Plume went for a walk in the Laurentians yesterday, with some friends recently returned from France. You can tell she’s artistic from her wonderful sense of colour.
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Fall puppy
Sunday, July 24th, 2011
Summer Sauce for Pasta
I’m hung over this morning, I think. It’s been about thirty years since the last time so I’m not sure, but I had a lovely time last night eating and drinking in the garden talking about current affairs and unions and now I’m kind of fuzzy-headed.
Picture me now, lying in my hammock as I copy out the recipe for what we ate from the New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. I would be happy to eat this every warm day all summer long.
Summer Sauce for Pasta
Serves 4On those hot, lazy, sultry summer days, when, like a character in a Tennessee Williams play, you haven’t got the energy to do much more than lie around the house in an old tattered slip, try this quick, uncooked sauce. It’s fragrant, refreshing, and light.
6 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms (8 ounces) [500 g]
6 to 8 ounces [200 g] mozzarella cheese, grated or cut into thin strips
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt1 pound [500 g] spaghetti or linguini
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 ounce) [30 g]
Mix all the sauce ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for an hour or so, for the flavors to mingle.
Cook and drain the pasta. While the pasta is piping hot, serve it in well-warmed bowls, topped with a ladleful of sauce and garnished with Parmesan cheese.
Of course I don’t make it exactly like that. I use fewer mushrooms, less olive oil, more garlic (which I crush instead of mincing) and I hate Parmesan so I use Romano instead. But you won’t make it exactly like that either.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
writing to Alston
The Blork Blog
Zura Rants
chicagoan in montréal
ni vu ni connu
Utopia Moment
Shatnerian
i.never.nu
Montreal City Weblog
Fagstein
The Smoking Section
Vague Diva
Also see:
Alston Adams on Facebook
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alstonadams on Twitter
Alston on Alston
Here’s some cached text from youngadultcancer.ca. It’s Alston talking about going on the “July 11-23, 2009 – Owyhee River Kayaking Expedition, SE Oregon, USA” trip organized by YAC and the subject of the film Wrong Way to Hope.
Until May 1, 2007, I led a trite and meaningless existence. Just kidding. Until that date, life was pretty great in most ways. I had just started a new and interesting career in video games. And then…well, you know what happened then. The details: esophageal cancer. One of the worst ones, and unusual for someone that was only 32.
This is a bio, which normally means that it is very much of a compilation of who you are and what you’ve done. It’s part character sketch and part CV. But unlike many other major events in life such as marriage, first child, etc., this one tends to obliterate your life B.C. (before cancer). The effect of this is that UI and many others focus much less on the past and put more emphasis on the future, but especially the present. And that is why I am going to travel for 2 weeks on the Owyhee River with others like me.
This trip is an opportunity to make an impact in people’s live right now. Instantaneously. People around me are organizing themselves in order to realize something they believe in. I personally am reminded of my vitality and ability to contribute to something important to society. And it gets me out of the limbo of uncertainty that surrounds people my age hit with some serious disease.
I am a man, alive, relevant and vital. I am here, right now.
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
more Plume!
One of the ducky things about a beloved who works at home is that you can receive cheery mid-day pictures like this one of Plume in her bed next to Mark’s desk.
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
Hazards of corporate travel
Elevator music in hotels.
I’m home now, but “Let your love flow” is still coursing through my brain.
Friday, March 6th, 2009
Excitement!
Mark got his Canadian citizenship February 6th. It was very sweet and simple and bureaucratic and communal all at once. 375 candidates from 72 countries and their friends crowded into a college auditorium. The candidates were assigned seats in the front, friends and family at the back, tables of bureaucrats in between. The entire swearing-in took about two hours, most of which was taken up with candidates finalising their paperwork.
The citizenship judge was Croatian-born and gave a moving speech about how difficult emigration and the process of building a new life in a new country is, and warmly wishing all the candidates well in their common but individually difficult endeavours.
Mark, in front with the candidates, and I, behind with the well-wishers, each wept a little, moved.
For his citizenship present, Mark and I are taking the train two-thirds of the way across the country, east to west. We’re leaving Tuesday March 10. It’s a four-day trip, and we’re getting off to stretch our legs for an extra two days in Jasper. Then we spend two weeks in the Vancouver area and fly back.
Normally transportation for this trip would be on the order of $4,000 to $5,000. But I have a bunch of travel points from travelling for work and Mark is an excellent shopper, so we’re doing it for less than $800.
They say it’s spring on Vancouver Island: the cherry trees are budding, crocuses and daffodils are blooming.
I can’t think of anything else.