Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Environmental Hero. Kenneth Adelman made millions a few years back by selling his company to Cisco Systems during Silicon Valley's boon years. Then, at age forty-one, he did something extraordinary. Rather than go out and buy a mid-life crisis red Porsch with his new-found wealth, Massara instead bought a helicopter in mid-life crisis red. An avid pilot, he next called the Sierra Club to see if they didn't have a need for aerial photography. Thus was launched a project that seeks to protect California's diminishing coastline from the likes of greedy media magnates, movie stars, and developers intent on erecting private golf courses, dude ranchs, resorts, and swanky homes. In one ergregious case, Adelman and his watchdogs caught one such media magnet ripping up the brown foothills of Southern California's coastline to put in an 18-hole golf course. What's wrong with a golf course you ask? Putting a course in what essentially a desert for squanders California's scarce fresh water and sends that fresh water flowing into estuary ecosystems -- killing off many salt-marsh plants. And let's not forget the hundreds of pounds of insecticides, fungicides, fertilizers, and herbicides that drain into the tidal waters so that a few pot-bellied cigar-touting men can hit a ball into a little hole. Adelman's website, www.californiacoastline.org offers an aerial chronicle of California's coastline. Ironically, some of California's biggest purported 'liberals' who just happen to have big beach-front houses have been the ones to make the biggest stink about Adelman's work. In spite of ongoing lawsuits against him, his website (one which won't be winning any prizes for design anytime soon I can't imagine) has proved of invaluable help to environmental advocates working to make sure that future generations have access to one of California's most precious and beautiful assets.
Techno Hero. I vote for Mitch Altman, CEO of TV-B-Gone. Tired of television sets droning mindlessly in every public setting 24/7, he invented a gizmo the size of a key chain that when pressed will turn off any TV in the near vicinity. Most people never even notice when he does it. What they might notice is that the person they were talking to is now paying attention to them rather than habitually glancing over to the TV monitor like a bad tick.
Boston's Hero(s). Why the Red Sox of course. Their winning last night means the son will hopefully get back to the task of keeping up his grades at college. The Bush campaign won't be able to hide their bungled 380 tons of missing explosives behind the pleasant distractions of the World Series; it's over. The state of Massachusetts can now boast that it is home to the best public schools in the nation, home to Harvard and MIT, home to the Superbowl-winning New England Patriots, home to a city almost done with the Big Dig, now home to the World Series-winning Red Sox, and soon to be home to the next President of the United States. OK that last one is really wishful thinking...
Techno Hero. I vote for Mitch Altman, CEO of TV-B-Gone. Tired of television sets droning mindlessly in every public setting 24/7, he invented a gizmo the size of a key chain that when pressed will turn off any TV in the near vicinity. Most people never even notice when he does it. What they might notice is that the person they were talking to is now paying attention to them rather than habitually glancing over to the TV monitor like a bad tick.
Boston's Hero(s). Why the Red Sox of course. Their winning last night means the son will hopefully get back to the task of keeping up his grades at college. The Bush campaign won't be able to hide their bungled 380 tons of missing explosives behind the pleasant distractions of the World Series; it's over. The state of Massachusetts can now boast that it is home to the best public schools in the nation, home to Harvard and MIT, home to the Superbowl-winning New England Patriots, home to a city almost done with the Big Dig, now home to the World Series-winning Red Sox, and soon to be home to the next President of the United States. OK that last one is really wishful thinking...
Speaking of entrepreneurial spirit (previous blog my hero Steven Jobs): How about the guy on eBay who was trying to sell his vote to the highest bidder? Fabulous. eBay, however, was not amused.
And speaking of votes, the boss is down in Florida right now helping to monitor the voting process. In the three days he has been down there (in a district not far from Ft. Lauderdale), he has seen people line up in two-hour-long lines to vote.
Bush must be getting a bit desperate because the other day he openly stated what the Republicans have hitherto more tacitly alluded: "You may not agree with me on everything but at least you know where I stand...blah, blah." Or to put this into battered-wife-syndrome perspective: "Yes, I beat the holy shit out of you but I'm the father of your children, blah, blah."
