We are back from a week at the beach and I'm turning my attention to the LA trip coming up this Thursday.

Friday Night is the Dodgers game, if anyone else will be there that night let me know.

Alright, got the rest of our photos from the weekend in the bay area up (Full set here).

The excuse for the trip was to spend some time with our good friends who have their own baby due in just a few weeks. We drove the long way up on Friday morning. Left OC at 7AM, stopped in Moro for lunch, then up to San Simean for Hearst. Hearst Castle was a last minute addition to the itinerary, it wasn't until the night before we left that we convinced ourselves we would actually be hitting the road at 7AM affording us the time for the stop. It was a beautiful lazy drive up the coast, clear and warm. Even got to see the elephant seals. We made it to our friends' place in Oakland at 9:30PM. A long day, and the windy bit of PCH north of San Simean was a little queasy for CP, but very much worth it.












Saturday started with brunch at Rockridge Cafe, yummy. Then a "hike" through the botanical gardens in Tilden park. The guidebook descibed it as "difficulty 1, beauty 10". Perfect for a couple pregnant ladies and a couple lazy husbands. Great way to spend an afternoon, in preparation for a FABULOUS dinner. As I mentioned elsewhere, we splurged on a meal experience at Fleur de Lys, owned by chef Hubert Keller. We have some video of our food that we need to get around to posting. An absolutely lovely and decadent evening.








(you all don't know these folks, I just think they look so beautiful in this picture)

Sunday was our day in the city. We started with a stop at the Marin headlands and the unfinished battery gun stations. Coming across the Richmond-San Rafael bridge it almost looked like the headlands were on fire. Turns out it was just a plume of fog localized right there, with a beautiful layer coming in over the bay. Absolutely iconic day to see the city. We enjoyed ourselves around the battery, then grabbed a bite form Boudin at Pier 39 (I swear the bread is better there than at DCA), then to the Nihonmachi festival in Japantown. Mmm, shave ice and LiHi ginger. And we were lucky enough to meet another old friend from high school and his wife who were just returning from their weekend in Napa for dinner.









The drive home Monday was uneventful. Took a more direct route down the 101 instead of the coast (I've driven down the 5 enough). But before we left the bay area completely we got an added bonus as another old friend had had a baby on Friday night as we were arriving into town. So we stopped by on the way out to see the 2-day-old and very tired parents. :)





:) :)

Beautiful pictures, GD. Thanks for sharing them!

Great pictures! No baby bump yet on CP, but a neat shot hold some other infant. I like the Vana White pose next to the colorful .....somethings!


Oh, and Spamalot tickets are on sale at The performing Arts Center! I got mine for Sun, Oct. 18th at 1pm. For those interested.

I think the "colourful somethings" was a huge Spine. :eek:

...and I agree, they should FREE SPINA. He's done nothing wrong.

I was going to make a quip about being able to experience a winning team for once, but the way the Dodgers have been playing lately, that is not such a sure thing.

Did you know that the big rock in the background (Morro Rock) is actually the neck of a long-dormant volcano? That is the solidified magma and the mountain surrounding it has been washed away over time. I always found that fascinating.

One, and the largest, of 9 along the coast called the "9 Sisters".

Cute little guy.

And spiny!

(comments not related to same photo)

Oh, yeah. I forgot to ask, what's with all the dead seals?

Love the pics!
The bunker pic made me laugh and the dragonfly pic is uber cool.
Cute baby!
:)

They're not dead. It's a photograph, things don't move in photographs, even if they're alive. I think you've been reading too much Harry Potter.

It's a lie, it's a lie! Harry Potter is non-fiction. They told me so at a Flourish and Blott's book signing!

They're not dead - they're resting

Though if you go at the right time of the year the beach really will be littered with dead seals since so many pups get crushed by indifferent bull males.

BJ and I are playing a game where in one of the parts you get to kill baby polar bears and take their pelts. Totally PETA-friendly.

Is that Hubert Keller as in Top Chef Masters contestant Hubert? If so, I am exceedingly jealous and want details on the meal.

It is indeed, and that's the reason we chose it. We're Top Chef fan geeks and Keller's definitely our favorite of the Masters (with Bayless a close second).

The meal was divine. I won't recall all the details but here's what I can recall. There were 4 of us, so lots of dishes and I don't remember every one.

First course, CP and I both had an asparagus salad with fois gras and black truffles, with a perfect brioche. The highlight of the dish was definitely the cream of salsify on the plate. Which would be a theme as the highlight of one of our friend's courses was a cream of saurkraut. Yes, cream of saurkraut. SO GOOD!

I was the only one who did a 4 course meal, so I had a scallop. I don't think it's the same one that's on the menu online, but similar in that it was nut crusted and deliciously so.

