Petco Park

Thursday, 4/16, Jennifer and I went for a walk through downtown, heading first to Petco Park, the new house of worship to all things baseball in SD. Even though I’m not a fan of city financed professional sports arenas, this one is very well-designed and the surrounding neighborhood is really nice. Next time I need to go around and get some pictures of the outside.

After leaving the baseball field we walked through downtown and stopped in a little place that just sells cupcakes. Not just any old cupcakes, but moist little cakes full of flavor topped with a light, exotic tasting buttercream frosting. I’m going to try to remember them next time I’m invited to a dinner party.

Then we walked a few blocks to Borders—Jennifer has the same weaknesses I do. And after that lunch at a very nice club/restaurtant in the Gaslamp.

Zanna, Don’t!

Thursday night at Kicker’s Ron, who’s normally pretty quiet and reserved, pulled me aside to tell me about a musical he’d produced and to ask if I wanted tickets. While telling me about it he lit up like a firecracker, got all animated, big smile, waiving his hands all over the place. I’d seen something about it in the GLT and after all that I couldn’t say “no”. So last night Keith and I headed to Roosevelt Middle School in Balboa Park for an evening of musical theater.

‘Zanna, Don’t!’ was originally produced off-Broadway and is an incredibly well-written, fun show with references ranging from The Rocky Horror Picture Show to A Tale of Two Cities. It takes place in a high school where all the kids are gay and the captain of the chess team is the most popular guy. This allows them to make fun of a lot things, like heterosexual fashion sense, and discuss controversies, such as Straights in the Military. I found it a bit of a cathartic hint to what high school could have been like if I'd felt the freedom to be all of myself.

In the second half the plot gets complicated when one of the guys realizes he really wants to take a girl to the Prom. Zanna, who’s been playing cupid, running around helping the girls connect with girls and guys with guys, decides that facilitating love is what’s really important. But when the straights reject him because he’s gay, he laments that they forget that he’s the one that taught them how to love.

I had a great time and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun evening out. It runs through May 10th. More information is at: http://www.zannasd.com/.

And Ron, as soon as the economy turns around, you need to quit your day job.

Jennifer & Lulu 04.08.09

This time Lulu joined us for a walk along the Embarcadero.

Back to Balboa Park

On the same afternoon I went back to Balboa Park to meet Terry & Allen to take advantage of the free museums on Tuesdays. We had a great time going through the Natural History Museum and especially enjoyed the large, interactive globe that animated the progression of the continents across the surface of the Earth and the advance and recession of the glaciers. Ater leaving the museum I took these pictures of the park in the early evening light.

Balboa Park

This morning I rode my bicycle over to Balboa Park and took the camera along. Arriving there I was surprised to find it crowded with people as if it were a weekend. Noticing the crowd to be lots of young kids I remembered that many area schools are on spring break this week. Balboa Park is large and beautiful and full of flowers and sculpture and interesting architecture. I made myself put the camera away and save it for other days. Otherwise I’d still be there. I just need to get there earlier to miss the crowds and catch the early light.

San Diego Embarcadero 03.25.09

Two weeks ago I met my friend Jennifer at her downtown apartment to go for a walk along the San Diego Bay. We headed south through Seaport Village towards the Convention Center, then back north to the Midway Aircraft Carrier before heading into the Gaslamp District for lunch. I’d forgotten about these pictures until today when I realized I’d better post them because we’re getting together to do it again tomorrow. Hopefully then I’ll remember to include a picture of her.

Christian’s Birthday Brunch at Café Bleu 03.22.09

Mission Hills View

Lately, my walks have taken me to this spot and this view as something of a reward. It’s one mile directly west of my house through beautiful Mission Hills. Yesterday morning was sunny and clear and the sides of the canyon were all in bloom with flowers and lush green ground cover. The view is looking west. It looks out over Highway 5 to Mission Bay and the open ocean beyond.

Jim’s Birthday Bash

Last night (Friday) I attended a party at the home of Jim, the DJ at Kicker’s, and his partner, David, to celebrate Jim’s birthday. They have a lovely home in the heart of Hillcrest with an incredible back patio that had room for a dance floor. We had Sangria and lots of delicious food and danced under the stars. With me in the photo are Allen, Marc, Terry, and Christian is in front.

Driving from Home Back to Work After Lunch

I took this video towards the end of January. I tried to up load it to Blogger at the time, but that doesn't always work. I did up load it to Facebook, which worked really well and was very fast, so the folks on FB have already seen it. And they responded very positively to it, which really surprised me since it's so rough.

One day at work they asked me to take some pictures for a proposal that was going out the next day. So for lunch I drove home to get my camera. It was such a nice day and I was having such a great time driving with the top down and enjoying the sun that I decided to see if I could capture any of it on video on the way back to the office. I raised up the headrest of my passenger seat as far as it would go and jammed the camere underneath it and just turned it on.

So imagine a warm breeze in your hair and the sun on your arms as we drive from Mission Hills through Hillcrest and Bankers Hill to Downtown. Look for the Statue of Liberty at the first stoplight.

Quote: Shakespeare

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

Shakespeare: Macbeth

I took the picture on my balcony.

