Jemez Springs

We're staying in a beautiful house next to the Jemez River. You can hear the river gurgling all night outside the bedroom window. Last night we made a New Mexican feast -- red chile enchiladas made with homemade tortillas (there is a whole thing about red and green which I'll explain later), posole (stewed whole corn), calabcitas (stir fried squash with several magical ingredients), and stewed pinto beans.

New Mexican cuisine is different than tex mex or Mexican it turns out. Our teacher, chef Carmen Rodriguez taught us that New Mexico has a state question: "Red or Green?" This refers to the type of chili sauce. Just like at home, red chilis are the ones that have ripened further, while the green ones are -- green.

The red chilis are frequently turned into a dried powder -- instant red sauce! Green chilis are also powdered, but it's best to use fresh. They are just coming into season so we buaght a few pounds (Barbara and I argued over this. She wanted to buy 1 or 2 chilis. I wanted to buy 5 lbs. We comprmised). We bought a chili roaster, too. Very cool gadget that fits over the stove. You can roast your chilis right there, more fun than broiling them and definitely more fun than cooking them over the flame with a fork that gets hotter and hotter.

Venison Chili

Ok so I took some heat for not updating my blog after I returned from Alaska. Since this recipe was much in demand as I described it to my friends in Alaska, here it is. I was in the country this weekend and spotted dozens (really) of deer -- does and twins primarily. But what has that got to do with the recipe?

SPAM chile

5 Green bell peppers, chopped
10 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
5 large onions, chopped
5 lbs venison
2.5 lbs chicken
2 (12) ounce cans Spam
4 teaspoons brown sugar
2 t. each coriander, paprika, cumin, salt, and black pepper
2 quarts strong turkey stock
2 bottles ale
1 lb peeled tomatoes, chopped
8 roasted, seeded dried ancho chiles
5 T. chili powder
4 T. each dried basil, oregano, and coriander
1 T.ground chipotle
1 T.annato paste
4 cups cooked black beans
¼ cup brown sugar


In a larger cooking pot, saute onions and peppers in bacon fat (or olive oil?) until onions are transparent. Remove and drain. Cut meat into cubes. In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, coriander, paprika, cuman, salt and black pepper, and rub into venison, chicken, and SPAM. Sear meats in small batches, then combine in pot with peppers and onions. Add stock, ale, tomatoes, chilies, chile powder, basil, oregano, and coriander, chopotle and anato paste and cook for two hours on medium heat,stirring occasionally. Add beans, and cook and stire for an additional 30 minutes. Add ¼ cup brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste. To thicken, add ¼ cup masa harina flour.

Serves 12 according to the recipe. 120 is more like it.

Denali Day 6 - Denali Backcountry Lodge

Up at 5 am (remember bedtime and multiple trips to river to see moose).

Left on the schoolbus at 6 am for the 6-hour ride in the rain with an entirely miserable group. Coughing call and response from the asthmatics, a murderous nurse and her husband, the polish man wearing a face mask (to protect himself from us) and an open window.

We were disappointed that our bus back to Juneau did not leave for 3 hours. Sheesh. We did manage to grab a shuttle to glitter gulch for the best hamburger, fries, and onion bits of my life. I don't usually eat hamburgers and I swear I didn't realize the food was at our lodge was so bad until I at the hamburger.

Finally we got our bus back to Anchorage. We both slept quite a bit, thank goodness.



We met Kendra (our hostel before Denali) at Orso. Ummmmmmmmmmm. Really really good food.

We slept 11 hours, recovering from the Denali experience.

Denali Day 6 - Denali Backcountry Lodge

Tired from yesterday's hike, I overslept. So had to take the casual hike, which was fine with me. I was hoping to sight some wildlife, but we didn't see anything but a few arctic groundsquirrels. Did taste a wild cranberry from last season -- pretty tasty.

