San Francisco treat

If I was forced to do play the "instant association" game with the phrase "San Francisco", I'd likely come up with:


- Rice A Roni (the San Francisco Treat)


- the place full of exciting high-speed police car chases over hilly city intersections


- expensive to live in





It was fun to see SF again yesterday with Andrew. Unfortunately we didn't get into the Ansel Adams exhibit...the museum was closed on Wednesdays. :-( However, we did check out the nearby Metreon, a mega Sony complex full of electronics exhibits, movie theatres, shops, arcade games, restaurants.


Andrew and I sat on the beach for a while, chatting and watching some kids play touch football on the sand. Out in San Francisco Bay, I could see the famous prison (or ex-prison) Alcatraz. I waded in the water just so I could say I did (how could I visit California and not put my feet in the ocean?), then we headed off to Ghiradelli Square.





I had visited Ghiradelli a few years ago with Andrew and Jeff. -Love- the chocolate-making exhibit, with its giant tubs of liquid chocolate, the big rollers and mixers and grinders, the chocolatey fragrance everywhere. Behind the counter, staff in Ghiradelli hats prepared chocolate sundaes and other delicacies. The shop is filled with every kind of Ghiradelli treat you could imagine (and some you can't imagine)...lacking luggage space, I restrained myself to a few small treats. If they don't fit, well, I guess I'll just have to eat them before I leave.





We had fun browsing through the rest of Ghiradelli Square. Gorgeous weather, as usual. We've had blue skies and sunny weather every day since I arrived. Andrew says it hasn't rained at all in October yet, and that this weather is pretty normal for this time of year. It definitely felt like summer as we strolled through the Square, listening to the saxophonist playing jazz tunes by a stone fountain. Lots of interesting craft shops...Allison, Jodi and I should try to find a way to get out here next August when we're around for Conchord.


My favourite shop was a hat shop called Hat Generation. It was more of a costume shop than a hat shop, really, with hats ranging from the regular type to the wild and fantastic. I picked up a fun head-band-type hat for the Interfilk auction at OVFF. I just hope I can find a way to fit it in my already tightly packed carry-on luggage! Maybe I'll just wear it on the plane. ;-)





Fell asleep in the car on the way home from San Francisco. My cold's not getting worse, but it's definitely making me more tired than normal. Andrew cooked dinner...pasta with a garlic-onion-rosemary-chickpea sauce than was VERY yummy, asparagus and carrots with tomato salad on the side. We watched Enterprise and the West Wing on Andrew's fancy-pants tv. We started watching West Wing late, but the TiVo service enabled us to watch the first part of the show WHILE the rest of it was still recording (!). Very cool.


Going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today!


Today's Blatherpics:


- Display in the Ghiradelli store in San Francisco.


- My friend Andrew.


- Me with my feet in the ocean. Note that the bottom of my rolled-up jeans is in the water...it took hours for it to completely dry out again, but it was worth it. :-)


- Sign at the entrance to a parking garage.


- Ghiradelli shop.


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Andrew)


Do you regularly answer poll questions?

Santa Clara

I'm at Andrew's place now, in Santa Clara. His apartment is a real contrast to Paul and Beckett's place...very much a bachelor pad, with lots of breakable items within child's reach. :-)


We had dinner with our friends William and Mona at Fiesta del Mar, a Mexican restaurant in Mountain View. I had Majo de Ajo, a shrimp dish that was loaded with a ton of garlic. Heck, why not? My husband's not with me. VERY yummy, though I felt compelled to buy super-powerful mints so Andrew wouldn't be asphyxiated on the drive home.





Andrew's tv set-up is pretty cool, with a 36 inch screen and a service called TiVo that lets you easily digitally record anything in the listings. I watched a medical comedy called "Scrubs" for the first time last night, and found it surprisingly amusing. Or maybe I was influenced by the fact that it was playing Erasure tunes throughout...it was a theme of that particular show, with cast humming and singing Erasure snippets, etc.


Andrew also has a mega-cool computer monitor (a 22 inch Apple cinema display). I e-mailed Jeff to tell him that I'm moving in with Andrew because he has bigger hardware. ;-)


We went to see "Serendipity" yesterday at a nearby movie theatre. The movie stars John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale (sp?). It's sappy, unrealistic, and totally predictable....I loved it. :-) I am SO into this kind of romance movie; I think I'll have to see it again back in Toronto.


I've caught some California bug, so am opting to postpone our visit to the Monterey Aquarium until tomorrow. Today, Andrew and I plan to hang out at the Apple Store in Pao Alto, check out the Ansel Adams exhibit in San Francisco (and maybe do other San Francisco stuff depending on how I'm feeling), maybe do another movie, watch Enterprise tonight.


Today's Blatherpics:


- William and Andrew, in Mountain View.


- Mona.


