The Team And A Cocktail

Here are the lads Sunday, seven months on.  They have developed into a pretty good squad, too - Wils, front row left, a bruising defensive player; goalie Maxime (yellow shirt) has single-handedly saved the team's bacon.  Strikers  Fred (back row, left) and Robert (behind Fred) have racked up hat-tricks.  And Eitan sets everybody up as a competent mid-fielder.  Most importantly, coaches Jon (right) and Dave excellent - they care about the boys and appreciate that the competition secondary to the values and fun of the game. 


Our first dinner-party at 45 includes Nat and Justin, Lars and Puk and Lorena - Sonnet prepares lamb shanks while I serve wine (here is your blog, Justin). We finally have an adequate dining room to entertain our friends and I look forward to the return of the .. pre-dinner cocktail.  I recall my courtship of Sonnet who somehow seemed like an adult in '93 .. this meant her own place with new towels, a brass bed and afternoon sherry and maybe kalamata olives (if I was lucky).  Plus she had a real job at William Sonoma and a view of Alcatraz from the near-top of Russian Hill.  I went all-in.  Sonnet also had the confidence to host dinners at her place including the correct cutlery and clean wine glasses. This all new to me then. Fast-forward to business school where we were one of the few engaged/married couples so most of our entertaining done at home on Riverside Drive.  Sonnet's wonderful cooking skills invaluable and cemented friendships we honour today.  My contribution - a proper martini which, according to my deceased mentor and colleague Dr Wayne Cannon, the only drink worth knowing. Wayne and I downed many while setting up eye-clinics in developing countries and I happily passed along his spirit to our MBA friends and those lost Californians living in the Big City.  Those were good times.  Today I may be a bit older and in another country, but I am happy to say that the recipe stays the same.


Madeleine: "I really don't like it when you come to wake me up."