Kine

Warning: your pregnancy will bring unsolicited advice from total strangers

2010-03-22T14:36:00.005-04:00

Little peanut
Originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster

We think the little human on the right is a girl, but it’s a little too early to tell. We call her Peanut.

I am now 4 months pregnant.

Being pregnant is a big deal to some women, not so much to others. I fall in the latter category. I have to say I’ve been lucky. Other than dizziness and back pain, I’ve been fine and I feel normal, not crazy emotional or nauseous. However, sometimes I leave the house without any shoes on, or I put the cereal box in the fridge (and the milk in the pantry), and well, you’re about to find out that it makes me a little cranky.

The attention to my growing belly is sweet, but the comments I receive from the outside world gave me insight on the image people have of pregnant women. The first thing I learned is that people love giving advice. They love it with a passion.

I’ve been cycling to work. Don’t get me started on the faces I get when I tell them I am on my road bike day in and day out. At first I didn’t have the good sense to realize that people would be so negative and opinionated about this topic. I’ve stopped trying to argue with them, and I don’t let it bother me anymore. Sometimes I argue that advice given to pregnant women apply to the lowest common denominator, and that if you were an athlete on the bicycle pre-pregnancy, things will work out just fine on the bike during your pregnancy. I am usually pretty confident of my choice to cycle, but it does help to realize that I am not alone in that department. But athlete or not I still think biking is a viable mode of transportation for pregnant women.

One thing I’ve noticed is a tendency from people to equate everything exclusively to my pregnancy. Anything I do/eat/say is a result of my condition. Hungry for cheese? Must be those crazy cravings (anybody who knows me is aware I go absolutely gaga for cheese). I may say I am tired and wish I could have slept in. Oh, that’s normal, after all, you’re pregnant! Little do people know I am a champion sleepyhead. I love to sleep more than I love cheese, and that is saying something. At this point they love to add that I won’t have the luxury to sleep in in a few months, and that I better “enjoy it while I can”.

Which brings me to my next point. People love telling me how much of a commitment it will be, as we are first-time parents and we haven’t got a clue what we’re getting into. Yes, the onset of a baby this fall will cut into cycling, reading, cooking, etc. We understand our lifestyle will change dramatically, but the constant narrative I get from people around me is a bit unsettling and repetitive. Most people just can’t see that we will carry the same values with us post delivery (having a healthy lifestyle, maintaining interest in the outside world, mindfulness of the environment, enjoying the latest bands, travel, etc). We’ll still care, we’ll still be ourselves. Hey, you without kids, you can still be our friend!

That said I have been having excellent conversations with friends who are happy and supportive and seem to know where I am coming from, and I’ve been feeding off positivity from these people. It also helps that my other-half reasserts his love and support every day. He still thinks I can install those kitchen cupboards all by myself. No excuses honey.

I can’t wait to go out and about with this kid, walking on the Ottawa River path, packing her up on the bike and go ride canal-side, and much later canoeing in Algonquin Park. It will be a wonderful, frustrating, interesting, fascinating, whatever, growing experience.

See you September 5, Pea.

Flickr

2010-03-22T14:34:00.001-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Going to a Town

2007-04-09T10:14:00.000-04:00

I don't remember the last time I listened to a song on Repeat, but consider the new Rufus Wainwright single my new obsession.
I've not heard this type of song since John Lennon or Elton John. The melody is at the same time uplifting and disheartening. A wonderful dark song. Grab it here.

making my own way home / ain't gonna be alone / i'm going to a town / that's already been but down.

Secrets of really good chocolate chip cookies

2007-03-05T09:59:00.000-05:00

Most people I know claim to have the perfect chocolate-chip cookie recipe. I don't believe I have the best recipe, but this is damn close. In the end, I think it's not really the recipe that matters, but how you make them (and the quality of your ingredients, especially the vanilla).

