talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

heading toward labor day

Labor Day at talbotlucas.org won't bring a rest from our labors, but in the spirit of the day I share with you a Wallace photo that, for me, epitomizes a happy, lazy day: Wallace, upside down, watching a patch of sunshine move toward him in our upstairs hallway.

Happy Labor Day!

speaking of Julia

Since a few of my recent posts have referred to Julia Child, here's a pointer to the interactive site featuring her kitchen, which she donated to the Smithsonian. In addition to getting a virtual tour of the display, the site also features biographical information, sound clips, and trivia.

love those grapes!

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say...I love what those grapes do to me!

Today's New York Times includes an article about the potentially life-extending properties of some forms of red wine, describing the startling preliminary studies of the effects of the compound resveratrol. The amount of resveratrol is supposedly higher (10x higher) in red wines because of the manufacturing process (perhaps the longer contact with the skins?) and the compound mimics the effects of caloric reduction. Scientists believe this might explain what's become known as the "French Paradox," or the ability to consume higher calorie, higher fat foods without suffering the same levels of heart disease often tied to such consumption.

Terrence was pleased (though perhaps a little dismayed) to learn that my cholesterol levels are in good shape (136 in last month's blood test) despite the rate at which I consume butter and creme fraiche. In this respect I like to follow Julia Child's approach. When asked how she stayed trim, despite her rich diet, she replied, "I don't eat so much butter and cream -- just enough!"

Nice to have such good gastronomic news on a Sunday morning. And so nice to know that raising a glass with our meals may truly be a toast to our future.

back in session

I'm hitting the books again, full-time, as of today (well, really as of last night, since we had reading assignments for the first day of classes). Terrence and I have a few events and projects on the horizon, but aside from those it's just work work work work work, so I'm changing my status to "incommunicado" for much of this semester. I guess I'm using incommunicado in a relative sense: I'm hoping to use the 'blog as an outlet, and I'm sure I won't be able to stay away from email, but beyond that, enforced cloistering may be in order.

So far--at least what one can glean from day one--the classes look good. Substantial. Not easy, but good. If it's a successful semester I'll end it with signficant knowledge of business structures, federal income tax, and financial analysis. If it's unsuccessful...hmm, Terrence won't allow that, so no point in musing about what that might be.

Back to the books...

our new neighbor: joey!

J'ai, our friend and neighbor, welcomed Joey into her home today. Joey is an adorable King Shepherd who arrived today from her breeder in Pennsylvania. Although she was just exhausted--lots of puppy splats as she dropped to the floor for micronaps--she's clearly a sweetheart.

Wallace will get to meet Joey soon, but we didn't want to overwhelm her on her first night in her new home. Joey succeeds (but doesn't replace) Mickey, who was the our first canine friend on the block. He and J'ai welcomed us on our first day in the neighborhood, and Wallace and Mickey used to look forward to greeting each other first thing in the morning and taking care of their...morning needs. While Joey doesn't take Mickey's place, she's a wonderful, welcome addition to our friendly neighborhood canine family, and we're looking forward to watching her grow into a strong, beautiful adult.

For the time being, though, I'm going to have a hard time resisting that silky puppy fur she's got.

the julie/julia project

For those of you who missed the piece on the Julie/Julia Project in last Wednesday's New York Times, I urge you to read it. The Project is a monumental one--Julie Powell is working/cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the masterpiece (some might say) of Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louise Bertholle. Terrence and I have cooked from it on occasion, and I've thought of cooking my way through it, but we've never undertaken the task, and I doubt I would be able to do so within the one year timeframe Julie Powell set for herself.

If the Times' article piques your interest, check out the Julie/Julia Project directly. And if the salty language bothers you, follow Amanda Hesser's lead and substitute "cookie" every time you see "&%$#!"

