The Chronicles of Narineh

Happy Birthday.

2011-11-11T09:11:00.001-08:00

Today is Veteran's Day.

It is also my grandfather, Ashot Papa's birthday. It would have been his 94th. He passed away this June.He had a long, and except maybe for the last year or so, a very good life.

He told great stories and he was a kid at heart. He would seldom miss an opportunity to make a joke.

I miss him.

It's been a sad summer - too many deaths.Ashot Papa died, two of my college roommates lost their fathers. My great-aunt's brother passed away. My friend's brother died unexpectedly at age 34.

Each death was another reminder to not take any one for granted and to milk every moment of every day. So here's to that. On the day we celebrate our Veterans, and I celebrate my grandfather, let's also celebrate life remember to make the most of it.

Goodbye

2010-09-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Metsmam.

thank you for being a cool grandma when I was little.

you let me stay up late when i'd come spend the night at your place on Fridays.

i didn't like going over to your place after pre-school because I preferred to drink my juice with my lunch, and for some reason your policy was that we would get our beverage at the end of the meal. i actually complained to mom and dad about this.

of course, over the years I've come to prefer drinking after my meal, or at least towards the end.

i remember how happy you were when you found out I'd started my period. It was like a big deal for you. i was mortified that you knew. i didn't understand why you were happy.

i'm sorry i didn't give you any great-grandchildren. One of the last times you were hospitalized you asked me 'when are you going to have a baby?' I'm sorry.

i hope you knew I love you. I know I wasn't the best at showing it.

Tie #4

2009-04-17T00:09:00.001-07:00

Tie #4
Originally uploaded by The Chronicles of Narineh

Every year my Mom, aunt and cousins and I get together to color eggs. In addition to the usual store-bought coloring kits, we use silk. We mostly use old silk ties.

Husbands and fathers donate the ones that they don't want anymore, and we also find some at thrift stores. One year, I donated a silk skirt of mine that I'd worn so much it was falling apart. It was made of dozens of silk rectangles. All with different patterns. Some of the skirt pieces were still around for this year and I have a great specimen of one of them in my flickr set.

We tightly wrap an uncooked egg in a piece of silk, sewing the ends & edges closed. Then we steam cook them by the dozens in big pots. The pattern transfers to the egg, and voila, the coolest looking eggs ever!

This one is my favorite from this year. I don't know who's tie it is from, but it looks like a Miro or Picasso to me.

The white finger-like patterns on the bottom of the egg are actually spols where the egg was not in contact with the silk. When the fabric bunches up at the ends of the egg, we end up with cool designs like that in addition to whatever transfers off onto the egg from the silk.

This year, I took photos of a small sampling of them to share. I tried to do multiple angles of each egg so you could get a good idea of what they look like. Towards the end of the set, there are a few dip-dyoed eggs, too. I tried something new this year with the dip-dyed ones by doing them in two tones. I particularly like the photos of the purple one at the end of the set. It looks like it could be a planet or one of Jupiter's moons.

Birthday Hike - Hollyridge Trail on Mt. Lee

2009-02-16T16:32:00.001-08:00

Downtown LA with Griffith Observatory
Originally uploaded by The Chronicles of Narineh

There's a peak on Mt. Lee that a single tree sticks out from. This tree is visible from the street. From my apartment. From many places in Burbank. I have had my eye on this tree for a long time. I wanted to hike up and picnic under this tree.

So when I found out that there was a trail on Mt. Lee, I was esctatic. I was certain it would lead me to this tree because the descriptions of the trail all said it goes all the way to the top. I decided that my birthday would be the perfect day for this hike. We got a late start, so I didn't pack a picnic, just some snacks and lots of water and we were off!

The name of the trail is the Hollyridge Trail. I learned about it from a book called Day HIkes Around Los Angeles.

It was a beautiful day for a hike, we had a break in the rain and the air was crisp and the skies were clear, so we had gorgeous views of the city, all the way to the ocean, and of the valley on the other side. As it turned out, the top of Mt. Lee has a couple different peaks and we realized as we approached the top that my tree was not going to be at the end of the trail we were on. After checking out some maps, I'm pretty sure the peak my tree is on is called Cahuenga Peak. The Hollyridge trail does not go there. I don't know if there's a trail that does.

So, that was a tiny dissapointment. Tiny, really. Take a look at the photos in the rest of this set and you'll see why. It was a great day for a hike, and a most excellent trail. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Oh Happy Day!

2009-01-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

Please enjoy a photo of our President's home state of Hawaii and reflect on the wonder that is today.

This photo was taken on August 28, 2008 on Kauai, Hawaii. The sun was setting as we walked along Ha'ena Beach towards Ke'e Beach on Kauai's North shore.

This Day in (my) History

2008-06-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

fireworks
Originally uploaded by The Chronicles of Narineh

June 23, 2007.
A year ago today, I was in Luxembourg.

It was the National Holiday. The day they celebrate the Duke, the Duchy and all that entails. There were various ceremonies & celebrations scheduled throughout the day, parades, speeches etc. There was a huge televised mass at the Notre Dame cathedral at midday. And finally, at night, over the Petrusse Valley, fireworks!

We rushed to get there on time as Joe had been delayed at work. It took a long time for us to find parking, but we finally did.

Then we ran all the way over to Ponte Adolphe, thinking we'd miss the show. But we ended up waiting for an hour or so. I think they were waiting for the winds to die down? I don't know. But the show finally started. It lasted a good 30-45 minutes. It was awesome.

I took photos of the fireworks, and a few of the crowd. People were drinking, singing, waving Luxembourg flags. The wind sometimes carried the embers over to the crowd, we had to duck and sidestep a few smoldering bits as they floated down.

And then as if on cue, no more than two minutes after the show ended, it started to rain. And by the time we were a block away, it started to pour. So we got home soaked, but satisfied. I was very glad to have been part of the celebration.

I still miss Luxembourg.

the travails continue

2008-04-27T09:48:00.004-07:00

Eight months ago when I posted last, I really thought things were going to settle down in my life. I don't know why I thought this. I had no reason to expect anything of the sort. At the time, we had just completed a harried search for an apartment and moved in. Joe was scheduled to leave for Toronto in September. We had no plan for how we were going to deal with yet another 8 months of separation. I don't think I had even fully adjusted to being back in the States.

Anyway, I think that's why in my last post I sounded so certain that I'd be able to post more often. Things didn't quite work out that way.

A year ago this weekend, I was in Luxembourg. We were all excited to check out the Fête de Printemps.

This year, I am in Toronto. Getting ready to fly back to LA after a week's visit with Joe. It wasn't exactly a vacation. I was working all week. But we were able to have our life together back for a week, to revel in the mundane domestic tasks because we were doing them together.

I have been busy trying to get all my Europe photos up on Flickr. I only have our 4 day Germany road trip left.

And now, I have lots of pictures of Toronto as well.

So, please enjoy these photos while I pack. The top row of sets are the ones I've recently uploaded of our last days in Luxembourg and Paris. I will post again when I'm back in LA.

home sweet home

2007-08-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

So, it has been about 5 weeks since I got back.
I arrived July 9th.

We're finally settled, sorta.
We found an apartment and are in the midst of unpacking our stuff.

I have been thinking about Luxembourg constantly, wondering how life is moving along over there, and with the friends we left behind.

It has been a crazy 4 weeks here, with the hurried apartment hunting and moving and whatnot.

Now that things are settling, I'm looking forward to writing more frequently and documenting our last couple of weeks in Europe.

We were able to squeeze some traveling in at the end there. I've got loads of pictures to annotate and post to flickr.

So stay tuned. I'll be back with more.

my last post from the Duchy.

2007-07-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

My flight is in 7 hours. I should be asleep.

This is my last post from Luxembourg, but definitely not the last post about Luxembourg. I still have lots of photos to post and talk about.

My day started very early, with Joe's departure at 7:00am. After he left for the airport, I did some cleaning around the apartment.

Then I had a lovely brunch with my friends Solenn and Olivier. They made me such a fantastic meal that it has been the only thing I've eaten all day and I haven't been hungry since.

In the evening I decided to take a walk in the city center and check out Rock um Knuedler in Place Guillaume. It started raining, and so I didn't stick around to see the show, I walked around Place Guillaume and took in the sight. It was pouring by then, and I, having packed away my umbrella and other rain gear, got drenched. But I didn't mind. I love the rain, and it seemed a fitting last evening in this city.

I walked all the way to the Gare, and caught the bus home from there. I took a few pictures of the city in the rain. I will post those next. As soon as I am back in LA.

I am sad to leave.

things I will miss about Luxembourg.

2007-07-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

the sky.
the city buses and the whole public transportation system.
Hoegaarden.
Fischer bakery breads.
the cheese aisles at Auchan. yes i said aisles. plural.
the thunderstorms.
the city center.
the view of the Grund from Plateau St. Esprit.
Oscar Wilde's
the summer concerts in Place d'Armes and everywhere else. There's always something going on somewhere in Centre-Ville.
i've already mentioned the bread.

and this, i didn't expect, but it is true... I will miss the smallness. Luxembourg City is such a small town compared to Los Angeles, and the smallness and the sense of community it fosters are quite nice. Charming, even. I don't know, maybe if I'd stayed longer I would have gotten sick of it, but as it is, I will miss it.

Premature Evacuation

2007-07-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

I know this analogy isn't going to work for everyone, but it works for me...

It's like being promised a trip to Walt Disney World. The whole place, you know, all the parks and attractions, even the cheese-y ones. A good long trip, maybe 2-3 weeks -- long enough to allow you to experience everything you want.

And then you get there, and you get only one day. At Epcot Center. And that's it. You didn't even get to see all the pavilions in Epcot.

That's what it feels like.

Sure, Epcot is cool, and you got to do and see a lot while you were there. And you appreciate that. But you were planning on much more. And it got taken away from you.

The reason this analogy has been bouncing around in my head is that it looks like we will be leaving here significantly sooner than we had planned. I am sorely disappointed. I really like Luxembourg, there's more I would like to see and do here. And much more I'd like to see of Europe.

I know this wasn't my one and only chance to see Europe, but this was a special opportunity to live in another country and experience another way of life. And while I am very happy for the time I've had here, I'm not ready to leave.

Alas.

I will continue posting from LA when I get back. In the mean time, I'll have some more posts about the pictures from our last-minute Germany Road Trip and two days in Paris.

my favorite bread

2007-06-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

I should take a picture and include it with this post.

For now, I'll just tell you about it.

Those of you who know me know that I LOVE bread. I have found my favorite in Luxembourg.

There's a local bakery chain here called Fischer. Their motto is "Fischer... äre bäcker." Which I think translates from Luxembourgish to English as "Fischer... our baker."

Anyway, they have this one bread called Körnli. It is a multigrain bread with sunflower seeds, oats, rye and other tasty treats. It is SOOOO good.

Yum.

I don't think I'll ever buy sliced sandwich bread ever again.

Why did we wait so long?

2007-06-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

We had taco night this Saturday! It was very exciting, because as some of you may know, we miss the Mexican food.

There are no Mexican food restaurants here. We've found a good South American place, but no beans, no burritos, no tacos.

As we enjoyed our meal Saturday night, we wondered why it took us so long to do a taco night. We realized it was because we were hung up on the beans. It had been incredibly hard to find pinto beans here. Or black beans for that matter. The most common bean here is white, although kindey beans have been easy to find too.

And we had it in our head that we needed beans if we were to have a proper taco night.

A few weeks ago Sibyl and I found dried pinto beans and black beans at a natural foods store we visited. But they sat around in the pantry for weeks because we weren't sure what to do with the dried beans. We are used to the canned stuff that just needs to be heated up.

Well, this weekend, with taco seasoning packets from my mom as impetus, we decided we would have taco night.

We bought salsa, tortillas and taco shells from the "world foods" aisle in the Auchan. We loaded up on onions, cheese, bell peppers, avocado and sour cream. Bought some ground tofu for the vegetarians in the house, and we were set! It was awesome!

We forgot to soak the beans overnight, so the black beans cooked and the pinto beans soaked before, during and after the meal. As it turned out, the one thing we were hung up on for having a taco night never got to be part of the event!

Shane made some great black bean chili today with the leftover peppers and onions from the taco condiments, and the black beans that finally cooked all the way through. I will make some refried beans with the pinto beans this week for some bean and cheese burrito action perhaps.

So... after all that waiting, we had a great taco night sans beans. Photos are being uploaded as I type.

Update: photoset uploaded for your viewing pleasure.

updates updates

2007-06-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

there are new photos up on flickr, please to enjoy :)

I try to organize my photos in sets, and I try to accompany each set with an entry, but sometimes, it just doesn't work out. This time you get 4 new photosets, one entry.

but first... I thought some more about what I said in What's it like? a couple of days ago, and I was reminded of another huge difference I've experienced here. In Luxembourg, you bag your own groceries. It is the best! Not only do you bag your own stuff, but you buy the plastic bags you're going to bag them in! 3 cents each for the plastic bags.

Or, instead you can buy an éco-sac for 80 cents and use it all the time, at any store. The éco-sac is a large, sturdy reusable bag. It is about as tall as a paper bag you get in the US grocery stores, but it is about 1 1/2 times as wide. It takes a while to get used to remembering to take the bags with you when you go to the store, but otherwise, it is super-handy, and a very easy way for everyone to reduce waste. I'll take a picture of one and post it up here soon.

ok, on to the photos...
first, just more photos of Luxembourg from my various walkabouts May 13-18.

next, Fond-de-Gras. We went to this place southwest of the city called Fond-de-Gras. It is an old iron mine, nature preserve and historic railroad site, Museums, and more all rolled into one. We were in the railroad/iron mine area. Then, we headed to France for dinner in Metz.

There's a farmer's market in Place Guillaume every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Here's a small set of photos of colorful tasty things we got at the market. One day I will take photos of the stalls at the market. Row after row of beautiful veggies and flowers!

and finally... Paris! Joe had to go to Paris on business a few Mondays ago, so we got to go for the weekend! It was a whirlwind tour -- here is the recap:

Saturday: hopped on the train for the 4.5 hour ride to Paris. Arrived in Paris Saturday afternoon around 4:30pm. We checked into the hotel and headed out to the Quartier Latin to find the Album comic book store. Album is a chain of comic book stores all over France. The one we went to is the first one, established in 1948. They carry American comics. So we were able to catch up on Buffy Season 8, and Joe's other faves.

After Album, we walked to Île de la Cité and checked out Notre Dame. Then we walked along the Seine, grabbed some food at Paradis de Fruits and then headed to the Louvre. The museum was closed, but we walked around the grounds, and down Rue Rivoli, (with a detour to Place Vendôme) to Place de la Concorde. From there, we headed up the Champs-Elysées all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. That was a LOT of walking.

Sunday: Spent most of the day at the Centre Georges-Pompidou. There was an exhibit on Samuel Beckett, Arshile Gorky, and lots of other cool things. We started with brunch at the restaurant on the top floor, with cool views of the city.

After the Pompidou Center we walked around the city some more, and met up with Shane and Sibyl at Place du Panthéon. We had dinner at a yummy place called L'Assiette aux Fromages on Rue Mouffetard. After dinner we grabbed a drink at a place nearby called Le Petit Cardinal, and then we took the metro back to the hotel.

Monday: I was on my own Monday because Joe was at work. Lucky me had the day off because it was Memorial Day in the states! I started the day with a Metro ride to Montmartre. I visited Le Sacré-Cœur, climbed a bazillion stairs up into its dome for some great views of Paris. I walked around Montmarte, checked out the Dalí museum, found the Moulin de la Galette and made my way down to the Boulevard de Clichy. I walked to Place Blanche, checked out the Moulin Rouge, and grabbed the Metro to the Louvre. I spent most of my time in the Louvre in the Richelieu Pavilion with the French sculptures.

Once the museum closed, I walked down through the Jardins des Tuileries all the way to Place de la Concorde. From there, I walked along the south bank of the Seine all the way to the Eiffel Tower. There, I waited for Joe, who met me after work, and we went up the Eiffel Tower and checked out the City of Light at night. It was beautiful.

We hopped back on the train very early Tuesday morning and were back in Luxembourg around 10am.

Yay! Paris!

I may be in Luxembourg, but I'm still paying attention

2007-06-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

I get most of my news online nowadays, from various sources. I also occasionally watch BBC World, CNN International and France 24 on tv here.

So, while I'm not in the States, I am still able to more or less keep up with the news there.

It seems the headlines are all about Paris Hilton going back to jail today. There is interesting and even newsworthy stuff going on there, namely how Sheriff Baca tried to circumvent justice and get Paris out of jail. It doesn't seem like the media is focusing on that aspect of the case however.

I wish the American media would instead draw your attention to this .

The Bush Administration's arrogant, reckless, holier-than-thou, cavalier attitude towards everything is particularly appalling when it comes to the issue of torture.

If you read nothing else in this link, read the first and the last paragraphs.

Ignore who wrote it, because I know some of you out there don't like Andrew Sullivan. Ignore that he is the one writing it, because it doesn't matter. Just read, and think about it, and think about it when you vote. Think about it the next time your American passport feels more like a target than a symbol of freedom.

It is an article about the Bush Administration's stance on torture. It is not an editorial, just a straightforward organization of facts.

I get so angry, I can't even coherently express the thoughts racing in my head. So I'll just leave you with the article.

People... think, ok?

2007-06-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

A 17 year old girl in New York died of methyl salicylate poisoning. Methyl salicylate is an anti-inflammatory agent found in sports creams like Bengay.

She used too damn much sports cream and died.

This CNN article quotes her mother as having said "I am scrupulous about my children's health. I did not think an over-the-counter product could be unsafe."

Now, I'm sure she is in shock and all, but hello? Too much cough syrup will kill you. Too much Tylenol will damage your liver. That's why they have dosage instructions on the bottles.

"Over-the-counter" doesn't mean "safe no matter what."

It's like when people say they prefer to use echinacea and other herbs instead of cold medicine because echinacea is natural. You know what else is natural? Arsenic.

Natural doesn't mean safe, either.

That is not obvious to more people bums me out.

What's it like?

2007-06-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Luxembourg is awesome, really. In a lot of ways. I love it here.

The most startling differences for a Los Angelino (not counting the obvious things like the age of the city, the fortress ruins, etc):

1- size
The city center (aka Centre-Ville) is smaller than the UCLA campus. I don't have numbers to prove this, but having walked the city, and having walked all over UCLA, I am quite certain. Luxembourg City is probably the size of Westwood. I realize those are really specific analogies, so here are some hard numbers on the country from the CIA World Factbook:

Area: 2568 square kilometers (slightly smaller than Rhode Island)
Population: 480,222 (estimated, July 2007)

Luxembourg City, the capital of the country, has a population of about 80,000.

In comparison, the city of Los Angeles (via Wikipedia) has half the area, but a little over 8 times the population:

Area: 1290.6 square kilometers
Population: 4,018,080

Luxembourg City is a bustling town though, especially since the weather has been warming up, you'll see a lot of people at the cafés and bars throughout the day. Lunchtime in the city center is particularly busy and vibrant. There's always something going on and people all over the public squares, eating, smoking and talking with friends or colleagues.

The hustle and bustle of the city has a fairly strict schedule however, and this brings me to the next big difference I've observed:

2 - operating hours
I suspect this is a European thing, and not specific to Luxembourg -- folks close up shop early around here. Stores are open 9am - 6pm, Tuesday through Friday, perhaps Saturday if you're lucky. Mondays, many places don't open until the afternoon. It is customary for retail establishments and restaurants even (especially family-owned mom-and-pop kinds of places) to close down for lunch.

School kids go home for lunch, which I think is kinda cool. But the whole thing can be rather unsettling if you're not used to it. You have to plan your day. If you take too long getting out of the house in the morning, you might not be able to run your errands until after lunch (depending on what you were planning to do).

There are no 24-hour grocery stores or pharmacies. You can't stop at the store on the way home from work and grab something to prepare dinner with. A few places, like the Auchan are open as late as 7pm. The gas stations stay open longer, and have mini-marts like AM-PMs or 7-elevens. But they close around 10pm, maybe 11pm.

Many places, especially restaurants and bars do stay open later on Friday and Saturday nights.
Very few places are open on Sundays. The places that are open, like local grocery stores or bakeries, have very limited hours. So you better get up and get your stuff done by noon otherwise you're out of luck. If you want to go out to eat on a Sunday, you'll have to wait until after 6pm when Cafés and local restaurants might open up. If they feel like it.

There is a smattering of restaurants, and lots of bars that are open late. After a while, you figure out the patterns and fall into the groove, but it is hard. If you don't have your grocery shopping done by Saturday afternoon, you'll have to wait until Monday if you need anything other than the basic staples or a frozen pizza.

I mentioned pharmacies, so I'll elaborate on that too. You can't buy any of the over-the-counter medications we have in the States from the supermarket or any old store. The supermarket stocks basic first-aid items like bandages and ointments, rubbing alcohol and the like. But for aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, cough syrup, antacids, etc. you have to go to a pharmacy. You don't need a prescription, but that's the only place you can get such things.

3 - traffic
You'd think with such a small population traffic would be a breeze, eh? Not so. The funky geography (topography?) of this country, with all the plateaus and ravines, makes it such that there's often only one or maybe 2 paths to take to get to particular spot in the city. So everyone's going the same way, and it can get busy during lunch, and the morning and evening rush-hours.

But I wasn't too surprised by the fact that there's traffic. Granted it is nothing like LA traffic, but I figured every city has traffic jams.

What I am constantly astounded by is that drivers, including those driving buses and trucks, will stop if I am waiting to cross the street at a crosswalk (at an intersection without a light). Can you see the MTA bus stopping for you to cross Wilshire Blvd. at a crosswalk? Traffic is rather pedestrian-friendly here.

The other notable thing about the traffic is that there are no stops signs here. There are traffic lights, just like LA, red, yellow green. But otherwise it is all based on right-of-way. I've seen a few stop signs in the outskirts of town, on the way to Echternach. But none in Luxembourg City.

There are lots of other little things, but those are the big ones. And of course, the language --- Luxembourgish is the national language. Business is conducted in French and/or German. So you'll often see signs in at least 2 languages, Luxembourgish and French, or Luxembourgish and German. English is spoken as well. You're more likely to find English speakers in the city centre than in the outskirts.

I have been getting by ok with my French. It has certainly improved since my arrival, but I am nowhere near fluent. I can understand better than I can speak it.

Overall, I suppose Luxembourg doesn't differ much from smalltown, USA. In fact, we've come to the conclusion that Luxembourg is much like the American mid-west. Those fields in my Sunday afternoon walk photoset could be Ohio farmland for all you know. :)

tree check-up

2007-06-04T11:41:00.001-07:00

If you've been checking out my photos, you'll see I've been taking pictures of this tree from day 1 ... ok, day 2.

It looks different every day. I love it. It's one of the many ways I track the passage of my time here.

I'll tag them all "the tree" or something on Flickr, so they'll be easy to find across the sets.
Here's what it looked like on May 3.

I have more recent photos of the tree, I'll post them soon.

La Grande Fleur Qui Marche

2007-06-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

One of things I love about this place is all the sculptures every where. Not that we don't see sculptures in LA. In fact, there are many all over the place. Especially in Downtown, and on the Miracle Mile.
Somehow, the ones here stand out. Maybe because I'm not so used to them that they blend into the landscape and get ignored.

Anyway, this sculpture, by Fernand Léger is my favorite so far.
The name of the work translates to "the big walking flower" or, literally, "the big flower that walks."

Fête de Printemps

2007-06-02T10:35:00.001-07:00

whoosh!
Originally uploaded by The Chronicles of Narineh

Luxembourg celebrated the arrival of spring with art and fire.

The Festival of Spring was on April 28, 2007. It began during the day with tours of urban art installations and exhibits all over town. And in the evening, the festivites continued with art exhibits, live music, beer stands, and fire installations in the Grund.

It was an awesome site. I took many pictures, which I hope can convey how cool the whole thing was. I found a few YouTube clips that'll help give you an idea of what it was like too. This clip focuses on one of the musical acts, but you can see some of the hanging fire installations too. In addition to some more music, this and this include footage of the fire installations you'll also see in my photos. The musical acts were in different places in the Grund, and as you can see, they varied in mood and energy.

It was amazing. I am glad I was here to see it. I don't know if it is an annual event. From what we could gather it was the first year, but we saw photos from what seemed to be a previous year's celebrations. Anyway, if you're ever here during that time of year, ask around and check it out!

Don't forget your towels!

2007-05-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Today is Towel Day!

Early Exploration

2007-05-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Luxembourg City is on a plateau. Or a few big plateaus separated by gorges or ravines. Way back in 963 when the fortress/city was founded, it was on one of the plateaus.

And now, over 1000 years later, you can't turn your head without seeing the vestiges of the fortress in various stages of ruin. It is really cool. What's even cooler is discovering the layers of history, like ruins of an 18th century fortress built on the walls of the medieval fortress.

Or the 21st Century Museum of Modern art MUDAM, built on the foundations of the 18th century Fort Thüngen and here and my photos .

My first weekend here, Joe and I went exploring in one of the gorges. The neighborhood in that particular ravine is called Grund (it means 'ground'). We started at the bottom of the Grund and walked up, kind of going in a circle.

This photoset is from that day.

Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why would I want to be anywhere else?

2007-05-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

I've finally got the photos up! Many new photos for you to enjoy.

I fell behind in my updates here and photo uploading because I wanted to post about London the same time I uploaded the London photos. I got stuck trying to recap our trip to my satisfaction, and thus stubbornly refused to upload the photos, and 6 weeks later, here I am.

So, London was beautiful, sunny. Who'd think one would go to London to get sunshine? But we did. April 6-9 -- a quick weekend trip while Joe was still able to get weekends away was the idea. It was a nice getaway. Too short. There's so much to see and do, I think we barely scratched the surface. Here are some highlights.

Friday night we met Kathryn and Filippo (former colleagues of mine) for dinner. We met in Notting Hill and went to a Spanish tapas place. It was yummy! It was nice to see them, and to get the weekend off to a running start with something to do the first night there.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind tour of central London. We walked all over town.
In Leicester Square we bought tickets to see The History Boys. We walked to Piccadilly Circus, and from there we continued on Regent Street to Oxford Circus. We stopped at the Apple store and another well-known store called Liberty.

After much walking, we visited the Natural History Museum and checked out the dinosaur exhibit.

Saturday, we went to Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury Avenue (thank you Molly!) for our comic fix.

From comics to ancient relics, next was The British Museum. So much to see, so little time. :) Their Near Eastern exhibit was closed, but I did find a few pieces of Armenian brass work. You’ll see them in the London set.

After the museum, we went to Hyde Park Corner, and walked down to the Hard Rock Cafe. It is the original Hard Rock Cafe -- founded in 1971. Did you know that? We didn't know that!

Sunday morning we walked down Whitehall and checked out the historical and government buildings there. We went to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill War Museum. That was really cool. We went into the actual underground bunkers from where Churchill and his generals ran the war during WW2. The bunkers were all there, and all the original furniture and everything was still there, and there was a cool audio tour that explained everything and even had audio clips of interviews of people who worked there at the time. I highly recommend checking it out if you're ever there.

Then we walked down to Westminster Abbey. We were not able to get in, because they don't allow tourists inside on Sundays. That was a bummer. I guess we'll just have to go back. :)

So we walked around the Abbey, took some photos. Checked out Westminster Hall, Big Ben, and walked across Westminster Bridge. Then we took the tube to Tower Hill. We got tickets to The Tower of London for the next day and walked across Tower Bridge and went to the South Bank. We walked along the South Bank of the Thames until the London Bridge, then took the Tube to Southwark, and then walked to Waterloo station and down to the London Eye. The lines were crazy long, so we decided to skip it.

We crossed the river again at Westminster and walked down to take a closer look at The Houses of Parliament. Then we walked up Whitehall and stopped at a pub called The Red Lion. The pub had been around since 1434 and apparently Charles Dickens used to go there. We had a pint and a rest, which was very nice, and then took the bus back to the hotel. Then we met up with Elisabeth for dinner.

Monday morning we stored our luggage at the hotel and made our way to Tower of London. We saw the Crown Jewels, and the Bloody Tower and the Ravens, and the torture devices and the armor and more. We touched the Roman wall remains. Then we rushed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage and went to the airport, barely made our flight back.

There was a lot we didn't do. But it was a good intro to London. Now I feel like I know the place well enough that we can go again and get even more out of our trip. I hope we have the chance again soon. I've got family in Cambridge to visit, too! There was no time for so many things this time around. But it was awesome.

Yay London!

things to share

2007-05-15T02:44:00.000-07:00

found some cool things that I'd like to share:

Did you know that there were 13 FEMALE candidates for the Mercury 7 mission? They were ready, willing and able (completed all the tests almost 2 years before the men did) to be among the first Americans in space. Yeah, I don't remember that part in The Right Stuff either. Congress pulled the plug on the project. I guess they figured women were only good for being lab rats. Makes me angry. I am glad they are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

via BoingBoing, I learned about UCLA's recently launched searchable index of vintage Los Angeles news photographs.

For example, a photo of an early voice recognition computer.

And Caltech students protesting the possible cancellation of the original Star Trek television series.

enjoy.

Rain Donation (I wish)

2007-05-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

I read about the Griffith Park fire yesterday and saw many pictures online. Pictures from as far away as Venice and Culver City where you could see the huge plume of smoke.

I wish I could send some of the rain we're having here over there to help. I read this morning that firefighters expect they'll be able to put the fire "laid down" today. Or something like thatI forget the exact phrase, and I can't find it now. I just read the news again and it says they have it 40% contained.

Joe and I went to the Griffith Observatory in December when he was back in LA. It recently reopened this summer. I highly recommend a visit. We went at night, and there was lots to do, but there's also lots to do and see during the day. So go visit!

I didn't hear reports of any damage to the observatory, nor to the zoo or any structures for that matter. The vegetation is all gone, of course, including an area called Dante's Garden (aka Dante's view), a two-acre terraced garden planted by Dante Orgolini in the 1960s according to trails.com. The garden faces south, and has picnic benches and shade trees along its trail. Neat, eh?! It is on the Mt. Hollywood trail. I didn't know about this place before, but now I want to go there. I hope it gets replanted.

Hang in the LA! We miss you!

i'm just going to come out and say it

2007-05-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

I don't think they're cylons. I think they think they are cylons. But they aren't.

If you've seen the season 3 finale of Battlestar Galactica, then you know who I'm talking about.
If you haven't, then go watch.

I was finally able to catch up with the last 4 episodes of the season this past weekend courtesy of our shiny new appleTV so I got to see:

Maelstrom
The Son Also Rises
Crossroads Part 1
Crossroads Part 2

all back-to-back!

Joe recognized All Along the Watchtower before I did.

I think season 3 has been the best season yet and Occupation, Precipice, Exodus 1 & 2 are my favorite. But the whole thing is just soooo good.

I can't wait until early 2008 for season 4. That's just not right.
I know, we'll have some 2 hour thingy to tide us over later this year, but still.

I'm going to feed my BSG cravings with Ron Moore's podcasts. It is really cool to hear him talk about each episode and what went into making them. I listened to the podcasts through "Torn" when I was still in the States. I will continue here, rationing them out, like candy. :)

First Impressions

2007-04-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

My first day in Luxembourg, after I took all the photos of the apartment, I bundled up and made my way to Joe's office to meet him for lunch. After lunch, I made my way back to Centre-Ville (city center).

Centre-Ville is small. For those of you who know the area, it is smaller than Westwood Village. (I am thinking of Westwood Village as being bounded by Veteran Avenue on the West, Hilgard on the East, and Le Conte and Wilshire at the North and South respectively.) Here's a map from the Luxembourg Tourist Office. You can see where it says "Centre" -- that's the area I'm talking about.

It is small, but as old European cities tend to, it has lots of nooks and crannies. On this afternoon, I explored mostly the east and south-east bits of the center. There's lots of pedestrian traffic, especially in the core, where it is kind of a promenade. There are banks and government offices, cathedrals and stores and restaurants, and bars and cafes, and public squares, museums, and the Duke's Palace, of course.

So I just walked, and took photos. Here's the photoset from that afternoon.

Small Talk

2007-04-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

It is the easiest thing to talk about, and so the thing I get asked most about... The weather.

I realized this weekend that the apartment photos were giving you all a the wrong idea about how the weather is here right now.

My first night here, it started snowing and it continued through the next day. For a kid from Burbank, it was glorious, let me tell you. It was cold, but glorious.

Turned out I got here just in time, otherwise I would have missed all the fun. That was the last of the snow. It rained on and off for a week or so after that, and then it was just cold for a bit. And now it is warm. It was downright hot a couple of weekends ago. So the last couple of weeks have been nice and sunny.

The whole town is a-bloom. Spring is here. There's a breeze, and in the afternoons it starts getting chilly, but nothing that requires any amount of bundling up.

Apparently Luxembourg had a warmer than usual winter this year. I'm told this time last year they still had snow on the ground. This year it only snowed 3 times since Joe got here (November 25). And my first night here was that third and final time.

Looking at my photos makes it seem like I've been here for ages... bundled up for snow and then sun and flowers everywhere.

Springtime is really beautiful here. And I don't think things are even in full bloom yet.

The next few photo sets will still be a bit snowy. I'll have more pictures of spring in Luxembourg soon. For now, enjoy the shot of this tree outside our kitchen window. The photo was taken on April 17. You can compare it to this photo here and see what a difference 4 weeks make.

Tour of the Apartment

2007-04-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, I'm backlogged as far as updates on my adventures. I'll begin at almost the beginning, which is to say, I won't recap the months of preparation that it took to get me here. I will simply start with the getting here...

I left Los Angeles on Monday March 19, 2007 and arrived in Luxembourg on Tuesday March 20 at 1:30pm. (Luxembourg is on Central European Time. It is 9 hours ahead of Pacific Time.)

I have been here for about 4 weeks now. I’m still settling in.

I may at some point go ahead and detail my journey here, for now, suffice it to say I flew from Los Angeles to Washington/Dulles to Paris to Luxembourg.

I’ll start with my first day in the Grand Duchy.

I arrived at Luxembourg airport on time. But my luggage did not. This, despite the fact that I saw both suitcases on the tarmac next to the airplane as I was boarding the flight from Charles de Gaulle.

Joe picks me up and after a stop at the store to grab some food and sundries, we go to the apartment. Finally! I see the apartment. And so, finally! You all get to see the apartment...

As for viewing the photos, I apologize for making you sign up, but I didn't want my photostream to be public. You should be already gotten an invite from me for my Flickr page, if you have not, please email and let me know and I'll send you an invite right away.

For those of you who are new to Flickr, note that you can view the photos in a slideshow, or see them there as they are. The slideshow is cool, but the downside is you don't get to see the descriptions for the photos in the show. There's a link on the top right of the page that says "view as a slideshow."

I will have more photos up there soon, so check in periodically. I'll let you know when new stuff is up.

Yay!

Welcome and hello!

2007-04-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!

I've been wanting to start a blog for a while now. Some of you know about my MySpace.

But now that I have embarked on this new adventure, I decided it needed a space of its own.

Stay tuned and I’ll do my best to keep y’all up to date and entertained.

And so begin...
The Chronicles of Narineh: My time in the Grand Duchy.