Today's PostSecret favorite

Whiplash!

Fantastic day skiing yesterday. Met some out of town friends at Snowmass at their request and what a great call it turned out to be. Started snowing sometime after 4 am and ended up with more than a foot. Conditions were fabulous everywhere and we just kept going and going.

These friends grew up in Aspen so are extremely familiar with Snowmass (except for some of the newer on-mountain improvements). While I've been skiing Snowmass since 1977, for most of that time, I was stuck at the advanced intermediate level which basically means a lot of groomed blue runs. I'm no longer an advanced intermediate (I call myself a beginning expert now) so I've graduated to blacks and double blacks. Being that I mostly ski at Aspen Highlands since Steve works there and my gear lives in the locker room at the base, when I get over to Snowmass with expert skiers who know the mountain, it's a completely new experience. I get introduced to areas of the mountain that I never knew existed.

Steve and I felt like we were on a ski vacation yesterday.

The only downside was the hard (I mean HARD!) fall that I took towards the end of the day on the Edge. Gave myself a slight case of whiplash so felt it prudent to beg off skiing today.

But it was kinda interesting skiing to the base after the glass (mug?) of hot spiced wine on an empty stomach at High Alpine.

Damn lens fog!

Left the house at 8:15 am to ski Snowmass and got home at 8:30 pm. I'm exhausted so this is what you're getting today. Riding the Cirque poma lift for the first time.

Well, that's one way to do it - Part III

Yesterday, Steve shoveled the snow off the roof.

This is a kinda sucky job. It's cold, it involves high places and heavy lifting, it's dangerous . . .

I was feeling very appreciative. So appreciative that I was seriously considering skipping my workout in order to take him to dinner to express my appreciation.

Did I have an ulterior motive? Was I practicing avoidance? Possibly. But so what?

So anyhow, in the midst of my plan to skip my workout, I mean, express my appreciation, I picked up on his mood.

Which was annoyance.

With me.

For something I didn't think he should be annoyed at me about. (Isn't that always the way?)

So, I got annoyed right back, put on my workout stuff in a huff and walked out the door to catch the bus.

I told my instructor that she had my husband to thank for my attendance last night . . .

Disenchantment

I've been very enamoured of Facebook.

It turns out that it may not be reciprocated.

*Sigh*

I recently stumbled upon the fact that two acquaintances "unfriended" me.

This is really no big deal. These are friends of friends whom I have met twice.

No hard feelings. Really.

However, I was surprised by my initial reaction to this. The insecure little pre-teen I thought I had left behind long ago popped in for a short visit. She kinda stuck out her tongue and waggled her fingers in her ears at me, saying nah-nah, until I kicked her back out the door.

Be gone, you pest!

Overheard in the bar tonite

Guy #1: "There's so many diseases in this town."

Guy #2: "Dude, just cause you make bad choices, don't diss the whole town."

Guy #3: "You can't catch it twice, can you?"

(courtesy of the classy crowd at Bentley's)

Critical by Tom Daschle

It's difficult for me to be objective about this issue.

It is not difficult for me to be pessimistic about this issue.

I truly get the feeling that the people who realize just how complicated this issue is are exceedingly rare. And this is what leads to my pessimism.

And yet, I don't question in the least that the system is broken. In fact, I often can be heard telling people just that.

And perhaps it'll take someone or some ones willfully ignoring the depth of the complexity of the situation to fashion a workable solution. Because, god knows, it certainly seems an insurmountable problem to most who pay attention to the details.

With his thin book, Daschle can't be accused of getting mired down in details. It is a superficial look at the problem. The anecdotes he trots out to illustrate his points are compelling on the surface but frustrating in their omissions. Omissions which are not obvious to most but will strike those who work in the industry.

Daschle's basic idea is that a board akin to the Federal Reserve Board should be set up to manage health care decisions, just as the Fed manages interest rate decisions. Given the current financial crisis, the suggestion that anything should be modeled after the Fed is a bit unfortunate. And yet, the reasoning behind his approach seems sound. A board of qualified individuals in position to make difficult and painful decisions, insulated from political pressures but with transparency so there is trust and buy-in.