Hung out for lunch with Kathy, Craig, and Gary. Read in the screened gazebo in the afternoon. The mosquitos in Alaska are legendary -- "so big they have to get on their knees to screw turkeys." You need the screening, and you need DEET. I had brought 100% DEET. It was not too strong, although I hear it melts cameras it's so strong.

The Man from Poland

I sat at table that was nearly empty; only a lone man sat there. When I asked if it was available, he said he was reserving a seat for his wife and son. Perfect – I had Barbara joining me, as well as our new best friends. We had just enough room for them. The stranger was from Poland and said he lived in Boston. A few minutes later, after our friends joined us, his son sat down. He said he came to the U.S. to study at Harvard – religious studies – but ended up at Marquette. We had a lively discussion about Russia. He hated Russia. Craig had studied there, so they had a bit of a discussion about Russian culture.

The son was totally silent as dad rambled on about his life. Barbara tried to bring out the son, but only got a mumble. The kid was shut down. I mean, he didn't say a word. He may have been internally rolling his eyes, but appeared to be in a totally altered state, hovering above us instead of with us. When we had nearly finished with dinner, his "wife" came to dinner. I immediately said to myself, this isn't his wife! She was a single traveler who had made a bit of a stir in the camp – I had heard of her! Her name was Julie, she lived in New York, and had come to Alaska for a wedding. At any rate, I was very confused and shocked and disgusted, I am really not sure why. Well, for one thing, I found out later from Julie that he did indeed have a wife back in Boston. So think of the son, sitting there with his dad while dad refers to some stranger they met yesterday as his wife. Yuck.

Later that night we had a sing-a-long. That's right. Another group of three had brought karoake books and were doing sing-a-longs at night in the gazebo. We decided this was our night for a sing-along. We brought the leftovers – which were significant – of our boxed wines. Gary brought his 15-year-old Laphroaig. And others bought beer from the lodge. We sang for three or four hours—John Denver, traditional folk, Beatles, and so on. The kids were great – except for Barbara and me they were all around 40. But they knew the lyrics to all these old songs.

Later in the evening Julie showed up – wthout her husband! I said something to her about the Polish man – about how he referred to her as his wife. She said she was very flattered, he was a very special person, he had taken Awaska (do we know what this is) and that was a very rare thing. We all shook our heads. It seems everyone t our table despised the Polish man for one reason or another.

The next day on the bus going back to the park entrance, I found that he had even more enemies. First, the bus was crowded, but he hogged two seats, sitting in the aisle. When a woman getting on late tried to find a seat, he refused to move over. Someone even yelled out to him, "give the woman a seat."

Next he donned his facemask – presumably to protect himself from us, and opened the window (it was cold and rainy out) The emergency room sitting in front of us started making wisecracks about him. When the bus stopped for a break, we talked to the driver about the negative vibes on the bus. Barbara told the driver to watch out because someone may push the guy out the window.

But all went well – no fatalities on the trip back, but no animal sightings either. Later that day at glitter gluch we saw the son standing alone smoking. No dad around. Barbara whispered to me, "don't talk to him, the father can't be far away." Like a wolf or bear I guess.

Sing along -- share wine, scotch, etc. Gary and Craig (late 30s/early 40s) knew words to all Beatles song, including Rocky Raccoon.

Barbara and I went to bed at 11 and talked until 1:30. Rain, thunderstorms, went out to find moose and calve.

Denali Day 5 - Denali Backcountry Lodge

Barbara got us up at 5:15 am, grabbed cameras and went out. Again, miraculously, all 15 people got up for a chance to see the mountain. We were rewarded with a perfectly clear day, the entire snow-capped range in view. Too pretty. Pictures will follow.

From our hotel, only the tip of one of the mountains is actually visible.

We also signed up for a moderate hike to Eagle Ridge. For me, the hike was not moderate - four hand-over-hand pitches -- 1300 feet straight up. It was stupendously beautiful at each viewing spot. But it was tough keeping up -- really tough.

