dare i say scrumptious? 3.14.08

i like to imagine this is the kind of thing audrey hepburn would have made for her boyfriend…

* * *

the yummiest, melt-in-your-mouth dessert you’ll ever taste.

old-fashioned strawberry shortcake!

the recipe:

ingredients:

for strawberry filling –

1 quart fresh strawberries + 1/3 cup sugar

for shortcake –

2 cups flour + 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar + 1 tablespoon baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 stick cold unsalted butter + 3/4 cup cream

for whipped cream –

1 pint heavy whipping cream + 1 1/2 tablespoon burbon whiskey (i omit this simply because i don’t have it – tastes fine without.) + 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1/4 cup powdered sugar

* * * * *

preparation:

for strawberry filling:

1. wash strawberries and slice.

2. put sliced berries in bowl and add sugar. stir.

3. cover and let sit for an hour at room temp.

for shortcake:

1. put oven rack at center. preheat to 425 degrees.

2. in bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. slice butter into 1/4 inch thick pieces and then cut into mixture with pastry cutter. cut into course mixture like corn meal, leaving some pea-sized pieces of butter.

4. in center of mixture, form a well and pour the cream into it. stir in only until the dough is moist. doesn’t need to yet hold together like dough, so don’t overmix. let this sit for a few minutes while you flour countertop/breadboard.

5. carefully turn dough out onto the floured surface, and knead it just a few times until it is just holding together and not quite so well. take care not to work dough too much, or shortbread will not rise. gently work dough into a rectangle about 7X10 and 3/4 inches thick.

6. grease baking sheet with butter.

7. using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 rectangles. gently transfer to greased baking sheet.

8. brush tops of biscuits with a little milk or cream and sprinkle with sugar. put in preheated oven.

9. bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until they rise and are golden color on top.

10. remove to a plate.

for whipped cream:

1. while shortbread is baking, mix heavy whipping cream, [bourbon], and vanilla in a bowl. add powdered sugar and mix in.

* * * * *

construction:

1. let biscuits cool. use serrated knife and split each biscuit that you will be using horizontally. butter, if desired. set tops to the side.

2. heap about half cup of berry mixture onto the bottom halves of the shortcake biscuits. replace tops. place a couple more spoonfuls of berries on top, and top with a huge spoonful of whipped cream.

3. serve & enjoy!

(i certainly cannot take credit for this recipe. it is from here.)

public transit: the bus stories 2.26.08

if this were the title of a book, i’d be the first to buy it.

busses create wonderful story material.

in fact, i already have countless funny, crazy and downright weird bus stories from the past 7 months of riding muni.

some recent memories:

— chatting with the driver on the 3-jackson about the weather & finding out that he used to live in alaska. apparently i’m a wimp because i took the bus for 1/2 a mile and because i think san francisco nights are cold. “you need to beef up and stick it out” – those were his exact words.

— falling on the 1-california because i tried to carry 3 law school books, a coffee, a schoolbag and a lunch sack while trying to hold the handrail on the steep, steep hills. a nice old man in a checkered vest helped me pick everything up. [i’m not sure why, but i thought this was so crazy funny at the time – probably because of my silliness to forget that i only have 2 arms]

— watching a homeless boy scratch lottery card after lottery card (probably around 30 cards total) in an attempt to make it big on the 47-van ness. [extremely sad]

— talking to an ex-lawyer who tried to convince me to quit law school and work for him at his PR firm. “law school is for losers,” he said. [funny]

— realizing that almost every one of the 15 or so yuppy business people on the 1-california were on their blackberries. [somewhat disturbing]

— seeing an old man on the 22-fillmore finish the crossword. he was in such a state of pleasure with himself, he shouted, “yahoooooo!” [adorable]

— hearing the bus driver on the 1-california humming “over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go…” [cute]

— laughing, while the bus driver for the 1-california chugged, “i think i can. i think i can. i think i can.” while the bus climbed a steep hill. [also cute]

— seeing a really, really sick drugged-out homeless man throw up. [gross + sad]

— watching countless kind people give up their seats for older riders, the handicapped and for pregnant women. [beautiful]

as annoying as riding the bus can be, it is quite a little microcosm of the universe. there are so many different types of people, of all ages, races, education levels, demeanors and languages.

no matter what bus i take or time of day i’m taking it, a ride on the busses of san francisco have been a million small, healthy steps outside of my comfort zone.

i’m convinced that these are the types of experiences that make us who we are. they can shape us into more mindful people, if we let them.

hollywoodland 12.30.07

over the last few days, i have been exploring los angeles with the boyfriend, his brother, his brother’s girlfriend & my sister.

i am always amazed at how much there is to see & do in LA. even though i was born & grew up a mere two hours from the glamour & excitement of LA, i felt a world apart from it.

