Thursday, October 6
Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011
Jobs, 12 years my senior, may be a Baby Boomer but my generation knows the truth: he belongs to us. Jobs emphasized style and marketing as much as substance . He wore running shoes to present at big conferences. And, of course, he was the dawn of our revolution that spread American idealism better than any military policy. Thanks to Jobs, America grew during the '80s corporate down-sizings : Fortune 100s got lean and start-ups got their talent. We called on Jobs again after the tech boom-bust and he delivered , keeping Silicon Valley and the Californian dream alive. We have lost one of the great ones.
Photo: Jobs' first TV appearance in '78, six years before the first Macintosh, three years before the IBM PC.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice."
at 14:00
Saturday, October 1
Gore
Pictured, a live work of art : a Japanese woman binds her wrists and legs, blindfolds herself red, and allows children to shoot her with mucousy syrup. The kids become increasingly aggressive : at first they are respectful of their charge and hesitant to harm her. By end, which is broken up by one of the photographers, her position disdained.
Eitan: "Have you tried these grapes?"
Me: "No."
Eitan: "Listen to my teeth delicately break the skin. .."
Me: "That's nice."
Eitan: "Good, isn't it?"
Me: "You certainly are a grape connoisseur."
Eitan: "Now I am crushing the flesh, scooping it out from the inside."
Me: "Can we stop this now?"
at 18:59
Sabi's Studio
We visit Sabi's open-house in W10, a cool space in a dense urban setting. Sabi new to this particular artist commune having spent the last number of years at the Wimbledon Art Studio. Last we were together : The Airborne Toxic Event.
Here is Sabi's profile on the Saatchi Gallery:
"My work lies between the practices of Abstraction and Ornamentation. It is influenced by both my Islamic sensibility and my Western art education.I use abstract shapes,pattern,all over surface decoration, architectural and calligraphic line and lots of colour.I have made this series of work in conjunction with Tamasha Theatre Company to complement their recent production of Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance'.I wanted to make work that alluded to the theatricality of both the story and Tamasha's adaptation of it."
at 18:22
Self Portrait XXI
Eitan: "What are we going to do this afternoon?"
at 18:06
Happy 01 01
But let us not digress : Eitan goes into 11 full of joy and enthusiasm : he loves his football, Hampton School awaits, and ManU on top of the Premiere League. He is a dedicated swimmer and can count his best friends on one hand which, Moe once told me for myself, counts him for a lucky man. I could not be more proud of Eitan.
Madeleine: "Mom, would you have wanted to get a dog?"
Sonnet: "It was three against one. I didn't stand a chance."
Madeleine: "Can we let Rusty upstairs?"
Sonnet: "No. I draw the line."
Madeleine: "Three against one. You don't stand a chance."
Sonnet:
Me: "I would back off on this one, kiddo."
Madeleine: "Is it true David Cameron wants to bring back the cane?"
Me: "Did you read that in the newspaper?"
Madeleine: "Eitan told me. He said David Cameron wants to cane some kid in school."
Me: "I think you're safe."
Madeleine: "Eitan was probably lying anyway."
Me: "Probably."
Madeleine, after a thoughtful pause: "But I wanted to make sure."
Madeleine: "Why do they have poisonous snakes on a farm?"
Me:
Madeleine: "I guess they can have anything on a farm. If it's Australia."
at 08:55
Thursday, September 29
Coaster
I join Rob and Sloan for rosh hashanah which, my Dad must tell me, is the Jewish New Year equalled only by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. I have many things in my life and religion not one of them. Dinner joined by two neat families with kids about same as Sophie , gives me a big hug, and Jaimes and ours; afterwards we catch each other up : Sloan's exec advisory business jamming and Rob's trade finance business in vogue as returns consistent during troubled times. We sit outside drinking in the warm evening , white wine, admiring the view. California, baby.
at 21:53
Wednesday, September 28
San Francisco Is For Lovers
at 23:18
The Lawyer
The opponents of Prop 8 then filed a suit in Federal Court in San Francisco claiming the law a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The Federal Court judge agreed. The proponent of Prop 8 then filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A question existed at that point as to whether they had "standing" to pursue the action in as much as the California Governor (Schwarzenegger) and the California Attorney General (Jerry Brown) agreed with the Federal Court Decision and refused to join in the appeal.
