winterbadger: (small haggis)
So, last night's dinner was at Big Bowl, which I selected more or less randomly. I had their vegetarian potstickers and the Panang curry chicken. The dumplings were good; the curry was amazingly tasty (almost Melissa-good! :-), but much hotter than I normally get. It was also a hearty serving, so the half-hour walk after dinner didn't just burn off the extra time I had on my hands; it was useful for settling my meal.

I had not walked much around Reston Town Center before. It seemed deserted, almost like a movie set. (Perhaps for an urban version of The Truman Show?) It is a pre-fab place, essentially an upscale, modern New Town. But I have to admit it meshes a lot more with what I feel is "appropriate" living for a developed country (high-density, walkable, integrated, though without as much shared recreation area as I think it should have)/ I guess one reason I like the nearby Lake Anne Plaza more is just its more contemporary, eclectic architecture. Dated and perhaps a bit hideous to some eyes, it doesn't seem as soullessly generic to me as RTC. But RTC isn't hideous either, just a bit bland.

Of course, like many liberal do-gooders :-) my own ideal is something a great deal less high-density and efficient than the sort of compact community that Reston's clusters represent. But I've never claimed to be consistent. *guilty shrug*

And the film I saw was (at last, before it disappeared for good) The King's Speech. It was just as marevlous as I had expected it to be. Really, Firth and Rush are wonderful actors, and HBC continues to be one of my serious crushes. :-)
winterbadger: (french HYW army)
New medieval castle being built in France.

Not exactly "news"; they've been working on it for 12 years. But it still looks like an interesting story.
winterbadger: (Ramsay Gardens)
I have spotted a very odd-looking assembly of buildings a number of times through the trees while commuting. Finally, I know what it is!
winterbadger: (scotland flag)
The lovely and charming [livejournal.com profile] zoefruitcake has pointed out that next weekend is Doors Open Days or Heritage Open Days as they call it in England. All sorts of historic sites are open free of admission, some of them places not normally open to the public.

Since I shan't be able to take advantage of any of the openings this year, I'll just imagine that I'm touring Ballone Castle, one of the open houses in the Tain & Easter Ross area. What a simply *wonderful* thing, to be able to restore a 16th century tower house and then live in it! Wow!

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