Happy Holidays -- already here! Just one more shopping day -- that is, until Akhil and I are off to the east coast for a long Christmas weekend. We're taking off Friday morning arriving in Providence at 11 p.m. So that means we'll have our own L.A. Christmas here tomorrow night, underneath our holiday poinsettia (no tree this year).

I've been exhibiting the Martha in me this week, having made sugar cutout cookies, apple pie, and Cornish game hens which Akhil has kindly devoured -- and see here his first-ever paint job on Christmas cookies -- he did the two on the top left --not bad:



Looking forward to a spectacular New Year for us all.

This update is way overdue, and somehow the last three weeks encompassed Thanksgiving in Seattle, Leslie's Christmas party, Wayne's wedding, Staffan's U.S. visit, Jon Paul's L.A. visit, holiday card "design and production," east-coast flight booking, a little gift-giving, a lotta job drama, the slightest bit of house-hunting and brink-of the flu.

Phew! I do love the holidays. Well, first -- Thanksgiving in Seattle was great as always -- hard to beat the beautiful pacific northwest when the weather is mild and the mountains are visible. Of course, on the day itself, Akhil and I were nearly asleep during dinner because we'd been up since 4 a.m. to catch our flight (and also because I'd been over at Chateau Marmont Wednesday night to see my long-lost friend Staffan here from Sweden), but it kept me, for one, from eating too much since I was too wrecked to continue lifting my fork.

Here's Staff and me at Chateau Marmont, and him and his friends Michael, Marcus and Bobo:





On Friday we visited the Music Experience museum downtown and then met up with parents-to-be John and Kendra for dinner at Flying Fish in Belltown. First time all four of us have been in town at once! (John's from Tacoma...) Pics forthcoming, I hope.

Saturday, Akhil and I got ambitious and drove up to Vancouver, saw his friend Karon and husband and babies Ian and Forrest for sushi lunch, and tooled around a bit - my first trip to that fair city. Here's Akhil downtown:



Following all this we came back to a very busy week in L.A. that included the first holiday party of the season at Leslie's on Saturday. HOWEVER, Akhil was struck with flu, so I went stag. He made it to Hope and Wayne's wedding in Claremont with me the next day though -- it poured but the theater setting was cozy, and we had a lot of fun. This week JP, my old friend from CT, was here - his first California visit. Here we are at Cafe Vienna on Melrose.



And last night, that would be Thursday, Akhil and I went to see the Groundlings (improv), but his colleague, who was supposed to have been part of the show, had postponed his appearance til next month, unbeknownst to us! Oh well, got us out of the house on a weeknight I guess.

For now all else is same -- and we're stressed out like the rest of the world about holiday chores, plans, and presents.

I'd like to remember the great David Brudnoy, in all ways an exceptional, kind, and inspiring professor, thinker and radio host, whom I had the pleasure to know at BU. He died in Boston Thursday night (see story). He'll always be remembered -- and missed.

We're getting holiday cheer in the form of three feet of *SNOW* here in SoCal this week! Beautiful views in the mountains, and this morning, I hit a traffic jam on the 101 as commuters slowed down to gaze at a rainbow just over the Sepulveda Dam -- it was stunning, really, you have to believe me.

Akhil and I leave for Seattle Thursday morning where we'll spend Thanksgiving weekend -- I've barely had a minute to think about it, but all of a sudden, holidays are here. We got into the pre-Xmas spirit yesterday by watching "Elf," which I'll give oh, maybe a B-, and we also had brunch with his cousin Gita at Blueberry in Santa Monica where the weather was very brisk, windy, and altogether un-L.A.-like, so we froze our flip-flop-wearing toes while waiting for our table. Besides a little real-estate-seeking torture, all else we got done this weekend was seeing "I Heart Huckabees," (which was hilarious -- A!), and some random errand-running on Saturday that I barely remember. I do know that we managed to finally get together for dinner with our friends Mark and Melissa at Cha Cha Cha Saturday night. Face-time with friends is therapeutic - and we don't get enough of it. My list of New Years resolutions will be very long this year.

Secret congratulations to two more Moms-To-Be! It's shocking, still shocking, every time I hear.

Todd passed the 31 mark on Monday and I warned him that this is the killer birthday -- not 30 as everyone tells you all your life. And then, at 32, your memory starts failing you. I have experienced some terribly noticeable changes in my brain function this year and have been attributing it to age -- but could it be too much computer time, or Nutrasweet, or lack of sleep, perhaps? God, I hope so. If anyone knows, please clue me in.

Akhil and I tried our best to entertain Laurel this week, visiting from Boston. We picked her up from her conference hotel, the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, on Sunday. Following a brief tour of the swanky grounds, we brunched in Laguna Beach, tooled around in Balboa, and spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at Disneyland where we turned into giant five-year-olds. Laurel and I rode Dumbo, and the 3 of us rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones following all with giant chocolate-dipped waffle cones from the ice cream place. Now on at least my tenth or twelfth visit or so, I'm starting to like that free park entry perk.



Now this is what I have to say about "The Incredibles": great movie, but see it for the Pixar "Bounding" short they play as an intro. It's priceless.

For tomorrow: Happy Diwali to those in the know!

Four more years of lunacy. Unless you're single...

From ABC News online:
...In a bid to help out their like-minded neighbours, a Canadian Web site is asking Canadians to marry someone from south of the border. "Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American," jests the site www.marryanamerican.ca.

"Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism."

Hundreds of Canadians already have signed up, ready to do their part for the cause.

"We envision a movement where everyone wins," it said. "Freedom of expression and a politically convenient marriage with love and igloos for all."

Today's mandate, of course, is don't forget to VOTE tomorrow! (Preferably for John Kerry, but this is America.) Arnold Schwarzeneggar is on our answering machine tonight, urging us to vote his way on a few California props. Now that's new. Moments ago, Akhil and I saw Manny Ramirez, World Series MVP, and neglected to get his autograph. We also saw Mark Steines, but who cares. See you at the polls!

Happy Halloween and End-of-Daylight-Savings-Day. So far, no trick-or-treaters here at my Glendale apartment. I guess that means I get all the glow-in-the-dark "Shrek" Twix bars to myself! Yesterday, my colleague Mark Essig and I formed a last-minute team to participate in an annual "Amazing Race"/L.A. event my friends Mike and Maria put on. I'd say third place is a darn good finish!

We started at 10 a.m. from a pre-race breakfast at Mike and Maria's house, among 10 other teams, travelling to 16 different clue locations from Glendale to Beverly Hills to China Town all the way to San Pedro.

One nun-baked pumpkin bread, two Grey Goose vodka shots, three obscure soda pop bottles, six sunken Holmby Hills golf balls, 10 semi-legal parking spots, 50 mariachi musicians and a swim in The Standard roof pool later, Mark and I (a.k.a. "Team Anonymous") finished up at 5:37 p.m. at Philippe's the Original in downtown L.A. -- just one minute behind Team #2 and ten minutes behind "Orange Crush." Not bad for first timers. Akhil stayed near a computer and phone and provided technical guidance/directions via Web searches -- he met up with us at Philippe's for the post-race party which included an appearance by actual "Amazing Race" winners Chip and Kim.

