The end of summer is always heralded by the meteor showers called the Perseids (Aug 13th this year). Growing up, we’d troop out to the back yard around midnight with our sleeping bags and watch the show. There was something so intensely comforting about watching the universe fly by with my parents and sister safe and warm by my side. While in the mountains my mother, father and I did a little star gazing but with the help of an amazing Droid app — Google Sky Map. I’m probably the last person to know about it — but it is pretty spectacular. You hold your phone to the sky and using GPS coordinates your phone tells you what the constellations are.
We’re packing up (or rather, Tim is packing for all of us while I type this post) for a fourth of july weekend on Cape Cod with Tim’s family. There will be dogs, sand, a collective fascination with Alex, at least one meal at Grumpy’s and sadly, probably a fair amount of traffic (while sitting in the Bourne Bridge traffic we’ll be listening to our (don’t judge) Katy Perry channel on Pandora).
I’m in Boston for a few days, doing research at Historic New England’s photographic archive. I haven’t been back to Boston in over five years (we visit family outside of Boston all the time, but, its different to be in the city, alone). I lived on West Cedar Street in Beacon Hill when I first lived in Boston (the building above with the tree in front). My apartment was the second floor unit. It is amazing what is the same (great Thai food at the King and I on Charles Street (order the Tofu Noodle!), the same check out lady at the CVS around the corner, the Home Style laundromat).
This morning Alex cut himself for the first time in his two year old life and was inconsolable. Parenting an inconsolable toddler is _______. Having explain what pain is and that it will go away to a toddler who lives almost completely in the present moment. The hardest part for me is that he now knows he can experience pain (!!). On the one hand, simply part of growing up and on the other, heart-wrenching. He kept taking the bandaid off and touching his cut; which of course made the pain worse. What finally shifted the energy of the morning was something so simple; I started putting bandaids on places where he wasn’t hurt; first on both his big toes (giggles) then across all his toes (more giggles) and finally all over his feet (still more giggles). So when I came across this projet nid de poule: knitted, colorful patterns filling potholes in the streets of Paris (in 2009), I inexplicably felt that there was some similar impulse at work; to fix something that was broken or at least distract us. Found on Jumelle’s Tumblr and originally from juliana santacruz herrera .
We drove out to Long Island on Saturday and went to the beach for the day. Alex romped in the sand and Tim and I soaked up some sun. (We had burgers here and blueberry peach crumb pie here.)
I love the stony beaches of Long Island. Sea stones and their almost unimaginable smoothness always make me think of this poem by P.K. Dufault:
The best vacations are one when you come back feeling more alive and our trip to LA left us feeling that way. It is a great city, no surprise there. We stayed in an amazing bed and breakfast in Santa Monica that I highly highly recommend, The Channel Road Inn. I joined Yelp, so you can see everywhere we ate here. This was my favorite meal.
We’re headed to Los Angeles next week for a low key vacation. I just want to eat good food and explore the city since I’ve never been before. On my list: Tavern for breakfast and Bake Lab for sweets! Found via Happy Lady Eats. Also of interest: the Craft and Folk Art Museum.
In my ongoing computer file clean up I found this 24 second video from our trip to Paris in 2006. I don’t usually like video on the web, but at 24 seconds it gives you a tiny taste of Paris, just like eating a macaroon.
Dear Readers, I asked you a few months ago for advice on where to stay in Miami and you delivered great advice in spades! In the end, I decided not to go — I had thought I wanted a blow-out birthday hotel weekend someplace warm, but these days due to the bun in the oven, when I’m tired, I’m EXHAUSTED. And who wants to be tired in Miami? Not me! Instead, Tim is taking me to my favorite restaurants, Sfoglia!
However, I did lots of research on Miami hotels before I finally made up my mind. Here were my top three picks:
The Raleigh. This boutique luxury hotel close to the ocean (don’t you love the red cushions on the beach?) seems to have it all. Rooms start at $325.
The Hotel. A bit of a hidden gem, this hotel (with lovely garden) includes beach chairs and umbrellas in the room price. Rooms start at $275.
The Standard. The spa seems to be a focus here, complete with a pool scene. Rooms start at $265.
NB: The Setai looks over the top pretentiously decorated and is incredibly expensive ($750 a night). If someone else was paying (like a long lost great aunt with a Rolls and a driver), I’d love to spend a night as part of her entourage. Also, the consensus is that The Delano seems to have seen better days, and is a bit dated (so, maybe there are better places to spend vacaction pennies).
So I was just longing for a trip to Japan as witnessed by this post and this one too, and Eric Testroete obliges by making a video of every photo from his trip to Japan. I love this idea — of making one’s trip digestible. We’ve talked about chic travel journals before and I just read about a woman who makes “Book of the Year” every year in January out of all her photos and ephemera, which appeals to me, too.
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On Home
A house is more than just a shelter from the storm. How we shape our homes, and how we behave within them, speak volumes about our history, our values and our way of life. - New York Times
Living is the greatest art of all. - Alfred Stieglitz
To have less would be in many cases to have more - more tranquility of life, more ease of mind, more knowledge and more real enjoyment. - Candace Wheeler
To be alive means to live in a world that preceded one's arrival and will survive one's departure. - Hannah Arendt Found Via Jessica Helfand
On Consciousness and Freedom
But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about in the great outside world of wanting and achieving. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.
That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.
David Foster Wallace, Commencement address at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, May 21, 2005.