Here's how it's done:

-Always use real butter;
-And real sugar. Don't tell me Splenda should be used, you smug moralizer;
-Melt the butter on a double boiler (careful not burn it). The idea behind this is to have your sugar melt in your butter more easily. Let it cool before you add the eggs, otherwise they will poach in the mix;
-Use real vanilla;
-Use good chocolate: I like buy a brick of bitter-sweet chocolate and chop it up in big morsels;
-Use an electric mixer to combine the sugar, butter and eggs. Mix for a good 5 minutes;
-Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients in the wet ingredients;
-Mix the dough thoroughly but don't over-mix it;
-Refrigerate the dough at least an hour. When dough is firm, form dough into 1 inch balls. If you don't refrigerate the dough, your cookies will come out flat. In the end, you want to eat little Matterhorns;
-Make sure your cookie sheet is cool (or cold). Parchment-paper-it;
-Only cook a few cookies at a time. Leave the rest of the dough in the freezer. Take the frozen dough out of the freezer only when you're sure someone will eat them immediately when they are done;
-Do not bake longer than 9.5 minutes. 10 minutes and they'll be too cooked (I'm serious);
-Eat approximately 2 minutes after they are done.

The recipe:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened or melted
3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups bitter-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips or your drug of choice.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and chips.

Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 9.5 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes. Eat the damn cookies.

When you are done eating the cookies, go make some music: Shiver

New travel blog!

2006-12-24T11:33:00.000-05:00

Head on over to my travel blog.

I'm back for good, for now

2006-12-16T09:21:00.000-05:00

I was told a few days ago that by blog missed me, so I'm welcoming myself back -- just in time for travel blogging in India. In a few days I'll be in Delhi holding my Belhi tight, and popping Ibuprofen. Now if I could just find a digital camera to keep a record of all these good times.

I'm leaving you with a recommendation: check out my darling's new blog, he's in Australia right now, and was in Ireland a few weeks back. He likes to take pictures of bicycles, and really, that's why I love the guy.

Arrrrrrr, Yarrrrrr, Harrrrrr

2006-09-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day, an annual celebration founded by a couple of theatre guys from Oregon.

In the spirit of this wonderful example of pointless American innovation, learn to release your inner pirate here. Or have the computer do it for you with the Pirate Filter.

Aye. Arrr.

NYC Tour Diary

2006-09-15T16:38:00.000-04:00

It's nice to visit NYC. After decades of watching Allen movies and sitcoms, it's nice to get to see the real thing. Granted, I've been to NYC before, but I don't remember too much of it, except the one time when were robbed (or scammed) of a couple hundred dollars and our car was towed. But I was 13 and I found the whole thing pretty hilarious. Anyway, that is neither here nor there so I'll get to the point and give you my perceptions of my trip, all still minty fresh even thought I got back over two weeks ago.

I saw a polar bear at the Central Park Zoo. It looked as cuddly and warm as George Clooney.
*****
The hole of 9/11 is as big as one might think.
*****
Fashion note: not a single person there wears shorts. Nobody.
*****
Fashion note #2: In Central Park, a new yorker compliments me on my bag. The next day, I overhear a hipster murmuring to her boyfriend: "Oh, I love her shoes". I record these as the two single greatest fashion-related victories of my existence.
*****
I was staying in Edison, one of the many New Jersey strech of suburbia, in a hotel room clad in beige and darker-beige, which is just the way rooms ought to be. It cost me 37$ to be the extra-guest in my brother-in-law's hotel room. My parents and all my sisters (minus one) were there too.
*****
My sister and I had glorious brunch in the ever hip West Village. It was divine. We took pictures.
*****
NYC is a society caught in constant stampede. There are "No Standing Any Time" signs everywhere. I thought it was adressed to pedestrians, but I was later told that it was for cars. But you still feel like a criminal if you don't "Move Your Ass Any Time".
*****
Being in the city make me feel dirty (literally, not figuratively). Something about the air, the smell. It's all so very dirty. I go through a pack of moist anti bacterial towelettes in a day. If I were living there I would constantly be afraid of dying a slow radioactive death, unless I had my towelettes handy.
*****
In Soho: Saw Sofia Coppola foraging for lettuce and bread at Dean and Deluca. It was exotic and unexpected.
*****
Shopping in the U.S. doesn't feel too sinful anymore, as the canadian dollar in is better shape.
*****
Had some glorious walks, but 50% of my brain was focussing on my ailing knees.
*****
In NYC, cupcakes are the must have accessory of the year.
*****
You are not supposed to want to go to the bathroom in NYC. Hardly an original observation.
*****

If someone gets a hint (Caro? Nan?, Mom? Hello?), i'll soon have pictures to post on Flickr.

