Post #61: Independence Day – Part 1
As an expat, the 4th of July is a fun day. You get the day off of work, eat food and get to hangout with family and friends. What’s not to like?
All posts filed under: Adventures
Post #47: This Is Hardcore.
Last night, the American and I went to see Pulp at the Warfield. I’d never been to the venue before, and it’s a little bigger than the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and a little more run down. Just the way I like it. I was a Pulp fan as a teen, growing up awkward in suburban Sydney. And seeing them live was pure and heavenly and indescribable. Here’s a review of the gig, because I can only use superlatives right now (and that can get a little tiresome). The vibe in the Warfield was incredible, and I consciously soaked up every moment of the gig. Pulp sounded amazing live. And Jarvis Cocker? YES. My memories evoke a physical sensation on my skin, and the closest I have ever come to feeling it in real life is swimming in a geothermal pool. I spent much of last night feeling that same sensation. Whenever I hear ‘Disco 2000’, it takes me back to 1995/1996. It’s such a trip to have a memory bank from that long …
Post #45: I Love Trader Joe’s!
Where the American and I live in San Francisco, it’s much easier to buy a Coach handbag than it is to buy groceries. And in most of the cities we have lived in, we’ve lived downtown. Buying groceries was never a problem, because there were plenty of supermarkets in the downtown area to supply the urban crowd. Even in provincial Ireland. But that’s not the case in San Francisco, and is the biggest drawback to living where we do. [Source: Trader Joe’s] Most of our shopping is done at the local Walgreen’s or independent markets/corner shops. We have a mini-Safeway about a mile down the hill, and had a ridiculously expensive independent supermarket about ten blocks away up the hill until recently. Cala Foods closed for good over the New Year period, and in June, Trader Joe’s will be opening up in its place. HURRAH! In the hierarchy of local supermarkets in the Bay Area, I’d rate Trader Joe’s well above average. Some say it’s very yuppie, but it’s no Whole Foods. Shopping at Whole …
I heart SF
San Francisco is unique, and so breathtakingly beautiful. Sometimes I forget to stop long enough to take notice. Thankfully, someone captured it for me, and edited it into an easily-watched 4m56s. [Source] I heart my city. One of my favourite part of the city has always been the fog. It seems to crawl in over the hills and down the valleys like fingers. It’s a living organism. At 33 seconds in, check out the exact view I get each morning as I step outside my front door.
Thoughts on Travel
This article was first published in the summer edition of ‘At The End Of The Day’, my organization’s in-house magazine. *** In the late 18th Century, a Frenchman by the name of Xavier de Maistre pioneered what became known as ‘room travel’. Instead of packing up sixteen trunks, commandeering two stewards and journeying on trains and sailing vessels to new worlds, de Maistre donned his blue and pink pajamas and set about exploring his room. In ‘Journey Around My Bedroom’, he participated in grand old adventures, starting with his couch. What we glean from his writings is that while we all can’t be brave explorers like Cook and Magellan, we can all look at our own surroundings with a different eye, taking the time to notice what we have already seen. It’s less about where in the world we are heading as the mindset with which we travel. It’s an interesting way to look at travel, particularly as many of us take a vacation this time of year. There is no one-solution-fits-all when it comes …
I want to believe.
I’ve been reading a lot lately (lots of Alain de Botton and Her Holiness Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) and thinking more comprehensively, discerning more comprehensively, yet I don’t feel any closer in finding what it is I seek. “We can conclude …that we are drawn to call something beautiful whenever we detect that it contains in a concentrated form those qualities in which we personally, or our societies more generally, are deficient. We respect a style which can move us away from what we fear and towards what we crave: a style which carries the correct dosage of our missing virtues.” — Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness I’m at an interesting point of my life. I desire simplicity, freedom, adventure, beauty, awareness, zest for life and an open heart. These are all qualities I feel I am lacking, and as de Botton says, these are things I am drawn to other aspects of my life such as art, artefacts and architecture. The reality is that I just don’t believe… in anything. I used …
The Rebecca Project 