The 9th Circuit Court of appeals then sent the case to the California Supreme Court to determine if, under California law, the proponents of Prop 8 have standing to pursue the appeal. The decision has not yet issued but, in oral argument, the justices seem to suggest that the proponents have such standing. If the Calif Supreme Court rules in this manner, the case will go back to the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. This court will, then, decide the issue of equal protection under the law on the merits.
It is likely that, whatever the 9th Circuit decides, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case on a request for appeal. If the US Supreme Court decides that the California Prop 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, all state bans on marriage between gays and lesbians will cease.
Moe thinks the case will reach the Supreme Court by 2013, if not earlier.
at 23:10
Sam
at 19:23
Tuesday, September 27
Maggie To The Rescue
at 14:20
Monday, September 26
All Aboard
Still, on the other side of my journey is Berkeley and my parents+childhood friends, a few timeless running trails and, there in the distance, seen from the bay windows of the house I grew up in, is that defining construction: The Golden Gate Bridge; just beyond her, the Pacific Ocean and the setting sun.
at 04:11
Sunday, September 25
5 A Side
Me: "This darn pooch. He never listens - Heal, Rusty!"
Madeleine: "Dad, he's having a pee. That is so mean."
Me: "The dog has to listen."
Madeleine: "That would be, like, if there was a free house that you really wanted and your dad did not let you buy it."
Me: "But if it's free, I don't have to buy it. ."
Madeleine: "Whatever. You know what I am saying."
Madeleine: "What would happen if we put Tommy in a rocket ship?"
Me: "He would be one freaked out hamster."
Madeleine: "Yeah. Do you think it would be fun to be in outer space?"
Me: "I don't know. It might be kind of scary."
Madeleine: "I would definately not want to be an astronaut."
Me: "Well, what do you want to be?"
Madeleine: "I don't know."
Me: "Well, what are some things you like doing. You know, things that don't feel like a chore."
Madeleine: "Legos?"
Me: "Maybe you could be an architect? You know, build buildings and stuff."
Madeleine: "Maybe. I like lizards."
Me: "A vetrinarian. You love saving animals."
Madeleine: "Do they get to play with lizards?"
Me: "The only problem with a vet is that you would have to put your hand up a cow's ass."
Madeleine: "To take an elephant's temperature, they put the thermomemeter in the elephant's butt."
Me: "Just make sure you don't have to put your hand in a cow's ass."
Madeleine: "Maybe. Thanks, Dad."
at 09:48
Saturday, September 24
Celia
My Friday afternoon : Dash across Surrey to retrieve Rusty from the kennel (traffic); dash home to pick up Madeleine and Zara for swimming (traffic); dash to South Kensington to see Sonnet interview Celia Birtwell at the V A (traffic!); then across town to Simon and Diana's new house on The Mall, in Chiswick, overlooking the Thames, for dinner which , BTW, interrupted so Diana can take a call from Barack Obama, which she puts on speaker phone.
Rusty in the coop as we finish the kitchen floors in the never-ending interior design project. The dog likely more comfortable than us.
Celia Birtwell, a CBE, meanwhile, has been in our house since the Ossie Clark exhibition in '03; she was Ossie's partner - he doing the style and she the textiles, which are known for their distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, which draw influences from Picasso, Matisse and from the classical world, she tells Sonnet and us. Celia particularly famous in the '60s and '70s for prints which epitomised the glamour of the hippie era. She has been described as 'the face that launched a thousand prints' and 'the most important textile designer of her generation'. After a period away from the limelight, in the 21st century she has returned to fashion , partnering with UK retailer Top Shop in '06 and opening a new shop on Westbourne Park Rd.
