I am Your Sunshine

It’s weird that I got agitated when I read on the Prowl. It’s not like I’m a burglar or I’m on the prowl, whatever that means. Either the book’s giving me creeps or this Border’s. I can’t seem to read more than 2 chapters in a row. Maybe I’ll try Jane Austen’s Book Club later to see if it’s the book or the place (or the coffe?)

[followup]
The two chapters I read ended with sort of a cliffhanger; thus, I read the third. It was around nine when I finished so no Jane Austen Book Club for today. I still have some housework to tend to. (Not that I’ll definitely do them when I get home.) So here I am. Not doing housework obviously.

常坐飛機，已經很習慣所謂時間不見，或是一天過兩次這種事。
聖誕節或生日就在搭飛機的時候憑空不見真的有點感傷，
但時間不就是這樣子，你也並不是搭了什麼時光機前進或後退。

我最受不了人拿這個自己覺得很幽默地開玩笑，
說什麼… 我星期三下午六點離開飯店到成田機場，星期三下午兩點半回到位在德州的家
那我就可以打電話到飯店跟我自己講話…　諸如此類的話。
我知道我知道我知道… 你並不是真的搞不清楚時差時區與時間的差別
我知道你只是想要講笑話, 但是一點也不好笑啊…

這次回台灣到日本再回美國, 一路上就有兩個人跟我講類似的笑話了
非常無奈

A journey over expanses of uninhabited land from ice to tundra to prairie to Rocky mountains…

　看到這裡時我想，目的地不是 Chicago 嗎? 幹嘛要飛過 Rocky Mountains?

…ended at highly inhabited Los Angeles. Touchdown was 6pm local time, just in time to hit Sunset Boulevard for sunset.

然後看到這裡….
他們這周會在 LA !?!?!?!?!?!?!

(好想去看他們練習啊~)

They’re at UCLA…. 啊～～～～～～

After the Urinetown experience, I was convinced that it’s better not to pick the very first show. There’s always room for improvement after review. However, we bought A Chorus Line tickets long before we saw Urinetown. However, again, fortunately you really can’t compare local cast with Broadway cast (or to be more accurate, Broadway-cast-to-be.)

Click Here to meet the current A Chorus Line stars.

It was a real sensation. It’s much more and spectacular than the movie. Stage setting is limited, of course. How extravagant can a back stage story be? I’m not a big fan of movnig stage and magic anyway. A playhouse like Altanera can satisfy me just fine (and I have a thing for small venue lately), as long as they bring a good show.

The show last night was awesome but still, they can do better. And I’d very much like to watch it again (after it betters.) Afterall, it’s almost my fav musical.

自從發現 Somewhere Only We Know 跟 Everybody’s Changing 都是他們的歌之後，我就知道我喜歡這個團。果然，他們的第一張專輯 Hopes & Fears 中的每一首歌我都很愛。

Keane 竄紅之後時常被拿來跟 Coldplay 比較。事實上，當初沒有廠牌願意簽他們的原因之一便是 – “We’ve already had Coldplay for THIS.” 但對我而言，Keane 的音樂與 Coldplay 完全不同。(chun也如此認為，然而她是喜歡 Coldplay 對 Keane 沒感覺。我卻是深愛 Keane 不喜歡 Coldplay。想來還好我二月陪她去聽 Coldplay，不然六月就沒人陪我去聽 Keane 了… XD)

Keane 的兩張專輯都非常好聽，但帶給人的感受卻迥然不同。Hopes and Fears 整體旋律性比較重 (melodic)，或者可說 catchy。帶點憂鬱但直接地述說關於無奈，失去與回憶。但 Under the Iron Sea 實驗性較重，不同於 H&F 的一致，UTIS 裡有些自省(reflective)有些具侵略性(aggressive)有些飄邈(eerie)。 H&F 讓我一聽就愛上，UTIS卻是每次聽都會有些新的感受，是很豐富的一張專輯。

Errands today: Brders, coffee and burned chicken drumstick, and I’ll avoid listing down the things I have but don’t want to do so that I won’t further annoy myself. (Thinking of this, I realized that I shouldn’t have nagged so much when I “saw” “someone” hanging around doing nothing while urgent things sitting there. It’s just that my hanging-around is more diverse… so to speak. But then, to do is one thing, to nag about is another, right?)

