe could sing?  Anne Hathaway, who lost 25 lbs. for her role as Fantine does an excellent job looking miserable, half dead and defeated.  We, the audience, as we often do, find ourselves sympathizing with the underdog - having hope for true love, for true justice, not just the legal type, and believing in the goodness of humanity.

Beautiful

I was talking to a dear friend on the phone.  Upon inquired about her life and how she is doing, she joyfully said "Sally, I'm so happy.  I'm in love."  She let out a sigh/giggle and said "you know, being in love makes your good days even better, and your bad days not so bad."

How beautiful!

I wish that for everybody.  

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

I heard this saying the other day "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."  I really like it.  You get more out of life if you're sweet than if you're bitter.  You may have heard people saying to "kill other people with kindness," which is a similar idea.

You know if things aren't going your way or you're in a sticky situation you could either yell and scream and have a bad attitude, or be nice and sweet about it and people are more inclined to be patient with you and listen to you because they don't feel like they're getting attacked and you have the potential (a much greater chance, actually) at getting what it is you want.

I really like this because it is true and a beautiful philosophy to live by.  I recognize that it is not easy, in fact I think that if you are human you find this task challenging at times.  However, I think it is rewarding if you do try it.  I guess you would catch more flies that way :).  

Movie - "The Sessions"

Oh. My. Lordy.  How refreshing!

I saw the movie "The Sessions" today.  It was fantastic.  It was provocative, romantic, real, sad, funny, raw, human and humane. It is based on the autobiographical writings by Mark O'Brien, a poet/writer who was not-quite-paralyzed from the neck down due to a bout of childhood polio.  He lives mostly in an iron lung and always on a gurney.  At 38, he sets out to lose his virginity and after consulting with his priest, decides to see a sex-therapist.  It challenges the conventional stigma surrounding the disabled and allows you to truly empathize with the guy.  The movie did a great job of bringing the characters to life - the relationships were real and you could genuinely relate, no phony business.

I think the actors were fantastic, John Hawkes plays Mark O'Brien and Helen Hunt is Cheryl Cohen-Green, the sex-therapist.   You really had a sense of empathy - both happy and sad, for Mark.  I will leave it at that, you ought to see the movie for yourself to truly experience it.  

Growing up

I don't know if it's that I'm growing up and I'm realizing that there is some crazy stuff in the world or if the world is getting weirder.

An anthropologist told me that people have been saying since the dawn of man (ok maybe not since the dawn of man, but since we have had written record of people), "men are starting to dress like women, women are starting to dress like men, we're losing our values, society is falling apart...blah blah"  So maybe I am just growing up and realizing that people are human and do stupid things.  The world is so huge and there are so many people out there...think about all of the people you know and then all of the different personalities/quirks they have...now multiply that by 7000000 to roughly give you the world's population (about 7.052 billion people, according to the US Census Bureau as of March 2012; this is also assuming you know 1000 people - I'm being generous with my estimate).  Now think that all of these people have individual personalities, problems, culture, religion, consciences, hurt, vengeance, karma, you name it, to give you...the world we live in.  It's no wonder we have people killing other people, leaving all their money to a stranger, torturing other people, falling in love, resolving to swim across various straits to "prove something," etc.  People are freaking rad.

Growing up is weird.  It's like shattering everything you always believed as a child except there is so much more cool stuff out there.

Humanity

Do we forget that we are human?  Is it a product of where we live?  Our society?  Is it cultural?  Do some cultures have a better grip on what it is to be human? Or how to live life?  Does the sound of a cello not stop your heart from beating?  Human tears - salty human tears.  The sound of a man's baritone voice, unwavering as he belts out a ballad of a lost love.  A baby.  People in love.  The sunset.    Dancing so much you get dizzy and lose yourself in your partner's arms.  Jumping in a cold lake.  The sun on your bare skin.  The eminent beat of a drum.  Or a heart beat! Freckles.  The way fire dances in the night.  A good glass of champagne.  Stories you get lost in.  The smell of a jasmine vine on a warm Spring day.  The physique of an athlete.  The foam of a latté.

I guess this just turned into a short list of the countless things I find beautiful.  You're also on that list :)

Don't ever lose your innate ability to appreciate life.  

Passion

So I find it really interesting the conversation surrounding "passion."  My friend, Merriam-Webster, defines passion as "a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept" or "an object of desire or deep interest" (source) (there are some other definitions for the word but for the most commonly used context, I think this is appropriate).  

