I am trying to post more… trying out new blogware.

I am in San Diego for some training – staying at the posh Manchester Grand Hyatt by the Marina and Seaport Village (with a nice view of the harbor and two aircraft carriers). Normally, when KingKongRahRahRah and I travel, we do it on the CHEAP – this decadent lodging typically only happens for us when the company pays for it… I wistfully remember the days when KingKongRahRahRah would take the week off and join me for these conferences – I see other conference attendees with their wives and babies and regret not asking mi Familia to join me.

I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much since San Diego is so hyped but I am impressed in spite of myself. I got in Friday and after registering for the conference and training, I headed over to the Gaslamp Quarter to walk around – quaint, but horribly touristy.

Well, San Diego is nothing if not sunny – and those of you that know me also know how sleepy I get when I’m in the sun for any length of time… I broke down and bought a pair of sunglasses since mine at home are broken anyways.

I trekked up the hill to Balboa Park (see picture above) and what a gem of an urban park! The only other city I’ve been to with a park of this magnitude in close proximity to the urban core like this is NYC. In any event, I finally made it up to the parking lot at the Park and was grateful for the Tram stop’s cool shade – the random kindness of a stranger netted me a free “Balboa Park Passport” with free tickets to most of the museums in it.. The tram driver said an Annie Leibovitz Exhibit (Newsweek Article) was showing at the San Diego Museum of Art and as fate would have it, my free Passport had a ticket to the exhibit!

Seeing images that helped shaped my (and my generation’s) experience and views of our world had a profound effect on me… thus far, the one image that had the deepest impact is a black-and-white of a fallen bicycle in the street and to the lft is what looks to be a large brush stroke with a striking likeness to that of Chinese calligraphy – starts off to the left of the bicycle and wraps underneath and around it off the picture. I started getting a sense of what the picture was about but it was not until I read the title that my heart sank: “Fallen Bicycle of Teenage Boy Just Killed by a Sniper”…

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I am in San Diego for some training -staying at the posh Manchester Grand Hyatt by the Marina and Seaport Village (with a nice view of the harbor and two aircraft carriers). Normally, when KingKongRahRahRah and I travel, we do it on the CHEAP – this decadent lodging typically only happens for us when the company pays for it… I wistfully remember the days when Angela would take the week off and join me for these conferences – I see other conference attendees with their wives and babies and regret not asking mi familia to join me.

I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much since San Diego is so hyped but I am impressed in spite of myself. I got in Friday and after registering for the conference and training, I headed over to the Gaslamp Quarter to walk around – quaint, but horribly touristy.

Well, San Diego is nothing if not sunny – and those of you that know me also know how sleepy I get when I’m in the sun for any length of time… I broke down and bought a pair of sunglasses since mine at home are broken anyways.

I trekked up the hill to Balboa Park (see picture above) and what a gem of an urban park! the only other city I’ve been to with a park like this is NYC. In any event, I finally made it up to the parking lot at the Park and was grateful for the Tram stop’s cool shade – the random kindness of a stranger netted me a free “Balboa Park Passport” with free tickets to most of the museums in it.. The tram driver said an Annie Leibovitz Exhibit (Newsweek Article) was showing at the San DiegoMuseum of Art and as fate would have it, my free Passport had a ticket to the exhibit!

Seeing images that helped shaped my (and my generation’s) experience and views of our world had a profound effect on me… thus far, the one image that had the deepest impact is a black-and-white of a fallen bicycle in the street and to the lft is what looks to be a large brush stroke with a striking likeness to that of Chinese calligraphy – starts off to the left of the bicycle and wraps underneath and around it off the picture. I started getting a sense of what the picture was about but it was not until I read the title that my heart sank: “Fallen Bicycle of Teenage Boy Just Killed by a Sniper”…

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Robert Parker’s “Jack of two grapes, master of both” (Executive Life Sept. 4th) described the flavors he found in the listed wines: flowers, raisins, plums, figs, incense, Asian spices, cedar, spice box, dried herbs, creme de cassis, licorice, graphite, black olives, black carrots, blackberries, smoke, barbecue spice, tapenade, acacia, roasted meat, pain grille. Is he serious or joking?

I like wine and as a relative vino n00b, still figuring out what I do/don’t like, what I’m actually tasting, etc., etc., But I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t like the taste of “cat pee” in my wine (yes, you read that right – believe it or not, that’s actually a taste attributed to some wines). Well, I found this blog entry on Vinography had some very good practical ways of helping us hone our tasting skills.

Vinography: What is that darn flavor?

Highlights include:

- You can take 3 ounces of toothpaste on board your next flight, but that doesn’t mean you can take that half-used 6-ounce tube that has only 3ounces left in it.

- Hand lotions, mascara and hair gel are OK, but they also cannot be in containers larger than 3 ounces.

- And they all have to fit inside one clear plastic quart-size bag — with a zip top.

For more, click >>*HERE*<<

So, what does this mean? I don’t know, but I said all that to say this… I want one of these!

From ThinkGeek.com

Ok, so I don’t really have to have one, but how cool is a USB powered Cylon Snowman? Frosty ain’t got nut’n on this! (BTW, I really really don’t need one as we are already fast running out of space in our tiny condo).

Really though, I look forward to our first Holidays together as a family and pray that we have many good ones to come.

http://www.visitborders.com/index.php?c=A

Caveat: 10% on electronics/video games; must spend $10 or more; cannot be combined, etc.,

I bought a baby sign language book the other day and forgot to check my coupon sources first – I’ll probably go back and ask to get the discount retro’d and applied.

It is funny how things become tradition – a way of honoring warm, cheerful times or paying respects to tragedy. We hold fast to the good memories (of the bunny suit) and keep a cold bottle of Tremens Delerium at the ready.

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Meringues (photo by Christina Hankins)

I got to the counter, asked for a meringue, and to my utter disbelief, I was told they no longer make them! Those wonderfully flavored morsels featuring a chewy, “nougaty” center encased in an airy, crunchy shell were an anchor of sanity during my dieting wilderness.

Until having one of these, I had never given meringues a second look. But today, I mourn the passing of a great dessert – one that “was too difficult to make consistently well because of too much personnel turnover” (or at least that was the line dished out).

Paired with a latte, this was one truly divine experience and Seattle is poorer for losing this underrated treasure. If anything, this is an eloquent plea to savor beauty and flavor while you can.

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La Familia – Casa de la Chen (photo by JHLi)

Hopefully, this will help remove some of the roadblocks to blogging. More to come…

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