I wore no flowers in my hair

Nor did I see Haight-Ashbury or City Lights bookstore*, Pacific Heights or the Painted Ladies. But we had a blast in the Bay Area and covered a lot of ground while we were there, with lots of sights left on our checklist next time we visit. We stayed with Ann & Curt, who live in a super-cute area of Oakland called Rockridge. Had several meals and drinks in that area, including at the Conga Lounge tiki bar. Michael and I sampled the "Elixir of Love," similar to a White Russian.

Michael and I spent a day in San Francisco while Ann & Curt were at work. The weather was dreary during most of our trip, and while walking down Lombard Street, we got caught in a rainstorm. It was the first heavy rain for my new "raincoat," which I discovered isn't one at all, so I spent the next few hours trying to dry off and warm up. During our visit to the city, I had shrimp cocktail at Fisherman's Wharf, and we had Chinese lunch in Chinatown and chocolate from Ghirardelli Square. I think my favorite part of the city was the cable cars. They are charming and efficient, and it's amazing they can make it up and down all those hills.

We also caught up with Michael's crew of SF friends (sans our friend and wedding officiant, John, who's studying in Ireland) before heading to the gorgeous Art Deco Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Based on our past experience, Michael and I were excited to see opening act Neko Case but not so much main attraction Merle Haggard. Neko shone, as usual, and she always manages to hit every note (I'm betting the national anthem would be a piece of cake for her); Merle, not so much. And Merle's wife-backup singer, not at all. Ouch. (In Merle's defense, he had a cold, but it's the second time we've seen him, and both times he's just gone through the motions. And as Michael said, "I don't really like saxophone solos in my country music." I'm sure he put on a fantastic show back in the day.)

Ann & Curt took us to Sausalito before we flew out, and we got outstanding views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Also loaded up on saltwater taffy, which I love but my teeth don't.

The best of the rest:








Michael got his fortune from this mechanical lady at Musee Mecanique, a cool old-time arcade at the wharf. I would include the link, but as soon I went to the Web site, I got scary laughter and ventriloquist-doll-looking beings, so I steered away immediately. You can look it up yourself. Funny, it wasn't so creepy in person.


Musical monkeys at the Musee Mecanique. Some of the displays were macabre -- a man hanging from a guillotine and guys freaking out on visions in an opium den.


I had to see Lombard Street. I always associate it with the Barbra "I'm married to Dr. Kiley" Streisand and Ryan "I'm a mean dad" O'Neal flick "What's Up Doc?" but honestly don't remember if they even drove down it. I do know their zany antics in a stolen ice-cream cart take them down steep streets, through a Chinatown parade and through a truckload of chicken crates. Anyway, to me, Lombard Street has always been the quintessential San Francisco site.


A view from the Bay. I liked this little tugboat.


I took this photo for my mother-in-law, Becky, and because it struck me as funny. Akin to Ping's Home Cooking.


Cool sign on the BART (Bay Area Riders Together) train.


An adorable Chihuahua, Prada, at an upscale pet store in Ghirardelli Square. She was full grown, but I'd bet anything this is what Angus looked like as a puppy.

***

*While we got no dose of the Beats in their native habitat, Michael and I did see part of benzedrine-amped Jack Kerouac's typed scroll of "On the Road" at the Denver library recently. Cool to see, even though I'm not a fan of the book. No photos allowed, though I did get this shot of Flat Stanley hanging with Gregory Corso, Kerouac, David Amram and others. The photo was among those accompanying the OTR scroll (Kerouac spent a lot time in Denver, apparently). As for Flat Stanley, he's wrapping up his whirlwind tour of Denver and ready to return to my goddaughter Claire in Indiana.

Getting back to my roots

I was getting tired of having eyebrows that were darker than my red hair (though now they are lighter than my hair), so I dyed it "dark brown." Michael assures me it's brown, though it looks more black to me. I am getting used to it, but it is darker than I'd planned (so now I'll get light roots, and the gray ones will particularly stand out). Anyway, I was ready for a change. With me, who knows if it will last. I think a few people at work might do a double take when they see me since they've only know me as a redhead.


Ann's blog reminded me to take photos of Valentine's flowers (though, in our case, they were anniversary flowers). Michael got me lovely organic orange roses (they were out of carnations); the yellow tulips are from our neighbors Cristine, Shane and Grayson.

Michael and I celebrated our third anniversary with dinner at Red Tango in Wheat Ridge, a suburb about 20 minutes away. I had a black-bean ravioli in gorgonzola sauce with grilled chicken; he had barbecued pork loin with chipotle sauce.