It does seem utopian. I don't much trust utopian . . .

It's a scary time to be in the industry and to be trying to make decisions with long-term repercussions when the premises upon which those decisions must be based have their foundations in shifting sand.

I'm just going to hang on tight for a wild ride.

That's one way to do it . . .

I like Takah Sushi. No, I really like Takah Sushi.

If it were up to me, I'd eat there often.

But, even though it's not too expensive as sushi places go, between Steve and me, we can drop $100+ when we eat there.

So we don't go all that often 'cause that's a bit rich for us to do on a consistent basis.

But, when I go by myself (which I have been known to do), it's much more reasonable. I can get away for under $30.

Last night, by chance, I happened upon a possible solution (although Steve's skeptical).

We can afford to go to Takah more often if Steve pre-eats.

He can fill up at home or a less expensive restaurant and then I can go to Takah.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

Hey, we used to pre-drink in college when we were going out to the bars . . .

Tomorrow's PostSecret Favorite

Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides

Another one of our purchases during our Santa Fe trip.

Blood and Thunder tells the story of Manifest Destiny and the expansion of the United States using Kit Carson as its fulcrum. Sides follows Carson from his birthplace in Kentucky to his childhood home in Missouri and then, finally in his myriad, fascinating journeys around the West as Carson, sometimes unwittingly, serves as one of the key architects of Westward Expansion.

A master storyteller telling an epic story, Sides enthralls the reader by weaving a complex tapestry filled with illuminating detail. Sides never takes the easy way out of making any of the players one dimensional. There are no absolute villains or no heroes, although there is plenty of villainy and heroics.

Freaky s**t

You may have heard on the news that Aspen had a bomb threat yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure how it's playing in Peoria but let me tell you, here in Aspen, on so many levels, it's some freaky s**t.

4 bombs, real incendiary devices, were left around Aspen yesterday afternoon, two at banks and two abandoned in an alley. 16 blocks were evacuated and cordoned off. Due to the fact that Aspen is not much larger than 16 blocks, these devices effectively shut down the city on New Year's Eve. The repercussions will be felt for some time.

At 2:30 pm, employees at Wells Fargo noticed a suspicious package with a note, a "credible" threat, which resulted in the evacuation of the bank. A few minutes later, the same thing occurred at Vectra Bank.

At 2:44 pm, Steve and I were in the ATM foyer of Wells Fargo with about a dozen people. We were making an ATM deposit. The majority of the other people were trying to get in the bank. There were signs on the door stating that the bank would be open until 4:30 pm on New Year's Eve and there was much confusion regarding why the doors to the main lobby were locked and the place was deserted.

There was no one telling us not to be there. There was really no indication that we shouldn't be there. But I had had a similar experience with Wells Fargo in the past. That time, it ended up being a gas leak at a nearby construction site. As I related that story to Steve, he decided that it might be wise to continue on our way.

And so we did. (If we had left it up to me, my nosiness would have kept me there until I was told by the authorities to leave. Not much of a self-preservation reflex there.)

We walked back into (or I should say, around the outskirts of) downtown at about 8:45 pm to see if any of the New Year's Eve activities were taking place. The bonfire at Wagner Park was limping along with a meager turnout but the 8:30 pm fireworks were delayed, then merged with the midnight fireworks which were then canceled in toto.

The evacuation wasn't lifted until early this morning. The whole incident has had a horrible impact on businesses in Aspen. New Year's Eve is one of the biggest days for the restaurants and stores in the downtown core. Restaurants which are struggling this year were looking forward to tens of thousands in food and beverage sales. Servers were looking forward to hundreds of dollars in tips for one night of hard work. Food will be wasted, payrolls might not be made, bills may not be paid.

I know that many people consider Aspen to be the land of the rich and famous but Aspen is really home to thousands of hardworking people trying to scratch out a living and make a life. Many, many of those people are now going to suffer.