The quote is one my roommate had to memorize in high school and still remembers to this day. It’s a little bit cynical, but it’s also a good reminder of everything’s relevance.

Storm Front: Book One of the Dresden Files

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A classic PI “whodunit and I gotta find him before he does it to me” mystery with the added twist that the private investigator is a wizard and his assistant is a magical spirit that lives in a skull. A very fun, easy read. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series. The SciFi channel turned it into a really cool TV show. They made a few changes;nothing major, just polished it up a bit and tweaked it in good ways. I don't know if they're still showing, but I watched all the first season on hulu.com. I like a wizard that uses a drum stick for a wand and his staff is a magically charged hockey stick. Very fun.

Also on Hulu is a show called Secret Millionaire, where realy well-off people go undercover as destitute with only about $100 for a week. They go into blighted areas, learn what it's like to survive like that, and try to find folks they want to help. At the end of the week they go back and give away at least $100,000 of their own money. Finally, a reality TV show that does some good.

And also on Hulu I’m enjoying Journeyman; a guy keeps traveling back in time to help people. It’s inteligently written, showing the affect it has on his family and job.


View all my reviews.

Anza-Borrego Desert with Keith

Yesterday morning Keith and I piled into his car with snacks and water and cameras and headed out to Borrego Springs and the Anza-Borrego Desert. The desert wild flowers bloom in February and March and it’s a fun day trip for some easy hiking and photo opportunities. After a few miles on the 8 we took the 79 which is all twisty 2-lane scenic roads making the 2 hour drive part of the fun.

Once there we made a quick stop at the Visitor Center to use the facilities, pick up the latest maps, and check with a guide on where flowers were blooming the most. The Visitor Center is very nice with lots of information about the area and a large area of flowers right there, but Keith had been there last year and I had seen it several years ago and we wanted to get out into the desert right away.

Back in the car we drove a couple miles east, then turned north to Desert Gardens. The last 4 miles are a very bumpy 1-lane dirt road, which is why we were in Keith’s car; mine rides too low. We were able to go past where most other people stopped and enjoyed a really nice, easy hike up into one of the canyons. After a couple hours there we drove back south, then east some more to an area covered with yellow flowers and surrounded by mountains in the distance.

Before heading home we stopped back at the Visitor Center for a last pit stop. I also bought a small book on all the different areas of the State Park. It’s huge with a lot more than can be seen on 1 trip. And I’m thinking it’d be a good one-night camping trip as well, to catch the good light around sunset and sunrise.

Kidnapped to Coronado

2 weeks ago Heriberto and Skip sent me emails about going to Tijuana for lunch, but I was unsure about what documents are now required to get back across the border into the U.S. so I suggested Julian. Several emails went back and forth, but nothing was confirmed so I figured nothing would happen that weekend and we’d get together another time. But I underestimated Skip and Heriberto.

Sunday, the 15th, I came home from church, went into my bedroom, closed the door, and laid down for a nap to make up for a poor night’s sleep. A short while later our doorbell sounded, I heard voices as my roommate let whoever it was in, and then I got a knock on my door. Going out into the living room I found Skip and Heriberto wanting to know what the plan is.

Heriberto said we’ll be like Sex and the City; four friends going out. I observed that if we’re going to be like Sex and the City, we’re going to need cuter shoes!

So I threw on a some clothes and went with Skip and Heri to Starbuck’s a block away while Keith showered and met us there shortly (former military boys clean up quick). We decided to drive downtown to the cruise ship terminal and take the ferry across the bay to Coronado and have lunch at Panera.

We piled into Heriberto’s car, which is one of those really well-designed cars that are small on the outside but have plenty of room for four big guys on the inside. Heri found great parking; we soon had our tickets and just had a short wait to board the ferry. Even though the day was cold and cloudy, it’s a fun 30 minute ride across the bay to Coronado. Skip was super hungry so as soon as we got off the boat at Coronado we boarded a bus for a faster trip to Panera.

It was a really fun excursion. Skip had a new pocket sized Canon camera, Heriberto had his big Nikon, and Keith took his new video camera so I left my camera at home. The top picture is from Skip and the other 2 are by Heriberto. You can see more of Heri's photo on his blog. Skip took more photos and also a video at the restaurant and Keith has yet to download his video, so I’ll add those as soon as I get them.

And we’re still working on the shoe thing.

Beef Stew and Annie Lennox

For the past, oh, really long time, my cooking strategy has been to purchase mostly healthy, mostly yummy frozen food from Trader Joe’s and heat it up in the microwave for dinner. This plan succeeds on several levels: It allows me to get dinner quickly when I’m tired, hungry, and/or need to get back out the door to some event. It also allows me to get in and out of the grocery store quickly. And it doesn’t take much brain power, which is typically at low levels after working all day. This strategy has failed recently, though, because I’ve become really tired of eating the same stuff all the time. It’s good, balanced, but I’m craving variety.

Therefore, I’ve decided to start actually cooking once in a while. I know the basics; ex-boyfriends and former roommates have been good for something (Mom, too). And it’ll give me a good, creative, rewarding project to take my mind off the job search.

