Match.com

Oh dear. This potential suitor just "winked" at me. Here are some lowlights from his profile.

I am hard working and determined, I have great Morales guided by the Lord. I am a very easy going, fun-loving person! I enjoy meeting new people...I am non-judge-mental, but I can't deal with negative, rude and drama llamas....

and it continues...

I'd like to meet a very special woman who should be cute or charming if possible. She must be very disciplined and understanding, romantic and very down to earth. I'd love it if she could be compatible with me with if not all but most of the things we share in common. I am no particular about color. She must be very tight, friendly and must have a face the melts a hardened hearth. ... If this is You... Are you ready?

Wow, Great Morales? and Non-judge-mental? Looking to meet a very special women (no drama llamas need apply) who should be cute and charming if possible? Oh, and also very tight?

Well, if I don't laugh I'll cry, so I laughed so hard I snorted with tears running down my face. Thank god I wasn't drinking a coke or it would have come out of my nose!!

I am so mean. Dating sucks.

I [HEART] maps. I [HEART] NY.

The New York City subway map has been updated.  This is the basic map that has been updated and edited since 1979.  It widens Manhattan, shrinks Staten Island, turns the parks from emerald to olive, and deepens the blue of the Hudson and East Rivers.  It removes extraneous information, like bus connections and landmarks - helpful, but crowded. It looks bolder and cleaner, as seen in the great interactive map feature of the New York Times online.

The previous map, introduced in 1972, designed by Massimo Vignelli, was more stylized and abstract.  I actually quite like it, from an artistic point of view at least.  More conceptual than practical, which is not great for tourists.  I enjoyed this description of the Vignelli map:

It was accurate in the same way a poem could describe a playground in March. Descriptive and accurate. But sometimes puzzling. People got lost using it. 

Here are links to the DC Metro and the London Underground maps.

I love maps.  I love NY.  I love subways and decent public transport.  I love design.

Menu: Springtime Sunday Supper

Inspired by a similar supper at LG and BL's Paris apartment.  Great friends, great food, great light streaming through very large windows.

White Pizza

- with caramelized leeks and spring peas

Beetroot Salad

- with crunchy carrots and walnuts

Dessert

Assorted beverages on offer

- Beer, wine (red, rose and white), G&T, etc.

Less off-shore drilling; more off-shore wind farms

The BP oil leak that continues gushing unabated in the Gulf of Mexico is a horrific tragedy.

I have always found wind farms beautiful.

I'm hardly an expert.  I know it's more complicated than all that, but...

Imagine.  Clean, renewable energy.  Energy independence. Increased global security.  Just seems like it would be mo' better.

The Afterlife of Stieg Larsson

Wow! The drama and intrigue of the late Stieg Larsson's family and long-term lover are nearly as compelling as his novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I blogged about here.

That novel, the first installment of the Millennium trilogy crime thriller series, was wildly successful. All three books are soaring best sellers, translated into multiple languages, and adapted into mainstream films.  All of that translates to -  as we say here in the 'hood - "BANK!"  But Larsson, who died at the age of 50 of a massive heart attack before the first book was even published, has never seen a single cent...er...a single Swedish kroner.  Without a will, that money (which just keeps pouring in) goes to his estate, his brother and father. His long-term lover and partner of 30+ years, Eva Gabrielsson,  is not recognized under Swedish law.  With no children together, and having never gotten married to Larsson, she is Nobody.  Interesting, that in socially liberal Sweden, there is no such thing as common-law marriage - only the real deal (gay or straight) traditional "Married"  with a capital "M."

And the bitterness, allegations, insinuations, and accusations are flying...Money! Who gets all the dough?  What is she entitled to? His brother and father were legally awarded half the apartment that Larsson and Gabrielsson shared, then demanded an arrangement of Gabrielsson to buy them out, and later caved to social and moral pressure to just give her the Larsson half outright.  Mystery!  What were Larsson's intentions?  And now even, who wrote the books? She has alluded that she had a hand in creating them.   Family strife! She says Larsson was estranged from his brother and father. Psycho girlfriends!  Brother and father say, of course, that Gabbrielsson is "mentally unstable."  (Grrrr...don't get me started on that one!)  Revenge!  Despite it all, she still holds a great hand of cards.  Why?  Because Gabrielsson just happens to have Larsson's laptop with the nearly complete manuscript, outline, and notes of a 4th novel .  That's right, folks, more "BANK!"

