Sunday, July 19, 2009
Foxfield Races
Another notable event of Spring were the Foxfield Races, a day of races that are a Western Virginia establishment. People dress up sillily fancily and sit in the sun eating picnics. I don't have many pictures, but this one pretty much captures the spirit, with Evan adding a Texas flair to this very East Coast experience.
San Francisco. I was born there.
Not really, but Sulu was. I just visited for Spring Break. Our friend Molly is a native San Franciscan (4th generation!), is the city's hugest fan, and SO AMIABLY invited several of her grad school friends to come visit over our holiday.
The five of us, Molly, Ellie, Mary, Evan, and I, flew west from D.C. on Virgin America, which I only mention because it was the BEST BEST BEST flying experience I've ever had. Check out their website, buy a ticket, and you'll never want to fly any other airline again. Here you can see Molly, Ellie, and Evan enjoying some of the in-flight amenities, such as the anything-you-could-ever-want-in-a-tv-computer-or-PDA seat back screens, and the moodlighting.
Molly's sister lives right in the tourist district of San Francisco, and let all five of us stay at her apartment for a few days. We had easy access to all the major sites, like the Presidio, which we enjoyed in spite of the very typical weather...
the old penny arcade...
and the sea lion docks.
We ate fine food.
And saw the Painted Ladies houses of Full House fame, a very important site for people of our generation!
Molly's parents were the EPITOME of hospitality. They cooked us fine meals and were so much fun to talk to.
AND, they let us stay at their vacation house in Sonoma. While there we met up with a friend of their family, who was recently named Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, the first woman to ever receive the distinction. Driving into Sonoma we were thrilled to see that the entire city of Sonoma was in a frenzy about her accomplishment.
She showed us the most amazing time. We were expecting to just say hello, and then go in with the masses to the winetasting room. Oh no. She had set up a private room at the top of the chateau, filled with their six most expensive bottles of wine (we later found out) and mounds of gourmet cheese, crackers, and fruits. She sat with us for an hour and half talking about the winemaking process and about what makes a good wine. The most important lesson? If you like it, it's good.
Sonoma is also home to the 2009 HGTV Dream House, which, with some difficulty, we finally found. We peered in through the windows and were suitably impressed.
The way back to San Francisco gave us our best views yet of the Golden Gate Bridge.
It was a full and wonderfully fun week, with even more activity than I've been able to recount. Trillions and trillions of hugs and kisses to Molly's family for their warmth and welcoming!
The five of us, Molly, Ellie, Mary, Evan, and I, flew west from D.C. on Virgin America, which I only mention because it was the BEST BEST BEST flying experience I've ever had. Check out their website, buy a ticket, and you'll never want to fly any other airline again. Here you can see Molly, Ellie, and Evan enjoying some of the in-flight amenities, such as the anything-you-could-ever-want-in-a-tv-computer-or-PDA seat back screens, and the moodlighting.
Molly's sister lives right in the tourist district of San Francisco, and let all five of us stay at her apartment for a few days. We had easy access to all the major sites, like the Presidio, which we enjoyed in spite of the very typical weather...
the old penny arcade...
and the sea lion docks.
We ate fine food.
And saw the Painted Ladies houses of Full House fame, a very important site for people of our generation!
Molly's parents were the EPITOME of hospitality. They cooked us fine meals and were so much fun to talk to.
AND, they let us stay at their vacation house in Sonoma. While there we met up with a friend of their family, who was recently named Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, the first woman to ever receive the distinction. Driving into Sonoma we were thrilled to see that the entire city of Sonoma was in a frenzy about her accomplishment.
She showed us the most amazing time. We were expecting to just say hello, and then go in with the masses to the winetasting room. Oh no. She had set up a private room at the top of the chateau, filled with their six most expensive bottles of wine (we later found out) and mounds of gourmet cheese, crackers, and fruits. She sat with us for an hour and half talking about the winemaking process and about what makes a good wine. The most important lesson? If you like it, it's good.
Sonoma is also home to the 2009 HGTV Dream House, which, with some difficulty, we finally found. We peered in through the windows and were suitably impressed.
The way back to San Francisco gave us our best views yet of the Golden Gate Bridge.