My main was venison chop. I have habit of getting venison whenever I'm at top end restaurants. It's something I rarely eat elsewhere, plus it gives me a good comparison point between them. This one definitely stood out. First, I'd never had a chop. Second, the sauce was not sweet, the first time I'd ever been served vension without a sweet sauce. And not surprising that a french master like Hubert made a perfect sauce. CP had duck, basically a classic orange sauce, but with fresh mandarin and a pureed celery. My friend's wife also had the duck, he had a filet with mac&cheese (purely for the delight of ordering mac and cheese at the fanciest restaurant he'd ever been to). The filet was brilliant, the mac and cheese was good but not anything spectacular.

I won on dessert. The ladies both got chocolate soufles, which were good. I've forgetten what he got. I had the "fleurburger". It was so much fun! The plate arrived and it had a little "burger" with bignet as buns, ganache as patty, a strawberry slice as tomatoe and a kiwi slice as pickle, with a kiwi spear on the plate as another pickle. There was a helping of fennel ice cream "pome frits" (as we were taking video one of us can be heard to say, "hurry, your french fry is melting!"), and a yummy banana shake served in a shot glass on the plate.

Amusingly, having just seen Keller run into near disaster on Top Chef when servers twice knocked over a shotglass on a plate while serving, the shake was firmly glued to the plate (probalby with some sugar-based paste). :D

The service was top notch. If you were to stand and head to the restroom, practically before you were out of sight of the table a server was there to refold your napkin for you (in synchronization if 2 people left the table!), and there to pull your chair out when you returned, and yet it never felt like anyone was hovering over us. Our server was very helpful, happy to give us a list of the wine pairings and point our friend who lived locally to where he could get bottles as well as the name of "his guy" at the wine exchange.

It seemed the chef Keller was not there. I imagine he was getting his rest as the following day he was scheduled to appear at a Top Chef demo/Q&A in Napa (wish we could have fit that in!). But even without an apperance it was just awesome to taste his food!

I am green with envy. GREEN I tell you!!! That sounds so delicious! And I'm with you on him and Bayless. In addition to producing yummy food, it looked like they were the nicest to their "staff." I know they're big name chefs, but the former contestants were hardly straight out of culinary school and what'shisname acted like he was the only one with any skills. At least that's the way the editors presented it. As someone who has skills and is currently is in a situation where her employers use her for data entry and taking minutes, I felt I could relate. I liked Keller's bit about mentoring them That was him, right? Him or Bayless. Anyhow, I knew who I would have rather worked for...

My dad thinks I'm a tech guru, LOL.

He says I solved a problem in 1/2 hour that 5 "techie" people he knows couldn't.

Um... I merged an Excel file into Word to make mailing labels. Woo.

I'm not saying it was easy, but this hardly qualifies me as a tech guru. And who are these "tech-savvy" people he knows that can't figure out a mail merge?

:D

(psst... I don't read, I only saw the movies)
Kill joy....

Perhaps they're pining for the Fjords?

PININ' FOR THE FJORRRRRRRRRRRDS?????

How soon before NA gets wise to us...?

What!!!!???

To hell with that. We need to save those baby seals. I say we kill all the bull males.

Spoken like a true PETA activist. :P

They're not dead, they're mostly dead.
:D

Beautiful plumage

I've got a Sea-slug

Does it talk?

My homemade curry dinner was full of win... till I remembered my interview is tomorrow. Doh!

It wasn't a chickpea curry, was it? Did you remember the Beano?

No no... there were real peas, but no garbonzo beans

I still haven't heard about the job fair I went to a couple of weeks ago. The store is set to open Sept. 11th. I would have thought I would have heard something by now.

I am going to another fair at 8:30 this morning. This is a local cable co looking for CSRs.

It is hard not to be discouraged with the lack of interest I am getting.

Oy, FaceBook isn't working for me at the minute.

Never mind. Now it's working. :p

I'm sorry MG. :(

Have you looked into the call centers that have you work from home?

Tori, stop breaking FB!!!!!!

So many of them are scams, that it is hard to filter through them.

Interesting that the page (at least for me) that Tori is talking about FB being down is 404.

See what happens when you give kids summer vacation? They go and break the internet!

Sheesh.

I know JetBlue has a work from home call center workforce. You apply through their website so it's not a scam. I'm trying to find the name of the parent company that handles the work-at-home call centers for various businesses.

Well, I hope I did a decent job impressing the guy at my interview. Tough thing, trying to get a management job with no management titles on your resume. But I had a strong sense of the brand from its heyday, and he asked pretty good questions about management styles. He did say I was obviously intelligent and well spoken, and probably a quick learner.

But I still don't know, this opening will be critical to the success of the brand revival, so only time will tell if they'll take a chance on me or not. Keeping fingers crossed!

Get your thank you note and/or thank you email in the mail today!

Good luck!

