Mexico, Part 2

Last Sunday morning, we joined our friends back at the surf camp for the wedding brunch. The same caterers worked their magic, and we had an unbelievable meal of huevos rancheros and a yummy casserole dish called chilaquiles, plus a platter of fresh local fruits (the papaya was a treat). Since we left the wedding reception before cake was distributed, I felt it was my responsibility as a witness to their union to sample the cake, which was apparently a gift baked in Mexico by a couple of the wedding guests. So for brunch I sampled both the strawberry and coconut varieties, and it was all I could do not to go back for more!

Then we headed for the beach all afternoon. The photo above is where we set up shop, and we were joined by many wedding guests (and eventually the bride and groom) until our clump of sun worshippers owned the beach. Dave ventured into the ocean with wetsuit and surfboard three times that afternoon, and won points for focus and dedication, if not time logged actually standing on the board. He's quite hooked.

I happily read Shopaholic for the first couple hours, and grew concerned about my skin as time progressed. Although I eventually took shelter under an umbrella, my 45 spf was defenseless against 5 hours in the sun, and I returned home with some red patches. But my darling hat saved my face.

That night we returned to Todos Santos, and ate dinner at the Hotel California. It was just the touch of civilization we had been itching for, and although we weren't actually served food until 9pm, our group of 9 were content to drink, chat, and sit together. I had the best meal of my journey, fried oyster tacos with a sweet salsa. We've already talked about replicating that dish at home. Oh yeah, and the flan we got rivaled the size of a Cheesecake Factory dessert!

The next morning we departed early, found a local restaurant for some more chilaquiles, and made way for the airport. After our weekend in the country, it was interesting to pass all the luxury resorts on our way back through Cabo San Lucas -- definitely tempting for next time. When we got back to Denver it was actually snowing, and honestly it was kind of a nice division of our time. A nice trip to Mexico, and nice to be home.

Tonight I'm packing for Europe, and tomorrow after work we head to the airport again. Weather.com says we can expect around 60 degrees each day with chances of rain. My goals are to soak in the Budapest thermal springs, eat some pirogis in Poland, and walk the Charles Bridge in Prague. Wish me luck!

Mexico, Part 1

Our trip to Mexico has come to a close! It was an interesting contrast of major successes, and minor challenges, although they certainly seemed more significant at the time...

We left Denver on Friday without a problem, and got our rental car. The route to our destination was through San Jose del Cabo, a few miles further to Cabo San Lucas, and another hour along the Pacific coast to a rural area outside of the small town of Todos Santos. We took an unintended detour through Cabo San Lucas that yielded a view of the famous rock formations at the tip of the Baja Peninsula! Then we were on our way again.

Unfortunately luck was no longer with us. We drove the remaining hour, and proceeded to spend TWO AND A HALF MORE trying to find our lodging! We tried everything to understand our written directions, driving up and down rugged one lane dirt roads with no signs anywhere. At one point we were in the middle of a farm, pleading for just a morsel of information from the Mexican workers, which yielded a hilarious contest of wits that could be on some sitcom. Finally our last creative attempt took us step by step to our casita, right before dinner. (Our plane landed at one.)

So we joined our friends for fish tacos, while the sun set over the Pacific, and there is nothing that can restore a good mood more quickly.

Alas, our luck changed again when I decided to call it an early night. Dave escorted me back to the casita, where I promptly discovered a nasty cockroach in our bathroom. To make matters worse, we were in the bedroom five minutes later when we both witnessed an even more unwelcome visitor -- a GECKO climbed up our wall and out to the roof of palm fronds! So my first night sleeping in the soothing whisper of the Pacific, I tossed and turned under a claustrophobic mosquito net. Turns out that we were to see this gecko every night, and by the end of the trip we had named him Sammy Hagar the Gecko.

Anyway, Saturday we joined friends for an excellent breakfast in Todos Santos (I had the "breakfast sandwich," which was very fresh if not particularly Mexican), and went through some tourist shops with my girlfriend Amy. We stopped at a roadside strawberry stand before returning for our suits and a quick drive to the beach. Soon it was time for the wedding.

We all got dressed, and were staying so close to the wedding site that we could stroll to it down the beach. Matt and Jolene (the couple in question) had the clever idea of taking polaroid photos of everyone to accompany their comments in the guest book. The wedding was lovely, right next to the ocean. A few times we even got to see flocks of pelicans flying over the water during the ceremony. I thought it was particularly touching that they had planned the wedding for Earth Day, and the ceremony was more in tune with nature than religion.

After the wedding we hustled to the Pescadero Surf Camp for the reception, a small cluster of tent shelters where some of our friends were staying, a place ironically nowhere near the beach. But apparently all you need for great atmosphere is some nicely set tables with candles around a swimming pool, because it was perfectly festive. More fantastic local food, a visit by some dive-bombing bats, one friend with a reaction to ceviche that was hustled to a local clinic, and some funky world music later, and we were on our way back to Sammy Hagar for the night.