Now with that said, I would like to talk a little bit about passion.  There is a Spanish song by Bebo and Cigala, a Spanish singer and a Cuban guitarist that sings of a man that is in love with two women.  One is his wife, the mother of his children and the other is the passionate love of his life.  I think of this and I think, why can't those 2 people be the same person?  But then I think of the people I have known and the conversations I have had and many people do not have the courage to pursue passion.  It is like living a convenient life, an easy life.  It is easy or safe to just settle but to have passion you have to suffer.  I think in the society we live in we view suffering as a bad thing but I think that one must suffer to experience the good things in life.  Suffering is another emotion we must endure to feel other sentiments in life.  I don't believe that you would feel truly happy having not felt sad.  Why can't the woman you're married to, the mother of your children also be the woman you are passionately in love with? Why cannot people be happily passionate, why must we settle, why can't we take risks?  I understand why but I don't know why so many people just accept this.   It is easier.  But do you want your life to be easy or thrilling?  Do you want to wake up for the rest of your life just going through the motions or do you want to be happy, excited, passionate about your life?  Crying isn't the worst thing in the world, at least you got to experience something so meaningful in your life that it brought you to tears.   

I could go off on another tangent about the misconception of passion and anger in our society or the poor reception of passion but I will leave that for another post.  I can't tell you the number of times people have said (about me) "what's wrong with you?" or "Why are you so angry?"  It's called passion!! A reason to live something worth my energy, my breath, my time! 

I will leave y'all with my thoughts.  I hope you find passion in your life, I hope you have the courage to pursue your passion and I hope you never settle for anything below your standards for yourself.  When you put your head down on that pillow at night I hope you are happy with the decisions you made during the day or at least can understand why you made those decisions, if you're unhappy I hope you don't repeat those mistakes.  

Rainy Day

I am a self-admitted sun bunny, desert rat, you name it...I'm sure there are a thousand ways to describe us sun addicts but I must admit, the rain is charming.  This morning when I left the house it was pitch black and  unusually warm.   You could tell the barometric pressure was low.  Some people say you can smell when it's going to rain, but maybe it is just feeling the pressure change in your nose or in your head, I don't know.  I went to exercise at the gym and when I came out, it was raining.  It was awesome.  I feel like the world slows down when it rains, maybe people drive slower or maybe it causes us to see things from a different perspective but it was really beautiful to watch the world go by.  I did my normal commute (about 7 minutes, including parking time) and was quite taken back by how different everything appeared all wet and grey.  Rainy days are great for fireplaces and books, hot chocolate and blankets and quiet classical music humming from a muffled record player.  Hopefully by the time I get home in the evening it will still be raining and I can cuddle up under a blanket with a good book and eventually fall asleep to the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof...

Jack's Peak, Saturday hike

Another beautiful Saturday morning hike in Monterey.  Papa B and I went to Jack's Peak and had a great hike.

When I was in highschool, my cross country team would regularly race there.  It was one of my favorite places to race because I loved being in the solitude of nature, boiling with competitive juices and adrenaline, not to mention the gorgeous view of the Monterey Bay.

We did our cross country course, backwards and then some.  We walked and talked and laughed.  There is one section that has switchbacks, it makes the really steep incline seem not so steep.  I kept telling Papa B, we used to run here and there and that was the start and there was the finish.  At the switchbacks I told him, we used to run this!  He said (switching to English, which he does for dramatic emphasis), "used to is in the past tense, Sally, you need to think in the present."  Woah!  He's totally right.

We hiked along, enjoying the scenery, smelling the pine trees - slightly green and sour smelling.  In the background you could hear the concert that was happening at the Fair Grounds.  Also occasionally we would hear planes taking off or landing, Jack's Peak is just up the road from the Monterey Airport.  There were bugs glistening in the sun light and if you pay attention you could hear the woodpeckers high up in the trees.  It was a really wonderful hike.  I hope you get there someday. 

We unfortunately did not see any mountain lions

View of the bay

Monterey bay through the trees :)

The trail

A fallen tree covered in moss and pine needles

A banana slug!!! Hi buddy.

Spider web

After our hike we came home and had lunch with Mama B.  Life is good, isn't it?

 

Lunch! Green beans with garlic, olives, red cabbage and sesame salad, cut vegies

Point Lobos with Papa B

It was a gorgeous Indian Summer day here in beautiful Monterey so Papa B and I decided to go down to Point Lobos for a hike. (For those of you who unfamiliar with the concept of Indian Summer - it's a phenomenon that occurs in the Northern Hemisphere marked by warmer than expected weather in late-September-November, we definitely experience it here in Pacific Grove).  