Does this all sound crazy and juvenile? If you'd raced, you'd understand. We had such a blast! For a full race report click here.


Clues...

Team Anonymous

Akhil at Philippe's

Mark, wife Melissa, Chip and Kim

We have our life back. Ahhh... No more television commitments, no more weeping. Maria Shriver apparently broke her foot in her Red Sox jubilation. Halloween's coming up, so we'd best get our plans together. Holidays, birthdays, and election day too. Suddenly life's abuzz again. We booked our Thanksgiving tickets this week --we're Seattle-bound.

Let the new paradigms begin.

Rain, baseball, work, all the same stuff still is consuming the average day this week. We may get 3 inches of precipitation this eve, in fact. This past science-themed weekend consisted of two perfect fall afternoons in which Akhil and I did some very exciting stuff - not the least of which was buying new Honda floormats for the Civic. This followed by Red Sox victory(ies!!!) and seeing a rather ill-designed movie called "What the X&@! Do We Know" starring (sort of?) Marlee Matlin that was all about quantum physics, perception vs. reality, and being your own "God." It had way too much cutesy animation in it, a few flighty "experts" and, well, put one of our companions to sleep. They also needed a more heavy-handed editor, but we got the point, at least.

Fortunately on Sunday we redeemed ourselves with a breakfast among the hippest crowd on the east side at Fatty's in, that's right, Eagle Rock, and finally, a trip to the Skirball Center to see the Einstein exhibit. It was packed. Absolutely packed. With a very overly determined mob of senior citizens who were a little too proud of their man Albert, who, one woman realized from the exhibit boards, was somewhat of a "ladies maaaaannnn."

I recommend it - but go early or you're at your own risk. It's a great, well-done, compact show and we'd never been to the Skirball, either, which is an impressive complex.

Otherwise, hmmm... see my Tonight Show feature at:
http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=26102

...and don't forget to check out tomorrow night's lunar eclipse.

It's on again. Baseball. Once in a very blue moon I get hooked on a series, and this is one of those times. I am not going to start watching the game until at least the fifth inning.

Rain still falls in Los Angeles as we speak. It's amazing because driving along the 101 in this weather it looks a lot like the Pacific Northwest. Lots of misty hills and trees - it's actually rather nice-looking, until you exit on Sepulveda Blvd.

RAIN. That's is the big news -- and I mean big -- this weekend. It rained all morning. Such a novelty. We're sitting here at home using it as an excuse not to go outside (even though by now I think it has stopped for the most part). You just don't get enough of those weather excuses out here, so if the skies even smack of precipitation you can stay home and read. That's the rule. I heard it from my friend's sister a couple years ago, who worked for a VERY well-known television producer at the time -- the day we saw her, this man had skipped work that day because of a 30 percent chance of rain... Ah, for the love of showbiz.

Okay people, if you tend to like to stay out of harm's way, don't be a Red Sox fan. Enuff said. Thank goodness for the Patriots. Akhil and I went to Book Soup yesterday just because we wanted to see what it's like to hang out on Sunset Strip on a Saturday. Afterwards we stumbled upon an art festival in Beverly Hills and had a coffee on Rodeo. Saw Mike Tyson. And a substantial number of tourists wearing inappropriate clothing. If not here, where, I suppose.

Come on, Red Sox. What the heck?! It's that time of year -- my poor friend-and-family fans are getting emotional again.

At work today I volunteered to become the expert on open-source programming. Now that's devotion. If anyone's got any story ideas, send them my way.

Wow, did I really volunteer to go see "Hero" last night? Well, it was no "Crouching Tiger" but we got through it ok. Today was Columbus Day and so traffic gave us all a little bit of a break. Spent an enlightening lunch hour with my new colleagues who revealed interesting details about their lives that won't be mentioned here. That's the trouble with blogs -- you become your worst censor-nightmare. Definitely necessary. Let's take a moment of silence for Christopher Reeve. A sad loss especially for the world's biggest "Smallville" fan (Akhil).

The youngster who created this blogging tool and sold it all to Google less than two years ago is leaving Google, he said on his blog (seen here: http://www.evhead.com/), to create something new. Such level of accomplishment makes the both of us feel like we're not living up to our potential. Remember those dot-com days? Everyone and his brother was doing stuff like that. Funny, I am once again working for a dot-com - this time, without the stock options. The ones that stuck around have become a little bit lackluster but knowing they might actually be here to stay allays certain job-security fears. Remnants of the old days include free caffeinated beverages and bagels on Fridays, but so far, no signs of home communications reimbursement, expense accounts, post-work cocktails and seafood dinners, or even business cards.

This weekend has, as usual, revolved around food and thoughts of our very hazy, non-directional future. It's been ages since I've been in touch with friends -- fall hits and people get busy. Halloooo out there.

Getting up at 5:30 to be a desk jockey is hard. I wonder if getting up at 5:30 to, say, perform cardiac surgery would be easier because at least the adrenaline rush you'd get would be a little bit energizing. Nevertheless, one week down, one day 'til sleep. I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone. Akhil was in Detroit for 4 days -- he flew back home last night -- so I had a few days of singlehood while adjusting to the new job and it really felt like I'd up and moved to a new city. The Valley is mysterious to me and seems disconnected from the rest of L.A. -- not to mention I no longer work with Hollywood types and that's pretty weird too after more than 3 years in the thick of things. Bizarre. I have to say, L.A.'s still sunny but just not as fun when you're distanced from the biz! Well, s'money. Just noticed my plants are dying. Got to go.

Congratulations to....... ME. Starting tomorrow, I have a new 7-4 schedule. And I'll be crash coursing in all things technological for my new editing gig with an online business and tech news publisher out in Encino - another new neighborhood for me. I drove there today mid-morning and it only took 20 minutes. That alone is life-changing! After five years of bumper-to-bumper, multiple freeway, 1-2 hour commutes, this could be the sign of a new era. I have to bid a fond farewell to my loyal friends over the last six months -- Oprah, Regis, and Dr. Phil.

Meanwhile Akhil and I have been nursing a grudge against the real estate market and looking beyond the box to see what other options may be out there for us. The journey continues.

May this help you all to understand:

41 offers, seven of which were more than $100,000 over asking, for a 2-bedroom 1923 house, and the agent expects bids over $700k. They're taking counters for those seven contenders, with no contingencies. None. Ha hahhhhahh ha ha. HA HAHHHHHHHH Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaah ha. Go ahead laugh. Or you'll cry. I'm just a little bit numb.

History's in the making: we submitted our first-ever offer on a house today. As did at least seven other bidders...

At least we're in the game! Keep your fingers crossed.

Well, I didn't make it out for that biking jaunt mentioned earlier this week but this morning Akhil kicked my butt with a long, 2 and a half hour ride from our place to Griffith Park, where I survived Garbage Hill. And Akhil gloated about his new "PR" (that's obsessive, competitive, crazy man-speak for 'personal record.')

