Roman Meanderings

For those who know me, don't worry, I did dedicate an entire afternoon of being a tourist instead of a shopper! I was very impressed with myself, albeit motivated by the fact that my parents had not previously visited Rome. I feel some guilt for not getting them down the Appian  Way or catacombs and, well, many classic touring destinations. However, they did get the Ancient Rome walk, several days of Pantheon stalking (excellent shopping district), and the last Vatican Museum trip ever in my life. Seriously, Vatican Museum tourists represent the worst. It is a rabid dash through all the apartments, Sistine Chapel, and amazing artifacts of all cultures, checking off in their heads that they've officially seen it, illegally snapping photographs that are far worse quality than simply buying the Vatican book. I suppose the crappy snapshots prove they were there? I have no idea. My poor mother was standing in Raphael's apartments studying the ceiling paintings only to nearly knocked over and elbowed on many occasions. Bleh. Hopefully their experience in the Treasury today won't be as stressful to simply appreciate art and history.

Ellie was very successful in finding 95% of the toy shoppes in Rome, along with the carousel. I love how Rome and Paris places their carousels in the optimal historical areas, in this case next to Castel S'Angelo, for some lovely photographic backdrops!

We are winding down our meanderings...this is the last day of shopping with the emergence of slow packing. I have just a couple more things on my list that I can get on Cola d' Rienzo later this afternoon, and then sink into the realisation that while I'm excited to get back to my new house and start the moving process, the reality of life returns in full force. I have started my preparation process by getting my hair tamed with a local salon, which was an interesting experience given the language impasse, but the results were very nice and it's a good start to feeling fresh for the crazy January ahead of me.

Christmas Thoughts....

It is indeed a lovely Christmas Day! There was a lovely little nip in the air as people start meandering from their Christmas mornings into the cafes for prosecco and finger foods, in which I readily embraced. We walked down to the bazaar that would open later tonight (above), and then puttered home for more wonderful finger foods (salami, olives, cheese, marzipan, etc.) and the amazing cake you see below.

The sky was absolutely beautiful with a bright moon late in the afternoon at the Vatican. My parents loved the Vatican, which was very busy with people coming and photographing the Nativity and watching the various services. Our challenge was to keep Elle off the pillars and out of the gratings...everywhere except where deemed suitable. 

The final walk home involved the pizzeria with the behemoth beer that Eric so readily embraced. He seemed to forgive the lager long enough to enjoy something slightly less than a pitcher :) 

As we close on our Christmas Day and move forward into the New Year; I muse about what the holidays represent, and what they mean to me. I recognise how fortunate we are, as a family, to get the freedom of choice for career and living. The bottom line for us is the reality of options. While I could date back to certain decisions that provided the current positive outcome in our lives, there is a certain amount of good fortune as well, and I consider the hypothetical results of falling into one of the many suffering groups within the "system". A classic example would be the widows who lost their homes in the housing crash because their husbands had the temerity to die and the banks refused payment because it was the dead husband who had the loan, causing foreclosure. What would happen with our systems if we took people as individuals and worked with them based on their circumstance instead of falling back onto rules of the system, whichever or whatever system of point. What would happen if we respected people as individuals, and not lumped them in XYZ group with passed judgement?

Also I think people have a personal accountability to be aware of others' needs. What would happen if everybody, even the poor, took a responsibility in ratio of ability to help those in more need? I'm not suggesting that we put personal enjoyment and go into sacrificial mode like Mother Theresa, but maintain awareness of others, and help when the opportunity is obvious. While I've sworn off New Years Resolution since they never work for me, I do have a certain resolve to be more aware of the needs for others, as well as work on what systemic influence I can have in my dissertation as a starting point. Quitting my job effective January 31 is the tipping point, in my opinion, for what I can do in my career as a scholar practitioner, with more time dedicated to applied research, writing, conferences, and active studies. It will be an incredibly different year this time, with growing excitement and openness of my responsibility and respect to others as individuals.

"Busy sidewalks...."

My imagined perfect Christmas Eve is the acting out of one of my favourite songs, Silver Bells. Focusing on the "Busy sidewalks, city sidewalks" along with several other phrases that fit but I can't remember, The Roman Italians certainly agree. I didn't quite believe it when my first Christmas here was the same, but now I know it for truth. It is the quintessential shopping day without the more familiar suburbia's blaring horns, rude people, overstuffed stores in a mall with noxious fumes that cross crappy Chinese food with Bath & Body and threaten everybody's wellbeing. Instead, it's in the 50s-60s for a nice light jacket, hitting the streets filled to the brim with gelato, busy yet un-annoyed people,  and wonderful shoppes (not to mention being in a beautiful city). Lines are long for the last minute prosecco, cheese, and salami, but very forgiveable as you realise that you're standing in Rome with delectable delights on Christmas Eve.

