I have this philosophy that I should never see absolutely everything there is to see in a place. Setting aside that it would be impossible to actually do that (except, maybe, in Winnemucca), this philosophy means that there’s always a reason to come back One of the “obvious” things that I’ve never done in all […]
The middle weekend of February. The second of three weekends that I set aside to do my U.S. taxes. Ugh. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still do something interesting! I spent all morning figuring out the accounts for my house in Seattle, which I’m renting through Airbnb (surprise: it’s making money), and then hopped […]
Back in Luxembourg for another conference, this time with our devices business. The upside? Instead of being stuck all day in a hotel conference room, we got to meet in the light and airy Philharmonie concert hall. The downside? Between last week and this week, I’m all conferenced out. I’m tired of corporate Kool-Aid and […]
Remember that lovely ceramics shop below our flat in Sydney that was closed the entire time we were there? Well, as I faced a weekend of work and taxes, I resolved that I would carve out at least enough time to make a visit to the shop’s London sibling. I had the shop to myself, […]
Flying back from Luxembourg to London in a smallish propeller plane mostly full of my colleagues coming back from the same conference. The weather is terrible the whole way — high winds and clouds, lots of turbulence. Finally we start our descent into London City Airport, breaking through the clouds into driving rain. But as […]
Note to my teenage self circa 1996 when I was on the competitive poetry- and prose-reading circuit for high schoolers in rural Oregon: Have all the fun you want doing this because, yes, it turns out this is a life skill you will use in your job as a lawyer in the European offices of […]
Last year I resolved to do at least one interesting thing every weekend I spend in London. Well, during the season of tax preparation and writing endless performance reviews, the bar for what counts as “interesting” is apparently quite low. This weekend drinking fancy French hot chocolate out of Danish porcelain while sorting through expenses […]
Dinner was loud and delicious at Yauatcha Soho, followed by an uber-glamorous after party at Disrepute, a subterranean speakeasy that was notorious for scandal and international intrigue during the Cold War. Today I turned Nicole and Bruce loose to explore Notting Hill and Little Venice without me (in the pouring rain) while I sat (cozily […]
Tonight we had some friends over for dessert. Justin made a delicious little treat of macerated berries with cream . . . . . . which we served with shortbread cookies and French got chocolate . . . . . . we had a cosy little turnout — ten people in all — and a […]
Part of the deal I struck with my company when I moved to London was that I could come back to Seattle whenever I needed to. And part of the deal with Justin was that I would make sure I “needed to” as often as I could. So, since I left Justin to do the […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 