The kitchen project is on its' home stretch guys. It looks terrific. Or maybe it's just that I'm so damn happy it's more or less done. Strangely the kitchen has ended up looking quite a bit like lots of other kitchens you see featured in magazines. This baffles me given the amount of time and attention I took to making all the choices needed i.e. cabinet style, countertop material, appliances, layout, knobs, lighting, etc. You'd think with all those thousands of choices out there to choose from, the kitchen would look, well, a little more unique. I guess at the end of the day most people make selections within a predictable band of offered choices. Damn. Maybe I should have gone for that orange countertop after all....
And speaking of votes, the boss is down in Florida right now helping to monitor the voting process. In the three days he has been down there (in a district not far from Ft. Lauderdale), he has seen people line up in two-hour-long lines to vote.
Bush must be getting a bit desperate because the other day he openly stated what the Republicans have hitherto more tacitly alluded: "You may not agree with me on everything but at least you know where I stand...blah, blah." Or to put this into battered-wife-syndrome perspective: "Yes, I beat the holy shit out of you but I'm the father of your children, blah, blah."
The kitchen project is on its' home stretch guys. It looks terrific. Or maybe it's just that I'm so damn happy it's more or less done. Strangely the kitchen has ended up looking quite a bit like lots of other kitchens you see featured in magazines. This baffles me given the amount of time and attention I took to making all the choices needed i.e. cabinet style, countertop material, appliances, layout, knobs, lighting, etc. You'd think with all those thousands of choices out there to choose from, the kitchen would look, well, a little more unique. I guess at the end of the day most people make selections within a predictable band of offered choices. Damn. Maybe I should have gone for that orange countertop after all....
Monday, October 25, 2004
Boy how about that Steven Jobs. He is my entrepreneurial hero these days. First there are those gorgeous MacIntosh computers that make me salivate every time I pass one by at the Apple store. Then there is the sleek and wonderful iPod (I do have one of these and love it). And finally Pixar Studio cranking out one great animated film after the next (I'm still a sucker for animated films and am looking forward to The Incredibles).
I only wish Jobs would apply his genius to helping out the American auto industry. Jesus. So many models out there and so many dud designs. And here it is end of October and the lots are still full of ugly 2004 gas guzzlers. Looks like there is going to have to be a major end-of-year clearance sale soon. If Ford and the rest of the automakers aren't careful, the US is going to find itself having to completely cede yet another market it once dominated. Michigan. We have a problem...
I only wish Jobs would apply his genius to helping out the American auto industry. Jesus. So many models out there and so many dud designs. And here it is end of October and the lots are still full of ugly 2004 gas guzzlers. Looks like there is going to have to be a major end-of-year clearance sale soon. If Ford and the rest of the automakers aren't careful, the US is going to find itself having to completely cede yet another market it once dominated. Michigan. We have a problem...
Friday, October 22, 2004
Someone please put duct tape over Theresa's mouth until the election is over... This woman is supposedly an intellectual heavyweight and yet she on more than one occasion has put her foot right into her multi-linguistic mouth. This time what she said was just plain dumb. Asked why she would make a better First Lady than Laura, she blabbered on about how Laura Bush has never had a "real" job and doesn't really bring much to the table in terms of her experience-base. God god woman. First of all your statement was wrong. Laura worked for many years as a school teacher and librarian (Theresa later apologized). And second of all, way to piss off both working and stay-at-home (voting) women alike. What exactly do you mean by a "real" job anyway? Or maybe a better question is what is an "un-real" job?
Are you implying that your job is real Theresa? Come on. Lot's of women would love to head up a foundation that doles out millions of dollars each year to worthy causes, but unfortunately not everyone has the opportunity to marry into a ketchup dynasty my dear. In fact hardly anyone has that opportunity. From that perspective, the job that you inherited, Theresa, is surreal. And we've got plenty of that with this Bush administration thank you.
Are you implying that your job is real Theresa? Come on. Lot's of women would love to head up a foundation that doles out millions of dollars each year to worthy causes, but unfortunately not everyone has the opportunity to marry into a ketchup dynasty my dear. In fact hardly anyone has that opportunity. From that perspective, the job that you inherited, Theresa, is surreal. And we've got plenty of that with this Bush administration thank you.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
So if the son says I don't get to watch the Red Sox game because I always bring bad luck do I then get to take credit they won because I didn't? Congratulations Red Sox!!! And thank god you won. I don't think I could have taken a whole state in mourning over a baseball game...