We've had great success with Julia Child's Homard à l'Américaine recipe, which matches--no surprise--the lessons we had learned on our visit to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I'm glad I got the chance to experience our instructor's dramatic flair, and after dismembering lobster in my own kitchen, I really respected his arm strength and calloused hands! Julie Powell worked her way through the lobsters many months ago: here's the link to Julie's experience with the above-mentioned recipe. It's a hoot, as is her Lobster Thermidor recipe (scroll down a bit--it's the second post on the page).

And if you're really interested, grab the audio file of Christopher Lydon's interview with Ms. Powell. [You need to click on his "listen in" link, but note that the links don't work in Safari. I suggest you use IE [sigh] to open it. On the other hand, if you're not reading this on an up-to-date Mac, you're probably saying "what?," and in that case, well, never mind... And a word to the wise: it's a 12.2MB audio file, and even with a high speed connection it took me several minutes to download.]

hummingbird at rest

Over the last two weeks we've had a very regular visitor to the braches of the fig tree that's just outside the home office window--a hummingbird. Although there are a lot of them in the area, there's one that seems to be coming back again and again--to the same branch, around the same time of day, every day. There's nothing remarkable about the tree or the branch; it's welcoming enough to my eyes, but it seems to have caught the fancy of this little bird.

Why the posting about this? Well, they're normally zippy things, swooping and zooming around, finding enough food to fuel their incredible metabolism, so to see one sitting calmly on a branch, looking around, for minutes at a time is kind of unusual. And it seems like a nice thing that he--or she, or they--chose a spot that makes it seem as though he's looking in at us as we type at our desks.

Just a summer observation from southern California...

heralding the 15th edition!

August may bring humid weather, wildfires, and the return to school, but this year it also brings the 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, the latest and greatest on editing the written word from the Staff of the University of Chicago Press.

Today's New York Times features a delightful article that captures some of the care and passion that go into the revision process. Anita Samen--who joined the Press while I was still working there and is now the chief of the manuscript editing department--represents the enthusiasm that the Press staff bring to this project. (The Chicago Tribune also ran a piece on the Manual in yesterday's paper.)

Terrence occasionally asks if we really need to keep copies of the 13th and 14th editions on our shelves, and I'm sure that question will come up again when my copy of the 15th edition arrives. For the time being, my answer is yes. It's a wonderful trip down memory lane to read the prefaces of each edition and see the acknowledgments given to Press staff--past and present--with whom I worked and whom I respected. And past editions did contain a few of what I would call inside jokes--not jokes that introduced errors or that were at anyone's expense, but little details that would make a Press alum smile with recognition.

Also of note from the Press is Book Clubs by Elizabeth Long. For those of you who've been involved in a book club in more than a passing way, or for those of you who wonder why this form of gathering has become something of a phenomenon, Long's book may be worth a look. I miss the monthly meetings of the Ivey Book Group of which I was a proud member from its formation in February 1990 until I left Chicago in November of 1996. Actually, I like to think that we're only on a really long hiatus, and that we're all still members of the Group, and someday I'll make good on my plan to put our 6+ years of records in electronic form. But that, my friends, is a project for another day.

Back to work...

when the state budget crisis becomes a student budget crisis

With only two weeks before the semester begins, University of California officials today informed students that their tuition and fees for the coming year will be increased--dramatically. For many graduate students who study on the semester system and whose fall semester bills are due on 20 August, that's two weeks' notice that they need to come up with several thousand dollars.

How did we get to this point? To pass the California budget, state officials supposedly trimmed approximately $410 million from the budget of the University of California. To put that figure in perspective, it's roughly the budget of the entire Berkeley campus, the second largest campus in the U. Cal system. Professional schools--such as the law schools--have been the hardest hit, and law students at UCLA have been hit with an increase of 47% over last year.