LA might as well have been on the other side of the world, because bakersfield (my hometown) is, proudly, that different.

we only went down south for the shopping, for school field trips, or to drive through – heading somewhere else.

all of that being true, i still love all that LA has to offer.

some of the fun, quirky or breathtakingly beautiful places we visited:

(i recommend all of them)

lilly’s french cafe & bar – french food in a super cool part of a super cool neighborhood, venice

a stroll along the canals of venice – beautiful homes backing up to canals styled after those in venice, italy. the christmas lights were spectacular!

the hollyhock house – a home by famous architect frank lloyd wright for an extremely eccentric heiress in the 1920s. many design elements inside & outside of the house were modeled after the hollyhock flower – the original owner’s favorite. (the walking tour was worth the wait!) … my interest in FLW & his architecture was thereafter heightened

the griffith park & observatory – an immense & beautifully natural park with a 1920s-built observatory at the top (winter is best for the beautiful views – we could easily see the hollywood sign & all the way to long beach)

the ambrose hotel – a comfortable, environmentally-friendly hotel in santa monica

the laguna art museum – an excellent art house with the current exhibitions being wayne thiebaud & “shag” (aka: josh agle) — loved it.

yoga works – what better place than gorgeous huntington beach to get some yoga in?

wintertime 12.20.07

“hear! hear!” screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where i had heard a tittering for some time, “winter has a concentrated & nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it.”

(henry david thoreau, 28 november 1858 – journal entry)

robby & i spent most of yesterday around union square marveling at the christmas decorations & finishing up my christmas shopping.

the nordstrom’s decor was my favorite! it looked like we were walking through a tim burton film, as robby so aptly put it.

today, we explored palo alto. the town is just so darn yuppified. i couldn’t take the cuteness. with it’s old theatres (the stanford), quaint wine shops (the wine room), cozy cafes (coupa cafe), amazing bike shops (palo alto bikes) & perfectly-dressed patrons, i felt like i was walking around in a nora ephron film.

more times than not, it seems that life imitates art (films & books, in particular), when shouldn’t it be the other way around?

all too often i feel that i’m walking around in some articulately-written scene from a book i’ve read. today was a perfect example of this.

i suppose winter seems to bring out the literary-minded in all of us.

as john burroughs put it: “the tendinous part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winder; the fleshy, in summer. i should say winter had given the bone & sinew to literature, summer the tissues & the blood.”

well, if this wintertime is to feel like a novel, i would hope for it to be a henry james or a jane austen.

a wo(man’s) best friend 11.20.07

what’s the very first thing i’m going to do the minute i get my first paycheck as a lawyer (pending J.D. status & bar-passage, of course)? 

find an apartment that allows dogs & buy a puppy. 

she will look like this & her name will be ella.*

(*yes, i did have a dog of my own. once.  her name is bailey & she’s still alive & kicking. however, while i was away at college, my mom & dad fell in love with her & would not allow the dog to live with me again, even if i demanded it.)

i’ve been waiting for this to happen… 11.20.07

stem cell research. it’s an often annoyingly painful debate, hotly contested by politicians, citizens & scientists everywhere.

personally, i don’t feel scientifically-versed enough to take a side. i wouldn’t call it apathy, but more like an awareness of my ignorance – a level of awareness so high that i feel unable to argue one side or the other. to be honest, the ethical issues involving stem cell research give me stomach aches but the loss of scientific advancements due to a hault in research gives me a headache. so i ask myself: stomach-pain or head-throbbing? it’s a difficult question to answer. so i lay moderately in the middle.

it seems that NOt ONE politician or scientist agrees with me. hence, the constant public squabbles.

BUT…

recently, scientists have turned human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells, possibly (this is a highly-assumed “possibly”) easing the political debate.

read more…

thankgoodness. thankgoodness. thankgoodness. it’s a step in the right direction, at least.

“rats with wings” or extraordinary birds? 11.16.07

anna dove,* an advocate for pigeons and other birds in manhattan – founder & president of the new york bird club – has raised an uproar over the city’s plans to fine pigeon-feeders in new york.

 the city wants to decrease the population of what they consider useless, pesky creatures.

what is the group’s plan to fight the city & save the pigeons, you ask? post flyers & have someone walk around in a pigeon costume.

that’s one way to sway the public & GAIN THE CITY’S RESPECT. or not.   

(photograph courtesy of nytimes.com)

*no, her name is not a coincidence. she legally changed her last name after her pet dove, lucy. 

he’s going to kill me for this… 10.29.07

but i don’t care.

(click to enlarge – to feel the full effects of this cuteness)

the preppy tie, the purple flowers & the goofy smile… i couldn’t help myself.

we had a nice, relaxing weekend cooking, exploring & helping set up a fall family harvest festival put on by the church that we attend.

i wish i was still there right now… setting up games, arranging pumpkins & sweeping up from the hay bails. it was a few hours in the land of leisure. two words: NOT STRESSFUL. something i cherish so dearly right now.

goog-411 10.23.07

my new favorite thing: goog-411

it’s a free 411 phone service with the ability to let you search by business type – as well as name, tell you directions to & send you maps of business locations, & text message you info about the business.