Now how long is it going to take for some political spin meister to talk up the significance of the Red Sox win for Senator Kerry? You know... coming from behind. Red Sox/Kerry's home state, home to this year's DNC. That sort of thing.
Now how long is it going to take for some political spin meister to talk up the significance of the Red Sox win for Senator Kerry? You know... coming from behind. Red Sox/Kerry's home state, home to this year's DNC. That sort of thing.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Guinness Paint? Not only is Guinness beer healthy for you... Not only does it only have 125 calories per glass (or so says the billboard).... Apparently it also gets mixed in with various ingredients to create a faux wood effect on painted surfaces. Who knew....
Can He Prove It? Yes that's exactly what my good friend asked me when I told her that the son had called to let us know he had aced his college mid-term exams... That made me laugh because that's exactly what went through my mind. Ditto for his sister. I think his grandmother was thinking the same thing too. We're terrible.
JetBlue. My but what great airfare prices they have.
When I.Q.'s Are Wasted. So hubby takes one of those online I.Q. tests and boasts for weeks how smart he is. Hmmm. If he's so smart, why didn't he discontinue the online 'subscription' he was prompted to sign up for in order to get the 'results' of the tests. Ka-ching, ka-ching. Tickle Inc. has been sucking $14 a month from his credit card for six months now. Real smart.
Rectangular Wrinkle. The official line of the White House is that the mysterious protrusion seen during the presidential debate underneath President Bush's jacket was most likely a "wrinkle in his suit." I don't know guys. I've never seen a perfectly rectangular wrinkle before...
Lack of Flu Vaccines Bush's fault. OK Kerry. Reign it in a bit.... If the Red Sox lose, I suppose it will be Bush's fault too?
Can He Prove It? Yes that's exactly what my good friend asked me when I told her that the son had called to let us know he had aced his college mid-term exams... That made me laugh because that's exactly what went through my mind. Ditto for his sister. I think his grandmother was thinking the same thing too. We're terrible.
JetBlue. My but what great airfare prices they have.
When I.Q.'s Are Wasted. So hubby takes one of those online I.Q. tests and boasts for weeks how smart he is. Hmmm. If he's so smart, why didn't he discontinue the online 'subscription' he was prompted to sign up for in order to get the 'results' of the tests. Ka-ching, ka-ching. Tickle Inc. has been sucking $14 a month from his credit card for six months now. Real smart.
Rectangular Wrinkle. The official line of the White House is that the mysterious protrusion seen during the presidential debate underneath President Bush's jacket was most likely a "wrinkle in his suit." I don't know guys. I've never seen a perfectly rectangular wrinkle before...
Lack of Flu Vaccines Bush's fault. OK Kerry. Reign it in a bit.... If the Red Sox lose, I suppose it will be Bush's fault too?
Friday, October 15, 2004
Tips from the Homefront:
Our last (but certainly not least) house project for 2004 is the kitchen. Stripped to the studs, we have now re-clothed it about half way. While waiting for this horrifically expensive project to finally conclude, I thought I might put together a short resource list as well as some do's and don'ts.
First some good resources I found (some are Boston-based and some all you need is Internet):
1) State Stree Discount in New Hampshire is the way to go for kitchen appliances. These guys have absolutely some of the best prices on appliances and electronics; they charge no sales tax (which I'm not sure is entirely legal if you are a buyer from Massachusetts but anyway...); and they charge only a minimal delivery fee.
2) If you live anywhere near the Boston area and need your wood floors repaired, installed, and/or refinished, call Vong Phat at 617.407.9088. He just spun off his own business after his scoundrel brother-and-law screwed him royally. His English isn't very good but he will work magic on your floors and give you the most competitive price around.
3) Looking for the unusually-sized shower rod (extra-long, curved, whatever)? The online store Clawfoot Supply offers everything. Good quality.