It was a full and wonderfully fun week, with even more activity than I've been able to recount. Trillions and trillions of hugs and kisses to Molly's family for their warmth and welcoming!
Freedom Ain't Free
Graduate school is hard. Around early April of every year it becomes downright torturous, both physically and mentally. So, in order to let off some steam and get our bodies into fine form, we and our group of friends joined the co-ed intramural softball league, with games throughout March. Evan and I have been bringing the History and Politics departments together in new and fantastic ways, including with this team, called--quite appropriately to both disciplines--Freedom Ain't Free.
Our first practice was our first game. A bunch of flabby 25 year olds against 18 year old freshmen who just a year ago were playing high school baseball. We gave it our all and walked away 5 to 16--safely escaping the "slaughter rule" after they let up on us in the 4th inning. Losing's not so bad. We went home and drank beers, while our opponents had sody-pops.
Our next game was much worse. We were playing the Medical School team. They were intensely serious about the game and all-in-all quite rude. 22-1--Slaughtered, technically and officially. While our previous opponents had recently been playing high school basebal, two members of this team were previous NCAA college baseball players.
Our final game went quite well for a while, when many of our opponents still hadn't shown up, so they had no shortstop and only one outfielder. We pulled off an outstanding 17 to 6, though nearly all of those 6 were in the first inning.
We were very good sports, despite our dismal record. Molly taught everyone a series of fantastic softball chants, and we would sing songs from each player's homeland when they went up to bat. Things like, "Texas, Our Texas, All Hail the Mighty State! Texas, our Texas, so wonderful, so great!," God Save the Queen, O Canada, etc.
Evan, a good slugger and one of our more athletic players, played a number of different bases. Though he was nervous about it, he also played catcher for a while and did QUITE WELL!
I, myself, had a perfect on-base percentage, despite NEVER swinging the bat during the entire season. My strategy was to have the smallest strike zone possible, which I achieved with this iron stance. I guess I also had an efficient substrategy of making funny faces at the pitchers.
Our first practice was our first game. A bunch of flabby 25 year olds against 18 year old freshmen who just a year ago were playing high school baseball. We gave it our all and walked away 5 to 16--safely escaping the "slaughter rule" after they let up on us in the 4th inning. Losing's not so bad. We went home and drank beers, while our opponents had sody-pops.
Our next game was much worse. We were playing the Medical School team. They were intensely serious about the game and all-in-all quite rude. 22-1--Slaughtered, technically and officially. While our previous opponents had recently been playing high school basebal, two members of this team were previous NCAA college baseball players.
Our final game went quite well for a while, when many of our opponents still hadn't shown up, so they had no shortstop and only one outfielder. We pulled off an outstanding 17 to 6, though nearly all of those 6 were in the first inning.
We were very good sports, despite our dismal record. Molly taught everyone a series of fantastic softball chants, and we would sing songs from each player's homeland when they went up to bat. Things like, "Texas, Our Texas, All Hail the Mighty State! Texas, our Texas, so wonderful, so great!," God Save the Queen, O Canada, etc.
Evan, a good slugger and one of our more athletic players, played a number of different bases. Though he was nervous about it, he also played catcher for a while and did QUITE WELL!
I, myself, had a perfect on-base percentage, despite NEVER swinging the bat during the entire season. My strategy was to have the smallest strike zone possible, which I achieved with this iron stance. I guess I also had an efficient substrategy of making funny faces at the pitchers.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Christmas in May!
For Christmas we flew out to Oregon. While there, I got to see many familiar faces AND meet new recruits to the Farr family, including Evan's brother's fiancee Yola and her CUTIE-PIE daughter Dionisia (aka Nicha). On Christmas Eve I loaned my camera to Roxxanne (as featured in previous Christmas editions of the Danfarr blog) and Nicha. They played an alphabet game where they took pictures of persons or items that started with each letter, and they really captured a lot of the essence of a Farr Christmas! Here are a few highlights:
Matt and Pat in Caps
Laughter
Roxxanne
Tree
Ukelele
Yola
My Zipper
Here's Nicha, the talented photographer
Her talent only lasted as long as Evan's CRAZY HAND didn't appear, though.
