Musings

This morning our backyard sentinels quietly stood watch in dense fog. Is this an omen for 2008?

Posted at 6:52 PM | 4 Comments »

The camillias are thriving this winter so far….

It’s a good thing and a bad thing that today we got enough rain here in good ol’ ATL to beat the record driest year—but only just. So it’s a good thing for the environment and our reservoirs that we have more rainfall. It’s a bad thing in that since it’s no longer a record drought people may find it easier to disregard this issue. And that would be not-good.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on All-day rain

Sunny today, but more rain expected. In a burst of winterliness, we’re having white bean soup for dinner.

It’s also a good antidote for examining theories about civilizational decline and transformation.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Antidote-soup

The other day, the reflected sunlight dazzled the ceiling of the gazebo at Lake Clara Meer.

This morning was rainy, and it’s rainy again. Meteorological speculators suggested that over yesterday and into tomorrow, some areas upstream from us may get in excess of 1 1/2 inches of rain. Yippee!

For a brief period, we had sunshine, and wearing my black t-shirt while out for a walk, I actually sweated glowed in the high humidity.

Posted at 4:21 PM | 1 Comment »

I have a new passion (passionette?): charcoal-roasted green tea aka hoji-cha. Xmas gift. Yamamotoyama brand. Highly recommmended!

And don’t you think my Seattle Art Museum mug is pretty special?

Posted at 4:51 PM | Comments Off on Hoji-cha

A lovely bottle of bubbly we shared on Xmas Eve; hand-carried to us all by S. from Germany.

The OLPC laptops are making a (positive) difference, the WP reports; kids favor especially using the camera and video capabilities. Their story is from very rural Peru. Give one (or more) here. You can choose to get one for yourself, too!

The snooty discriminating French may bow to market pressure and expand the geographic area that can produce effervescent wines that can legally be called champagne. Well, at the earliest in 2009, and the vines won’t come on line until, um, at least 2015…leaving them plenty of time to reverse or adjust the decision….

The NYT has finally published (dated yesterday; hmm, I was too busy to read the paper and missed it then) an article that explicates the anthropologist’s analysis of Diamond’s “Collapse”—basically too much environmental determinism and an unbalanced argument about human decisions. Diamond is a geographer, and gets it a bit, well, skewed (you’ve probably gotten that from me eight or ten times; apologies for the repetition). Yes, climate change is a factor, but, the complexity of cultural evolution isn’t addressed properly in D’s volume. [Reminder to self: get that MS finished!]

Posted at 9:09 AM | 2 Comments »

One huge stalk of Brussels sprouts: that’s the four bucks….

Our non-traditional menu today: chicken cacciatore (mmmm, mushrooms, olives, green herbs, mmmm) with a side of Brussels sprouts freshly harvested from the stalk, a huge green salad, pie. Choice of pumpkin and apple, of course—or both!

Posted at 10:22 PM | 2 Comments »

Awake before 6 am. City’s quiet. Listening to NPR news via broadband (my favorite, WUNC). Then I hear a jet overhead and think about the many people doing the airport thing today, over the last few days, and over the days to come.

Posted at 2:16 PM | 1 Comment »

Tree decorated: check.

Many other chores: [unfinished, un-begun, un-ready—your choice].

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on List checking

This wonderful veggie sushi is by the Lovely L.

Buffet sushi is not my most favorite way of eating sushi (too much breading and rice and mayo-based goop for my taste), but Ru San’s, a chain that began here in good ol’ ATL over fifteen years ago, does a pretty good job.

We broke up our shopping expedition to lunch at a nearby Ru San’s and I was reminded of an observation I’d made several years back—the guys in the front of the open kitchen are Asian or Asian-American, but the guys farther back tend to be Latino (are they cheaper to hire? more available? what’s the deal?). One guy working today had a perfect Classic Maya profile!

Here’s the link I found with the most info on Ru San’s (after only a quick google), which doesn’t have a real corporate web page, just a stand-in I won’t even link to. Hmm. Business opportunity for my web-page-adept friends? No, must be a conscious management decision…perhaps to make them seem less, well, corporate, and like a chain?

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Buffet sushi