& there are NO commercials or ads to listen to.

a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

i don’t care if google is taking over the world. free stuff = happy people. what can you do?

rainy day 10.17.07

the rain soaked through my shoes & jeans today on the way to school. definitely not prepared for the torrential downpour.

it’s not a pleasant feeling to be wiggling your toes & squirming in your seat in an effort to dry yourself while your contracts professor grills your class about quasi contracts and restitution as a basis of enforcement and could call on you and quiz you any moment about anything from the 5 million pages of reading you had last night.

at least i had my coffee mug filled with hot coffee this morning. i wouldn’t have made it without that steamy snickernut blend from central market.

i don’t mind rainy days, but i can’t stand being unprepared.

a few rainy-day essentials to cheer up a wet day:
* a good umbrella (like this one, from j.crew)
* comfy rain boots (dots are always fun!)
* rain jacket
* a rainy day itunes mix, including:
– i love the rain the most, joe purdy
– raincoat, morgan taylor
– you alone, david crowder
– corduroy, jaymay
– falling slowly, glen hansard & marketa irglova (from the amazing irish indie film, once. dooce agrees.)

it almost makes a rainy day worth it when you’ve got a cute pair of boots on & some slow, dreary music to go along with it!

i hope all of you are staying warm & dry, wherever you are. (unless, of course, you’re in bakersfield, where it’s probably sunny & 80 degrees today.)

this is perhaps a bit random, but this quote from calvin & hobbes seems appropriate today:

you know, hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don’t help.
-calvin-

i love autumn. 10.4.07

brisk air, changing leaves, thanksgiving get-togethers, cozy sweaters, warm drinks, a slower pace, trick-or-treating little kids, candy corn, halloween parties …

& pumpkins (you can’t forget the pumpkins)!

i love this time of year.

* the picture is of me & one of my new, baby pumpkins i adopted from mollie stones, my central market/whole foods/dean&deluca/trader joe’s substitute. (wow, i sound like a grocery-store snob, right now!)

the battle for control of the galaxy…uhh, i mean…groceries 9.24.07

for my legal writing course, i have to do research for & write a memorandum regarding a pretty hilarious parody of the star wars movie, called “grocery store wars.”

we’re instructed to consider whether or not the satirical film violates copyright infringement laws or whether it will be deemed as “fair use” by a federal court.

it’s an amusing case with some interesting elements, & i couldn’t help passing along this youtube link so you too can wonder what the heck the producers were thinking when they made this. the spoof is meant to poke fun at star wars’ commercial success & it’s similarities to large grocery stores’ annihilation of small mom-&-pop grocers. the characters include princess lettuce (with donut hair buns), cuke skywalker, lord tader & tofu d2, among others.

may the force be with you all.

ah, but a dream 9.23.07

wishing i was in vancouver.

or at least somewhere far, far away from the constraints of my classes, casebooks & commitments.

the week is only beginning.

* photo from this enticing “36 hours” article on nytimes.com

photo op 9.16.07

a few days ago, i discovered a program on my mac called “photo booth.”

robby & i had fun testing it out.

i’m pretty proud of these candid pictures (sans touch-ups!) taken with the teeny, tiny lens above the screen on my computer…

♥

the oldest surviving structure in san francisco 9.3.07

i spent most of the weekend with some friends, exploring the city of love …

we went on a couple nice bike rides along market street, the embarcadero & down union, we stopped by a few coffee shops and otherwise generally enjoyed the sunshine on this extended labor day weekend.

my favorite: we went to the original mission in san francisco, mission san francisco de assisi (commonly known as mission dolores).

mission dolores was founded in 1776 by spanish settlers in northern california.

as a native californian, to be in a place with so much history – over 200 years worth, to be exact! – was quite a treat. the mission has changed a lot since the 18th century, with many renovations, updates and the addition of a large basilica next door to the originial mission.

the location, however, has not changed.

(the mission in 1913)

(the mission today)

(the current interior/altar of the mission. it is still used for regular mass gatherings.)

***pictures above are borrowed from wikipedia.com

puppy love 8.29.07

i thought this was bad…

but it’s nothing compared to this…

g-daddy rocks the house (i am so white) 8.21.07

in light of magic cookie’s post, i thought i’d write one in similar fashion…

actual google searches i did today:

“utilitarianism and retributivism – definitions”
(for my criminal law class – still had NO IDEA the difference between the two from my criminal law casebook)

“how to remove grape juice from suede”
(at least a few times a week, either my tide-to-go pen or google saves me from ruining furniture and/or clothes after clumsy spills)

“are q tips unhealthy”
(this search in light of this article i read.)