Shopping was a completely mad success. Tights, trousers, long sweaters, shoes, belt, leather mouse pad, and gifts for friends rounded out my list nicely. Eric has a complete wardrobe overhaul on top of my success, which is overdue. Happily, my parents positively influenced him to go for more stylish shoes. That is not to suggest that he wears out-of-date clothes; his metrosexual ego would be bruised. However, he has been officially nudged into the next stage of style :)

Piazzo Navona has a winter festival, where again, I thought was somehow just a fluke during our last Roman Christmas; but no, it seems consistent. Due to visits in Rome during the "regular" time of the year, I know that Navona is typically full of artists, but once again, the Christmas season has all the fair games, carousel, trinkets, and cute little immediately made crafts, such as animals made of grass leaves, cotton candy, Nutella crepes, and anything else you could imagine in a European version fair. My prizes are a wide blade grass frog and butterfly, which currently adorn the potted red flowers serving as our Christmas tree.

The day was nicely wrapped up with a thorough review of purchases and gifts, and deliciously fresh snacks (olives, chocolate, and undetermined bread type snack) from the local bazaar in "our" piazzo down the street.

Tomorrow promises to be a quiet, musing day full of great foods and drink we've collected, companionship, and nice walks.

Moments in Time: Maltese Reflections

Nesting only a few blocks north of the best (affordable) shopping streets EVER in Rome (Cola di Rienzo), it's exciting to start the next part of our holiday. Celebrating Christmas so near the Vatican was something that I did not expect to repeat, so it is with all my hopes that we can get my parents into the Christmas Eve service that we so enjoyed previously.

However, before delving into all of that and sharing endless shopping orgasms for the next week, let me take a few minutes to reflect on some of poignant photos indicative of our different experiences in Malta! I'll have the full album set up when I return for those who want to dredge through a couple hundred photos between Malta, Gozo, and Italy, but for the "bottom line folks" (such as myself), I thought this a valuable post!

Classic imagery of Elle and me - one leaping child in constant motion with the focused fast walker trying to serve as both anchor and propeller.

While no pets or bicycles seem likely candidates for exclusion in the child's playground, there is a certain appreciation one must have that stilettos are also banned. I love the issues that Europeans must manage :)

This is a good capture of pure happiness in a favourite area of the world!

While some areas of the country may boast of friend chicken recipes on their linen, I found common Maltese dishes to be fun, such as rabbit, lampuki, and octopus. Sidenote: they are all very good!

A tired Elle announces she is done walking and plops in the nearest wee fishing boat until everybody finishes the market day experience!

There are some things that will never change regardless of location. Sitting outside some boathouses in Gozo, Elle still finds rocks amazing and Marian still finds reading relaxing.

The Hobbit ... in Malta!

Once again, Peter Jackson relieves my mind. I feared a quick little tale filled with comic relief with cameos of our favourite LOTR characters. I could not imagine how they could have multiple releases for The Hobbit (read the story....pretty cut and dried!). However, his inclusion of Tolkien lore to set up a better perspective of why the The Hobbit happened really justifies the length. If this is kept up, the transition into the LOTR will be flawless. Instead of the feared 'cute' cameos, it becomes very clear of the power these characters have, yet how much difference can be made "in the small things", as Gandalf predicts when Galadriel asks "why the Hobbit" in reference to this particular quest.

Personally, this was an extra meaningful moment in the history of Tolkien films. Ten years ago, Eric and I came down here to Malta from our Devon wedding for our honeymoon and saw the first release of the LOTR series in Valetta. Our anxiety that the Fellowship would be sold out required early stalking of the theatre with assumptions we'd have a major fight on our hands to get decent seats. In reality, the theatre was nearly empty with only American and Japanese tourists filling the few used seats in quiet reverence to the unfolding brilliance. Now, we embark on the Hobbit series on the same island. I was less anxious about masses descending on all three theatres on Malta given our experience with the Fellowship, but still remain in shock how low of a priority the Maltese have towards Tolkien films.

A note about the Maltese approach to movies. We went to a northern theatre several villages away from the tourist area, so these attendees were only Maltese. These people do NOT take movies seriously. I could provide an essay on the lack of respect the locals have for proper movie attention, but sufficing for a small example, these Maltese ladies behind us babbled the whole time. Not whispers...oh no. Just straight out talking as if they were at a coffee shoppe. Seriously? Nobody seemed to care. A row in front of us has a phone ring...(issue #1) ...and is answered (sin of all time has occurred)! I couldn't help but think how these people would have been feathered and tarred in the USA, and probably burnt at the stake in London. Laid back islands are great for a holiday, but can add a great deal of trauma to the movie experience.