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Andrew)


Have you ever had to put up with Debbie for more than a day? :-)

time management

(Updated with Beckett's Guest Blathering)


Paul and I had lunch with Sam Sheth yesterday. Sam is a mutual friend...I met Sam years ago through another group of friends, while Paul met Sam at 3DO. Sam also used to work with my friend Parki back in Toronto. I still have pictures of Sam back at our old "Mac weekends" out in the country, when everyone would get together to play computer games, talk, and hiking out in the forest (ok, so the hiking part was minimal on Mac weekends, but I had to throw that in there to avoid giving you the impression that we sat on our butts the -entire- time).


Anyway, Sam usually brought at least two big cases of Coke Classic. He went through one himself, gradually accumulating an impressive display of empty Coke cans beside his computer monitor as hours progressed. Sam is still a techonerdboy, but he quit drinking Coke because he says it was making him fat (Sam still looked rail-thin to me). And instead of Coke, his desk at work was loaded with two cases of instant ramen noodles.





The only difference I noticed in Sam from when I last saw him years ago was that he now drives in a convertible with the top down (the kind of car where you start the engine by pushing a button...I told Sam it made me feel like I was in the middle of an arcade game) and that his hair shorter (it used to go down past his waist; now it's just past his shoulders). He's still soft-spoken, with a wicked sense of humour. He likes California better than Toronto, but misses his friends and family back East.


Went back home after lunch; Beckett had just put the twins down for a nap (ha! I'm using parent-talk now..."putting down" the twins). The area rug she had ordered online arrived, so we spread that out in their living room. When the twins woke, Paul and I babysat so that Beckett could work on formatting his FilkContinental report with photos captured from the videocamera. Casey and Riley have some pretty cool toys. My favourite is a plastic cube with pictures of orchestra instruments on each side; I think this was a gift from Alan Thiesen. Whenever you press the main "Orchestra" picture, you get a different song. Whenever you press a different instrument, you turn an instrument on and off. You can thus get to hear different instrumental lines for the song, and control the arrangement. Hey, I want one!


I've noticed that Paul and Beckett have grown to be experts in time management. You parents out there obviously have experience in this, taking advantage of any naps your infant child takes, or periods when they're playing happily by themselves to do housework or other chores. With twins, it's even more complicated since you can't count on both of them doing the same thing at the same time. I've already witnessed several times when, as one twin is just falling asleep for a nap, the other is just waking up and needing attention. Both still tend to wake up at least once or twice a night.


And then I think, geez, Beckett was taking care of the twins by herself during the week that Paul was in Germany! I'm amazed she's still sane. :-)





In the evening, Alisa and Luis phoned. Paul updated Alisa on the German convention (she was very sorry for having to miss it), and I had a chance to chat with her as well. It was great to hear her voice again. Hailey recently came out of the hospital, but is fine now.


Got more bonding time with the twins today. Casey expanded the boundaries of my diaper-changing experience by deciding to pee after I took off his old diaper. No, I didn't get it in the face (that was the first thing Beckett asked, too :-)).


Andrew's picking me up at 1 pm today; we're having dinner with our friends William and Mona tonight.


Hey, I heard from the guy at Weta Digital again! He's going to send me a Weta Lord of the Rings Eye of Sauron t-shirt, and I'm going to send him a Waiting For Frodo t-shirt. :-)





Guest Blathering from Beckett


So Debbie's playing with the boys as I sit here typing. I think she's mastered the art of appreciating the little moments that happen, and it's really good for me, since I've been trying to do that myself. Appreciating Riley starting to crawl (instead of viewing it with fear and despair at how little babyproofing we've gotten to!), watching Casey figuring out how to work a toy, stuff like that. Debbie takes it even further, though, she even appreciates chganging poopy diapers! Here, Deb, have another moment to appreciate! And another! Feel free!!


It's so easy to lose sight of how precious and fleeting it all is in the midst of all the sleep deprivation, hassles and chores and baby needs (or work stuff). Twins seem to be like a magnet for people; strangers come up to us all the time and tell us to enjoy it while it lasts. Sounds so cliche, but it's true; the twins change so fast and as Debbie said, it's the only time they'll be like this. Myself, I'm _really_ savoring Debbie's enjoyment- here Deb, this one needs changing! ;)


Today's Blatherpics


- Sam Sheth.


- Cats in the Kwinn/Gladney household.


- A beardless Paul!!


- Childhood photo of Beckett (Paul and Beckett let me snoop through their photo album).


Today's Poll: (Send your poll suggestion)


Did you ever earn money babysitting?

Santa Cruz

Walking along the ocean yesterday in Santa Cruz, we watched the hordes of surfers hunting for the perfect wave. Gorgeous weather, with the sun beating down on our heads and shoulders, and it was weird to think that just a week previous I had been wrapped in layers of fleece in Northern Ontario, huddled over my keyboard with numb fingerstips, snow and ice on the ground just outside the window.


