Safe Harbor

Sitting in the darkened waters between two piers, this small but elegant boat is a link to larger ships that sail at sea. Wood on a boat, either shellacked or painted, seems to resonate in a harmonious manner with the turbid liquid below.

Not Bristol Palin

You cannot see Russia from here, but you can see some mighty fine buildings in this harbor town in Rhode Island. Born out of a desire for freedom (at the expense of the natives - King Phillip's War started here), raised with tasteful affluence (on the back of the slave trade), and experiencing a long somnolence of middle age, Bristol today is sprightly mix of WASPs, Italian-Americans, and Azoreans - historically sailors all.

This sweet Greek Revival is but a small sample of the tasty treats this town has to offer.

DinTaiFung

DinTaiFung, which means.....DinTaiFung (a mashup of two previous stores) is a famous Taiwanese Soup Dumpling Restaurant. A soup dumpling, or Xiaolongbao, is not a dumpling in soup. It is a transcendent dumpling that has soup in it, along with pork or crab or both.

The meat is combined with soup that has been gelled with agar-agar and this soup/meat combination is put into fresh thin dumplings, twisted and the steamed in a bamboo steamer.

Oh. My. God.

I ate at the branch in Beijing and will eat at the branch in LA at Xmas. But for now I am going to lunch at a local place, which is not as good, but will suffice.

The second drawing is of peanut ice, with peanuts on top. Yummy.

Houhai? You High.

Wandering around the Houhai area of Beijing, bustling with shops, traffic and hordes of non-Mongols, I came upon this coffee house, an island of calm located in a western-chinese hybrid building from the 1890's. The coffee house is in the second floor with exposed beams 'n stuff. Originally these buildings were used as guild houses or brothels and were a mash-up of the grey chinese brick and details with western arches and columns.

Birds Bath

Beautiful and benign at first glance, this birdbath takes on a slightly sinister air when you notice the birds that have linked wings waiting to ambush any unsuspecting nuthatch peacefully splashing about.

Miss Worcester Diner

Lost in Worcester ('Wooo-ster') MA, the second largest city in New England, I came across the Worcester Lunch Car #812, or as she is know to her boys, Miss Worcester Diner. Built in 1948, she didn't get far from home, as the factory was across the street. The Worcester Lunch Car Company produced 651 'fancy night cafes' between 1906 and 1957.

While never married, she still looks great for 62, and still puts out hot lunches to grateful Worcesterians.

Two by Two Silos

Part of the Los Poblanos Farm and former Dairy, these twin sentinels converse silently amongst the fracas of the farmyard.

Farm Livin'

From the dairy area of Los Poblanos in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. This is the original site of Creamland Dairies and was started by Albert Simms and Ruth Hanna McCormick, both members of Congress in the 20's and 30's. It is being renovated to extend the Los Poblanos Inn and agricultural operations.

Book Learnin'

Another meeting at the Dennis School House (a voluminous structure built in 1770) on endless revisions to their zoning code for Cottage Communities. I am not trying to make a statement about the quality of education sinking, just representing what I would see if my head was on the desk before I slipped into a drool-worthy sleep, as I did many times in my youth.

Have a Cow, Man.

North Main Street in Providence is not where you expect to find a cow, even a plastic one. It has appeared as a representation of the products served just inside at a new slider joint. The sliders are good, tho I would prefer a larger portion of the said cow, rather than the little circular veneers on buns.

I Go to Luogo

South Luogo Lane to the northeast of the Forbidden City has been around since 1267 and has recently been hip-ified. Mexican cafes, Tibetan yougurt shops, t-shirt shops with images of Comrade Obama cater to both Chinese and Western tourists. But the feeling of the place is maintained by its dimensions - 12 feet building to building and mostly one story construction.

Good Foo

AS 220 is a community arts space in Downcity Providence that is celebrating its 25th anniversary on August 14th at the annual FooFest. Foo(d) is also AS220's restaurant next to their always friendly bar.

Foo is short for both food and fool, as in "I pity the poor foo."