Oh, and it's been snowing. As of the 20th, we will have had snow on the ground for two solid months.

Next up: Photos from our Bay Area trip.

Soaking up the 60s

Woo-hoo! I guess the arctic blast has moved east and we now have pleasant temps to go along with the sun. That's not to say the snow is gone or that we won't be getting more, but Michael and I will be jetting off to the Bay Area for a few days at the end of the week, so maybe we'll miss it for a change. And I can guarantee you we won't miss it!

Same old, same cold

I marked last week's snow No. 6 with Lemon Zucchini Muffins from King Arthur. Yesterday was snow No. 7 in seven weeks, and it's currently snowing again. Even worse, according to the newspaper: Denver has now had 42 consecutive days of snow cover, putting this winter fifth in the record books. To break the record, the snow will have to remain on the ground until Feb. 22, which would be 64 consecutive days. The record of 63 days was set during the 1983-84 winter.


Sigh. I must say the snow coupled with bitter cold is getting majorly depressing. Enough already!

Michael and I picked up another cool baking book at a local used store where we have credit.



We haven't made anything from the Betty Crocker circa 1963 yet, but we will. The pictures are alone were worth the price. I also see where Amy Sedaris got some of her food-styling inspiration for her fab entertaing book, "I Like You."

Meanwhile, speaking of baking, go to my California friend Michael's designer-cupcake site, Em Editables.

What's the story?

Yum: King Arthur Flour's Morning Glory Muffins for breakfast. Apples, carrots, coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, raisins.

Ho-hum: It snowed 6-8 inches yesterday. Fifth week in a row. Another is predicted for next Monday.

Pancakes & potions

OK, enough with the snow posts already. It's not going anywhere anytime soon, and I'm sure you're ready for me to move on to a new topic. I know I am.

Instead I give you ... pancakes. My inspiration is three-pronged: my friend Kat, who always has her camera at the ready for spur-of-the-moment blog posts, leaving nothing off limits and offering new posts pretty much daily; my new King Arthur Flour baking book; and Julie Powell's delightful book "Julie & Julia," in which she chronicles her efforts to make every dish in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year.

Michael & I have pretty much all the cookbooks we could ever need -- including Vegetarian Times' collection, two Mark Bittmans and at least one Mollie Katzen -- not to mention subscriptions to Eating Well and Rachael Ray's Everyday, which rarely let us down (Eating Well has recently blessed us with Catfish Amandine and Boneless Buffalo Wings).

We had no baking books, though, and I decided it was time. Just got it a few days ago, and on a quick look-through decided the first recipe I'd try was gingerbread pancakes. Despite the altitude, they came out fluffy, not dry and tasty, especially with the suggested dollop of warm applesauce on top. Yum!

Meanwhile, in my never-ending DIY dabbling, here's a slightly fuzzy photo of fizzy bath bombs and lotion (in the jar) that I made. My friend Cristine and I have been taking some free classes at Apothecary Tinctura, a fabulous local shop that sells herbs and gifts, and Mom got me a couple of natural-body-product recipe books for Christmas. I've also been using a homemade lavender-rose-hops-chamomile sleep balm every night, and I'm brewing some bay rum for Michael (a 3- to 4-week process).

Steers & gears

This year's installment of the National Western Stock Show parade was a bit of a disappointment. It lasted only about 15 minutes and was missing features from last year, including the sheepherding dogs. There also were a lot fewer longhorn cattle. Still, it's pretty cool to see farm animals meandering the streets of downtown Denver.


After the parade, we stopped by the Capitol on our way home to congratulate new Gov. Bill Ritter on Inauguration Day and welcome him and his family to the neighborhood (we live in Capitol Hill, and the Governor's Mansion is about a half-mile from us). I told his kids there's good sledding on the hill by their new house. No photos of the guv were allowed, which means no record of my gubernatorial moment.

Even the natives are restless

Remember how we got all that snow almost a month ago? This is what our backyard looks like now. We've gotten four snowstorms in four weeks (it's currently snowing right now, but I'm counting that as part of the one that started Friday). I was starting to worry we'd lucked out last year and gotten a really mild winter, but everyone -- including the native Coloradans -- says this is not normal. My boss, a Texan, says that if she'd seen a winter like this in her first five years here, she never would've stuck around.

