Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir

perusing around the Ken cinema schedule
[Ken cinema is an originally kept movie theater from the mid 40's walking distance from my house, rather charming place]
discover they are showing today

Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir

so checked the trailer and website
& wow! a rather interesting animation film!
sounds perfect for an after rain chilly Saturday film
please check this link
with samples of the different artists who worked
on the animation on the film
all different styles, but all black & white
and all rather creepy!

here some stills from different artists styles
and their names, taken from images sections
of the official site


Charles Burns


Richard McGuire


Lorenzo Mattotti


Marie Caillou


Pierre Di Sciullo


Richard McGuire

can't wait to watch it!

the trailer

Thanksgiving 2009

on a rainy with beautiful sunny patches day



we celebrated a lovely and delicious
Thanksgiving dinner this past Thursday
in San Diego



here some of the delights we shared
we had all the traditional trimmings too
mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans
sweet potatoes, my friend Jena
tried a recipe of sweet potatoes with apples
raisins and pecans, i really liked it!
the apples gave the sweet potatoes a milder
softer texture, great combo!

but surely the star of the night
was my friend perro's roasted cranberry sauce
an original twist on the traditional cranberry sauce
that is made just with sugar and cranberries
he added roasted cardamom pods, cinnamon,
and jalapeños, and not sure what else
but it was surprisingly good treat

also his Russian bread with caraway seeds
that we ate before dinner, with this delicious
fondue of Gruyère cheese and Brandy...
it was exquisite!
all this accompanied by a couple of glasses
of chardonnay and other blanc wines

my job was the same as the past couple of years
in charge of pumpkin pie



worth mentioning that our hosts, apart from trimming
and turkey, baked a delicious sweet potato pie
with pecans on top, home-made crust...





this American holiday has become not only sharing
this traditional menu with the goods of the Autumn,
but a warm celebration of thankfulness for the good things
we have in our life

as surely i am thankful, for those wonderful fluffy clouds on the skies
for the fortunate fragrances and tastes of not just the delicious meal above
but the meals i get every day, as i never go hungry or cold
and i am thankful to be able to see the smiles of friends
and families and too the ones online!
thankful for being happy of being alive

the coming rain

& driving back home tonight
my eyes posed over layers of images
a steering wheel, my cold hands,
the dirty windshield, the dusty board
and then followed this spectacular
woolly blanket of clouds



... the imminent signs in the sky of
a promised-long-overdue rain

and later
this night

as i type,
a lone sound outside
[nearly foreign to me now]

is that one of she! wet!
typing too, with her clean clear big drops
she falls
on the ground
on the grass
on the floor & w/
her fresh crisp claims
launders it all
leaving traces of hope

still...
after a little while,
like these words,
she will dry out,
evaporate,
dissolve

Jhumpa Lahiri and Goodreads.com

I found this little gadget on Goodreads.com
where you can share your books' reviews
and your reading lists, recommendations, etc.
on your blog and
i recently started adding books & words there
...
a couple of days ago my friend Risa
wrote me a lovely e-mail saying that
after reading this review she decided
to read this book
so here, sharing
it is indeed a wonderful book!

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
rating: 5 of 5 stars
My review:
This book is a collection of soulful short stories of Indian immigrants living in the US and I think some stories where in India too, I read this book maybe in 2006 or 2007 but every time I think of a book that really touched me emotionally I think of this book or Alice Munro's short stories. I came across Interpreter of Maladies by chance, it was left at the lunch table at my office where co-workers exchange used items. I picked up and didn't read it for a while... After reading the 1st short story, I was immediately excited about the jewel I've found for free. Every story is about love and relationships and quirkiness of the human soul. Every story, regardless of being about love between lovers, or an old-lady working alone in an abandon building, reveals some kind of magic. With few books I cry while I read, and this one, in such a humanitarian point of view, made me cry a couple of times. I am really surprised to see how young is the beautiful author, because her words sound like those of an old soul. A must read. You'll appreciate every turn of the each story.
View all my reviews.

Presidio park: haven of peace

tasted like copper this Sunday
at the Presidio Park



not radiant like Summer gold
not cold like Winter silver
but a warm orange
cooper Sunday

and i followed unexpected my own steps
3.12 pm (15.12 Uhr)
a sudden need for nature
the sight of a tree
a walk, i needed freedom!
and almost automatically drove
to these
prairies and trees
it was the mild orange of copper
today at the Presidio park
and i walked, and breathed
and caressed with my little camera
oh so many trees!

Autumn and blooming

cold and sunny Sunday in San Diego
but last week the late Summer was visiting still
sprouting, flowering

an wide orange smile



too early? or too late Spring?




blooming late November, still



this jar with sprouts of an old root of Peppermint

thursday bad, friday not

last Thursday was bad
migraine again
and no work

but
Friday, not so bad!
finished the 1st scarf of the Autumn
with left overs of yarn from last year
so it's a shorty one



and following a long-time ago advice
from my dear friend al
i now got a more colorful yarn
to make more psychedelic scarfs while snoozing out
behind the TV on the colder evenings this winter
and yes! we do have some cool nights in San Diego



also Friday got to wear my new walking-witch model



they are really comfortable!
and remind me of the shoes i wore
on the 70's when i was a girl
i haven't wear shoes with laces, except for tennis shoes
in a while, i thought these would be good for a change



and in the evening, i got my tea-advice
from my cup of Good Earth tea
a sweet and spicy blend

classy dessert rescues pesky Monday

last Monday, yesterday
had all the inevitable symptoms
of a blue Monday

cumulus of neurosis and apathy
climbing up & down my spine
traces and hope and lost alternated in me
and mood swings were frequents
and switched between minutes
and sometimes seconds, intervals
and no coffee amount was enough to bring to me
the urgently required spark

the smell of carpet glue lingering in the office
from last week's repairs
soporific loads of work
regrets of a not well-enjoyed weekend
having missed a party among friends
were bringing me down...
in 4 colloquial words:
i felt like shit!

