Larousse Gastronomique, Impressionism, Phillies

Nov 10, 2010 (Doylestown)

Bombs Away - Almost
I almost jumped out of a plane, but Obama was hogging some Philly airspace so all flights were grounded. Joan, Erin, Olivia, and Susan came out to watch Amanda, Topher, and I do the dive, but we ended up eating $3 lunches at the Country Squire and parting ways. Susan went back to the Netherlands the next day, Topher and Amanda sought other ways to celebrate his birthday, and I floated happily with a martini in Joan's pool until the sun set.

En Francais, S'il Vous Plait
I made a six-course French menu for ATW, Teenwolf, and Chrissy while dogsitting at the Hentys. If I may say, it turned out unexpectedly well. My creme fraiche even behaved.

first course
deux potages: vichyssoise (froid) et velout de courge poivree (chaud)
pair of soups: vichyssoise (cold) and acorn squash veloute (warm)

second course
salade avec camembert et epicee amande
greens with spiced almonds and camembert

third course
raviolis aux blettes et aux herbes
ravioli with swiss chard and herbs

fourth course
ratatouille avec du poisson cuit au four
baked whitefish with ratatouille

fifth course
veal a la Cat and Wolf

sixth course tarte aux poires a la vanille et au gingembre
pear tarte with vanilla and ginger

10,000 Days
On October 14, I turned 10,000 days old. I had a massage at the Ritz, melted into nothing in the steam sauna with a glass of bubbly, got all my hair chopped off, walked all over Philadelphia on a peaceful rainy day, made a mess of van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles, and ate my heart out at a Portuguese hideaway in NoLibs. I and 6 of my favorite people gorged on hunter's stew, chicken organs, bacalhau three different ways, squid, duck, soup, and three kinds of dessert. I would have died a happy human that night.

Baby girl
C. Trinh's pregnant! 4 months in, and we will be finding out the gender on 11/29. Fingers crossed for a healthy heartbeat and if it's a girl, we're having one of those baby showers.

Barnes
After years of procrastination, I finally made it to the Barnes. I learned so much about Renoir in my three hours, but I only made it through one quarter of the first floor, so I'll be back. Some day I will do it justice, but for now I will show you the one that won my heart, at least in Round 1, Monet's houseboat (left). The loneliness is enchanting, the symmetry comforting; I couldn't look away. I consider this the sister work to his studio boat (right), which we saw in the Kroller Muller in the NL.


Matinees
Drew and I sat awkwardly through the first short film of the Terror Film Festival - two of ten people in the Ethical Society's makeshift theater. We exchanged doubtful looks as the 1 minute 45 second short rolled closing credits. "What have I dragged him into?" Over the next hour, we watched some really creative shorts, and listened to the producers and writers talk about special effects and their inspirations.


During Intermission, I scored a box of concord grapes from the farmers market and apple cider. Rittenhouse Square was bustling that day. When we returned after the break, there wasn't a seat in the house for the second set of shorts. We didn't stay for the full-length feature or the third set, unfortunately. But it was one of the best times I've had in the city so far this year.

Notable talent: Tony Ducret, the producer of "Jackpot" which had the highest production value of any of the films (in my humble opinion) - great music, actors, and editing, of a vindictive tale of a gold-digger getting her just desserts (doesn't hurt that he used to work at BET and has the hook ups!). My personal favorite was German subtitled "No Hard Feelings" directed by Joerg Bauer, about a jealous girlfriend who finds a wicked, novel way to kill her lover, whom she suspects of cheating and finds out only too late that she was oh-so-wrong. Also, I had to love "Walk Away", and will be looking out for director Eddie Torres because that guy knows what he's doing.

Carlos Carlos Carlos
My Carlos poster will remain retired this year, as the Phillies lost to the SF Giants. We took them to six games in the NLCS, but they went on to win the World Series this year, so they can have it. Props to them for the four men hitting over .300, even if one of their names is Buster. I still got Carlos.

Miss A Laneous
I shaved 2 minutes off my 5k time since May 29, Mary is back in town for six weeks, I was Marge Simpson for Halloween, and I haven't cooked myself dinner in probably three months. The leaves are turning and I am looking forward to hibernating. Phew - what a summer.



Alain's francophone housewarming



leaves at work

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