So last night I printed out this recipe from Men’s Fitness. I thought it would be good because it gives me a chance to use the 5-quart slow cooker I got from my father a long time ago. It’s the best gift he every gave me; didn’t teach me to shave, gave me a slow cooker. Go figure!

For a soundtrack I put on the earphones and fired up my Zune to Annie Lennox’s recently released collection of greatest solo hits (plus 2 new tracks) that I found out about over at Joe.My.God. and recently downloaded. Zune’s Marketplace has gotten cheaper—most albums are $10—and easier; I’m finding most of what I’m looking for now. And being able to download music right away without having to go out searching, then housing the CD somewhere, is so nice. Did I mention I’m not much of a shopper?

This album is of the awsome! I had a great time browning the beef on the stove while cutting and chopping the other stuff and revelling in Annie Lennox’s amazing music.

Beef and Sweet-Potato Stew

A quick no-mess, one-pot dinner (there’s a little bit of mess)
by Elizabeth M. Ward
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 pound lean boneless chuck or stew beef, cut in 1-inch cubes salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 peeled sweet potatoes, cubed
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup large diced carrot chunks
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 dried bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 large onion, cut into chunks
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, undrained
8 dried apricots, cut in half
TO MAKE:
1. Trim fat from beef; season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Brown beef in the oil, stirring to brown all sides.
2. In a large slow cooker, combine beef, sweet potatoes, corn, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, onion, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until beef is tender.
NOTE: If you don't have a slow cooker, allow the stew to simmer on the stove over medium-high for 30 to 45 minutes or until beef is tender.
3. Add apricots.
4. Cover and cook on low 20 minutes or until apricots are soft. Chuck the bay leaf and cinnamon stick; eat.
Per Serving: 249 calories, 18 g protein, 33 g carbs, 6 g fat

Ater browning the beef and adding it to the pot I looked at all this crusty stuff left in the frying pan and I thought: “I don’t want to wash that down the drain.” So I grabbed an open bottle of chianti of my roommate’s, splashed some in and put it back over the heat. While the wine heated up and started to simmer I used the spatula to scrape up the yummy crusty bits and then poured it into the pot over the other stuff.

This morning I took the pot out of the frig, put it in the cooking base, and watched it heat up all day. Tonight Keith and I gave it a try and we’re both still alive as of 9pm. The recipe is good as it is, although I really love cooked carrots so I’m going to double that next time. And I’m going to double the ground beef, as well, to kick up the protein a little bit; there’s plenty of the other ingredients still to balance it.

Old News

Friday, January 30th, was my last day at AVRP and I joined the ranks of the unemployed. Due to the economy and lack of new projects coming in they just couldn't support as many admininistrative people. We'd lost staff slowly for several months prior and a few more have had to be let go since. Everyone has been super nice and supportive. We'd really worked hard to create a supportive work environment and had become quite the well-oiled team. We’re all hoping the economy turns around quickly so we can all get back to working with each other.

These pictures are from Pizza Nova in Hillcrest where they took me to lunch to say good-bye. I’m normally uncomfortable being the center of attention but I really appreciate how nice they were to do it. We had a great time and I so miss seeing all of these terrific people everyday.

And, by the way, Jackie and David D. joined me for the short drive from the office downtown to the restaurant and we had a great time cruising along with the top down on one of San Diego's spectacular, warm, clearer-than-usual days. Driving down Banker’s Hill on the way back to the office we could clearly see all the way to San Diego Bay, the Coronado Bridge, the Silver Strand, and beyond that the open ocean.

I think working for AVRP was my favorite job so far. Even though it's a big architect firm it’s the smallest company I’ve worked at and I really appreciated being more than a set of numbers in a managers folder. It was very rewarding to work at a place that has high standards and works hard to maintain them, but also nice to be somewhere that didn't expect you to work at a sprinters pace all day, every day. I also loved having a wide variety of things to do; if I was tired or stressed or not quite awake I could still be productive with something that didn't require as much brain power. But the best part was being part of a group of really great, talented people who did their best everyday and welcomed me into the team.

Wild Animal Park 01.10.09 with Keith and Robb

Through facebook I recently reconnected with college boyfriend, and roommate (but that’s a whole ’nother story), Robb, and his partner Greg, who I hadn't seen for nearly 20 years. They were already planning a trip to San Diego for a conference of Greg’s so we made arrangements to get together.

Friday, after work, I met them at Top of the Park to get reacquainted. We had a great time bringing each other up-to-date on our lives, meeting friends, and enjoying the views of the city. Eventually we walked across the street to Jimmy Carters for Chicken Mole.

Saturday morning, after Greg went to his conference, my roommate, Keith, and I picked up Robb and went to the Wild Animal Park. It was a perfect day for it; warm but not hot and incredibly clear, Santa Ana winds having blown any hint of haze back out to sea.

About 1 o’clock we left the Park and headed across the wilds of North County to meet Robb’s oldest brother, Rodney, and his wife, Joy, for fish tacos in La Costa. Later that evening, after dinner at The Prado, Greg and Robb dropped by Kickers to watch the line dancing and Robb joined me for a 2-step.