Gozo

Given my squeamish sea crossing capability (or the lack thereof), I was thrilled to be on a decent size ferry (the only method of transportation for lorries, cement trucks, and regular commuters). No part of the Mediterranean can be considered friendly seas in December, and this day was no less that case. After the passenger only ferry experience to the Aran Islands in Ireland this past April, I was not ready to leap excitedly into this excursion. It was incredibly rocky, much worse than Ireland, but I revived much more rapidly this time around :)

Gozo was indeed stunningly beautiful with the quiet (and tiny) cliffside roads to just look out and dream (carefully)! I was literally overwhelmed with the power of the sea; on the ferry as well as hiking, sitting, and dreaming on the cliff-tops.

The lace did not disappoint either. I have always loved the Maltese lace, but the Gozo lace gets extra props for the hand bobbin work. We found a quiet lace shoppe with a lady working on her lace, thereby learning quite a bit about the process with increasing respect. She could name the maker by the type and width of the petal weave, which was fascinating to me.

Back to the ... bigger island ... for some rest and Hobbit movie planning :)

Maltese Days

It is a lovely day in Malta, sitting at an open air bar in the mid-60s with Christmas music being drowned out by the futbol that clearly takes precedent (except when the French teams come on in which everybody vacated). The gathered fans' criticism, disgusted amusement and shared camaraderie across Maltese, Italian and English languages serves as my personal entertainment as I sip my Maltese cocktail of local Bajtra liqueur, white wine, and soda water.

Below represents one of the very excellent days so far of cliff hunting along the west coast, which is a quest of bendy roads and small villages requiring quick pull offs for cars to avoid head-on collisions (an experience that always seems to be avoided, but only by continual miracles of circumstances).

This followed after some very successful open market shopping in the fishing village of Marsaloxx. All the hand made linens and Italian clothes combined with fresh fish makes for such a unique market that attracts both tourist and local alike; vendors switching languages in mid-sentence as they quickly recognise which nationality they have in front of them.

Next major plan is our car ferry trip over to Gozo. I've heard the lace made there is incomparable as well as a strong preference for that island with the European tourists here. After three visits to Malta, we are certainly past due our first venture into Gozo anyway!

Fiumicino

The fishing village of Fiumicino is a perfect stopping place if you're going right back to FCO (Rome airport) the next morning and if you love fresh fish! I love the scenes boats coming in, pulling down their nets, and getting the mending process started. When we go visit Malta's thriving fishing scene in Marsaloxx next week, I'll have plenty of pictures of the process on a smaller and more manual level. 

 I was simply amazed with how fresh one could get their fish. You can't see the trays of fresh fish in the picture, but that's what everybody is carefully analyzing from the trawler's catch. Walking down the pier can be a dangerous business though, with the threat of tripping over nets, random boxes of fresh catch, or, amusingly, getting nearly slapped with an eel as one fellow tossed his line of newly caught eel back across the pier with some apparent disgust and the voice tone certainly said volumes. 

Heading to Malta in the morning, we decided to stay in Fiumicino and enjoy the docks for our official 10th wedding anniversary, snacking on incredibly delicious food akin only to what a tiny thriving fishing village would produce. Having been to Rome a few times, I can promise you that this particular pizza is more indigenous to Fiumicino!

Our New House!

All right, this was really unexpected.

The common tale is that we walked to the shoppe to buy a bottle of wine and returned with a house. That's not really far off! We pointed out to our in-laws a house that we really liked for sale as we went to fetch some good wine for dinner, followed by some wandering around the place, followed with "look, the back door's open", followed with an introduction to the neighbor who was working in it.... well, the rest of the story ends with a two-day whirlwind process that ended with an accepted offer. I'm sorry the housing market crashed for the economy's sake, but really, for us, it was pretty awesome given the price we got it off of foreclosure.

The neighbor was in some wonderment when he found out that a semi-young family of three was moving into a behemoth of a six bedroom home with an extra flat attached. When we put away his fears that we would split it up into rentals for college students, he asked what we would do with the space...to which he received a response of a couple of shrugging shoulders and goofy smiles!

We signed today, merely two days before getting on the plane out of here, which somehow seems amusing to everybody involved. The conversation goes approximately like this...

When you are moving?

Um, sometime in January I suspect.

I figured you'd be really excited about this and get in right away.

Oh, we are! However, we're heading for an Italian Christmas until the New Year. We'll sort the house out when we get back.

You have a rough life.

We nod our heads seriously.

And, indeed, we will sort the house out later. But we are VERY excited with a house big enough to entertain in a part of the world that we have fallen in love with so hard. Some very acceptable features (OK, really AWESOME features!) include....

