When I moved from my last house to my current one, we ditched almost all our furniture because it cost so much to ship around the world. The interior decorator suggested a custom made chair, side table, pillow, and lamp to tuck into a corner by the window. It would be what you see coming in my front door, in the distance beyond the foyer framed by the back windows.
“It’s a vignette”, she said. And she’s the decorator, so we went with her suggestion.
She was right. It was beautiful - tastefully done and coordinate with everything around it.
It’s been five years now. My cat Lychee now has a very, very expensive bed to nap.
Where’s the place that you typically nap (intentionally or not).
Sad story on this subject, working on a unit, trying to get it ready for inspection, my electrician tells me me it'll be ready by Monday, so I call the City to set it up. The guy at City reminds me that Monday is a holiday, and I reply "that holidays have no meaning now", and he sadly agrees.
You're mostly correct, but I still take a day off from work occasionally. It's to have some time, like today, when you don't have to do your day job. On they other hand, it's true you can't do most of the things you would ordinarily do, like go out to eat, see a movie, go bowling, visit Hawaii...
I learned about this only recently, when I looked him up on Wiki after I thought I read that he'd had a love affair with Cora Jane Flood. It turns out that her love affair was with his son. At any rate, yay Presidents from Ohio!!!
When I visited Grant's Tomb in NYC a couple of years ago, the ranger was saying how the whole tomb was privately funded because Grant was actually really popular then, before his reputation became damaged partially due to the Southern states rewriting history during the Civil Rights era (when all the confederate statues went up). I was briefly inspired to read the then new Grant biography by Ron Chernow but never did that. I think Chernow is part of this miniseries on the History Channel this week.
He was the first American president to visit China. He stayed in the Astor House when he was here - and also made statements criticizing the colonial attitudes of Westerners in China (he went to HK, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing).
My first trip to Shanghai, I, as well, stayed in the Astor House. But I stayed in the 50 RMB ($8) a night dormitories - this was 1997.
Finally finished Homeland (which closed on a relatively high note IMHO) and started on Billions (because I got Showtime to finish the last season of Homeland). Binged The Loudest Voice (the Roger Ailes miniseries that won Russell Crowe a Golden Globe) over the weekend. Maybe I'll have to watch that Bombshell movie on the same subject.
Also viewed recently, the documentary Palio on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy. That race had a cameo in Quantum of Solace (one of the Daniel Craig 007 movie). This movie kind of fulfilled a bit of that sports doc void after The Last Dance. I guess I'll get to the Lance Armstrong doc at some point.
The last couple Modern Family episodes were good. Finished up the stories in a nice tidy bow.
How to Get Away with Murder, like I would expect, had a good twist in the series finale.
The Blacklist was in the middle of shooting an episode so they interspersed actual scenes with animated scenes to finish up the episode and make it the season finale.
All I have left now are the last 5 episodes of Homeland.
So I just scooted through ZeroZeroZero on Amazon Prime, which surprised me bc it’s pretty damn intense. The 8 episodes weave together various storylines, with a large shipment of narcotics at the center...definitely R-rated but a good drama.
mapo tofu - i went to the "original" place in Chengdu (more likely the first restaurant to get famous with it) and had it. It lit my hair on fire even when I asked for mild spice.
sounds good. we need some new recipes around here. the kids are starting to complain about the variety of dinners even though the food is the same as it ever was and generally good.
No 1 made it a couple of times with lamb and said it was really good. I haven't had a chance to try that change yet.
A few new things I've tried are fried chicken sandwiches with a homemade Chick Fil-a sauce, General Tso's chicken (I was surprised the sauce was pretty close to a restaurant since it used water as a base with the other seasonings), buttermilk biscuits, scones, and homemade chicken noodle soup when it was colder. No 2 is super picky so it makes it harder to come up with things he'll eat.
I don't know about you but quarantine fatigue seems to be building quickly now. I suspect social media will reinforce people's behaviors and we'll all be gathering in small groups pretty darn soon.