Stalk and the City

2006-09-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

This is my last night in NYC, but before I take the time to write an entry about that, I want to share the fact that Gawker.com took my stalking of Sofia Coppola in Soho seriously and published it on their website.

I wrote: "[We found] a preggy Coppola buying bread, roses and lettuce at Dean and Deluca, alone and wearing an oversize pink and white polo shirt. No makeup and very pretty."

My sister and I love to stalk celebs. That is pathetic.

NYC bound

2006-08-31T13:28:00.000-04:00

I'll be spending the long weekend in NYC, and the first thing i'll do in the city is this:

458 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10018 (at 36th Street).

I will gladly cooperate.

happy birthday to me

2006-08-16T15:28:00.000-04:00

I am 30. I can now be president of Chechnya.

I am still processing the information so i'm not going to talk about all the goals I've set for myself. Also, I have no intention of doing any “soul-searching”, “rework my life”, “retake control” or make any sort of “improvements” ...yet. Instead, today I plan on doing some moping, a little procrastination, and a dash of drinking alcoholic beverages (after noon of course).

I’m a big sentimental dope when it comes to birthdays. If you’re so inclined, please send birthday wishes to kikine at hotmail dot com.

oh yeah

2006-08-15T16:29:00.000-04:00

Get your racecar nickname here.

Those were the days

2006-08-10T09:47:00.000-04:00

Djoubi found this little jewel of a website. Remember when music videos had a plot and a lot of over-acting? They were awesome.

Another day, another bird.

2006-08-02T11:05:00.000-04:00

I like Bird Nerd.
I bought this linocut print the other day. Birds make great art subjects.

In other news, it's hot out. Contemplating moving to Alaska. In the meantime, i'll be lobbying for national acceptance of a ritual called afternoon nap. While we north americans are working away at 3pm, the brits are having their tea and the spanish are enjoying their daily Siesta. The afternoon cooldown, it's not a bad idea.

So these days I spend all my non-working time in the coolest room in our house, the very dark TV room, and watch movies: I strongly recommend the british movie Heartlands, a small independent movie about a guy setting off on his moped across the country intent on winning his cheating wife back. The movie captures the exquisite beauty of England's rolling hills.

Sofa, Dirt, Books, Songs.

2006-07-20T16:43:00.000-04:00

I bought this sofa
To answer the question of my last post: what will it all cost? The answer is: probably a lot. This is what happens when you turn 30: you buy a sofa that does not come from Goodwill. I have to admit it will be nice to own a piece of furniture that will last me through adulthood.

Sometimes a girl has to play in dirt.
Last wednesday I had a day off. At first I was thinking of spending the day watching Ab Fabs, but the day took a strange turn. I was having my morning cup of coffee on the balcony and at one point my eyes peered over my Vanity Fair and I saw the train wreck that is my back yard: weeds taller than Yao Ming and many varieties of spiky swamp-like "greenery". Then the fun began. I spent the day pulling weeds and really enjoying it. I can certainly identify with this guy. It was nasty job, and at the end of the day I was painfully aware of muscles I didn’t even know I had. Now we have to level the ground and that should take lots and lots of power tools, wood, bricks, and time.

But there is always time to read.
Ali Smith – The Accidental. I just started it.
Jon Katz – Running to the Mountain. A story about some big shot writer from Hollywood going broke and buying a house in the wood to “regroup”. This is not the best book I’ve ever read, and sometimes the writing is just plain bad, but for some reason I can’t put it away. It’s a bad page turner.