Home-buying makes you fickle. I swear, I have fallen in and out of passionate love about ten times so far and each time it feels like the last house on earth. I don't know how people do this. We're getting serious now, even have an agent. After our bike ride today we had brunch at Cafe Verde, again, in Pasadena. I almost don't want anyone else to know how great this tiny little place on Green Street is, but it's just such a find. This time I had the eggs florentine, and Akhil reverted to the vanilla french toast. The place seats maybe 20 people so it can get a little crunched in there, but that' s the only drawback, other than the fact that it's closed on Sundays. I also got a letter from my long-lost wonderful friend Ulrika, who lives in Barcelona. I met her in France during our year studying there and haven't heard from her in a couple of years - long enough for her to become a mom! Her letter came with photos of her stunning little blond one-year-old, Alba. I am freaked out and delighted at the same time. We're real people all of a sudden.

I'm trying to muster some energy for a bicycling jaunt after our 'big night out' on Tuesday -- dinner on Vermont Ave. at Il Capriccio was a lot of fun and the food was great, as was our waiter, who could pull tablecloths off without disturbing the salt shakers. Very impressive. We met up with Akhil's friend Elliott, creator of the infamous "The Roomba," and his girlfriend Zoe, a British screenwriting hopeful who was quirkily charming. We talked about the 'silliness' of Los Angeles, the fact that no one walks here - for real - and the similarities between Nebraska and rural England - both exotic to Akhil and me, who grew up on opposite coasts. Did anybody know there's this place called Lake Piru 70 miles north of Los Angeles where you can take wake-boarding lessons? Who knew! Leave it to the newcomers to figure that out.

A whole new world was opened up to us yesterday as we expanded our home-hunting horizons to -- yes, the Valley! All afternoon Akhil couldn't help himself from speaking in that 80s Valley accent so I am not sure we should live there, however, it turns out there really are nice-looking, non-delapidated, four-bedroom homes there that we could even, like, afford, maybe. Hard to take those boulevards though. They are such ecological, aesthetic and sociological disasters. It's so weird how the L.A. area is set up with these gigantic boulevards hiding what they call residential "pockets" between them. And when you get inside these pockets, they could be New England, or someplace in the midwest, like Michigan. It's the most bizarre phenomenon. Food for thought if nothing else.

This was after discovering the mysterious city of Alhambra on Friday night (which is only say 5 miles from our apartment), where we ate Vietnamese food (and were the only two non-Vietnamese people in the Golden Deli - now that's good stuff), and then made our first-ever trip to Fosselman's for white chocolate chip ice cream. I thought the place was quaint and the ice cream was ok - but still not as good as others I can remember, like J.P. Licks. Side note - the system of checks and balances appears to be working -- I was denied unemployment! Victory for the State of California's EDD! (Bastards.)

Holy heat wave! This is excruciating - and since it's the first time I've ever spent one of these hanging mostly at home in our very slightly A/C'd apartment here in the San Gabriel Valley, I realize how bad it really is when it's in the 100s over here. All other years I've been out on the west side, working in a nice, cold office space. They say on Tuesday we scored the highest power usage numbers in the city's history and Wednesday was a close second. Probably because of all the other unemployed folks who are home, cranking the A/C, the fans, the stereo and the computer system all at the same time. Praying for rain...

Once in a while this happens: you go through some period of disillusionment and discontent, when nothing can get you out of your bad mood, only to emerge all of a sudden, almost out of the blue one day feeling like you've just graduated from something. This weekend I had that feeling, on Saturday afternoon, even though it was 105 degrees out and we started the day talking about real estate. We'd had a great dinner with friends Friday night and maybe it had something to do with the conversation there, or, maybe it was the realization that I have the freedom, even now, to turn down a job I don't really want. I don't know, but the weekend was great. I still don't know what the hell we're doing with our lives, but I'm not unhappy about it!

On Saturday, our impromptu brunch with Tony & Angel included excellent french vanilla french toast and french press coffee at Cafe Verde in Pasadena. Afterwards, in keeping with Saturday's French-ish theme, we saw 'Before Sunset.' (Loved the ending.) Sunday was a day of work and housekeeping and grilled salmon that I made with sesame seeds and dijon mustard. Monday we spent the day strolling around in Santa Barbara.

As the venue for our engagement as well as our mini-honeymoon, Santa Barbara's still among my favorite places, but has anyone else noticed lately that it's starting to feel a little like Venice? Lots of "unpleasant" fragrances, transients, unkempt streets and sidewalks and almost absolutely no parking. That's new. Are they trying to get rid of us all of a sudden? They put up these 75-minute parking signs all over and we must've seen one parking enforcement vehicle per 10 tourists - plus at least 3 cars and 1 motorcycle getting pulled over on State Street and at least one car getting towed away. Also noticed some rapidly deteriorating restaurant service. For the first time we left Pacific Crepes because of the foul mood of the waitress. I'm sure we'll try again -- and soon. Can't give up on the creperie that easily - no!

Very interesting to watch Akhil buy shoes. He is getting very adept at it, having done it three times in the last two weeks -- and Cole-Haan, at that. (They have those Nike soles now.) His taste in shoes is more expensive than mine. No verdict on jobs yet - it's very hard to look at these opportunities with only cold, hard facts in mind - no passion, no emotion, no pride. But that's what I'm trying to do. If I want a house, I want a house, alas. Goodbye, journalism, goodbye.

Driving out of the parking lot at the Camarillo outlets yesterday we saw this crazy airplane making loop-de-loops and death-defying dives all over the place and Akhil realized it must've been the weekend of the annual Camarillo Air Show. What luck! Well, I was not totally into it at first, I must admit, but we headed over to the airport to see what was up. It was in the plan anyway to go have lunch at the cafe there -- it's right on the airstrip. Akhil always gets his favorite thing in the universe -- one of their famous tri-tip sandwiches -- which his flight instructor Bob had introduced him to back in his flying lessons days. They had all the WWII planes and helicopters and gliders and stuff I'll never remember the name of but the coolest thing was the actual flying - - the last act was this incredible 21-year-old kid who did the most heart-stopping 30-minute aerobatic show you could imagine. He's apparently one of the youngest aerobatic pilots in the U.S. It was really something - regardless of whether you think you're into aviation or not.

Big stuff this week: Heather is considering an opportunity to relocate to L.A.! A little different here than Boston, though. She doesn't get how people get home after happy hour, and wants to be sure you can walk from your apt. to the grocery store. Don't we all... A lso, my dad called today just to say hi. And you know he never does that.

So I'm tracking down comedians this week. Calling them. Leaving them messages. Generally bothering them and their army of "people." It's very odd, odd indeed, because sometimes they call you back. I always feel weird doing this kind of stuff from my dinky little apartment. And definitely weird when I am still wearing pajamas. Glad technology hasn't gotten over that camera-landline-phone hump quite yet.

This past weekend I helped my friend Tom babysit his kids, 1 and almost 4. We took them to Sand Dune Park in Manhattan. I swear, that is the best place to take kids, ever! Leaping down the dune is a blast for all - even us thirty-somethings. I know it sounds nuts, but try it for yourself. Then Sunday Akhil and I went right back out there - to sit on the beach and read. We walked around the sidewalk sales and had a casual dinner al fresco, and once again, I remember saying at least once that day, "I don't ever want to move!"

