a blissful weekend

Drove down Route 1, Saturday morning, to spend a weekend in Monterey Bay with someone special. We stopped in Moss Landing, near Castroville, for deep-fried artichokes.


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After arriving in Monterey, we ditched the car at the hotel, then explored Cannery Row in the unseasonably warm weather. We soaked up sun, wandered beaches, snapped pictures, and took the obligatory aquarium tour. We grabbed a snack at a cafe, eventually meandering back to the hotel for check-in.

Bad experiences with two-star and four-star lodging had left me with a distaste for hotels in general. A particularly pleasant experience with a three-star near Phoenix made me realize that, as usual, I was doing it wrong. There's a happy medium between the Holiday Inn and the Westin, filled with reasonably-priced mom-and-pop outfits and cute bed-and-breakfasts that are much more my speed. On this trip, the Monterey Bay Inn did not disappoint.


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Our "park view" room did indeed overlook a park, but a partial ocean view came along for free. We watched the sunset warm the ocean with fiery hues until our bellies began to rumble.

Lack of planning led to a hungry and hurried walk through the downtown streets, searching for a restaurant with a reasonable vegetarian menu. After a few false starts, we finally stumbled upon the Paradiso Trattoria. Its vegetarian entrees included something called "polenta tower." We decided to give it a try.

Wine was great. Food was great. Service was excellent. The bill was reasonable. Serendipity made poor planning seem like genius. We ate and talked for hours, then wandered back to the hotel, to soak in a hottub under the stars.

Win.

da Vinci was a perv

We shall discuss here the nature of the screw and of its lever, and how it [the screw] shall be used for lifting rather than for thrusting; and how it has more power when it is simple and not double, and thin rather than quick, when moved by a lever of the same length and force. We shall briefly discuss the many ways there are to use screws, the various types of endless [i.e. worm] screws, ... how the endless screw shall be combined with toothed wheels ... We shall examine the nature of their nuts ... We shall also speak of inverted screws and screws that by a single motion thrust and pull a weight, and screws which, by turning them only once, will rotate the nuts more than once. ... Their method of construction will also be discussed, how to put them to work ...

Leonardo da Vinci's introduction to the "Book of the elements of machines" (Trattato degli elementi macchinali, Madrid Ms. I, fol. 82r).

Apparently our new president has a very active sex-life.

I must be 12 years old

because I can't stop laughing.


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loldogs

Kemi at Point Reyes

Drove Kemi to Point Reyes for wine, cheese, and crackers at "someplace pretty." Ended up finding a nice state park. Drove around a bit, and eventually shot some portraits in the sunset. Found some cows on the way home. Shot more portraits with the cows, while occasionally chasing/spooking the cows for amusement. I am a bad person.

Ad Hoc

I drove to Yountville today for dinner at Ad Hoc with a new girlfriend. It was a very ambitious gamble for a second date. Thankfully, it went very well. I need to work on curbing my enthusiasm on the first few dates, however. Pace is important. I've blown hundreds of dollars on ambitious first or second dates, only to discovery that we weren't good matches. It's a drag. Better to warm up slowly, giving both parties a chance to bail out gracefully, should things go south.

Pacifica / San Gregorio

Alice at the Beach