Did the email thing shortly after arriving home :)

Crap crap crappity crap!! Hurricane Bill is headed towards Nova Scotia. Where my parents are. In a little fishing town, right on the water.

It isn't supposed to land until Sunday, hopefully it decides to go elsewhere.

Wonder if we'll have a LoT bonfire this year?

I heard this morning that by the time it gets up there it's supposed to downgrade to a category 1. Granted, still a hurricane, but at least it's the weakest one possible.

(Evil laugh) :evil:

Hope so!

They are here

Dunno, Borneio.

Why don't you go ahead and arrange one?

So, I'll be going to a conference in Orlando in October

Hopefully nowhere near the 9th-12th

well the 15th-18th so kinda near

Yeah, and he's leaving me dateless for the Pogues.

I was gone all day long and my name was used in vain twice. That will teach me to work.

Working is evil.

The zoo's concert season is almost over. Two more Friday concerts - Susan Tedeschi and Amos Lee. Tonight we had an impromptu meeting about a special concert event on September 5th.

As part of Oregon's 150th celebration, we're hosting the final performance of "Oregon! Oregon!" featuring the 234th Army Band and Pink Martini. I'll be handling backstage logistics.

I saw this quote on a CNN.com comments page:
That's pretty funny!
:D

Yet we all suffer from secondhand stupid.

Finally broke out the deep fryer and mandoline tonight to make fresh potato chips. We ended up with three different flavors - Bacon, Garlic, and Old Bay. They are soooooooooo beyond good! :D

I was trying to figure out how a mandolin was used to make potato chips

Music to cook by...

(And yes, I know there is a culinary implement by that name. I have one.)

Bacon and Garlic I am familiar with. But what does "Old Bay" taste like...?

Old Bay's a seasoning salt. Here's the ingredient list: CELERY SALT (SALT, CELERY SEED), SPICES (INCLUDING MUSTARD, RED PEPPER, BLACK PEPPER, BAY [LAUREL] LEAVES, CLOVES, ALLSPICE [PIMENTO], GINGER, MACE, CARDAMOM, CINNAMON) AND PAPRIKA.

No, this week I suffer from first hand stupid, my own. Been a lousy week! :blush:

It's used is seafood boils (you know crayfish) and it is used in Maryland (right Moonie) in crabcakes a whole lot.

Mmmmmm... Crabcakes....

In Moonie's honor, I will rename my Old Bay chips as the "Bitter East Coaster" variety. ;)

I went a little too crazy on the Garlic ones though - they nearly put hair on MY chest. :eek:

I think the key to the chips was the mandoline. It allowed for perfectly even wafer thin slices.

However, the downside to all this, is that our place still smells like oil. I feel like I'm living in McD's. Bleh!

Extension cord + patio = problem solved

Ah, good idea! Actually, we have an outlet outside so we wouldn't even need the cord. I'm so doing that next time. :)

That's how my parents used to fry fish.

I just got a Casio Electronic Keyboard with my Grandma- it's freaking awesome! So can't wait to learn how to play Piano. :cool:

Learn Chopsticks. That's a great extortion tune.

We're looking to get one for our daughter who is about your age. What model did you get? How do you like it so far? Do you mind me asking how much you paid for it?

That sounds like hours of fun for you and maybe a little torture for the parents! Have a great time learning to play. I'm sure it will be loads of fun just playing around with the sounds you can make.

Any Saturday spent with a power drill and hole saw bit is a good Saturday.

I got my hair cut. I have straight bangs and a curly bob.

Too bad I'm going to be staying in tonight and writing some more. I have so much to do with starting store work next week and trying to get the writing project off my desk I think I may explode.

I agree except for the drywall dust, which always makes my OCD kick into overdrive.

Fun!!!!

MDF in this case (doing some extreme entertainment center table modification), but yeah, it was followed by spending time with a dirt devil and then the stand up vac. But that was followed by a bit more drilling and some hammering so it's all good.

Cal Worthington's looking old.

Actually, no, he was looking old 20 years ago. Now he's looking dessicated.

I'm starting to think that they turned him into an animatronic.

Depending on whose hair ends up on your chest, it might not be so bad.

But if you talk to the man, DAMN! I hope I'm that sharp at his age (he's gotta be pushing 120, right?)

I was curious: he is 88. Turns out we share a birthday (though he does have a couple of years on me).

Just a couple :)

Don't want to look for the thread where other optical illusions have been posted but this one is pretty impressive to me, particularly since I am completely unable to dispel it even once I know what I'm really seeing.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...circle-spiral/

That is awesome. Though the wrong thing for me to have viewed while trying to shake off shaky-cam-induced nausea.

So I got my feedback for why I didn't get lead. Basically, because I'm unknown. I pressed for additional feedback, anything I could improve performance wise, but my manager said just get to know the mgrs & leads better, get them to know me. Not just by face but more WHO I am.

