Penultimation, Cape Cod Style

Today is our last full day, here on the Estate. Rather than wallow in pity about it, I decided to wake up early to maximize the day.

Some of my favorite vacation things:

* Not Shaving
* Coffee & Crossword
* Friendship
* Badminton
* Ice Cream
* Cocktail Hour is 4pm (3pm weekends!)
* Fish & Chips
* Bike Rides
* Beach
* The off-brand Scrabble game we found in the closet, "Lookee"

I've already started the Not Shaving Part for today, so now it's time to run off and do the rest.

A Day In The Life, Cape Cod Style

Whew. I sure am glad Amber is my chum and filled in for me the past few days. It's hard to blog on vacation, at least in part due to inconsistent wireless here at the Estate.


What's a normal Vacation Day like for me, you ask?

Well, I wake up around 8:30 or so, and take stock of the wonderful Cape Cod Artifacts we have here.

Our Lobster fisherman lamp, our Falmouth life preserver, and the stained glass hanging lighthouse, to name but a few.








Then, I take a walk into town, sometimes calling Amber on the way, and I buy the newspaper, a vacation luxury.

Once I'm back, I sit at the picnic table on the backyard and do the crossword puzzle and drink coffee out of a tiny mug. It's more fun that way, because you can have even MORE cups of coffee than usual.
Then, Sarah and I go on long bike rides (what a thrill to ride a bike that isn't stationary!). It's a bit of an adventure because we don't have helmets and my bike doesn't have brakes, but so far so good. Our bike rides often end with a stop at the beach.

All this before noon! What more could one want? God Bless, Vacation.

These Are NOT a Few of CRD's Favorite Things

by ALH, guest-blogger

1. Georgia O'Keefe

2. Gingers

3. Olives, all varietys

Bathing Beauties

Even though I miss him, I am happy for CRD and Sarah (above) and their exciting beach fun time. CRD had been pretty grumpy lately, so it's nice to see him relaxing with such a wide grin on his face. Sarah seems to have gotten much taller since the last time I saw her.

P.S. It's me, ALH, guest-blogging!

Happy Amberday!

Today is a very special day, because On This Day In History, Amber came into the world.

I first met Amber in 1992, when I was interning at The New Yorker and she was Editor-In-Chief of Lingua Franca. Since then the New Yorker moved into the Conde Nest building and Lingua Franca moved into history.

This is the earliest photo I have to prove the existence of our friendship. Amber seems to be very proud of her mannish shirt, her all-day-sucker, and her pun-filled lunch treat.


One great thing about Amber is her friendship of small animals, including but not limited to the beloved Shorty and the feared Pirate.


She is also a big fan of high fashion, as evidenced here by this beautiful quinceria dress she's modeling at my place.

If I hadn't moved to Cape Cod this week, I'd be celebrating Amber's birthday with her in person. While I'm glad for my vacation, I'm sorry I don't get to celebrate Amber on her special day. Maybe if I'm lucky we can have Birthday Fancy Feast when I get back.

Cape Crusaders

If you're looking for me & Sarah, you can find us in Falmouth, MA, the fidibida of Cape Cod.

Our little house has everything we need, including cable, which is great for watching Puppy Games 2008 or that equally cute puppy, the 20 y/o Aussie diver.


This afternoon after we visit the beach (300 feet away!) we're going to set up the badminton net in the backyard that my pops got us.

Fun times!

This Is How I Roll

Every August for the past year I go on vacation to the Cape. This one is no exception. Tomorrow on my mum's birthday I embark on a journey of earthly delights, and will soon be meeting Sarah at our lovely cottage in Falmouth. In between all the bike rides, badminton, Coors Lite, hot dogs, clam bakes, hammocks, SPF 45 baths, and books in hammocks, I'm sure I'll check in here from time to time.

God Bless, Vacation.

Now We're Cooking With Gas!

Tasty Pisketti!

Winters Of My Content

With all the hullabaloo around here yesterday for Colleen's Birthday, I missed celebrating the birth of my favorite personality, Miss Shelley Winters.

What else is there to say about the dame that she didn't say herself in her bestselling memoirs, Shelley and Shelley II?

Maybe this here dream-sequence clip from Phone Call To A Stranger will appropriately honor her
.



Or maybe we'll just have to all wish hard enough that they still made these Shelley Winter dolls.



Happy Birthday Shelley!

Birthdays Girl

I sure forgot Colleen's birthday this year, but that's probably nothing new. I'm not so good at remembering Birthdays, so it's a good thing I'm good at remembering the Past. Since it was only last week, hopefully I'm OK with this post.

Once, when Colleen lived with David and Keith, they were such good housekeepers that their potatoes grew antlers. Colleen sure is pretty here.

Once when I lived in NYC and Colleen was still in school, she visited me and we visited the Four Seasons together.

And once, when we were both in college, we microwaved a marshmallow at my parents' house.

Happy Belated Birthday, Colleen!

The Hands Of Time

Really, Ernie?

Corns-u-copia

Last night sure was an adventure at Vegetable Club. For starters, Amber has pwalking pneumonia, so she had to bail out. For seconds, Kevin went swimming in the ocean before going to the M'funda Kalunga State Park, and was soaking wet for Vegetable Distribution.

I made out like a bandito though, with a bevy of Veggies all to myself. Such things included many varieties of tomatoes, celery, green peppers, cucumbers, "radicchio," cabbage, salad greens, green beans, ladypink eggplant, and plums.