4) For the brave who don't mind buying big ticket items online e.g. sinks, faucets, disposals, toilets, etc., HomeAnnex and Faucets4less can't be beat. You do kind have to be sure what you want though because there is often a re-stocking fee if you decide against the item (unless of course it is damaged)
5) Lighting? Try Pegasus Associates for a great source on all kinds of lighting.
Do's and Don'ts. There are a couple of basics which I think go a long way toward improving the look of your home as well as adding significant re-sale value. Take doors for instance. You might ask, 'Well why change out all the hollow doors for solid wood ones when the old ones are perfectly ok.' Well because your eyes have an uncanny ability to give a room a once-over and come up with an 'assessed value' based on split-second judgments you're probably not even aware you are making. You don't even have to touch the door to know. You just know. One thing is for sure. The relationship to an object based on whether it's the real thing or a cheap imitation is very different for each. As far as investing into 'real' doors for your home, you are investing into the feeling a solid door invokes: quality, sturdiness, strength, durability. All the things you want to feel when you're plunking down your entire savings into a house.
1) Paint your rooms with interesting colors but keep the trip uniform throughout the house. The one-color trim is like the ribbon on the package -- it neatly ties together the contents within. It will also make the house appear larger as the eye is not distracted by vertical and horizontal variations of color. If possible, always use oil-based paint on wood trim. It's messier and harder to work with than latex but holds up much better and has a nicer sheen. I like to use Benjamin Moore (BM) satin for the trim. For the walls I use latex. The new matte finish offered by BM gives the look of a flat finish but performs like the easy-to-clean eggshell finish. I especially recommend a flat or matte finish if your walls are not100% smooth (ours are wavy in places). Any sheen will only accentuate these imperfections.
3) Change out all the electrical sockets so that they are 1) uniform in color with the exception of kitchen or bathrooms where backsplash material may warrant something different, and 2) aligned. A potential buyer may not consciously perceive the electrical switches and outlets throughout the house during a walk-through but on a subliminal level the cracked plate, the crooked outlet, the lack- or overkill of outlets all make an impression on the buyer. I personally like the cheap, non-descript plastic kind available at any Home Depot or local hardwood store vs. the high-end porcelain or metal plates. I mean it's not like an electrical socket is something you want to draw attention to from an aesthetic stand-point. On the contrary, you want them to fade non-descriptly into the wall...
4) Get RID of those acoustical ceilings that were widely popular in the 60's, 70's, and early 80's (I call them cottage cheese ceilings). First check to make sure they are asbestos-free. If they are, a good plasterer can affix 1/4 inch blue board right over the ceiling and finish it off with a nice smooth skim coat. The result is a much brighter, cleaner, larger-looking room. This is not an expensive project and worth EVERY PENNY.
5) Door knobs and pulls can add up cost-wise but are well worth the investment if you can fit them into your budget. Like a handshake, a doorknob shouldn't be wimpy. Consistency and good quality are key. If you think how often you use doorknobs throughout your house, then it's a no-brainer that the experience should be a source of pleasure each time your hand envelopes one. I personally like the European-style lever -- great for when your hands are full with groceries -- you can just use your elbow to push down the lever and open the door. Ditto when your hands are slippery with lotion. Lever handles are lastly friendly to the arthritic; you don't won't to exclude the elderly or handicapped from your potential buyer's market do you? It takes some searching, but online sources have a good selection of quality products not normally available in local hardware stores.
6) Don't use white tile on your bathroom floor... Just as black velvet enhances the diamond it showcases in the jewelry store, so does the white bathroom floor advertise every bodily hair to fall from the emerging naked bather. Too bad the prior owners who upgraded our master bathroom didn't know this...
6) The kitchen... I can't say I've enjoyed this project at all. There are simply too many choices in terms of materials and appliances. The cost is exorbitant. The inconvenience and mess harrowing. When you do finally pick out the countertop you like is it because you really like it or because you're caught up in a trendy fad? You'd hate to think all that expensive granite and cherry wood is going to end up in a landfill somewhere alongside rusting bread making machines of yore. At the other extreme are the cheaply-made pre-fab kitchens and I can't tell you how many Before and After photos I've seen of these where I quite frankly couldn't tell which was the before and which the after.