So the bad news is, I'm invisible. The good news is, I'm apparently doing everything else right.

I can see the two inner circles are discrete, so I wonder if I got enough distance on it if the whole thing would smooth out. Also, a good squint smoothes out the edges of the squares and makes the whole thing look like a bunch of circles within circles.

I was thinking about making a quip about if they REALLY got to know who you were, you DEFINITELY wouldn't get promoted. But then I decided that wouldn't be very nice, so I decided against it.

Back on the clerkship application wagon again - time to get out the hard-copy applications for judges who accept them by mail. I usually do better with that group than with the online-only judges (who can choose to only view grads from certain schools and thus never even see mine or have the chance to be intrigued by a stray glance) so I really need to get on the ball. Once the 8th passes, current students can apply and the applicant pool gets significantly larger.

My pants are missing again. I think I'll just pour some more Dr. Pepper on myself and stick to the chair.

This seems to be a recurring issue.

As all of the kids are going back to school, I'm going back to work. Should I take a picture of myself? "First day at work." ;)

Yes!

Hey now - you're giving away all the secret material now. ;) :rolleyes:

Presuming the application is installed and loads:

"If you can't make it work, read the manual."
"Here, let me show you how to use the help feature."

Ugh, nothing worse :( I still get the willies when I drive past my orthodontist's office.

Don't I know it! Every now and then we drive by the freeway exit and I still cringe.

Remember the feeling when the braces first came off? My teeth were so slippery feeling. I couldn't help but run my tongue over my teeth for a day or so.

Tori - if you're like Maddie and wear rubber bands it'll all depend on how much you wear them. Madz is about 8 mos overdue to get hers off cause she never wears her rubberbands (not to mention the extra dental visits from not brushing good enough).

I am waiting for The Boy to get home from his first day of Jr High. He was bouncing off the walls at 6am. He didn't need to leave until 7:45-8ish.

Or do what I did and fake out the dentist by not biting down squarely and pretending my bite had changed. What? I was 15 and they NEEDED to come off. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I had my braces for 5 years. Long time. Can ya imagine what they looked like before?
See page 42 of the Big Book of British Smiles.
I dreaded getting them tightened.

I had braces in 5th-6th grade then 7th-10th grade. Pallet expander then braces. Bleh.

THEN as an adult I went back to my orthodontist to see if it was worth it to fix my bite (new problem). (The process would involve breaking my jaw and all sorts of fun stuff. So the answer is NO).

I had to get a Pallet expander a year before I got my braces, and last year I finally got my Pallet expander out for my birthday.

They said I might get it off in four weeks if I keep wearing my bands all day. They're trying to fix my bite, and it's getting very close! :)

7 years total in braces for me (2 on, 1 off, 5 on) including 3 with a head gear.

Whiney Girl.:p

Mashed potatoes for dinner tonight?

As you wish.:)

Mashed potatoes rock! They make effective melee AND projectile weapons in kitchen kombat.

I had braces on my upper teeth in 3rd grade. They came with head gear and loads of pain.

I had braces on my bottom teeth in 5th grade, followed by a year of a permanent retainer. As soon as the retainer came off, in came my very impacted wisdom teeth and screwed everything up.

I had braces twice.

Yes, twice.

The first time was necessary, and only on my bottom teeth. My lower molars were coming in sideways and they needed to be pulled up right or things would be Very Bad. This involved some surgery and was annoying.

The second time was a waste - they made my bottom arch "perfect" the first time and wanted to make the top arch "perfect", rather than just let the bottom arch revert back to the way it wanted to be. So, more braces and the prescription of a lifetime retainer. Not night-time only, all day long. I finally decided that was ridiculous and stopped wearing my retainer.

Today the Rat bought me bookcases! Big happy bookcases with room for lots of books! I'm so happy to see my old friends again. I've unboxed all the boxes of books I had against the wall upstairs, and I still have plenty of room left for some of the books from downstairs! I'm so excited. It's hard for a librarian to be away from her books for so long.

So, next game night the upstairs may be a bit cozier, as it's now a big library, but so much more literate!

I had a permanent bottom retainer for years. Finally got the orthodontist to remove it because I was tired of the bands being seen in photos. He made me a night time only one, which I quit wearing after awhile. Of course, my teeth shifted a bit (unrelated to the bite issue). I went back a few years ago and he made me 2 retainers - one that will move the teeth that shifted back and one that will hold them in place. Both are nighttime only and are something I'll have to wear on and off forever, or until I don't care.

I was supposed to wear my retainer at night until my wisdom teeth came in. I think that lasted all of 6 months. I've noticed no ill effects.

My most recent dentist thinks my orthodondist was stoned.

Of course, my most recent dentist strongly recommended I undergo a procedure that would involve breaking my jaw and a 15% risk of a total loss of sensation in one of the lower quadrants of my face to repair my bite even though it causes me neither physical discomfort nor aesthetic defect (slight misalignment is not the active ingredient in my homeliness.