Even when Amber is up and running and we share the Share, and sometimes use part of it for Feast with Kevin and Diana, it's a challenge to eat all this food. I'm going to do my best though, and will start by taking the day off and chowing down on the couch.

It all reminds me of the time that Zach went fishing and had a whale of a time.

Don't bite off more than you can chew, little buddy!

A Mother, My Sister

Update from DC: It's a Boy!Somehow from this picture here it is "obvious" to the Lady Doctor that I will be an Uncle, not an Aunt.
Science. I wonder what Bones would say?

Dial B For Birthday

Happy Birthday, Hitch!

I sure like Alfred Hitchcock & his movies and TV programs. There are so many stories and anecdotes about the man's bon mots (bons mot?); my personal fave is probably about the one he said of Tallulah Bankhead's on-set shenanigans during Lifeboat: "I don't know if it's a problem for wardrobe or hairdressing," but since this is a family blog I'm not going to say any more.

Some buddy posted this montage of Hitchcock's cameos in his movies to the youtube - definitely a fun view during morning coffee.

Miss Representation

Personally, I think movies should be marketed to accurately represent what's in 'em. For example, if in 1968 you're going to advertise a Bette Davis film with this poster, she should be cutting up Debbie Reynolds or pushing flowerpots onto Agnes Moorehead - it should not be an English drawing room family drama about cross-dressing. I mean really, an eyepatch?

Similarly, this funny shot of Seth Rogan in underpants carrying James Franco in pajamas sure made me & Amber want to see Pineapple Express. Turns out it was a long and violent movie about a weird drug war, with a few funny scenes in it, most of them either we saw in the trailer or were in fact from an episode of 227 playing in the background.

Shame on you, Apatow.

The best part, really? The t-shirt James Franco wears with a cutie kitty-cat hiding in a shark mouth. Apparently there's a controversy about it, but really, I don't care. I just want that shirt.

Close But Not Touching

Sometimes people say to me "CRD, what's it like having Zach around? He's the best cat ever!" and I have to tell them that it is pretty great when he's here.

Zach's favorite thing is to be Close But Not Touching™. He wants to be near you, but not quite. Some kitty cats like being on your lap, but not my little buddy.

This is the view of Zach when you're on the couch watching Bones together.

This here is what it looks like when you're sitting in bed reading Teri Garr's memoir together.

And finally, here's him helping you cook CSA Farm Share vegetables:

God Bless, Little Buddy!

LOLMOMS

I totally have an idea for my next website!

Making An Ass Out Of Et

Amber and I sure liked watching Easy Living recently, mostly on account of Jean Arthur being a hoot throughout.

The funniest part? Watching that old man from TCM enunciate the words "assets" so forcefully in his introduction that Amber fell off the couch.



I love that old man. I'm always impressed how he does his long-winded and informative introductions in just one take. Now maybe I wonder if edits wouldn't be so bad.

Der Montaukster!

One highlight of our trip to the Hamptons last weekend was that we didn't run into the Montauk Monster. Like that other great NYC story, Kitty Genovese, this one has captured the cultural imagination, and will likely be studied by future generations in textbooks for years to come.

You can tell for sure this little beastie has captured the cultural zeitgeist, because he's been LOL-ized!

Last week, Amber kept us in the loop of other news-worthy animals, but if there was a vote I'd give this one the cake, or whatever the saying is.

Rest In Peace, little guy!

Foreigners Say The Darndest Things

I love goofy Foreigners. Just one of the many cute things they do is re-title American movies for no reason. Now, I can't explain why the not-very-good Spanish movie Abre Los Ojos was remade as a not-very-good American movie called Vanilla Sky, but I can at least understand that they were going for the whole "philosophical" title thing.


But why is Boys On The Side called Kaffee, Milch, & Zucker in Germany? Is this meant to be a description of the three heroines? Is Whoopi the coffee? Does that make Mary Louise the milk, and sweet Drew Barrymore the sugar?

That cultural arbeiter, USA Today, had a funny story yesterday on how foreigners re-title movies, which is what reminded me of Koffee, Milch & Zucker. My favorites are that the Taiwanese know Get Smart as Is The Spy Capable or Not? and the Chinese think Knocked Up is called One Night, Big Belly.

I dunno. I can't wait to find out what they call Amber & my detective show in Germany!

East Egg, West Egg, Scrambled Egg

I sure had a fun time this past weekend with Amber, Kevin, Diana, Peter, & Nick in the Hamptons, celebrating Friendship and Harriet's Birthday.

Highlights included Car Ride, Snacks, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sweets & Beets, Outdoor Rocking Chair, Harriet's Appetizers, Bedside Cookies, Gluttonous Brunch, Beach Art, the HOV Lane, and then getting home safe to Zach.

I sure wish there had been more than one photograph to document our Fun Times, but I guess at least it's a pretty accurate representation of the trip.

Summers Friday

I love Summer Fridays. In my world, this means I have alternating Fridays off (I alternate with my boss, in case there's an international publishing emergency: this way one of us can handle it).

On some Fridays I go on adventures, like to Outlet Malls or to Governor's Island.

Some days, like this one, I think I'm just going to be a lazybones. That means sleeping past 8, doing some laundry, and maybe going to boozy brunch with Amber before coming back here to eat vegetables and watch programs.

In the meantime, I sure know someone who likes it when I'm home during the day.