Point Lobos is a State Natural Reserve a bit down the coast from Monterey.  We headed down and parked just outside of the park and walked in.  There were many people out today, it's Saturday and a clear day - it's great to see so many people out! 

We walked through the trees, it was a bit cooler than out in the sun and a little darker.  After some time, we saw blue and turquoise through the trees.  Although I have grown up on the Pacific Ocean, I find it amazing how diverse it is - it amazes me every time.  It's completely variable depending on the weather, the lighting, the time of day, the tide, the wildlife, etc.  Today was especially spectacular.  

The ocean through the trees 

Gorgeous cove!

Looking across to Carmel, Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove

p-r-e-t-t-y

We admired the ocean, told jokes and "hello-ed" people as we passed them on the trails.  Going around a little cove made me think of "Island of the Blue Dolphins" a book we had to read in the 4th grade.  It's about a Native American girl that lives on an island off the coast of California.  I haven't read the book in over 10 years but I guess the imagery stuck in my subconscious.  

This is what reminds me of "Island of the Blue Dolphins"

There were scuba divers preparing to go out - how cool!  I wonder what all they see down there?  

We were lucky enough to see a vulture fly by overhead, its wings spread magnificently with the ends sticking up like fingers.

The water was pretty calm, when the waves were well behaved, the water looked super smooth and the sun reflected brilliantly off of it.  

It looks like glass, doesn't it!

At one point we sat on a bench and admired the coast.  There were rose petals all around the bench and Papa B said there must have been a girl here reciting "he loves me, he loves me not."  

I love seeing the crushed abalone shells in the ground, their metallic color always catches the light just right and reflects up at you.  It's like a silver, green, pink, purple color.  

Broken abalone shells, can you see the metallic coloration?

Eventually we came upon a little cabin with whale bones around it.  One rib was about the length of my height!  There was also what looked like the hip bone of a whale and the vertebrae of a whale.  On the side of the cabin was framed baleen - the filter in the mouths of baleen whales.  (S)He consume a huge volume of water that hopefully has lots of krill in it, the whale then pushes the water out but the krill are trapped in the whale's mouth - dinner! 

Whale bones!

It looks like where the vertebrae would connect, but I'm not too familiar with whale anatomy...

Whale ribs, vertebrae, fin and baleen 

Next we went around a different bend and encountered some deer.  It is rutting season for the deer here.  That means they are mating.  This usually happens right before daylight savings time and there is a drastic change in their hormone levels.  They behave abnormally, more agressive, and if they don't move out of your way - you should get out of theirs.  We saw three young males and clapped at them, they looked at us a bit and didn't budge, we went down a different trail.  

We came upon another bench overlooking another little cover.  There were three seals resting on the rocks.  

Seals on the rocks! Can you see them?

Looking across to Carmel 

We admired from afar and eventually had to get down to the water.  Luckily there was a bonafide trail and we slowly made our way down to the rocky beach.  I quickly lost my shoes and socks and tried to run to the water, it was difficult to do on a non-sand beach.  The water was refreshingly cool.  It was low tide and so there were uncovered rocks filled with sea anemones.  You can't really see them unless you're looking because they are closed and have bits of sand and rocks stuck to them.  I touched them just to watch them shrivel back - I hope I wasn't harming them, they're just so amazing, and I couldn't help it!  

Rocky beach :)

Sea anemones!  They close up during low tide

More sea anemones 

We eventually walked back to the car, retracing our footsteps.  If you are observant enough, you can notice slight changes in the light, coloration, etc. in the trails that you walked in not too long before.  There was the same creaking noise from a tree when we walked back as when we had walked past the first time.  It would stop as we walked by and pick up again after we were past the tree.  I therefore am convinced that it was an animal but my dad claims it was just the wind causing the tree to creak.  

Gingerbread Latté

The other day I had a gingerbread latté at East Village Coffee Lounge.  It was delicious.  I guess it's one of those things that is truly "American" or "Californian."  It's actually really cool to see how seasonal things become advertising tools.  You know it's fall because Starbucks Coffee and Peet's Coffee and Tea are advertising for "Gingerbread Lattés" or "Pumpkin Spice lattés."  Well I was going to have my usual tea but a little chalk board caught my eye, advertising for gingerbread and pumpkin spice lattés.  This is beyond the marketing giants of Starbucks and Peets, this is little locally owned and operated East Village.  So I ordered a pumpkin spice latté but they were out so I went with the next best thing, gingerbread.  It was great!  Beyond the flavour being delicious, the foam of the milk was nice and thick and mixed just enough with the espresso.

