Obesity Can Be Contagious

I heard this on the news earlier this week and fluffed it off- I mean come on!

It did however peak my interest. Here is an article from the NY times. Research shows that your friends can make you obese. Interestingly neighbors and family members do not have a similar effect.

Visual Journal Pages II

Home with the sniffles today. Here are some recently created pages.

Visual Journal Pages I

Here is a sample of pages created this summer. It is an interesting exercise for me to use images and not just words.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I've been on the library waiting list for ages for this new book by Khaled Hosseini, and finally got my hands on it this weekend. I read the book in almost one sitting, and in certainly less than 24 hours. It's the story of 2 women in Afghanistan. We meet each woman as a child and follow their individual stories until their paths intersect. Written in a deceptively simple style, this story traces the lives of these women, their hopes and dreams, their heartaches, their loves and losses.

I don't think it was amazing as "The Kite Runner", but would recommend it.

Recent Reads

One of the great joys of a vacation for me is the oodles of reading time available. I love curling up with a good book, and the sheer joy of being able to simply loose myself for hours in a good read is delightful.

1. Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
My book club book for June. I love other works by the author, so was really looking forward to a great read. Was very disappointed. The idea of a story in 3 parts with the same characters is fun, but I simply could not get into this book - and when one of the characters turns up as a giant lizard from another planet in the 3rd story - he totally lost me.

2. Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Took me a little time to get into this book - it needs a good solid couple of hours for the story to really start to gel, but once I was in, I was hooked. A fun read about the mishaps of adventure travel, with a dash of problems in Burma. Told in quintessential Amy Tan style.

3. Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy
A quick read about characters in a little town in Ireland. Not as interesting as some of her other books, so would not recommend it, but is probably an good beach read - nothing too dark or complex.

4. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
There is so much hype about this book I thought I'd give it a read. It's a New Age self-help book centered about the "Law of Attraction" - in a nutshell, you attract to you what you think about or focus on. Some interesting quotes, but the writing is atrocious - what is with all those exclamation marks?

5. A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
A reunion story - best friends from high school gather 27 years later for a wedding in the Berkshires. Story of regrets, missed opportunities, lives contiued without each other. An interesting read, if only to imagine what it would be like to meet up with my high school buddies again.

Latest Audio Book

2nd Chance by James Patterson

The second in the series of 5 of the Women's Murder Club. Not great literature by any means, but not bad for listening to on the commute. It's funny how much I've gotten used to listening to an audio book while I drive. I've taken a break this week to listen to music for a change. Feels very different.

From Amazon.com:
2nd Chance reconvenes the Women's Murder Club, four friends (a detective, a reporter, an assistant district attorney, and a medical examiner) who used their networking skills, feminine intuition, and professional wiles to solve a baffling series of murders in 1st to Die. This time, the murders of two African Americans, a little girl and an old woman, bear all the signs of a serial killer for Lindsay Boxer, newly promoted to lieutenant of San Francisco's homicide squad. But there's an odd detail she finds even more disturbing: both victims were related to city cops. A symbol glimpsed at both murder scenes leads to a racist hate group, but the taunting killer strikes again and again, leaving deliberate clues and eluding the police ever more cleverly. In the meantime, each of the women has a personal stake at risk--and the killer knows who they are.

Hate No More

Did you know that there is a hate crime committed every hour in this country?

It would mean a lot to me if you would take a look at this brief video and write your sentors. Just click here to send your message to congress.

Thank you.

Happy Summer Solstice

We are also celebrating an anniversary. One of the cool things about our relationship is that we do not have set dates for our celebrations. The dates vary depending on when the events fall in any given year.

Happy Anniversary babes.

Bygone Days of Travel

While at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park, came across this exhibit of Air Hostess uniforms over the years. Times certainly have changed.
(Click on pics to enlarge)

Latest Audio Book

1st to Die by James Patterson

Not sure that I have read James Patterson before, though I know that he is a very popular mystery writer. This is the first in a series of books involving the Women's Murder Club. A little too cutesy in some respects - reads like mystery chick lit - but interesting enough for a commute. I did figure out who dunn it - so was not really a surprise.

The most annoying thing about the book is the reader - they really can make or break an audio book. Completed the book yesterday, and started on the second in the series this morning.