Los Angeles keeps doing that to me. The everyday stuff kind of sucks, but weekends by the beach and being able to live your leisure life outside -- hard to complain about that. I have another interview today - downtown L.A. - wow, I could even take the Gold Line.

We caught San Francisco on a relatively quiet weekend. I'd read that California was having a slow summer in terms of tourism and they're not kidding. Of course, that means it's a perfect time to travel around out here. Our drive up was a breeze - we met Gunther at his place in Mountain View early in the afternoon and had lunch in Los Altos. Then we took a full tour of the Stanford campus, met some of his students, reassured him that he had a pretty cushy work situation, and ended the day with a great dinner in Woodside before heading up to the city to sleep.

I can recommend the Cartwright Hotel on Sutter near Union Square. It's a clean, cozy place with free breakfast, access to parking, and a great rate of 99 bucks a night. We spent the day on Sunday walking around mostly - up Columbus Ave. to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 to see the sea lions, then a little shoe shopping in Union Square, followed by a hot dog/pretzel lunch and quick jaunt over to the Haight where Akhil had a nutella & banana crepe. Here he is in the City Lights bookstore on Columbus Ave.:



Then we headed to Bernal Heights to see his family - his brother has a great house there near his lab at UCSF's sparkling new campus - another beautiful place. The academic world has been showing some nice aesthetics lately. It's got funky furniture, light wood, scientific-looking artwork and lots of chrome. He took us along with his wife Suzanne and his/Akhil's parents to Andalu for tapas -- which was okay but we're food-spoiled now that we live in L.A. We were exhausted by the end of the day - and I would NOT recommend staying at Le Petit Auberge for a quick sleeping spot - we got a small (they called it "cozy") room where we got to hear the garbagemen do their work at 4 a.m. and none of the little niceties like turn-down service, chocolates on the pillow, 4 p.m. wine... we checked in too late, unfortunately. Monday we had breakfast in the Mission with Hiten and Suzanne before heading back down to 'Hell-A' - where we had our best meal of the weekend, actually, at Billy's Diner here in Glendale. I do love San Francisco - it's so opposite of L.A. though it's unbelievable that the two are related. Well, we're still young, sort of...

After three days of 110-degree heat, today is a bit more bearable, so, in a good mood I took the Civic in for its 45,000 mile service. It's overdue, and we're driving up to San Francisco this weekend so it was a good time for an oil change anyway. Saturday we'll visit our friend Gunther and his lab at Stanford, and then we'll meet up with Akhil's parents at his brother's house in the city on Sunday. Plan to be back in town Monday evening with reviews of our two different hotels and whatever food we eat while we're up there. Oh, to be employed and housed in San Francisco. I thought it was the perfect city and I still do -- at least in this country. Sydney has taken over my No. 1 ranking.

Someone tried to jimmy their way into our garage. So glad we got that renter's insurance! Rough neighborhood I guess. Akhil and I are sitting here sweating in our 95-degree apartment, contemplating the blandness of our lives. Well, bland at the moment since we're still waffling over real estate and I still seek work on a daily basis. Before I get into our latest plans and escapades, I'd like to congratulate "you-know-who" on the baby news! As far as I know it's still a secret in some cases... but I for one am very excited about it.

These last two weeks I got back into the volunteering groove and finally met with Liz Thoman, who runs the Center for Media Literacy in Santa Monica. It's so amazing in a way to have a chance to work with her, as she founded the journal Media&Values that we referred to every now and then in our theory classes in graduate school. A remarkable person. I'll be writing a few things for her in coming weeks.

Akhil has been decorating his new office, and I've been nitpicking the decor of our apartment just to get a few more months/years of life out of this place - yes, we thought we'd have moved by now but things are not cooperating. So, I dug up a few gift certificates from the wedding and reorganized. I can't believe what Pottery Barn charges for furniture. Yet, I feel repelled by most of Ikea's. I think there's room for a new player in between.

Let's see... "Big Fish" was good, "Bourne Supremacy" was so-so, "Collateral" was decent (and L.A.-realistic!) and I am about to finish "A Suitable Boy," finally, which is getting good in pages 1200-1375. Tonight we're going out for booze - a rare activity for us these days, but once in a while it's all you can do.

It has been quite a while since I've been in here on the blog. But I really don't think anyone's reading it anymore anyway, (are you?). Basking in the afterglow of my week-long stay on Martha's Vineyard I am energized and catching up on all those back-burner-type things I've been neglecting for the past month. Heather invited me to crash her vacation so I found a frequent-flyer flight last-minute and jetted off to Boston, got to meet Kendra's new dog Bogart, see Todd's finely decorated apartment, and spend a week in a beautiful house in Vineyard Haven. Here is the house, below, and at least part of the crew (Heather, me, Katie, Shelley, Dave). It was exquisite. We cooked most nights, with generally six to eight of us in the house on any given evening, and always had our own at-home "happy hour." Therapy is bicycling to Chappaquidick, spotting seals at Gayhead beach, consuming wine and steamed mussels on a patio overlooking a marina, and going to sleep hearing nothing but a foghorn and softly rustling trees.

Akhil and I celebrated our official anniversary last night with paper gifts (the tradition) and a magnificent dinner date at the Bel Air Hotel. I had the bouillabaise, he had the duck, and we shared an entire bottle of wine and the croissant bread pudding for dessert. A lovely evening.

The last time we'd been to the Bel Air Hotel was for my dot-com company Christmas party in 2000, when tech stocks were flying and our options actually seemed promising. We all got treated to a five-course meal, open bar, and of course, complimentary Cuban cigars. Are you kidding? Of course I smoked one!

Then -- you know what happened. The bust happened, and my old employer bit the dust. I quit before the holidays that year. Fittingly (and I'm not making this up), the 2001 Christmas party was held at "The Shack" (on Wilshire in S.M.), and our office space was rented to Oliver Stone.

Can't quite believe an entire year's gone by since the wedding - we'd thought we'd have made so many more changes than we have by now. Only difference really is that I am less, shall we say, "busy." I had lunch yesterday with my former boss from TV Week, who's now a VP and Publisher. I appreciated his friendly invitation. I know we both still feel pretty bad about the necessity of my layoff. Nothing changes, of course, but at least we got a chance to clear the air. I woke up today feeling like I'm at "Sum Zero."

Since Friday a lot has happened. For one thing, we determined that we're sick of living in Glendale and that as our real estate "project" progresses, we are less and less interested in looking here for prospective homes. Second, we joined the Bush-hating throngs last night and saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" - my former neighbor's latest blockbuster documentary - first documentary in history to become the weekend's top-grossing film. It wasn't quite as, well, relentless, than the hype made it out to be, but still typical Michael Moore of course. Amusing, tear-jerking, somewhat over-the-top but he drives his point home and helps you continue to build your Bush-wacking arsenal -- at least a little bit -- with plenty of bad Bush footage and images that remind you of the reality of the Iraq war and force you to look at the situation from an outsider's perspective. It sort of felt like the audience was way too in on all the jokes though. "Preaching to the choir" blah blah blah. I wonder if any Republicans were in attendance. (I'm an Independent, offically, like Mike!)