“are hornbooks cheating in law school?”

happy googling to all of you.

i felt like a little girl playing house… 7.31.07

last weekend, with a lot of help from mom, dad & robby, i moved & assembled my furniture into my new pac heights studio. (thanks, guys!)

as requested from many of you, here’s a little peak at a few things from west elm that we set up inside:
(first few pics are from west elm, not my apartment!)

my dining chairs (garvey dining chairs in expresso/beet jacquard print) —

my coffee table (low wood coffee table in chocolate) —

my bed frame & headboard (low wood cutout headboard in acorn) —

my duvet cover (octagon jacquard duvet cover in steel) —

my entry rug (modern link design) —

& a little look at the ouside of my new abode:

things i’m super excited about…

having friends come visit & explore my neighborhood with me, walking around the corner to the grove, getting my latte fix at peet’s coffee & tea, going to yoga at international orange (namesake: the color of the golden gate bridge), grabbing groceries at the cute little corner market, the jonathon adler store and grabbing cornbread to go from the elite cafe.

… more pictures to come!

copenhagen & berlin 7.24.07

“twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. so throw off the bowlines. sail away from the safe harbor. catch the trade winds in your sails. explore. dream. discover.”
– mark twain

in the spirit of twain, the boyfriend & i paid a visit to our hometown friend, dan, in europe. it was quite a way to kick off the summer.

we hopped across the pond to copenhagen (uber cute yuppy-land = anna heaven) & berlin (endlessly interesting historical hub) for a few days.

i thought i’d share some photos with you.
& in an effort to make up for the lack of posts lately – has it really been almost two months since my last? gee, how the time flies – i made a slideshow.

bright, sunshiney day 5.13.07

went to the park to read a new book i got from a friend – french by heart by rebecca s. ramsey – passion iced tea in hand.

then went to the farmer’s market nearby, bought some cherries & sat on the porch at home to eat some.

what a lovely way to spend a sunny sunday.

things that make me laugh … 5.11.07

♥ doggy daycare centers that smell more like the ritz than a motel 6

… why so funny? because one night for an average-sized puppy in a luxury room at the Wag Hotel is $72!! (includes plasma tvs, sofas, rugs, paintings, classical music, personalized playtime with humans, organic food fed twice a day, playgroups with other pets, etc. – you know, the usual)

 ♥  the 25 most exquisitely sad songs in the world 

… why am i laughing? because a lot of my favorite songs are on the list. (most fav: #12, in the wee small hours of the morning by frank sinatra)

♥ “the five-second rule explored or how dirty is that bologna?”

 … why so hilarious? because clemson scientists performed a thorough microbiological study of the five-second rule: the idea that if you pick up a dropped piece of food before you can count to five, it’s ok to eat it. clemson scientists have too much time on their hands if you ask me.

♥ isabella blow’s crazy costume-like clothes

sadly, ms. blow has died this past week, but i have a feeling that her inventive apparel will keep people chuckling the world over well past her lifetime… a great legacy, if you ask me.

♥ role play

… why? because posts like this one from dooce.com keep me coming back for more. and because kids are a whole heck-of-a-lot smarter & sneakier than we give them credit for. it’s sorta like my daily dose of laughter.

  ♥ pitching tents in new york city…? 

… why? because respectable, well-paid young professionals are cramming into tiny apartments, living in office spaces and in tents on the top of buildings because nyc has major housing issues. i know it’s not politically correct to laugh at people’s plight, but i can’t help it.

 ♥ because adults can have FUN too!

… why? because i hope i never become “too old” to have a girl’s weekend with friends and take silly photos of us pretending we’re superheros. rock on, dooce + friends!  

big cities, big parties 4.17.07

last night, i had the privilege of attending the esteemed helen hayes awards in downtown dc, held in the beautiful warner theatre. it is the premiere awards ceremony to recognize excellence in professional theatre in the washington community. it was completely eye-opening how many fabulous theatres – large to small – are in dc, and how enormously important theatre is to this city.

 (helen hayes, 1931) 

it was a venerable who’s who of the capital’s arts community. i was among some of the best actors, entertainers and theatre professionals in the world. 

arena was nominated for the most awards of any theatre, but, sadly, we only walked away with two wins.

kathy-lee gifford was in attendance, as well as notable stars like helen hayes herself (she gave a sweet speech), e. faye butler (she was an announcer), marvin hamlisch (he played pianist/conductor/singer for the night’s entertainment), sir derek jacobi (in all his british-accented glory) and more.

there were women in fur coats, men in tuxes, girls in some of the fanciest dresses i’ve ever seen, plenty of quirky theatre-people, child stars dressed in their sunday best (with all their youthful enthusiasm), senior-citizen donors smiling broadly as they hobbled to their seats (clapping at each mention of the importance of artistic expression). and a huge after-party – with an open bar – in the nearby marriot’s glamorous ballrooms was definitely a perk.