Sonnet's interview praises Celia's work , and complements the museum, which owns a large collection of her designs. The audience, sold-out on a Friday evening, young and cool : one dude in orange wingtips, red trousers, orange blouse and orange beenie; another, a Jap , in black turtleneck and clunky glasses. Loves it. There are platform shoes galore and big hair styles; the afterwards q&a covers David Hockney to internships; one lady asks if women over 50 can wear her designs? Yes! says Celia. We are all beautiful. And we are.
Eitan: "Can't you just get Rusty now?"
Me: "What do I do during the day?"
Eitan: "I dunno. Work?"
Me: "Yep."
Eitan: "Well you can still do it."
Me: "What do you think I do - faff about and read books?"
Eitan: "Is that a real question?"
Me: "And money grows on trees. Do you believe that, too?"
at 11:06
Friday, September 23
Notes from Nepal
Had an earthquake last night. I was cooking southern baked beans from scratch after we discovered a smoked ham hoc for sale by a Russian couple at an organic Sunday market up the way. The pressure cooker had just started to hiss when the room started rockin. We live on the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors of a concrete apartment building with another family below. We could hear them yelling to get out. My friend Michelle in one swift motion swiped up her 3-year old, Alice, and started bolting down the stairs – which were shaking noticeably. Our Oklahoma 25 year-old volunteer paused and ran back to turn off the gas on the beans. She was braver than I was because I was right behind Michelle. We all spilled into the street with everyone else and watched the lamp posts dance for about another 30 seconds. Took about five minutes for everyone to calm down and start back up the stairs. Reports were that a much larger earthquake in India at around 6.9 sent waves down a shared fault line. Rough estimates are that by the time it hit the city it was at about 4.5. An already crumbling wall at the British embassy collapse and reports are that it killed 11.
Photo from the web.
at 12:41
Thursday, September 22
The Pasty Company
The West Cornwall Pasty Company, here at Waterloo station, is a fast food chain selling "pasties" : A butter pastry case filled with beef, sliced or diced potato, yellow turnip and onion, seasoned with salt and pepper, and baked. It is the food most associated with Cornwall, regarded as its national dish, and accounts for 6% of the Cornish food economy.
at 13:41
V A : Postmodernism
EXHIBITION: This is the first in-depth survey of art, design and architecture of the 1970s and 1980s, examining one of the most controversial phenomena in recent art and design history: postmodernism. It shows how postmodernism evolved from a provocative architectural movement in the early 1970s and rapidly went on to influence all areas of popular culture including design, art, music, film, performance and fashion. By the 1980s consumerism and excess were the trademarks of the postmodern.
The exhibition explores the radical ideas that challenged Modernism; overthrowing purity and simplicity in favour of exuberant colour, bold patterns, artificial looking surfaces, historical quotation, parody and wit and above all, a newfound freedom in design. See over 250 objects across all areas of art and design and revisit a time when style was not just a ‘look’ but became an attitude.
“I mean, I'm 48 years old and I've been through a lot in my life - you know, loss, whether it be death, illness, separation. I mean, the failed expectations... We all have dreams.”
at 11:49
Susan
at 11:03
Tuesday, September 20
Lizard Skins
I am up for my 7AM run across Concorde, through Touilerise then along the Seine until Île de la Cité and around Notre dame; then back along the Right Bank , under the Louvre and then the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel , and finally the US Embassy and Le Crillon then my hotel. All this inside four miles. Unfortunately my achilles wrecked from my 2009 marathons and I no longer enjoy pain free running. Without the bounce, each step "flat" and by the end I feel, well, 44 years old.
As the Hermès Parisian store across the street on rue du faubourg saint-honoré, I am tempted to buy my favorite beauty artifact: an Hermès tie. The company's designers spend years creating new print patterns, individually screen-printed with vegetable dye. Each added color dries for a month before the next color is applied. Designers chose from over 200,000 different colors. Every man knows when the other wearing one.