A year ago today, Sunday, in Malibu, Akhil and I got married. Our official anniversary is Tuesday the 29th but we had a semi-celebration today of our up-and-down-but-magical first year of wedded bliss. We had brunch in Santa Monica at Babalu followed by a couple of hours sitting and reading on the beach in Malibu. We found a spot just in front of the bird sanctuary by the Adamson House - which is where we tied the knot. Here we are in Malibu... disheveled but content:



After our miniature celebration we stopped at the Supergo to look at bicycle parts. And we had a stellar star-sighting -- Jakob Dylan, son of Bob, and family - buying a pricey green fat-tired bike for one of his three sons. There was no mistaking the blue-eyed stare (could he have recognized that he'd been recognized?) but the dead giveaway, really, was the diamond tennis bracelet his wife was wearing with her Seven jeans, low-top Converse, and "FBI" cap. You know they're celebrities when...

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at 600-thousand-dollar-plus homes in Pasadena, Cheviot Hills, Toluca Lake and Burbank, yes Burbank. Nothing exists for less than six. Not even there. At least you can count on appreciation... (right?)

Last night, we looked over the documents that you have to sign to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Akhil and I think we're reasonably intelligent people, but I have to say, it's near-impossible to keep your eyes focused on the pages long enough to figure out what the words really mean. How do so many, (MANY!) people do this? I have yet to start working but we know now that this is "home" for a while, so we may as well settle into adulthood and start the home-shopping process. I've got an interview this afternoon, as a matter of fact, so I better run.

Too much caffeine these last two days. Akhil and I are reading about real estate - hoping to make this our next project, now that we're on our way to becoming certified Angelenos. Tried to go to Porto's today, but it was too crowded, as is all of Glendale. You can make a day of it at the new Whole Foods on Glendale Ave., though. It's like a foodie amusement park. They've got sushi chefs -- and serve breakfast.

I had to laugh when my neighbor handed me some classifieds from the newspaper yesterday -- she had starred and circled jobs she thought might be appropriate for me. How did she know? Do I have a big "U" on my forehead? I feel like Hester Prynne!

I picked up a little more freelance work thankfully and have high hopes that I'll find something this month. I can feel it coming to me - employment is on its way. Meanwhile I am reading "Stupid White Men" and anxiously awaiting the release of "Fahrenheit 9/11." I met Michael Moore when we lived in the same building in New York back in 1995. He was at the elevator getting Chinese food delivery and I began gushing about his "TV Nation" show. Thought for sure it was my big break and that he would hire me. He didn't. But it makes me feel a special connection to him - I'm so proud.

By the way, I DID go to the gym yesterday. Had one of those bad mornings but was feeling much better by the time the sun emerged at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Maybe it was the cloud cover.

Four months -- still no job. It's unbelievable. But this will certainly make me feel very differently about destitution in the future - and not so quick to judge. After all, I have someone here to pay the rent for me. He and I've been killing time on weekends by visiting coffee shops and watching movies until it's finally time to make some kind of move. I attended a media literacy course this weekend given by the Center for Media Literacy in Santa Monica, where I am looking into volunteering, then had breakfast with Caroline, Michael, and the beautiful Sabrina on Sunday at Hugo's. And that afternoon, we spent a pleasant few hours with Joy and Paul at the Castle Green building where they live in Pasadena. There was an open house this weekend so we checked out the stylish open apartments there and talked some more about the price of real estate, which is taking up more brain space than it deserves these days. I just want it to stop! There have got to be places in our range out there.

Poor, poor us, right? Americans can be so annoying.

Home again, home again, and my allergies are gone. I never knew I had any, but wow, Boston was tough on me this trip. Sick most of the week. On the other hand it was great to see Deb and Samantha, Jen at the Daniel Packer Inn, the family, and of course all my Boston peeps! Todd's apartment in Salem is beautiful and I really think the witch/Halloween theme is rather charming. He's going to like it there. I especially enjoyed helping him spend his money on our whirlwind decorating spree. Furniture, fixtures, carpets, dishes... he even put up window treatments this week. I am actually jealous of the place.

Akhil and I stayed in Brookline Saturday, in Salem Sunday, and at the Kendall Hotel, the renovated firehouse, in Cambridge Monday. We flew home Tuesday and managed to get on the same flight. It was a very busy 10 days for me, and visiting the suburbs (Arlington, Lexington, Marblehead, Watertown, Somerville...) was enlightening to say the least. After dealing with sinuses, traffic, unruly pedestrians, and crappy weather, however, I have to say my appreciation for L.A. is once again renewed. Had an interview today at the public television station here in Los Angeles, KCET. Still pounding the virtual pavement... here and in the east.

I flew into Boston last night. Now I'm in Connecticut, but I spent the night in my old Freeman Street apartment in Brookline. It was a surreal experience. There's my old room. There's my old bathroom. Hey, there's my old thing of Victoria's Secret hand lotion!

Katie and Heather and I had Indian food in Coolidge Corner. I was sorry to see that the Daily Bread Bakery is gone, replaced by a Quizno's. But the Brookline Booksmith is still there.

There's an action-packed week ahead, with visits with Jen, Debbie and her baby, girl time with Heather et al and helping Todd move into and assemble his new Salem condo on the agenda. Akhil flies in Saturday for the long weekend, and we'll be dining chez Kendra and John in Framingham Saturday night.

Actually we went to Saladang Song for Thai food which had better ambience and outdoor seating. Here is Akhil with his cake, though we didn't eat it last night because we had sweet sticky rice and mango for dessert instead.


Saladang is great because the food is sort of funky and authentic yet you don't have to worry about the safety of the raw vegetables. We got our usual spicy asparagus & chicken salad and the duck noodles. Akhil felt compelled to tell our Thai waitress about his weird experiences in Thailand like the time he almost got conned into buying "sapphires" on the way to a Thai boxing match. But he didn't.

Gotta go, as I'm busily trying to get some freelance work done by Friday!

Happy Happy 36th Birthday to Akhil! To celebrate I am taking him to Cafe Bizou tonight even though he says he already ate too much cake at work today. Next Monday I am flying to Boston for a week to help Todd move into his new place and visit some friends before Akhil joins me there on Memorial Day weekend. Todd asked me to think about window treatments. I have never purchased a window treatment but I think we're about to do so next week. If I can't furnish my own place, at least I can help furnish my brother's! Also hoping to meet the Mini-Deb - Samantha looks exactly like her. Maybe we'll post some photos from the NE.

After I got my Civic fixed at the dealer today (Honda issued a recall for headlight wiring), I drove out to Santa Monica, enjoyed the view as I walked amid the homeless lying in the sun on Ocean Blvd., and browsed the shops at 3rd St. Promenade. Then I did what no jobless person should do in good conscience - I bought a three-dollar latte at Starbucks. Bad me! Trying to find a balance between being responsibile and not killing yourself for boredom when you've been out of work four months is harder than it looks. My punishment was the hour and forty-minute drive home on the 10 freeway.

But let's put things in perspective. The news I listened to on NPR en route to Glendale was, in typical form, horrifying. It is really pretty incredible that for me and for most of the people I know, things are as good as they are. So I am going to try to stop complaining so much.

