Here’s that female belted Kingfisher I spotted in False Creek on my walk Friday.
Vancouver is in the depths of what passes for winter: long dark rainy days, with torrents of water and not much light. But it’s easy to think that’s all we get at this time of year, when in fact there are breaks in the clouds almost every day. I went dashing out of the house as soon as it lightened up on Friday, and this was my reward.
Unconventional love of a cute couple:
Unless something truly photogenic comes my way in the next week, I am declaring this the official photo of my 22nd not legal wedding anniversary, which is actually this-coming Friday. (Kelly and I decided to celebrate yesterday because I have a concert on Saturday the 22nd, which would limit my partying options a bit.)
We’d decided to knock off early and meet at the Opus Hotel, and a lucky break in the clouds convinced me I ought to walk to Yaletown via False Creek. It was such a good decision. I had a fantastic kingfisher sighting. I saw it catch a fish! And thanks to my iPod Audobon bird-identifying app, I was able to go “Hey, that bird’s a girl!” These things excite me. I arrived at our date in an extremely happy state.
Our destination was the incandescent Lupo Restaurant, on Hamilton Street. This is a lovely heritage home that’s been converted to a restaurant: we ate in a room with a cozy gas fireplace, and they treated us like princesses. Kelly had the proscuitto pizzetta, I had a mushroom pasta (it’s not on the menu I’ve linked to, sadly, but oh! it was to weep!).
There was steak and seafood and two glasses of prosecco–being me, that means I was quite tipsy!–and a Grand Marnier creme brulee at the end.
Glorious, wonderful food. I cannot recommend this place enough.
We cabbed home, watched an hour of crime TV, and toddled off to bed at the usual early hour. I felt thoroughly spoiled.
Over on TOR.COM, I am close to wrapping up my favorite rewatches of Season Five of Quantum Leap, and have asked fans of the show for their picks. The popular candidates so far:
“Honeymoon Express”
“The Boogeyman”
“Deliver us from Evil”
“Last Dance before an Execution”
“Lee Harvey Oswald”
“Future Boy.”
There’s still time to weigh in… here is fine, but here is even better.
Meanwhile, back on Favorite Thing Ever, I tell you all of my love for Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans, while Kelly gives you two reasons to love opera.
The heron I posted last weekend was my last bird (or any kind of photo) for 2010. Here’s my first for the new year.
And now, K and I are off to get us some Puccini, La Fanciulla del West, via the Met in HD! There’s a preview here, though the sound and picture are both just okay.
The Girl Who Played with Fire
I find it hard to keep track of the titles of the Millennium trilogy books, but The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Instead, Larssen plays an intricate guessing game with our emotions. As Lisbeth Salander’s various friends are forced to question who she really is and what she might be capable of, our own belief in her is subtly undermined. It’s a rather marvelous bit of sleight-of-hand, I think. Through the middle of the book I was torn between my writerly certainty that the plot would play out a certain way (and I was right) and a powerful “ARRRGH! NO!” response.
It’s a good book, an interesting one. Salander is an awesome heroine.
In related news, I’ve cobbled together a page containing all my Books Read lists since 2002. It’s long, stupidly long, but it means you can search for authors if you’re interested. Or search for yourself and give me hell for missing your last book!