In the afternoon I took a course in spiritual economics. It turns out the owners of the lodge are hari krishnas. Afterwards I took a yoga class. No beef is served at the lodge -- but lots of other meat and plenty of vegetarian choices.

In the evening we watched a movie about the northern lights - hokey and I still don't get it.

Denali Day 4 - Denali Backcountry Lodge

The breakfast was subhuman - carb-o-fest and instant coffee. Did I mention $219 a night?

I went into the media room to update this blog and Barbara miraculously packed again (two bag, 35-lb limit at Denali Backcountry Lodge). She even found room for our two black boxes of wine -- a miracle.

This left us time to cab it to the tacky Denali glitter gulch strip mall where we got real Alaska-roasted coffee (Ravensbrew).

At 1:00 pm we took off on the schoolbus to Denali Backcountry Lodge. We were fortunate that only 19 folks were on the bus -- there is room for 40 on the bus. Our guide Peter, was excellent -- guided us through the entire park -- it's a 6 hour, 90-mile trip from the park entrance to the lodge which is a few miles beyond Wonder Lake.

It was smokey on the way out. Denali was not out. There are currently 56 active forest firest burning in Alaska. The state does not make an attempt to put out these fires unless they threaten human populations. All are caused by lightning strikes.
On the trip, we saw an Eagle's nest, three grizzlies (mamma and two babies). We saw Dall sheep pretty close up. Also spotted my first Ptarmigan -- the Alaska state bird.

Lucky us, we got to white knuckle through Polychrome pass again, but this time on a bigger bus.

Peter recommended that to see the mountain we get the Lodge staff to take us out early in the morning.

We arrived at the lodge at 7 pm for our first mediocre meal. Dinner was family style -- we sat with Freda and her husband, Craig, Kathy, and Gary. Pay attention to the names. At dinner, I asked if we could reserve a special van to Wonder lake at 5:30 am the next morning and we arranged it. Of our 19, 15 decided to go -- amazing, huh?

Denali Day 3

We took the white van upriver on Lake Teklanika to do some tracking. The braided river (for those who do not know, a braided river is a wide glacially formed riverbed. There are multiple channels of water the braid in and out) had gorgeous animal tracks on lots of scat -- caribou, moose, bear, and wolf. We also saw some Dall sheep that ventured down to the river. In the woods next to the river, we found a number of bear trees -- trees where bears had rubbed their backs. We spotted some arctic kitty litter - a tree stump where a lynx had pooed. Our guide Tim made plaster castings of the wolf, bear, and moose tracks. Barbara took one and promises to make a copy for us.

To end the day, we took the van to polychrome pass - a very scary mountain road, narrow and landslide prone. We stopped briefly at the igloo river looking for tracks. I met a woman who was backpacking in the park alone for five weeks. What a woman. She was awfully chatty though, desperate even. I had to run off to catch up with my group and felt kind of bad to leave her alone.

When we got back to MSLC, we realized we had no way to get to our accommodations at the trashy Denali cabins. Terry and Chuck, the only couple on our tracking trip, thankfully dropped us and all our gear off at the cabins.

Denali cabins were trashy trashy -- $219 a night? Alaska. We went uproad to a pizza joint the locals frequent and returned to enjoy the chemically hot tub and fox news.

Denali Days 1 and 2

We met at the Murie Science and Learning Center (MSLC), which is right outside the entrance to the park. At the center, we met our small group of fellow learners of which half were Alaskan. We met our guide Tim and our host Susan. So this Tim (aka Trapper Tim) is a big game hunter guide. He takes rich tourists to the backcountry -- usually in airplanes -- to catch the big one. He said that $35,000 is a mid-range pricetag for this kind of adventure. Apparently he guides, tracks, skins, and carries. The tourist merely shoots. Tim is amazingly respectful of the animals. He understands everything about them -- including how they taste. He spoke a lot about the Tom Brown books. You know Tom Brown hails from our NJ Pine Barrens and has his wilderness school there.

