Update on 60 New Things

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I didn’t finish my 60 New Things project during 2020 and the start of 2021. I made a decision at some point that I didn’t want to just have half of the things be new trails I’ve hiked, or new recipes I’ve tried. For now, that means I still don’t have a tattoo, but it’s on my list.

Photo by wendel moretti on Pexels.com Not me, not the tattoo I’m thinking of.

I decided that it was more important to stick with the spirit of the project than it was to follow my original timeline. I’ve also struggled a little with stress and I didn’t want to make this project into something that was breathing down my neck. The virus was doing enough of that. So I’m moving forward with this update to catch you up on new things I’ve done but never wrote about. As one friend pointed out, maybe by the time I finish them, it will be 62 New Things.

Here is a recap of all the things I’ve done. It’s a nice list and seeing it all together makes me appreciate what I managed to accomplish. Side note: when I was going through the posts, I discovered I had used #10 twice. I’m going to call the second one 10 B, rather than redoing all the numbering, but it means I have an extra one in the bag.

60 New Things List – Completed So Far

1. Hike New Trail (Gary Giacomini Open Space)
2. Try Haitian Food
3. Lantern Light Festival
4. Bear Valley Trail Hike
5. Stitch Fix
6. Quarry Hill Botanical Garden Walk
7. Unknown Trail Hike, Mt. Tam
8. Kabuki Spa Communal Bathing
9. Sushi Newbie
10. Learn a New Language (+ 10-B. Snow!)
11. Howling for Healthcare Workers
12. Meeting Mo, the Macaw
13. Visit Iconic Church: San Francisco De Asis, Rancho de Taos
14. Create a Board Game
15. thredUP
16. Jump Rope – Fail
17. Visit Pilgrimage Site
18. DIY Haircut
19. Cliff Dwellings
20. Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
21. Continental Divide
22. Peach Galette
23. Palpitations
24. New Car!
25. Scallion Pancakes
26. Dosas
27. Doran Beach
28. Braiding Challah
29. Black Beans, Yellow Rice
30. Chocolate Babka
31. Corn Ribs
32. Bay Trail
33. Mask & Shield
34. Pita Flatbread

The New Things that my Pandemic Ennui has kept me from posting include Hula Hooping, Salesforce Park, Murmuration, Paint Pouring on Rocks, and Keeping a Bullet Journal.

Getting my first vaccine today (as an education worker), getting Trump out of the White House, spring wildflowers and green hills have made me feel more hopeful and positive than I have in quite some time. Hopeful enough that I think I’ll start getting these completed projects posted. Soon.

I hope you are keeping well and safe. Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

Rest in Peace, Beau

February 5 is a sad anniversary. But I’ve been thinking about my brother Beau, who died on that day one year ago, and I wanted to share, again, something about his life.

dianne faw

My younger brother, Beau, died last month. I’ve been thinking about our childhood and younger years, and sharing memories with friends and family members. I’ve had a slideshow of pictures in my mind, images mostly of Beau as a toddler and a kid. He was born a little over 6 years after me. I remember him wearing shorts and black rubber boots – even when he was napping. I remember reading Richard Scary books to him and you had to read every little word on those pages. They were very detailed. He loved firetrucks and firefighters. He banged on pots, pans and cookie tins until he got real drums. Some of my memories are of Beau as a dad with two sons. They also loved firetrucks and being read to.

My mom shared a wonderful story that illustrates the kind of musician Beau was. Forgive me if I don’t have…

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Black Beans, Yellow Rice 29/60

I know I’m not alone when I go for convenience for weekday dinners.  Not take-out (well, hardly ever), but things like frozen rice that heats in the microwave, or canned beans.  These are perfectly good and are staples at our house.

But when I take the time to cook beans from scratch, or make a recipe with rice, starting from the dry grains, I feel a sense of achievement.  The differences aren’t enough to have me batch cooking these things every weekend.  Our little apartment doesn’t have room for an Instant Pot and even if it did, I’m not convinced I would make sufficient use of it.

This dinner was worth the extra time and effort. It is essentially Arroz con Pollo, from a Puerto Rican recipe I found here, but I subbed black beans cooked the day before, for the pigeon peas used in the recipe, serving them on the side. Red cabbage cole slaw added even more color to the plate.

My version of the recipe has a sofrito of red bell pepper, Serrano chile, yellow onion, green onions, garlic, cilantro and tomato.  It has a homemade sazon seasoning  with cumin, turmeric, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.  I didn’t have ground coriander so omitted that, and I added a pinch of saffron.

Chicken thighs are sprinkled with the spice blend than browned in the pan. They finish cooking on top of the rice. The result is succulent and flavorful and we even had some tahdig-like crispy rice at the bottom of the pan.

When you have the time, don’t forget delicious tecipes like this one. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Braiding Challah 28/60

Rem made his first loaf of challah and I braided it!  OK, this isn’t a big new thing, but making challah was a first for both of us.