So I think he's high too. Apparently there's rampant drug abuse in the field of dentistry.

They do have very easy access to NO2

I would have to agree with you Alex. In the last year or so talking with Dentists, Orthodontists etc... I think they are all high and some of the ideas they had for the boy were crazy. I don't get why they all want to break jaws!?

LOL...

Beijing loves Ikea, but not for buying stuff.

I had braces for 7 years. I also have had 17 teeth pulled (4 wisdom, 4 permanent - the rest were baby teeth that they pulled instead of having them fall out naturally). I wore headgear at night (but pulled it out in my sleep) and had a bottom retainer for many years. As soon as they took it out, the teeth went crooked again. I eventually gave up and decided to live with my mouth the way it is.

Red Arrows & Rainbows
 

I think these is just awful purdy

Thanks for sharing, that really is beautiful!

It's true. I had a date with one and he was a partaker of a variety of illegal substances.

When I was in 8th Grade, my friend's dad was a dentist. He took us to Keith Richards' house. We hung out by the pool with Anita Pallenberg and listened to music. I always wondered how he such an "in"...

Fatboy Slim is f*cking in heaven
Fatboy Slim is f*cking in heaven
Fatboy Slim is f*cking in heaven
Fatboy Slim is f*cking in heaven
Fatboy Slim is f*cking in heaven
Fatboy Slim is f*cking in heaven


...and so on.

It's a sloooow day at work.

Ptui! (That's the sound of crow feathers being spit out of my mouth.)

Facebook recently put me in contact with someone from high school that I really wasn't nice to. In fact, I was pretty much a self-loathing bully. Today, I sent him a letter apologizing for being such an as$hole to him in school. No response yet but it was something that has bugged me for a long, long time.

Anyway, I saw Flatliners and don't want that guy stalking me, hitting me in the legs with bats and spitting loogies in my mouth.

:D

Good for you, for sending that letter. As the recipient of a few apologies over the year they do mean something, even if I haven't spoken to them since.

It wasn't Billy Mahoney, was it?

(Is it sad that I could pull that reference out without any sort of research?)

Pollution is beautiful.

I got one of those types of emails a few months back. It was from someone I hadn't even thought about in over 20 years. She still lives in Hilmar, and was wanting to apologize for the way she treated our friendship out freshman year of high school. I don't even remember her behaving badly, but then I rarely showed that I cared about anything back then.

I'm sorry about your kitty, ABG. :(

Sorry to hear about your kitty. :(

You talk tarot? I've got a deck I used to use that's been protected in my hope chest for the last decade. Haven't looked at it in a long long time...

I'm sorry about your loss, alphabassettgirl.

I just bought 5 lbs. of pumpkin spice coffee beans from Door County Coffee.

Edited to add: A few days ago in Champaign, Illinois, I scored big at the TJMaxx. A $200 Theory blouse for $7.

Why is it that medical emergencies always happen on Friday afternoon when you can't get your doctor to call you back and your husband is in meetings?

So sorry to hear that, abg. Hang in there.
:(

Ooh, hang in there NA.

ABG, sorry for loss of kitteh. Hug new kitteh lots to make up

The parrots are having a party on our street this morning.

I hope all is good, NA.

At the farmers' market this morning, we ran into two women Civil War renactors shopping for vegetables in full hoopskirt, shawl, and bonnet get-up. They told us the encampment was in a nearby park. Tom and I went over to have a look.

It's a small encampment, maybe because thunderstorms socked us hard last night.

I don't get wanting to reinact the Civil War. People who lived through it couldn't wait for it to end. Why relive something like a war?

It's HOT. :(

Foggy weather, please come back!

I finally heard back from my friend. LiveOps. Also heard that workplacelikehome is a good message board.

All is good, if unknown. I have been having major heart palpitations on and off over the past week. As my Mom died as a result of a massive heart attack, I don't treat this stuff lightly. Nothing conclusive was found after testing but I need some further tests done and my thyroid levels checked. Or, I could just be internalizing stress - but my heart is not usually the place where my stress goes. I guess you learn new tricks as you get older, eh?

Take care, NA.

Sending some good thoughts your way.

I DID start a new job this week after 5 years of relative comfort. But, sheesh, I used to be a corporate marketing manager with a MUCH higher stress job. Have I really lost my stress management skill?

IMO, coping skills get better and better. You have perspective, you know? But what I can no longer do is get up really early to fit in extra work. I'm talking 3 or 4 a.m. I used to be the queen of that but no can do anymore.

So, I am so proud of my oldest kid. She makes beaded macramé necklaces and bracelets which are flying out the door of the shop that sells them. She keeps changing things up so there's no same old same old. Right now, she's making them with little enameled flower charms.

