Believe it or not

there's a city skyline over there. Somewhere.


I snapped this from a bus going over the Charles this afternoon. The snow kinda came out of nowhere -- one minute, just a few flakes, and the next minute ... hmm, where'd everything go?

Made the bus ride go nice and slooooow, too.

An important taste test

I've mentioned Australian Tim Tam cookies before, and how you have to special-order them because it's hard to get them in the US.

Well, one of the things Tom got me for Christmas was a couple boxes of these:


That's right -- looks like Pepperidge Farm has cut a deal with Arnott's to sell them here!

However, a comparison of the ingredient lists on the Pepperidge Farm and Arnott's packages made it clear that they weren't quite the same.

So, I did a comparison of my own.

Both looked about the same from the outside.


As well as on the inside.


But the actual taste comparison? Well ... The overall texture is about right, though the Pepperidge Farm version might be a bit crisper. But the difference that jumps out at me is the outside coating of chocolate. Now, there is some variability between packages even of the Arnott's brand, but still ... the thickness and flavor of the outer chocolate shell ... I mean, it didn't taste bad by any means ... but it wasn't the same. The Pepperidge Farm cookies are good, definitely -- they're just not quite "the real thing".

Both cookies do provide very good slams, however.

Conclusion: If you've never had the Australian Tim Tams, the Pepperidge Farm Tim Tams are worth a try, just to see what we're all talking about. If you're already an Arnott's purist, however ... well, you've been warned.

Our post-Christmas kitchen countertop

It's a little crowded right now.


Not pictured: the rest of the luscious chocolate cookies Tom baked last week, and the leftover cake from Christmas Day in the fridge.

Whoa.

I know it's a day late ...

... but Merry Christmas!

I'm so fast ...

I walk faster than the subway!

... when it's not moving at all because a disabled train has shut down the line. And when they've piled everyone on buses, which then clog the main road and therefore don't move.

That's what happened yesterday evening. I'd been thinking about riding a bus home because it was actually pretty chilly and windy and I had a heavy backpack, but I took one look at the roads with the extra load of buses, and knew I'd rather be cold but moving than jammed into one of those non-moving buses.

Brrr though. Definitely brrr.

How about that!

Yesterday after leaving work, I headed for the bus stop to go home.

A bus was approaching as I reached the corner. It was after dark, and I have to cross a semi-busy street -- with the aid of a crosswalk-- to get to my stop. Seeing the bus coming started my adrenaline going a little, but I hesitated at the curb -- I wanted that bus, but not enough to cause an accident! But cars began stopping for me at the crosswalk.

The bus I wanted also stopped for me in this crosswalk. Yes! Once I saw that, my bus-catching instincts took over, and I sprinted across the rest of the street (traffic was stopped and there was no chance I'd startle any motorists) and ran up to the stop.

Plenty of time! I got on the bus, panting but pleased. The driver gave me a quick surprised look, but I didn't know why.

He told me why a minute later, after we were all in our seats. "That was a great run, back there!" he said. He even turned to look at me, grinning. I said, "Me?" And he said, "Yeah! I thought you were fourteen!"

Fourteen??

I laughed and said that seeing a bus pull up took me back to middle school when I had to run for a school bus. I didn't tell him that my ability to run at all is limited to short bus-catching sprints. And yes, it was after dark.

But hey! FOURTEEN! Ha! What about that?!

We finally did it

We turned the heat on.

Actually, we did it last week. Last year, we cracked just before Thanksgiving, so -- even though I don't remember details -- it must have been much colder earlier than it has been this year.

It's nice to not have the heat on, especially with the whole forced-hot-air heating that I've had ever since I've lived in this area.

But when it gets down below 20F at night? The heat wins.

"Hmm, what should I do today?"

That's what the weather was asking itself this morning.

"Let's see ... should I rain? Or should I snow?

Hmm ... I know!

I'LL DO BOTH!"

You know those weather maps that show green as rain and blue as snow? Well. Where I live is PINK.

Ugh.

By now it's mostly cold rain, but there's all kinds of slushy puddles all over the place. It is NOT a good day to be bus walking. It is a much better day to ask for a ride to the bus stop (which Tom did for me, thank you Tom!) and then hide under a nearby awning until the bus pulls up.

And to hole up at work for awhile. And make hot chocolate ...

Short rhyme in honor of this (hectic) time of year

Between running sound board at one theater
and playing clarinet in another show,

I end up getting home
very late,

for

many
days
in
a
row.


Zzzzzz ...

(I know, but it's the best I can do right now.)

Happiness is ...

having leftover pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving and Tom's amazing oatmeal-date cookies in the house at the same time!

Mmmm ...

Things that make you go "hmm ... "

Seen in local library:


Well. That's a very ... clear and ... informative sign.

... hmm ...

(It's not like those two categories are right next to each other in the Dewey Decimal system -- they're not! They could have been split up amongst two different shelves.

I'm just saying. )

Another way to tell it's fall

The fountain in front of my office gets a snazzy seasonal coat.