The snow, however, is sticking around. We had a few days last week of mild, sunshiny days that started to melt the snow. Then the cold snap set in. Since Friday, we've had highs of 6 to 12 and lows of minus-something-or-other. Really, the snow on its own wouldn't be so bad -- if it would stop coming down! Many side streets are still a beast -- I drove on one last week that was like a ride at Disney World. There were grooves in such deep ice that when I tried veering to the side to park, my car started going perpendicular to the street. And parking in general can be tricky if you don't find out a cleared-out spot. Some areas just have heaps of snow in the gutters.

I'm all for snow -- when it snows, sticks around a few days, looks pretty until it all turns black from cars, and then melts. This is just ridiculous. By the end of every week now, everyone just dreads the next snow. And the snow coupled with this cold is just crazy! Actually, 6 doesn't feel as cold as it sounds. It's really freaking cold, but it doesn't seem a whole colder than, say, 15 or 20. Once you hit a certain point, it's hard to distinguish. I don't think I could live in someplace where it gets to 20s or 30s below zero, though.

The dogs hate the cold. They'd rather pee on the rug inside where it's warm than saunter outdoors. Even Esther, and she's, surprisingly, more consistently housebroken than Angus. So lately we've been suiting up to ensure they do their business outside. I think they're just ready for some grass to run around on. And maybe weather in the mid-20s.

(Oh, and as you can probably tell from the better-quality photos, I got the camera back from the shop yet again. Let's all cross our fingers.)

The white stuff

Figured I'd post some photos from last week's snow before we get another storm this week. I've heard anywhere from 8-20 inches. After seeing the crappy job the city did in plowing streets, I hate to see what 20 more inches could do. The plow came down our street almost a week after the blizzard, and by then it was way too late. All they served to do was rebury our dug-out car. Michael I didn't drive for a whole week; luckily, that's not really a hardship for us. Please keep in mind these photos are from a camera phone, so they're not the best quality.

Esther follows fresh footprints in the back yard to try to find a bathroom spot.

This is the same view of the back yard as previous entries, though this time you can barely see the picnic table for the snow.

With the dogs in Cheesman Park, about six blocks away. This was during the second day of the storm, when people managed to get out and about (though many, including Michael, had snow days).


This is outside our place after the first bit of shoveling.

A view of our street (that's our dug-out Toyota on the right), which looked pretty much the same for days, until more traffic came through. Our car didn't move from a Tuesday to a Tuesday.

Merry Christmas!

One of the highlights of the Denver holiday season is the over-the-top (some would probably say tacky, but I love it -- surprise!) lighted City-County Building.

Michael, the dogs and I spent the morning opening presents and watching neighbor Grayson (who's almost 2) tear into his. Soyrizo sausage gravy & biscuits for breakfast. Now I'm preparing to make my first-ever persimmon pudding. It's a family tradition, but I've never made one before. One of my lifetime favorites. Let's hope the altitude/my inexperience don't screw it up. Normally I would use fake butter and soymilk for baking but decided I'd better play it safe, at least with the first one. Mom had enough frozen persimmon pulp shipped to me from an orchard in Indiana to make three puddings.

For dinner, we have three couples and their kids coming over. On the menu? Why, Thai takeout, of course! No cooking on this holiday! Woo-hoo!

Enjoy the day!

Snow!

Well, I hate to say that the camera is in the shop for a FOURTH time (if Canon doesn't get it right this time, we buy another one and NOT a Canon), so luckily our friend Barry, who lives half a block away, got some great shots of the snowstorm. The photo above is outside our place, and that's our Toyota buried in there somewhere. That's on Thursday, after two days of snow (we got about 2 feet altogether).

I took some photos with the camera phone and may post a few, but the quality is not fabulous. In the meantime, go to ETTETT to see more snow pics of Denver and Capitol Hill, our neighborhood, in particular.

And I couldn't agree with Barry more. The snow turns people into fabulous human beings. Everyone seems genuinely happy walking in the snow-covered streets, helping each other dig out cars, sharing snow shovels. I have to tell you, I don't think I would ever miss car traffic. Everything is so peaceful in the snow with few cars on the road. Michael and I love living in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. The snow hasn't affected us as much as most, simply because we can walk to all the crucial spots, including work.

Good day for a blog entry

I don't envision doing a whole lot else today. We heard yesterday that 4-8 inches of snow was expected today, but we didn't expect to wake up to blizzard conditions. I walked one block to our Wild Oats and was exhausted by the time I got there because of the already-deep snow -- I'd guess we're at 8 at least, with no sign of it stopping anytime soon. The latest forecast is for 12-14 today, with an additional 10-12 tomorrow.