• Speakeasy style built-in bar with plenty of room to turn into theatre
• Absurdly large boiler in a pit that is the perfect setting for steampunk conversion (the boiler inspector recommended pouring concrete over it - such a travesty to destroy potential like that!) 
• The perfect room to convert into a wine cellar (always wanted one of those)
• My open kitchen! It's currently full of blocky furniture that was noted positively to us as new and such good quality....hrm...yeah, that's all going away!
• My library! All my life I've wanted my personal library study with a big fireplace .... got it now.
• And finally, but certainly not least, a nice large extension on the side of the living room to fit my instruments (baby grands are no tiny things) perfectly.

Others are excited about the place for other reasons with some of these being shared, but these features are certainly my top favourite! Never have my recent attempts to really focus on the immediate moment to appreciate and be 100% present been more challenged, but never has the effort in doing so been more important as my life is filling up with such wonderful experiences and joys!

Pre-Holiday Getaway

Sounds absurd, right? It probably is, but I embrace it! Discovering that Hilton Head was a mere five hours easy drive from Asheville, our new adopted home, was too tempting. We will never abandon OBX as our favourite ocean scene with the best drive ever starting from the cute village of Duck down through Nags Head and ferrying over to Ocracoke Island to say hi to the horses, but oddly, it's three hours farther despite being in the same state in which we live ... so ... Hilton Head in the next state under will get at least equal attention from us with it's slightly warmer beaches and faster trip.

Even more fortunate to our exploration of adopting the Carolina's as our new base of operations is that Charleston, a lovely old seaside town is only four hours away with the best ever cider stop on this quiet highway south of town, not to mention an absurdly huge tree; a mere 28 feet around the trunk.

So after a week of being relaxed, checking out the new digs (in a state-wide sense), and overall excited about 60-70 degree weather in December, we head to Malta and Italy for the rest of December next week!

Sleeping, Reading, and Walking

There are the occasional times when the Internet needs to be abandoned and one focuses on the surrounding beauty of nature. Ironically, I felt this was needed on Kate's Mountain in Greenbrier State Forest just outside the lovely little town of Lewisburg, despite the visit to the gorgeous Boulder Rockies the previous week or living in the beautiful Asheville Smoky's. However, I have soft spot for some very livable cabins in Greenbrier as well as great food and a variety of excellent shoppes in Lewisburg. For people who know me, mountain cabins do not necessary ring an authentic note. Seaside spa is closer to my type. However, there are times when escapism is needed, and I have the urge to sit on closed porches such as this with a great mug of tea and several books :)

As I mentioned in a previous post, hiking is recent interest of mine, and I managed another successful week of it with 10 miles under my belt up and all over Kate's Mountain. While the first picture was achieved by driving two hours down dirt roads in the forest, the following photos are representational of the huge number of shrooms and beautiful scenes a Fall walk offers.

Wildlife and Shrooms

Now back to the grindstone, but in a much happier state with less interest in spending 14 hours a day in front a computer, especially with so many more waterfalls to explore near Asheville :)

The Prophet (book review)

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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Beautiful Colorado

Oh, how I miss Colorado! Eric and I have discussed how the single winning difference between Asheville and Colorado is distance to so many other areas of the country that we love that does not require a minimum of an eight hour car trip! That's the one downside of the west. However, I visit Colorado regularly, checking back into my old haunts from when we lived there, and wondering how I didn't appreciate them more at that time. One of the family trips was driving a 10 mile dirt road up through the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. Once the traffic jam of photographers was fought (you would think that elk grazing on the grass there is comparable to seeing a real dinosaur, but I won't go overboard on criticism since I've been, ahem, known to randomly stop to stare at wild animals!), we puttered up the rather steep and absolutely stunning dirt road with many pit stops. One such pit stop is in the video above, where Elle enjoys climbing. In fact, I think she climbed anywhere she could get near a rock all week, which was not difficult.

Note: Out West photo album is fully updated and in the Travel Photos section on the left.

Implosion (book review)

Implosion: Can America Recover from Its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time? by Joel C. Rosenberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Gilgamesh (book review)

Gilgamesh: A New English Version Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Hiking

Hiking and I aren't really compatible, at least in my mind. I lived a year in Denver and hiked only under pressurized circumstances, and that was a hiker's dream, especially with me being four miles from Red Rocks. However, in an effort to be back in shape while being unable to sustain martial art lessons, yoga training, or gym attendance with the travel lifestyle I now maintain, alternatives were on the table. When a colleague tweeted for asynchronous 'friendly competition' for hiking with the Map My Hike site, I jumped for it. There was a lot additional benefit that I could start this new endeavour while in Boulder and I now lived (for the most part) in Asheville, another beautiful hiking district of the country.