Me: "Do you want to see a pair of $20,000 shoes?"
Eitan: "No way!"
Madeleine: "And they aren't even matching."
Eitan: "They're made of lizard skin?"
Madeleine: "Cruel!"
Eitan: "Killing a lizard to make shoes..."
Madeleine: "Tell me about it."
at 20:38
Sunday, September 18
McDonald's Corp
"
In 1968, McDonald's operated about one-thousand restaurants. Today it has about thirty-thousand restaurants world wide and opens almost two-thousand new ones each year. An estimated one out of every eight workers in the United States has at some point been employed by McDonald's. The company annually hires about one million people, more than any other American organization, public or private. McDonald's is the nation's largest purchase of beef, pork and potatoes - and the second largest purchaser of chicken. The McDonald's Corporation is the larger owner of retail property in the world. Indeed, the company earns the majority of its profits not from selling food but from collecting rent. McDonald's spends more money on advertising and marketing than any other brand. As a result it has replaced Coco-Cola as the world's most famous brand. McDonald's operates more playgrounds than any other private entity in the United States. It is one of the nation's largest distributors of toys. A survey of American school children found that 96% could identify Ronald McDonald. The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus. The impact of McDonald's on the way we live today is hard to overstate. The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian Cross. (Photo from the web)
Holy catfish.
at 13:03
Elm Grove, Game 1
Eitan's first game with Elm Grove a success: 3-2 vs. Kings Park Royals, who were No. 2 in the Premiere Elite last season.
Eitan plays "striker" then "defensive back" , both unusual positions for him , requiring a new feel for the action. The boy plays his heart out. Unfortunately Eitan called for a hand-ball as the game's final moments and Kings Park scores on the penalty as the whistle blows. He could not have avoided it and his coach and team mates console him. Eitan shares "Man of the Match ".
Says he: "I was anxious and excited before the game, and so a bit shaky during the first bit , but then got more confident by the end."
at 12:47
So Rocha
at 07:57
Saturday, September 17
Rough House
Madeleine: "I know what we can do about the Christmas tree."
Me: "The Christmas tree?"
Sonnet: "You said you never wanted to see another Christmas tree in the house. Because it makes a mess."
Me: "I did?"
Madeleine: "We can get a fake one! Then there will be no leaves."
Me: "A fake Christmas tree?"
Madeleine: "Yeah! And we can use it over and over again."
Me: "Good plan."
Madeleine: "Thanks, Dad."
Me: "And why don't we put it on the roof of the house during the rest of the year?"
Madeleine: "Can we?!"
Sonnet: "Your Dad is just joking, Madeleine. Jeff now stop that."
Me: "Who said I was joking?"
Madeleine: "Do you think a fast dog or a slow car is faster?"
at 09:33
Friday, September 16
Chump Change
Really, these banks : a "rogue" trader in "Delta One" blows $2 B from the UBS balance sheet. This is a shitload of money for one guy even with the billions and trillions sloshing around to save our banks and i bankers. Since you asked BTW : Delta One creates securities that allow retail clients to instantly trade indices or other underlying assets like gold or shares, as closely as possible, which is not easy to do for the average punter. The banks responsible for hedging these exposures (hence , balance sheet exposure). The profit is made from the hedges and margins or fees from clients. If the trade goes wrong, or the hedge not applied, the bank can lose a lot of money. The only good news from the UBS debacle is, once again, it suggests that i banks should be separated from commercial banks.
Three years ago Lehman went under. Three other banks failed, too : Citibank, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. Without government intervention, our economy would have stopped, ie, we would not have had an economy. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
at 15:38
Wednesday, September 14
CYD
Me, I had a vintage '73 BMW 2002 in college, purchased from a Brown prof with my own money in '87 , and only 25K miles. Unfortunately I was no mechanic and the machine spent some considerable time in the shop : like the time a water hose burst and melted the engine rods on the fist-day of classes with me caught at a cross-walk between the Sci Li and the engineering center. Not only embarrassing but costly : repairs about what I paid for the thing. Still, behind the wheel, I felt like a million bucks : young entrepreneur, in college , cool car. Life, ahead.