Anyhow, it's a lazy Saturday and I woke up from a nap wanting a gingerbread latté so I set out to make one.  I turned to my trust friend, the internet for a starting out point.  I found one recipe that called for "Gingerbread syrup," right, because if I want to make a gingerbread latté at home, I of course have gingerbread syrup.  Next.  I found a recipe that called for actual ingredients that I had around the pantry.  I messed around with it and came up with the recipe below:

Gingerbread Latté

• 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. black strap molasses
• 2 tsp. honey (you could use any sweetener you like, sugar, brown sugar, etc.)
• 1 shot of espresso 
• 3/4 of a cup of milk - heated, steamed if you have the capabilities to do so 

Make your espresso in a percolator, what the Italians call a moka (a stovetop coffee maker).  While that's brewing, heat up your milk and set it aside.  In a mug mix the rest of the ingredients, pour the espresso over it and mix it really well so that all the spices get blended and the molasses and honey melt.  Add to that the hot milk.  If you wish, you can sprinkle cinnamon on top or add whipped cream for decor (and deliciousness!) 

Voila! 

Good morning

Today as I was leaving the gym, I sneezed.  An old man carrying a water bottle turned to me and said "Bless you!"  I thanked him and he held the door open for me.  As we walked out together he said "do you know why they say that?"  I told him my understanding was that it was because one's heart stops when (s)he sneezes, he said "EVERYTHING stops," with a swoop of his hand.  I thanked him for the knowledge and told him to have a good day.  He said "everyday is a good day, if my feet touch the ground, then I know it's going to be a good day." 

What a great attitude.  Words to live by :)

Nature Tax

I was on a morning walk the other morning and I walked past a tree full of apples.  I went over and picked a couple and went along on my walk.  After I got a reasonable distance away, I inspected them. One had a big hole in it and there lay a fat, black momma worm and several of her young.  I threw it to the side of the road and inspected the second one, it was spotless.  I stuck it in my pocket and continued on my walk, pondering this situation.  One could remedy this by spraying some type of pesticide on the apple tree, but I immediately refuted that idea as we're all aware of the harmful effects of pesticides on other wildlife, the environment and ourselves.  I thought of something my friend in Spain had told me.  She had a whole bunch of fruit trees in her yard - cherries, walnuts, plums, apples, pears, figs not to mention the vegetable garden!  I remember walking around her yard with her, going from tree to tree, admiring her crop.  I saw that some of the cherries had bird pecks in them which prompted to me to ask if she sprayed her yard with any sort of insecticide.  She answered very matter-of-factly, "no."  She went on to explain that that was just the price it took to have a fruitful yard.  All the while on my walk I thought of this...I thought when you make money, you pay taxes to a government for it to give you good things, to take care of you, so to speak.  In some parts of the world you pay more taxes than others and in various places you get more goodies for your taxes than in others.  So couldn't animals having at your crop be thought as a tax that you pay to nature?  I mean nature is giving you something good - fruit or vegetables, cereals, etc.  In return, just like you pay taxes to your government for "life goodies," you pay tax to nature for "real goodies" - food!  

Tour of the BBC

We came back to London from Kettering on the train.  There were lots of kids riding the East Midlands train  home from school which just blew my mind!  I grew up in a small town and to think that these kids are riding public transport to go to school at such a young age was so unusual to me!  I'm sure kids in SF, NY, etc. do it all the time but not kids from PG.  

It was awful on the tube getting to our hotel during rush hour.  We are only traveling with backpacks and mine makes me 3x as wide as I normally am so I turn around and push people or knock them over and it's rather embarrassing and I get lots of looks.  Anyways, we made it to our hotel, checked in, dropped off our stuff and RAN to meet up with my friend.  

My friend works at the BBC and offered to take us on a tour!  How cool!  

We met my friend and got visitor passes, (which now resides in my trusty journal) and went up to the different floors to see all the different sections, or departments of the BBC.  It's amazing, it felt so, happening.  Like everything that is happening in the world is being covered there.  There were so many languages being spoken.  It was also super cool to see how people's looks changed when you went to the different language regions.  We got to go into BBC Arabic and they were just getting ready to go on air, make-up-ing the reporter.  The teleprompter was even in Arabic!  

The building has cutting edge technology, which you would imagine for the BBC.  There are booth-style tables kind of set apart from all the work stations for people to go and talk and have a little bit of peace, as you approach the tables, the lights turn on via a sensor mechanism and depending on the language that that table is dedicated to, there is a background photo of a city in a country which that language is spoken.  