I will consider my kitchen a success if I can manage to achieve a certain measure of classic timelessness. The perfect tile backsplash be damned. Unfortunately I think my goal is already doomed by the fact that the only cabinet-depth fridge that would fit in my new kitchen design layout was a stainless steel one and I can say with almost certainty it will probably be passe in five years or so. Frankly, if our old galley kitchen hadn't been so completely non-functional, I would have left it in all its' white Formica ugly glory. It at least had a one-of-a-kind charm to it. The kind of kitchen buyers would walk into and say, "Oh well this is kind of funky, isn't it... ? I bet it wouldn't cost much to re-do given how small it is...." Heh wait a minute.... I think that's just what WE said before we bought it. So now barring any unforeseen expenses, this kitchen upgrade will have about a $30,000 price tag on it. I do like it but jesus, doesn't that come out to about $1000 a drawer or something? And no doubt if we had to sell the house tomorrow, the next potential buyer would say something like, "Oh can you BELIEVE they put in those light maple cabinets? Who would DO that..."
I'd tell you all how much we've spent to date on all the house renovations but I'm just too embarrassed to tell you how off the mark we were....
Our last (but certainly not least) house project for 2004 is the kitchen. Stripped to the studs, we have now re-clothed it about half way. While waiting for this horrifically expensive project to finally conclude, I thought I might put together a short resource list as well as some do's and don'ts.
First some good resources I found (some are Boston-based and some all you need is Internet):
1) State Stree Discount in New Hampshire is the way to go for kitchen appliances. These guys have absolutely some of the best prices on appliances and electronics; they charge no sales tax (which I'm not sure is entirely legal if you are a buyer from Massachusetts but anyway...); and they charge only a minimal delivery fee.
2) If you live anywhere near the Boston area and need your wood floors repaired, installed, and/or refinished, call Vong Phat at 617.407.9088. He just spun off his own business after his scoundrel brother-and-law screwed him royally. His English isn't very good but he will work magic on your floors and give you the most competitive price around.
3) Looking for the unusually-sized shower rod (extra-long, curved, whatever)? The online store Clawfoot Supply offers everything. Good quality.
4) For the brave who don't mind buying big ticket items online e.g. sinks, faucets, disposals, toilets, etc., HomeAnnex and Faucets4less can't be beat. You do kind have to be sure what you want though because there is often a re-stocking fee if you decide against the item (unless of course it is damaged)
5) Lighting? Try Pegasus Associates for a great source on all kinds of lighting.
Do's and Don'ts. There are a couple of basics which I think go a long way toward improving the look of your home as well as adding significant re-sale value. Take doors for instance. You might ask, 'Well why change out all the hollow doors for solid wood ones when the old ones are perfectly ok.' Well because your eyes have an uncanny ability to give a room a once-over and come up with an 'assessed value' based on split-second judgments you're probably not even aware you are making. You don't even have to touch the door to know. You just know. One thing is for sure. The relationship to an object based on whether it's the real thing or a cheap imitation is very different for each. As far as investing into 'real' doors for your home, you are investing into the feeling a solid door invokes: quality, sturdiness, strength, durability. All the things you want to feel when you're plunking down your entire savings into a house.
1) Paint your rooms with interesting colors but keep the trip uniform throughout the house. The one-color trim is like the ribbon on the package -- it neatly ties together the contents within. It will also make the house appear larger as the eye is not distracted by vertical and horizontal variations of color. If possible, always use oil-based paint on wood trim. It's messier and harder to work with than latex but holds up much better and has a nicer sheen. I like to use Benjamin Moore (BM) satin for the trim. For the walls I use latex. The new matte finish offered by BM gives the look of a flat finish but performs like the easy-to-clean eggshell finish. I especially recommend a flat or matte finish if your walls are not100% smooth (ours are wavy in places). Any sheen will only accentuate these imperfections.
3) Change out all the electrical sockets so that they are 1) uniform in color with the exception of kitchen or bathrooms where backsplash material may warrant something different, and 2) aligned. A potential buyer may not consciously perceive the electrical switches and outlets throughout the house during a walk-through but on a subliminal level the cracked plate, the crooked outlet, the lack- or overkill of outlets all make an impression on the buyer. I personally like the cheap, non-descript plastic kind available at any Home Depot or local hardwood store vs. the high-end porcelain or metal plates. I mean it's not like an electrical socket is something you want to draw attention to from an aesthetic stand-point. On the contrary, you want them to fade non-descriptly into the wall...