The Jaguar E-Type manufactured by in Britain between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing established the marque as an icon of 1960s motoring. A great success for Jaguar, more than 70,000 E-Types were sold during its lifespan.
In March 2008, the Jaguar E-Type ranked first in the Daily Telegraph's list of the "100 most beautiful cars" of all time. In 2004, Sports Car International magazine placed the E-Type at number one on their list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s.
at 20:13
Tuesday, September 13
Butty
Eitan realises mom not around so begs for a chocolate chip cookie, and I relent, followed later by lollies. Kids and sugar. I read an article that sugar is toxic which is not surprising as US sugar consumption increased from 30 pounds a year in 1980 to 84 in 2009, in line with obesity and diabetes. 16% of an American's daily caloric intake now comes from sugar additives, up from 11% in '77. Teens (ages 14 to 18) consume 129 lbs a year. Think about this at the grocery store as you handle a pound of it. A Dairy Queen Health Blizzard BTW has 24 added teaspoons of sugar; 20 oz Pepsi: 17. M&M's have 7 and one oreo: 3.5 (Sources: US Dept of Ag, Company websites)
"A chip sandwich, chip barm, chip cob, chip butty, chip muffin, piece-n-chips (Scottish), or hot chip sandwich (Australian) is a sandwich made with bread or bread roll (usually white and buttered) and hot chips (i.e. French fries), often with some sort of sauce such as ketchup or brown sauce. It was originally considered a working-class meal and was served in pubs. The word butty is a contraction of 'bread and butter', that came from northern England, perhaps Yorkshire or Liverpool. Variants include chip bap or barm, using a floury bap or barm cake instead of white sliced."
at 18:26
Monday, September 12
Whoop!
at 16:51
Friday, September 9
Larry Lieberman
That was the beginning of what became known as "block busting."
As African-Americans started to move into nearby homes, real estate agents offered nervous white residents low prices to move out. The agents then sold the homes to black families at higher prices and high interest rates.
"All the white families other than mine moved away," recalled a daughter, Denise Lieberman of St. Louis.
Larry Lieberman was appointed to the City Council in 1965 and was elected the following year. He served for a total of 29 years, with a 10-year break in the middle. He fought block busting and championed fair housing laws in University City, which became one of the first municipalities in the state to adopt an open-housing ordinance.
Lawrence Lieberman died Wednesday (Sept. 7, 2011) at Barnes-Jewish extended care facility in Clayton. He was 85 and was diagnosed in February with congestive heart failure, his family said Thursday.
Mr. Lieberman was the only son of two Russian immigrants who opened a corner grocery on the south side of Chicago during the Depression. They gave credit to so many hungry neighbors that they nearly went broke.
They were the only Jewish family in the neighborhood. Young Larry was short and carried a violin and often had to run home to avoid being beaten by neighborhood bullies.
At 18, Mr. Lieberman left college to serve as a radioman on the Indianapolis and other ships in World War II.
He returned to the University of Illinois, where he noticed Joy Orenstein on her first day on campus. He immediately asked for a date, proposed a month later and they married a year later.
They moved to her hometown, University City. He became a civil engineer at McDonnell Douglas and worked on the space and defense programs.
On the City Council, Mr. Lieberman cast the tiebreaking vote to give Joe Edwards the liquor license that enabled him to open Blueberry Hill in 1972.
"Larry was one of the few who thought that Delmar would come back," Edwards recalled. "He supported me then and over all these years."
Mr. Lieberman also supported the business district on the Olive Street corridor, now known for its many Asian shops and restaurants.
On race relations, Mr. Lieberman was always at the forefront of fighting for equality, recalled Paul Schoomer, a former book store owner who served on the City Council with Mr. Lieberman.