Susan drove us (10 participants, guide and host)into the park. Traveling is extremely restricted in the park, so I have to think that joining the MSLC was a very good idea. Our first few minutes, we saw a caribou wandering drunkenly on the road and a moose in the distance at the side. No moose picks unfortunately.

We arrived at the Tenlatika campground --mile 29.1. MSLC has a little facility right next to it with 5 cabins, a dining yurt, and a food storage shed (bears).

Ok so I was tired at this point. Maybe two hours of sleep the night before, the train ride, the ride into the park. As soon as we arrived, we took a tour of the campground and began tracking animals -- until approximately 11 pm. I am tired, I just want to go to bed, but I kept along with them. Remember, at 11 pm, the sun is still several inches above the horizon. The agreement was to meet at 6 am for coffee, to get an early start in the morning due to the extreme heat (high 71). Of course we overslept, so at 6:30 we get a knock at the door, we're leaving soon. I hadn't unpacked yet, and I have a backpack, so I scrambled through my pack and through all my things on the bunk in order to get to my hiking boots at the very bottom of the pack. Sheesh.

Anyhow, it was all worth it. During our first scrabble up the first hill a half mile from our camp, we saw a lynx. There were 12 of us lined up, but the lynx promenaded by us, making absolutely sure we saw her. The leaders thought she was guarding a den of kittcns, so we had to turn around and go back -- park rules to not purposely encounter an animal.

Moving on, we looked at scat - lynx, wolf, moose, caribou, and snowshoe hare. We found a moose skeleton - the head, jaw, and spine intact. We found other carnage as well -- the woods is full of bones, fur bits, and scat. It is pretty scary picturing yourself as a hare or ground squirrel. You are everyone's dinner.

Later we drove 30 miles to another section of the park where we climbed up the tundra to view some Dall sheep sleeping on a hill. These sheep were tiny dots, not visible from my naked eye, but Tim spotted them all. He also spotted a grizzly bear foraging in the distance. Not even a dot, no kidding. But his eyes are accustomed to looking for these things. He kindly set up a scope for us so we could actually see these animals. Even binocs weren't working for me.

The tundra is amazing. I always thought of tundra as a harsh crusty thing, but in reality it is soft and luxurious and fragrant. The cover is filled with tiny flowers of all varieties, it is fairyland. I felt bad walking on it, but so few visitors actually get off the bus to climb around, the damage we did was minimal.

We got back to camp around 7:30 pm and had dinner. Remember, we started at 7 am, so I was beyond tired, stumbling around like the caribou. After dinner, the group went tracking along the braided river next to camp. I went to bed. I do not have the stamina of Alaskans, I cannot stay up.

Anchorage to Denali

Barbara booked the luxe train to Denali. This means we were in the panoramic dome car with our own personal bar and a restaurant below -- with tablecloths and flowers. It is entirely possible to spend a week in Denali and never see Mt. McKinley. We saw it two hours into our seven-hour trip. Of course we trained through Wasilla. A fellow passenger got the news on his blackberry just as we pulled out of Wasilla. We were there as Sarah announced her resignation!

Most of the people on our train seemed to be Alaskans. The railway is interesting -- there are cars owned by different concessionaires. So the first cars are Alaskan Railroad, but subsequent cars are Holland America, and Princess Cruises. So if you come to AK on a cruise, and book the train, you may well be on a Princess or Holland train.

Anchorage

At the airport in Juneau, we ran into a Juneau lawyer who Barbara thought managed cruise ship deaths – if old people die on the ship, makes the arrangements. We are speculating, with 15,000 people docking in Juneau every day, many of a certain age, there must be a fair number of deaths. But it turns out he is lawyer to crew who get into trouble onshore. If they get caught drunk and disorderly or are arrested for assault, he helps them out. The complications come because the crew often have no address or country of origin because they live on the ship. That somehow doesn't seem right – just because you have this job living at the bottom of a boat, doesn't mean you have no country. I regret not asking him how the crew paid for his services given that they make minimum wages.

