Dinner for this week = Chicken pot pie! I was inspired a bit by last week since a few of us did "Pie day" at work (bring a pie to share during lunch) and I made a small shepherd's pie to take in (sorry, no pic there). Grabbed some pre-made flaky pastry from the store and threw that on top of some chicken, carrots, celery, onion, sweet potato, corn and there you have it. Nothing fancy but it does the trick! Yum!
You might be asking what has Adrian been up to?! Well, for one thing, I've been trying to get over an annoying cough (thanks Deryck) that just doesn't want to go away completely. I've also had a number of visitors dropping by (and staying at my 1 bedroom place) keeping me busy/entertained in many ways. I can't say that I've gotten off to the best start with my "more photos" resolution, but check a few of these photos out to get a tiny glimpse into what I've been up to.
The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco looking glorious in the golden glow of the setting sun. I'm a fan of the building but looking at it from afar, you wouldn't really guess it has anything to do with Asian Art based on how it looks on the outside.
Po Po, Gung Gung & Grandson. Again, I'm a fan of the architecture despite it being kinda non-Asian.
A gilded statue from Burma on display in their special exhibit. DIdn't realize no photos allowed till after I took the pic. Really.
They did a live mochi pounding demonstration in celebration of the New Year. Above, you can see a product of their efforts (minus a bite I took).
Prison Window by Robert Gober. This comes from the SFMOMA where I went to check out their 75th anniversary shindig. Art, music, lots of people and free admission. I sadly don't have a picture of the creme brulee I enjoyed (from the creme brulee cart who had setup shop at the Electric Works gallery) just before heading over to the SFMOMA, but it was damn good.
The backside of the Palace of the Legion of Honor. You can't see it from this view, but this museum is situated in a similar manner to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. If you would like to know why I have no picture of the more familiar looking front of the building, it is because the sun was shining towards the camera at the front and completely washing out the image on my poor camera phone.
A view of the Golden Gate from just outside the aforementioned Palace of the Legion of Honor. San Francisco is a lovely city a lot of the time.
So, really, I'll be doing my best to do this photo thing more often. I can't let Deryck post more blog entries than me!!!! 'Till next time everyone...
Nothing like having the grandparents in town for a visit! :-D
Another year in the books and the next upon us. Time to take a brief look back at how I faired with the resolutions!
1) Cook more (eat in and eat well)
I didn't do a good job of quantifying how often I ate in but I can recall making quite a few dishes and enjoying them very much (somethings, like chicken soup and granola, for the first time). I'd be comfortable giving myself a pass mark.
2) Be a bit more cultured (Art, Literature, Theater, Music, Film all come to mind...)
Probably the one I achieved most resoundingly. Finally got to visit some of the many museums in the Bay Area (CAS, Cantor, de Young, SFMOMA, SJ Tech, et al). I also finished a couple of books to continue some of the reading momentum I built last yr. Saw a play (entitled Souvenir) and attended no less than 3 concerts (one of which featured the San Fran Symphony). Didn't see as many movies as I would've liked but Star Trek was thoroughly enjoyable and Up was the best movie I've seen in quite some time. I couldn't have done much of this on my own so thanks for the help.
3) Live healthy (in many facets...perhaps this stems from my month w/o Insurance over the summer?...oh and I should floss more)
So, I flossed more. I also did reasonably well with the physical fitness aspect. I'll be completely honest though and withhold a pass mark due to a couple of illnesses near the end of the year (flu/cold) and a persistent shoulder injury that continues to bug me. Thanksgiving was a while ago but I'll readily admit now that I'm thankful for my health insurance!
4) Give (As junk as things may get, I'm luckier than many)
Mixed results. I certainly did much better on the monetary donation front (including an improved Movember showing) but I was not as involved from a service perspective as I would've liked.
5) Get out (I'll leave this intentionally vague...outdoors and out of country mostly)
So I finally was able to hike around the Bay Area to the level that I had hoped (at one point, I hiked weekly). I also found myself on the top of Mt. Whitney. And, on the travel front, I made it down to NZ. Enough to earn a pass in my books.
2009 really flew by in a flash. Given the challenges that were faced globally, it was a pretty tough year all around. It wasn't all doom and gloom and there's a lot to be hopeful for in the new year and the new decade. Here's the list for 2010...
1) Go somewhere old and somewhere new (I'm curious to see where I'll end up)
2) Return to 100% health and keep up the fitness (Fix the shoulder and then be able to do the Koko Head hike next Xmas faster than this yr)
3) Mind the memory (Be better about remembering things)
4) Take more/better photos (I've been a bit too reliant on friends for pics in recent yrs)
5) Make something (art, home improvement, a garden...whatever)
That should give me plenty to aspire to.
This new year holds quite a bit of potential with a World Cup fast approaching (Go NZ) and a couple new leaders with a year of experience behind them (Obama & Key). Let's make this a year to remember (hopefully for good reasons)!
Catching a breath on the top of Koko Head, Dec 2009.
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