|
|
 My honey tells me that life is lived in fits and starts. Fall officially started last week. The flower baskets are languishing on the Juliet balcony. The yard begs to be manicured. We didn’t spend much time on the deck as I promised myself we’d do this year. I jammed an AC joint (have no idea what this is, only that I hurt it) in my left shoulder, officially retiring my current workout and stalling my weight-loss plan at 10 pounds down. And the weekly pot-au-feu challenge remains a lovely plan, yet to be enacted. But we got a puppy. A puppy! It was supposed to be years away, coupled with a move to the East Coast and a kinder, gentler life, but here we are with our lovely little boy, a 14-week-old male standard poodle named Annyong (10 points if you can cite the reference). And he’s delightful. Shy yet playful. Sweet yet willful. Calm, with the occasional bout of dare-me! And cuddly, with just a touch of this-doesn’t-just-happen. Just like his parents. I’m sitting in Albany, New York, tonight, but my heart’s at home--very sad that I didn’t get to see him take the stairs up (or down) for the first time this week and that I’m not at home--right now--sipping martinis with our puppy asleep at our feet and my honey holding hands with me on the couch as we sip martinis and watch “Mad Men.” I guess that’s the “having a fit” part, now that a different time in our life together has started.
Posted by Voltaire on 09/30/2008 at 08:00 PM
(0) Comments •
Permalink
 So I’m back to the iPhone. I know, I know. I declared it “so last year” earlier this year and switched to a Blackberry World Edition. I had my litany of complaints about what the iPhone didn’t do at all or didn’t do well--like have a search function for its addressbook or a to-do list application. I bitched about its spotty nationwide coverage and propensity to drop calls. How was hard to dial while driving, or with gloves on. That the battery life was shoddy. That it wouldn’t even work in my home office. And yet, there I was, a few Fridays back, standing at 7:30 a.m. outside the Michigan Avenue Apple Store (fourth in line), waiting to make the switch. Again.
Why, you ask? Turns out synchronicity was more important to me than connectivity. The Blackberry was terrific as a phone and an email processor, but it simply wouldn’t talk to my mac. The third-party software I purchased to sync to my powerbook worked only once, and only partly. I think Guy Kawasakicommented in a blog post that he viewed the iPhone as a mini-computer that could dial out occasionally rather than as a phone with lots of add-ons, and I think he’s right. I now have my calendar and address book and bookmarks back at my fingertips, and I really missed them terribly. But wait, there’s more! This thing has now become my new second-best friend. The 3G speed and better WIFI connectivity and third-party applications have rehooked me to the world and made life easier. My favorite productivity and entertainment iPhone apps:
- Recorder
- Facebook
- The New York Times
- AIM for iPhone
- Quickbooks for iPhone
- Wikipanion
- Mobile News
- Tris (yay, Tetris for iPhone)
- Little Chef
- Ambiance
- NetNewsWire
- Pandora
- Shazam
- Bubbles
- iFlix
- Evernote
- Things (which syncs up with my laptop wirelessly over a network)
iPhone 3G, I heart you!
So why am I not really wrong? Because all of the stuff I complained about in the original was true, and some of it hasn’t changed. It still doesn’t work in my basement. And the search for the address book is slow and limited. And I still drop calls all the time. And the battery life has gotten even worse. And yet, I’m happier than ever, having come back, and I’ll gladly live with its shortfalls. My only regret is not having gone for the 16GB in white. Sometimes, more is more, and honey P. tells me that I wear light colors well.
Posted by Voltaire on 09/02/2008 at 04:01 PM
(0) Comments •
Permalink
 Many won’t agree, but I’m quietly excited that the summer’s drawing to an end. It’s been a wonderful one, absolutely, but autumn’s always been my favorite season. My mind’s already wandering to laying the roses down and clearing the garden, adjusting to the cooler days and longer nights, watching college football, wearing knits, building fires in the den, and making braises, soups, and stews.
I found Splendid Soups in Joe’s kitchen when we were visiting them in the UP last week. He told me that it’s one of his most-used books, and I had to have it. The book contains a recipe for pot au feu, which I plan to christen as this season’s Sunday dish in my kitchen. It usually takes me a season to get the recipe just right--the adventure begins later this month. (If you’ve got a pot au feu recipe you’re willing to share, please send it along!)
The holiday weekend found me prepping for the end of summer. I vacuumed the spice cabinet and re-sorting the oils and vinegars, cleaned out the fridge and freezer, made a batch of chicken stock, and restocked the cabinet with staples for longer-cooking meals. In the next few weeks I’ll be ordering firewood for the season and replenishing our supply of the ambers (scotch, cognac, bourbon, calvados). I’ve got a little bit of work to do today, and then I’m going to settle down with a good book for the rest of the afternoon. Happy Labor Day, everyone, and I hope your summer has been one you’ll remember fondly ...
Posted by Voltaire on 09/01/2008 at 12:47 PM
(0) Comments •
Permalink
|
- Oceanique, Evanston USA
- Bistro Campagne, Chicago USA
- Natalie's, Camden, Maine USA
- Lincoln Cafe, Mt. Vernon, IA USA
- Crush, Seattle USA
- The Steelhead Diner, Seattle USA
- pane e salute, Woodstock USA
- Toque, Montreal CAN
- L'Ilot Vache, Paris FRA
- Borchardt, Berlin, DEU
- Charlot, Frankfurt DEU
- Altwienerhof, Vienna AT
- thecureforeverything@gmail.com
|