"In municipal politics, individuals don't do things," Schoomer added. "Decisions are collective. But he was brilliant at helping to form coalitions and consensuses."
Former state senator Wayne Goode recalled Mr. Lieberman's "caring nature about people. He always tried to do things well, do things right."
Mr. Lieberman was president of the Missouri Municipal League, president of the St. Louis County Municipal League and served on the governor's Council on Aging.
His wife, Joy Lieberman, served 24 years on the University City School Board.
Mr. Lieberman retired from the City Council in 2004. He continued to publish his popular "U City News" newsletter, which frequently described events in a sentence or two.
"He just got right to the point," Edwards said.
Survivors in addition to his wife and daughter include another daughter, Sharon Cohn of Tucson, Ariz.; three sons, David Lieberman of Portland, Ore., Mark Lieberman of Denver and Daniel Lieberman of Normandy; and nine grandchildren."
at 10:27
Thursday, September 8
Slow Burn
Here are some further, astounding, stats from Uncle Sam :
-America's entitlements (SS, Medicare and Medicaid) in 2010 equaled India's GDP, the 9th largest economy in the world
-US interest payments would be 188% higher at historical rates (30 yr average) of 6%, which would add an $290 B to the 2010 budget (and $370 B to 2009)
-57% of US tax-dollars go to entitlements, 20% defense, 16% "other" and the remainder, 6%, to Interest
-America spent $97 B on education in 2010 and $724 B on healthcare or 7.5X more on healthcare
Is this the right way to spend our money?
Young people had better wake up and , at the very least, vote.
at 13:43
Self Portrait XX
Madeleine and I walk the dog in Richmond Park.
Madeleine: "Can we talk about geckos?"
Me: "Sure. Aren't you going to get a Leapard gecko?"
Madeleine: "I like them but I would have to feed them a baby mouse. Every month."
Me: "Really?"
Madeleine: "Yes. They would be frozen."
Me: "That doesn't sound too bad. I bet they are like a gummy bear. You eat those, don't you?"
Madeleine: "A gummy bear dead mouse? Right, Dad."
Me: "I'm just suggesting. ."
Madeleine: "It would still be a dead mouse. And I couldn't do that."
Me: "You love animals, don't you?"
Madeleine: "Yeah."
at 09:16
Wednesday, September 7
Counter Terrorism
Members of China's armed police demonstrate a rapid deployment during an anti-terrorist drill held in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province July 2, 2008, roughly one month ahead of the Beijing Olympics.(Xinhua/Fan Changguo Photo)
US counter-terrorism spend since 9/11: $1 trillion (The Economist; estimate, true figures top secret and unknown). There is little to no oversight, either. Hi-tech equipment, often developed for Iraq or war, now used by contractors on US citizens outside the law and without a warrant, as reported by the Washington Post. The largest US anti-terrorist facility located next to the Baltimore airport and a massive complex housing communications, equipment and people and multiple programs outsourced by the Government often without Congressional approval. "Wastage" could be greater than 60% of expenditures.
"[After 9/11] The government said, 'We're facing an enemy we don't understand, we don't have the tools to deal with it, here's billions ... of dollars and a blank check after that for anybody with a good idea to go and pursue it,' Not only does the government find it difficult to get its arms around itself, [but now] it doesn't know what's inside, it doesn't know what works, it doesn't know what doesn't work. And nobody still, 10 years later, is really in charge of those questions."