I'm so sorry, ABG! :(

Sorry for you loss ABG! Hugs from the Wolfpack!

You have my deepest sympathies alphabassettgrrl. <hugs>

Willis Carrier should be canonized.

So should Ctesibius of Alexandria.

I'm sorry, abg. Friends sometimes come with pointy ears, a tail, and a purrbox. I hope your memories of happy times will comfort you in the next days.

ABG: sorry to hear about kitty. :(

On a cheerful note, I had a look at your bike in your avatar. How ever do you manage to ride a Penny Farthing bike such long distances ? ;)

Sorry to hear about the kitty, ABG. I'm always sad to hear of feline friends who must leave too soon. For small critters they sure leave such big holes in our lives.

Well, last Thursday I dropped my daughter off at Pacific University in Forest Grove. I was there an blue before her and her mother, but that's another story.

It was harder than I thought it would be. I've said goodbye to Erin any number of times, often for long periods, but somehow this was different. We set her up in the dorm and I made sure she had some speniding money and bought her books.

I said goodbye to my little girl. From now on, she's a grown woman with her own life, goals and plan. She's chosen a path and is agressively following it. From now on, I'm a spectator in her life.

I'm feeling old and alone.

You may have finished your journey of producing a self sufficient human-being but girls always need their dads.

Well, last Thursday I dropped my daughter off at Pacific University in Forest Grove. I was there an hour before her and her mother, but that's another story.

It was harder than I thought it would be. I've said goodbye to Erin any number of times, often for long periods, but somehow this was different. We set her up in the dorm and I made sure she had some speniding money and bought her books.

I said goodbye to my little girl. From now on, she's a grown woman with her own life, goals and plan. She's chosen a path and is agressively following it. From now on, I'm a spectator in her life.

I'm feeling old and alone. But that's overcome by the pride I feel. There's an incredible young woman out there who carries my name.

Ron's a funny name for a young woman, isn't it ?

I just want to say that I love my son. He continues to be my reason for living.

The hardest for me is coming home from taking the beagle for a stroll in the evening, looking up at my daughter's bedroom window and ... there's no light on. She's at college. She's going to come back for a few days here and there but that bedroom light will mostly not be on from here on in.

Roots and wings.

Things are about to get cray here. I start working full time in Downtown next week PLUS I'll be handling stuff for the soon to open Long Beach store. The way it is looking, I think I may see everyone sometime in January. (Except the Cemetery Screening on Saturday.)

You know you love it NA!

I do love it. I thrive on triage.

I really hate dreaming that I can't sleep.

A look into my future. Very sobering.



Although, I do wonder if I could fit a pool table into his room...

My old room is now my mom's sewing room.

Are all dogs insane? Yes, yes they are.

About once a day our little chihuahua goes berserk. Runs around in big circle as fast as he can over and over then changes direction, barks and runs some more. Sometimes throwing in a few leaps as he goes. It's the funniest thing to watch.

Then he gets too winded and does his little backward sneeze thing in the corner. Poor guy - I think he gets embarrassed by the backwards sneeze as he always hides to do it.

After he gets a bath he does the same thing, but throws in running with his head on the ground to dry off on the carpet as he goes.

He's such a cutie pie.

I've never been much of a dog person. Always cats. Rocky though has my heart.

It was worth reading that post again for the new coda.

Stiff upper lip, ozron. This is sad, but it's how it's supposed to be, and is ultimately good stuff.




Oh, and belated sympathies, ABG.

My old room is now in someone else's house!

I'm not complaining, I just wonder WTF they are thinking ;)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I have pack tonight because I leave for the airport from work tomorrow for my interview first thing Wednesday morning.

TRYING NOT TO PANIC.

NOT SUCCEEDING.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, about dogs.

We have an English constable beagle. He checks that everything is tickety boo around the joint. Lately, he's had to keep one eye cocked on a crew of masons on the roof (they arecompletely redoing our two chimneys) and the other eye on and a crew of landscapers in the garden (reconfiguring a large flower bed).

By the end of the day, the beagle is completely drained.

Hehehe - all you need to add is a couple of mechanics working on the car and some guys remodeling the kitchen, and you can have the dog tying himself in knots !!

Talk about "dog tired"!

Good Luck Pru!

Perhaps, but I just know that somehow cats are to blame for it.

It's true. It's the invisable cats that do it to them.

We have quite a problem with Pepper's Cats. Those darned reflections in the window drive Thurston crazy!

I know that many of you have visited our place since we've moved to LA, and have gotten to know our pets. Last night, Jack, our little rescued chihuahua passed away. We'd been medicating him for various ailments since we adopted him three years ago, so it's not entirely unexpected, but it's still devastating.

Rest in peace, little guy.