So, there's quite a drama behind the crime thriller trilogy.  The subtext, the sub-plot, the intrigue make for a whole other bestseller.  I'm fascinated! - and staying tuned for the next installment of Reality Lit.

Pizza perfecto

Run this slide show and drool....

I [HEART] blogging

So, I was thinking the other day how much I personally enjoy blogging.  Whether I have any readers, or not; whether they agree with what I have to say, or not; whether I have anything interesting to say (to others besides myself), or not.

Perhaps it is a narcissistic exercise.  Perhaps it is a lot of hot air.

However, what I enjoy is the creative outlet it provides me to write.  I do love to write (whether I'm any good, or not), and I love words.  I have sought such an outlet for many years, something that would get me out of the scope of strategy memos for work and emotional purges in a journal.  I've considered taking a creative writing class many times - but can't commit the time, let alone take the pressure to produce on deadline or for scrutiny.  This blogging outlet allows me to write short, polished, published pieces about things I care about and ponder over with absolutely no pressure to produce.

It has been therapeutic (like my swimming regimen) to have this creative outlet away from my real life and responsibilities (though it does reflect those real life responsibilities). It allows me to consider my life and my world (and aren't we all the center of our own universe?) with some distance, perspective, and sometime humor (or not) as an "observer" - maybe even a clearer sense of self.  I enjoy writing from this Nouvelle Observatrice "alter ego" - who I would be and who I am, if I did not have real life responsibilities, obligations, and stress - a  traveler, a lover, a foodie, an amateur connoisseur of art, design, politics, people and culture). Admittedly, I enjoy reading my own blog sometimes, and remembering the experiences and seeing from whence I've come.

I choose to keep this blog publicly un-linked to my real name because I do have real life obligations, responsibilities, and a "public" work life - and I wish to keep them separate from this.   I have shared my blog with people who are not within that sphere.  And if a reader should stumble here, I would be easily recognized by someone with whom I'm acquainted (something for which I suppose I should be prepared if it were to happen at the wrong time or in the wrong way).  Then again, should that happen, I would not hide from who I am or what I've said.

All that said, when I re-read my blog, it seems like I'm a lot more "balanced" than I actually am, more "balanced" than I actually feel.  I certainly have fucked up my life as much (and as little) as anybody.  I have some regrets; and I have some points of pride.  I am not all that I can and could be. These days I'm working on being my true self (warts and all)  and acceptance - of me, of others - on all the rest, which just might be a taller order than all that striving for perfection/self-flagellation shit I'm used to.

Match.com

Another doozy *introductory* email from a potential Match suitor...

I am a Godfearing,Hardworking,sincere, honest, sensuous, sensitive faithful and passionate man! An American, black hair and black eyes! People who knows me say that I look much younger than my age! I want a future relationship with a woman who is sincere and has very strong values about honesty, truthfulness, faithfulness and is very passionate about life and love! she has to have a very strong urge for a very passionate sexual life with his partner in life.I will tell you more about me when next i read from you...

Honestly, with or without a steady squeeze, I'm alright, thanks!  Despite - well, everything - I do admire that that he is willing to put himself on the line, and bonus points for knowing what he wants.  I'm tempted to ask him to express in quantifiable terms what he means by a " very strong urge for a very passionate sexual life" (desired duration, frequency, etc.) to see if I qualify ;-)   *Sigh.*

Just in time...

Another cloud of volcanic ash hovering over northwestern Europe has closed Heathrow (again).  *So* grateful, I got out on Friday.  My life just can't afford anything unplanned right now. ;-)

Ha!  Is the universe laughing yet?  I'm well aware - more than ever, more than many, shall we say? - that everything in life is unexpected.  I just happened to escape this particular surprise.

