Memories

After a rather amazing experience last night I'm flooded with memories this morning.

We went to a birthday party for a friend. Their new next-door neighbors came to the party. They have been down here for about 1-1/2 years after retiring and moving from Pennsylvania. I had met them at another party there, but the conversation never took the turn it took last night.

We discovered last night that the husband and I had attended the same parochial grade and high schools at the same time, but 2 years apart, in suburban Pittsburgh. We moved there when I was in 7th grade, so I was only at the grade school, St. Bernard's in Mt. Lebanon, for 2 years, and then went on to what was then a boys high school named South Hills Catholic. It later merged with a girl's high school and is not called Seton-LaSalle High School.

Although we did not recall knowing one another at the time, there are many other people we do know in common.

To the right is a picture of St. Bernard' church with a little bit of the school showing at the bottom right. The church is an interesting building with two completely separate churches inside. It is built on sloping land. From the front you enter the "upper church" at ground level. From the back you enter the "lower church" at ground level. This view is from the back of the church

And here's a picture of Seton-LaSalle. Oddly, the first memory that hit when I saw this picture was of an evening at the school at a rehearsal for the spring musical during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember a group of us sitting on the stairs in that entry looking up at the sky and wondering if missles would be coming to strike us at any moment. (At that time there was still a huge steel industry in the Pittsburgh, and for that reason the city was high on the list of nuclear attack targets.)

I love it when life brings us one of these amazing moments.

Our Friend in Newcastle

Although he won't admit it, I think our friend in Newcastle, the Mad One, is up to something.

Answers from Dog

What happens when you ask a dog about right wing nutcases?

Typealyze Your Blog

This is a gadget that runs an analysis of blogs.

Here's what Typealyzer says about this one. (Race cars? Ha! If they only knew.)

ISTP - The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like to seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

HT Joe.My.God

All About Stuff

I think I wrote earlier in this blog that we have decided to move to a new house. We've been living in a lovely older house on a very large lot for the past 15 years or so. At the time we moved into it, it was a great adventure. Our two previous homes were brand new when we bought them. We eventually felt we wanted a change from suburbia to the city and to an older home and neighborhood with all the charm and character we did not have out in the burbs. We had great fun going through the big old house and updating it. I became an absolutely crazed gardener. It wasn't unusual for me to work all week in my business and then spend 12 hours in the garden over the weekend. It was a showpiece. We certainly did fulfill our part of The Gay Agenda regarding the requirements of taking care of an old house!

At this point in our lives we have decided to downsize. I sold my business last fall. Ed is seriously planning towards retirement. I'm still working out of the house, but my pace is a lot slower than it was running that business.

We started out by looking at condominiums in our neighborhood and also downtown. We quickly found out that condos in our neighborhood are ridiculously expensive compared to most of the city and downtown even more so. But then we found a little garden home community just 3 miles away from the house where we live now and fell in love with a house in there. It's a bit smaller than this one, but not by much, and considerably larger than the downtown condos we looked at with prices 3-4 times higher. And to make it even more appealing, the homeowner's association takes care of all the yards, front and back, including the planting and maintenance of all the flower beds they've installed liberally all around the yards. And if I want to continue as a crazed gardener, I can do as much as I want in addition to what they've already done. And, of course, I don't have to do any it of if I decide not to.

The move is 2 weeks off. For the past few weeks we've been going through this house and taking things to the new one bit by bit and deciding what's not going to come with us. One of the things we have loved about this house is a huge storage area. We have really loved it. Our project this morning was to go through it and decide what goes to the new place and what doesn't.

And right now there are about 25-30 lawn and leaf bags sitting out in the alley full of things we don't need, much of which we had totally forgotten about (including 2 dead laptop computers and a dead desktop system).

As I marvelled at the amount of stuff that was stowed away in that area, much of it totally forgotten, I remembered one of my all time favorite comedy routines, George Carlin talking about Stuff.

Clever!

It took me awhile to figure out the Beef Stroganov, but the rest of it was easier to see.

My Good and Fun Stuff

I have not forgotten that I said I would write about the stuff that was keeing me away for the blog a few weeks ago. In a way, they still are, but I've incorporated them into my life now, and they seem to have found their place.

It all started with a major project, quitting smoking. I think I've finally done it. After everything from acupressure to herbs to nicotine gum and patches, I think I have finally been able to quit thank to what seems nearly like a miracle to me ... Chantix.

I am just about to complete my fifth week on Chantix. I am one of the lucky ones who has no significant side-effects from it. I had some very trivial nausea and lightheadness for an hour or so during the first day I took the initial dose. That quickly disappeared and has not come back at all. For awhile I was concerned it might come back to strike as I went through the first week of gradually titrating up to the full dose. Fortunately that never happened. I am having the side effect of vivid dreams, but that's not really a problem. They're not nightmares, they're just fun. Mine have been mostly about traveling to some of my favorite spots.