All because of some troubled soul, some crank who was thinking god knows what. I've posted his letter to the banks and his note to the Aspen Times below and as far as I'm concerned, they are very disturbing.

Junkie

On again, off again.

Recently that's been my relationship with the great beyond. No, not the great beyond you're thinking of. I don't believe in that great beyond. I'm talking about the great beyond that's oh so much more important (!?!?!).

The internet.

It's been a bit of now you see it, now you don't.

Spent yesterday afternoon dealing with an outage that didn't directly affect me but which was my responsibility to resolve nonetheless. That one just turned out to be a faulty power strip. Hate it when that happens. Hate it worse when I have to pay $95 for a tech to come out to tell me the obvious.

In my defense, I was 20 miles away from said power strip.

Then came home, posted a couple of pics and went out. (To Explore Booksellers . . . to buy books . . . like I need more books . . . please refer to this post's title.)

Came home and ugh, no internet. Spent too much time confirming the obvious.

Got up this morning and the first thing I did (ok, well actually, the second, after turning on NPR. that's a whole 'nother junkie thing) was to recycle the wireless router and check our online status.

Up again! Sweet!

But, remember, I don't have TV. A girl's gotta get her fixes somewhere.

Silence

No internet = no post.

:-(

I couldn't help myself

I admit it, I splurged. But look at them! Aren't they pretty?

And, in my defense, they were 40% off. With free shipping.

I tried to resist temptation. I really did. For weeks. But, they just kept calling my name.

And every time I checked, they still weren't sold out.

It must have been meant to be.

(Now, I'll probably find my lost Merrells . . .)

Well, that's one way to do it

We live a pretty pedestrian friendly life. I work one mile from my house, Steve's job is about 3 miles from the house. Aspen has an extensive free bus system that'll take us just about anywhere we want to go.

I want to sell the car. Steve and Rachel, not so much.

Steve says I'd regret it. I'm not so sure.

On September 22, in a effort to compromise, we started to store the car keys a mile away from the car. We wanted to cut down on the number of times that we drove simply because we could. We did pretty well for a while but in the past few weeks, we had basically fallen back into our old habits.

Until December 17, that is.

I had a meeting downvalley so Steve went with me and we went to Costco and Target and Pier 1 and Sports Authority and City Market El Jebel.

And then, on the way home with the car chock full of packages, the battery light came on. This probably means that the alternator needs to be replaced. The owner's manual says to drive straight to your repair shop. We drove straight home instead and felt lucky to get there. See, we have experience with this little issue. The last time it happened in 2004, we had to call AAA for a tow.

Once home, we parked the car and haven't moved it since.

Now, Steve rides his bike to work and I walk or take the bus. We use the car share car when we need a vehicle.

And I still want to sell the car. But I guess we'll have to get it fixed first.

Motivation

One of my friends tells a story about how, growing up, her room was so messy that her parents were able to hide the Christmas presents in her room. Not just her Christmas presents but all her siblings' presents too. Things like a typewriter. And she never found them. And she looked.

It often seems like Rachel's room could also be used as the family hiding place. It's not a large space, she has a lot of stuff, she doesn't like to get rid of anything and she's ADD which means that she's pretty unorganized.

Speaking of disorganization, she had some interesting insight into the subject. She claims that the chaos in her room is in no way indicative of the level of organization in her brain. And suddenly, it was important to her that her room reflect more accurately her brain.

So, for the past few weeks, she's been actively working on her room. She assessed it, discussed it, straightened it, purged it, planned it and rearranged it. All by herself.

Now, I can't tell you how much energy I've expended in the past, attempting to create exactly this change. All to naught. I had pretty much thrown in the towel ages ago.

But, it all just goes to show, all good things in their own time.

And, how good does she feel, that she did it all of her own volition?