It's been hard on my son as all his teenage friends have been getting together and posting on Instagram.
My son's GF's brother is allowed to have his GF over. His mother isn't allowing him to go see any of his friends. I think once school is over he may start throwing with his best friend and start getting his arm back in shape in case baseball starts back up this summer. He wants to find a team to go to showcases since he'll be a senior next year.
Some traders returned to the floor of the NYSE today. Can anyone explain why anyone ever returns? It seems like this is a function that can permanently be done electronically, and probably more efficiently that way.
Spent most of it outside doing some overdue tasks (power washing the house, waxing the car, maintaining/marking some local mountain bike trails) and recreation (smoking a slab of beef, reading outside, riding the bike). A great benefit of a long, cold spring is that we still don't have mosquitoes (or at the very least, they're not biting me), so it's a great time to be outside.
oh waxing the car. I was thinking of doing that for the miata. Not sure how to get rid of the dried bugs on the hood and the bumper. I bought this stuff that is supposed to get rid of them and it didn't work. Saw another product on youtube that isn't available in Ca due to the VOC content. Wasn't sure I wanted to use a clay bar because I'm not sure how thin the clear coat is.
we rented a house w/ my sister-in-law's family at Lake Wallenpaupuck, which is one of the seemingly larger lakes in the Poconos. it was our first foray into spending time in close quarters w/ others. we figure that family is the easiest way to go.
in the end, the cousins had a nice time hanging out, we have some actual drinking companions, and we rented a pontoon to float around the lake for most of Sun.
also, i took my road bike along and rode around the lake, about 30 miles. nice scenery but super hilly for how seemingly flat it should be. i was basically either going straight up or straight down most of the time. very few flat sections.
now we are considering another house rental over Jul 4th somewhere w/in driving distance.
I thought that lake name sounded familiar so I hit up maps and confirmed that I did know the name, from driving past the exit on I84 when I take the scenic route home from Vermont
I’m wondering if my wife and daughters will crack enough that they’ll want to try something similar later this summer. I’m being suitably diligent about limiting my time in enclosed spaces and wearing a mask and yet as the person most likely to have a bad experience with the ‘rona I’m apparently the least concerned about being in the world.
Pretty slow. Just went shopping and took the long way around to the stores. Caught up on TV shows that I hadn't finished watching for the season. Slept in.
Very, very quiet. Got a lot of garden work done and watched some golf and racing. Weather took a downturn yesterday, but will rebound for the work week, before apparently getting soggy just in time for the weekend.
The only interesting thing I did this weekend was watch Mad Max: Road Warrior on Friday night, Saturday we watched Mad Max: Fury Road as compare and contrast. G. Miller think he "fixed" the original, but I don't quite agree. I think the first one has a better, more logical plot, the second one is a glorious action bonanza, but is largely plot-free, so I can't agree it's better. Better looking for sure, it is spectacular action and visuals. So stuff that didn't occur to me the last time I'd seen MM:RW was how the punks look so 1980's that it dates a futuristic movie (not good) and some of the "acting" by the bad guys is painfully bad.
OTOH, MM:FR despite its good qualities has plot holes you could drive a semi through (and Furiosa does just that) and they cleverly get to have their cheesecake and eat it too, with both a feminist story and five scantily clad freed sex slaves.
Did some masked and socially-distanced cherry picking, went for a long ride on Sunday, and yesterday had a stroll in Tilden. Did a puzzle, relaxed. All in all, a nice weekend.
I think I went out around 3 or so. It was pretty warm with the top down. The lawn over by the Brazilian room had people out there but they seemed to be practicing social distancing.
Yep!! It was really nice out, and there were a decent number of people out there, but it's a big orchard and everyone spread out and followed the rules.
It was good to finally get a couple sunny, warm days. Memorial Day weekend is usually the Rolling Thunder motorcycle event around DC but it was cancelled this year, unrelated to the pandemic, so it was pretty quiet for once. Yesterday morning I saw a motorcade on Memorial Bridge heading into DC from Virginia. I thought it was Trump after a visit to the cemetery because it had the telltale ambulance at the rear. But later that morning I saw him on TV laying the wreath so not sure who was in the motorcade I saw.