From Amazon.com:
The Women's Murder Club pits four San Francisco women professionals against a serial killer who's stalking and murdering newlyweds in bestselling author James Patterson's newest thriller. Lindsay Boxer is a homicide inspector who's just gotten some very bad news. She deals with it by immersing herself in her newest case and soliciting the personal as well as professional support of her closest friend, who happens to be the city's medical examiner. The two women, along with an ambitious and sympathetic reporter and an assistant DA, form an unlikely alliance, pooling their information and bypassing the chain of command in an engaging, suspenseful story whose gruesome setup is vintage Patterson. "What is the worst thing anyone has ever done?" the killer muses to himself early in the narrative. "Am I capable of doing it? Do I have what it takes?" Answering his own question, he embarks on a murderous spree that takes him from the bridal suite in a Nob Hill hotel to a honeymoon destination in the Napa Valley and thence to a wedding reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Dispatching his victims on the happiest day of their lives, he purposefully leaves enough clues for his distaff trackers to discover his identity and put him behind bars. But just when the women think they've got the case all wrapped up, the killer turns the tables on them in a bloody denouement that even the most discerning reader won't see coming. Patterson, author of the popular Alex Cross mysteries, promises future adventures for the Women's Murder Club, which may give him an opportunity to develop his heroines' characters more completely and win new fans among those who prefer their detectives in high heels and lipstick.

San Diego Sojourn

The annual DAC (Design Automation Conf) was in San Diego this year, and I was out there for the week. As trade shows go, it was okay. Location was fantastic. The guide books list San Diego weather in May/June as gloomy days - but we had lovely weather the entire week. If this is what gloomy looks like, I'm going to have to go back for sunny days! Why is it that I do not live there again?

We spent the first half of the week at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. My room had the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I'm not kidding. I'm going to have to call them and ask them who makes it. The room on the 14th floor of the Harbor Tower looked out over the marina and the bridge to Coronado. The hotel is right next to Seaport Village and a couple of blocks from the convention center and good restaurants.

We moved to the Balboa Park Inn for the second phase of the trip, and stayed at the Orient Express Room - red walls, a Chinese marriage bed, strange decorations, very loud location and a weird "dead body" smell. Great location though - right next to Balboa Park - which we spent a couple of days exploring. I think we got used to the strangeness of the room - it got quieter on Friday and Saturday nights, and the smell faded after we aired out the room overnight. If you ever stay there - skip the breakfast and find yourself something good to eat.

This was our first time exploring Balboa Park. I had visited the Zoo on an earlier trip, so this time explored the museums and grounds. Quite delightful. I was in awe of all the really cool flora in the park - never seen most of it before. Loved the park. Especially great for picnics and hanging out. The Jacaranda trees have purple flowers out there. Fig trees grow to immense sizes. The carousel has an actual brass ring.

My pal Jos came down from LA for a quick visit, and we got a chance to catch up. Saw the Padres beat the Dodger at Petco Park. Had excellent fish tacos at Tin Fish. Did a lot of walking, and no reading. All in all a fun trip. Came home to find the cat well, if a little leaner. Feels like I was gone for a long time. Glad to be home.

Recent Reads

Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson

Quick, delightful read. The story of a blossoming friendship between 2 women generations apart in age. A wonderful recounting of the path to intimacy.

From Publishers Weekly
In Swedish novelist Olsson's somber debut, Veronika Bergman returns to Sweden after a childhood following her diplomat father around the world (her mother abandoned the family), and after publishing her first novel titled Single, One Way, No Luggage. She rents a small house in a rural town to work on her second, but in solitude finds herself seized by feverish dreams and paralyzed by the "stillness" of the landscape and the memories of her recently dead fiancé. Reclusive septuagenarian Astrid Mattson, thought by the village to be a witch, takes an interest in Veronika, and the two strike up a friendship based on loss. Against the backdrop of the changing seasons and their small, plangent houses, the two women slowly tell each other their most closely guarded secrets (which concern their mothers and lovers), and venture, tentatively, out of the safety of their routines. Olsson has a clear feel for the emotional wellsprings of both characters, but can't convert her terse lyricism into a fully realized story.

Home Again

I spent the past several days in Croydon, UK. My cousin Reena (the youngest on my father's side) got married on Saturday, and it was lovely to catch up with relatives that I have not seen in ages. Her father (my godfather) was diagnosed with cancer late last year, so the entire weekend was rather bittersweet.

I stayed at the Travelodge - great prices with very basic services. There were no phones in the room, or anywhere in the hotel - other than the one the front desk used! It certainly made it interesting trying to sync up with others staying at the hotel - you could not just call them, you had to physically go to their rooms. Needless to say, a few wrong doors were knocked upon :-) When I asked the front desk for an iron, I had to leave a deposit - like I was going to steal the iron, and bring it back across the pond with me. It turns out however, that the 30 irons they started out with have dwindled down to about 10 - who would bother to steal them? Someone clearly.