CONGRATULATIONS are in order for Debbie and Justin on the arrival of Samantha Jean Harris!!! She was born April 22, weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds. Nice work, Deb! Can't wait to meet her!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY Meena, Mom, MariCris, Debbie, Annemarie, Pam, and Regina! List gets longer every year... Sorry we're not close enough to take you to brunch.

I am serving as somewhat of a discouraging example to my numerous friends who are so fed up with their jobs that they want to just quit and worry about new opportunities later. Happy to do so! I truly think it is a bad idea at this time in history -- not so much because of the quality of your resume or anything like that but because of the extremely intense competition for jobs out there. If you have contacts who can help you, that is your key to success. But if yours is going to be one of 1000 resumes on a prospective employers desk, you need some luck -- which is hard to come by. Someone suggested I get some criticism on my resume - so if you get a second, can you look and let me know of any improvements I should consider? Thanks folks! Here's the URL:

http://my.hotjobs.yahoo.com/display/myhj?ct_hft=myhj/res-center-detail&resid=r055352785

Akhil and I spent the afternoon at Manhattan Beach yesterday and it made me realize my standard of living was leaps and bounds better when I was a kid and I didn't even know it. It takes us about an hour to get out to the beach now - which is why we rarely go - but I grew up 8 miles, or a 20-minute bike ride, from the sea and took full advantage. Wonder how and where we went wrong. Akhil rode 48 miles on his bike Saturday - his longest ride yet - and followed with a nap before we headed to Pasadena to the free movies in the park they're putting on Saturday nights this month. We saw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and even though I've seen it numerous times, I learned a few more things about the plot, realized that guy who accompanies Indy in the cave in the first sequence is Alfred Molina, and am pretty convinced that it is genuinely a good movie -- much better than all the Star Wars prequels. George Lucas should've stuck with Speilberg! It's May now and still no job. A story on NPR yesterday said 85% of jobs are not advertised and that the key is using your contacts. I am not sure I have many contacts, but if you are reading this and are a contact, expect my call...

Target at 2 p.m. on a weekday is like a little heaven. No screaming kids, no lines at the checkout, no Cheerios strewn all over the shoe department. Delightful experience! I stopped on the way home from lunch with my friend Maria at Senor Fish - tasty fish tacos & some excellent commiseration about the usual - jobs, housing prices, biology... but the good news is that she and Mike (Maria is the fabulous artiste who did my wedding invites) bought a house less than two miles from where I live. I will finally have cool neighbors! And Todd closed on his Salem condo - which means a great apartment near Harvard Square will be open as of June - if you're interested let me know and I'll try and hook you up.

The arts and crafts movement is alive and well is Pasadena. It was at least 90 degrees out Sunday and the crowd was substantial considering the lack of publicity BHNA does for its annual house tour. Most of the houses on show were on Mentor and Holliston Avenues, and Craftsman or Spanish Revival styles. At the last house we waited 40 minutes in line to spend 4 minutes inside. But it was time well spent to see such beautiful architecture and interior design and get inspired to keep plugging away at our savings accounts. Bungalow Heaven is an offical Landmark District in Pasadena, with around 800 homes built from the turn-of-the-century through the 1930s. It's between Orange Grove Boulevard and Washington Boulevard, bound on the west and east sides by Mentor and Chester and worth a browse - just don't stake claim on any of the houses WE plan on buying!

What's Saturday in So-Cal without beautiful weather and the buzz of radio-controlled vehicles? We're back now after our morning in Anaheim at the RCX trade show, where the scene was complete with monster trucks, the Batmobile, and 16-year-old models in tank tops and miniskirts. A little coffee at Swork in Eagle Rock pumped me up for some more PC-jockeying. Actually, I'm gathering info for our excursion to Bungalow Heaven tomorrow morning -- they're having an annual House Tour and I figure this may be our only chance to see what these beautiful Craftsman homes are like on the inside. If you're free and reading this - come with! Starts at 10 a.m. in Pasadena.

Earlier this week Akhil and I went down to Disneyland on a work-related mission to see the Snow White show. It was no Aladdin (which is actually decent!), but we enjoyed our dinner with Akhil's colleagues and our ride inside the Haunted Mansion. Akhil has done some work there on "Liota's head." Still awaiting baby news from Deb and Justin - she is officially due in three days! So by the end of the week we should have a verdict. (We think it's a girl.)

I just had the shortest job interview in history. My appointment was at noon. Got back in the car at 12:02. The ad said, "Seeking a highly motivated individual with editorial experience to fill the position of Managing Editor." But what the lady meant was, I'd have to start Monday, work out of her home office around 25 hours a week an hour away in a residential place far out in the Valley, assign, edit, copyedit, traffic, and lay out the entire book (a 50-page tabloid-format newspaper) every week by myself, and she's paying 300 dollars under the table, no benefits, no retirement, and oh yeah, I'd have to sign an 8-12 month contract.

I pretended I didn't really know Quark.

She: Well, thanks for driving all the way out here.

Me: That's okay. See ya.

Or did I just slam the door?

My brother Toad bought a condo in Salem. I am sad - no more Harvard Square accommodations for Akhil and me. But I suppose his diving into the real estate market is a good move. I'd like to do it myself before the six-figure homes ALL turn into sevens. First though, I better get this job thing taken care of. Employers are now taking advantage of people like me to the tune of cash under-the-table, 300 bucks a week salaries. Have they no self-respect? Have I? I got myself into an interview at one of these places - I hope I will have the courage to tell them exactly what I think of their glorified volunteer opportunity but I have been out of work for months. And that makes people do some pretty desperate things... wish me luck.

In other news, Akhil's fellow countrymen, the Kenyans, swept the Boston Marathon Monday. Katie and Heather had a Patriots Day BBQ at our old/new pad at Freeman Street which, sadly, I missed. You see, Heather is moving into the LCC - the Life Crisis Closet - at 145 this month. Priya doesn't live there anymore because she bought a place in Allston a couple of years ago. But two of the "originals" will be living there once again. Funny how things evolve sometimes, isn't it? Six years ago at this time, Heather and Katie lived at Freeman Street, I was looking for a job, about to move into this apartment in Glendale, and Akhil and I were driving an '87 Jeep. Today, Heather and Katie live at Freeman Street, I am looking for a job and LIVE in this apartment, and Akhil and I occassionally drive an '87 Jeep.

Brief update by popular request: you're not missing anything. Status quo intact. (Jobs report, schmobs report. Hmph.) However, I can recommend Ofoto.com, baking your own bread, and films, television and books: "The Fog of War," "The Apprentice," and Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things." In other news, my dad sold the store (congratulations Al!) and, still to come: baby news from Debbie and Justin...

Photos are back... and here's my best shot: the elephants at Lake Manyara.



More photos are at Ofoto.com. Take a look:

http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=204762444103&page=1&sort_order=0

Happy Super Tuesday! Akhil and I voted in the primary today - first time ever for both of us to vote in one of the primaries. These times can make a political junkie out of anyone. We also had to vote on some California props related to the state's budget crisis. Funky times when you've got Terminator in office. And the Kennedys! His children, indeed, are Kennedys. Think about that. Arnold's kids are Kennedys. Bizarre.