Tate Modern (Cy Twombly - Take 2)

I had a few hours before my flight Friday morning  to go to the Tate Modern.  Simply fantastic.  A wonderful collection of modern and contemporary art, as well as quite the visitor experience in looking at, thinking about, questioning, and creating one's own art.  I loved that it did not take itself too seriously. In fact, at times, seemed to question its own curation of the collection in mentioning how time, space and perspective can help shape and define, and even change, art's (a period, a genre, an artist) appreciation and significance.  Somewhat in the way history is also viewed and reviewed in perspective over time, place, and context, and of course, how history can be re-visited and reinterpreted.

The Tate Modern is housed in the formidable and re-adapted former Bankside Power Plant in Southwark along the Thames.  There were several wings I wanted to explore, as well as the rooftop restaurant, but I was only able to check out one.  The others will have to wait for my next visit.  Material Gestures, the third floor wing, I visited, is described thusly:

At the heart of this wing is a room devoted to painting and sculpture from the 1940s and 1950s, showing how new forms of abstraction and expressive figuration emerged in post-war Europe and America. The surrounding displays suggest affinities between the radical innovations of this era and the work of earlier artists, but also show the legacy of those ideas among contemporary practitioners who have continued to develop the language of art in new and unexpected ways.

Indeed, I saw some of my favorite art and artists, including some presented in completely new ways.  As I rounded the corner to the room pictured above, I was in awe.  Four great canvases were displayed in this room - one on each wall.  The vivid red strokes had such motion.  Yet the red on white canvas also suggested some austerity, as well as intensity.  The paintings were described as representing - at once- violence and ecstasy.  Indeed they were passionately violent, and violently passionate.  They fill the canvas end-to-end-to-center with a certain balance, and the size of the loops, while not uniform, are certainly consistent like sound waves or shock waves.  These are Cy Twombly paintings - the artist I profess to hate, the one I'm convinced has no talent, and has bewitched the art world.  But my reaction was strong and mostly positive (or at least engaged and provoked in a good way) when I saw these, and only a few moments later did I realize, I had be digging on Cy Twombly.  A man, an artist, I clearly need to revisit and reinterpret myself.

The London Eye

Skate Park, Southbank (at Festival Hall)

Gastropub: The Anchor and Hope

In search of a gastropub - a dark, woody pub with good pints, and strict attention to menu -  I first inquired at the front desk of this stodgy member's club where I'm staying.   I said I wanted a good gastropub - not too fancy, but with very good food.  To make my point,  I said I sought a pub where I could wear jeans and motorcycle boots.  He recommended here - Um...not really my style.  The people at the Landsdowne Club just don't get me.

Off I went to the London Eye before dinner, and taking a wrong turn out of the Waterloo Underground, I found myself on The Cut  - a very funky street, with a funky vibe, funky people, alt theater, and some good restaurants, both dive-y and not.   It was 6-ish, and The Anchor and Hope caught my eye because of the crowd getting drinks - lots of jeans, black, boots, and some graying hair.  I knew this is where I would eat tonight.  And so I did - around 9:30 - and I was not disappointed.

Tonight's meal:

- Beetroot, horseradish and watercress - A fantastic combination of  nippy and creamy horseradish, gently bittersweet watercress greens; and sweet, cool, tender beets
- Beef Provencal with potato cake cooked in duckfat - A rather heavy dish (at that late hour, the busy microkitchen had run out of my first two choices) - but the beef was ultra tender, if not a little dark browny-beefy, and the potato cake ought to be first crowned by Le Cordin Bleu and then made illegal by the National Health Service
- Bombadier Ale (Bedford) - A bit sweet, but with a nice weight

La Nouvelle Observatrice jaunts to London

So here I am on a brief work trip to London, and partly because of the work nature of the trip, and partly because my thoughts haven't settled, I have no coherent and collective observations to make.  But here are a few random ones:

- There is a new 'coalition government" (the first since the 1940's) - Conservative and Liberal Democrats.  Strange bedfellows, but seems like what was needed to form a collective majority rule after a fractured, divided election.  Cameron and Clegg are apparently getting on like old chums, calling each other by first name, sharing jokes, and finishing each other's sentences.  I find it interesting (not good or bad per se) that 10 Downing Street changes hands in an immediate transition of power.   Maybe this new coalition will be the new meaning of "neo-con."  We'll see.