4) Get RID of those acoustical ceilings that were widely popular in the 60's, 70's, and early 80's (I call them cottage cheese ceilings). First check to make sure they are asbestos-free. If they are, a good plasterer can affix 1/4 inch blue board right over the ceiling and finish it off with a nice smooth skim coat. The result is a much brighter, cleaner, larger-looking room. This is not an expensive project and worth EVERY PENNY.
5) Door knobs and pulls can add up cost-wise but are well worth the investment if you can fit them into your budget. Like a handshake, a doorknob shouldn't be wimpy. Consistency and good quality are key. If you think how often you use doorknobs throughout your house, then it's a no-brainer that the experience should be a source of pleasure each time your hand envelopes one. I personally like the European-style lever -- great for when your hands are full with groceries -- you can just use your elbow to push down the lever and open the door. Ditto when your hands are slippery with lotion. Lever handles are lastly friendly to the arthritic; you don't won't to exclude the elderly or handicapped from your potential buyer's market do you? It takes some searching, but online sources have a good selection of quality products not normally available in local hardware stores.
6) Don't use white tile on your bathroom floor... Just as black velvet enhances the diamond it showcases in the jewelry store, so does the white bathroom floor advertise every bodily hair to fall from the emerging naked bather. Too bad the prior owners who upgraded our master bathroom didn't know this...
6) The kitchen... I can't say I've enjoyed this project at all. There are simply too many choices in terms of materials and appliances. The cost is exorbitant. The inconvenience and mess harrowing. When you do finally pick out the countertop you like is it because you really like it or because you're caught up in a trendy fad? You'd hate to think all that expensive granite and cherry wood is going to end up in a landfill somewhere alongside rusting bread making machines of yore. At the other extreme are the cheaply-made pre-fab kitchens and I can't tell you how many Before and After photos I've seen of these where I quite frankly couldn't tell which was the before and which the after.
I will consider my kitchen a success if I can manage to achieve a certain measure of classic timelessness. The perfect tile backsplash be damned. Unfortunately I think my goal is already doomed by the fact that the only cabinet-depth fridge that would fit in my new kitchen design layout was a stainless steel one and I can say with almost certainty it will probably be passe in five years or so. Frankly, if our old galley kitchen hadn't been so completely non-functional, I would have left it in all its' white Formica ugly glory. It at least had a one-of-a-kind charm to it. The kind of kitchen buyers would walk into and say, "Oh well this is kind of funky, isn't it... ? I bet it wouldn't cost much to re-do given how small it is...." Heh wait a minute.... I think that's just what WE said before we bought it. So now barring any unforeseen expenses, this kitchen upgrade will have about a $30,000 price tag on it. I do like it but jesus, doesn't that come out to about $1000 a drawer or something? And no doubt if we had to sell the house tomorrow, the next potential buyer would say something like, "Oh can you BELIEVE they put in those light maple cabinets? Who would DO that..."
I'd tell you all how much we've spent to date on all the house renovations but I'm just too embarrassed to tell you how off the mark we were....
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
A 5-hour jaunt along a quiet country road in Connemara, Ireland.
Roundstone, Ireland. Is this not gorgeousness...
'Where the hell have you been?' the daughter asked accusingly. Note to self that I must make a more concerted effort to appear the fretting, wistful empty-nester parent who hangs by the telephone waiting for a call from the college kid. 'I could have sworn I told you we were going to Ireland for a week...didn't I?'
October is a risky time of year to try Ireland from a weather standpoint. Well let me actually qualify that statement. Anytime is risky. Were one unlucky enough to get a week of rain AND the cool October temperatures, the trip might be a bust. However, if you hit it right and manage to stay ahead of or behind the rain-filled clouds, then I promise you heaven on earth.
