Nature! (Part II of Vancouver!)

Although it rained for an entire day when my sisters, mom and I went to Vancouver, we did get some good time in with nature.

We went to a suspension bridge (there were 2: one cost $35, the other was not quite as high and not quite as long cost $0 - I'll let you guess which one we went to). The colors of everyone's coats are almost as beautiful as the fall leaves.








We took many walks and drives around Stanley Park. Here is a view from part of Vancouver from the park.




On the day that happened to be warm and sunny, we had trips to 2 parks planned. Pictured here is Queen Victoria Park, including a photo of the Vancouver skyline. The other park, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Memorial Garden, will be featured in the future Vancouver! vignette Chinese!

Vancouver!

Over Halloween weekend, I met up with my mom, 3 sisters, and sister-in-law in Vancouver, Canada. We flew into Seattle and drove up, taking enormous pleasure in answering the border guard's question of "Where are you from?" with "Virginia, - Michigan, Wisconsin, and Utah - plus our other sister who's already at the hotel is from Arizona!"

One of my favorite things to do is order from a menu. So my first documentation from this trip is all the food choices I made while there. More reflections to come later.

Thursday evening. Dinner at Joe Fortes Seafood. It was highly recommended and delicious. After careful deliberation between white fish and salmon, I realized that what I really wanted were prawns.





Friday afternoon. Early dinner in Gas Town. We hadn't eaten all day and were reaching desperation. I said pizza sounded good, we went to the first Italian place we saw, everyone ordered pizza and I got pasta, soup and salad.





Late Friday. Crepes downtown while watching various costumed college students and a homeless man with a fat, white, pet rat. My crepe was filled with dark chocolate with hazelnuts.


Later Friday. Cupcakes from a shop we stopped at while walking home in a downpour. Red velvet, pumpkin, chocolate diva ...



Saturday afternoon. Shrimp and noodles from Chinatown. Taken with a refreshing glass of hot water.



Late Saturday afternoon. BBQ pork bun snack at Queen Victoria Garden (bought earlier in Chinatown). This may have been my only regretted food choice. Someone BBQ pork just wasn't the thing for a light sunset snack.


Saturday night. Dinner at Vij's, top-rated Indian restaurant. We arrived 20 minutes before opening and were one of the last groups to get a seat before they were full (closely avoided a 1 1/2 hr wait). We shared lamb popsicles (fully cooked and warm) the best saag paneer and lentils I've ever had, and several other dishes I can't remember. I ate until I was full, and then ate for about 15 more minutes and still wanted more.

chat with Abe Gong

3:55 PM
me: how's it going?

3:56 PM
Abe: not bad
the lab was very chatty, but I finally found a quiet place to work
me: good

3:57 PM
Abe: you?
me: okay

3:58 PM
me: my strategic plan write up took a little longer than i hoped
Abe: mm
me: i'm getting nervous about this NSF grant
it's okay
there's sort of a sense of inevitability to it
whatever plan and partnerships and needs case we have now is basically what we'll have when we submit the grant
i can try to dress it up with good organization and word choice

4:00 PM
me: but even right now, the project is either there or it isn't
i don't know if that's right
but it has sort of a zen feel to it

Abe: hm
4:01 PM
Abe: sounds like the serenity prayer to me

me: haha

4:02 PM
me: the serenity to write the things i cannot change, the courage to change the things i cannot write, and the wisdom to know how to submit a grant through grants.gov

things our pumpkin is bigger than

We got our pumpkin from a u-pick patch where every gourd was $5, regardless of size. We got a little carried away.

Our pumpkin is bigger than:


A banana


Our heads


A 50 lb bag of rice (almost)

We each carved a side. Abe did a goblin...





...dressed up as a phd student.


I did a mummy. (I completely copied an online photo of someone else's mummy.)

something to spice up your halloween party

Abe & I have made a study of classic movies*, in part motivated by our Friday night trips to the library after everyone else has checked out the coveted new (after 1995) releases.

Many of these classics make for good Halloween celebratory fodder. Especially if you are easily creeped out (Sixth Sense and Watcher in the Woods top my horrometer). Some of these are actually quite good, some are good because they are oh, so bad.

I've added production dates and tag lines from IMDB for each movie.

Dracula 1931, "In the annals of living horror, one name stands out as the epitome of evil."
The Birds, 1963, "Suspense and shock beyond anything you have seen or imagined!"
Strangers on a Train - just the Carousel scene 1951, "It starts with a shriek of a train whistle...and ends with shrieking excitement."
Frankenstein 1931, "A Monster Science Created - But Could Not Destroy!"
Wait Until Dark 1967, "A blind woman plays a deadly game of survival."
Plan 9 from Outer Space 1959, "Unspeakable Horrors From Outer Space Paralyze The Living And Resurrect The Dead!"
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers 1956, "Before You Scoff at Flying Saucers - See the Greatest SHOCK Film of All Time!"
Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954, "A scientific expedition traveling up the Amazon River encounter a dangerous humanoid amphibious fish creature."
King Kong 1933, "A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star."

Bonus:
Catspaw (Original Star Trek Season 2 Halloween Episode, 1967)


*And by study I mean Abe watches them and I fall asleep 2/3 of the way through. Really, the only movie on this list I didn't fall asleep through was Wait Until Dark.

a commitment to taking more walks

I have been on many pleasant walks. So many, in fact, that I was resolved at the beginning of fall to take more walks.

Two Sundays ago, Abe & I took a mid-afternoon stroll around the neighborhood. I was fascinated with taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.


Abe was talking on the phone with his father.


Meanwhile, the sky looked like this.


We decided we'd better return before the clouds got angrier. The sprinkles started as we were walking down a dirt path back home. Abe was still talking to his dad.

The sprinkles got heavier. We started to jog. Abe was still on the phone ("Uh huh. ... Yeah, that sounds good, dad. ... Sure. ...").

Now it was pouring. And I had taken a wrong turn on the path so we were headed back the long way. Abe was still on the phone, but managed a graceful exit ("Actually, we're running through a rain storm right now - can I call you back in a minute?").

Did I mention that I was in a skirt and sandals this whole time?


The photo doesn't do our sopping selves justice.

these are a few of my favorite fonts

Several years ago I interned for BYU Magazine. My fellow intern and I were hard at work in the office when he called out from his Mac, "What's your favorite font?"

Usually I find the "what's your favorite ..." game infuriatingly futile. But at the time my heart was unquestionably set on Garamond. I said as much, and my coworker replied that was his favorite font too. (We were both married - to other people - lest you think this is turning into the well-beloved Nacho Libre toast scene.)

He then countered, saying, "But if Garamond isn't an option, next is Palatino."

Which, of course, was my second favorite font, too.*

Do you have a favorite font? More to the point, do you have a favorite runner-up?

Bonus question: How do you feel about the recent proliferation of Calibri documents now that Word's default has switched from Times New Roman?

*I still like Garamond for formal documents, but Verdana has a good casual feel.