So far I have 11 miles under my feet for the week, which is an exciting start. The other hiking trail I did with Eric, Elle, and some of his colleagues was today "above" Nederland, which was a beautiful trail at about 9,000 feet called the Hessie Trail.

I'm excited to see if this new focus is sustainable, but for all my efforts, this one has the most hope given my new found enjoyment of discovering beauty around me.

The Black Hills: Who Knew?

Out West

Who knew how much fun the Black Hills could be, especially if you love history, geology, and animals (expertise not required, thankfully!). Getting to add two new animals to my Audubon mammal book is exciting, with siting of a white furry mountain goat and a plethora of prairie dogs. No, I've never seen a prairie dog before, I promise. Yes, I realise they are simply akin to annoying rats, but still. They're a lot cuter.

The joy of this trip is that it's not over! After Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the petrified forest, a hand-dug gold mine shaft, the cool Reptile Garden, gorgeous driving, and finally, staying in town centre Deadwood, I would have been more than happy to putter on east again. However, the bonus of a week in Colorado should put me in an overwhelmingly good mindset for my no-electronics holiday during the first week of October....*starting drifting off in glorious dreaming of no electronics whatsoever....*. Wait, what will I do?

A couple funny stories....

A cop pulls me over in Wyoming. He sidles up and announces with a devastating air approximate to what you feel you would hear if you were being arrested "I clocked you going 49 in a 45 - what is the rush?" Ummmm, rush? With probably an extremely dumb look on my face because I knew better to argue, but at the same time am thinking that he must be high to be worried about 4 over, I stammer out a feeble apology with a clear air of "I really don't get this". Taking mercy on me, he benevolently (this was his approach) just warned me, but told me that Wyoming is a no-tolerance state for speeding. All I could do is stare out on the complete desolation and wonder what they were afraid of running over at these incredibly high speeds.

A story probably not so funny to the valet who I nearly hit was when he left my car (clutch) in gear and didn't put on the parking break. Not paying attention, I simply started the car and let off the clutch right away...right into the valet. I have experientially discovered that 1 mile per hour does zero damage, but causes a great deal of panic.

Lastly, but one of my favourite Elle statements...when we visited the Mammoth Site (I'll get those pictures included in the album soon), the guide was very good about explaining to her how this horrible yet natural trap killed so many mammoths because they would fall into the water and couldn't get out. Her response? "Those elephants really need to be more careful."

Westward Journey ... Commenced!

My three week tour of the west started this week, and I am quite excited! While travelling is always positive for me, this is extra awesome in the sense that nearly every place I am going is new to me. My original intention to scour the West when we lived in Colorado and Arizona across two years fell drastically short despite huge effort to still see it all as we visited Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah, not to mention a lot of focused time within both Colorado and Arizona. As it turns out, the West is actually really freaking big.

So, first state on this journey....Wisconsin (because you have to drive through it anyway). Having never been to Wisconsin except to barely pop over the border for Six Flags as kid, I had grand visions of a state that looked like a cross between Ireland and Mission Peninsula just north of Traverse City, with a Wisconsin influence. As this description is probably boggling your mind, another explanation is my imagined scene of Jersey cows dotting the landscape on very old farms with cheese curd stands every where.

• There were no cows, let alone Jersey cows.
• I saw one complete farm that looked so weathered that it made me feel a bit depressed.
• The cheese curds were there! But only in the petrol stations...trust me, not the ambiance originally conceived.

So....Wisconsin not only did not meet my unrealistic expectations, it has earned it's place on my list of states that can disappear. However, this is just one small leg of the journey, and thankfully my return trip is not the same route.

Let's quickly move forward to Minnesota. Honestly, I can't say much about this state yet because I arrived at night and am now settling in Minneapolis. It promises to be a lovely long weekend being "stuck" in the two story penthouse suite downtown, thanks to my conference's use of a convention hotel where Eric has automatic upgrades :) I do miss Eric as he travels for work, but there is something to be said about really nice rooms as well as getting the cheat lines and flight upgrades at the airport. 

More updates soon as the Black Hills are discovered next week!

View into the downtown baseball stadium.

Re-definition of Resonating!

Thank you XKCD!!!

http://xkcd.com/1106/

Asheville Excursion #1: Linville Falls

I was told that that the many waterfalls in the region were truly beautiful, but frankly, after living in the gorgeous Rockies and the amazing desert, I wasn't prepared to be as impressed as I was. Our first excursion was to Linville Falls, about an hour north east of Asheville....it was so worth the journey!

Something discovered after living here only a few weeks is that the rain is completely unpredictable, but it's never a big deal because it's rarely heavy and never long. The benefit is that you discover beautiful, even tiny, scenes that can pull you into a long moment, such as this spider web outlined by the rain drops.