We went this time to Connemara on the north-west coast following a two-day trip to Sixmilebridge where a good friend of ours had her wedding. It was an Irish fairytale wedding and proof once again that it is awfully hard to escape your roots. A progressive, sophisticated high-tech Dublinite the bride is but her early pledges to keep it all simple were no match against the unrelenting pull of her heritage; the plenteous wedding breathed traditional Irishness from every pore: flowing white wedding dress (as opposed to the stream-lined one she originally picked up in New York and later discarded), harps, hymns, and a magical medieval reception at the 15th century Knappogue Castle. Lords and Ladies for the night, we feasted on lamb whilst rosy-cheeked lasses sang, step-danced, and waxed their charmingly poetic, albeit revisionist, historical anecdotes. Personally, I was most impressed by the tributes paid by both the bride and groom to the guests. Of course anything sounds good to me when there is an Irish accent involved but these were also very good speeches -- heartfelt and hilarious. I told them at the end that they should take on Jay Leno's spot...
Too bad I was still suffering a severe bout of poison ivy... As the wine kicked in and started pumping warm blood to the capillaries nearest to the surface of my skin, I was soon scouting the castle for the nearest disbanded medieval torture chamber where I might lie down on a bed of nails to relieve the itching. We took a taxi home before the band and dancing started. Guess that's what a San Francisco-nite who tries her clueless hand at gardening wearing shorts and a tank top (all the better for the poison ivy oil to make its way to every inch of her body) gets. I lay my splotchy red and welted skin onto the cool sheets of the hotel bed and I must say that it will go down in the annals of my marriage as being the very first time ever that hubby didn't jump on a hotel-bed-vacation moment/opportunity, if you get my drift.
The next morning we climbed into our lavender Nissan Micra a.k.a. sardine can and headed along Ireland's death-defying narrow roads to the Connemara region. October ushers in two wonderful facets to Ireland: no tourists and an unrivaled panorama of color: purple heather, red fuscia, bleached yellow blanket bog, beautiful chesnut red hues of the spent ferns that cover the countryside (the very red of many an Irish head), and of course the typical symphony of Irish green and enchanting rainbows.
We stayed at the Rockglen Hotel in Clifden. A lovely place run by the same family for the past thirty-three years. A place that would be completely unsuitable to bring a family with young children however. The bath faucets are about as child UN-proof and dangerous as you could possibly imagine i.e. the water is either icy cold or scalding hot. The dining facility serves exquisite four-star, five-course meals, the majority of which would most likely be wasted on the finicky child's palate. During this off-season time, the dining room's acoustics (or lack thereof) are extremely unsuitable for loud banter (or whining children...); you feel almost forced to whisper. I'm not sure that the heavy peat moss smoke emanating from the fireplace is too healthy either. Lastly the egg-pastel room decor practically invites chocolate-smeared hands to ruin it -- particularly the cream-hued carpet (we were very fortunate that the glass of red wine hubby knocked over from the bedside table landed inside the drawer he had left open and so the carpet was spared....). But otherwise this hotel is charming and thankfully lacks the many little knick-knacks the Irish seem to so dearly love to place on every available horizontal surface (a source of infinite distraction to this minimalist). The most appealing attribute is the hotel's quiet vicinity near to some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Sheep aplenty. And white Connemara horses. Plunging cliffs. Crashing waves. And blissfully few people.
If you would like to meet this lovely family at the Rockglen Hotel then you must go there soon. The hotel is on the market. Bin Laden has been very, very bad for business....
October is a risky time of year to try Ireland from a weather standpoint. Well let me actually qualify that statement. Anytime is risky. Were one unlucky enough to get a week of rain AND the cool October temperatures, the trip might be a bust. However, if you hit it right and manage to stay ahead of or behind the rain-filled clouds, then I promise you heaven on earth.
We went this time to Connemara on the north-west coast following a two-day trip to Sixmilebridge where a good friend of ours had her wedding. It was an Irish fairytale wedding and proof once again that it is awfully hard to escape your roots. A progressive, sophisticated high-tech Dublinite the bride is but her early pledges to keep it all simple were no match against the unrelenting pull of her heritage; the plenteous wedding breathed traditional Irishness from every pore: flowing white wedding dress (as opposed to the stream-lined one she originally picked up in New York and later discarded), harps, hymns, and a magical medieval reception at the 15th century Knappogue Castle. Lords and Ladies for the night, we feasted on lamb whilst rosy-cheeked lasses sang, step-danced, and waxed their charmingly poetic, albeit revisionist, historical anecdotes. Personally, I was most impressed by the tributes paid by both the bride and groom to the guests. Of course anything sounds good to me when there is an Irish accent involved but these were also very good speeches -- heartfelt and hilarious. I told them at the end that they should take on Jay Leno's spot...