but about 1/2 working day
after lunch and the Mondays staff meeting
my pinche best friend and boss
reminded me that he had brought to the office
some left overs from his party the day before of
"molten chocolate cake with vanilla creme freaiche, and raspberry coulis"

oh so all went so much better then!!!
and i truly appreciated
el perro's dedication to deliver the dish
so properly!
he carried each ingredient in separate containers
and instructed me to warm up for 7 seconds the molten cake
in the microwave at the lunch room in the office
once the cake was warm
he dropped carefully the creme freaiche on top
and told me to place the three coulis
i must confess all lasted little after served
barely enough for the shot,
promptly i devoured it all!

the cake was soft and moist and just warm in the inside
and the creme was still cold and the raspberries crispy
all served on an office paper plate
was great! top chef delivered at my desk

i am glad my friend is into cooking so professionally!
ah! i got many great meals already, ha! but not just that
i am also glad to hear every day more people get the importance of home-made cooking
the importance of food and the role of it in our lives
on how nutrition can alter one's body chemistry for better or
worse; it seems to me that, gladly, food is recovering a new importance
on people lives, all these chef TV programs, cooking contests, etc. seem to encourage this new age where we respect fresh and interestingly cooked food instead of industrialized pre-fabricated so-called food factories have been feeding us. I just find it beautiful, all this food & cooking renaissance!
and i guess...

i just love to see people playing with their food again!

on books

i must read more!
once i used to read more
when lucky,
a book per week
when OK,
two books a month
and of course there's always fluctuation
and variation, since each author
and each piece is different to read
but sadly
those avid-reading days are far gone!
i started slowing down
when enrolled the infamous
Deutschstunde
and no regrets there
'cause i learn a lot of German culture
auch einfach weil
Deutsch macht Spaß! ;)
then Summer
then heat
then Grand Canyon!!
(even less regrets!
i loved that trip)
and then just bare laziness lately
and some TV (yikes! hurts typing it)
all this been keeping me away from reading

and so on my lap
for soo many days i've been reading
these Anthony Bourdain's
Adventures on the Culinary Underbelly
Kitchen Confidential
and as much as i am loving
señor Bourdain's anecdotes in the kitchens
and his teachings in restaurant business
and rushed way of living... is not a book that should've
been taking me this long to get done with!
as much as i enjoy almost every page

therefore
i am disciplining myself
i will try to go back slowly
but sturdy into a book-per-month schedule
and in order to be able to start a new book in December
i must finish Kitchen Confidential in 13 days

two days ago i made this calculations
the total pages of the book is 312
i've read 178 already
which left me with 138 pages left to be read
divided among the amount of days left in November
15, then i must read 8.93 pages per day
i guess rounding, 9 pages per day



so far i am behind right now!!
instead of typing i should be reading...
procrastination?, ja!

ein Seltsamer Samstag

gestern war
yesterday was
ayer fué un día extraño con tintes de tristeza



and some words took me by surprise
[surprised more like a little perplexed me above]

& it's too sunny too hot
too dry & too dry & too dry
again here in California
since Friday night
and i can feel my head, my soul
and my heart drying out to the compass of
lost, confused Summer days dancing
around our Autumn time bringing
Santa Ana winds and fires
up & down

and like this dry land
today my heart too
got another little crack

oh well! to comfort myself
the best way i know around
cooking myself some comfort

here a Summer-type of pasta
chunky but fresh-tasting tomato sauce

the ingredients
- 1 can of peeled diced tomatoes* (14.5 oz or 411 gr)
- olive oil
- fresh basil [i got mine from my little plant outside]
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 or a 1/3 of an onion
- fresh grounded black pepper
- sea salt
- oregano
- Parmesan cheese if Parmigiano Reggiano** better,
but any kind will do



the cooking
- heat the olive oil on a medium sauce pan
- add the fined chopped garlic and onion for 3 minutes to the hot oil
- add the diced tomatoes and the basil
- season to taste with the sea salt, fresh grounded black pepper, and oregano
- cook on medium heat covered for about 20 minutes
- toss with the fresh cooked & drained pasta of your choice



top the pasta with the sauce and serve topped w/ Parmesan cheese
i didn't have Parmesan but i had this delicious
Asiago BelGioioso, dry enough to be excellent on pasta
and it has a distinctive sweet and nutty flavor



so here my comforting dinner for
an uncomfortable day



the fresh pasta accompanied of some
whole wheat french bread with softened butter
not that i need more butter looking at the size of my hips
or that the butter needs to be softened in this heat

and sadly no wine no beer
it's so dry here! drinking alcohol just adds to the dehydration
so just more mineral sparkling water for me

let's see what Sunday has reserved for me
under it's Sundayish sunny reheating sleeve...

* please notice that i don't use tomato paste or puree for this sauce, you can replace the canned tomatoes for fresh roma tomatoes for an even fresher taste!

** i had NO idea that Parmigiano Reggiano Formaggio had a consortium, that's what i call being a BIG cheese