Sorry to hear that, J.
Rest in peace, Jack.
:(

Oh, poor little Jack. :( My condolences to the 'pod household, I'll miss the little guy and his taste for Lisa's blood.

Oh no - condoloences to the Pod family. I know you'll miss him dearly.

Oh no! Poor lil guy. At least he was able to love you / be loved for those years you had him.

He looks so much like our Chi Rocky (who is black) but has a very similar little face it's got me all choked up.

I'm so sad for you.

Hehehee... you made me giggle.

Good luck! Knock 'em dead! Remember how awesome you are!

Poor Jack. I'm sorry, J. At least he was loved and cared for while he was sick. You were good to him.

I'm very sorry to hear that mousepod. He looked like a sweet lil' fella.

Ooooo. Puppy :(

I'm glad we got to meet Jack.

Bear Hugs to MP and H from the LashPair.

more hugs from the ~MS~ household...Bandit sends his condolences to the loss of his cousin.

Our condolences, mousepod. Jack was such a wonderful little barkthing (Lucy and Ethel started barking as I typed this).

Oh Jack, your long fight is over. He sure did put up a good one. Condolences to you guys.

I loved Jack - I felt a puppy connection with him from the very first moment I met him, when he curled up next to me. Those snuggles from Jack on movie nights over the past few years were special to me, and though I am glad he is not suffering anymore, I will miss him very much.

My sympathy and my heart goes out to both of you, and to Bob and Inca, too.

So sorry to hear about Jack he was indeed a very special boy - condolences to all of Casa Chihuahua

Sad to read about the loss at Casa Chihuahua. He's a memorable pup and he was very lucky to have you guys.

The same cannot be said for a Tuesday evening after work.

Sorry to hear it, MousePod. Hugs to the whole 'Pod household.

Good luck tomorrow, Pru!

I've been thinking about little Jack all day. The oddest thing happened about a half an hour after I heard. My right index finger started throbbing and I looked down to see it was bleeding. I had some sort of puncture/tear on my cuticle. This is the same finger, and the same location, that little Jack bit last year. Damn it if he didn't get one last taste of me on his way to heaven.

I'll miss the little spunky peanut.

I'm sorry for your loss Mp - RIP Jack!

Mindy lost her cat Sage Sunday morning. :(

Very sorry to hear about Jack. :(

My sympathies about Jack.

I'm sorry. :(

I'm sorry, MP. Jack was a cutie, and like all Chi's no doubt full of personality. I wish all of our animals would just get and stay healthy around here!!!!!

Sincerest condolences to the Mousepods. I met Jack shortly after he was adopted and he was not only sweet and adorable, he was wearing the most awesome designer chihuahua diapers!

RIP Jack, you could not have had better adoptive parents and cool playmates.

:(

So, here I am in a Mediterranean cafe in Las Cruces. Picked mostly because they have wifi. And here I am using our new netbook, which is much more convenient for such purposes than my laptop. Interview is over. I think I did well, but I'm the first of 10 he plans to interview over the next several weeks, so lots of waiting for me.

Fingers crossed!

Don't forget to send your TY note.

My love to Jack, wherever he might be, and to the 'Pods.

Seeing all the people on FB today talking about their upcoming 3-day weekend makes me think - companies looking to shave a few dimes off their payrolls ought to offer a "free" unpaid day off adjacent to 3-day weekends. People hardly get their work done anyway. And this is a way to basically voluntarily furlough people and have them be happy about it. Those who can afford to, take time off, leaving more $ to pay those who can't afford to take it off.

My cousins company does this only it's mandatory vacation day. You "have" to use one of your vactaion days for it (or I guess you could take it unpaid).

But vacation you are paid on. I'm talking about creating an extra unpaid day but getting folks to take it voluntarily. Some would.

So while walking the dogs tonight, I came across a neighborhood couple that were walking on their way back from the local pizza place. Apparently, a car pulled up to them with a bunch of guys in it, and they pulled a gun demanding all their money. Fortunately, the police patrol the neighborhood regularly and turned the corner before anything went down. The car sped off, the couple told the police what just happened, and hopefully the ensuing pursuit found them apprehended. Still, I hate to think I may need to alter my evening dog walks

What!!! I tell ya, back in my day the thugs would at least park and get out of the car. Kids today are just lazy.

At the grocery store today....announcement over the loudspeaker for the owner of a Honda Accord. Not me of course. Next thing I knew we were walking out and a man was smashing in the window of said Honda Accord. Old Poodle that was blind had been left in the car. Some people. All the people who had witnessed this of course agreed that no one saw who actually smashed the window. Animal Control had been called. When I finally left the owner still hadn't shown up. That dog would have been dead for sure by then.

So...I just spent the morning in the emergency room. I've been having problems all weekend with double vision. It's not consistent but got bad enough yesterday that I called the advice nurse number today and they said I should go to the emergency room.