I think it’s a “not west coast thing” inasmuch as I never heard of it until I moved East. It’s also now time to wear seersucker and white bucks. If you’re that way inclined.
It's an old fashion custom...traditionally white is worn between Memorial Day and Labor Day, back when people rode everywhere in carriages and marriages were arranged, etc. (the cynical me says circa Cal's last Rose Bowl appearance.... )
I saw a woman wearing white pants in Southern California Sunday and wondered "Really, you couldn't wait one just more day?" Maybe she didn't get the memo...
It's rarely observed anymore, as white jeans and pants are everywhere year round, though they're definitely more prominently featured on the West Coast and Florida (warmer environs).
i agree. everyone loves to hate jar-jar in the first movie. but in the end it was a pretty good movie as it fills in a tons of details on a very long story arc.
Some years ago was a milestone anniversary of Taps being written. There was a project to play it at the same time all over the place. I went next door to Arlington Cemetery and found a place to sit. People had stationed themselves all over the cemetery and I just listened as everyone played. Was nice.
Interesting! The French-speaker in me naturally tends toward the more francophone version :) The indoor vs. outdoor distinction seems like a reasonable approach though.
DBD - This is Tuesday's DBD, but I posted early.
That was totally done on purpose.
Yeah.
The powers that be gave you posting privileges! Excellent.
I mean, it was either me or a semi-trained monkey. The monkey wanted equity.
Just on Singapore time?
Makan time, izzit?
Sometimes I am so blur blur like sotong.
Wah steady, man, your engerish very powderful.
Sad story on this subject, working on a unit, trying to get it ready for inspection, my electrician tells me me it'll be ready by Monday, so I call the City to set it up. The guy at City reminds me that Monday is a holiday, and I reply "that holidays have no meaning now", and he sadly agrees.
"Funny thing about weekends when you're unemployed/They don't mean quite so much/'Cept you get to hang out with your workin' friends/
I completely shut down my customer laptop so that was a holiday by any measure.
You're mostly correct, but I still take a day off from work occasionally. It's to have some time, like today, when you don't have to do your day job. On they other hand, it's true you can't do most of the things you would ordinarily do, like go out to eat, see a movie, go bowling, visit Hawaii...
TIL: Ulysses S. Grant's middle name is "Ulysses". His real first name is Hiram.
The S. is actually an error that was never corrected.
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-ulysses-s-grant
I learned about this only recently, when I looked him up on Wiki after I thought I read that he'd had a love affair with Cora Jane Flood. It turns out that her love affair was with his son. At any rate, yay Presidents from Ohio!!!
Article in question: https://150w.berkeley.edu/women-who-built-berkeley-campus-virtual-tour-1
When I visited Grant's Tomb in NYC a couple of years ago, the ranger was saying how the whole tomb was privately funded because Grant was actually really popular then, before his reputation became damaged partially due to the Southern states rewriting history during the Civil Rights era (when all the confederate statues went up). I was briefly inspired to read the then new Grant biography by Ron Chernow but never did that. I think Chernow is part of this miniseries on the History Channel this week.
I'm really looking forward to watching the miniseries
A Grant miniseries? Where?
History channel. Last night, tonight, tomorrow. It's produced by Leonardo DiCaprio: https://www.thedailybeast.com/leonardo-dicaprios-big-middle-finger-to-the-confederacy
I don't get cable so I'm going to have to find a way to stream it.
Cool! I can loan you the book, it's quite good.
A little “light-reading,” Chernow-style.
Sweet!! Thanks :)
I knew that, then he was described as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant for the answer he gave at the battle of Ft. Donaldson in TN.
He was the first American president to visit China. He stayed in the Astor House when he was here - and also made statements criticizing the colonial attitudes of Westerners in China (he went to HK, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing).
My first trip to Shanghai, I, as well, stayed in the Astor House. But I stayed in the 50 RMB ($8) a night dormitories - this was 1997.