...and of course, there are the absolutely stunner views that you want to paint, but well, you're quite sure the beauty of the moment can't possibly be captured, such as this quintessential Smoky's feel.

Disney's Adventure with Elle

I admit that this was something that I wasn't terribly excited about; however, as my friend told me, my daughter would never forgive me when she's 20 that I never took her to Disney when she was 5. So here we are! Combined with a conference hosted at the Swan, we made it a family affair as well, getting Elle at least to a couple Disney parks and Seaworld.

While I was a bit disappointed that the princesses were completely rejected, it turns out that dragons and dinosaurs are the bee's knees. The few hopeful moments that cute teddy bears would be selected, the bears were ditched for yet another freaking dragon and a set of horses. Because clearly there's not enough of those in the house. *sigh*

Oh wait! She did get off of the dragon/dinosaur obsession....for a crazy Buzz Lightyear  ping pong ball gun. Lovely. Maybe princesses in the future?

Enjoy the snapshots - Started with Seaworld, moved into Magic Kingdom, and the wrapped up with Animal Kingdom.

Disney

The Chamber (book review)

The Chamber by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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The Art of Tea

There's making tea ... and then there's making tea. My dad wins the academy award on complicating the process although I do have to acknowledge that's it's quite an excellent result. There was some obscure claim to be merely following directions, but this magical resource was left unshared.

First, the water. This is not splashing some water into a kettle and forgetting about it until you're ready. (The idea of heating water up in the microwave is completely off the table.) This is a specific spring water heating up to 175F. We'll get dramatic part of this recipe momentarily.

Second, the tea leaves. Note this is not any cup. It's a specific ceramic cup with the leaf holder that goes all the way down the cup for even steeping. Nor is this shaking leaves in unceremoniously. This is carefully measured .... alternated by layers German rock sugar. Questioning this resulted in a lecture on the evenness of the sweetness during steeping.

Here's the dramatic part. Just as I was trying to understand why there was a thermometer in the hot water at all, there was a panic that it was 20 degrees too hot. As I conjure up images where I was happy to simply get to the water before it completely boiled away and destroyed my kettle (on numerous occasions), there was a mad dash to the retrieve the special spring water. I verified that is the same spring water so there wouldn't be contamination, but my sarcasm was drowned in assurances that it was the same. There was also a suggestion that he was shocking the water with cold on hot water, but this theory was completely rejected as the water was nursed back to a perfect 175F.

Third, pouring the tea. This is less complicated, as the hot water is simply poured over the perfectly layered tea leaves.

Fourth, setting the timer. Estimating is not permitted. Again, my brain wandered back to the so many times where my tea bag (SHHHHHH ... I was desperate, OK?), was possibly standing up in the water because I had forgotten to remove it. Regardless, exactly two minutes later the steeper is removed and ....

.... out pops the strainer!!! WHAT? You had a steeper preventing it from getting in the tea, right?

Oh wait, I forgot. The perfect sized cup was whipped out with the ice loaded to the brim in it. It is important to note that the ice was not made from the same spring water, so I'm personally a bit let down about this.

Anyway, back to the strainer. The cup of tea is then poured over the strainer into the cup of ice.

Done.

All right, there is some minor admission that there was quite a bit of green leafy bits in the strainer. Also, it tastes really freaking good. But still. Wow.

Five year old takes on role of tyrant....

I'm told that my 5 year old is smart, cute, adorable and is often laden with hugs and kisses from anybody she bothers to charm. Try raising her. A conversation today really exemplifies my point.

"Mom, I'm going to watch Diego today." (She knows I hate that whiny show)

"Did you consider the concept of asking?"

"Oh." *pause* "Can I watch Diago today?" (really honey tone dripping with sweetness)

"Sure!" (once again, she has sucked me in with her sweet voice that is ever so rare)

"Oh good." (reverts back to "you are my slave and shall do my bidding voice....) "I believe I shall watch two shows of Diago."

Time passes......

"Mom!!!! A hump backed whale is stuck on an island of rocks and he can't get into the water!!!!" (jerked out of my thinking process, I envision a hump backed whale in my front yard, and subsequently assume she's talking about the annoying whiny Diego show)

In a newly improved effort to break down the walls of generational confusion, I ask excitedly, "so what are you going to do for the whale?"

There is a flickering of impatience. "Diego will save the whale." This was followed by some eye rolling.

Right. My work never seemed more interesting than at that rejected moment.

Perhaps I should take lessons from the babysitter. Both Eric and I were fired as parents yesterday when I informed her that she would get to spend time with Marina, her favourite babysitter. Ellie was so excited that she filled her backpack immediately with enough food to last her two days, favourite stuff animals, crayons, a book and her iPad. Apparently this is the requirement for 5 year olds these days. (Please note that when she discovered it to be heavy, I was relegated to the duty of bellhop.) She then sat on the stair next to the front door for 30 minutes despite my explanations that it could be awhile. Finally, in my efforts to get everything about with her eyes staring at my every move with massive impatience, my phone rang. I swear that she gritted her teeth, but I sought to comfort her when I said "Oh honey, it's daddy!"

