After 3 months and 1600 miles in the saddle, I invested in some real motorcycle pants – something friends had been urging me to do by sharing stories of accidents where the right material in the right place saved serious injury. (In one story, a rider is saved from abrasion by his thick wallet – which wore away, along with the pocket of his jeans, except for the leather side nearest his bottom.)
My new pants (Alpinestar Street Cargo) aren’t leather, but they are made of a space-age material that claims to offer better protection than jeans. More importantly, they have an ingenious design that replaces the saggy seat characteristic of motorcycle pants with a stretch waistband in back covered by stylish panel of material that blends in with the rest of the pants. This means you can bend over while riding without showing your backside. They look like cargo pants but have heavy duty armor in the knee/shin area, which is removable for washing.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Amazing Adventures of Snakeman
Jordan has returned to Africa to study the world's most venomous snakes. You can follow his adventures at http://therealcobrasnake.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Day Tripping
It is a rare occasion when all 5 family members are in the same place at the same time these days, but we managed to coordinate schedules for a day trip to Santa Cruz yesterday.
We reached SC at noon and Jordan’s GPS-equipped iPhone directed us to Zachary’s Restaurant, a popular brunch spot on Pacific Avenue, a popular shopping street. In the spirit of sampling the local cuisine, I ordered something called “Mike’s Mess,” a breakfast dish that involved tofu and other healthy ingredients. We spent some time window shopping, then headed to UC Santa Cruz to see where Jordan would be living for the next four years.
We took the scenic route onto campus and were amazed at the vast open spaces between buildings. There wasn’t much activity on campus because of the season, but we got to see Jordan’s dorm, situated in a redwood grove, and made our way to the bookstore, where Jordan picked out a tasteful UCSC “hoodie” -- with school name but without the school’s banana slug mascot. After more walking and shopping, we wound our way to the harbor for dinner at The Crow’s Nest, a great restaurant overlooking the water.
Crow's Nest in Santa Cruz
We did not make it to the beach or to the Boardwalk amusement park, but we know how to get there now, even without GPS.
We reached SC at noon and Jordan’s GPS-equipped iPhone directed us to Zachary’s Restaurant, a popular brunch spot on Pacific Avenue, a popular shopping street. In the spirit of sampling the local cuisine, I ordered something called “Mike’s Mess,” a breakfast dish that involved tofu and other healthy ingredients. We spent some time window shopping, then headed to UC Santa Cruz to see where Jordan would be living for the next four years.
We took the scenic route onto campus and were amazed at the vast open spaces between buildings. There wasn’t much activity on campus because of the season, but we got to see Jordan’s dorm, situated in a redwood grove, and made our way to the bookstore, where Jordan picked out a tasteful UCSC “hoodie” -- with school name but without the school’s banana slug mascot. After more walking and shopping, we wound our way to the harbor for dinner at The Crow’s Nest, a great restaurant overlooking the water.
Crow's Nest in Santa Cruz
We did not make it to the beach or to the Boardwalk amusement park, but we know how to get there now, even without GPS.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Faking It
Every few months, Barbara G. drops off a stack of New Yorker magazines and I get to catch up on cartoons and articles of interest. This article is must-reading for anyone in a book club -- especially those of us who have been guilty of skimming or skipping a book and had to fake it through the discussion...
The article is arranged into "discussion points," for example:
Book-club members who have actually read this book have called its plot “depressing,” “disgusting,” and “too much about poor people.” Does this suggest that you, as a reader, have a moral obligation to say that you liked the book?
The article is arranged into "discussion points," for example:
Book-club members who have actually read this book have called its plot “depressing,” “disgusting,” and “too much about poor people.” Does this suggest that you, as a reader, have a moral obligation to say that you liked the book?
Meat the Grad
During Jordan’s high school graduation ceremony last weekend, he was used to illustrate the quirkiness of the school and graduating class – a budding herpetologist and president/founder of the “meat club,” his effort to balance out the vegan influences at the school. So it was fitting that we celebrated his graduation with lunch at Espetus, a Brazilian restaurant in SF where waiters dressed in gaucho garb circulate with sword-length skewers bearing different types of meat and poultry: filet mignon, ribs, lamb, prawns, pork with a dusting of parmesan… to chicken hearts. The meat keeps coming until you turn a wheel on the table from green to red. Balancing out the meal is a salad bar with a mountain of guacamole and other slightly healthier treats.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Blue Plate
We drove to the outer Mission last night to see if Blue Plate could live up to its many great reviews and awards for “Best Comfort Food.” (In this case, the comfort food has an upscale/hip twist with offerings like “macaroni and drunken Spanish goat cheese.”)
At the start of our half hour drive to the restaurant, we almost changed our plan in favor of local Mexican/margaritas, but we stayed with our plan and were rewarded with a perfect parking spot and a table by the window. We both ordered the meatloaf – a house specialty that is the best meatloaf I have ever tasted. We also enjoyed the buttery focaccia they serve up instead of bread. Not sure if we will go again because of the long drive, but I rank it with Firefly as one of my favorite SF restaurants and disagree with reviews that describe the neighborhood as sketchy. 
At the start of our half hour drive to the restaurant, we almost changed our plan in favor of local Mexican/margaritas, but we stayed with our plan and were rewarded with a perfect parking spot and a table by the window. We both ordered the meatloaf – a house specialty that is the best meatloaf I have ever tasted. We also enjoyed the buttery focaccia they serve up instead of bread. Not sure if we will go again because of the long drive, but I rank it with Firefly as one of my favorite SF restaurants and disagree with reviews that describe the neighborhood as sketchy.
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