It Is Done!

We're still in San Francisco and had our own impromptu party in Joe and Gay Haldeman's room to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama this morning. There were about a dozen of us laughing, weeping, and applauding. (From left to right: Russell Davis, Mary Robinette Kowal, Gay Haldeman, John Scalzi, Sherry Davis, Ann Crispin, Len Wein, and Jane Jewell with Joe Haldeman closest to the camera.)

What a great day. President Barack Obama. What a great speech. Science is back. Tolerance is back. It's about time.

In San Francisco, Part 1

We've been in San Francisco for two nights now. We are staying at the famous Fairmont Hotel at the top of Nob Hill. I hear the views are spectacular, but I haven't been outside in daylight yet.

The hotel itself is a study in opulent elegance and I'm really glad to be here with someone else picking up the tab. Every president since Taft has stayed here and it is easy to understand why.

The drive up from L.A. was pleasant. We stopped in Santa Barbara for a quick visit to The Territory Ahead to see what was on sale. Len bought a fully-lined leather coat for his trip to New York next month and I got a sweater and a shirt.

When we got back into the car, the news from New York about the amazing plane landing on the Hudson river. I immediately called my brother Tom who flies on US Air to North Carolina a lot on business. I got his voice mail, but we got in touch later during our drive. Tom, it turned out, was in San Francisco! Unfortunately, he would be getting on a plane home about the time we got to the Bay Area. We waved as we drove past the airport around 9 p.m. If I had known that I could have seen Tom (I last saw him two years ago), I would have insisted on leaving Los Angeles earlier.

It is an almost vertical climb up California Street to the Fairmont--it looks like a 60 degree climb, which is probably not possible. It was a little scary in the dark. We ran into Joe and Gay Haldeman in the lobby--Joe's a favorite writer of mine who teaches at MIT in the autumn and lives in Florida the rest of the year. Then Len and I went off to a restaurant near the hotel for a late supper. It was called the Nob Hill Cafe. Convenient, close and not bad.

After all day in a meeting Friday, we did dinner with Joe and Gay and half a dozen others in Chinatown. We had Peking duck, great spareribs, and spicy salt crab, among the other terrific dishes in the menu. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the place or the street on which it was located.

I was pretty much brain-dead after 9 hours of meetings, so I wanted to go to sleep early. Len, unfortunately, woke up with indigestion, exacerbated by panic, about 3 a.m. He's better now, but I was close to finding out if there was a doctor in the house.

Packing Bags

Len and I are getting ready to head to San Francisco on Thursday. I dropped the car off for service this morning and that's going to be a bit of a hit--but still a lot cheaper than the payments on a new car. I don't mind the fact that the Odyssey is almost 11, but it is getting a little battered looking. It's comfortable, gets me from point A to point B, and it does O.K. on fuel mileage. It can't haul a trailer, but I wasn't even taking riding lessons when we bought it, much less thinking about having a horse own me. The best thing about it is that it seats 6--four really comfortably in bucket seats and two more on a bench seat--or I can drop the last seat into the floor and take out two of the bucket seats for a lot of cargo space, all on the frame of an Accord. The newer models have sliding back doors, but mine are like a sedan, which I really prefer.

The agenda for the meetings which I will attend (while Len gets to enjoy the amenities of the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill and the wonderful city of San Francisco) included the note "semi-formal attire" for the closing dinner on Monday night. Does this mean I've got to bring a fancy dress or can I get away with a simple black number? And what is Len supposed to wear? A suit or a black tuxedo (it is "semi-formal," after all)? This is California and a bit of a surprise. Most places are fine if you wear socks with your shoes.

San Francisco is my favorite city in the U.S. While not quite a European as New Orleans, it is very much a walking city with all sorts of wonderful neighborhoods. It is a great place to photograph and I've already packed the camera and the Mac so I can digitally process on the road. Over the years I've done some gorgeous shots of the Golden Gate Bridge on transparency film. This will be my first opportunity to shoot digital. Maybe I should slip in one of my film cameras, but I don't know where I'll be able to get it processed.

Catching Up

A Happy New Year to everyone. I've been out with the cold from hell. I've lost a week of riding and three days of work and five days of vacation time to it. Yuck.

Looming ahead is a five-day trip to San Francisco, starting next Thursday. We're staying at the Fairmont on Nob Hill. I hear it is really nice. I just wish the San Andreas fault wasn't grumbling away down here. When I step out in San Francisco, I always wonder "is today the day?" But I don't let that stop me from visiting my favorite city in the U.S.