It's very... festive.

(I think the groundskeepers have to wash the top of the dome pretty often, seeing as there are overhanging tree branches where birds really like to sit. You see where I'm going with that?)

My kind of book signing!

This past Sunday, Tom and I went to the Cake Wrecks book signing, and it was brilliant.

The Cake Wrecks blog, by the way, is the funniest thing on the entire Internet, and if for some reason you've never checked it out, you've just got to! My coworkers can always tell when I'm reading the daily posting, because I'm either under my desk laughing, or sputtering things like, "Get ... OUT!"

The authors gave a hilarious slide show presentation. The event was held at a Barnes & Noble, so I can only imagine what other people elsewhere in the store were thinking when this huge crowd of us kept roaring with laughter. It was a complete gut buster. Tom nearly fell out of his chair.

So, this being a book signing about a cake book, obviously there had to be ... CAKE!

Hey, this was as close as the crowd let me get to this cake!

Professional cake makers donated very fun cakes to the event.

There's a contest to see who can replicate the funniest of the "wrecks" in miniature form. Apparently our event generated the most entries. The authors were very impressed!


There were a lot of really good ones, too!

If you follow the blog, you'll appreciate these beauts.

Believe me, the event would NOT have been complete without this fellow.

There was a huge line for the actual signing, but it was worth it. The book is hilarious.

And I got to say hi to Jen and John!

We're still giggling about the whole thing and it was two days ago!

Very good times.

Different signage philosophies

On the drive down to Rhode Island, I noticed this road sign:

Take a break,
Stay Awake
for safety's sake!

Catchy little rhyme.

It made me recall the equivalent yet much more blunt signage I saw in Australia:

DROWSY DRIVERS DIE

Um, whoa.

I guess one look at that sign is worth two cups of coffee and a bucket of ice water in the face.

A stroll around Newport

This past Sunday was a gorgeous autumn day. Tom and I drove to Rhode Island and walked part of the Cliff Walk in Newport. It's a walking path that takes you along the ocean and the backyards of some very startling houses.

Like this humble little cottage here.


You get the idea.

The ocean was very active here, lots of crashing waves. There were people surfing (shivering in wet suits, but still catching some good waves).


The path was scenic and had some unexpected cool things, too.



The pagoda was really striking, of course, but see that tunnel over there?


I mean, how totally fun are tunnels?!




We didn't do the entire path, because the sun was starting to go down. But it was a really nice afternoon.

The humans weren't the only ones who thought so!

Well hi there!

We also learned that what I consider a "milkshake" and what most New Englanders call a "frappe" is called a "cabinet" in Rhode Island. I don't know where this term came from, but it was a fun thing to find out!

Rolling up my sleeve

I got my seasonal flu shot this morning.

No one around here has H1N1 vaccines, but I figured with so much going around this year I'd at least get the "normal" shot.

I'm no fan of needles, so I got to recline for the shot. The nurse was just glad to make me comfortable so I wouldn't pass out on her, which apparently someone had done just last week. I guess it's not so much fun for the nurses either when a patient konks out.

So, no smelling salts required. It was quick and easy. The needle didn't even hurt.

My shoulder muscle kinda kills now, though. Ow ...

A little too early for my taste

Okay. Observe today's date. It's October. Pre-Halloween.

And what is the weather outside right now?

Snow.

It's true. It's snowing, people. Snowing. In October. Which is autumn.

It's not sticking (yet!), but those are big, fat flakes, and they are coming down hard.

Geez. I mean, I like snow. And it's better than the cold rain we'd had all day. But after the not-so-warm summer we had, having a cold snap with snow right now just feels a little mean.

Brrr.

The tree outside my workplace

Pretty, isn't it?


It's not the best framed picture ever, I know, but I was snapping this in near-freezing temperatures while it was drizzling out. The "near-freezing temperatures" part isn't exactly normal for this time of year, so it was a little traumatic. So I kinda wanted to get it over with and run inside for some hot chocolate.

It's a nice tree to look at out the window, though.

Cougher's Chorus

It's quite a symphony in my office right now, as four of us (yes, I'm one of them) are recovering from the same virus and are all in the final cough stage at the moment.

Sometimes it's round-robin: one starts, a second starts when he finishes, and all the way around.

HACK HACK HACK
*cough* *cough* *cough*
COUUUUGH cough
wheeze hack wheeze

But other times, when the four of us get going at the same time ...

HACK *cough* COOOOUUGH HACK HACK *cough* wheeze HAAAAACK cough.

It's almost melodic!

Almost.

Tea humor

One of our stops in Providence was this place.


We had to, since we are such fans of Tealuxe. Plus, it was right on Thayer Street so it was a prime location.

Also, I do have this at my desk.


Anyway, there were some tea-related quotes on the walls. In amongst quotes by people like Ralph Waldo Emerson ("There is a great deal of poetry in a chest of tea") and Tien Yiheng ("Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.") was this one.