Too bad I was still suffering a severe bout of poison ivy... As the wine kicked in and started pumping warm blood to the capillaries nearest to the surface of my skin, I was soon scouting the castle for the nearest disbanded medieval torture chamber where I might lie down on a bed of nails to relieve the itching. We took a taxi home before the band and dancing started. Guess that's what a San Francisco-nite who tries her clueless hand at gardening wearing shorts and a tank top (all the better for the poison ivy oil to make its way to every inch of her body) gets. I lay my splotchy red and welted skin onto the cool sheets of the hotel bed and I must say that it will go down in the annals of my marriage as being the very first time ever that hubby didn't jump on a hotel-bed-vacation moment/opportunity, if you get my drift.
The next morning we climbed into our lavender Nissan Micra a.k.a. sardine can and headed along Ireland's death-defying narrow roads to the Connemara region. October ushers in two wonderful facets to Ireland: no tourists and an unrivaled panorama of color: purple heather, red fuscia, bleached yellow blanket bog, beautiful chesnut red hues of the spent ferns that cover the countryside (the very red of many an Irish head), and of course the typical symphony of Irish green and enchanting rainbows.
We stayed at the Rockglen Hotel in Clifden. A lovely place run by the same family for the past thirty-three years. A place that would be completely unsuitable to bring a family with young children however. The bath faucets are about as child UN-proof and dangerous as you could possibly imagine i.e. the water is either icy cold or scalding hot. The dining facility serves exquisite four-star, five-course meals, the majority of which would most likely be wasted on the finicky child's palate. During this off-season time, the dining room's acoustics (or lack thereof) are extremely unsuitable for loud banter (or whining children...); you feel almost forced to whisper. I'm not sure that the heavy peat moss smoke emanating from the fireplace is too healthy either. Lastly the egg-pastel room decor practically invites chocolate-smeared hands to ruin it -- particularly the cream-hued carpet (we were very fortunate that the glass of red wine hubby knocked over from the bedside table landed inside the drawer he had left open and so the carpet was spared....). But otherwise this hotel is charming and thankfully lacks the many little knick-knacks the Irish seem to so dearly love to place on every available horizontal surface (a source of infinite distraction to this minimalist). The most appealing attribute is the hotel's quiet vicinity near to some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Sheep aplenty. And white Connemara horses. Plunging cliffs. Crashing waves. And blissfully few people.
If you would like to meet this lovely family at the Rockglen Hotel then you must go there soon. The hotel is on the market. Bin Laden has been very, very bad for business....
A FINAL NOTE. I must scold Ireland a bit for two man-made blights. One it can't really help given the existing layout of almost every Irish town I've driven through. The other it most definitely could. The blight it can't really help is the fact that upgrades to major thoroughways means that 60-mile-per-hour traffic barrels through the center of little towns ill-equipped for this sudden onslaught of tourists, commuters, and Euro transit. Perhaps I am just overly sensitive after having lived on a main street for fifteen years but I can't help thinking that this incessant zooming traffic isn't a major infringement on the quality of life for the thousands of Irish who live along these quasi freeways. However, the second blight Ireland could have well avoided and shame on them for not having done so. It's called Gallway.... Hmmm... Let's take every major mistake America has made in terms of suburban sprawl and infrastructure malaise; put it all on steroids and call it Gallway. The developers who are building the tree-less, pub-less, infrastructure-less row-houses sitting more or less on top of Ireland's major freeway through Gallway should be strung up and tarred. It is a reprehensible disgrace. No sidewalks to walk on. No nearby parks. No little shops or points of interest. Just sterile strip malls wrapped around round-a-bouts of cars. I only hope that these cheaply-made 'homes' have at least been equipped with double-paned windows...
