My favorite things

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This page is always under construction!

My favorite trees:

• Ginkgo   Ginkgo biloba
• Dawn redwood   Metasequoia glyptostroboides
• Hoop pine   Araucaria cunninghamii
• Coast she-oak   Casuarina equisetifolia
• Sweetgum   Liquidambar styraciflua
• Bushy yate   Eucalyptus lehmannii
• Jackfruit   Artocarpus heterophyllus
• Douglas fir   Pseudotsuga douglasii
• New Zealand Christmas tree   Metrosideros excelsus
• Jacaranda   Jacaranda mimosifolia

My favorite board games:

• Scrabble
• Pictionary
• Talisman

My favorite places in the world:

• Cape Hillsborough, QLD, Australia (yay! Cape Hillsborough!)
• Lord Howe Island, NSW, Australia (never been there, but it's #1 on my wish list)
• Lake Alta, Alta, CA, USA
• Kew Gardens, London, UK
• Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, CO, USA

Favorite foods:

• Potato pancakes
• Eggs Benedict* or Eggs Florentine
• Thai coconut lemongrass soup
• Duarte's cream of artichoke soup
• Clam chowder*
• Yorkshire pudding*
• Australian meat pies* (any flavour, but I especially like steak and mushroom; shepherd's pie; and curried chicken)
• Potatoes and parsnips, cut in wedges and roasted with olive oil and herbs
• Baba ganoush
• Bowen mangoes from our trees at home
• Lychees from the Sullivans down the road
• Boysenberries from Grandma's garden
• Waffles** with fruit and whipped cream
• Nutella
• Tim Tams
• Anything else involving chocolate!

* These aren't vegetarian, so usually I wouldn't eat them anymore, but I might make an exception depending on the occasion and/or the source.
** or French toast, or pancakes, or crepes...

My favorite restaurants in the Bay Area:

• Mandalay Burmese & Mandarin Cuisine, San Francisco
• Greens, San Francisco
• Pacific Catch, San Francisco
• Mango Cafe, Palo Alto
• Cafe Brioche, Palo Alto
• Duarte's, Pescadero
• Ethiopia Restaurant, Berkeley
• Norikonoko, Berkeley
• Raleigh's, Berkeley*
• Jupiter, Berkeley*

* Better known for alcohol than for food, but they each have a great atmosphere, and excellent sandwiches and pizza, respectively.

Restaurants not in the Bay Area, but worth mentioning nonetheless!

• Beachgrass Cafe, Solana Beach, CA
• Pizza Port, Solana Beach, CA
• Mrs. K's Toll House Restaurant, Silver Spring, MD
• Hog's Breath Cafe, Mackay, QLD (and throughout Oz)

My favorite smiley:

• Mushy-brained     @:-\

Favourite birds (Queensland):

• Butcherbirds
• Magpies
• Drongoes
• Brahminy kites
• Pale-headed rosellas

Favorite birds (California):

• Scrub jays
• American kestrels
• Great horned owls
• Burrowing owls
• Western bluebirds
• Anna's hummingbirds

Various things that I inordinately dislike:

• The sound of chainsaws
• The sound of people smacking while they eat
• High-heeled shoes
• Trying to toss something into a wastebasket, but missing
• Static on the radio in a cafe
• Small bug-eyed yappy dogs
• The telecom company SBC and their terrible customer service
• Hummers and other unreasonably inefficient vehicles
• Containers of milk and/or coffee that leak in my backpack
• Hairdryers
• Martinis (or anything else with gin)
• Coke, Pepsi, or sodas of any kind
• Bud Light
• People who treat other people unequally
• Nail polish
• Watching golf on TV
• The Bay Area Lyndon Larouche supporters who keep sabotaging public lectures on climate change
• Cinnamon tea (though the idea sounds nice, it's the only thing I can't eat or drink)
• The process of applying sunscreen
• Shoes that make loud clomping or clicking sounds
• Sponges left soggy on the counter
• Potholes (especially the one that broke my friend Doug's jaw)
• Auto-flush toilets that flush while you are sitting on them, or flush several times after you stand up. What a waste!
• The sound of tongue-clicking

Various things of which I am inordinately fond:

• The sound of halyards gently slapping against masts at a marina
• Wild yellow violas (in California)
• Wikipedia
• My red Trek road bike, Will Scarlet
• Travelling to conferences and meeting new people
• Most shades of blue
• Penrose tiling
• Getting postcards in the mail
• Green tree frogs (in Queensland)
• Trains (riding on them or watching them) (especially long-distance trains)
• Elderflower tea
• Abalone or paua shells
• Tiffany stained glass
• Searching the library stacks
• Picnics
• Carillon bells
• Fuyu persimmons
• Geckoes
• Writing in lab notebooks
• Making jam and listening to the jar lids pop as they self-seal
• Bicycles - they are the best invention ever
• Cardamom

...I'll expand this list soon. It simply won't do to have my "Dislikes" more numerous than my "Likes" - that doesn't at all reflect reality!

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Last updated September 10, 2008