Month: November 2010
I just saw perhaps my favorite movie so far this year, the political thriller “FAIR GAME”, based on memoirs by Valerie Plame (My Life as a Spy) and her husband, Joe Wilson (The Politics of Truth). I was glued to my television set when the events were actually happening in 2004 because of the nakedness and brutality of leaking a spy’s identity. This wasn’t a John Le Carre fictional thriller. The subject matter in this reenactment of events is inherently more dramatic and spellbinding! Go—no run—to see it!
FAIR GAME focuses on what unfairly happened to this couple, rather than preaching about...
Off & Away: Travel Auction Sites—Why Am I Not Surprised?
I discovered the auction site, “Off & Away”, after reading a New York Times article in June. Off & Away has what seems like an ingenious business model: bidding on hotel suites for what could be pennies on the dollar. I thought I would give it a try.
Being susceptible to becoming obsessed over the idea of bidding in an auction –one of my favorite things to do– but I rationalize that my bidding is usually going to a good cause such as a school fundraiser or a nonprofit charity—I had some fear and trepidation about getting my feet wet in an anonymous free-for-all public “penny”...
Blogger Nube—What’s Up with That?!
This Friday, November 19, will be my blog’s two-week anniversary. So, for those of you out there who have been contemplating writing a blog, here are my Top Ten tips from my past two weeks’ blogging experience. Obviously, I need to do a lot more blogging to give advice to non-nubes. But what I learned in my first two weeks is very fresh, so I want to pass it on to those of you in the midst of what can be a rather scary process! As my experience grows, I will be adding more suggestions. If you’re a nube at this too, by all means send me your comments!
1) Read others’ blogs to get a lay...
Printmaking at MPC: Feel the Love
This past weekend there were two workshops/demos at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC), located on Fremont Street (at Aguajito Road) near the Hilton Hotel, in Monterey. This little-known resource in Monterey is a gem in the midst of our community! How many of you out there have never set foot on this campus?!
Any county resident can enroll in any of a huge variety of courses at minimal cost in tuition and student fees. I am amazed at how inexpensive 60 hours of instruction per class can be! The MPC print studio, a small part of this community college, is a haven for artists and neophytes like...
What’s not to like? Post Ranch Inn’s Wine and Food Event
On Saturday afternoon, our daughter Maya and her boyfriend joined us for an afternoon at Post Ranch in Big Sur, for part of the Big Sur weekend wine and food extravaganza. What makes this event different from other wine and food events is that you can sip wine, eat and then work some of it off walking from one station to the next on the Post Ranch’s spacious 100-acre grounds. Guests wander the ranch’s picturesque paths while visiting seven stations in which there are at least four boutique wineries pouring their finest wines paired with a delicious assortment of small plates prepared...
Lacerated Tongue–In the ER on Halloween
Last night during a delicious dinner made by my husband, Doug, amateur chef extraordinaire, I bit down hard into my Thai pork basil curry with yams, zucchini, and eggplant and hit the calloused divot on my tongue, which I have clamped on before. That’s what happens when I eat and talk at the same time—my two favorite activities. No doubt about that!
The blood spurted out. Very scary to say the least. The tongue is very “vascular”, meaning that it is filled with capillaries ready to gush out blood at the least provocation. My mouth filled. Rushing to the bathroom mirror, I gasped to see...