The blog continues, but there is not much to report. I am still living off the fat of the earth, Akhil is on a regular work schedule, and we have overcome a terrible hardship: as of yesterday we now have our DSL connection working again. We've been sifting through our trip photos, and many of Akhil's slides are pretty good, but my 16-year-old Olympus has some exposure issues, so most of my prints are unusable. Time to put that old machine to rest. Speaking of old machines, this weekend Akhil finally fixed the headlight switch in the '87 Jeep. We played some tennis on Saturday, and saw "The Ghost and the Darkness," in memory of Africa. (Sigh.) Self-education in cooking continues: we tried not to liquify the fish we made Sunday night for our "Oscar dinner," and cereal has resumed its place as one of our most popular entrees. Try those new maple mini-wheats. Fabulous.

So, we tried making chapatis last night. Okay, I tried making chapatis last night. They were a little stiff and coarse but edible so I am calling them "rotla." Indian food connoisseurs will know what I'm talking about! The curried beef was fine.

Meanwhile, on to more important things. My hair. It's passable. I suppose you'll all be happy to know that I have greys! Like Lucy.

Here are couple of photos from Africa - the really good ones, I hope, will be from the film camera batch. By the way, anyone hiring? Call me.

Akhil's birthplace: the Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi...



One of our tented camp accomodations in Tanzania...



A lion in the Serengeti National Park...



And, my favorite, elephants. These were at Lake Manyara...

Another week gone by... but this one in good 'ol Los Angeles! We're home and reeling, sort of, as Akhil prepares for the first day back at work (tomorrow) and I prepare for, well, I don't know what, except for my hair appointment on Tuesday. This time, believe me, it's not a want, but a need! We had dinner out in Beverly Hills last night with Leslie, who caught us up on local happenings. Still not sure what the heck is in store for us this year but we're "working on it."

Putting up some photos -- see a few below - but is anyone still reading this?!!!

As today's bonus content feature, I want everyone to see LUCY, Regina's rediculously adorable schnauzer dog! Jealous!



England photos: Akhil's splendid cousin Sagar...



A village in Devonshire....



Us near the site where the Magna Carta was signed...



Now, some India pics. Here's much of the Madhani crew in Jamnagar...



And a schoolboy in Jamnagar, at my father-in-law's former elementary school...



This week I'll work on Africa photos. See ya!

Alas, it's time to admit we've reached the official conclusion of our trip - tomorrow we fly back to Los Angeles and should reach our apartment by dinnertime. People keep saying, "Geez, you must be so depressed!" But not so much, really. I have a feeling of satisfaction that is somewhat invigorating - though I don't have a job to go back to... Maybe that's why I'm so relaxed at the moment. Akhil may feel a bit differently, since he starts working again on Monday. This past week we spent a few days visiting with friends in Boston and then with my parents in Connecticut. Akhil and I went to the Mystic Seaport on Saturday, which I haven't seen since I was a kid, and saw the Charles W. Morgan - which, as I mentioned, we saw a model of in Zanzibar. Then we went to the Mohegan Sun casino just for curiousity's sake, along with my mom who thought it was very unpleasant - it was absolutely packed - New Englanders have apparently taken passionately to gambling. On the way up here to Boston today we visited with Akhil's friend Archie in Providence - also a surprisingly lovely city these days - they seem to be paying a great deal of attention to aesthetics here in the northeast. California developers could learn a lesson or two.

Happy Presidents Day! Photos will appear by the end of the week - assuming we can get our DSL up and running without much trouble.

Ah, Bahston in February... has it always been this cold?! Here we are back on home turf. We were greeted at Logan Tuesday afternoon by very unfriendly airport security personnel followed by my gracious brother Todd, who picked us up and took us on the long way home to his place in Cambridge so we could see the glorious progress on "The Big Dig." A walk through Hahvahd Yahd to Pinnocchio's pizza and then we went to sleep. Yesterday Akhil and I traipsed around Cambridge, Faneuil Hall and Newbury Street, then caught up with some friends here in town and tried to imagine what life would be like if we were ever forced to live here again. A tough sell when the wind rips right through your thermals!

Now that we've got the hang of this blog thing, it may be hard to stop. So keep checking here for updates - and maybe new photos and other exciting added features. Off to Connecticut tomorrow and then, L.A. again on Monday. Back to reality - what?!

Shannon and I have been having a wonderful time here in jolly old England. We spent another day visiting London, including the imperial war museum, which was tremendous. We had dinner - at a local pub - with my aunt Sudha and uncle Douglas. Steak and Ale pie and a pint of local bitter. Very British, very yummy. Great to see them, trading stories about Nairobi, New Zealand and other places.

Over the weekend, we went with Surbhi, Karan and Sagar to Devon. We stayed in Lynmouth - a beautiful little English town on the west coast. Walked through the woods along a river there and generally enjoyed the scenery. This was where Shelley (the poet and original hippie) lived for a few years. We also saw the home of Coleridge. We ate the the Ancient Mariner (the pub next door). In fact we've eaten at a number of pubs - always a highlight of any trip to England!

Today, we're off to Windsor Castle, which is just nearby... In fact we've got to run!

The trip is winding down now as we are back in the Western world... at the mothership: England. Yesterday we went to Westminister Abbey and saw the tombs of many of the characters from the story we've been following the last three months -- Charles Darwin, King George, David Livingstone... what a journey.

We also saw my old B.U. digs at South Kensington and I showed Akhil the deli where we used to buy our beer and Hob Nobs. We feel like we are home already - here with Akhil's aunt Surbhi and uncle Karan in Weybridge and bopping around London during the day. Heard the good news about the Super Bowl and can't wait to reconnect with our friends in Boston and CT and L.A. next week! Hope to bring this mild weather with us. If not, can I borrow some woolens?

And a few notes about Nairobi. We've spent a couple days here since the safari and still had some wildlife experiences! Went to an elephant/rhino orphanage that rescues animals whose mothers have died. Saw a playful baby black rhino and a bunch of mischievous baby elephants! Pretty funny. Then we went to the giraffe preserve... They have an elevated platform and you can feed the giraffes food pellets directly. I mean you put the food right on his tongue! (Which is about a foot long, by the way.) Pretty strange... We also visited the Karen Blixen museum, now of Out of Africa fame. And today, we'll visit the national museum before heading out tonight on a late night flight to London via Dubai. Bye bye Africa!

For Surbhi and Karan! I (Akhil) haven't been able to access my Disney email lately (Shannon's hotmail account, shannonpv@hotmail.com, still works), so just to confirm our flight information:

Emirates Airlines flight EK 15 from Dubai to London Gatwick. Departing Dubai at 7:55 AM Tuesday, arriving in London at 11:40 AM.

Look forward to seeing you!!!

Finally - an update! Our circuitous tour of East Africa brought us back to Nairobi this morning, after 16 days of witnessing herds of hundreds of elephants, thousands of wildebeest and zebra, and a variety of antelopes and gazelles day after day on the plains, plus prides of lions eating - and playing - within ten feet of our vehicle. Then there were the rhino at Lake Nakuru, the baobab trees at Tarangire, and baboons - well, everywhere.