Book Update

Although I've been selecting a lot of books that have received great reviews or recommendations, this spring season has not yielded any special favorites, save one. I feel like I've been moving through books slowly, although I guess several of these were long and/or challenging, so I must still be making good time in the scheme of things! Here are the books of 2006 so far:

• The Plot Against America - very dull.
• The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron - interesting, but long and difficult to follow.
• Something Blue - chick lit, nothing extraordinary but a relief after Enron.
• I Know This Much Is True - one of the couple best of the year so far. Very good and readable, although 900 pages. Recommended.
  
• Prep - Very good story about a girl at prep school, recommended.
• The Lost Painting - A surprisingly dull story about research leading to the discovery of a Caravaggio painting.
• The World is Flat - Very interesting non-fiction about the globalization of business, but difficult to recommend because it's quite long and repetitive.
• On Beauty - Stopped at 100 pages.
  
• The Year of Magical Thinking - A memoir about the death of a loved one, that was a surprisingly unemotional read for me.
• My Antonia - Pleasantly readable for a classic, but not something I found gripping.
• Me Talk Pretty One Day - A compilation of anecdotes, a little funny and a little dark.
• Can You Keep a Secret? - Sad to say for the more intellectual books on the list, this is the best of the year so far. Light, funny, charming, the joy of reading. For women only.
  
• Skinny Bitch - Vascillates between funny and charming diet book, and shocking animal rights expose. Effective at both.
• Running With Scissors - A memoir about a sad childhood that is supposed to be funny. In my opinion the result was pretty odd. This will be released as a movie this fall.
• Enduring Love - A unique story of a tragic accident involving a hot air balloon, and a stalking case that ensues. Strangely I was expecting the stalking to be the meat of the book, but was actually more interested in the initial incident. It was like one of those scruples questions that has no easy answer. Interesting. But hard to recommend a book whose best stuff is at the beginning.

So that's it. Hopefully the next month will yield some good reading while I'm jet setting around. : )

Jen

McVegan

Is it possible to change one's diet for the better, when your favorite meal is only five bucks, and sold on every street corner? I have 31 years evidence to the contrary, but I keep trying. Last weekend I read Skinny Bitch, a (usually) funny and off color reminder of good nutrition, from an animal rights perspective.

Since then I've refreshed my commitment to proper eating habits, but have already had to revise twice. Unfortunately naughty things like caffeine are addictive, and I was forced to endure a headache for most of the week. But I succeeded in eating four vegan lunches, and am mostly over caffeine, I hope. So for now I would be happy to repeat this pattern for a few weeks, sans headaches, and maybe even do a few work outs.

Can it be done? Can five dollar happiness be forgotten? Will my tastebuds actually be persuaded that fat and sugar are disagreeable? I really do want to find out some day soon.

Movie Update

Well, we've more or less completed the first 1/3 of the movie going year. My initial reaction is that it's been a boring spring, but looking at the list it's actually been pretty impressive! This summer there is some great looking stuff on the horizon, and even with the usual 25% success rate, SOMETHING should be good.

Best of 2006 So Far:

• Brokeback Mountain, which I didn't get around to in 2005. Possibly one of my all time favorites. It's been really tainted by so much hype and argument in pop culture, but I still see it for an amazing love story, and the difficult lives these men are trying to muddle through. One of the few movies that I actually felt I knew the main characters, and felt what they were going through -- it touched my heart. Includes the most passionate kiss I've ever seen.
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Excellent, and a particular bargain at the dollar theater! The story was terrific, and the special effects were better than ever. Only one flaw -- why would you hire a guy as sexy as Ralph Fiennes and make him hideous? It makes no sense.
• V For Vendetta. The best of 2006 so far -- if the summer blockbusters come even close to this, it will be a great summer. Comic book and science fiction elements, allusions to Count of Monte Cristo (one of my favorite books), mystery, love, revenge, a great looking heroine, a great sounding hero, beautifully filmed -- and two special effects climaxes that will blow your socks off. This is what movies are all about.
• Inside Man. Pretty decent, your ordinary decent bank heist film, although a tiny bit confusing to me.
• Take the Lead. A pleasant surprise -- a dance movie that's not painful to watch when the music stops! Antonio Banderas was charming, as intended, and there's a tango scene that is worth the price of admission on its own. Very fun.
• The Pianist (rental). Well made and beautiful, but I'm not sure I can recommend. The first three fourths are a long process of survival and hiding during the Holocaust. It's only toward the end that we are rewarded with a couple amazing bits of film. If you're willing to put in the first two hours to enjoy the last thirty minutes, the payoffs are pretty amazing.
• Mean Girls (rental). Easily the best Saturday Night Live movie ever made, hilarious and fun.