Paul and Beckett took me out for lunch at The Crepe Place. Beckett taught me how to eat artichokes with mayonnaise and lemon, and I had a massive salad with blue cheese and avocado (I realize that the fat content in the cheese and avocado probably cancelled out any 'good health' points in the salad, but it was worth it). We had a yummy crepe called 'The Whole Thing' for dessert, with bananas and nuts and icecream and chocolate.





After lunch, we strolled along the Cliff Walk and watched a horde of surfers in the waves. Riley and Casey were getting restless and it was getting late, so we decided to head home. Stopped off to check out a place called "The Starving Musician" that we had spotted on the way up but sadly, it was closed. No wonder that musician's starving, closing before 5 pm!


We had to make a stop by the side of the road to make an emergency diaper change (poor Casey had developed a rash and was pretty vocal in expressing his distress). I'm sure it's worse for mothers, but geez, the desperate type of baby crying really pulls at my panic heart strings. I'm sure it's wired in somehow, but even as a non-mother I found myself responding to Casey's wails with a strong WHO'S HURTING THE BABY? MAKE THEM STOP -NOW!!!- impulse.





Paul and Beckett decided to change Riley while they were at it, so I took Casey for little stroll near the van while we waited. Casey had calmed down, but was still smaking quiet little hiccuping sob-noises in my arms. A California highway patrol car pulled up nearby, and a very nice-looking (i.e. dead cute) patrolman sauntered up to me.


"Everything okay here?" he asked with a smile.


I explained about the baby needed a break from the car ride. Meanwhile, Casey turned on his baby-charm full force. He gave the patrol guy a big smile and reached out to him with one cubby hand. Casey is somewhat stranger-shy at times, according to his parents, so he must have thought the patrol guy pretty appealing, too.


"Quite a grip you've got there," the Patrol Guy told Casey, gently trying to wrest his finger out of Casey's stubborn grip.





The other big excitement of the day was that shortly after we got back home, Riley crawled for the first time. You parents out there know how exciting (and terrifying) this event is. Exciting because it marks the next stage of development in a child's life, and terrifying because it means it immediately expands the amount of trouble that a child can get into on his own. :-)


Going to my friend Andrew's place in Santa Clara tomorrow!


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Paul)


Are you a filker?

sleeping babies

(updated 12:11 pm with Blatherings from Paul and Beckett)


It's 10:30 am in the Kwinn/Gladney household. Riley and Casey have just fallen asleep for their morning naps. Riley took longer than Casey, obviously needing a nap but also obviously determined NOT to nap. I know how he felt...I tend to want to hit the sack around 10 or 10:30 pm these days, but often force myself to stay up longer, not wanting to miss out on any fun. At the cottage, Parki and Jeff would tease me about this. I'd be clearly fading, and Jeff would suggest I go to bed.


"But what are you guys going to do?" I'd ask.


"Have fun," they would say immediately, in unison.





So I felt for Riley as he squirmed in my arms, yawning and rubbing his eyes and arching his back stiffly, refusing to relax. Beckett and I talked while I walked back and forth carrying Riley; it was good to be able to have a real conversation with her, one outside of the hectic atmosphere at conventions. And during one pause in the conversation, Beckett noticed that Riley had fallen asleep in my arms.


She took him from me and put him down in the playpen beside his sleeping brother. For a few moments we both just looked down at the sleeping babies. Funny how the sight of a sleeping baby can make you forget any minor stresses and worries. One of Casey's arms is outstretched, small fingers slightly curled, a teddy bear across his chest.





Guest blatherer: Riley, age 8 months


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Guest blatherer: Beckett


Ah, the luxury of a relaxed shower while Debbie kept an eye on the babies. Bliss. It's going to be hard to go back to the regular routine of dealing with both kidlets alone after having Debbie around cuddling babies and sneakily washing dishes...


I'm lobbying for a trip out to the coast this afternoon to walk on the beach and go find some pumpkins at one of the many pumpkin patches that turn the fields orange out there this time of year. It'll be the first time for Riley and Casey. So many firsts. :)





Guest blatherer: Paul


Hello Blatherees, near and far. This is Debbie's host, Paul Kwinn. We had a lot of fun last night, with talk of physics (no kidding), babies (of course), & movies, as well as plenty of music. Frankly, we've been having a little too much fun. Today, we're hoping to get Debbie arrested. We figure that the old "Help! This woman's trying to steal our pumpkins and our babies!" trick will work just fine. We wouldn't want her to get the idea that California is all happiness and light. Since she's not a US citizen, I'm sure they'll keep her locked up for a good long time, even on the flimsiest of charges. We're hoping she gets Bertha for a cellmate. Beck met Bertha once, on a "Scared Straight"-type prison tour, and Bertha scared her straight in more ways than one. Don't you think Deb would make an excellent buddy for Bertha? Hahahaha. Hey, Debbie! Time to go! No, you can upload this Blathering later... (bye, kids. We'll let you know how it goes.)