Tuesday's Treasure

Monday

Mom's Birthday

Aggles, Mom, me in 2008: Our last Christmas together (Clare's beautiful cabin)

Subject: Italian Cream Cake
From: Linda
Date: January 29, 2012 12:07:56 PM PST
To: Aggles

Aggle, today is Mom's birthday. Are you making Italian cream cake? Or are you still eating that cranberry pie?

What are you doing?

Speaking of Mom kinds-of-things: Aggle, you know when I told you about those Pond's face wipes? The lavender ones are HORRIBLE. But the citrus/cucumber ones are still great.

Subject: Re: Italian Cream Cake

From: Aggles

Date: January 29, 2012 4:37:26 PM PST

To: Linda

To celebrate Mom's birthday I went to the big RV show and thought about re-doing the Grand Western Tour.  Only this time it would be done right 'cuz I'd do it in an RV and not stupid tent camping!  Hahahahahaha!

Italian Cream Cake sounds wonderful. Maybe I should make that tomorrow while I ogle the RV brochures.

Noted about the lavender face wipes - this is important camping information.

I love your blog watercolor.  Thought it odd that someone (I forget who) asked if it were tangible or digital - then you said it was DIGITAL!  Oh my - digital watercoloring. What will they think of next?

How are you?

----------------

(One time Aggles and Mom went on a cross-country camping trip together. Can you imagine?)

5:49 p.m.

5:49:21 p.m.   I'm lagging behind again.

5:49:50 p.m.   Is that Peter and Carmen down the beach? Yes! We miss Anne.

Learning Watercolor

Talk, Walk

Sal was in town for the MacWorld Conference. Gina, to visit Baby Henry (and us).

We ordered and ordered. We laughed and spilled things. After squeezing out the door we headed straight to Peet's where Gina thrust scones and marble cake upon us. Later I tried to stand upright and walk, but kept falling behind.

A Slew of Dragons

Anne Marguerite Herbst    Golden Dragon    2012

In the mail:



























































And online (Mari's site!)

mischief mari's cookies

Year of the Dragon

I made these cookies and you can too if you step over here.

Today begins 10 days of gluttony in San Francisco, as families and businesses gather to celebrate Lunar New Year. Given that it's the year of the dragon, lobster (whose Chinese name translates literally as "dragon shrimp") will probably be on most menus, as will steamed fish, noodles, hair moss, and other symbolic foods ... 

-from SF Weekly, which lists ten banquet menus you can print out take to the restaurant to use as a translation guide to make sure you don't order the hair moss.

p.s. I know. That's no dragon. That's a yellow-spotted triceratops.

My Wish List

I found this through SWISSMISS:
OSTRICH offers a micro environment in which to take a warm and comfortable power nap at ease. It is neither a pillow nor a cushion, nor a bed, nor a garment, but a bit of each at the same time. Its soothing cave-like interior shelters and isolates your head and hands (mind, senses and body) for a few minutes, without needing to leave your desk. 

I was so excited about Ostrich that I sent the photos to Aggles right away. Aggles, in turn, shot this (below) right back at me, from her own wish list. Enthralled, I called Tom in to see it. He pointed out that the sandwich holder would fit right inside the ostrich. So now I have two things on my wish list. What's on your wish list?

from Geekosystem

Baby Drool

My new publisher sent me some stickers for New Year's. To me, a gift like this a sign that we have a good understanding.

First I stuck two of the stickers on the back of my laptop, and set the laptop on the table above a yogurt drip. Baby Drool, I called it. But then one thing led to another and look what happened next:

Cold and Hot

This has been the coldest winter I can remember since we moved here 12 years ago. The past few evenings we've walked on the Coastal Trail, which is much more protected from the wind than the beach is. This recipe for chili has saved us! I know what you're thinking: Why would I ever try a recipe from Linda's blog? Because it's actually Tom's recipe––by that I mean that he made it, and it's great.

p.s. He probably doubled this recipe, and added a square of unsweetened chocolate.

Adventures in Reading

I bought this beautiful book at Kinokuniya. This morning when I woke up, I "read" it before I got out of bed. Being that it's in Japanese, I got the meaning from the illustrations and I was enchanted.

Later this afternoon I was looking at the book again and realized it had page numbers. It was then that I realized I had "read" the book backwards. I had read it from left to right, but the book actually started at the back and read toward the front. So tomorrow I'll "read" it again and let you know how it is.

I have a book called A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan. I let it go for months because I never got engaged in it. Last night at dinner I ran out of things to read so I picked it up again.

I read chapter 8, which is nothing less than a work of art (La Doll, her party, her ideas for the General. Her daughter Lulu). Then Chapter 9, Where Jules interviews Kitty. Fantastic. Is it all over now or will the magic continue through chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13? Don't tell me.

But do tell me your latest adventure in reading.