San Francisco friend and Sr. Analyst at hedge fund Passport Capital Laurance Narbut visits London to raise the Big Dollars for his latest money making play: rigs (11/5/06). Our friendship was formed during the technology go-go years when Laurance was investing on behalf of a weathy family, and starting an internet company. Now he walks to work in 13 minutes, wind-surfs in the San Francisco Bay and relaxes on the Eel river in Mendicino county where he is building a house.
More bathtime antics (6/2/06). Both kids wear their high-tech goggles, which have been a main-stay for at least 3 years. 
Could there be an 'All-American' 500 yard freestyler in the making?
The West Coast gang, including Simon and Devon and Sophie, check out the Light spilling through a fallen 2,000 year old Giant Sequoia in Big Trees National Park. The Sequoias (not to be confused with Redwoods) grow to 112 meter by 7 diameter and thrive in only a handful of moist locals including Northern California. This particular grove is home of General Sherman, the largest living organism on earth with a a volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,510 cubic feet).
Madeleine tucks into a favorite meal (26/9/04). Pizza ranks up there with McDonald's chicken nuggets and chips and Sunday waffles. Unlike her brother, Madeleine is a slow eater and always the last to clean her plate - if at all. Wisely she has come to realise that food avoidance equals attention, and many an evening I have spent shovelling a 'choo choo' or 'space invader' of food into her mouth. Other nights it's the tried and true classic: 'No desert if you don't eat your broccoli!'
The kids and I are greeted each day with Sonnet's happy face. This photo taken one fall evening at Richmond Park whilst taking the holiday photo.
Madeleine and her pal Katie hang out next to the St. Mary Magdalene church where the Montessori school is located (6/5/06). They are not wearing black eye shadow or smoking ciggies but, inevitably, they will be teenagers (3,103 days but who's counting?).
Stephen Jansen, a member of my poker table and partner at a hedge fund in London, spends his life quantifying circumstances (7/5/06). In short, he's a numbers guy. I was happy to catch him in his natural habitat preparing an angel cake for his beloved wife Jennifer's 35th birthday.
... and this is your brain at Dulles Int'l Airport awaiting a connecting flight with two kids under age four. Photo taken at gate C-21 after our flight delayed four hours due to thunder storms (18/7/04).
Madeleine at the Giant Burger in Angel's Camp, California, on our way home from the family cabin in Calaveras County
and the spot of Mark Twains 'The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County'(Jul'04). We spent three weeks in the mountains, which was a perfect, and restorative break from England. The cabin has been in the Orenstein family since 1984 and is filled with fond memories, now to be experienced by Eitan and Madeleine and their friends.
Bath is a time for the kids to go nuts, and they have never resisted the call to water (213/03). The two share this time playing with an assortment ot toys including dinosaurs, insects, various fowl, cars, trucks, squirters, empty shampoo bottles, kitchen items, wood spoons, sponges, and anything else that is a) smaller than the tub, and b) un-anchored.
This picture captures Madeleine post scrub and pre-PJs.
Madeleine wears a purple statement, made for her with love by Auntie Katie (18/6/02)
. In Madeleine's hands is 'doggy', who has been by her side since any of us can remember. Doggy was initially a gift from Kelly Nolan to Eitan, who did not take to him straight-away. Madeleine moved in, and quickly the two became inseparable friends. Without doggy, there would be no bedtime story, no peaceful sleep, no morning cuddle and thumb suck. In short, the world would be a much harsher place.
This is a posed photograph, taken in front of the Orangery, Kensington Palace, following afternoon tea and biscuits (20/1002). When prompted, a rather bemused Eitan gave me his widest smile, while I snapped away with my Camedia. For a while I used this shot as my screen-saver, which somehow seems an appropriate 'gate' into my computer.
Eitan is three days old (2/10/00) and already has formed a bond with the yellow duck which is still located in the bathtime toy bin. Eitan, when asked now about the photo
as I write, notes 'my willy looks bigger than it is now.' He also comments that he is 'a bit smaller.' His hair calic already evident.
This flower also found at Embankment (1/5/06). The cherry blossoms now in full bloom for aprox. two weeks.
The Arts Council of London and the Royal de Luxe 'host the biggest piece of free theatre ever seen' according to them (4/5/06). de Luxe was founded by Jean Luc Courcoult in 1979 - leave it to the French. This 'capsule' positioned at Waterloo Place just off the Pall Mall and two stories high elicits numerous responses from passer-bys on their way to wherever. My favorite, in the finest Southeastern brogue: 'wha tha fook is that?' which pretty much sums up my feelings too.
English parks come alive by May, and this tulip bed on Embankment no exception (1/5/06). Over the Bank-holiday weekend (May 1) the Brits come out from underneath their rocks, squinty eyed and pale skinned, prepared to do a summer's worth of DIY in one weekend. Invariably there are traffic queues into B&Q and Homebase. It's also a given that 90% of the adult population will return to work sun-burned.
Ps - I took this image using my little Sony Ericsson mobile phone, which has a 2.0 megapixel camera.
It's not entirely clear to me, or Eitan, what actually IS in Madeleine's cowboy boot though it certainly has captured their attention (9/7/05). The pink dirt kickers, purchased by Grandma Silver in Colorado, remain a favorite item. While the initial pair out-grown some time ago, a replacement set may be found in the pantry (unfortunately the Montessori forbids her to wear them - the boot heel considered to be quite dangerous to the other children, you see).
The every-morning circus ends with the kids fed and dressed (it's hoped) and raring to go. Eitan's journey to school and reception (or kindergarten) is several quick blocks. Madeleine tags along for this part, then makes the longer trek to her Montessori just across the train tracks. Often there is whinging and moaning, and depending on my mood (or the weather) we drive.
Madeleine over Easter Weekend, at the Kew farm (21/4/06). More likely than not, her expression in response to something I've said - like "let's bring home a cow to take care of the grass."
Pumpkin and apple picking in Hertfordshire last fall (21/10/05). A photo of Madeleine's 'cat' can be seen in an earlier blog below.
People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."
In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o’lanterns.