Africa is sublime! I was not happy to get on the plane this morning, leaving Zanzibar and its white sandy beaches behind. With its unique history combining so many cultures and of course, its abundant spices, the food there is some of the best we've had on this trip. Cardamom, cloves, ginger and lime are used along with fresh fish, vegetables, pineapple and mango. Delish! We took a spice tour yesterday and discovered that cinnamon is a tree, and so is cocoa. Also saw cardamom and vanilla growing, cloves, tasted chickoo, jackfruit and grapefruit off the tree, and met some other tourists - one who knows some friends of ours in L.A. We went swimming off the beach by our hotel yesterday afternoon and had an unbelievable view of Kilimanjaro on the flight here today, but that wasn't enough for me - I could've spent another week there.

At the start of our safari, on our way out of Nairobi we did see the birthplace of Akhil - the Aga Khan hospital. We also got our driver to take us to what we believe is Mina's childhood home. Once out in the "bush," somehow we got very lucky with our accommodations, from the Ark to the Mara Serena to the Tarangire Safari Lodge. I had one bout with stomach trauma otherwise we've been well fed and had an incredible time.

Two more days in Africa before we head to London, continuing on this tour of the former British empire! We stop in Boston on Feb. 9 for a week to complete the circuit and reconnect with bitter winter weather. We hope to post some photos from there.

Jambo! We're in Nairobi! A breath of fresh air that was greatly needed. Bombay was actually a very cool place - we saw Akhil's parents' medical schools and dorms, and the Gate of India on our brief city tour before leaving the country Friday morning.

We arrived in Kenya last night, toured around Nairobi a little and then arrived at the Fairview Hotel. Very nice! We had pizza and a beer, a good night's sleep and showers this morning! Plus, a great breakfast, and now a few last minute emails - not sure when we'll have access again. We're off on our safari in 1/2 hour. We hope to stop by the Aga Khan hospital (where Akhil was born) and maybe even his Mom's old house, as it is on the way to the Aberderes, our first stop. A quick itinerary: Aberderes (The Ark), Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, on to Tanzania to Lake Victoria, the Serengeti, Ndutu, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Arusha. Then three days in Zanzibar before returning to Nairobi and heading to London!

See you after Safari!

Another Akhil post... We're back in Ahmedabad, preparing for Uttran (the big kite festival). Well, actually, my Mom is doing some last minute sari binge shopping, and Shannon and I are trying to prepare for Kenya/Tanzania. Have I mentioned that I've eaten enough ghee (clarified butter) and sugar to supply the energy needs of NYC for a year? More soon!

Technical note from Shannon: If the archives have disappeared from your view of this blog, that's because they have been pushed down to the bottom of the page (we have to make our sidebar wider somehow...) So, if you want to get to the archives to see the new photos we added for NZ, Australia and Bangkok, just scroll on down and you'll see the links on the left. Also, you can try viewing the text on "Small" or "Smallest" font size in your "View" menu.

Just when I was getting adept at the art of the bucket bath, suddenly I realize, our India experience is nearing its end! Today is Monday and we depart early Friday for Nairobi from Bombay. We've reached Ahmedebad and it was a little sad to leave Jamnagar after nearly two weeks there - enough time to almost feel like a local. I don't even notice the cows in the median anymore...

After our farewell dinner out with the family last night, Akhil and "the guys" had paan -a betel leaf stuffed with any combination of candy sweets, tobacco, calcium carbonate and coconut paste. It's an acquired taste, I think. I haven't quite acquired it yet. I have acquired a taste for mustard-chilis and 4 p.m. masala chai though. Akhil and I complain about the chaos and the caste system, the corruption and the filth, and the confusing, seemingly hypocritical treatment of various unfortunate animals (if you're a dog, STAY AWAY from India!), yet we're both very sad at the thought of departing so soon, when there's so much left to see. Maybe next time we'll come for Diwali.

Here is another India photo from Jaipur, where we rode an elephant to this palace gate. We're adding some old photos today from Glenorchy, Bangkok and Sydney in some of the archival posts, in case you're interested!

Can't get the theme song to "Kal Ho Naa Ho" out of my head....

For the most part, we've been lazy bums the last couple of days, doing nothing more than shopping around town, playing with Akhil's entertaining 10-month old, 3-year old, and 6-year old cousins Simeron, Rushali and Isha, and ingesting way too much very tasty Gujerati food, including this millet-flour tortilla type of bread called rotla that you top with ghee (clarified butter) -yum! And this vegetable and potato mash you eat with grilled buns called pao baji (sp?) - Akhil was able to consume no less than 8 buns himself. Needless to say you may not recognize us when we see you next! Please be kind... We're planning to leave Jamnagar tomorrow afternoon for Ahmedabad for the kite festival, Utteran.

Jamnagar is known for its tie-dye, or "bandhani" textiles. Apparently much of the work is done by women who work from home, tying thousands of tiny knots in cotton and silk fabric, and dying it in stages, one color at a time. We bought so much stuff, Akhil's parents were forced to stuff an extra suitcase that they're graciously taking home to the U.S. for us. Akhil's aunt Aruna Foi also took us to the teaching hospital where she is a professor in the OB/GYN wing. I got masked up and peered into the O/R, and visited the maternity ward and labor rooms. There is a sign on the wall near the entrance to the hospital that says "First two deliveries free." They encourage tubal ligations after that.

I know this is out of sequence, but here is a photo from our days in Rajasthan - of the palace in Udaipur.

Another quick note. We did a day trip from Jamnager to Dwarka to visit a temple, day before yesterday. There are many priests who live there - something like 30 according to different castes. They each keep a book with signatures from visitors. We found the priest for our caste and found the signature of my great grandfather, from 1928. The books are well kept. My father wrote our names in the book. The funniest comment was from the priest who, upon finding that Shannon and I were married, quietly asked my father "is she of the same caste?" My father replied "not quite!"

Oh yes, in case you were wondering, India transvestites DO wear saris. That one even threw my parents a little.

Yesterday, we went to Junagadh, the site of Mt. Girnar. There are thousands of steps constructed to a series of temples on this mountain. Another site for pilgrimages. Apparently, at one temple, 1108 saddhus go each year and magically dissappear. My father asked if there was a trap door someplace - they didn't think that was funny.

We climbed 5500 steps today to the third peak, where some holy men were smoking weed and asking for money. We gave 5 rupees for a photograph and came back down. Took about 5 hours total - finally some exercise!

We have received such an education here in Jamnagar. I can't even go into it all. This house has so much history. The fourth generation of Madhani's are living here now. My father was born in a room downstairs, along with most (if not all?) of his nine siblings. We visited cousins in Rajkot yesterday as well. More Madhani's (who knew?)
We're here for a few more days, then off to Ahmedabad on Monday for the big kite festival, Uttran (sp?), before heading to Mumbai (Bombay).

All over Ahmedabad, they are winding kite string onto spools for the festival. They make a mixture of powdered glass, glue and coloring, and run the string through it before winding the spools. They can then have kite fights, trying to cut each others string. I'm told they sell a lot of band-aids this time of year, seriously.

Just as an update - we are now in Jamnagar, seeing the town where Akhil's father spent his formative years! Many stories to tell... more soon.

Okay, here goes, we're going to attempt to post a few photos from India! Below I hope you'll see an image of the Taj Mahal. More to come...