Anchorage is a big city – 250,000. Barbara's friend's daughter Kendra picked us up and we went to dinner with Susan and Kendra. We ended up doing an Anchorage pub crawl – for hours as the sun set oh so slowly into the west. The first bar was Darwsin's ?? – an old-time bar with a charming bartender, friendly patrons, and cheap drinks. We moved on to the Snow Gooose – their top outdoor terrace that looks out over the Cook Inlet and the setting sun. We ended up in the Crows Nest atop the highest end hotel in Anchorage. Great view, great service, great bowsls of olives nad nuts, we stayed for a few hours as the sun set slowly into the west. At about 11:30 we hailed a cab back to Kendra's house, the sun still slowly setting.

Juneau - Whales, Sea Lions, Eagles, and Crabs

Barbara and Bruce took me out in their boat for a whale-watching excursion. He took us to the place where the whale watching boats go. The humpbacks started to emerge pretty close to the boat. I made some attempts to take pictures, but in the end decided I was losing to much of the experience by trying to snap a pic. The coolest thing is the sounds they make – the loud groan as they emerge through the water surface and then dive backdown, their tails peaking out through the water.

Barbara insisted that we move to the buoy where the sea lions hang out. Too cute, a bald eagle was sitting atop the buoy while several sea lions were sunning themselves at the bottom. A little lion was trying to hop aboard, but no luck.

We then skiffed to steal a few dungeness from their friends' crabpot. We did get advance permission via cellphone, but there was some worry that the neighbors would shoot us. Bruce pulled the on the barnacle-encrusted roap (yuck) and pulled the pot up through 40 feet of water. Lucky us, there were 5 crabs in the pot. He took 2, the others were thrown back into the water, as was the pot.

Adaptation

Day two in Juneau feeling better than day one although the rain is pouring down. I don't mind so much though. It's kind of nice to be inside relaxing a bit more and I am used to the rain coming from Philly. Yesterday we went downtown (there were 5 cruiseships docked in Juneau harbor) and went to the museum. The exhibits of native arts and crafts were wonderful. Our favorites: a skin diaper, waterproof parkas made of seal gut.

Afterwords we visited Barbara's friend Mary Ellen Frank (picture of Mary Ellen and my hostess Barbara above) who is a doll artist. She makes these amazing dolls of natives Some of Mary Ellen's dolls.

Barbara made sure I picked up the Alaska hunting guide -- a newsprint throwaway. Do you know that out-of-staters pay $18 to 20 thousand to hire a guide and outfitting to go bear hunting? The guide is full of photos of women -- mostly women -- and their kills. It is a different world entirely. Many people eat only wild animals -- either salmon,halibut, crabs, or venison and moose. In fact, the recipe for venison-spam chili is in demand -- Sam if you can find it, can you send it to me? Everyone is very appreciative of what Spam and Venison can do to a pot of chili.

Last night we had an amazing dinner of fresh halibut and salmon in a pecan-panko crust. Yum!

Today we go whale watching on the skiff. Of course it is raining, but one has to adapt.

Juneau

I didn't bring enough warm clothes for Juneau. This was apparent when I stepped out of the terminal with my sandals and socks and light fleece exercise coverup. So I am tired (jet lag bad this trip) and cold.

Of course Barbara met me. The airport was a bit less hectic than Seattle or Philly. You walk out of the terminal and the lot's right there, kind of like Reading, PA. And the parking costs $1.00. Barbara took us first to the Mendenhall Glacier so that her dog Josie could take a brisk swim. The glacier is in the distance -- much receded from 20 years ago -- with a glacier lake up front. On the lake were ice floes -- several of them. There were also groups of rafters on an excursion -- presumbly to see the glacier up close. They use the glacial ice at parties -- particularly weddings. Barbara always says 10,000-year-old ice, a good symbol to promote a permanent relationship.