Fun

1) Four places that I go to over and over: work, home, The Isis (movie theater), Aspen Highlands

2) Four people who e-mail me regularly: Susie, Steve, Suzannah, Lisa

3) Four of my favorite places to Eat: Takah Sushi, Su Casa, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, The Big Wrap

4) Four places I would rather be right now: hmmm, since I live where I live, I'm not sure I could come up with even one. I guess not at work, so Aspen Highlands, walking around town, eating a good meal or Paris.

5) Four people I think will respond: Susie, and ??

6) Four TV shows I watch: I don't have a TV. But most recently, I was enamored of Heroes, Brothers and Sisters, Pushing Daisies (I don't even know if any of these are still on)

Christmas Eve

Growing up, Mom always made quiches for Christmas Eve dinner. Every year, three quiches made from scratch. (and every year, Brian's Christmas Eve dinner consisted of salad and rolls because, you know, real men . . .)

Christmas of 2004 was going to be our first Christmas not with the extended family and, in an effort to establish our own festive traditions, we decided that our annual Christmas Eve dinner would be fondues.

Yes, multiple. As in three. Cheese fondue (appetizer), meat fondue (main course) and chocolate fondue (dessert). And yes, I have three fondue sets.

My favorite is the cheese, Rachel's is the meat and Steve simply likes all three.

Basically, it's ended up that all of my siblings come to Aspen every other Christmas. The years they're here, we have ham or lasagna on Christmas Eve and the years they're not, we do fondue.

This year was a fondue year. Mom and Dad, who I'm happy to report are here this year, came over at about 4:30 pm and we fondued until approximately 8 pm when we did the Santa Claus thing.

It was grand and as you see from the above photo, there was much wreckage . . .

February 16, 1992 or now?

Prescient? Or master of the obvious?

Search Calvin & Hobbes here
See entire archive here

Thanks Susie.

LIttle Annie's? Not so much . . .

They have good ribs.

Otherwise, not so much.

I don't know why I keep bothering. The service is surly, it's crowded (why?), the food just doesn't speak to me.

It's one of the less expensive places in Aspen (remember, everything's relative so it's not cheap) so the other night when we were doing the usual "Where do you want to go to dinner? I don't know, where do you want to go?" thing for our party of five, I actually suggested Little Annie's. Mistake. I think it's kinda like childbirth, the bad memories fade too quickly.

They had a blackened ahi special and as you might remember, I love ahi. But, like most everything, I'm kinda picky about my ahi. I really only like it rare. Best way to ruin a nice piece of ahi? Cook it past rare.

So when I ordered, I ordered it rare. The server immediately objected (I should have been paying attention). But she checked with the kitchen and they assured her they could prepare it to my liking (how hard can it be?), so I blindly plunged forward.

Wrong.

The ahi came out cooked completely through. Grey, grey, grey. And the rice pilaf was really dry.

After much thought since I didn't want to order something else after having returned something (worried about kitchen staff retaliation), I handed the full plate back to the server and asked her to take it off our check.

Which she did. With apologies.

And then proceeded to add an automatic 18% gratuity to our check.

Slumdog Millionaire

Wow!

Such a good film.

Such a complete experience.

Deep and multi-dimensional.

Funny, frivolous, serious, poignant. Poverty, family, torture, religious intolerance, victimization, oppression, romance, triumph.

Go see it. And don't miss the dance sequence during the ending credits.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

At Rachel's insistent and repeated urging, I finally read Twilight. (Of course, it didn't help that I started a 784 page book, instead of starting Twilight. She was basically apoplectic.)

But, I finished the 784 page book in a few weeks and then read Twilight in 24 hours.

As Rachel promised, Bella is not quite as much the victim as she is in the movie. Well, actually, she's probably every bit the victim but because you're privy to the inner dialogue, her victimness isn't as stark.

As usual with books and movies, the book is better. The reader comes away with a much better understanding of the motivations and intentions of the characters than the movie is able to convey.

The romantic teenage girl in me definitely thrilled to the budding romance between Edward and Bella. The cynical adult in me was a bit put off by the ooziness of Meyer's love scenes.