Challah is a yeast bread, rich with egg yolks. It is tender and a little sweet – very much like brioche. 

He’d been wanting to bake a loaf for Sabbath for awhile – we finally made it back in June.

It was slightly over-baked and a little dry, but still delicious. We will definitely make it again and watch it more closely.

Thanks for the visit.

Jump Rope -Fail 16/60

When I was a kid, I loved jumping rope. I remember the little rhymes we chanted as we jumped. I liked to skip solo, sometimes traveling around the playground. I liked spinning the rope faster and faster for red hots. I liked doing it with two friends turning a long rope, and jumping in.

So when I decided to do my 60 New Things Project, jumping rope was one of the things I looked forward to. I procrastinated about ordering one. By now we were on lockdown so I couldn’t go to a sporting goods store and compare ropes.

My sister loaned me one. It was kind of long but I figured out a way to fold the stiff material and hold it. I started jumping. Oof! My head remembered my childhood joy but my body wasn’t cooperating.

I knew I would need to practice. I watched some jump rope basics videos. I tried some more. My lower back hurt. I read about the importance of having the right length rope. My sister suggested trying on the Astro Turf surface by the batting cage at the middle school, as it was more forgiving. My neighbor suggested getting a thin mat to jump on.

I gave my sister back her rope. Maybe I will try jump rope again. Maybe if I can order a rope that is the right length and get a better surface. I will be sure and let you know. In the meantime, I ordered a hula hoop.

Thanks for stopping by.

Create a Board Game 14/60

This goes back to Valentine’s Day. Rem and I make Valentine projects for each other every year and this year he gave me a board game. But it was kind of a starter game – he had an idea, and he’d found some sweet dice with hearts for the spots or pips. He got a little wooden box, painted the lid, put in a photo from our honeymoon, and added a smaller plastic box that fit inside to hold the dice. He added some old coins for playing pieces and wrote up a few rules.

His idea was we would play it using a board from another game. He called it the Lovely Game because we’ve used the numbers 1 4 3 to signify “I love you” (the numbers correspond with the number of letters in each word) and to win the game, you had to roll those three number: 1, 4, 3. Otherwise, we just took turns moving one space at a time until one of us advanced to the finish line or rolled those three lucky numbers.

I was charmed by his Valentine gift to me but after playing the Lovely Game, I asked if I could work on a new board with a few more rules and more variety. He readily agreed and this is the result.

We have only played this game with each other but I’m sure it could be adapted to a less smoochy, more family-friendly version that could be played with more players. Creating the board was a great crafty project on it’s own. But we truly enjoy playing it (and played it before we were housebound due to the pandemic).

Here’s the basics from our game: it has 47 heart-shaped spaces. They kind of spiral around the board and I added little arrows to help keep track of the direction of play. There is a “Start” heart and a “Winner!” heart. We each have three dice.

To start play we each choose one of the colored buttons that became our playing pieces, and we each roll a single die. Highest number goes first.

We have two hearts marked with B/P, which stands for our nicknames, Boo and Peaches. If you land on a B/P, before you roll on your next turn, the other player (or if more players, it could be the player to your right) asks you a question. For our game, the questions is something from our years together, kind of a Boo and Peaches trivia question. They’re always easy questions. If you get it right, you get to go. If you miss it, you have to skip one turn. For a family game, these could be signified with a big question mark. You could even write questions on cards as long as the questions are ones that everyone would be able to answer.

Three of the hearts are marked with a big X which stands for “kiss.” When either player lands on the X, the players kiss. Maybe you could do high fives, hand shakes, or in the spirit of social distancing these days, elbow bumps, foot taps, clapping, winks or other positive expressions of greeting or affection.

One tricky heart says “Odd: Even” and if you land on this heart you roll the three dice as usual. If the resulting number is odd, you move back the number of the highest die. If it is even, you move forward the number of the highest die. An additional rule has been added that if you land on this heart 3 times in one game, you can treat it as any other heart and move forward normally.

Bad news if you land on “Lose a turn” but good news if you land on “Bonus 1 Die Roll!” You do not need to roll the exact number at the end to win, and if anyone rolls 1 4 3 (in any combination, it still counts if it is 4 1 3, or 3 1 4…you get the idea) you WIN!!

Here are the other rules:

• Roll three different numbers: move lowest die.
• Roll double: move forward one of the double numbers.
• Roll triple: move forward total of all three dice.
• Roll three sixes: START OVER!!

We wrote the rules on the board to help us remember as we play. Sometimes one of us will roll the winning combo of 1 4 3 and not notice, so a new rule we’ve added is if you roll 1 4 3 but don’t notice, and you move forward and the other (or next) player rolls the dice, it is too late and play continues. But we like to see the other person win and take a victory lap around the board, so we try and help each other.