Michael & I both have today off but were picturing walking 25 minutes (longer in this much snow, I'm sure) to work tomorrow. I told him I doubted I would get more than a few blocks before collapsing or needing to rest. The museum's closed today and we're guessing it will be tomorrow, so at least one of us will get a snow day.

I had to suit up to force the dogs outside to potty. They both sunk right into the snow.

All I can say is I'm glad I'm done Christmas shopping & shipping gifts!

Wow

These photos of presidents in drag (with a few other leaders thrown in) are by turns hilarious and downright scary:

Take 1
Take 2

Backyard Buddha

Surely a ladybug on a Buddha must be some kind of good sign? He once had a giant slug on him in Oregon, but that was just gross!

Lordy, lordy ...

Yes, it's true. I've been 40 for about a week now. At first I was apprehensive, but I decided it's not so bad (and what choice do I have, really?) and actually sounds kind of cool.

Also had to share pictures of the super-cool record purse I got from Ann and Curt. Apparently I can still be hip at 40!

But his dad HATES broccoli*

"My curse will make him bloat like broccoli. Bush will feel unease during the visit," someone named Ki Gendeng Pamungkas told The Jakarta Post after performing a black-magic ritual during the president's recent trip to Asia. The curse required the blood of a snake, a goat and a crow.

From the looks of this photo, perhaps it worked?

Seriously, I don't know which is funnier -- the broccoli quip or the photo. It's like he's channeling Monty Burns and Austin Powers all at once. Oh, behave!

*The first President Bush banned broccoli from the White House and Air Force One: "I'm president of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!"

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday today to Michael! He's in Oregon for the Ducks-Beavers game, so we celebrated a few days early. Our little neighbor Grayson and his parents joined us for squash-roasted garlic risotto and too-sweet birthday cake.

Go Ducks!

Getting to know you

If you've been reading much, you've probably seen references to my cousin "Lynryd" and wondered "What the flip?" -- especially why it is that Lynryd is a she.

To kick off a new occasional feature, meet "Lynryd," better known as Linda, No. 11. among the 16 first cousins (I'm No. 14). She's also No. 6 of eight "Madison Kids," a name fashioned by our grandma when the kids lived in Madison, Ind., in the 1970s with their folks, Homer and Mary Helen. It was a lot easier than saying Gary, Patty, Karen, Brenda, John, Linda, Mark and Sharon. Still is, and it's what I -- lovingly, of course -- call them collectively to this day.

Linda lives in Indiana and works for the federal government. She is mom to Ryan, who's in the Army Reserve and preparing to study criminal justice, and middle-schooler Blake. She's also an aunt several times over, most recently to baby sister Sharon's first child, Jack Cooper. Jack was born on his due date of Oct. 18, making him, like Linda and our grandma Lenore, a Libra.

1. What was it like growing up one of eight "Madison Kids"?

When I was growing up, being part of 8 didn’t seem any different to me than any other family except there was always a lot of turmoil. There seemed to be someone always arguing. Now, being part of a family with 8 kids is unheard of. Between us, there is a lot more companionship and a lot less fighting. Of course, you know we all love to get together and play poker. I remember one evening you came over to my Mom and Dad’s during a poker game and I can still hear you looking around saying “sensory overload” because everyone was talking all at once and there were so many of us crammed in the kitchen. That still cracks me up.

[Editor's note: I don't remember the "sensory overload" comment; all I know is, as an only child, I always wanted to be an honorary Madison Kid.]

2. Aside from "Lynryd," there've been nicknames for your sibs and at least one cousin. Give me examples, and who started the trend?

I have no idea who, where or exactly when this “name changing” trend started. I know I have been called “Lynryd” for over 30 years. It has been shortened (for the most part) from Lynyrd Sknyrd. Maybe, that’s when the band was created? Some of my brothers and sisters had some creative nicknames, such as a sister we called “Bernard,” but we have since changed that to “Barn Yard” due to her country tendencies. Another brother we called “Johnna” and yet another brother we called “Murtha” and even at times extended that to “Murtha Mucker Mutt”. I’m sure this was created by someone in the 8 as just another teasing method. (Probably Brenda.)