I guess I liked it in spite of myself . . .

Tomorrow's PostSecret Favorite

American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

I'm at a bit of a loss to explain my reaction to this book.

Perhaps, it's due in part to reading it immediately after the rather weak 109 East Palace.

Perhaps, it's due simply to how well done it is.

All I know is that I recommend it. Highly.

American Prometheus is a 784 page paperback book that despite its length is never dense. In crafting their biography, the authors wisely made the decision not to get weighed down with the science that played such a central role in the protagonist's life.

The reader is treated to a clearheaded depiction of a compelling man, one which makes no bones about his flaws while at the same time celebrating his triumphs. The book delves into Oppenheimer's life from start to finish and provides the reader with a perceptive perspective on his motivations.

The section on the Gray Board hearings and the concomitant government abuses which culminated with Oppenheimer's loss of his security clearance is eerily reminiscent of the government misdeeds during the Watergate era (in the news recently due to the death of Mark Felt) and the more recent attack on civil liberties which we have suffered through under the current administration.

When will I learn?

Once again, we bought tickets for a show at Belly Up, this time the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

We would really enjoy seeing the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

But, once again, it's not to be.

The 10 pm start time (for the opening band, no less) is just way past our bedtime.

We're pathetic.

Going to Costco. Again.

Our Christmas Alter Egos

My new space

This week's favorite

It's not mine, I swear!

Just get the damn vaccine!

I've had to deal recently with a number of vaccine skeptics.

I don't have much patience for this.

To me, they're just like global warming skeptics. Misinformed, ignorant and likely to believe that 9/11 was a government plot.

There is no (none, nada, zilch) scientific evidence that links vaccines to autism.

There are many (as in a lot) scientific studies which show that there is no causal relationship between vaccines and autism.

There is also the sad case of the healthy 22 year old unvaccinated Arizona student who traveled to Costa Rica on a study abroad program and was airlifted home with polio.

Polio. As in residual leg weakness. Which doesn't go away. As in leg braces, crutches and wheelchairs.

Geez.

(This rant was brought to you courtesy of NPR's recent story about Amanda Peet, who, unlike many other celebrities, is championing the cause of vaccines.)

The Mom Song

This is pretty *&^% funny! Rachel thought so too.

You wouldn't buy our shitty cars

Fine print:

You probably thought it was smart to buy a foreign import of superior quality, with better mileage and resale value. Maybe you even thought that years of market share loss might prod us into rethinking our process and redesigning our products with better quality in mind. But you forgot one thing: We spend a shitload of money on lobbyists. So now you're out $25 billion, plus the cost of your Subaru. Maybe next time you'll buy American like a real man. Either way, we’re cool.

We’re The Big Three. We Don’t Need to Compete.TM

Photo Credit

Mistake?

Wow

What a stupid, stupid man . . .

Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes

Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes

4 6-ounce pieces skinless salmon fillet
4 medium tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 teaspoon paprika, preferably hot
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
8 sprigs fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, sliced

Heat broiler. Place the salmon and tomatoes, cut-side up, in a broilerproof roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the salmon with the paprika.

Drizzle the salmon and tomatoes with the oil and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Scatter the thyme and garlic over the top.

Broil until the salmon is opaque throughout and the tomatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Real Simple, SEPTEMBER 2008

Our Christmas Card

From us to you.

Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow's PostSecret Favorite

Are you listening?

Someone from Hallmark Cards' ISP in Kansas City, Missouri spent 45 minutes this afternoon reading yesterday's blog post.

Good.

I'm mad at Hallmark

I like Hallmark ornaments. Over the years, I've spent a fair amount of green on Hallmark ornaments which I've then given as gifts.

Several people on my list get an ornament from me every year (whether they like it or not).

A month ago, when I was in Denver, I stopped in a Hallmark store but the display was overwhelming and 3 people were waiting for me so I bailed, thinking that I'd just order them online when I got home.

Oh no.

Hallmark is no longer selling Hallmark ornaments online.