"Daddy" was also fired when she responded with "you can talk to him in the car."

About five minutes later she asked for the phone in which she explained that she needed to go to the babysitter's and she could Skype with him tomorrow.

I am still unclear who runs the household, but starting to get an inkling that it's neither Eric nor me.

Kava Bar Experience

Groupon can certainly lead you into unknown territory, especially when you select Groupon purchases with the question in your mind that says "I wonder what this is....". However, I was in Asheville Groupon collection mode for new places, so the Kava bar experience was purchased with an extra strong TBD status attached to it! The process of getting there indicated our slight fear of it though. Putting it off to the last possible day that we could use the Groupon, we paced around outside the establishment for awhile, craning our necks for inside peeks. Finally, like children opening a closet that they know is not allowed, we opened the door and peered into a very relaxed atmosphere of couches, wood flooring, and incense. For reasons beyond my understanding, Eric and I both instantly assumed it was a legal place to produce pot or something as signs did promise a "euphoric experience without the alcohol." As such, we were a little worried about Elle's presence, so we tentatively walked towards the bar in the back (it was empty at the time we entered) waiting for a worker to freak out and kick us out. However, the welcome was offering Elle a sweet tea, so I was then leaning towards the belief that it was a pot smoking establishment that is firmly falling into the southern mentality that all children must be served sweet tea.

However, the Groupon offering of a Melanesian Tea Package for two turned out to be.... a Melanesian Tea Package for two. Funny that. The secret apparently is that the kava root from the Polynesian Islands does have a euphoric relaxant that actually is recommended to absolutely NOT mix with drugs or alcohol. With a picture of Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife sharing a ceremonial kava bowl with some chieftain in the South Seas (1966), I finally become convinced that this is legit; at least on a nominal level.

Unfortunately, while experience was actually incredibly cool and it did leave me very relaxed, it also make me want to throw up and gave me a headache. However, it was well worth the cultural experience, and where else to try really unique cultural experiences outside of the indigenous culture besides Asheville....as we are discovering day by day. I was initially confused why it was insisted to have "pineapple chasers" (variety of cut up fruit), but after a shot of the kava, trust me, you want the fruit chaser! The kava numbs your mouth in a very nice way and has an incredibly earthy tone, but the effect on the stomach.....the fruit was welcome. The real chaser to the whole experience was loose leaf tea of your choice to made up and sipped, which frankly, was awesome. Fresh cinnamon black tea was greatly enjoyed.

Would I return? Yes.

"Hold the kava and go straight to the French press of cinnamon black tea." :)

6,000 miles in eight weeks....

If you are shuddering, we are very different in our approaches to life pleasures. As soon as I was old enough to drive, it was not uncommon especially during stressful situations to get in the car and drive....where-ever. I always dreamed to have the possibility in my life where jumping in the car for hours at a time was perfectly acceptable. This is a moment where I'm taking the time to celebrate that arrival! Eric understandably flies everywhere because weekends would be destroyed if he consistently drove back and forth to Boulder, Atlanta, DC, Boston, Pittsburgh, and of course downright logistically challenging for London, Dublin, Brussels, etc. However, I have a little girl who is equally adventurous and I do not answer to the same sort of deadlines from clients the way I do, ie, they don't care if I'm on the Arctic Circle as long as I'm online. Thus, in my travel planning for the next two months, I realised suddenly just how much driving my adorable Mini, Ellie, and I would be experiencing.

Another major celebration is blowing past 100,000 miles on my odometer for a 2009 MiniCooper. We have partnered in travel from Canada to Mexico, Pheonix to Cape Cod, Toronto to Orlando and quite a few places between. Thus, we toast this special occasion by slapping another 6,000 miles, but only after rewarding the little motor-er with a fresh new set of tires and brakes next week :)

So what is this 6,000 mile madness?

Nicely tucked in Asheville, it's time to shed the nest. Heading up to Indianapolis for three weeks where Eric will swing in on weekend, but is spending the majority of the time in Texas (I really hate Texas). Then we meet again in Asheville for a day, putting south to Orlando for a conference and Ellie's first Disney trip (anybody want to volunteer to take her instead of me? I really hate big fake creatures walking around trying to hug me - I'm told that I kicked Mickey when I was a kid). Back north to Asheville for a whole 1.5 weeks, then heading way up there to the world of ice and snow (otherwise known as mosquitoes and water in summer) to Minnesota for a conference and my doctorate (handily in the same city). While I'm out in the hinterlands, I decided to go southwest to the Black Hills for a few days, a location where I've kicked myself for not visiting while only five hours away in Denver. Eric goes who knows where during that time, and then we meet each other again the following week in Boulder, puttering on home for a few weeks break.