My friend Lisa Klink is in Las Vegas competing in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. The shows won't run until March and I'm sorry we couldn't accept her invitation to watch the shows being filmed. The first day of shooting was yesterday and the finals are tomorrow. If we had gone, we'd know the results. Now, we've got to wait until March to find out what happens. No fair asking because she's under a gag order until then.

Len and I actually missed an episode of Jeopardy! this week when the TiVo hiccupped. I don't think we've missed one in years. It is our mutual addiction. I spent one of my three days home from work re-reading Bob Harris' book, Prisoner of Trebekkestan. I recommend it. It's the story of his experiences on Jeopardy!, but a lot more. Bob attended Case Western Reserve University, where I went to law school, but was there at a different time than I. We met him through What's My Line? Live on Stage when he and Len were panelist together one night and it was an instant bond. He travels a lot and writes a terrific blog, which you can link to from the list on the right.

Happy New Year

I've got a few minutes before I put on my fancy dress and head out to Larry and Fuzzy Niven's house for their annual New Year's Eve extravaganza.

I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009.

Happy Holidays (There Are So Many)

Just in case I don't get another chance to post before Thursday (a distinct possibility), I wanted to wish all of my readers a very merry Christmas (a white one if you'd like it), a happy Hanukkah, a joyous Kwanza, a cool Yule, a silly Saturnalia, or whatever mid-winter festival you celebrate.

We will, as usual, spend Christmas eve going from a brunch at Emily's to a Polish Vigilia at Karen and Michael's, and to a gift exchange at Elayne's. On Christmas itself, we will do a big brunch and Christmas present extravaganza at home with my son Michael and our friends Karen and Michael (we have a lot of Michaels in our lives.) Then we'll either watch one of the many Academy screeners which has been bestowed upon us or head off to the cinema (not nearly as muchly anticipated since the Lord of the Rings finished its cycle) for something bigger than 46". Dinner will most likely be at Hop Li on the Westside, since Chinese restaurants are the ones most likely to be open (and a good choice for lapsed-Catholic/Jewish marriages, which we and Karen & Michael have.)

I used to do a big Christmas spread. That was before Christmas became my anniversary. I did it last for our first anniversary and decided I didn't need to work that hard any more. I miss the dinner, but not the stress.

This year marks our 17th anniversary. The modern gift is furniture. I started with that big dining room table and I'm looking at new living room seating.

I finished decorating the tree last night, making it the first time in years that the ornament boxes will be back in the garage before Christmas morning. My gifts aren't wrapped yet, but I've still got time for that.

Enjoy. There's so much to be happy about this year.

Snow? Yes, Snow!

It doesn't happen that often, but sometime snow does stick for a little while--at least as long as it takes to pull out a camera and find a good location. I photographed the mountains to the north of the San Fernando Valley from the parking lot of the Performing Arts Building at Pierce College. The snow level was at about an elevation of 1500 feet. It's pretty amazing how it just stops at a particular level. This was on Thursday morning at about 8 a.m. Most of the snow melted before noon.
This photograph was taken from the parking lot near Victory Boulevard on the Pierce campus, again looking north. I just love the juxtaposition of palm trees with snow-capped mountains. I'm just glad I didn't have to drive in it.

Unseasonable Weather

It's cold. Not New England or Midwest cold, but California cold and damp. I actually considered putting a blanket on Ace last night. If the clouds would rise off the mountains, I would see snow. Oh, someone just oppened a door--there is snow on the mountains in the northeast part of the Valley.

We got a lot of rain, starting around midnight Sunday night. At one point yesterday, there was a downpour at Pierce, and at my house a few blocks away, it was hailing. Len called to tell me about it. It didn't stick. The black clouds were low and big and I almost expected to see a thunderstorm with snow.

Dinner last night consisted of heating up the stock I made from the Thanksgiving turkey and throwing in some dry, mushroom-stuffed tortellini. I ate it with grated Parmesan cheese and some stale baguette. Perfect cold-weather food.

We are currently in a lull in the storm, so it is sunny and the grass and leaves glisten in the wet. The weather reports threaten snow flurries down to 1000 feet between tonight and tomorrow night. I have lived here long enough to actually catch the rare snowflake on my car. I do not look forward to these things.

I did prepare for another dip in temperature by pulling out my favorite fake-fur hat that I bought on a trip to Chicago many years ago. It is very warm and screams "it's winter!" I also decided to wear my leather coat, which goes over my heavy sweater, necessary for a day in my too-cold office.

Since it is the day of the President's Brunch here at the college, I'm wearing my large, designed by Elizabeth Taylor, two-headed horse pin from Avon. It is quite festive, with three faux tear-drop pearls and many rhinestones, and looks festive on my red knit top. One of these days, I'll have to post pictures of some of my favorite horse jewelery. I've only been collecting it since I got Ace, but I do have some very pretty pieces that I've found at flea markets and antique shops. Like my sterling, my jewelery is unlikely to break in an earthquake, making it an appropriate collectible in Southern California.