This is a bonehead move.

According to Hallmark.com's handy little store locator, the closest Hallmark store to my abode is in Grand Junction. Grand Junction is a 2.5 hour drive.

For ornaments? Hah!

I poked around online and the only Hallmark ornaments available are through resellers with a healthy markup. Markup, not discount. Don't they know we're in a recession? Isn't everything supposed to be on sale right now?

So I sent Hallmark the following email:

Why are ornaments no longer available online? The closest Hallmark store to me is 72+ miles away which in the mountains where I live would take me more than 2 hours to drive. I really can't justify this to buy ornaments. In the past, I've been able to buy the ornaments that I give as gifts every year directly from your website. Why no longer? The only websites I can find for the ornaments have a markup which I'll pay if I have to but I'll buy fewer ornaments and it's really a shame.

To which they helpfully responded:

Thank you for contacting Hallmark.

Thank you for looking to Hallmark to meet your gift-giving and connecting needs. Hallmark is no longer offering flower and gift items, including Keepsake Ornaments through Hallmark.com or 1-800-HALLMARK. Please visit your local Hallmark Gold Crown store to find the perfect card and gift for any occasion. To find stores in your area, you can use our online store locator service. Just click 'Store Locator' at the top of any page.

We appreciate your thinking of Hallmark.

To which I responded:

Your response is extremely unhelpful. It's a shame that in this depressed economy Hallmark doesn't value my business.

There are no Hallmark stores in my area. My zip code is 81611. See for yourself.

To which they responded:

Thank you for contacting Hallmark.

Due to the overwhelming amount of spam we have been receiving we are no longer accepting e-mail through this channel.

You will not receive another reply to this e-mail, but we are happy to help you through our online support site where you can get the information you need quickly and easily. You can also contact us from our support site through the "E-mail Us" form once you get there.

http://hallmark.custhelp.com

We apologize we are unable to assist you in the way you expected.

Hmph!

Parental obligations

I'm not a big one for parental obligations like school performances.

Rachel knows this about me.

It's kind of a running joke with riffs about coming late, skipping out early . . .

I whine a lot.

Tonight was the Choir and Band concert.

And it actually wasn't too painful.

The band went first and while it suffers a slight bit from lack of size and while a lot of the music they played was unfamiliar to the audience so we didn't know when to clap, they did a good job. The percussionist, who got to play with all kinds of cool noise makers, was having a particularly good time.

The choir, which does not suffer from a lack of size, was very good. They mostly sang things I recognized and did quite a fine job. Rachel's an alto and with her height and light hair, she was like a beacon in the second row.

And the best part of the whole thing was that it was less than an hour long!

Happy-go-lucky

Disappointing.

The trailer was enticing and the reviewer quotes featured in the movie marketing were numerous and approbative. But this movie wasn't quite as lighthearted as I was led to believe. Or would have liked.

Poppy is a bubbly, eternally optimistic teacher who doesn't let anything get her down. Or does she?

She takes driving lessons from a vile specimen of humanity and these scenes are a drag.

It's more as if she doesn't want to let anything get her down but she's just not quite successful. Or maybe she is; things would be so much worse if she wasn't actively looking on the bright side.

That's a life philosophy I can totally get behind and have in fact espoused but it doesn't seem to make for much of a movie.

This week's favorite

Even though I'm still annoyed with Frank, here it is . . .

Flagging

My resolve is flagging.

But I just looked back and discovered that, in addition to it being the last day of NaBloPoMo, today puts me a month away from posting every day for a year.

One month. 31 days.

So close.

I can't quit now. My charming Type A qualities just won't let me.

(How's that for a pep talk? Yeah, pretty lame)

Making lemonade

Spent a few hours today making lemonade (as in when life gives you lemons . . .)

Had a bunch of extra work dumped on me unexpectedly but wisely turned it into an opportunity to make a bit of extra income.

Definitely lessens the sting and allows me to see that in the long run, this long-resisted change is a really good thing.