One of the interesting things about it is that you're supposed to keep smoking during your first week on Chantix. Before the week was over I noticed that I had already begun to lose interest in smoking. In fact, when I went out on the porch to smoke what was to be the very last one, I decided not to bother with it. Since then I've managed to avoid them completely ... and without all the horrific stuff I went through the other times I've tried to quit. It's really quite amazing.

I intend to complete the full recommend 12-week program even though it seems almost like I won't need the second of the two "continuation packs." If has worked this well for the initial 5 weeks, I want to be sure that I get the maximum effect from it.

So then in order to try to avoid as much as the inevitable weight gain as possible, I decided to get a little more serious about a walking routine. The only problem is that I get so very bored by healthy brisk walks. So I decided to get one of those new Sirius Stiletto 2 portable satellite radios I can take with me on the walks, a fun little gadget that receives radio from the satellite or from wi-fi. It acts like a Tivo and records your favorite shows. It also acts like an Ipod and let you load it up with your favorite audio. And if you're not inclined to do that, it loads itself up at random with material from the stations you listen to. So I have plenty of things to keep me entertained while I go on my increasingly longer and longer walks. I've been listening to a lot of Michelangelo Signorile on Sirius OutQ as well as the outrageous Derek and Romaine.

So ... it has taken me awhile to incorporate all of this stuff into my daily routine, but I think I'm getting there. And for my dog, Mr. Harley, it is just the best possible thing to happen because going on walks is really his favorite thing in the whole world ... well with the possible exception of those Apple Oatmeal Bark 'n Fetch Biscuits from Three Dog Bakery.

Things are good.

Fun Stuff for Friday

Just saw this on TV and was happy to find it on the Comedy Central site. I can't say I'm one of Joe Solomonese's biggest fans, but I do like this one. And I have to give him credit for the terrific shudder/grimace in Part 2 of the episode.

Joe Solomonese on the Colbert Report

Part 1

Part 2

L'Italia, li amiamo!

There is so much to love about Italy it is difficult to put in words what I like best of all, the history, the art, the food, the architecture, or the wonderfully warm and friendly people. It's an unbeatable mix. We've visited Italy a number of times in the past, and we're still in love with it, perhaps more so than ever. This time we divided our time between Rome and Florence, and it was our first time in Rome. We've been saving that one for a trip with a good block of time. A previous trip to Rome had been scheduled shortly after 9/11 but was cancelled due to all the uncertainty of air transportation. Florence is an old friend that keeps calling me back. (The photo is Florence's Via Calzaiuoli in its Christmas splendor.)

As I think more about it, I think perhaps it is the people who make Italy so magical. Since restaurants open late for dinner by American standards, we found a little bar near our Rome hotel that had happy hour with a wonderful assortment of goodies to munch with a glass of wine while waiting to go to dinner. The second day we went there, the owner greeted us with big handshakes as if we were old friends. And so it went with each place we went to more than once.

And while on the subject of food, I think the winner in the best thing we had to eat category was an exquisite risotto with artichokes in a Florence restaurant ... bravissimo! Oh wait ... there was that delicate pasta with porcini mushrooms topped with shavings of tartufo nero (black truffle) in a little place around the corner from our Rome hotel. Hmmm ... maybe that was the favorite ... well, you get the picture. The food is wonderful, and it's really quite difficult to find a bad meal.

I have to confess that we were at the door of Central Market when it opened early this morning to get some focaccia, Genoa salami, and aged pecorino cheese to try to duplicate our favorite pannini so easily found in all the little snack bars.

And on top of all the wonderful people and exquisite food, the sights of Rome and Florence are an unending feast for the eye and the soul.

L'Italia, li amiamo.

We're Here ... Barely

Well ... yesterday was an exciting day to say the least!

Our first flight left about 2-1\2 hours late due to a bad thunderstorm in Houston.

So ... we missed the flight to Rome. However, since it stopped in Newark on the way to Rome they put us on another flight from Houston to Newark. But as things worked out, we touched down in Houston at the same time the flight to Newark was scheduled to take off. We made a mad dash through the airport and got there before it had finished boarding, so we got on. But then it sat on the runway for about an hour before taking off and then circled for about an hour before it landed. By the time we got off the plane Newark we had 10 minutes to make the connection to Rome. Another mad dash ... and we got there in time, except for the fact that they had already closed the plane's door. Fortunately they took pity on us and re-opened the plane for us. They had't held our seat assignments, but at least got on.

If there are any bizarre characters in this post it's because this keyboard I'm using in the hotel is quite different than the American style I'm used to. Most of the special characters are in different places, and it took me forever to figure out how to type the @ sign. You have to hit a key with Alt Gr on it (different than the regular Alt key).

But ... we're here and ready to go.

Merry Christmas from San Antonio

We spent the evening downtown on the Paseo del Rio with friends. And this time I remembered to bring my camera.

We've lived here for 31 years, and the Paseo del Rio still seems magical to us.

Merry Christmas from San Antonio.

Fall Has Arrived

It's several weeks later than usual, but the gingko has finally turned yellow and started dropping its leaves. The yellow leaves that had dropped onto the potted cyclamen caught my eye this morning.