- I arrived in London early morning, and went immediately to the private members' club where I am staying.  Desperate for a coffee to begin my day (before the shower and the meetings), I joined my colleague M for a late breakfast (930am), and was promptly turned away for wearing jeans.   Well, I understand and  respect the rules; I appreciate formality and a nod to appropriate attire, and am scandalized myself these days by "grown-up"kids wearing flip-flops for nearly every occasion....but it did seem like a bit much. Not to split hairs, but my jeans were dark wash and boot cut, I had on black boots with heals, and a light linen blazer.  It wasn't the dinner  hour (with jacket and tie) for goodness sake.  And it was well past the prime breakfast hour (7:30-9:00), with perhaps 1-2 other tables finishing up, and the waitstaff was even breaking down the dining room settings between meals.  Welcome to Olde London.  Give me a stodgy break.  It's 2010...this is for dinosaurs!

- Following that experience, I had a fantastic meeting with Comic Relief.  Their offices were the opposite of stodgy - red  and modern with a very open flow.  Their philanthropy principles are rock solid, and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation  - RG, director there, was pretty smashing.  At the end of the meeting, we ended warmly, and he said I was very "lively" which was clearly a compliment (and one that was well-recived and mutually felt).  But I do know that I have never ended a meeting with that sort of  immediate positive feedback, and "lively" no less.  I'll take it, and stash it away for future demoralized swings.

- I do not know London well at all.  For all my travel, including 5-8 trips to  London (but of 2 days at a time at most), I really can't connect the city, nor do I feel particularly "at home" and familiar, as I do in so many other places (even places I've never been, like landing in Rwanda or Guatemala for the first time).  Still, I enjoy the tube, and the taxis, and the international tone and energy of the city.  Would like to feel more grounded here.  There was a bit of a fantasy talk about me spending about a month here this summer, with Dear Daughter, to support our Trust work.  It was pie-in-the-sky - but I would be interested in making it happen....perhaps...perchance...

I [HEART] good prose

"Strong character, intense body, with an exquisite lingering aftertaste" was how the coffee was described...
and, not surprisingly, the one I chose.

In the middle of the night...

Can't sleep, so I'm surfing instead.  Here's where I wandered in the wee hours...

• Top 10 places to go skinny dipping - This article was linked from the esteemed BBC, clicked through when I went to check out election results (maybe people will need an escape)... I've skinny dipped in California, the Adirondacks, and Guinea-Bissau - none made the list
• PowerPoint Isn't Why Your Presentation Stinks. You Are Why Your Presentation Stinks. - In preparation for London meetings next week.  Slate is always good for a curious, and bemused, mind
• Le Boudin Blanc, London - In preparation for London dining next week (Trustee dinner = swank!)
• 36 Hours in London - If, perchance, I have even 1 hour to hang out in London next week.
• Flight of the Conchords - "Business Time" - Couldn't remember the name of this, found it!  Still makes me chuckle.
• White House Farmer's Market - Yeah! 'tis the season.  Market near work opened today, I missed it, but saw rhubarb on the metro which reminded me to check the hours/day for good vegging.

Lost in translation

A sampling of Chinglish - Hysterical!  These are very accurate representations of the many ways English gets utterly butchered in Chinese translation - to very humorous ends.

I had such a lovely vacation trip to China with Dear Daughter in February 2009.  Lovely, not in the ways that my solo trip to Paris this year was lovely...but simply lovely all the same.

there are so many tictoc

Two good friends seem to be posting ee cummings poetry today on their social networking/self-expression sites of choice. There is a bomb scare outside my office window - the street is blocked off at the corner. So I think I'll turn to some poetry, too. Why not, no?

there are so many tictoc

there are so many tictoc
clocks everywhere telling people
what toctic time it is for
tictic instance five toc minutes toc
past six tic

Spring is not regulated and does
not get out of order nor do
its hands a little jerking move
over numbers slowly

we do not
wind it up it has no weights
springs wheels inside of
its slender self no indeed dear
nothing of the kind.

(So,when kiss Spring comes
we'll kiss each kiss other on kiss the kiss
lips because tic clocks toc don't make
a toctic difference
to kisskiss you and to
kiss me)

ee cummings