I’ve been reading LB’s latest burglar in Borders lately cuz I don’t collect Burglar series, I just read them in the library or bookstores cuz while being undoubtedly witty and funny, Burglars don’t have the depth that you’ll relish every time you read it like Scudders do. (And oddly enough I collect Keller and Tanner, just because there were only one Keller when it was out, and Faces, one mystery publisher in Taiwan, decided to publish the old Tanners last year. You just can’t stop when you have had one.) Anyways, as I said, I’m reading on the prowl, and it’s weird that I can only read 2 chapter at one time and I’d get tired. I’m also reading The Jane Austen Book Club which is interesting in an unexpected way. Other than the two, I’m so eager to read Hornby’s new book A Long Way Down but I keep holding the desire cuz 2 is enough for one time. (Let along a whole pile of the Economist by my bed and 蘇偉貞 and 駱以軍’s new books that are to be read.)

I read until I cannot sit anymore, I gave up my not-easy-to-secure-one seat in the cafe and walked around the store. Tried to find some good travel guide book on Seattle and NAPA or SF restaurants but didn’t find any good ones. I scanned new hardcover, paperback and discount tables didn’t find anything interesting enough… enough to make me add one more to my already long-and-who-knows-when-I-can-finish-them book list. Still have that anxious feeling in my stomach, I decided to indulge myself in music. Listened Sierra Swan (she’s coming to SF in Aug), Syd Matters (very relaxed, but if the voice can be cleaner it’d be awesome), The Raconteurs (pretty good impression), Halifax (your ordinary punk rock band from So-Cal), The Light in the Piazza (the voice is fabulous but the music… not really my cup of tea), Sweeny Todd, Jersey Boys. Then I headed home for chicken, not very exciting.

Conclusion of the day: Gotta dedicate more time to books.

都忘記上一次這樣悠閒舒適地度過周末下午是什麼時候了…

在 Santana Row 巧遇 chun，我們一起去逛 Crate & Barrel。雖然沒買到我今天的目標 – pitcher, wine glass (為什麼我在 NAPA 買的酒杯總是會被人不小心帶到 LA 去) 沾醋小碟, 醋罐子，但逛 Crate & Barrel 總是令我心情愉快。逛一逛，那些杯碗瓢盆讓我們看得肚子都餓起來了，(因為我們中午都只吃了賣相不好的 leftover pasta) 以我們決定去覓食！本來我們已經走進 Yankee Pier 了，坐下來發現裡面冷氣一點也不強，於是我們逃到對面的左岸吃法國菜。上一次去左岸我吃了馬賽魚湯(是主菜)跟兔肉還開了瓶Burgandy，今天決定點些不同的。因為 chun 還有下一攤，所以我們只點開胃菜，後來證明這是非常睿智的選擇，我們點的三樣開胃菜 – Escargots (蝸牛，但在台灣瑞士餐廳吃的比較好吃), Sweetbread (其實跟麵包一點關係都沒有), Duck Rillettes – 都很別緻，別桌的 entree 看起來就沒那麼吸引人了。可惜他們新的 creme brulee 就沒那麼好了，上面糖是烤的剛剛好，但下面做的比較像雞蛋布丁，之前的 Creme Brulee Trio 我也不是很喜歡，看了左岸不是吃 Creme Brulee 的地方。(上次去 San Francisco Symphony Hall 聽 Mozart 時在旁邊餐館吃的 Creme Brulee 才真的是棒! 還有在 Washington, DC 也吃過很好吃的。)

六點多，chun飽飽地趕去下一攤，我到 Sur La Table 找東西，最後買了一組很可愛的碟子 (雖然其實好像應該不需要，但它又在特價，我怎麼可能抗拒嘛! )，一個平價的玻璃醋罐子 (有幾個還不錯看的，但是要 USD$30，開什麼玩笑!)，還有八個兔兔小匙，本來是想要送甯甯的，但現在又覺得留下來宴客時吃甜點用還不錯，應該買十個的。

逛完 Sur La Table，我到 Borders 裡看書，果然如 chun 所說 – 一位難求。我坐在難坐的凳子上看完一章 Lawrence Block 最新的 Bernie 系列，我就打算打道回府，經過 Urban Outfitters 時發現 Santana Row Main Stage 有人在表演，聽起來還蠻好聽的。但我實在無法經 UO 不入，所以還是去逛了一圈，難過地發現他們把大部份的家用品都撤走了，我想要買門簾啊~~~

出來時天還微亮，但氣溫明顯下降許多。今天是個會讓你想要待在家裡吹冷氣，或是出門到有冷氣的店裡逛逛坐坐的日子。陽光雖然大好，但溫度實在太高，連熱愛捧杯酒坐在室外耍悠閒的老美也一個個躲在有冷氣的吧台旁邊。我找好個椅子坐下來，女歌手剛好結束一首歌，正在跟大家閒聊說現在的氣溫終於降到勉強可以忍受的程度了。忽然想到，在灣區如果想要避暑，到 San Francisco 就可以了，說來還真方便。某人(不是 Mark Twain)曾說過 The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. 真是一點也沒錯。我就著微亮的天光邊聽音樂邊看著 The Jane Austen Book Club，直到天色漸暗我都不捨離去。如此好天，夫復何求?