Bubble
Matt and Pat in Caps
Laughter
Roxxanne
Tree
Ukelele
Yola
My Zipper
Here's Nicha, the talented photographer
Her talent only lasted as long as Evan's CRAZY HAND didn't appear, though.
Thanksgiving in May!
Even though I last updated my blog in February of 2009, the subject of my last post was early November 2008. Finally I present to you Thanksgiving 2008!
With a rather short break from school and a nascent tradition of switching off between the Daniels and Farr families for the two major holidays, for Thanksgiving 2008 Danielses came to us! Mom, Dad, Kate, Grace, and Julia all drove up to Virginia to spend several days with us. Because many of our friends here are either from farflung regions of the country, or entirely different countries, several of our friends also joined us. Our colleagues and dear dear friends Molly from San Francisco and Mary from Iowa joined us, as well as Shoko of Japan and Nir of Israel who were celebrating their very first Thanksgivings ever. Shoko and Nir sampled many foods for the first time ever, including turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberries. I personally cooked a 24 pound turkey in my tiny little oven, basting it with olive oil for lack of a basting brush. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it was good enough. Molly brough wholesome organic vegetables, Mary her mother's classic corn bread stuffing, Shoko miso soup with edamame rice, and Nir (a former resident of France) creme fraiche with strawberries. I loved spending time with my family and letting my new friends get to know the folks who made me who I am. Unfortunately, after the very first photo of the evening, my five-year-old camera died!
With a rather short break from school and a nascent tradition of switching off between the Daniels and Farr families for the two major holidays, for Thanksgiving 2008 Danielses came to us! Mom, Dad, Kate, Grace, and Julia all drove up to Virginia to spend several days with us. Because many of our friends here are either from farflung regions of the country, or entirely different countries, several of our friends also joined us. Our colleagues and dear dear friends Molly from San Francisco and Mary from Iowa joined us, as well as Shoko of Japan and Nir of Israel who were celebrating their very first Thanksgivings ever. Shoko and Nir sampled many foods for the first time ever, including turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberries. I personally cooked a 24 pound turkey in my tiny little oven, basting it with olive oil for lack of a basting brush. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it was good enough. Molly brough wholesome organic vegetables, Mary her mother's classic corn bread stuffing, Shoko miso soup with edamame rice, and Nir (a former resident of France) creme fraiche with strawberries. I loved spending time with my family and letting my new friends get to know the folks who made me who I am. Unfortunately, after the very first photo of the evening, my five-year-old camera died!
However, I got one picture from the evening: Molly and I posing in our Thanksgiving get-up.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Yachting in Baltimore
On a very blusterily cold day in November Evan and I went up to DC to visit our friend Landon who had come in from New Mexico to attend a conference. After a somewhat disastrous but nonetheless fun night out in DC (I forgot my ID--we had to sneak into a bar which ended up being a thump-thump-thump dance club), we went, along with Landon's friend Katherine, the next day to Baltimore where our mutual friend Michael lives in a yacht. Let's just say he has a very interesting job that might require him, at times, to sail around the world. It was too cold and windy to go sailing (even more blustery and cold than the day before), but we had a good time on the boat and in Baltimore.
Approaching the vessel
On deck
Haha, look what Landon found on the bookshelf!
Chilled to the bone, Michael made us some nice cuppa teas.
That evening, not wanting the magical day to end, we made a delicious fancy meal and ate it onboard.
We've gotta find some excuse to visit Michael again in the spring!
On deck
Haha, look what Landon found on the bookshelf!
Chilled to the bone, Michael made us some nice cuppa teas.
That evening, not wanting the magical day to end, we made a delicious fancy meal and ate it onboard.
We've gotta find some excuse to visit Michael again in the spring!Molly's Birthday
Back in November our good friend Molly had a birthday. Molly is a great friend, and she opens her house to 5-10 people every Thursday for our weekly salon. In order to celebrate her birth the core members of the salon made her a lovely French-themed gift basket, with wine, fine cheeses, French crackers and cookies, a beautiful mug, and a rabbit-style corkscrew. Back in the 17th century a woman with a name similar to Molly's had a famous salon so I photoshopped a painting of that Madame to have Molly's face superimposed.
Here's Evan bringing the gift over to Molly's house (basically across the street from us)
in the rain.
She was delighted!
in the rain.
She was delighted!
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