[Ed. note: "Bernard" would be Brenda; "Murtha" would be Mark; "Johnna" would be John and was probably funny to us when we were kids because of our girl cousin Jahna. I'm pretty sure Sharon is "Sherman." And Lynyrd failed to mention I was "Angus," though it's fairly coincidental we named our dog Angus, and I had a childhood dog named Rufus who was almost named Angus.]

3. What is your fondest memory of me? (Try not to embarrass me too much, if possible.)

HMMMM…………………fondest memory………It would have to be being lucky enough to stay the night at Grandma's with you and staying up eating SpaghettiOs, Little Debbies and anything else we could find in the pantry at 3:00 a.m. We never actually got to play with too many of your toys because I was super clumsy and would end up breaking something, but we always found something to do for hours on end.

4. You served in the Army and lived overseas. Tell me about some of your memorable travels. What's your favorite city among those you've seen?

My favorite country would be Switzerland because it’s so beautiful. I have been numerous times. Each time was breathtaking. I have been downhill skiing there and even camping at the foot of the Alps. Another favorite would be Holland. I love the sea, and the countryside is so clean.

5. What are some of your favorite movies?

"An Officer and a Gentleman," "Saturday Night Fever," "Clueless," "Home Alone"

6. Best concerts you've ever seen?

Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium, London, England; Kid Rock in Louisville, Ky.

7. How do you spend your free time?

Attending sporting events that son is involved in, catching up with friends, hosting poker parties, going to the movies, experiencing some of the eclectic dining in Louisville and of course every now and then bar hopping. I also usher at Actors Theatre of Louisville for fun.

8. Why are you so funny?

Der?

[Ed. note: She really is. Trust me.]

9. What's something you've never done but always wanted to?

Parasail, fly in an F-14, take an Alaskan Cruise, travel to Hong Kong, Hawaii …………………

10. What's your favorite "Brady Bunch" episode?

I can’t remember the episodes -- the only thing I can remember of one episode is Peter saying “pork chops and applesauce.”

[Ed. note: This episode, which originally aired Oct. 22, 1971, is titled "The Personality Kid." Synopsis found online: At a party, Peter is told he has no personality. Rather than admit he simply had a bad time at a dull party, he tries to create a new personality. He forces several personas -- including his infamous impersonation of Humphrey Bogart in describing the family's meal of pork chops and applesauce, but none of them go over well. Later, he buys a joke book, but when he tries them out at his party, he finds everyone knows the punchlines. Just as he's trying to keep his party afloat, Bobby and Cindy (who in the subplot were on a safety campaign) call a surprise fire drill, forcing everyone to flee the house.]

**********

That's it. Thanks for playing, Linda!

If anyone would like to know more about someone else or if you have question ideas for next time, let me know!

The good, the bad and the ugly

The good: Democrats have won the U.S. House and Senate, hateful Rick Santorum is out in Pennsylvania, and Colorado has elected a Democratic governor for the first time in eight years and several Democratic congressmen/women!

The bad: Not surprisingly, Colorado approved a gay-marriage ban. I was holding out hope, though, that people could at least see it in their hearts to approve a domestic-partnership measure to offer couples some legal protections. At this writing, it's still undecided, with many Denver votes (approving the measure about 2-1) yet to be counted, but I don't think we can pull it off.

The most disgusting part is that Ted Haggard, the fallen leader of the evangelical New Life Church in Colorado Springs and the biggest hypocrite I can think of at the moment, was instrumental in shaping the gay-marriage ban. People apparently are threatened by gay marriage but not by a meth-head pastor who breaks his wedding vows to sneak around with a gay male prostitute. I couldn't care less about his sexual orientation, but you'd think he could've at least gotten his "experimentation" out of the way in Bible college before going on to deceive a wife and a slew of kids.

The ugly: Ah, the democratic process. Michael and I said we'd never vote on machines again after we did in New Mexico, so we went the absentee route. Simple, effective and no wait on Election Day. Turns out it doesn't really matter what you do, as your vote may or may not get counted, and the people who do wait in line eventually give up after waiting three hours for broken machines and/or people who don't know how to run them. What's it going to take to get some true voting reform in this country?

Sleeping baby

Congratulations to my cousin Sharon and her husband, Brian, on the arrival of Jack! He was born on his due date of Oct. 18.

Better than Molly Ringwald

In the weird-compliment category, I was just walking the dogs, and a guy said, "Ma'am, you're not just pretty in pink [I was wearing a pink fleece], you're absolutely gorgeous." I said thanks. "Don't thank me, thank him," he said, pointing heavenward. "Thank the big-spirit guy."

Ah, just another day of life in the city.