For Lee Huang (not for me!)

Bubble Lounge – was the only one which looks like a lounge among the links you sent me

@lpha – this one looks nice but a bit far.

Continue Reading »

為了看 Lawrence Block 上 The Late Late Show with Craig Forguson 的節目，拖到一點半才要去睡。我想是經費的原因，他只有節目最後的五分鐘。(這世界的殘酷，就像 Cake 在他們脫離主流廠牌之後說，以後不會再在 Conan O’Brien show 上看到他們了。) 短短五分鐘，我還是看的十分愉快。雖然跟 Craig Forguson 不熟，但至少他不像 Jay Leno 那樣惹人厭。要是看我喜歡的人上 Jay Leno 的節目，我一定會覺得十分不忍他們受到這樣的折磨。Block 真的老了 (我仍無法裝熟叫他 Larry)，也許因為看的他大部份的書都是較年輕時寫的，也有可能因為臉譜為了不讓讀者心目中的 Block 形象幻滅，都放他中年的照片，我總覺得他才五十幾歲。明明見過他好幾次了，每一次給我的震撼都一樣不小。

Block 聊了一些關於新書 Hit Parade 的事，Craig 問起 Scudder，答案令我們不捨難過，Block 又用個輕鬆的玩笑帶過。(Well, he’s between cases.)

有的時候我們對書中的人物產生感情，即使明明知道這樣結束是最好的，仍往往會感到不捨，希望能在多一點他們的故事可看。對 Lawrence Block 的 Matthew 是如此，對 Austen 的 Lizzy 也是如此，有時，對電視裡的角色又何嘗不是這個心情 – 希望多認識他們一點，卻又知道歹戲拖棚乃大忌。

或者說是戰績，其實不完全是戰績 (因為有一些被我丟掉了)，但又不太算收藏。
照片是今年二月的，到現在當然不止這些。

前幾天給 Tim 欣賞過，所以想說放上來。

Read this on Caught Offside. He was talking about an article written by ESPN sports columnist Bill Simmons about how he chose his EPL team. In the article, he suggested not to jump on the bandwagon, to avoid a too tortured team and etc. And in the second page he revealed his top 6 choice (no ManUtd).

Chelsea being his last choice among the six is because his coworker Davies is already a Blues fan. Not to kill the fun of exchanging stupid emails, he decided not to be a Chelsea fan.

Though most British (or English?) despise this article, some are still able to pull some fun out of it. Such as:

Chelsea – Bonus Reason to Pick Them: Manager Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea – Sponser: Samsung, poor men’s Sony
Arsenel – Celebrity Fans: An astonishingly bizarre group that includes Spike Lee, Hornby … Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry and Osama Bin Laden. Now there’s a list you want to avoid.
Man City – Sponsors: A travel company called Thomas Cook. It’s a bad sign when you have a sponsor that nobody knows, right?
Newcastle United – Bandwagon Potential: Pretty low. Unless you’re an ex-convict.
Liverpool – Vacation Destination: Only if you’ve been kidnapped.
Liverpool – Bonus reason to pick them: They have the best song: “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” which sounds eerie when they’re belting it out before games and absolutely electric after big victories.

李晃寫了篇點頭揮手握手擁抱吻頰，讓我也想發洩一下。

美國真是非常時興初次見面就要握個手這套，剛來時非常不習慣。
我一向覺得握手在台灣是那種在政商界打滾的人士表面功夫的一種。
在台灣，我不記得有跟誰握手過。
朋友見面不是笑笑打招呼，熟一點的就是一掌巴在背上或是尖叫對方的名字。
(就像嘉伶婚禮上，total 巧遇不熟的高一同學，
他們一邊握手一邊講些像是 “在哪高就啊?” 之類非常商氣又老頭子氣的話，
阿岑說她一陣毛骨悚然，我們也深有同感，並暗自期許自己永遠不要變成那樣。)

不過我一向適應力很強，兵來將擋水來土掩是我的信念。
看場合看對象，對方伸出來的手不再讓我惶然失措。
我知道可以從握手看出一個人的性格，於是我的握手一向不卑不亢，
(但搞不好人家感覺其實是柔若無骨，雖然明明就是骨頭人…)
有時主動伸出受的那人握手反而無力而疏遠，我會想，你何苦自曝其短呢?