Stock market up big today. Highest since March 4th.
Money is like water. It will quickly flow to the asset class with the best outlook for near-term returns.
DBD AV club
Finally finished Homeland (which closed on a relatively high note IMHO) and started on Billions (because I got Showtime to finish the last season of Homeland). Binged The Loudest Voice (the Roger Ailes miniseries that won Russell Crowe a Golden Globe) over the weekend. Maybe I'll have to watch that Bombshell movie on the same subject.
Also viewed recently, the documentary Palio on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy. That race had a cameo in Quantum of Solace (one of the Daniel Craig 007 movie). This movie kind of fulfilled a bit of that sports doc void after The Last Dance. I guess I'll get to the Lance Armstrong doc at some point.
I've got the last 5 episodes of Homeland. I may try to finish them up this coming weekend. Can't wait.
I was supposed to go to the Palio this year...had a sweet AirBnB booked, with day trips planned and everything. Big time bummer.
That does suck
The last couple Modern Family episodes were good. Finished up the stories in a nice tidy bow.
How to Get Away with Murder, like I would expect, had a good twist in the series finale.
The Blacklist was in the middle of shooting an episode so they interspersed actual scenes with animated scenes to finish up the episode and make it the season finale.
All I have left now are the last 5 episodes of Homeland.
So I just scooted through ZeroZeroZero on Amazon Prime, which surprised me bc it’s pretty damn intense. The 8 episodes weave together various storylines, with a large shipment of narcotics at the center...definitely R-rated but a good drama.
Started watching Normal People on Hulu. 5 episodes in -- this may be a masterpiece.
Also finished up Devs, which was good if you like mind-scrambling sci-fi stuff. I did not know it was filmed at UC Santa Cruz before watching!
i read Normal People and thought it was one of the best i had read in awhile. didnt realize there was a show.
I really loved her first book, Conversations with Friends (though the subject is unrepentant adultery, so you have to be prepared for that).
We are watching:
Dead to Me
Reply 1988
The Last Dance
Clone Wars
Cheers (on the second season now)
The special quarantine episode of Mythic Quest was the best thing ive seen on tv this year - aside from episode 5 of Mythic Quest.
Something made with tofu
What's pretty good is just raw, soft tofu cut up with a little soy sauce and sesame oil.
I like the serving with century egg
I think my mom used to do that as well. It was always a little weird to me. She used to also put it in congee.
mapo tofu - i went to the "original" place in Chengdu (more likely the first restaurant to get famous with it) and had it. It lit my hair on fire even when I asked for mild spice.
I found a pretty good version from Gourmet magazine that I like to make.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spicy-sichuan-tofu-em-mapo-doufu-em-242878
sounds good. we need some new recipes around here. the kids are starting to complain about the variety of dinners even though the food is the same as it ever was and generally good.
No 1 made it a couple of times with lamb and said it was really good. I haven't had a chance to try that change yet.
A few new things I've tried are fried chicken sandwiches with a homemade Chick Fil-a sauce, General Tso's chicken (I was surprised the sauce was pretty close to a restaurant since it used water as a base with the other seasonings), buttermilk biscuits, scones, and homemade chicken noodle soup when it was colder. No 2 is super picky so it makes it harder to come up with things he'll eat.
I always like dropping a little chopped tofu into a bowl of ramen.
Must I?
Today in CV19
I don't know about you but quarantine fatigue seems to be building quickly now. I suspect social media will reinforce people's behaviors and we'll all be gathering in small groups pretty darn soon.
It's been hard on my son as all his teenage friends have been getting together and posting on Instagram.
My son's GF's brother is allowed to have his GF over. His mother isn't allowing him to go see any of his friends. I think once school is over he may start throwing with his best friend and start getting his arm back in shape in case baseball starts back up this summer. He wants to find a team to go to showcases since he'll be a senior next year.
I suspect you’re right. My daughters have been doing a good job of appropriately spaced chatting / walking with friends so that’s helped them a bit.