(I'm guessing that's the *first* star date that line was uttered, because there were certainly plenty of other star dates to choose from! Jean Luc loved his Earl Grey ...)

A little slightly nerdy tea humor ...

Unexpected day trip

Tom had an adventure in mind on Friday evening, and asked me if I wanted to be surprised. I said, "Sure!"

So we got in the car the next day and he started driving, and it didn't take me too long to notice a general direction and come up with a guess.

The surprise destination -- Providence, Rhode Island!

For some reason, neither of us had really ever been there before, even though it's just over an hour's drive away. Most of our day trips, we drive north.

We really liked Providence!

We didn't have any specific plan when we got there, so we did a lot of walking around.

The area of town where RISD and Brown are is very hilly -- one big, steep climb. We saw a few students walking bikes who'd just given up.

The city proper was pretty level, though.

It was a gorgeous day out.

I liked the walkways all along the canal.

There were at least two different street fairs/outdoor concerts going on that we found just by strolling around.


One of them even sold kettle corn but I controlled myself.

We had a nice dinner up on Thayer Street, up by Brown, and when we left we both felt like coming back again soon.

What's a street fair without one of these?

I happened to run across a very modest street fair over the weekend -- must've been half a block long. But it was just big enough to be making this:


It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, I had a book, I had iced tea, and then KETTLE CORN!

So I had no choice but to sprawl on the grass in a park and snack.

I barely put a dent in it that afternoon, though. In fact, we only just finished this popcorn yesterday (it was still good!).

Labor Day footwear

Stylin', aren't they?


No, they're not mine, I was just trying them out for a few minutes. See, there was this Labor Day barbecue, with food, drink, and outdoor toys.

Like these Jumping Jax bouncy boots.

They fit sort of like ski boots, and the bottom is very springy but somehow resistant at the same time.

They definitely take some getting used to. Plus I had a little trouble getting them to fit just right, so my ankles felt a bit wobbly.


I wouldn't have taken off in a full sprint in them, but I eventually got the hang of a good springy job.

Fun, but definitely a leg-muscle workout.

And just like with actual ski boots, your feet feel so nice and light as soon as you take them off ...

I had ice cream after that.

On Bearskin Neck

This is my favorite part of Rockport. Just walking around here makes me happy.



There are lots of artisan shops and places to get fun food. We had a light lunch in a cafe that overlooks the water. Afterward, there's a cupcake store that also sells ice cream and I got a very great chocolate milkshake (Tom got a cone).

Then we had to do the rock-scramble out to the end of the point.

If this is 6, then where are 1 through 5?

This street always captures my imagination. It runs parallel to the main shopping area, just paces away from it, but it's quiet and residential.


What's it like to live right there, I wonder? I think it would be fun to find out, just for a few weeks. Just to see what it's like.

Plus there are often signs for apartments to rent on top of store fronts. The sign in the window, which you can only just make out here, says "Summer Rental" and a phone number.

Granted it's a bit late for a summer rental, but I bet they'd rent it out for a couple weeks.

I think it would be really cool.

And so does Tom!

After we're satisfied with our walk around Bearskin Neck, on our way out we have to stop here.


It has two locations -- the more central one is easier to find than this one, which is why it was mobbed yesterday. This one's a bit of a walk but it's worth it. I mean, you just have to leave Rockport with a bag of candy.

Mmm ... chocolate almond bark ... candied ginger ... white chocolate ...

My legs are a little sore from climbing on the rocks but it's worth it!

Long weekend

And I need it!

We went to Rockport for the day. Aside from the usual chilling out on Bearskin Neck, we went to Halibut Point State Park for awhile first.

It was a great day to be right near the water.


I love looking in the tide pools and seeing all the colors and fuzzy seaweeds.



There's a former granite quarry there, too, that has over the years filled with water from underground springs. There's a rocky trail that goes all the way around it.


There's no swimming allowed in there, though. Too bad.

There's actually a very fun but tiring rock-scrambling "trail" that leads from this park along the coast all the way back to Rockport center. Tom and I did it several years ago. We didn't do it today, but it was a gorgeous day out and it made me want to revisit that hike again sometime soon.

How to spend a cool rainy weekend afternoon

MAKE COOKIES!!!


So good!!

It rained all day Saturday, and it was chillier. Baking seemed like the obvious way to deal with such a day.

Though of course, I had nothing to do with the baking myself. It was all this guy here.

He is the master baker of the household.

But I helped, because I was always sampling them as soon as they came out of the oven, when they were still warm ...

How to spend a hot weekend afternoon

Swimming and ice cream!

And these days, our favorite ice cream stand is none other than ...


I know, right? But really, it has the best soft serve cones ever!

Photographer entertains himself by giving me antenna.

I usually go for the chocolate/vanilla twist, but creamsicle twist is awesome too. Tom has tried more flavors than I have but it seems that he likes the chocolate best of all.

It's very fun.

PS - Tom says I look like a superhero in my bathing suit.