Our of my headphones:
1. Time has Told Me – Nick Drake
2. Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
3. Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
4. The Stars of Track and Field – Belle and Sebastian
5. Upward Over the Mountain – Iron & Wine
6. Cello Song – Nick Drake
7. Drops of Jupiter – Train. "Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken"
8. Peace Like a River – Paul Simon
9. (Love me Like Music) I’ll be Your Song – Heart
10. Everybody’s Changing – Keane
11. Something to Talk About – Badly Drawn Boy

r-a-n-t

2006-07-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

Summer is the most disappointing of seasons. The promises of fun, slush and cotton candy are replaced with heat exhaustion, vacation envy and noisy air conditioning units. Gasping for air is not my idea of a swell summer time. I genuinely hate the weather ladies who cry at the sight of clouds on a summer weekend, and say it couldn’t possibly be summer if we are not drenched in sun rays.

I miss the cool lakes of the Madawaska Valley and the chilly evenings spent lounging one of those chairs you always see on the cover of Cottage Quarterly, cozily wrapped in a blanket reading the Atlantic Monthly. Purdy Lake was nice, we had a lot of time to read, look out the window, or bike around. But that was two weeks ago and today I’m looking for a pool I can swim in for about a mile, to paraphrase Joni Mitchell. This seems like the obvious solution to my little problems, which are: I don’t sleep well, I have nightmares at night, and I feel like I need ten kinds of leave: vacation leave, sick leave, personal leave, etc.

These things helped me make it through the season:

- My new Creative Zen MP3 player. Worth every penny.
- Michael Palin’s shows on traveling on TVO, Fridays at 7pm.
- The band Keane.
- A daily Grande-Double-Espresso-Iced-Latte-With-One-and-a-half-Raw-Sugar
- Yellow Tail Chardonnay
- Defamer, The Superficial and Gawker.
- The idea that retail is an effective form of therapy.

In other news, I’ll be hitting a new decade next month. The scary thing about turning 30 is not that I’m getting older, it’s that I’m not much different than when I was 23. Oh sure, there has been slight physical change and much soul searching, but deep down (or right on the surface) I’m still the adorably odd student who likes to read her Star in the bath. I still don’t like the 9-to-5-living-for-the-weekend lifestyle (which I thought before was just a hard time adjusting), and my taste in books, music and art has not changed an iota (except I dropped Tori Amos).

As I’m hitting the thirties, I wonder a lot about what will change, if, when, how, and what will it cost?

I’d like to take my twenties, plant them in a jar next to my kitchen window and name it George. Maybe George will grow to become a beautiful and accomplished 30 year-old.

I'm off

2006-06-30T17:10:00.000-04:00

Friday, 5:08 pm. Dawn of vacation time. I've heard that the strongest motivator is anticipation. What's next? What's tomorrow going to be like? Anticipation. I think it explains the addictive quality of traveling. When i'm not thinking about eating brownies, I think about escape. Messing around in an unfamiliar place.

So we are heading off to Purdy Lake for a week of who-knows-what. This place isn't unfamiliar, but it's everything a vacation place should have: a fire pit, a lake, a BBQ, a canoe and moldy paperback novels. I'll post pictures if we don't forget to pack Jeff's digital camera.

I'm leaving you with this poll:

Q: Should we get this dog?

P.S.: The song contest answer: Hangin' Tough, by the New Kids on the Block. A classic.

They've got the right stuff

2006-06-23T10:24:00.001-04:00

1. Randomly pick a song from your music library.
2. Find the lyrics for the first four verses/chorus
3. Go to Google translation and translate the lyrics from English into German.
4. Take the new German lyrics and translate them into French.
5. Take the new French lyrics and translate them into English.
6. Post the NEW English lyrics and have people guess the original song

Try to guess my song:
OH-, OH-, OH- Of OH-, OH-. OH-, OH-, OH- Of OH-, OH-.
To hear each one, if you wanted to take a probability.
[To crush:] On the floor to receive simply and the news dance kids to make.
'Period one not ensures nothing 'the cause which does not take it a long time.
[To crush:] We will use to be „cause you in Trance with a funky the song received you,
hangin durable Hangin “which is durable which hangin which is durable.
[To crush:] We are rough.