Latest Audio Book

"PS I Love You" by Cecelia Ahern

Classic "chick lit". A cute story, though I was annoyed by all the "giggling, crying, etc". Stuck it out though - a very different fare than what I usually listen to. Completed it this morning, and am glad that I did - though cannot say that I recommend it. Though if you are in the mood for a sappy story, this might be right up your alley.

From Publishers Weekly
Ahern, the mediagenic 22-year-old daughter of Ireland's prime minister, debuts with a sweet, sentimental tale of a young widow's trials and triumphs in the year after her husband's death. Soul mates Holly and Gerry married in their early 20s; when Gerry dies of brain cancer at 30, Holly is utterly bereft. But Gerry has a final gift: a series of letters, which Holly is to open on the first of each month from March to New Year's, and which will guide her on her journey from grief. Gerry correctly predicts that Holly will not have gone through his belongings by June, found a new job by September or considered falling in love again by December, but with his posthumous epistolary encouragement she does all those things. She also enters a karaoke contest, takes a beach vacation and dances at a holiday ball she'd always attended with Gerry. The months pass as close friends help prop Holly up; around her, a marriage falls apart, a couple gets engaged and a friend announces her pregnancy. Within her tight-knit family, Holly's youngest brother makes a revealing film of her birthday party, her elder brothers change places in her allegiance and her parents take in one stray grown child after another for stays short and long. Ahern's speed (she wrote the book in three months) and her youth do show-the wisdom in evidence owes much to Nicholas Sparks and Sophie Kinsella-and her prose is pedestrian. She boasts a natural storytelling talent, however, resulting in a compelling tale sparked by an unusual premise.

Quotes of the day

"No matter what's ahead - no matter what I do or don't do, no matter what comes to me or what's taken away - I'm going to die anyway. So what is there to be afraid of? Why all this terror and clenching? Like the trees before the bulldozer, I'm going down. I might as well yield."
- from "LEAP!" by Sara Davidson

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor."
- Mark Twain

Rainy Days

We are currently in a rainy pattern, and I am delighted.
This has been a tough allergy season, and I am hoping that all the pollen gets washed away. Would be lovely to be able to take a deep breath outdoors again.

Ten wonderful things about rainy days:
1. Don't need to hunt for those sun-glasses
2. It's fun to play with umbrellas
3. The world looks so shiny and clean, and smells great too
4. Perfect excuse to make a fire and curl up with a great book
5. Also a perfect reason to stay in bed and read all day
6. Ideal day to explore museums, bookstores, libraries
7. Excellent for an indoor arts and crafts activities
8. Fun to splash in puddles
9. Instant car wash - and mine really needs it
10. Instant access to new, fleeting reflections.

Latest Audio Book

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid

Listened to this book on CD on my daily commute, and really enjoyed it. It's a good story and the narrator has a great reading voice - which can make or break an audio book in my opinion.

From Publishers Weekly:
Hamid's second book (after Moth Smoke) is an intelligent and absorbing 9/11 novel, written from the perspective of Changez, a young Pakistani whose sympathies, despite his fervid immigrant embrace of America, lie with the attackers. The book unfolds as a monologue that Changez delivers to a mysterious American operative over dinner at a Lahore, Pakistan, cafe. Pre-9/11, Princeton graduate Changez is on top of the world: recruited by an elite New York financial company, the 22-year-old quickly earns accolades from his hard-charging supervisor, plunges into Manhattan's hip social whirl and becomes infatuated with Erica, a fellow Princeton graduate pining for her dead boyfriend. But after the towers fall, Changez is subject to intensified scrutiny and physical threats, and his co-workers become markedly less affable as his beard grows in ("a form of protest," he says). Erica is committed to a mental institution, and Changez, upset by his adopted country's "growing and self-righteous rage," slacks off at work and is fired. Despite his off-putting commentary, the damaged Changez comes off as honest and thoughtful, and his creator handles him with a sympathetic grace.

Happy Mother's Day

I've had this photo of my Mom on my mind the past several days. Due to my amazing :-) organizational skills, I was able to quickly find it - no small feat, since this was back in the day I still used film.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms.

Soccer Girls

Photos from my last trip to Vegas. It's amazing how creative I can be while waiting. Really love how the colors turned out.
Click on pics to enlarge.

12x24 LO:











Detail of Left and Right pages:

Jonah

Here is a page I created while waiting for the Verizon DSL guy to show up and fix my connection problem. I am lucky to have such great models at my disposal.