The light is amazing, because of course it doesn't change. As we ate dinner last night, and then talked for hours, the light was unchanged until 10:30 when it dimmed a bit. But then it stayed the same for another hour. I dragged myself to bed at that point and I believe it became dusky again at 2:30 am or so. Since I haven't slept well on this trip, it's all the same, meaning, the strange northern light isn't really waking me up. It's really screwing up everything. I am hoping another day will do the trick. In a few days we go even farther north were the nightime is even shorter.

Another thing about Juneau -- no people. On a beach walk, we are the only ones. I thought I spotted a sea monster out in the water, or at least a seal, but it's strange movements were un-seal-like. It turns out it was a swimmer with wetsuit and fins. Too funny.

Sunday in Seattle

I visited C, H, William, and their new arrival, Mimi. I was instantly in love. Both these kids are amazing -- smart, funny, and sweet. It made me nostalgic for the days, not so long ago, when I was surrounded by my two. But also knowing that the kids had suffered hardships before coming to the U.S. adds to the wonder. I think, too, I don't see any children anymore -- I miss it.

From C's went to a dinner party at an old friends house -- Ron, invited by older friends Kathy and Mike. Met Kathy's new dog, Maggie, who is cute, but also incredibly soft. Met a couple who live on a farmette in Mt. Vernon and raise chickens and goats. He is 80. She did not reveal her age. My only observation is that if I am lucky enough to live to 80, I want to be like him. Spry. Although I don't think I'm spry now!

We also walked to Kabota Gardens, a very large Japanese garden with fields of irises blooming in the water. Who knew irises liked water? It reminded me of a Japanese screen at the Met.

Family and Flying to Seattle in the Summer

So let's start with the flight. It was full. I checked my backpack at the last minute because there was no room in the overheads (btw, it's free if you do it that way where normally U.S. Air charges, go figure). U.S. Air must have changed to a bigger plane after seating assignments because all the cruising families had their seating assignments jumbled. I sat next to a man and a woman who had been separated from their families. The man said, "I'm going to Alaska," the woman said, "I'm going to Alaska," and I said "I'm going to Alaska." But alas, the two were cruising and became instant best friends discussing the various features of the different cruise lines. I put on my ipod and read back New Yorkers. At the very end of the flight, the man actually asked me if I was from Seattle and if I could recommend a restaurant. So, the conversation was not that interesting really, listening to the music and reading the articles were a great luxury. Why do I care that I was pushed from the conversation?

It is great being back in Seattle and seeing family and one friend so far. Of course one has to mention the gorgeous unseasonal weather. I remember growing up to endless overcast June days. Finally out of school and now this.

Everything is so clean and orderly compared to Philadelphia. I might also include in there the orderliness of my siblings homes compared to mine. I could get used to this. The gardens are sumptuous. And I am incensed at the size of their tomato plants. That was always something that Philly had over Seattle -- a hotter, longer growing season that favors the nightshades. But we have had daily soaking rain and Seattle has had a full month of sunny days.

Family Facts

Jeff and Judy (my brother and sister-in-law) are doing very well. Their house is still beautiful and the location stunning with a view of the Olympics and sunsets.
Jenny (my sister) is likewise doing well with a charming older home that she has rehabbed by herself including foundation work.
Taunya (my niece) graduated from acupuncture school but hasn't quit the day job yet. she gave us a healthy discount on the pizza and chianti she served us at her restaurant.

Photos will follow.

Today more socializing in Seattle.

Airport Ho Hum

Everything has gone smoothly except I am sitting here very anxious about my backpack. Technically it is too long. And I don't know how to adjust the frame to make it shorter to fit the regulation length. I didn't want to bring my roller -- suitcases don't roll well on earthen-grassy-rocky trails.

I see people across from me looking at their cruise itineraries. When I say I'm going to Alaska, two out of three say, "a cruise?" But as my friend Barbara says, it is nearly impossible to travel independently to Alaska. For example, we are spending two nights 10 miles from the gate at Denali. We then have to leave the park, sleep one night outside, and then the following afternoon catch the bus to go back into the park, repeating the 10 miles plus 40 more.