Nothing like clearing out the dead weight and solidifying one's position.

109 East Palace by Jennet Conant

Whilst in Santa Fe this summer, we picked up a couple of books about Los Alamos and Robert Oppenheimer.

109 East Palace serves as an interesting and illuminating, if not stellar, social history about the creation of and living conditions at Los Alamos.

Using Dorothy McKibben, the Santa Fean who ran the small office which served as the entry point for the secret Los Alamos installation, as the entry point for the story, Conant's first intention seems to be to provide us with the look and feel of the war time home of many of the best scientific minds of the era. As long as she is working towards this end, her book works.

However, as she strays from this goal and begins to try to become more of an overall historian of the overarching events put into motion at Los Alamos, the book loses its focus and suffers from superficiality.

This superficiality became brutally apparent upon reading just a few pages of the other book we purchased in Santa Fe, American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

In comparison, American Prometheus is clearly the better crafted project but, considered on its own, 109 East Palace is a supremely serviceable entry into the subject matter.

Australia

As an example of Baz Luhrman's unique vision and held up to comparison with Moulin Rouge, Australia is a disappointment. As an opportunity to gaze upon the eye candy also known as Hugh Jackman, Australia delights. As a sweeping epic, Australia holds its own but never rises to the top of the heap.

Brandon Walters, the 11 year old Aboriginal novice actor who serves as the movie's narrator, absolutely steals the show. David Gulpilil, the Aboriginal actor who has been named an Australian National Treasure, projects dignity and grace throughout abominable bigotry. It was fun seeing Bryan Brown, the Australian actor I first came to like in the 1981 miniseries, A Town Like Alice, in a ruthless businessman who isn't quite that ruthless role.

Steve wasn't sure that he wanted to see Australia because he thought it looked like a typical commercial big box office film. I persuaded him to accompany us with the argument that it was a Baz Luhrman film. He was right.

But, all that being said, I told Rachel that I'd go see it again.

Here's Rachel's assessment/rebuttal.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

This is the recipe I'm going to attempt for the first time tomorrow. We didn't do candied yams in my family but they're on the menu for the potluck we're going to tomorrow. Putting it here so that I can find it when I need it. Hope they turn out.

CANDIED SWEET POTATOES OR YAMS
Printed from COOKS.COM

6 large bright orange sweet potatoes
1 lb. dark brown sugar
1 stick of butter
2 cups of miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup of white sugar
2 teaspoons of salt

Wash and peel potatoes. Chunk potatoes into 2 inch disks. Put potatoes in a pan and cover with water. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/4 cup of white sugar to the potatoes and water. Cover. Boil until potatoes are fork tender (approximately 30 minutes). Drain potatoes.

Put potatoes in a baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Dot potatoes with butter.

Bake for 20 minutes in 350 degree oven. Sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven and bake until marshmallows are brown.

Twilight - The Movie

Despite Rachel's persistent requests, I have not read the book. But, in an effort to be good parents, Steve and I did go to see the movie with her the other night.

The teenage girl in me liked the relationship between Edward and Bella. The adult woman in me disliked the victiminess of Bella. She was quite the little damsel in distress. Steve liked the campy baseball scene.

Rachel is extremely annoyed that I didn't like Bella better. She claims that Bella in the book is nowhere near as one dimensional and is once again insisting that I read the book so that I don't think as poorly of Bella.

Former bosses in high places

My former boss (from like 24 years ago), Ed Tapscott, was just named the Washington Wizards temporary head coach.

Today was his first practice as head coach.

This is kinda cool.

Don't go there today

There's quite the little dust-up at PostSecret today over a particularly graphic image and I have to admit that I'm in the minority on this one.

I saw it early this morning and tried to give myself some time to get over it but here it is 8 hours later and I'm still really disturbed by it.

There's an online poll regarding whether the image should be removed and the nays are running away with it.

That's unfortunate.