Meanwhile, in the Ozarks:
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/st-louis-county-travel-advisory-lake-ozarks-coronavirus/63-c7c4ed30-5fdc-451a-a833-2fb2e7a161cc?ref=exit-recirc
No one that was at the pool parties will voluntarily quarantine for 14 days.
No one that was at those pool parties will quarantine, voluntary or not, for 14 minutes.
They're going to run out of Darwin Awards trophies this year
Marty and Wendy would have soooo much to say about this....
Some traders returned to the floor of the NYSE today. Can anyone explain why anyone ever returns? It seems like this is a function that can permanently be done electronically, and probably more efficiently that way.
They were lonely?
How was your long weekend?
Spent most of it outside doing some overdue tasks (power washing the house, waxing the car, maintaining/marking some local mountain bike trails) and recreation (smoking a slab of beef, reading outside, riding the bike). A great benefit of a long, cold spring is that we still don't have mosquitoes (or at the very least, they're not biting me), so it's a great time to be outside.
oh waxing the car. I was thinking of doing that for the miata. Not sure how to get rid of the dried bugs on the hood and the bumper. I bought this stuff that is supposed to get rid of them and it didn't work. Saw another product on youtube that isn't available in Ca due to the VOC content. Wasn't sure I wanted to use a clay bar because I'm not sure how thin the clear coat is.
great for the most part.
we rented a house w/ my sister-in-law's family at Lake Wallenpaupuck, which is one of the seemingly larger lakes in the Poconos. it was our first foray into spending time in close quarters w/ others. we figure that family is the easiest way to go.
in the end, the cousins had a nice time hanging out, we have some actual drinking companions, and we rented a pontoon to float around the lake for most of Sun.
also, i took my road bike along and rode around the lake, about 30 miles. nice scenery but super hilly for how seemingly flat it should be. i was basically either going straight up or straight down most of the time. very few flat sections.
now we are considering another house rental over Jul 4th somewhere w/in driving distance.
I thought that lake name sounded familiar so I hit up maps and confirmed that I did know the name, from driving past the exit on I84 when I take the scenic route home from Vermont
I’m wondering if my wife and daughters will crack enough that they’ll want to try something similar later this summer. I’m being suitably diligent about limiting my time in enclosed spaces and wearing a mask and yet as the person most likely to have a bad experience with the ‘rona I’m apparently the least concerned about being in the world.
Pretty slow. Just went shopping and took the long way around to the stores. Caught up on TV shows that I hadn't finished watching for the season. Slept in.
Very, very quiet. Got a lot of garden work done and watched some golf and racing. Weather took a downturn yesterday, but will rebound for the work week, before apparently getting soggy just in time for the weekend.
It was super hot this weekend. Yesterday was low/mid 90s here and probably high 90s in Concord/WC.
The only interesting thing I did this weekend was watch Mad Max: Road Warrior on Friday night, Saturday we watched Mad Max: Fury Road as compare and contrast. G. Miller think he "fixed" the original, but I don't quite agree. I think the first one has a better, more logical plot, the second one is a glorious action bonanza, but is largely plot-free, so I can't agree it's better. Better looking for sure, it is spectacular action and visuals. So stuff that didn't occur to me the last time I'd seen MM:RW was how the punks look so 1980's that it dates a futuristic movie (not good) and some of the "acting" by the bad guys is painfully bad.
OTOH, MM:FR despite its good qualities has plot holes you could drive a semi through (and Furiosa does just that) and they cleverly get to have their cheesecake and eat it too, with both a feminist story and five scantily clad freed sex slaves.
Did some masked and socially-distanced cherry picking, went for a long ride on Sunday, and yesterday had a stroll in Tilden. Did a puzzle, relaxed. All in all, a nice weekend.
Maybe I drove right by you. I took Wildcat Canyon from Orinda to get to Berkeley Bowl. YIL Berkeley Bowl is closed for Memorial Day.
Ha, perhaps! We waited until it was cooler in the evening. Surprisingly (and thankfully) Tilden wasn't too crowded.
