Adventures!

Half Dome pic!



I went mountain biking for the first time ever last week, up in the peninsula mountains. Did fall off my bike. Did not crash head over heels into a tree. Did not get poison oak. So all in all, a successful first outing! (One of the former girls who used to work here did all of those things on her first outing on the same trail).

Next weekend Oleg and Mai and I are going camping out in the Desolation Wilderness up near Tahoe. We have one more spare permit. Anyone interested in joining?

Day 14 - An author of a book you just don’t get
Sophie Kinsella

Half-Dome, Jack & Margot

It's been an eventful few days. Over the weekend I went to Yosemite with Oleg, Mai, Vlad and Hanne and hiked up Half Dome. It's one of those iconic national park hikes - over 16 mile round trip, 12 hours, near vertical climb up a granite dome at the end that requires the use of metal cables and wooden planks that have been drilled into the side of the rock. We did it, it was amazing, and my quads are still aching a bit.

Carolina is back in the Bay Area (my last flatmate), and she doesn't know I know yet, but I hear from Amy that she's now engaged to Thad. We're meeting up tonight, and I'll have to act surprised.

But also when I got back on Monday morning, I heard the news that Jack Layton has died, and that little Margot has a major tumor that needs removing.

Jack Layton's passing actually surprised me and moved me more than I expected. I never really voted NDP, but always admired their goals. And Jack was certainly an excellent leader. He would have made an excellent Prime Minister some day. Here's a link to his last letter to Canadians. I know it's been posted so many times over the last couple of days, but I'm going to quote it again because it's so lovely:

"love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." - Jack Layton

And then poor little Margot! Children are remarkably resilient, and luckily the tumour isn't cancerous, but it's still quite scary. Poor Mat and Justine! At least they're in Canada, and Toronto Sick Kids is probably the best place to be for Margot, so hopefully tomorrow everything will go alright.

That's the news. Will be keeping the Saccorudels in my thoughts and prayers over the next 24 hours.

The Awesomeness of the New House

Check this out. It's a bit dark, but awesome. This is me and my new housemates, Rishi and Amy, playing Settlers of Catan in our backyard, by candlelight. With a fire. And Christmas lights.



And here I am in my backyard again modelling a t-shirt designed by James!



House indoor pics to come later.

Day 13 - A book that disturbed you
The Road

Stories from the Crystalline Si Workshop

So what else have I been up to? More traveling, of course! So after getting back from Bob & Nat's wedding, I spent a few days at work then went off to another workshop, this time in Colorado.

The workshop was really good, but one of the highlights was this amazing Swiss restaurant that we found. After an evening poster session + hors d'oeurves, the snacks really weren't tiding us over so we decided to hit the town for some food. Breckinridge isn't exactly a booming metropolis - it's a ski town. Like hanging out in Whistler in the summer. So hitting the town doesn't have too much in the way of food other than sports bars. We walked past this one promising looking restaurant, that turned out to be restaurant on top level (which was closed) and Absinthe bar on the bottom level.

This was THE most awesome find of the week! Absinthe bar and the restaurant above are owned by this most amazing Belgian fellow. We arrived at the bar at 10pm, only to learn the kitchen was closed. But the wonderful man said "Don't worry, I can fix you up something. I can do a salad, some meats and cheeses. Here, sit down, I will take care of it," and up he went to rustle us up a dinner.

Down in the bar there was an impressive range of foreign beers, with an excellent Belgian section. I asked what the bartender recommended, and his response: "Well, that beer there is the best beer in the world." So Richard ordered that one, and I then asked what the second best beer in the world was, which everyone found hilarious for some reason.

When the food came down, it. was. amazing. Also, the music was fantastic. And the ambiance.

It was so good that Andrew wanted to go by one more time before we left, for lunch, since it's actually supposed to be a Swiss restaurant specializing in fondu. It was just after noon, and the restaurant was closed once again, but the owner happened to be there once again to put a delivery of cheese that had been left on the step into the fridge. Once again, he told us not to worry, to take a seat an make ourselves at home, he would fix us up something. So we had the restaurant to ourselves, sat out in the sun on the patio, while he served us up another fantastic salad, and a cheese fondu with some wonderful bread, apple, pear, and kirschewasser. "Easiest thing in the world". Fantastic end of the trip.



Day 12 - A book you think should be made into a film
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs

More wedding photos!

Phil took some photos at the wedding for me, so more wedding! Yay!





















Day 11 - Your favourite book that has been made into a film
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy