avocado8

Photographic Evidence That I'm Still Alive

OK, so I've been REALLY quiet for the past 3 months or so, posting only very rarely. I'm breaking the silence now with a few photos that show what I've been up to:

Tooth Decay, Hunter, NY ~ In April I went to visit my grandmother in the Catskills. One of the benefits of not working (and of living on the east coast again) is that I finally have time to visit relatives who usually see me only rarely. I originally photographed this sign on a visit to Hunter with my dad in 1997, back when it was new and cute. If I ever find that original photo, I'll post "before" and "after" shots for comparison. It's not clear if the dentist is still in residence; most doctors don't stay long on the mountain.

Al and His Dad on the Penn Campus, Philadelphia, PA ~ Al's dad got a degree or two from the University of Pennsylvania, so we took his parents there for a trip down memory lane when they came for their first visit to our new house in April. We got to see the church where they were married in addition to other personal landmarks.

Desk, Philadelphia, PA ~ In May I got a a call from a former colleague at my old company in San Francisco, asking if I wanted to help out on a project for a couple months. I said yes, so since mid-May I've been knee deep in code. I'm doing more C++ work than when I was working for the company full time, and I'm having a ball. I don't have any ambition to get a regular job at this point, but I'd love to do this kind of thing for a few weeks now and then.

Henry, New York, NY ~ Al and I took the train up to NYC in May to visit his brother's family. Al and his brother played golf on Saturday while I hung out with my sister-in-law and her son in Central Park. (Although I missed out on golfing on this trip, I *have* been playing—and getting a lot better. "You're playing a whole 'nother game now," says Al. "A game called golf!" I can suddenly hit my driver and the rest of my woods, which means that I can hit a driver or a 5-wood off the tee, followed by a 7-wood second shot, and be on or near the green on most par 4s and 5s. It's amazing. I can testify that there's nothing like playing good golf to make you want to play more... which in turn makes you better.) But back to NYC... After golf we got to stock up on biscuits and tea at Tea & Sympathy in the West Village, eat our first Magnolia Bakery cupcakes (quite an experience for a frosting nut like me—one was almost too much!), and try out the sorbets at Cones. We also ate Korean BBQ at Kang Suh, where Henry amazed the waitresses by putting away more gimbap than someone 10x his age.

Memorial Volunteer, Washington, DC ~ Another trip where I missed out on golf, sadly. While Al and his dad were teeing off with a couple of his dad's friends, I got to show my mother-in-law how to ride Metro, which turned out to be pretty fun, actually. We went from Dunn Loring to Smithsonian, mainly because Mom wanted to buy some placemats with art on them (I figured the National Gallery was a good place to look). As it turned out, the area around the Smithsonian was even more mobbed than it usually is in summer because the WWII Memorial was being dedicated that day. However, the weather was suprisingly cool and dry, the crowds weren't as large as anticipated, and we didn't have any trouble getting around the mall. Bottled water was free to anyone who wanted it, some excellent singers were crooning 40s ballads from on the big screens placed about every 50 yards along the mall, and people were being polite instead of pushy. Mom got her placemats, and she bought us a set too (they look great in our dining room).

[I'm realizing I have no photos from Mother's Day or Father's Day, both of which we spent with my parents, PLAYING GOLF. Note to self: Photograph parents next time you see them!]

Mirandaboops with Mom and Dad, Oakland, CA ~ In late June Al & I went to San Francisco (he for JavaOne, I to work in the office for a few days and see friends). Our first stop after renting a car at the airport was for Mexican food (something we miss here in Philadelphia, though we've heard rumors of Mexican restaurants starting to spring up in the area), followed by a haircut for Al in Palo Alto and a visit with nj, Morrisa, and Miranda in Oakland. Miranda is SO CUTE! She's about twice the size she was when I first met her (not surprising, given that she was only a week old then), and very engaging.

nj Folds Ten, Alameda, CA ~ nj had to cut out early to get ready for a gig, and after visiting with Morrisa and Miranda a while longer, we followed. The music was great, and since the gig was at a Vietnamese restaurant, we got to satisfy our craving for shrimp cold rolls while we listened. Yum!

Pruitt's Lab, Palo Alto, CA ~ At the end of our Bay Area trip we went back down to Palo Alto to have lunch with Beth & Matt. (Beth took care of Annie and Elmo for us while we were on our honeymoon, and she and Al went to grad school together.) Beth is now a professor at Stanford, so we ate at the Faculty Club and then took a tour of her lab spaces. It was really cool to hear about all the microsystems research her students are working on, and it was just plain pleasant to be on the Stanford campus on a dry, sunny day. <sigh> That quote from Microserfs about how Stanford is like a country club with research grants flying out the windows really is pretty accurate.

Sweet 100s, Philadelphia, PA ~ Back in March I started growing tomatoes, peppers, and swiss chard from seeds in a little tray of peat disks inside the house. In April I transplanted them into pots and put them out on the back deck. The swiss chard was edible within a couple weeks, but the peppers and tomatoes didn't start coming in until June. When we returned from San Francisco early this month, the first of the tomatoes—the Sweet 100s—had started turning red. I've also got Brandywines, Husky Golds, and Napolis out there (all with fruit on them), and the first (and largest) of the Brandywines is now orange. I can't wait to make a tomato sandwich!

Working on Al's Christmas Present, Philadelphia, PA ~ Tomatoes aren't the only thing I'm growing. After much discussion and many leaps of faith, I decided that I felt physically capable of carrying and giving birth to a child, and almost capable of raising one (I'm trusting that Al will be able to fill in the gaps in my mothering skills). We're due during the holidays.