至於擁抱或吻頰，擁抱在教會中算是很普遍的事。
看似溫和但實際上總跟人保持一段安全距離的我十分討厭肢體接觸，
除非是我很信任的人，不然就連靠我太近我都會渾身不自在。
不熟的人要抱，先給我些心理準備還好，
有一次被個中山升交大的小學妹一把抱住，害我瞬間石化。

吻頰就更不用說了。
即使是文化，西方人也知道東方人有自己的文化的。
在研究所時班上只有我一個華人，(後來)也跟大家打成一片，
但始終不會有人對我做太超過的舉動。

最近喜歡看 Caught Offside，加上個人見解的足球界八卦總是很有趣。
但今天看到這篇說 Chelsea 開價 70m 要買 Kaka 的消息，讓我看得有點難過。

…Chelsea’s buying strategy move from talented-and-hungry to famous-and-accomplished. The Robbens, Essiens and Drogbas are now Ballacks, Shevchenkos and Roberto Carlos…es. Considerably more impressive in the short term, but as Real Madrid proved there are question marks about how viable such a policy is in the long term.

買 talented-and-hungry 的球員感覺很有遠見，買 famous-and-accomplished 感覺出手闊綽。但不論是 talented-and-hungry 還是 famous-and-accomplished，買進的球員能為球隊加分，又不犧牲原本表現很好的土生土長 Chelsea 球員，才是 good buy。

實在有夠難用。差點逼我把首頁換成 Google。

眼花遼亂了好久，還到 feedback 那邊溫柔地罵了兩句 beta 難用。
終於在最下面的地方找到回到舊版 yahoo 首頁的選項。

說我懶，說我守舊，說我討厭改變….
反正我就是喜歡舊的 Yahoo

有聽人說這個周末會是最近最熱的兩天，但完全完全沒料到 NAPA 可以這麼熱。
但至少我還是穿短袖裙子，長袖長褲的 Amy 就苦了。

我們十點多出發，跳過第一站做 sparkling wine 的 Damaine Chandon
直驅位於 Rutherford 的 V. Sattui，
我們買了一些沙拉，在野餐區找了個桌子拿出自備的水果們吃將起來。

吃飽喝足 (同桌的台灣人很熱情，硬是要請我們喝酒。可惜 David 不喝，Amy 不能喝。)
我們前往上次去過的 GrGich 以及聽說很有名的 Niebaum Coppola，
本來不打算再去 GrGich 的，但找資料時發現 GrGich 的酒標竟有 Croatia 格子旗，
讓我非常想去敗一瓶隨便什麼都好回來。

接著走 128 到 221 那邊，目標是做 sparkling wine 的 Mumm Cuvee。
Mumm Napa Valley 有免費的 tour，
詳細地解說 Napa 這邊做 sparkling wine 的歷史以及過程。
之後我們就到明亮的試酒室去喝酒!
我跟 Tim 點了classic tasting 包括 2001 Blanc de Blancs (主要是 Chardonney)
Brut Prestige 跟 Blanc de Noirs (rose, 我最喜歡這隻)
還有甜系列的 Demi Sec (有梨香但是後味苦) 跟 Cuvee M
而 David 跟 Amy 喝 Sparkling juice。

221這邊感覺比較幽靜，跟 29 感覺很不一樣。
不過還是要回到 29，下一站是有奇怪建築的 Opus One
風景不錯，不過一瓶酒就要上百，試一杯就要$25，開什麼玩笑!


Tim 想買支酒送人，而我推薦 RM 的 Moscato d’Oro 給他
因此 Robert Mondavi 是我們此行的第二個主要目標。
趁 Tim 去停車，我先進去打聽 Tour 的消息，
果然當天的 Tour 都滿了。
雖然有點可惜，不過反正 David 跟 Amy 都不喝酒，
參加 Tour 有點浪費。
我們喝了幾支 Cabernet Sauvignon 跟 Pinot Noir，
Tim 都沒有很喜歡的，我還是只喜歡去年買的 Cab (Stag’s Leap Dist.) 於是我們都只買了 Moscato 回去。

ps. Robert Mondavi 慶祝今年 40周年，隔天有慶祝活動 (invitation only) 所以裡面佈置的漂漂亮亮的! :D

The past weekend is a total blast.

It’s really awesome that I can have you guys here. No trouble at all, believe me. It’s also been a fruitful weekend, and I’m glad we had some fun time and some quality(?) chatting time as well.

Knowing each other for 12 years (or more), whether relationships really existed during those years or not, it’s no doubt very special. It’s like though we’ve “known” each other for 12 years, we really get to know each other just this past year or so (and for me, just this past few days.) We’re like acquainting with whole new friends while we did have a history and we know each other long enough to know that 對方’re trust worthy to spill our heart out.

So I’m glad, really, and honored as well.

不說感謝，但也不否定其影響及功效。

某些功能上來說。煩。

付了錢還這樣，一定要抱怨的!