This was to be a quiet fall with little travel action, so there is some spectacular failure on that level, unless we can say Fall doesn't really start until October, in which we succeeded greatly. While I look forward to Malta and Rome for half of December, I'm sad that even my adorable Mini will not fit the plane. It's especially too bad because many of it's fellow colleagues will be running around both Malta and Rome thinking that sidewalks are perfectly appropriate parking spots and that those funny things with two legs need run over because they are in the way....

Seven Deadly Sins

One of my new favourite things is the Seven Deadly lowball set we have for the Gin and Scotch collection. These etched glasses are especially fun as each sin is characterised by an humourist artist.

Just as an odd habit, I tend to select the sin that I feel the most likely to be broken in that day based on how the day went up to that point. I assumed that I would always be Wrath and never, ever Sloth. However, Sloth is often selected and I've yet to select Wrath. Possibly all my initial assumptions that I was always angry was my by put out that work was unnecessarily being created...I say this especially since those are the scenes that pop to my mind when I think how much less angry I should be as a person.

Greed and Gluttony occasionally gets chosen, and if you know me at all, then you know that Pride is the most common. Ironically, I had a dream that Pride had fallen out of my hand and smashed to a million pieces, which was most disconcerting depending on how you wanted to interpret that. 

Regardless, it would seem that I have pretty much zero personal awareness of Wrath, Envy and Lust, but I like looking at their representations :)

Guns, Germs, and Steel (book review)

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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The Ace Affair

Moving to Asheville has provided some interesting insights into humanity. Thus far, Indianapolis is the smallest city in which I've lived, so this is my first town experience with a population of not even 100k. The flow is very odd though, in the sense that it never stops. People are always walking, biking, driving, etc., and getting somewhere in a hurry is not a great idea because there's just too many possible things to slow you down here. The attraction for me is the Old World feel while still living in the States. There are some many quaint aspects of Asheville, the number one piece being the massive influx of independent shops stuck in every which-way. Not a box store to be seen :)

Don't get me wrong, there is a commercial side of Asheville (west), conveniently on the other side of the mountain where I never have to drive, and there is a slummy side of Asheville (south) that I also never have to drive. So I can easily live in my little bubble up here just north of downtown where very little has changed over the decades.

There are a few chain stores, but they are small and without the 15 football field sized car parks. In fact, finding a car park over 20 spaces is a little shocking. It helps that they are useful chain stores (Ace, CVS, and Staples). Other than that, find the local version!

This brings me to a real example of the culture here, which is at a friendly level that is putting my system into a bit of shock. Moving into a house built in 1941 instead of a modern flat has required a lot of hardware store runs, which was to Ace, only one mile away. I buy the items on my list for that run at least (the first in a long series), and she asks me for an Ace card.

"I don't have one; it's fine."

"Oh! But if you have one, you'll get lots of points for this items."

"Um, that's fine, really, I'm good."

"Those points equal .10 cents on the dollar - you'll have lots of future savings!"

(I'm thinking, Oh good God, WHATEVER)... "OK, fine, my husband will probably appreciate it."

"Wonderful...*some additional talking of the great values that we will get that I don't remember...*

I think that's over, and scuttle back to the house determined to send Eric there for any future purchases as I have never been required to actually communicate verbally with people in shops before, let alone in a bantering "welcome to the neighborhood" sort of way.

Eric takes his turn. I suppose coming from a town himself makes him fall in love with everything around here even more. Ace quickly turns into his hero place as he returns flushed and excited with this new found friends.

I get a voice mail...from Ace.

"Hello! I just wanted to say that Eric forgot his Ace card and he was going to come back with it so that he could get his points, but I found his card number and applied his purchase to the card! Now he doesn't need to come back unless of course he needs materials."

SERIOUSLY?

The next day, Eric had to be in meetings, and really wanted to get some things done that required a few more hardware pieces. I anxiously ensure that I have the stupid card because no telling what would happen if I forgot it, and make my purchases.

The clerk goes "Oh Willeke! I left a voice mail for Eric Willeke yesterday *repeat message here*."

I am dumbfounded. I just sort of stare at her wondering what obsession this place has for their crazy card and point savings system. She continues to excitedly chatter about cool things in Asheville as I continue to somewhat stare at her wondering if I accidentally fell into a time capsule or different planet.

Those of you who reside in large cities will totally get what I'm saying. Those of you who don't, well, let's just say this is quite an interesting perspective for some!

Fire and Ice (book review)

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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