Resolutions

No! Not the awesome album by Dave Hause. It's January! I've said it before and I'll say it again, new year's resolutions are a great way to achieve depression by mid-month, since mostly they're denials of something you enjoy or rely on.

So generally you'd be better of adding something to your life than taking it away. Mine this year is one word long, and although it's taken me a week to start I should be able to work up some momentum now.

I'm back in California after almost a month at home, and the sun is shining. It looks like this:

We went out for brunch; I had the remarkably healthy (from the top down,) hollandaise sauce, poached eggs, crab fishcakes, english muffins and a plate. The key feature of this particular eatery was the pot of crayola (other brands are available) wax crayons on each table, in tandem with paper tablecloths. This allowed me to tick the box next to my resolution: Draw. Sorry to leave you hanging there. We later stopped off at an art supply shop, so I'll be able to make more drawings.

Roller Derby

Roller derby is a badass sport. You can probably find accurate rules by googling it, and definitely more complete, but anyway: There are four blockers and one jammer from each team on the track (an oval). The jammer scores points for her team by overtaking the other team's blockers. Each set of blockers helps their jammer and hinders their opponents, using whatever hip-checks and shoulder-barges they feel like. (Use of the arms, legs, punching, kicking etc. are forbidden.)

It's played indoors in relatively low light, and they can skate impressively fast, which makes it supremely challenging to photograph. Enough whinging, I tried anyway and here are some results:

Bam.

Tape. Tattoo.

High speed cornering.

Jammer.

Food Diaries: Lucha Libre

A couple of weeks ago some friends took me to a Taco shop. I got very excited when we got there as it turned out to be Lucha Libre, as featured on the much admir'd Man vs. Food. As you can see, the decor is understated and minimal, with subtle Mexican wrestling influences. The Champion's table is only available to those who make a reservation.

I went for the California Surfin' Burrito (As Seen on TV!) which contains everything good; carne asada, prawns, french fries, cheese, avocado, salsa... I hope I'm not forgetting anything. I had to dig deep, but I found room in my hollow legs for the whole thing. I'll have to do some serious training if I'm to have any hope of taking on the Broken Yolk Cafe's Iron Man Challenge (a 12 egg omelette with lots of extras).

"Why not do it with some style?"

Seen and snapped by the Gliderport, where there are people flying, so why not time travel? There are also stunning sunsets over the Pacific.

Photography: Assignment 2

These are the un-photoshopped jpegs that my camera has probably meddled with a little, they're not the same as the RAW files. The assignment was two images, one very shallow depth of field, one deep. Enough pre-amble, here they are...

Balboa: The Botanical Bit

I think this is a wonderful building and it's filled to bursting with plants of many kinds. I visited the park shortly after arriving in San Diego, and will probably be returning a fair few times. In fact, we went back the day after this was taken...

Kitchen Diaries: Tagliatelle alla Romana

According to Theo Randall's book Pasta, tagliatelle alla romana is "a true classic you'll find in every trattoria in Rome." I hope to one day verify this by visiting a large enough sample of said eateries, but until then I'll take his word for it. He is, after all, an expert pasta chef. The sauce is made with red onion, chicken liver, and canned tomatoes, so it's easy and extremely cheap. My first attempt at the dish looks like this:

There were fewer people here for dinner than expected so there is now a vast bowlful sat on my kitchen worktop, causing me no end of angst as I fret that it will congeal into a vast starchy mush! I'll survive.

If it doesn't turn into a carbohydrate brick, it's breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow...