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Reality Laps/Lapse
2007-02-08 01:40:00
Those of you who didn't know me back in the summer of 2006 missed my I'm-Still-An-Athlete-Damnit phase culminating in a 26 mile inline skate marathon up in Napa Valley. Sustaining more longevity than my Slow-Cooker-Creation-Every-Sunday phase and eliciting more wide spread disapproval than my Mandatory-Creamed-Sherry-For-All-House-Gu ests phase, my months of unwavering dedication to Inline Skating proved to be one of my more humbling phases in the past several years. And just when I had picked up the pieces of my shattered ego, I noticed a warning message on this year's marathon website, a direct reference to my team's dismal performance last summer.Some background:Beginning with a haphazard marathon registration, the I'm-Still-An-Athlete-Damnit Phase got off to a difficult start. Before I could effectively concentrate on training, I had to first put to rest the collective fear of countless friends that roller blading can only lead down one path: eventually dating a painfully en...
More About: Reality , Real , Ality

A Golden Opportunity
2007-02-05 04:32:00
While our overall happiness is clearly tied to big things like the status of our home, health, job and personal relationships, I find that the role of those smaller life components is not to be underestimated. I was pleasantly reminded of this today after purchasing a new shower curtain liner and also a watch battery. Suddenly, a relatively low key weekend became a marker of a new life chapter--the chapter where I take a shower without feeling like a failed homemaker while staring at an unforgiving patch of soap scum and where I no longer have to hunt down my cell phone in the huge bag I always carry in order to see what time it is. Why both of these tasks took me months to accomplish is beyond me.Another key purchase that took place this weekend was a pair of gold, shiny heels, certain to make a BIG difference in my wardrobe. Suddenly, old outfits take on a whole new look--a look of glamor, a look of pizazz. Gone are the days when I'm the girl in jeans and a black sweater and blac...
More About: Gold , Port , Opportunity , Unity , Golden

Enough Already with Australia
2007-02-01 08:14:00
One of my friends here in SF, a self-identified foodie, likes to host events that involve some form of cooking. Past party themes include The Deep Fryer Party (bring something to throw in his deep fryer and see what happens) and Thanksgiving Dinner (an opportunity for 30+ people to practice their new recipes before real Thanksgiving rolls around--think church dinner meets debauchery). People go ALL OUT for these events and the competition tends to be impressively steep.This past weekend he and his roommate hosted a sushi making competition. The idea was that the hosts would provide sticky rice, seaweed, sushi making tools and all the fixings, and the guests would each bring whatever they wanted to include inside their roll. Each competitor had to make enough sushi pieces for all the other competitors to try. Every roll was then judged by the amount of applause it received when formally announced by the hosts at the end of the evening (a highly accurate method to select the winner in...
More About: Australia , With , Read , Enough , Stra

Back in SF
2007-01-30 02:01:00
Sorry for the long lapse. The transition back to SF took a little while. Not only did I have to readjust to looking the "other" way when crossing the street (harder than it sounds!), but I felt compelled to respond to many a taunting email and voice mail, mocking me for not being able to hang with the intro to scuba crew. Luckily, one of my friends, who initially gave me the hardest time, later mistook a photo I sent him of a crocodile in the Cairns Zoo as a risky close up taken in the Aussie wild. So now he thinks I'm brave.The other rough thing about coming back was the unusually cold weather here in SF, a far cry from the long summer days in Sydney. Apparently, I've lost whatever tolerance for the cold I developed throughout all those frosty winters in Jersey when I'd wake up to the sound of my dad shoveling, salting and sanding our driveway. (I would have helped were all my energy not focused on the important task of willing the public school mother's phone chain to launch i...
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A Bon Voyage Barbie
2007-01-12 02:18:00
Today is my final day down under--my flight leaves in a couple hours. Chris has left for work ("wuuhhk") and the contents of my luggage are strewn all over his “lounge room,” complete with a large jar of Vegemite and some new Bonds underwear to bestow upon my mates in San Francisco. (If you guys don't know about the Bonds brand, it's the best cotton EVER and Aussie men and women alike just love slipping into a pair of Bonds "knickers").I spent the rest of the week in Sydney walking around the city and attempting to impress Chris with my intimate knowledge of the city bus and ferry system--a knowledge somehow reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man. (Me: "Chris, did you know you can take the #441 from the Botanical Gardens right to the Harbour?!” Chris (staring blankly at me): “Love ya 'wohrk.' Now excuse me while I grab a ‘beeha’ [beer].”) Taxi's just aren't as much fun and the drivers think you’re weird when you sit in the back seat (apparently,...
More About: Barbie , Voyage , Bon Voyage

Sisters and Brothers
2007-01-10 23:07:00
Since last I wrote, I've been in Sydney, cruising around the city and taking day trips...while all my Aussie mates have been hard at work now that "the festive season" (what we would call "the holidays") has come to an end (most people here are off of work between Christmas and Jan 8th).My first trip was to The Blue Mountains, which are about two hours West of Sydney by rail. The mountain range is famous for two things--"The Three Sisters" rock formation and the eerie blue haze that sits over the mountain range (it comes from eucalyptus tree oil vapors). And it's true! The mountains really look blue --photos to come. It's beautiful up there and Katoomba (the main town of the mountains) is a cozy, funkylittle place. It reminded me of Asheville, NC--vegetarian cafes (I've SO missed my avocado, tomato and hummus on wheat!), artsy shops and laid back bookstores where Ben Harper/Joni Mitchell-esque musicians rock out to a view of the blue range.Since I was only there for the day, I d...
More About: Brothers , Other , Others , Hers , Brother

Don't Touch That Plant, Mates!
2007-01-08 04:44:00
So, Cairns (pronounced "cans" if you didn't already know) was, as my guidebook promised, VERY HOT. It felt like Florida in August except more humid, if you can imagine that. The city is very much about tourism, serving as the launching point for The Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest and some cool little islands not too far off the coast. It's a great place to "get yourself sorted" for Queensland adventures, but the city itself is, for the most part, defined by rowdy backpackers raging in collegey-style bars...and you have to get on a bus to get to the nearest beach. As if. Lucky for me, I didn't have time to hang around and quickly booked myself on some cool little trips--one to the rainforest and one to The Great Barrier Reef where I signed up for an introductory scuba dive (note: just booking the reservation gave me butterflies in my stomach). I'd never gone diving before, but people had been telling me "If you can snorkel and aren't afraid to breath while your face...
More About: Hat , Mate , Touch , That , Plan

Insert “I Have a Problem” Scuba Sign
2007-01-08 02:39:00
The following post is alternatively titled, "If you Cairns'norkel, you Cairns'cuba = false."My cell phone alarm indicated it was time to get up. After a quick brekky and a "flat white" (coffee with milk), I made my way to the Port Douglas shuttle stop. Forty minutes later, I was shuffled to the "Silver Sonic" Reef boat (see below photo), carrying my quickly diminishing bottle of Clarins SPF 40 and an unraveling towel with rainbow fish on it—a scene I now recognize as a moment of foreshadow, thanks to high school English class. I think the best way to describe my scuba experience is with a snippet from the day at sea. Following is a scene from our boat that took place right after those of us who had never "had a dive" before watched a ten minute instructional video and then suited up for our first attempt. There were about 100 people on the boat, 1/3 of whom were scuba diving--the rest were snorkeling. Eight of us were first time divers and we were split into two groups. My group...
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Keeping Cool with Gold Coins
2007-01-04 02:31:00
So now I'm up in Cairns on my own and all is well (Jan 3rd). It's unbelievably hot up here, which I love but seems to be upsetting many tourists whom I overhear on the streets swapping "it was so hot the other day that..." stories. I'm at a hostel in the main part of town--it's sort of a nice place but you have to put change into the air conditioner in your room in order to turn it on. I've mastered the art of putting just enough money in to keep the room from exceeding 80 degrees until I fall asleep. The hostel is next door to a cafe that plays a 'round the clock curious combination of Phil Collins (his hits I think) and Imogen Heap. I guess the theme is "English?"I leave tomorrow for a eco-tour on a jeep through the rainforest. Then I'm off on a snorkel/scuba trip (yes, I'm terrified). I'll be in touch with the report on my Queensland adventures. Until then...
More About: Gold , Cool , With , Keep , Ping