Our game was created on a piece of cardboard that was the back of an old calendar, using paint pens, punched paper hearts and a washi tape border.

Maybe you could create your own version of the Lovely Game. The numbers 1 4 3 could mean “I Like You,” and perhaps with some searching you can find some dice. Now just might be the time for you to tackle this project. If you do, be sure and send me a picture!

Thanks for the visit.

Howling for Healthcare Workers 11/60

This is a new time we are living in. It is a very trying time for me, and my stresses and worries are quite small compared to those of many people. I am employed and working safely from home, I don’t have kids so I’m not trying to run a home-schooling program and though one niece is recovering from the virus, her symptoms were relatively mild and she is well on the mend.

I’m grateful for all those out working hard ever day to care for others. When I heard about making noise to salute healthcare workers, from applause, to banging pots and pans, to howling, I knew I would participate.

I’ve now done it two evenings in a row (8:00 p.m.) and it is a great stress-reliever. I breathe deeply before letting out a great “Owooooo!” I hear others in my neighborhood yipping and howling and I feel part of something bigger than myself.

I don’t know if any nurses, doctors, lab techs, or any other healthcare workers can hear us but our message is being sent and maybe that is enough.

Turn up the volume to hear others howling.

Thank you for your visit.

Sushi Newbie 9/60

A few weeks ago, in the innocent days before the virus, I  enjoyed a relaxing visit to Kabuki Spa with my niece, Leah. After our luxurious soak and steaming session, Leah introduced me to sushi.

Yes, I  admit I have tried sushi before. But as a person who thought all sushi was sashimi, or raw fish, (except for the grocery store California rolls). I needed someone to guide me. Leah was up to the task.This little shop in Japantown has a conveyor belt circling the counter, with the sushi makers working in the center.The plates are priced by the color, so you grab what looks good.  Your bill is tallied by the stack of plates  when you are done.

My sushi horizons have been expanded and I look forward to trying more delicious and beautiful little plates of sushi in the future.

I hope you and yours are staying healthy.

Thank you for the visit.

Kabuki Spa Communal Bathing 8/60

I’ve known about Kabuki Springs and Spa for years but finally enjoyed the relaxing experience. I invited my niece Leah, a Kabuki regular, to be my guide. They offer a full menu of body treatments but we were there for the Japanese style communal bathing.

The spa is beautifully designed with rich colors, soft lighting, lots of natural surfaces and elegant sculptures tucked in various corners and niches.

We hadn’t been able to get a reservation but Leah suggested we plan on putting our names on the waiting list. Since the spa is at one end of Japantown, once you leave your phone number at the front desk, you can go strolling through shops until they text you. We spent a very pleasurable half hour at a stationary shop before returning to Kabuki.

The facilities include bathing areas, showers, a hot pool, cold plunge, sauna, and steam room. We were there for one of the women-only, swimsuits-optional days. Various-sized towels, body polishing sea salts, tea, and aromatic drinking water are all complementary.

The spa offers a wide variety of their massage oils, shampoos, soaps and other potions for sale and I was tempted by the cucumber body lotion but since Rem hates cucumbers I decided to skip it.

Signs encouraging us to disconnect from our devices and to use only whispered conversation where easy to follow. The hushed atmosphere added to our relaxation, and our biggest decision was between cucumber and lemon water, and whether to take a sauna before or after the steam room.

We were both deeply relaxed by the end of our communal bathing experience.

And we were leaving, Leah pointed out this collection of small polished stones set out for us to choose one to remind us how we felt when we departed. We both chose a rock, and I think I’ll be back.

Thanks for stopping by.

Painting Frida

This didn’t start as a painting of Frida Kahlo. I started by making a collage background using mostly ephemera collected on our trip to Italy, such as maps, postage stamps and pages from a little book.

Then I painted an angel that, in my mind, was Italian. I was thinking of my friend (and sister-out-law, now that she’s not my sister-in-law), Victoria, and the Italian woman in her past.  Side note here: Victoria loves Frida Kahlo.

This is the original version:

I struggled with her face and ended up collaging an oval piece of paper over the first several tries and taking another go at it – you can see the edge of the paper. But I was happy with the final painting….or as happy as I usually am.  I get a little tired of them when I’m working on them. I spend some time on them and sometimes need a little break when I’m done.

The yellow bird and big pink flower both ended up staying on her head – I was trying to decide which one and I decided to go with both. Permission granted.

When I put the painting up on a shelf in my office, several people commented that it looked like “that artist,” or “Oh, it’s Frida!”  I disagreed, but thanked them. I mean, they both had dark hair in a bun with a big flower (or a few) in it. But after the third person said it looked like Frida, I decided to give my Italian angel a makeover.

I think she went from sweet to strong.

 

It took some work to make the changes I thought she needed, but it was worth it and now I love the painting, and so does Victoria.

Thank you for stopping by.