My friend told us that it gets pretty loud there, too.  Reporters are calling people all over the world to do interviews and maybe the country they are calling has a bad connection so they are shouting and the person next to them then has to shout too to hear her/his interviewee on the other end of the line in say, Timbuktu, this results in a very loud building which I imagine to be multilingual shouting.  I think it would be rather chaotic but in the best possible way.    

the new addition to the BBC building 

the BBC!

view from the BBC building, overlooking Regents st., All Souls church and at the end is Oxford Circus tube stop

Recording studio for radio shows 

a picture of Jerusalem at the BBC building in London

Switchboards 

After our tour, my friend took us to Samarqand restaurant for Uzbeki food (they served some Russian and Georgian food, too).  It was lovely.  Afterwards we walked around the chilly evening streets of London and had ice cream, the perfect end to a perfect day.  

And I'm off...

Most of you know that after several months of planning and plotting, I am going on my trip to Georgia, Armenia and the UK!

I don't really know what lies in store for me.  I don't speak Georgian, Russian or Armenian but that's OK!  It's not the first time I have traveled to a country not knowing the language.  And many people have done it/do it all the time.

I do know that it will be amazing.  Every time you struggle, you learn something.  Sometimes what you learn is just, I don't ever want to struggle that way again. Other times it's, I sure do appreciate _______ (fill in the blank).  

So I'm leaving drippy, grey Monterey en route to....I don't even know!  This is rather exhilarating 

Follow me, if you wish, I promise to post photos and write about my adventures, pending internet connections.  

Midnight heartburn

Sometimes I like sleepless nights.  I toss and I turn, unwilling to succumb to the insomnia until finally I relent.  It’s usually a result of some bad culinary decision I made in the evening.  This time it was popcorn, beer, chocolate cake frosting and 2 bites of extremely spicy Szechuan food. 

I got up, had a glass of water, responded to some pending e-mails, checked facebook, wrote in my journal, read an old journal, text messaged some friends.  I really hope I didn’t wake them; it was 2:50 am after all. 

I heard a tap-tap on my bedroom door.  I knew this would happen.  I had woken up my light-sleeper, super sensitive roommate, AKA, my dad.  “What’s wrong?  Are you ok?  Why aren’t you sleeping?  Aren’t you tired?  How long have you been up?  What did you eat last night?”  I answered his questions, reassuringly.  He followed me to the kitchen as we chatted politics.  Appropriate 3 am conversation.  He went back to bed and I stayed on the computer, chatting with friends in different time zones. 

I contemplated making lifestyle changes; I do enjoy sleeping the whole night through and not having heartburn.  But if I did that, when would I write?  What would be my inspiration for these quirky blog posts?  Then I laughed to myself, if something is going to happen, it’s going to happen.  If you want something bad enough, you will make it work.  I am inspired by all sorts of things, late night heartburn and sleepless nights are fine and dandy but I could use some healthier inspiration.  

A Lemon

A beautiful poem I came across today, I hope you enjoy it.  

A Lemon

By Pablo Neruda

Out of lemon flowers
loosed
on the moonlight, love's
lashed and insatiable
essences,
sodden with fragrance,
the lemon tree's yellow
emerges,
the lemons
move down
from the tree's planetarium

Delicate merchandise!
The harbors are big with it-
bazaars
for the light and the
barbarous gold.
We open
the halves
of a miracle,
and a clotting of acids
brims
into the starry
divisions:
creation's
original juices,
irreducible, changeless,
alive:
so the freshness lives on
in a lemon,
in the sweet-smelling house of the rind,
the proportions, arcane and acerb.

Cutting the lemon
the knife
leaves a little cathedral:
alcoves unguessed by the eye
that open acidulous glass
to the light; topazes
riding the droplets,
altars,
aromatic facades.

So, while the hand
holds the cut of the lemon,
half a world
on a trencher,
the gold of the universe
wells
to your touch:
a cup yellow
with miracles,
a breast and a nipple
perfuming the earth;
a flashing made fruitage,
the diminutive fire of a planet.

Cacti, cookies, coast and condors

I went down the coast again with the ladies, this time it was with my mom and the aunties.  Yesterday was one of my aunties' birthday and so naturally we needed to celebrate.  The plan was to drive down the coast in the morning, to Big Sur, have a treat from the Big Sur Bakery, go for a hike and then have lunch at Nepenthe.

Well, we got a later start that expected - which is to be expected.  On the drive down, we stopped at Save-Mart, one auntie had forgotten her sunglasses and as she says "fashion first."  She ran in and bought cheap-o sunglasses as my mom, other auntie and I plotted how we would liberate the tri-tip being BBQed on a grill outside the store, unattended.  Seriously?

We parked at Nepenthe, we were going to eat there after all.  But first we had to stop at the Phoenix Shop.  It's a shop below the restaurant that sells great books, stationary, jewelry, clothing, cosmetics and all sorts of home accessories.  Sampling hand cream, leafing through books and perusing the clothes sale rack really works up an appetite so up the stairs we hiked to eat lunch.  So much for hiking...

We waited to be seated, admiring flowers and making quite the scene.  The weather was gorgeous and it was nice to see so many people out enjoying the sun and the scenery.

We were seated on the back patio, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The view was breathtaking.  I have a picture below but it doesn't even begin to do justice to the beauty that we had the pleasure of admiring.  We had a slow meal sharing each plate, family style.  A woman walked by with a baby on her hip, wearing just a onesie and had a fountain of hair coming out of the top of her head.  I stopped my story mid-sentence and began my well-versed baby flirtation.  Within minutes the baby was on my lap and she had all my attention, I was in heaven.

After our 3-hour meal, we decided we were tired and we should probably head to the bakery for birthday goodies before going back home.  The Big Sur Bakery is nestled in The Big Sur Spirit Garden. How beautiful!  We walked through the cacti and sweet peas, among other flora.  There was a man watering the garden and the smell of wet plants on a hot day is unmistakable - it gets etched in your scent memory pretty vividly.  It reminded me of watering plants in the summer with my uncle on his land, north of Damascus.  He taught me how to syphon water out of the well despite being on an uneven surface.  What nostalgia!  For a moment your psyche transports you to that time and place.  You are who you were when you were there.  The smell is the same in these two place, where you are in actuality and the place in which you have olfactory memories.  I guess your soul, if you believe in souls, is the same, but your body has changed; what we remember in our mind fails to point out the differences, the pain, whatever.  You are simply existing in two places at once - in your memory and in the present.  It's truly phenomenal.

We were disappointed, as the bakery was in transition from lunch to dinner and there were no pastries left, it was 3:00 in the afternoon, after all.  As we piled back in the car, my aunt pulled out a little bag of coconut, apricot cookies and a bar of dark chocolate.  She is always prepared...take note.

While attempting to nap in the backseat on the drive home, I was startled by our abruptly pulling off onto the shoulder.  I naturally jumped out of the car as my aunties did - they were armed with a camera and binoculars.  After a great deal of binocular focusing and oohing and aahing we decided that we were in the presence of 2 California Condors and 2 vultures.  Cool!  We took turns passing around the binoculars.  One auntie is a naturally trained biologist.  And I mean naturally in the literal sense of the word, like in nature.  She explained the difference between a condor and a vulture and as she did, a third condor flew in and joined the other birds in circling their dinner - and putting a show on for us.  She explained that condors have up to a 9 foot wingspan and that they have white on top of their wings and below, whereas vultures are smaller and don't have the white on top of the wings.  We marveled at their magnificence in the mid-afternoon sun until they were through and flew off.  It was really the perfect ending to our day.

cool picture from the deck of Nepenthe as we waited to be seated, not too patiently

view from our table...oak tree + Pacific Ocean + fog

deck at Nepenthe, sweet checkerboard that these kids were playing some form of hopscotch on :)

Grapes!

Cacti

Wasabi Pea Soup

This cold is stubborn. I took the day off of work on account of my cold but then spent the day running errands. It wasn't exactly what I had had in mind but it was nice to break the routine, so to speak.

In the evening time, I decided to make some soup. I had recently bought wasabi powder from an Asian market and decided to test it out in a soup, spicy soups are always great for colds (recall, Carrot Ginger soup?). I did a little search on the internet and a lot of improvisation...

Wasabi Pea Soup

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 cup of peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth (or just water!)
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp. wasabi paste
• spicy mustard to taste
• wasabi peas for garnish, optional

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions and sauté until they are a little wilted. Add peas and sauté for a few more minutes.  Add broth or water and raise the heat until the liquid comes to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 7 minutes, just long enough for the peas to cook all the way through.  Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes before transferring to a blender or food processor to blend.  (Be careful not to put hot liquid in an airtight container as the vapor pressure will cause it to explode, leave an opening for vapor to escape or periodically open the lid)

Pulse several times in the blender and add wasabi and buttermilk, blending thoroughly.  If you find that the soup is not spicy enough, feel free to add hot mustard like Colman's.

