Filed under: architecture, books, budget luxury, celebrities, culture, europe, food, gay, home, interior design, luxury, people, plans, projects, relationships, romance, shopping, travel
This is the place where I will ride bareback across fields, raise strong, beautiful children, and spend my evenings writing and reading by our blazing hearth.
(with David Beckham, furnished by Ralph Lauren Home, groceries delivered by yummy.com, and weekly visits to London.)
Filed under: buddhism, culture, drama, fashion, gay, people, relationships, romance, travel
this is me in the early hours of january 1st 2008 on the main beach in hadd rin on koh pha ngan in the gulf of thailand. i think i’m trying to put a spell on you with my magic pail of vodka.
surprising: i never threw-up.
not surprising: tom and i got in a huge fight and ended up not even speaking to each other. this is a new year’s eve tradition for us. the year before it nearly came to blows as we sat watching the fireworks over puerto vallerta. i guess there’s something about romantic sea-side relaxation and awe-inspiring beauty that fills us with murderous rage. next year we’re planning on giving each other minor disabilities in st. barts.
after i dropped off tom’s indian visa application yesterday, i started wandering around though union square. i stopped in the new barneys for the first time. as stores go, this one was nice but for barneys it kind of sucks, doesn’t even come close to the new york or beverly hills stores… too bad. mostly it lacks the luxury of open space. the men’s department feels boxy and the space doesn’t flow. plus, they don’t have dries van noten at this location, boo. as i was walking past the levi’s flagship store, i remembered reading about this body-scan thing that they had there and went in, but no dice, they had gotten rid of it. walked down maiden lane to admire shop window’s then bought a package of parliament ultra lights at a 711 on market street.
continued down market into the financial district ( i love how neighborhoods flow into one another in san francisco) in order to better aquaint myself with this part of the city. i love the office tower at 555 california street, its beautiful, and the space around it is awesome- it makes it feel as though you are entering a temple of something.
i continued down to embarcadero center which is also pretty cool close-up, it looks as though you are staring up at jagged cliffs. my grandfather used to work in one of the office towers here, but i wasn’t sure which one. had a coffee from tully’s and went into walden books to consult the san francisco guidebooks on my choice of restaurant for lunch. i was excited because tom told me not to spend more than $40 or else it would look to expensive when he does his expenses. anyway, spending $40 on lunch is not something I do very often (usually $4.25 lo mein special or a home-made sandwich) so I wanted to go somewhere really cool. flipped through the book and called my mom for a recommendation. she suggested one market, mostly because she used to live in the same building as the chef, and had a funny story about making him spaghetti-o’s once. anyway, i decided that i wanted an incredible view, so i decided on the top of the mark. walked through the le meridian hotel to check it out and ask the concierge if i would need reservations for lunch, which i didn’t. the lobby and restaurant were sleek and cool, but small for such a large hotel. on the cab ride over saw about forty people dressed in fairy costumes along california street.
Filed under: books, etiquette, friends, gifts, kindness, people, shopping, the grove, travel
today i came across two books while at the grove that i couldn’t pass up,
i have a bit of an obsession with etiquette books, some of the older, more archaic versions are great for a few laughs as well as a window into social codes and structures often extinct. Many others, though, can be relevant, insightful, and unpretensious reminders of how to be a modern lady or gentleman.
the art of civilized conversation, by margaret shepherd instantly drew me in with the author’s charming, easy voice. it seems to be a genuine, unstuffy, and instructive book on improving and perfecting conversation skills. will write more when finished.
here is an interesting article i found about conversation in history:
http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8345491
sunny and i have both been the victim of some pretty messed up deeds by villainous strangers lately, so when i saw the kindness of strangers - a collection of travel stories about kind deeds by total strangers, i thought that it would be the perfect book to help us both reframe our state of mind. it is edited by don george and has a foreward on the importance of kindness by the dalai lama.
sometimes, i wake up after sleeping for a few hours and just can’t get back to sleep. too many thoughts.
- i’m really craving a soft pretzel. the best pretzels in the world come from an amish pretzel shop in shipshewana.
- next weekend i am going to finally pull this old dresser out of the attic (left over from harrison, the old man who lived in my house before me) and sand/paint it. projects are good.
- tomorrow, nympha, our housekeeper is coming. that makes friday my favorite day of the week. i love the smell of cleaning supplies.
- i need to start making holiday travel plans.
- sweet, now i feel tired.
with all of the recent drama around here it was really good to have tom back from europe. i made him my famous lemon chicken (thanks mom) and french beans almondine. unfortunately he has to fly to new york tomorrow.
i hate being left alone all the time, our house can be kind of creepy when you’re home alone.
this is us on our friend jim’s boat, invader, in puerto vallerta last christmas.
today is my friend jake’s birthday.
when i came out to my parents and we had a huge fight, jake came and got sobbing me from the scott’s parking lot on maplecrest in fort wayne.
here we are walking through the redwoods, having a roadside yoga break at big sur, and at a bar in the castro.
love you jake.