I think I went out around 3 or so. It was pretty warm with the top down. The lawn over by the Brazilian room had people out there but they seemed to be practicing social distancing.
Where did you cherry pick? Brentwood?
Yep!! It was really nice out, and there were a decent number of people out there, but it's a big orchard and everyone spread out and followed the rules.
It was good to finally get a couple sunny, warm days. Memorial Day weekend is usually the Rolling Thunder motorcycle event around DC but it was cancelled this year, unrelated to the pandemic, so it was pretty quiet for once. Yesterday morning I saw a motorcade on Memorial Bridge heading into DC from Virginia. I thought it was Trump after a visit to the cemetery because it had the telltale ambulance at the rear. But later that morning I saw him on TV laying the wreath so not sure who was in the motorcade I saw.
Melania’s double
Just popped some Porto's (bake at home) cheese rolls in the oven...yumyumyum
This would normally be the start of white pants season:
1) sanctimonious: Memorial Day is about honoring the dead, not about barbecuing, and you should all be ashamed for enjoying a long weekend
2) modern: the fashion rules are about weight, not color
3) pandemic: WHO EVEN WEARS PANTS ANYMORE
I admit to being completely oblivious. Never heard of white pants season.
It's what women in tampon ads inevitably wear.
I think it’s a “not west coast thing” inasmuch as I never heard of it until I moved East. It’s also now time to wear seersucker and white bucks. If you’re that way inclined.
With coronavirus is it seersucker PJs for zoom calls?
You don't need coronavirus to bust our seersucker pajamas if you're Rishi.
We don’t do video calls for work so it’s a moot point
City Inspector wants to conduct an inspection with MS Teams. Blargh.
It's an old fashion custom...traditionally white is worn between Memorial Day and Labor Day, back when people rode everywhere in carriages and marriages were arranged, etc. (the cynical me says circa Cal's last Rose Bowl appearance.... )
I saw a woman wearing white pants in Southern California Sunday and wondered "Really, you couldn't wait one just more day?" Maybe she didn't get the memo...
It's rarely observed anymore, as white jeans and pants are everywhere year round, though they're definitely more prominently featured on the West Coast and Florida (warmer environs).
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
PRO
CAL
Public Disclosure of COVID-19 Cases Is More Effective than Lockdowns
https://www.newswise.com/coronavirus/public-disclosure-of-covid-19-cases-is-more-effective-than-lockdowns/?article_id=732046
Already sent to j.lee!
Yeah but I don't think we could do that here even if it's effective.
Hot take of the day:
Jar Jar was completely annoying in the movie, but actually kinda funny in the Clone Wars.
i agree. everyone loves to hate jar-jar in the first movie. but in the end it was a pretty good movie as it fills in a tons of details on a very long story arc.
History shows that George Lucas needs other people to help shape his ideas.
Any former Cal Band members going to play Taps today at 3 pm?
Some years ago was a milestone anniversary of Taps being written. There was a project to play it at the same time all over the place. I went next door to Arlington Cemetery and found a place to sit. People had stationed themselves all over the cemetery and I just listened as everyone played. Was nice.
It used to play every day at 5 PM on the AFB (recorded)
Sometimes in the media room, or outside on a chaise lounge on the patio.
Not 100% sure, but I thought it's supposed to be "chaise longue", which is French for "long chair"?
That's the French way, but the American way is chaise lounge.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/chaise-lounge-or-chaise-longue
Interesting! The French-speaker in me naturally tends toward the more francophone version :) The indoor vs. outdoor distinction seems like a reasonable approach though.
Oh yes, your native language, French.
I certainly don't recall saying it was my *native* language. There are obviously a lot of borrowed words in English [shrug]
Never, unless I'm sick.
This is the TBB Signal!
I have but one couch and it is where I nap.
I hope you take this in the spirit it's intended:
zzzzzzzzzz
I have two couches, but only one is a nap couch.
I have a couch that usually has the pup and.or a cat napping on.