While I understand the difficulties that a state budget crisis poses for state schools, the news was difficult to swallow for a lot of students who rely heavily on financial aid, and who measure their monthly budget dollars very carefully. Although federal student loan interest rates are at or near historically low levels, there's a cap on those loan amounts, and many students and their families are having to turn to supplemental loans from lenders who charge credit card-like rates. For someone without a long credit history, or whose credit might be shaky, that can translate to 18% (compared with federal student loan rates in the neighborhood of 3%).

did DiFi say "carnival"?

Further to the post earlier this evening about the upcoming recall election, it seems that all sorts of folks are putting their names on the ballot. Hell, if you can drum up 66 signatures (65 + your own) and $3,500, you, too, can run for governor of California. Or so I've been told.

Larry Flynt's supposedly in the running. As is Angelyne, who's famous for...being famous, which counts for a lot here in L.A.

The Huffingtons are already getting nasty (or at least Arianna's ex-husband's staffers are). The Los Angeles Times noted that Arianna would not run if her ex-husband chose to. The ex-husband's spokesman's comment: "Obviously, Arianna has initiated her campaign with a lack of credibility." Ooooh...the fun is just beginning!

Driving home the other day I heard a report on the radio that several college-age people are putting their names on the ballot. Gives new meaning to the phrase "résumé padding."

And Terrence heard that the 99¢ Stores are trying to find a 99-year-old willing to run. They'll supposedly arrange the signatures and pay the fee.

I think Senator Feinstein hit the nail on the head. It's going to be a carnival, alright. Too bad: California's also the world's fifth largest economy, a state with incredible resources.

california election news

The strangeness that is California politics just accepted a new contribution from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is supposedly going to announce his candidacy for governor on "The Jay Leno Show." The Associated Press (via the New York Times) reports that Schwarzenegger said the decision to run for the state office was "the toughest he made since deciding to get a bikini wax in 1978."

Oh, shit.

Arianna Huffington has also thrown her hat into the gubernatorial ring--at least she seems to have a grasp of issues beyond a sound bite, and without (as far as we know) resorting to references to waxing. (This isn't to suggest that I think Ms. Huffington doesn't care about waxing. I mean, she always strikes me as being poised and well-groomed. But we don't need to know everything about a candidate, do we?)

And what if Arianna Huffington's ex-husband (who came out of the closet after the dissolution of their marriage) enters the race? The AP article only says he's "taken out papers." I don't want to imagine what that mud-slinging would be like.

DiFi (aka Senator Diane Feinstein) was quoted as saying the election was becoming more like a carnival every day. Hard to argue with that observation. Perhaps we'll open a virtual popcorn concession here at talbotlucas.org...

Amadeus at the Academy

Last night, Terrence and I finally saw Amadeus on the big screen, at no less a venue than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka the people who bring you the Oscars®). Neither of us saw it at the theatre--only on the small screen--and so we had been looking forward to this screening, which was part of the Academy's "Facets of the Diamond" series, a 75-week-long series of events showcasing each year's Best Picture, best short film, best song, clips from the featured year's Academy Awards telecast, and the original trailer for the film that won the subsequent year's Oscar for Best Picture. (For this screening, the trailer was for Out of Africa.)

Several members of the cast and crew were in the audience, including Jeffrey Jones (who played the Emperor), John Strauss (who won an Oscar for the original musical compositions in the film, and who also played a conductor in the film), and the producer, Saul Zaentz. (For those of you who remember my stint in Berkeley, the offices in which I worked were located in Zaentz's Fantasy Records building on the threshold of Berkeley and Emeryville.) Zaentz's next Oscar-winner, The English Patient, will be shown at the end of October, and if we can fit it into the schedule we're going to get tickets.

The theatre at the Academy is very comfortable, but what was best of all was the silence. No one talked during the movie. No food or beverages are allowed so there was no annoying chomping, slurping, or unwrapping. And perhaps even more notable, not one cell phone rang during the movie, which runs 2 hours and 40 minutes. It made seeing a movie in a theatre an enjoyable experience, rather than the test of nerves it sometimes seems to be.