Our Mabo Tofu Dinner

Thank you for a wonderful dinner, 'Tude.

We Made $40 Today

© Linda Davick
We remembered to move our car for street cleaning day today, so now we have 40 extra dollars. What should we spend it on?

• 6 tubes of paint
• dinner at the Sea Breeze Cafe
• Swatch watch
• a visit to Kinokuniya Bookstore in Japantown
• 6 1 lb. bags of Community Coffee

Just think. If we save the 40 dollars we made this week, and remember to move the car again next week, we could buy this. Added later: Forget that. I'm going to make a poster to remind me to move the car next Wednesday, and order this prematurely.

Migration

© Linda Davick

Deflated

Why is it that I always have to feel down after I feel good? I don't like this "balance thing," where supposedly you don't appreciate the good times unless you endure the bad times.

Always been behind
Always been behind
Always I've been out of line
Always I've been behind

From "End of Autumn" by Sasha Dobson. It was playing as I was downloading my pictures from the beach this evening. And it's not even the beginning of autumn yet.

Egg Carton Law

Jean Gonick is my hero. She writes the Failing At Living column for the San Francisco Chronicle. Two weeks ago she wrote about buying a basil plant for $2.99 at Trader Joe's. So I had to go to Trader Joe's and buy one, too, and I had to put it on our coffee table, too, just like she did. Only right now our coffee table is underneath the ping pong table, so I had to put the basil plant on the ping pong table. Tonight I decided to pull some leaves off and make Deviled Eggs á la Potato Chips for dinner.

Don't you think all egg companies should be required by law to have the recipe for hard-boiled eggs printed on the egg carton? That way you wouldn't have to run down to the basement, find The Joy of Cooking, and turn to page 22o every time you want to boil an egg.

All my cooking adventure photos are starting to look alike. Next time I'll make something really different that doesn't involve boiling an egg.

fatphotographer

On August 31, Tom and I got an e-mail from Deb. She said there was a package on its way to us. Blackberry preserves from her backyard. And sweet dill pickles, too, that she and Eric had canned. For eight days we sat out by the curb waiting for the UPS truck. It finally crawled up the hill this afternoon and we opened our treats. I love the little jar!
Professional question: After a photo shoot, is it the duty of the food stylist/photographer to eat the setup? Is it considered cheating to add on after the photo is taken? (peanut butter, a couple of chocolate truffles, coffee?)

fatboy

This green thing is our first new piece of furniture in a long time. It's a fatboy. We ordered it for Aggles to sleep on while she and Mom were here. Of course, it came the day after they left. But still, it's very exciting!














p.s. If you're a basket case after your guests leave, you can mold it into a kind of soft crib to sit up in (above).

Gift of Elegance

Aggles flew back to Chattanooga with Mom today. She left this book for me. I turned to the chapter on "Shoes" right away. Here's what I learned:
With sports outfits, it is preferable to avoid high, slender heels and to choose medium, stacked, or even perfectly flat ones–provided that, with the latter, you do not wear a hat.
Why didn't somebody tell me? From now on, in the interest of elegance, I'll leave my baseball cap at home when I wear my sneakers.
On the other hand, black patent-leather pumps can be worn with almost everything...they harmonize with the colour of any outfit, including white, navy blue, and brown. They combine very well with a black alligator handbag, if you do not care for matching alligator shoes (which should, moreover, be worn only with a casual ensemble).
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
e-mail from Katy: I like it that you have the book on elegance---I ran across the original in a used book store last year and gave it to James. I enjoyed what I read of it in the store, but the jacket photo of the author convinced me that pursuing elegance, to the point of being an authority on elegance, had made her rather miserable. That, of course, increased the pleasure of the book.

Company

hi guys,
we had a most deeeeeeeeelightful time with you all, last evening. it was so wonderful to see Martha, once again. she is so vibrant, so sweet, so intelligent and, so witty. may g-d bless her in every way.
and what a treat it was to finally meet Margaret. she is a smart lady with a fine personality and charm. we thank you for the delicious food; the cake was phenomenal. the company was special and so fine. happy labor day.
thanks, again, friends/neighbors.
love,
em and john
Before dinner Tom took us on a motor tour of the Marin Headlands. In the photo he's admiring his new hiking boots he wore while driving.

Baking Day

The chocolate cupcakes are for my sister, who flew in tonight. Her birthday was 2 weeks ago, so she got a bottle of bourbon to go with them.

Tom finished a project yesterday, so I made a skyscraper cake for him.

The Coldest Winter She Ever Spent...

...was a summer
in San Francisco.

When Virginia found out that Mom didn't own even one pair of shorts, she gave her a blue and white checkered pair to take to San Francisco. So far she hasn't needed them.
Here we are at Moss Beach this afternoon.

Champ

When Mom comes to visit, we shove the couch up against the wall and bring the ping pong table up from the basement. Yep. I push her all around the museum in a wheelchair, then we come home and she beats me in table tennis.