G'day 2007!
2007-01-03 04:19:00
On the 30th, the 4 of us who were in Melbourne flew up to Sydney in preparation for the New Year. Chris and I settled in at his Balmain flat where I met his girlfriend Amy, an adorable Kiwi (New Zealander). A couple hours later, I was on the bus downtown to join forces with my sister's friend, Beaux, and his boyfriend, who just happened to be in Sydney on vacation.We met up in the Royal Botanical Gardens (gorgeous) where you get a beautiful view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and headed off for some shopping in a part of the city called Paddington (posh and trendy—Aussie style, complete with designer surf attire). Then we were off to a fish dinner in Surrey Hill (another part of the city) where I taught the boys all the Aussie vocabulary and cultural phenomena that I had picked up during my stay in Melbourne. "I dare say, they were well impressed with my knowledge of grilled tomatoes for brekky."The next day, Chris, some of his mates and I met up for New Year's Eve p...

A Koala in the Mist
2006-12-29 04:07:00
With exactly $2 Aus to my name (which seems even more pathetic when it's a single coin!), off I went with Chris and his mates on the drive along The Great Ocean Road (similar to the 49 mile drive to Carmel). While on the road, Chris, the Aussie outback extraordinaire, spotted a koala in a tree (see below photo--can you spot it?) which officially launched me into a full mental recovery from the wallet incident. That night we camped along the drive and back we went the next morning to Melbourne after a visit to the 12 Apostles rock formation.
More About: Mist , The Mist , Koala

Cricket and Chaos
2006-12-27 19:56:00
G'Day Maties,And Happy New Year from down under! As I type this, I'm sitting at Chris' dining room table in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney (sort of like Brooklyn to NYC). It's January 2nd and I've officially been in Australia for a full week. I had a rough start in Melbourne but since flying up to Sydney, all is well.Following are some highlights:So, the plane ride was the quickest 14 hours I've ever experienced (other than when I got my tonsils out and got a shot of Demerol). We took off at 10:30 p.m. from SFO, I closed my eyes and when I woke up, there were just 3 hours left. Not sure how that happened considering I didn't ingest so much as a glass of wine, but it was fine by me.Before I go on, I have to make a point to mention the landing into Sydney airport, which was most definitely the best view I've ever seen flying into anywhere. You can see the entire harbour including the bridge and the Opera House with a backdrop of harbor inlets and rolling hills of country-looking ...
More About: Cricket , Rick , Chaos

Marsupials and Mistletoe--The Christmas that Never Was
2006-12-24 19:32:00
G'Day Friends and Family,As most of you know, I'll be in Australia for Chris t mas and New Year's this year, visiting my friend Chris (of Aussie in SF 2005 fame). Well, actually, I'll be somewhere in the clouds above Fiji or maybe Micronesia. And according to my plane ticket, I'm actually not having a Christmas this year. No, it's not because I’m finally succumbing in full to my Jewish roots and it's also not because I've turned into one of the people who refuses to acknowledge any holiday that's fueled by consumerism. In fact, I'm not exactly sure why I'm skipping Christmas--something to do with the intricacies of The International Date Line (I leave SF on Dec 24th and land in Melbourne on Dec 26th after a 14 hour flight). The whole thing reminds me of one of those puzzles that your 6th grade science teacher would give you on the last week of school before summer when there's no real work to do. You know, the kind where the class is forced to hypothesize what will happe...
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