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

WEDDING!!!!!!

Yay wedding! This was the first wedding of the Lenio family kids, and heaps of fun.

So this past Saturday Bobby married Natalie, and now have two sons named Liam. In their speech at the reception, Nat promised if they have a little girl they'll call her Lia :)

Both Mary and Lucy were in the bridal party - Mary as a bridesmaid, and Lucy as a groomswoman. The Liams were ringbearers. I was MC. 'Twas lots of fun.

Here are some photos. They're mostly terrible. Phil was my +1 and responsible for photography since I was busy MCing, but my camera sucks (seen here) so he used his camera for the rest of the night, and now I don't have the photos :( Phil! Please send me photos of my brother's wedding!!! k, thnx.

The Clan:



Bob & Nat receiving:



The Liams, Big & Little, looking sharp:



And Justin Beiber, 'cause everyone in Canada knows each other:



Day 10 - A book you’ve always meant to have read and never got round to
Les Miserables

Monterey Bay with Magoo!

Gettin' in the groove of taking the kids out to fun stuff. Here's Magoo with a turtle:



and jelly fish are awesome when there's no risk of touching them.







Day 9 - A book you read when you feel down
The Blue Castle

Other Updates

Because I have to catch up:

- last Wed, got back from Australia. Went straight in to work, worked late, missed water polo training
- Thursday - Laura Billing arrived! Hooray, guest!
- Friday - all-day meeting in the City. Laura caught a lift in with Scott and I. Laura and I stayed over at Justine's. Had tasty Mexican for dinner, did some knitting and watch some Jane Eyre. Good times.
- Saturday - Mat, Justine, Margot, Laura and I all went to the Monterey Aquarium! It was awesome. I have photos, but need to get them off my camera, so I'll post them later.
- Sunday - Laura and I went to Sonoma, went on a wine tasting tour at a biodynamic vineyard, which was super yummy and super tasty. We had a picnic in a garden there, then went to the Charles Schultz museum and checked out some Peanut stuff
- Monday - met up with Justine & Laura in the City to go see HP7: Part Deux. Mat babysat Margot. It. Was. Awesome.

Ok, all that's out of the way then. Laura's with Justine & Mat 'till she leaves on Thursday. I'm packing up my flat in preparations for moving house again next week. And that's all you need to know for now.

Next up: MY LITTLE BROTHER IS GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!! Exciting times. Look for the photos next week.

Day 8 - The book you can quote best
Pride and Prejudice