the night’s entertainment and the acceptance speeches were full of inside jokes and name-dropping that i wasn’t about to try and unravel. i felt surrounded by a bunch of theatre groupies, all huddled in their clubhouse (albeit, not so modestly dressed) exchanging the year’s gossip.i didn’t fit in with this crowd, per say, but it was fun to play dress up and pretend.

i love big cities because whatever you’re passionate about, there’s bound to be a large group of people just as passionate about it too. who knew there were thousands upon thousands of people in washington so shamelessly enthusiastic about the thing high school students get made fun of for loving: theatre?

i love it.

girl power (and so much more…) 3.27.07

the heidi chronicles – a smart, sassy play about the dilemmas of modern womanhood – is the next show coming to arena stage.

i am super excited. so thrilled that i can’t keep my excitement to myself.

i’ve read the playbook and it’s marvelous. the heroine, wendy, is intelligent, witty, charming and endearing.

the play opened in new york in 1987, but it is still unbearably relevant in 2007. i love it.

it won every major award (including the pulitzer) the year it opened, and it’s easy to tell why.

i stumbled upon the original review by the new york times. i could not agree more with the reviewer that it is a “penetrating play … theatregoers are left with tantalizing questions about women today and tomorrow.”

i know that arena will handle this hilarious, poignant and important play brilliantly.

i snuck a peak from the sound booth at the set that’s currently being arranged and it’s wonderful.

i can’t wait.

home envy 3.16.07

while wandering around some hip and trendy neighborhoods on foot a couple days ago (while the weather was nice and balmy), i had a marvelous time peeking inside fancy townhouses, studio apartments and lofts of the well-to-do in the district. while it was dark outside, many of these homes had their lights on and windows open … i know, i know, it sounds a little sketchy of me to be eavesdropping this way, but you know you do it too!

 

although i didn’t have my camera with me – and I would have felt a little weird taking pictures of the places – i was inspired by some of these completely modern, completely comfortable-looking, completely well-put-together abodes.

online (on an architectural firm’s site, in the new york times’ home&garden section, on blogs and in online european traveling hubs) i found some photos of apartments, studios, homes, hotels and swanky hostels with the same appeal.

someday i want to live like this. 

enjoy …

the 1930s rockefeller apartments in manhattan. called “the moderns.”

  

a cheery kitchen of one of “the moderns.”

 casa howard: an italian hotel chain.

 

award-winning soho based architectural firm roger hirsch architect. (i want to be his friend.)

image from cadwallader design. 

sarah jessica parker/matthew broderick’s kitchen (with a lovely enzo mari la mela print) from elle décor.

 

* click on the pictures to enlarge *

amusing news of the day 3.2.07

this just in …

SWISS ACCIDENTLY INVADE LIECHTENSTEIN

March 2, 2007

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) — What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

”We’ve spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it’s not a problem,” Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. ”It’s not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something,” he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn’t have an army.

 oh, silly, silly people of switzerland – apparently all those funny folk dancing jigs (or whatever it is they do up there in the alps) went to their heads: too little oxygen can do it to ya.

the oscars 2.26.07

while working for a theater, amongst a tingling mass of entertainment-obsessed (read: constantly entertaining) people, i am subjected to entertainment-related chit-chat (read: torture).

the constant babble about celebs and their lives enters into every morning coffee, every meeting, every office space, every lunch break. it permeates the walls of the building. and it should. a theater’s business is to entertain. naturally, they’d be obsessed with other entertainers.

most of my co-workers get their information from tv, from entertainment weekly, from comedy central, from jon stuart, from movies, from people magazine, from online celeb sites, from each other.

i just read the newspaper. the other stuff just doesn’t excited me as much, i guess.

so the oscars roll around (or should i say, the entire staff of arena stage held their breath until sunday night, when their favorite people in the whole world got dressed up in fancy dresses and tuxes and received awards for their big-screen gems.)

of course, everyone insisted that each employee involve themselves in the office oscar pool — pay $1, fill out an oscar predictions sheet, sit on the edge of your seat, with fingers crossed, to see how many you guessed right. the person with the most right answers wins the pool.

i was at a coffee shop, reading, and purposefully avoided the whole oscar hysteria.

i had only seen five (count it: 5!) of the fifty-four movies represented. i could really care less who won.

granted, i’d read about most of the movies in the new york times, the new yorker, the washington post and other news publications, but i’d only seen less than 10% of the movies nominated for awards. i mean, how much could i know about them from reading the NEWSPAPER, right??

wrong.

guess who won the pool – yup, that’s right, nerdy, newspaper-reading me!

ah, what a glorious day it was, when they all applauded, and handed me the envelope, chanting “speech! speech!” (ok, i’m exaggerating a little bit)

they did ask what my secret was…

… did i know an oscar panelist?
… did i know so much because i’m from california? (which, for non-californians, means you live in hollywood and rub shoulders with celebrities every time you step out your door)
… did i really get out to see every movie?

HOW EVER DID I DO IT?

i just smiled and said i read the paper. yes, the newspaper. everyday.

a capital confection 2.13.07

magical moment #5,555,555 since moving to dc:

while sitting in a triangular-shaped coffee shop in northwest dc, reading a new book I purchased from the “washington” section of a bookshop here, i stumbled across this –

jon’s theory is that dupont circle is a paradise in the heart of the city: in dupont circle poor meets rich, old meets young, gay meets straight, native meets new arrival, and the peoples, styles, and languages all squish together to form america … dupont circle, jon maintains to friends when they complain that the place has become commercialized, gentrified, metro-station dominated, is still perfect.

and i looked up from where i was sitting in that window-full, corner coffeeshop, to find that i too was looking out onto the same circle that jon described as a “paradise” in the middle of the city. i think it is so representative of all that is washington and all that is america. as the times change and commercialization grips more tightly on each corner of our world, it is more imperative that we see the beautiful texture of america, as people of different backgrounds, religions, cultures and lifestyles are living in ever-closer proximity. as he went on to describe the fountain, i sat amazed that i was right there, with a perfect view of the very center of an orbiting universe of vastly different people, all rubbing up against one another and colliding each morning, afternoon and – as i sat there with the snow and sleet coming down – wintry evening too.

… the fountain in front of him resembles a flying saucer, held aloft by two greek women in flowing robes and one scantily clad greek man blowing on a conch shell. water pours from the saucer in a silky curtain into the basin below.

i felt as if i’d suddenly been picked up and dropped into paul kafka-gibbons’ novel.

as the title of the chapter i’d been reading so beautifully describes, i felt i was anchored down by “the still point of the turning world.” everything had suddenly stopped, and i had become a silent observer, watching the world around me move on as i sat sipping my coffee, devouring my book and adding to the richness of dupont and of washington, in my own small way.

tales from “the district” 2.5.07

i’m all settled in at my new home in dc for a few months. i’ve been exploring this lovely city every chance i get, and i began my job at arena stage today.

***the home i’m living in has an interesting array of rentors living beneath it’s roof, which consist of: a 40-something-year-old wife/mother/photographer who acts as the house mom, two 30-something german lawyers & a japanese couple who consistently and fervently reply to “goodnight” with “yes, yes it is very cold out.” i wander what they’ll reply to my night greeting when it gets warmer…

i’m so excited to wander around even more during the weekends to come. so far, i’ve ventured out & discovered little gems and landmarks in dupont circle, georgetown, adams morgan around mass. ave. & pockets of the northwest & southwest areas of dc. current favorites include a coffeeshop/bakery – which cooks organic bread daily – called firehook, wandering the side streets around dupont circle, dean&deluca in georgetown (a classic!), and watching the dog-walkers, businessmen+women and commuters outside my room’s front-facing window.

i can’t wait to keep getting lost & finding my way again in this walkable, albeit currently FREEZING, city. (today’s high: a cold 24 degrees, with a wind chill! this california girl is praying for the cold front to leave dc alone.)

*** first lesson learned: today, my feet were perpetually purple from a mix of the frigid temperatures, freezing wind, all the walking and my horrible choice in cute shoes for the first day of work! tomorrow, i’ll be wearing boots & changing at work.

warning: sassiness level on overload today 1.19.07

is it weird that i sometimes have this incredibly strong urge to write my name as if i’m one of the hundreds of married friends i now have that hyphenate their two last names?

didn’t you hear? hyphenating is totally in right now. 

hello, i’m anna corinne-camp. that’s right. two last names. i’m sooooo much cooler than you.  ah, hyphenators. i’m one of you now!! bwuahahahahaha!!

while i’m at it i might as well go all the way…

anna got-it-all-together-corinne-camp.

it has a nice ring, don’t you think?

ok, now i’m just being mean.

to our nation’s capital i go! 1.16.07

in a little over two weeks from today, i will be on a plane, flying across the country, headed to washington, dc. for four months.

i’m so antsy to go it’s ridiculous! 

i’ve found a place to rent, my job start-date is set, i’ve given my two weeks notice here, flights are booked, and (with a little help from google) i’ve even scoped out a yoga studio and nearby coffeeshop: i’m set to go!

i know what you’re thinking, why would i leave the golden land of milk and honey to live in a place with frigid winters, in the middle of what some might label a political mess. let me explain …

 there, i’ll be working for a local theatre (arena stage) until may. it’s not just any theatre, though, it’s the largest non-profit theatre in dc. and with my interest in working for a national or local non-profit as a legal advocate after law school, i had to jump on this opportunity. i figured it was time to see the innerworkings of a non-profit organization with a long history of public involvement and strong group of supporters. added bonus: i landed a marketing job at arena stage, which will be a nice break from the legal work i’ve been doing at the firm here. plus, it’s in one of the most intriguing cities i’ve ever visited. 

i simply cannot wait to head to a city so rich in history and so full of activity – albeit some of it productive and some not. regardless, i’ll be able to read political stories in the washington post, sitting in a coffee shop mere steps from the capital and the actual locations of the president and these influential decision-makers.

i can’t wait to explore our country’s national treasures on the weekends. i’m just elated to lose myself in an east coast world — i’m sure i’ll come to see how different it is than sunny california.

i just know there are a million hidden gems in dc, and i’m so anxious to discover them.

i’ll be in heaven, surrounded by so many educated, driven people – many of them my age and attending law school or working for a senator or lobbying for a cause.

it will broaden my horizons and provide a real-world education in ways that i couldn’t have dreamed.

it will be four months of bliss, i’m sure of it! 

 

 ::  p.s.  i’d love to have visitors during my stay in dc … i’m staying in a great townhouse on busy massachusetts ave., in downtown dc. i’ve got a large bed and would love to share it anytime while i’m there – february through may. we’d have a blast exploring together!  ::

am i a bobo too?? 1.10.07

since reading david brooks’ clever, sometimes-accurate picture of the new upper-class, in the book bobos in paradise, this idea of the bobo – bourgeois bohemian – has kept my attention. i’ll have to say that certain portions of the book irked me in that they emphasize the new upper-class as overtly and consistently consumeristic. i think they can at least appear to be much less so and still be considered perfectly bourgeois bohemian, a member of the elite bobo class.

 i was perusing the nytimes.com wedding page, no less, and found a perfect picture of a “bobo” that i think should have been included in bobos in paradise. this woman is so intriguing and likeable. she’s also a little less flagrantly yuppie-ish.  she lives life with a hippy-flair that doesn’t “openly” value materialism as much as brooks’ picture of a bobo. i realize that i buy into a lot of the bobo-lifestyle (i do like my sugar-filled latte-ish starbucks drinks, ikea furniture, good wine and my yoga classes) but this girl’s got it down.  read on . . .

she’s the owner of a papaya-colored yoga studio in sag harbor, new york. (she often challenges her yoga students to hold a headstand for the duration of the beatles song “let it be.”) she is a model – tall and thin, with long ringlets of golden hair. she’s fearless: she loves wearing bright orange, diving into the frigid ocean, laughing loudly, going barefoot and making radical changes in her life.

she grew up working at a fast-food chain, ran on the boy’s track team and regularly wrote mother theresa about the meaning of life.

she’s come close to death on a few occasions. she was hit by a car once, at age 15. she was struck by lightening while camping.

she’s messy. she’s spontaneous. she’s loud.

she thinks helping people is more important than acquiring “things.”

she just married the famous, prosperous yoga instructor, rodney yee.

she is a bobo, in my mind and a much more complicated one than that which brooks describes in his book.

i think this shows that no matter how many times we try to create boxes to fit people in, they will never be perfectly-suited for all of us. life is funny that way. it is full of science and math and rules and logic, and it is also full of a million circumstances where those rules must be broken.

i know it’s not perfect, but it’s life. life is messy sometimes.                                -grey’s anatomy

a vanishing art form? 12.11.06

in an effort to connect us more fully to eachother, in some ways, technology has done just the opposite. 

letters hand-written or plunked out on a typwriter evoke a certain intimacy and connectedness with words and with eachother that I wish our society hadn’t lost. the technological inventions of the past few years that provide faster, more efficient modes of communication (email, text-messaging, internet-messaging, cell phones, etc.)  are amazing ways of more effectively using our time, but i get so sad when i think of what we’ve lost in the process of our efforts to connect with people in faster, cheaper and all-too-often less personal ways.

i have also fallen into the routine of allowing casual communication methods to dominate the way i keep up with friends and family. it’s so hard to be truly personal now.

for me, this is hard because i love words. i love connecting to other people through a letter in a thought-out, wholly-intentional, formal way. english has consistently been my favorite subject in school, and i have always loved to write and to read.  i even studied print journalism in college, writing for the university paper for a couple years. i guess this passion has always been in me.

attached to each gift i give is a hand-written letter, most often containing some sort of personal reflection. each time i have a chance to sit down and write a friend living far away a letter, i do. i like to leave notes around the house for roommates or family members. i always send hand-written thank you notes. and i LOVE getting letters in the mail too! i live for finding new letterpress or stationery shops, collecting fun note cards and getting personalized stationery as presents. i would much rather send a friend a hand-written note with a stamp attached rather than shoot them a free email.  

 many people like me that are passionate about words, personal communication and snail mail letters are also passionate about the utensils – paper and pens and typwriters – that create those letters.