I know that by even publishing this post, I may be causing people to check it out but don't say I didn't warn you. Even though the picture is actually a photoshopped hoax, if you're the type that avoids graphic images of things like necrotizing fasciitis and other dermatological conditions, you want to skip this one. If you enjoy those sorts of images, then have at it.

The PostSecret discussion board is full of people who don't see the problem; who think removing the image would be censorship; who, since the image is fake, claim not to be disturbed by it; who think that's it's horrible that people are so bothered by this fake image but not by real life horrors like rape and abuse.

My take is that PostSecret is, by its very nature, censored since Frank chooses what to post each week and that, in choosing to post this image (which doesn't even really qualify as a secret), he was clearly going for the shock factor, the sensationalism. Perhaps this image isn't as disturbing as many real life images but I'm not trying to look at those either.

The fact that there's worse stuff out there doesn't change the fact that this is a revolting image and I wish I hadn't seen it.

I don't like the direction PostSecret is going.

Past my bedtime . . .

Somehow Rachel talked Steve and me into accompanying her to the Isis to see the 6:30 pm showing of Twilight (her second time and our first). She was all sweetness and light and even cooked Steve dinner.

Then disaster struck. As Steve was showering, Rachel, getting nervous since we weren't leaving as early as she'd like, checked the ticket status on line.

Sold out.

Oh, no.

Storm clouds gathered but after a mighty effort, the front cleared fairly quickly.

Even though Steve is exhausted after having boot packed the entire day (can you walk up and down a 35 degree slope in the snow at 12,000 feet for 8 hours?), he agreed to accompany Rachel to the 9:20 pm show. Of course, I'm tagging along too.

Rachel has already bought our tickets. No backing out now . . .

Teenage girls

Steve and I are feeling our age tonight. (That's seems to be a theme recently.)

We're sitting in the family room, reading, while the teenage girls (Rachel and two of her friends) are are in the next room, giggling, listening to music and getting ready to go to a techno-rave at Belly-Up.

Steve's never experienced the social phenomenon that is teenage girls getting ready for a night out. He's rather bemused by the whole spectacle.

He just looked at me and said, "Wow, we're the parents, sitting in the living room, aren't we?"

More small world

I had a meeting tonight with two bankers here in town, both of whom grew up within walking distance of where I grew up.

And now, here we all are, working and living the life in Aspen.

Of course, they're both at least a decade younger than I am so it's not like we crossed paths or anything in our previous lives.

Most of the time when I'm hanging out socially here in Aspen, I'm with my husband's friends and I'm the young one in the crowd.

It was a bit disconcerting to be on the flip side of that tonight. I coped by drinking too much wine (if you call one glass which went straight to my head too much).

1-20-09

Am seriously considering taking Rachel to DC for this historic inauguration.

Spent the day mulling over options.

Hmmmm . . .

Oops

I was crossing Main Street Sunday morning in the pedestrian cross walk. Since it was a Sunday morning in off season, there wasn't too much traffic. As I started across, on the near side, about a block away, was an Aspen police car.

I got halfway and paused, as is my wont, to assess the oncoming traffic on the far side of the street. There were a few cars in the far lane (Main Street being four lanes with a turn lane) as I continued across and the first of the three or four cars didn't stop.

This didn't bother me since he cleared me with plenty of room (like an entire traffic lane) to spare but, as evidenced by the screeching tires as he pulled a U-turn behind me, I guess the cop wasn't quite so cool with it.

He pulled the guy over.

I felt bad.

I hope he only gave the guy a warning.

**Without googling it, can you name the 1975 movie from which the above image draws its cultural reference? I couldn't and was surprised to see that it's being remade.

Two favorites this week

Rachel Getting Married

No feel good movie, this one.

And yet, superbly emotive.

Anne Hathaway fascinates as Kym, the 9 month sober addict, released from rehab in order to attend her sister Rachel's wedding.

The film takes us along as a severely wounded family tries to reconnect during the whirlwind of pre-nuptial and nuptial celebrations.

Poignant and affecting, the movie avoids ever becoming too painful to watch.