So apparently a cruise is the only hassle-free way to see the place.

Wish me luck with my backpack.

North to Alaska

Today I am preparing for my trip. I have a backpack, a top loader and I've started putting the things I will need later at the bottom:

hiking boots
neoprene boots for crossing streams
hat with mosquito net

You get the picture, yes? African Queen, with mosquitos, without the Africa.

I am excited, but not prepared. I haven't read anything -- I guess I prefer to be surprised and read afterwards. It is a strange habit, but I am consistent on all trips. The most I do is study the transportation and accommodations.

But before I go, I must get the garden in order -- or semi-order. This means, finally put the tomatoes into their final resting place and the last of the basil.

Wish me luck, see you tomorrow.

Trash Picking in Philly

Just went out picking with Sam and Julie. Finds: 1 bale of hay, 3 giant unopened chocolate Easter bunnies -- one Russell Stover, two less distinguished, all from this season, several blank canvases, one rattan bar stool, one very large kitty painting, one metal chair without seat.

I must say I am a bit embarrassed to be out picking, but my revulsion is overcome by the attraction to free finds. I just wish I had more time to repair the pickings. If they change the trash laws in Philly (which they should), we will see less of this.

Coming up for Air

The vegan diet fell by the wayside as soon as Mr. Stress entered the picture, and he's been here since February, ebbing and surging. I keep hoping I will find a way to emerge and find a way to make myself feel better more of the time.

Regarding Flash: I never figured it out. I tried with Lynda, with Todd, I subscribed to Safari.com, I went to GotoandLearn.com. I entreated Josh (the 12-year-old instructor). What I have left is an interface that works, but I can't get it to do much more than it's doing. I can populate it as if it were a hard-to-use application, but I can't do any new tricks.

But I am retorturing myself over the summer with a course in Javascripting. This way perhaps I can learn Flash because as scripting languages, they may have something in common.

Tonight I see "Hot and Throbbing," a play with good reviews. And for remaining two hours I putter in my garden. That is a treat in spite of the hellacious April heat (90+). Well, off to the lawnmower. I hope to figure out how to be a blogger in the near future.

Flash Terror; Vegan Diet

So, I am now doing Flash tutorials -- both Actionscripting and Flash. I looked at this week's assignment and realized I had no idea how to construct it, so I subscribed to Lynda.com and am praying that Todd Perkins will save me. He does seem like a really sweet guy, and helpful.

I also tried my son, who taught himself Actionscripting (see, it must be in my genes), but he has to write a paper. Humph.

On a totally different note, I took advantage of my short bout with the nurovirus (sp) to turn over a new leaf dietwise. I am eating mostly veggies. I have spent insane amounts of time in the kitchen. Not as much time as doing tutorials, but close. I love having these veggie-based meals with three courses and soup every night, but it is a hustle. I am proud of myself -- today I brought my own lunch to a staff meeting where lunch was provided. I can't tell you how much better I feel not eating the turkey sandwiches, chips, and cookies.

Learning Flash Actionscripting at 59

So, I am taking a class in Flash Actionscripting 3.0. Of course I am the oldest in the class by 40 years at least, and I believe the teacher is 12. He is very, very nice and I believe very talented. He uses the immersion method for teaching, so he runs script by us at hummingbird speed and we compile. And then he comes around and helps us. I, at 59, need special attention it on each project. I dutifully type the code, but then seem to totally mess up on posting objects on the stage. I wonder who it was who decided that the place where you draw, type, and so on is called a "stage." Is this related to The Stage? Acting, and so on? I think so -- using Flash you can get rectangles to dance and sing.

But I can't get them to perform, not just yet. I hope I will be able to post some of my fabulous work, should I ever produce it, on these pages, so you can enjoy my work.