i have always desired to keep up this failing art form in my own small ways, but it’s not easy.

you see, letter-writing has important benefits beyond the deeper connection is provides to its sender and receiver… it helps us uphold a certain number of skills that are getting lost in the computerized, spell-checked world of the internet and word-processing programs. we now shorten words and reject formal headings and structures. the artful penmanship once commonplace among letter-writers is slipping away.

 if you look closely, the importance of letters bleeds throughout much of our history. letters were used in literature; some of the earliest novels were collections of letters. letters between members of society – from important historical figures to ordinary citizens – have unlocked and explained many past events.

while hoping that i don’t sound too sappy and reminiscent, i truly wish we all wrote more.

there is something reflective and cleansing about writing and receiving a letter. i really believe that we are forced to process information in a different, more creative, deeper way when we sit down to write a letter. it helps us smooth away the rough edges of life and figure out problems and sort through ideas. writing can be beautiful.

“Just as hot-out-of-the-oven bread gives wondrous pleasure to anyone lucky enough to be within nose-shot of that kitchen, so finding a plump, hand-lettered envelope after opening the mailbox and rifling through the junk is an equally exquisite pleasure. Like bread, letters are a tactile pleasure unduplicatable by the ring of the telephone or the blinding neon of a computer.”
 – Jacque McIntosh, a retired Tahlequah Public School teacher, who thoroughly appreciates receiving a hand-written letter.
“Just to get a letter in the mail makes you think ‘Wow!’” said McIntosh. “You’re so appreciative a person took time out of their day to write to you. We’re so mobile now, it’s difficult to find the time to write a thoughtful letter.”

get inspired to write a letter:

     MyTypewriter: a site dedicated to typewriter fanatics, with a lovely section on the history and importance of the written word

     Iomoi: an online store with an array of colorful, cheery and fun stationery and note cards that beg to be written on

     Letter-Writing: an essay about the lost art of writing letters and why so many of us long for this personal connection with others

filters 11.20.06

i haven’t even finished with the whole LSAT madness & i’m already thinking about the california bar … i know, i know. one step at a time, but i can’t help it.

if kathleen sullivan didn’t pass, what if i never do?

some (semi-depressing) stats: around 44% of california bar test-takers don’t pass. the test is three days long – that’s longer than most other states. there are six essays and a 200-questions multiple choice section. hand cramps are common.

 the upside: once you pass, you’re golden. (that’ll be me, i’m just sure of it – even if it takes a couple tries!)  

things that make you go hmm… 11.18.06

i just couldn’t help sharing a few poignant political quotes i’ve run across lately:

“i love doing sequals.”
arnold schwarzeneggar, republican governor of california, after winning a second term by landslide.

“maybe it takes a woman to clean House.”
nancy pelosi, first female speaker of the House.

“i call on all iraqis – arabs and kurds – to forgive, reconcile and make up.”
saddam hussein, former iraqi dictator, two days after being sentenced to death by hanging for war crimes against kurds in the 1980s.

“if jane austen were writing a novel about bush’s public aspect, the title would be pride and petulance.”
joe klein, time magazine author of article entitled, “reaching for the center,” from the nov. 20th issue.

choices, choices, choices 10.27.06

i hate sitting at a restaurant, overwhelmed by the multitude of options on the menu. i’m always the last one to order. (it’s always: should it be the cobb salad with a side of soup, the seafood pasta or the halibut? … oh, but the vegetable lasagna smelled so good!) 

i hate deciding which movie to see. (chick flick or artsy foreign?) i hate deciding when to tell my boss that i need a few days off from work. (today – earlier the better – or tomorrow, when it’s friday & he’s probably in a better mood?) i hate deciding if i should press snooze just one more time in the morning. (get up now & sit down for breakfast or get up in 15 minutes & take it to go?) i hate deciding what to wear when getting dressed for work (sweater vest with a white collared shirt & a skirt or suit pants & a sweater?) basically, i hate decisions. i hate choosing between two perfectly good choices.

i’m really not this indecisive when it comes to the big things in life. i seem to have no trouble making decisions pertaining to career paths, political views & religion. it’s all the silly little stuff everyday that i can’t handle.

i mean deciding whether to have coffe & a banana or hot tea and toast in the morning drives me absolutely insane, but i can confidently say that i want to go to law school & will do whatever it takes to get there.

the way i stress about choosing between grey’s anatomy or yoga on thursdays, you’d think it was life or death. 

is this normal?

i think that we all have our own little quirks & this is mine. might as well embrace my weirdness, i guess. i mean all i can do is laugh the third time i have to tell the waitress that “no, i’m not ready to order yet. can you come back in a couple minutes?”

i’m weird & i’m ok with it. 

 i may not amount to much, but at least i am unique.   jean-jacques rousseau

we must not just patch and tinker with life. we must keep renewing it. embrace novelty and uniqueness.  william james