Garnish with wasabi peas.  Soup can be served hot or cold.  This recipe serves 2 as an appetizer soup.

Fresh made wasabi paste (well as fresh as powder + water can be)

Voilá!

Perception

“And those who were seen dancing, were thought to be crazy, by those who could not hear the music.” - Friedrich Nietzsche 


It's really amazing how you perceive other people.  I get this a lot and it annoys me.  Whether it be because one is young, female, male, athletic, loud, quiet, wears high heels, laughs a lot, the list is endless.  You see someone and you subconsciously, or not so subconsciously (which is worse) make an assumption.  You are young so you have no life experience.  You wear high heels therefore you have no brain.  Old people don't know how to have fun.  Etc. Etc.  


I'm sure you've heard it, to assume is to make an ASS out of U and ME (spells ASSUME).  So don't make assumptions.  Well, that's easy to say.  Try not to make assumptions?  Or if you make an assumption, try not to act or open your mouth about it?  Be aware that your assumptions could hurt somebody else?  I end these phrases with question marks because I'm developing this as I write.  I am also thinking to myself, do I need to work on this?  I'm sure I do.  We're human, ergo imperfect.  I guess it's just being aware of it.  Being aware that a snide comment may hurt somebody else.  


It's also knowledge and experience.  I'm sure you have met a person who appeared to be one thing and then you got to talking to them and discovered that they actually were not anything like what you thought about them.  Let me give an example.  A person with big glasses is assumed to be intelligent or to work with computers.  Wait, that actually happened today, I was appalled.  I went to the post office and the person at the front of the line was wearing wide rimmed glasses and he wasn't aware that one of the tellers was available, he probably didn't hear him call "next, please."  So a woman further back in the line yells "Hey, computer boy!"  The guy with the glasses looked at her embarrassed, I don't know this for a fact but maybe he doesn't work with computers?  Everybody was a bit dumbfounded and nobody knew what to do, especially the poor guy with the glasses!   Maybe it's not a good example, but I like it as a story.  


Anyways, all I'm saying is people are way more awesome than we give them credit for if we just go around judging and mis-perceiving people.  You're missing out on a whole lot of cool people if you rule them out for their appearance or age or color or the list goes on and on...


Enjoy life, you know?

Carrot Ginger Soup

It's August 1st and I've come down with a cold. 

On my drive home - in between sneezes and sniffles, I decided I wanted a really spicy soup to clear up my cold.  What better than my favorite, carrot-ginger?

(It's been a while since my last recipe post and so if this is not your thing, simply ignore the post, for the rest of you cooks and food admirers, feel free to enjoy the post or make the soup at home for yourself!)

Carrot Ginger Soup

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 white onion, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, diced
• a 2-3 inch long piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped 
• 1 lb. carrots, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped 
• 3-4 cups of water or vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. green or red chili powder or red chili flakes, optional
• salt and pepper to taste 

In a medium size saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté for about a minute or 2.  Add the carrots, bell pepper, cinnamon and chili powder allowing the vegetables to wilt for about 5 minutes.  Raise heat to high, add water or broth and bring to a boil, once the liquid has boiled, reduce heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes. 

Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes before transferring to a blender or food processor.  BE VERY CAREFUL TO NOT CLOSE THE BLENDER ALL THE WAY AS THE VAPOR PRESSURE WILL CAUSE THE CONTAINER TO EXPLODE AND HOT SOUP WILL FLY EVERYWHERE AND SCALD YOU.  I speak from experience, painful but fun memories...

Blend the soup until all of the carrot, ginger, onion, etc. chunks are smooth and return to the sauce pan and reheat, reboil if you wish.

Soup can be served with a dash of cream on top, some chives, cinnamon, etc.  Delicious on a cold winter's night or if you've got a cold, like I do today. 

carrots from the Farmer's Market, ginger and my well-worn cutting board :)

Carrot-ginger soup, a dash of cream and cinnamon on top - great for a common cold!

Moonrise Kingdom

I just got back from seeing Moonrise Kingdom at the Osio Cinemas and it was awesome. Just charming and innocent. It made me feel like a kid again which is a delightful feeling. 