OH-, OH-, OH- Of OH-, OH-. OH-, OH-, OH- Of OH-, OH-.
Each one always talkin “period which is on the upper surface.
[To crush:] The cause not to cross our manner” which you are received stomped.
We will not give in one way or another to each Durchhang.
[To crush:] And if you try to downwards hold us,
we will come towards the line from return, and you durably know that we are of
Hangin durably, hangin, hangin durably.
[To crush:] Rather durable Es you?
Hangin durably, hangin durably, hangin durably.
[To crush:] We are rough.

from VoxTrott.

The Name Game

2006-06-12T17:24:00.000-04:00

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name)
Leslie Drayton

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your dad's side, your favorite candy)
Eugenie Life Saver

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your last name)
C-Jac

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite animal, favorite color)
Cat Blue

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Monique Lachute

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name)
Jac sma cyr

7. JEDI NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards)
Euqinom Llams

8. PORN STAR NAME: (middle name, father's middle initial, street you grew up on)
Monique M. Legault.

9. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, an automobile you have)
The Black Mystique

From Leab.

Remember me?

2006-06-04T18:40:00.000-04:00

I tried writing an entry last weekend but for some reason I never got around to finish it. I’ve been pretty busy: my new job barely gives me time to go to the bathroom during work hours, let alone take my lunch hour to write an entry.

This weekend I did something I thought I’d never be able to enjoy: I stayed in motels. I don’t care that it had plastic bedspreads from the last century. It was awesome. We watched Animal Planet’s America’s Funniest Pet Videos on television. Sweet, sweet cable.

It was raining non stop from the moment we got to the Adirondacks, so camping became out of the question, especially since we own a cheap-ass Canadian Tire 70$ tent. We were heading for a weekend of hiking, but we ended up driving up the mountain we were supposed to climb by foot. Whiteface Mountain. Yes, we drove up a mountain, 4,800ft. That is pathetic.

When I hiked up Whiteface last year, I resented the people who drove up there, parked their cars, and took an elevator to reach the peak (instead of taking a few stairs up the top). I mean, you spend a whole lot of energy walking up a mountain for about 3 hours and suddendly when you approach the summit you can hear a Harley Davidson and a couple of SUV's. When you finaly summit you get to sit down and eat your lunch next to a lady wearing high heels bitching about the fact that she had to walk up the stairs because the elevator was not working.

This year we became the same people I resented, those same lazy tourists.

But it was brutal on the summit: the rain had a winter blizzard quality to it and I did not trust my feet to keep me grounded to the peak. The winds and stinging rain sent us scrambling for cover. That’s how bad it was up there. The mountain pathways had been flooded. It rained a lot. And then it rained some more. The elevator guy was incredulous, but nice enough to let us go on top anyway, but not without warning us about the conditions up there.

So a weekend of planned hiking and camping ended up being a weekend of tv watching, beer drinking, darts shootting, and generally getting wet. It was great.

Pictures of Puerto Rico...

2006-05-14T13:23:00.000-04:00

...are up.

Scroll down a bit and click on photo icons on the right.

Mylène in California

2006-05-10T10:36:00.000-04:00

Mylène, an ex coworker of mine, got a new blog going after coming back from California, called Californiacation. Because it's nice to look at pictures of Big Sur, it's well worth a visit. The Yosemite shots are beautiful. I hope she'll keep it running with more stuff (hint).

Way to go girl!

I'm not dead

2006-05-06T11:54:00.000-04:00

...I'm just busy.

I can't really talk about my new job, but let's just say i'm training to become a librarian for the parliamentarians. My training will last another three weeks, after which I will be released into the wild and sometimes surreal world of parliamentary life. Obviously I can't blog about that, but this blog isn't about politics anyway.

A week into my training, i'm starting to feel a bit weak. This is very typical: I get a sore throat when i'm overwhelmed with new responsibilities and new feelings about things, about my job. I know that if I sit with these feelings of anxiety for a while, they will go with no consequence. In the meantime, I have to be working my way through some potentially confusing territory, at the end of which I will experience some down time at a cottage in Purdy Lake. It will be summer, after all. I'm glad it's raining and cold today: I have an excuse to finish my book.

