Birthdays are like a sack of olives...

Some years are black and some are green, but they all get mushed into oil in the end.

This one began with some flaming, liquor-filled Mexican wrestling heads

And some other lovelies

Then down to Tuscany for actual picking

To make lots of this:

With some energetic helpers

One of whom was also having a birthday

And so there was lots of cooking

Festive cooking

Also, tasteful cards from across the sea.

Not a bad way to age.

Eataly in NYC

Just had lunch at the new Eataly in NY, which is startling similar to the Torinese one--basically an enormous upscale Ikea for Italian food. Row after row of pasta, cheese, meat, vegetables, fish, salami, wine, beer, etc. This can be both a good and a bad thing. Everything looked really delicious, and I had some nice paccheri al sugo di mare. They have imported not just the food, but the wait staff, so everything is molto authentic. On the other hand: it's a giant food Ikea. Big, bulging, consumerist. And unlike Ikea, it's pretty expensive.Can you be a giant food court cum supermarket cum design emporium AND be an exemplar of the slow food way? Can you do this 6000 miles away from the source? I think not.

Governance Dance

Academic writing can be turgid. Academic presentations can destroy the soul. So I fully endorse this new approach to presenting academic knowledge.

Need to start working on my routine for presentation in Princeton on Tuesday! I'm thinking something like this:

Babies

There were a lot of them this summer! Fortunately, all disarmingly adorable.

First, there were the twin bundles of terror.

Then there was the cherubic F. Sweet and gentle--unless you get between her and a slab of meat or an M+M.

They do, it must be said, make life difficult sometimes. Like when they throw your camera behind the bench. Or when you want to go to a bar. Or walk anywhere. Or eat at a reasonable hour. Or sleep. But it is a testament to their cuteness and loveability that we still like them. Bring them on, I say. What could possibly go wrong?

Weddings

Bumper crop this year. Duties all around. Fortunately, I actually enjoyed all of them immensely. In part because I approve of the matchings, in part because they were in great places, in part because they had a critical quota of cool people to hang out with.

More pics to follow once the official ones are released, but in the meantime, here's a few I could snap between my various responsibilities.

Karen as Stag.

Karen with a phallic balloon sculpture

Taiwanese lion dancing

Taiwanese lawyer dancing

Wedding guests through the looking glass

Maine, Vermont, California

Three nice states, three different experiences.

Maine: visiting 'rents on remote island for Mom's 60th Bday.

Gorgeous setting in which to death-march.

Puzzles

Buoys

Good old-fashioned fun

Vermont: Wedding Anniversary Extraganza. Water-skiing, bbqing, good company

Chickens on parade

Sweaty square dancing!

California. Wedding of K+W, plus a little side visit to MM, pictured here in her natural position:

Everyone had a good time except the deer that ran in front of our car and left this dent on the hood:

Sport

Four major sporting events:

1. Bicycle rickshaw circumnavigation of Isle au Haut (involuntary).

2) Water-skiing for the first time. More fun than anticipated!

3. Clay pigeon shooting. Moderate expectations, satisfactorily met.

4. Riding. Or, more accurately, being led around Richmond Park on a lead. Not thrilling, but quite enjoyable at a 4:1 champagne bottle to person ratio.