--Dana Priest, co-author "Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State" and Washington Post reporter
at 13:17
Cord - Healthcare - A quote
Here are the bullets on American healthcare you should know (source KPCB.cm, USA Inc.) :
- More Americans on government healthcare programs than ever : 1 in 50 received Medicaid in 1965. 1 in 6 in 2009
- Medicaid enrollment up 12X and benefits have increased 4X since 1966
-Enrollment has grown faster than the population over 40 years (12X vs 1.6X)
-Healthcare costs rising: 1.2% to 8.2% of GDP from 1960 to 2008, respectively (or 7X increase)
-We outspend other nations in healthcare: US healthcare spending equals all 34 OECD countries (our Western World peer group) combined
-Yet this investment not paying off: the US ranks #1 in MRIs, #30 in obesity and #22 in heart attack
And it won't get better somehow : Aging population+declining work support. Case study #1: Japan. Case study #2: Greece
Sonnet attends traffic school for various driving violations : Quote from her course leader, Angie, who says, in all seriousness with an East End accent, "You may think you're going out for a drive to admire the bluebells, but it's really the Killing Fields out there".
at 09:10
Tuesday, September 6
School, Day 1
at 08:31
Monday, September 5
Swoosh
I have known Laurance since the Internet go-go years when he started a company that made it out of block but failed to cross the finish line, like many of us early Internet jockies. From London he moved to San Francisco and investing, married in Carmel Valley, and bought a chunk of land off Lucas Valley Road which looks over rolling hills to the bay. I had no idea you could still do this sort of thing. Laurance designing, and building, a house so he and his wife take an architecture class. Now that, we can all agree, the way to go about it.
Me: "Are you ready to go back to school?"
Madeleine: "Yeah, I'm really excited about it."
Me: "Great, what are you looking forward to most?"
Madeleine: "Art class on Thursday. Every Thursday, at lunch, I think: Art class is next and I am really happy."
Me: "It's nice to have things like that."
Madeleine: "Yeah. But sometimes I don't like Sundays though."
Me: "Me, too. I used to get really anxious. All that work ahead."
Madeleine: "Do you still have that?"
Me: "Not as much but sometimes. Monday is my second favorite day of the week. B/c I can get stuff done."
Madeleine: "What's your first?"
Me: "Friday."
Madeleine: "Me , too."
at 18:54
Sunday, September 4
4 and 44
And a reality check : here are the things I like about 44 :
Not worrying about what I will become. For most of my 20s all I wanted was out of what I was doing. My 30s : more of whatever it was. Now : it is what it is. A Chinese proverb, or so I was told 20-years ago by a Chinaman: "At 45 you know your destiny"
Loneliness: gone with Eitan
Financial security : some years good, others close. Badda-bing, badda-boom. Same as it ever was
Interesting, fabulous, friends in lots of cool places
Local state primary school
Being the oldest at a concert and not caring. Going to a concert
Health : wife and kids. Mine, too
Making a perfect martini or Dukes
Having exactly the dog I have always wanted
Reading Gravity's Rainbow with 40 pages to go. Not caring ten years later
Comprehensive health care insurance. That didn't happen until, like, too recently
The world's important museums inside walking distance along the Thames
Lake Alpine, Big Trees and the Rockies' Western Slope
Going from 20-strokes for a 25 yd swimming lap to 12.
Five perfect photos from 1000s
The Globe theatre, Claridges and Richmond Park
Summer solstice
Not living in Ohio
The New Yorker
Sonnet
And things I don't:
Cal football: 53-years, no Rose Bowl
Running : tendinitis , both Achilles
London's cost of living. Most drivers
The Underground
Winter sunrise, 9AM
Not being near the Pacific Ocean
Failing to break 3-hours in the marathon
Anything beyond the M25
The Republican Tea Party
Pining for the California of my yuf
"Every age has its charms"
at 20:21
Saturday, September 3
Jaws
So me and the boy and Jaws. Inconveniently England plays Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifier when we wish to watch the film and I tell Eitan: "Now or never" so we go with the shark. I am pretty sure he can handle it, BTW, save the first seen where the women gets munched in horrific fashion ("It hurts! Oh, God, it hurts!") but Eitan more concerned by any nudity. By the time Quint chomped in two (blood spurting from mouth, mouth making funny sounds like "Arrgghh!" and "Glurgleglurgle!") we are familiar with severed legs, eyeball-less skulls and a 12-year old going under.
Afterwards I ask Eitan about the experience and he shrugs. No nightmares, either. This morning he is at a five-a-side football tourney representing his primary school. They end up second out of 25. How strange it will be, one day, when he and Madeleine off to college or where ever they go ?
at 19:33
Friday, September 2
Madeleine Bakes
Madeleine : "Chinese food."
Me: "Any particular dish?"
Madeleine: "Dim sum."
Me: "Anything else?"
Madeleine: "I like pasta pesto."
Me: "Coolio."
Madeleine: "Dad, do you know if we have sea salt? We have to put it in."
Me: "Put it in what?"
Madeleine: "In here." [points to her Tomato pesso]
Me: "What's the difference between sea salt and any other salt?"
Madeleine: "I don't know."
Me: "Does one taste more like the sea?"
Madeleine: "Yeah, I guess."
Kamila: "This one says 'from Atlantic.'"
Me: "Do you want to be left to your work?"
Madeleine: "Yes, please."
at 14:38
Eitan Cooks
at 13:52
Thursday, September 1
Mayfair
Green Park in London's Mayfair : beautiful people in expensive clothes. Everyone and everything on display : Range Rovers! Models! Ferraris! Mini-skirts! Toned physiques! At Cecconi's, where I breakfast, I recognise at least four investor heavyweights who munch on toast and drink coffee : Back to the salt mines, dude. England snaps to : the final summer bank holiday ushers in autumn, new school and old industry.
Europe's cycle differs from America which pretty much works all year round with a mere two-weeks vacation, on average, and Mom and Dad both holding jobs. Britain, by contrast, shuts for August along with France, Germany and Italy while the Scandis gone for July. The Greeks and Spaniards : well, they never work at all. London's streets become navigable as traffic down maybe 15%; I get a seat on the train. Tourists pop up everywhere. The citizens chillax.
Taking advantage of summer's end , Eitan at Cyrus's over-night b-day party (probably doing maths tables) and Madeleine invites Marcus for an overnight : as Marcus has two older brothers, this like heaven for each. They watch a movie stuffing their faces with butterscotch "popcorn."
at 19:04
Ortho
Eitan, for his part, all for braces or, at least, not concerned by the dentist who does work for the Chelsea squad and friends with Frank Lampard, Drogba and Stevie "G" (Of Liverpool). Eitan thinks this is cool. I think it means Expensive.
Aftewards we walk along Parsons Green in Fulham to a cafe for hot chocolate, pictured. Eitan a delight and all sorts of curious in the innocent way a (soon to be) 11-year old can be. He refuses to discuss girls or puberty and I probably force too much on him but, as I tell Eitan, I would rather he be embarrassed now than ignorant later.
at 18:21
Wednesday, August 31
Glee
Me: "What do you think Madeleine will be like as a teenager?"
at 10:57
Bond
at 09:47
Tuesday, August 30
Mont Fort
at 21:15
Readers
Justin and I hang a print (behind the kids) - real man's work, which requires a new drill, leveler and various other power tools. I apply my metro-sexual as we contemplate this, and other hangings, in the apartment sans fee, as I indicate to Natalie.
Me: "This is good cake."
at 21:12
Verbier !
Surrounding Verbier, further up the mountain and above the village, are 400 km of hiking trails, covering the chamois and ibex through the mountains, some of them covered with snow all year round. I see a number of healthy middle-age and elderly people powering along with sticks or ski poles eating fromage or salami and skipping to their joie de vivre. They will live forever. Another 200 km of mountain bike piste , carved into the mountainside, offers sweeping views of everything below. Our luck with us, too, as the weather mostly pristine accept a few puffy clouds on Saturday that break the endless blue.
Photo, from Nat and Justin's deck, of wester Pennine's Grand Combin - at 4,314 meters, one of the largest mountains in the Alps - eternally covered by snow and glaciers (hidden by the cloud bank).
at 17:45
Thursday, August 25
15 Short Years
at 12:01
Wednesday, August 24
William Bradford
at 12:35