The Penski File

2006-04-26T11:28:00.000-04:00

For a week I’ve been working on the other side of the universe otherwise known as Pointe-Gatineau. That means spending three hours commuting every day. This does not make me a very happy person. It makes me reach for the nutella at the end of the day. And because reaching for the nutella makes me burn calories, I also reach for the french baguette. Must replenish energy reserves.

So, last week, when another governmental institution offered me a job in downtown Ottawa (much closer to my home), I started to pay attention. To make a long story short, today is my last day as an archivist and next monday I will go back to being a librarian (email me if you want to know where i'll be working.) I'm relieved and delighted. And also embarrased for leaving a job after only a week.

In the meantime I have to "work". I find this whole situation to be very George Costanza-esque. Remember when George shows up at an office without ever being hired and starts “working” on the Penski File? That's me. I show up at work, and sort of pretend I have work.

People here have nicknamed me Speedy Gonzalez. Here today, gone tamale.

It burns, burns, burns.

2006-04-14T18:55:00.000-04:00

Ah, the cool breeze of April in Quebec. My folks are gossiping in the kitchen, blue grass music is playing on the radio, and I can sit down and write about the past couple of weeks. I'm not exhausted any more, I don't have to schedule some fun activity like kayaking or hiking. Coming back home feels very good indeed. I love travelling, but every minute away is spent agonizing about whether we're really making the most of our time: Is that beach OK? Should we drive further to see if the next one is better? Are we paying too much for that sailing trip? Is 10 bucks too much money for mofungo and pollo (mashed plantain and chicken)?

If you're thinking of going away on vacation where it's warmer and where they don't have any Starbucks, let's me tell you a little secret: Go to Vieques and El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico. I'll give you adresses of houses you can rent for very little money. The view from your house will get stuck in you brain forever, and you will fall in love with Sammy the dog in Vieques. The constant breeze will make you comfortable even though it's scorching hot outside. People will be nice to you and offer you a ride if you can't find a taxi to the airport.

First it was hiking. The rainforest, people. They don't tell you this over at Frommers. The Caribbean is a wonderful place not because of the beaches or the turquoise water, but the tropical forest. Sure, snorkeling is nice, but if you are like me and you hate getting sand in your shorts, head to the mountains and find a waterfall. We did, with a guide. It was a bit scary climbing rocks in my bare feet (i was shaking like a leaf)

Then it was surfing. I am not very good with large bodies of water. The significant other tried to teach me surfing, but I could only kneel on the large platform before my lack of enthusiasm sent me crashing in the surf. After swallowing at least 5 liters of water I decided to throw in the towel. So I smiled an apologetic smile and say, "Um, maybe next week?". Never one to lament for too long over a half-empty glass -- or at least I try -- I proceeded to show my beloved how masterful yours truly is on the boogie board. If you're wondering what a boogie board is, well it's much like surfing, except you don't have to stand up on your board. Basically it's for wusses. But I'd rather be a master on the boogie board, than a clumsy mess on the surf board. So there.

Then it was snorkeling. Thinking about how I loved the rain, the forest, the rainforest, the frogs, the birds, the flowers and trees, I felt guilty for now enjoying the corals more. Failing to have an epiphany while watching the tropical fishes in a timely fashion, I tried to brush aside my indifference of the aquatic life and got to work on a sailing/snorkeling day-trip to the tip of the Bermuda Triangle. It was a magical ride and the journey to the snorkeling stop was more enjoyable than the stop itself, witch consisted of watching some fishes through a mask, and trying not to find scary ones. At that point, I found myself at a crossroads: I could either a) move forward with the fish watching at the risk of encountering a shark (not uncommon over there), or b) chicken out, and head back to the boat to enjoy a complimentary rhum punch with the captain. And well, I, um, chickened out.

Then it was reading. I read four books: Into Thin Air, Trois jours chez ma mère, La traduction est une histoire d'amour and Running to the Mountain: a Mid-Life Adventure. Google them if you're interested. They are all very good.

Then it was over.

Pictures up soon.