Revisiting New Mexico

I promised to put up pictures of my trip to New Mexico, and I've finally got a little bit of time to do it. The first photograph shows that all the conveniences of home are available in a little roomette on the train. I could plug in my computer and have a picture of Ace to look at. There wasn't Internet access, but I suspect that will happen someday. I found a really nice backpack for my 17" Mac and my Nikon, which also held the stuff I needed for overnight.

The room converted into upper and lower bunks, although I think the upper bunk would have been on the narrow side. During the day, the potential two occupants could sit across from each other and play cards, because there's a fold-away table between the seats. I didn't try to use the shower on the train because it was hard enough to use the sink with all the jostling. But I really enjoyed having a room of my own.

This is my friend Melinda's house, which sits on 10 acres outside of Santa Fe. It was designed by her husband, who now works in Las Vegas for some large architectural firm, and it is spectacular. I am especially jealous of the kitchen, which is enormous.













I photographed the house in the early morning, from outside of the guest house, called a casita. In the next photograph, you can see the guest house. I've had offices which were smaller, and the shower was huge.














The bathroom and closet of the casita were far bigger than any I have in my house and I loved the fire place in the sitting area. I was able to pick up the wireless Internet from the house, so I made a few of my posts from there after I said goodnight to Melinda and the pets in the main house. Fortunately for my allergies, the casita is a cat-free zone. This photo was taken late afternoon the day I arrived. Look at the beautiful, blue, western sky.














And here's the view looking out to the south and west from the living room of the house. I'd love to see it with the 11' Christmas tree Melinda had last year.

I've had concepts of dream houses in the past, but the cost of land and construction has pretty much put a dream house in the category of "Not in This Lifetime." Melinda has a lot of sweat equity in the house--they did a lot of the work, like laying floors and painting themselves--and I'm not sure I've got that kind of energy, either.














Here's Melinda with the handsome Vento, her Lusitano stallion. They make a lovely team in motion. He's a really sweet horse who likes being the center of attention and he's got great moves. Melinda's trainer showed her a "new gear" when I watched a lesson. At his first show--I think he was introduced at second level--the judge wrote "a bit of an over-achiever, isn't he" after he had a hard time coming to a halt and did a piaffe instead. She's going to go great places on him. I'm looking forward to watching his progress when they come out to L.A. for a couple of months this winter.















This is the train station in Lamy, where I arrived and departed. It was built in 1880, and the sign in the ladies' room reminded people that the pipes are also that old. There was some wonderful tile work inside, and I was quite taken with the cage surrounding the ticketing area, as shown in the next photograph. Lamy has about four buildings, including an old deconsecrated church that gets used for location-shots. There used to be a good restaurant, but I guess not any more. I met a photographer at a workshop in L.A. almost two years ago who had relocated her business from here to there. I wished I had contact information for her.















The Lamy station is the stop for Santa Fe, which is about 20 minutes away by car. My friend Lira thought it was where she transfered to a bus to go to Denver, but I'm not sure if she's correct about that. While I was waiting to board the train to come back to L.A., I had to wait for several organized groups of travellers to disembark for the buses into Santa Fe. There were also several groups who had priority in seating before I was assigned a seat coming home. I was far less impressed with the way I was treated on the return trip than on the east-bound route.















Here's the Southwest Chief as it arrives in Lamy on November 6. My request for a window seat was ignored and I was put on the aisle next to a college girl who was on her way to visit her sister in Ventura. She had a hard time sitting still and was up and down and in and out a lot. During the day, I could understand it. At night, when I was trying to sleep, she managed to trip over my legs several times, which made for a bad night's sleep for me.

Still, traveling by train is far more civilized than flying, and is a lot more relaxing than driving.

The Shoes Don't Fit

I've got a high level of frustration right now because the Old Mac Boots I ordered for Ace and for which I paid a premium for expedited shipping do not fit. Apparently, Gayle had an older sizing chart from the catalogue and we ordered based on that. The boots are much too small--small pony sized. Now, I've got to send them back and hope that the next pair actually fit. Because he has virtually no heel on his left fore hoof, it looks like his foot is much longer than it actually is--he's as hard to fit as I am. He's also missing hoof wall on that foot because of the seedy toe and the trim the vet did.

I think that Victoria mentioned some soft boots. I'd sure like the information about them because I'm afraid he's going to bruise himself on the rocks in the arena if I let him out without a foot covering. He's definitely getting stir crazy.