Looking Forward To:

• Da Vinci Code -- a book so nice I read it twice.
• Mission Impossible 3. Just looks like too much fun to pass up, plus Phillip Seymour Hoffman will make a great villain.
• X Men 3. A great series, will not miss this one.
• Lady In the Water. Shyamalan's new one. Even his failures are more interesting than most successes.
• Miami Vice. Even though Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell are kind of yucky to me, I have faith in any Michael Mann production. And the preview ROCKED.
• Superman Returns. I had no interest in this until I saw the preview, and it gave me goosebumps. That's not very surprising now that I've learned Bryan Singer is directing (he did the first X-Men), and Kevin Spacey is playing Lex Luthor.
• Little Miss Sunshine. Steve Carell's next project, which got great buzz at Sundance, and my most reliable source (Sunday) confirms it's promising.

And if you need a rental, here's my top 10 of 2005:

• Brokeback Mountain
• Walk the Line
• Pride and Prejudice
• Batman Begins
• King Kong
• March of the Penguins
• Murderball
• Grizzly Man
• Chronicles of Narnia
• Capote

Chicken and What?

Tonight Dave and I met some friends for a fantastic meal at Cafe Prague, under the pretense of research for our upcoming trip. Cafe Prague is a wonderful restaurant in Morrison, and although the staff speaks with heavy accents, the only insight we left with was that our hotel is in a good area for sustenance. And be careful about taxis.

Anyway, I had an unusual dish of chicken with peaches and swiss cheese, and Dave had an even more impressive Hungarian goulash. The first time we dined there, we had an amazing platter for two that included roast duck, roast pork, meatloaf, and chicken schnitzel with a few sides. (I was on a bit of a hiatus from my "goodwill toward animals" policy.)

Highly recommend for something off the beaten path. Check out the website.

The Funniest Show On TV

Is it possible South Park has been on television 10 years now? Over the last decade I keep forgetting about and coming back to South Park. I'm not sure I would want to be responsible for recommending it -- if you would find it funny, you probably already know.

Now I've returned again to the funniest show on TV. When I heard about the Scientology episode that was pulled by Comedy Central (apparently due to the ire of one Tom Cruise), my curiosity got the best of me and I watched it online. And somehow Matt and Trey have even surpassed those belly laughs with their episode on Wednesday, a perfectly self-referential masterpiece about a cartoon that dares to mock someone's religion. (Not to mention a terrific car chase on big wheels.) It's a two parter, and if this show is to your liking, I think the upcoming episode on Wednesday will be worth tuning in for... I know I am back on the wagon.

Music Matters

Today I said a sad goodbye to my favorite gadget, something more important than ordinary conveniences like cars or furniture -- my XM radio receiver. I've owned it for three months, and it has humiliated my iPod into a sad dusty corner of the kitchen.

Unfortunately the receiver is no longer working, so I might be out of luck for the next month. I popped it in the mail, and turned on the regular radio for the first time in 2006. To keep my sanity I decided to tune to the classical station, and I've received the shocking reminder that I actually LOVE classical music. Why in the world have I been listening to Pink and Puffy??

It's an ironic sidenote that it was almost a full day before I remembered I could bring my iPod back into action. Poor, sad little mp3 player.

South of the Border

I'm ready for Mexico!

I bought this spanking hat tonight, just for the occasion. I've also got a little reading momentum again, so here are my books for the next month of adventure (and airports):


Confessions of a Shopaholic (re-read)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
The World According to Garp
Enduring Love
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Wish me luck!

The trip to Mexico is near Todos Santos, about an hour outside of Cabo San Lucas on the Baja peninsula. Our friends Matt and Jolene are getting married 4/22. Aside from the festivities, I'm looking forward to some time away from the hustle and bustle. In my new hat!

Sweet Relief

Right now I'm reading "Can You Keep a Secret?," which is the absolute
definition of chick lit.  It has no redeeming literary value whatsoever,
it's barely based in reality, and yet I'm finding it adorable, romantic,
and laugh out loud funny.  This is not surprising, as I am a big fan of
the Shopaholic series, written by the same author.  Highly recommend,
assuming you are female.

Prior to this resuscitation, I had ground to an absolute halt.  I
recently gave up on On Beauty, which seems to be the reverse experience
-- a book that has a literary flavor, but doesn't grab me at all.  This
comes as a surprise as it was featured on the NY Times best of 2005.
Well, win some lose some I guess.

As for the first quarter of the year, it's been surprisingly dull and
the only recommendation I can offer without caution is Prep.  Maybe it's
time to get started on Harry Potter after all...

Introductory Post

I'm starting this blog to share a historic event, my recent trip to Manhattan with Wade! Aside from 12 hours of travel to the east coast, the trip went well. In two days we managed to experience the Carnegie Deli, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the W Hotel, South Street Seaport, the Saint Patrick's Day parade, the Waldorf Astoria, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grand Central Station, the World Trade Center site, Wall Street and the stock exchange, and a new restaurant called Tao (where we met up with Sejal for dinner). Check out the pics.

Being the cheap date I am, the highlight for me was a random Chinese restaurant and an opening weekend screening of V For Vendetta. Action, special effects, a mysterious hero/villain with a sexy voice. What's not to love?