It takes place on an island off the coast of New England in 1966 and is about two kids who are "troubled" or misunderstood and plot to run away together.  Sam (Jared Gilman) is a "khaki scout" and orphan who has been going from one unsuccessful foster home to the next and Suzy (Kara Hayward) is the daughter of these two work obsessed lawyers who are having a tough time with their blossoming, outrageous nerd of a daughter.  The interaction between the kids is genuine, so honest.  Dramatic, as kids are, you can really remember the days when you were just so passionate about something that it just consumed your everything.  (Some of us are still that way but it is considered a juvenile trait.)  It was also nice to see Bill Murray, who played Suzy's father and Bruce Willis, the island cop, in these awkward, sepia-tone roles.  

A really cool thing about the movie is that it opened with clips from the 1946 movie Instruments of the Orchestra which features The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, a musical composition by the British composer, Benjamin Britten.  In my research after seeing Moonrise Kingdom, I actually learned that Benjamin Britten wrote quite a bit of music for children and young performers.  Very fitting for the movie. I appreciated the musical selection for the film, it fit very well.  

The filming was done very appropriately for the plot.  The way the camera moved was like a child's attention span and focus, I found that to really accentuate the young theme and atmosphere of the movie. The way the camera person moves through the house or follows the characters is how a child would, focusing on random, interesting things and skimming over the boring adult stuff. 

And the guy narrating (Bob Balaban) is awesome with his glasses, red coat and monotone voice. 

The little kitten in the basket was also the cutest thing.

Overall, I recommend you see this movie, it's fun.  

Parker-Lusseau Pastries

One of my favorite bakeries of all times is Parker-Lusseau Pastries.  One of their locations is on Harnell St. (see map), in an old, non-reinforced building.  There is a little sign by the door that basically says, should there be an earthquake, the building may or may not hold up.  I'll take that risk for good pastries. 

Now that we have that out of the way, you must understand the amazingness of the pastries.

The almond croissant is my favorite pastry there.  It's filled with marzipan, covered with slivered almonds and dusted with powdered sugar.  The dough is also just perfect and on parts of it you can taste that when it was baking, the marzipan and sugar caramelized a little bit with the dough so it's kind of chewy and delightful. 

The canele is not to be missed.  A canele is a small French pastry the inside is soft and custardy and the outside is dark brown and a sugary shell.  Great as an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea.

The moka is the best, made with wonderful chocolate and great espresso.  If you want a real treat, get it with whipped cream on top.  Whether with the whipped cream or not, they'll sprinkle some chocolate powder on top which is just like an angel's kiss on top of an already great thing.

Extra perks to note: all the girls that work there are fabulously fashionable, they use all sustainable and compostable products, they serve water out of a blue ceramic pitcher with sliced lemons in it, they sell organic apples on a cute little platter, the ciabatta bread is delicious and coated with semolina and they have drink stamp cards - your 11th drink is free!

Go grab a pastry!

yes, bakery is open...wonderful

Gelato for breakfast

Yes, I'm having gelato at 9:43 am. I'm in DC and it's hot and the gelato is delicious.  I stopped at Pitango on 7th St, downtown.  I ordered rhubarb sorbet. Quite lovely. Tangy, soft, cold, delicious. A nice break in my day off that I'm spending walking around the nation's capital.

Friends in DC

So, I am attending a conference in Washington DC at the US Institute for Peace.  

It's quite amazing the number of people who are willing to get together in the name of peace.  You don't hear so much about this on the news - violence sells.  Sensationalism rules in media, unfortunately. 

I have met people from all over the world at this conference who care about the well being of the world. How refreshing! We have active duty military officers (from both the U.S. and Canada), a member from an NGO in Pakistan, a Diplomat from the Democratic Republic of Congo, people from the State Department and the National Democratic Institute, a Spanish UN Program Officer currently stationed in Ethiopia, among other people in other arenas who simply care about peace and the importance of proactive and sustainable relationships between nations. 

Beyond what I am learning, I am humbled by the ability of human beings to forge relationships despite cultural, language, any barriers!  I have made a friend.  She is a gorgeous woman from Congo.  She is about 6 feet tall, without her heels that she wears daily.  Furthermore, she wears these gorgeous dresses of bright colors, exquisite patterns, shoulder ruffles and textile belts of matching color and pattern, around her waist.  When she walks in the room she commands attention.  And then you say “Bonjour, you look beautiful today!” and she erupts “Baaa!” Throwing her head back in embarrassed laughter as she softly touches your arm.

English is her third language as the official language of Congo is French, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends!  It doesn’t mean I can’t tell her she is beautiful every day and smile at her embarrassed laugh.  I hope somebody similarly embarrasses you today.  

Washington Monument, view from the US Institute for Peace building