They did a CT scan and all was well there so now I'm referred to my own doctor. I hope I can get an appointment for tomorrow. They seem to think it's a problem with weak muscles rather than an eye problem. My doctor will probably refer me to a specialist and I don't know how long this will all take.

In the meantime I don't want to drive because I don't know when this will happen again. So I'm worrying about work when I should probably be taking it easy.

Well, hopefully the specialist will be able to figure out what's going on. Yikes. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's something that can be remedied quick.
Hang in there, lindyhop.
:)

P.S. I was taught the Shim Sham last night at rehearsals. I thought of you. I still dance like a giraffe on ice but I'm getting better.

Oh no! Hope they figure it out and you get better soon!

I hope they figure out what is going on, LH! I'm glad the CT scan was ok though.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not used to not being in control and I don't like it.

Check out this Shim Sham. I'm in the group at the 22 seconds mark. I think.

The group from 0:33 to 0:38 was in Canberra - our Capital :cool:

I just applied to the Attorney General's Honors Program. It is my number 2 preference after the possibility of clerking.

What a fun video! Hope things turn out ok.

Ahh, the sweet possibility of clerking!

If anyone is into web design and all that, I have a great way for you to make money. The websites for the countries in the South Pacific really need help. They're slow, not designed well and are horribly outdated. No one seems to be maintaining them at all. I've been accessing them for about a year and they are so very challenging to navigate.
ie. Western Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Guam, Solomon Islands.

What language(s) are they in? I mean spoken/written, not computer language.

So, you'll enjoy this one. We'll assume the man is okay now. I know from stories the hubbo has told that this would not be the weirdest thing that ever came into an ER:

Do they pay with USD or bat soup?




(Cuz if it's the soup I'm soooo going after this work....)

For the most part English. French for certain New Caledonia and French Polynesia sites.
I'm sure the Palauans and the Chamorro folk could hook you up.
:D

Just when I forgot about the bat "incident."

Doing happy dance - new car is on it's way for the monkey!

Hubby heard on the radio (2 different stations) that HISTA is going back to Captain EO in January. This was a rumor at first, but guess not any more. My life is going to be h*ll come January it looks like!

Well, it's about time they have some attendance back in that theater!

It's a totally smart move, really. :)

Congrats MMG!

Interestingly, the rumors began in July, so it's not ENTIRELY a cynical play at capitalizing on Jackson's death, even if it's a fair bet that if a go/no-go decision had yet to be made, his death would have played a big part in tipping it toward go.

Why are you people treating this like it's a good thing?

Simply closing the theater all together or using it to expand innovations would be a better use of space Than Capt EO.

As long as it is purely temporary this seems like an agreeable nod to nostalgia (though to the general population it will seem crass monetizing of his death to many).

Purely temporary though. My concern with intending purely temporary is that sometimes it somehow becomes mostly permanent for lack of momentum.

Sayyy, when did people start saying 'good on you'? Sac just used it in a PM to me, I heard a guy say it at the mall today and the other night someone said it to me at rehearsals. Has it been used lately in a movie or on a TV show or something?

I've always used it. Sparingly, but definitely a phrase I've used for years.

I mean I haven't heard it used for quite some time and then all of a sudden everyone's using it. It must be you then that started it.

Like that temporary IASW structure...

Captain EO is pretty cool. Everything is in 3D except Michael Jackson's nose.

My computer went down during the run of Evita. It turned out to be a burned out motherboard. It's been replaced, but my guy says Windows Vista was damaged. Since it was pre-loaded, I don't have a disc. He's going to install Ubunto for me. I should have it back in a day or so. Then I won't have to post on my phone.

So I can tell you all about:
Oregon! Oregon! with Pink Martini
Predators of the Serengeti (Lions and cheetah and wild dogs!)
Moon Over Buffalo
Taking my daughter to college
and whatever else I missed

I've not heard "good on you" at any increased rate lately so can't corroborate the experience or offer a guess as to source. Has Hawaii recently been invaded by Australians?

Musings on the origin of the phrase (common in both Australia and Ireland, apparently).

I use it all the time.

I'm pretty sure I've never used that phrase.

However, feel free to use it at me, as today I submitted another (smaller) batch of clerkship applications and yesterday I submitted my application to the Attorney General's Honors Program.

No, it's good ON you. :D

And, good on you, Pru.

Hey you guys, I've missed you.

So, what did I miss around here? Anything exciting going on?

Welcome, Deebs.
12559 New Posts since your last visit.
You last visited: 05-30-2009 at 11:47 PM

Wow. It looks like I have missed a whole lotta stuff.

(looks around)

Cool kids? At this lunch table?

Well, really missed you!!!!!

Nothing that I can think of.

Watching Jon from 'Jon & kate Plus 8'. I don't know...I don't think he is saying the truth. Or if he is, he is giving his opinion, his truth.

Nothing you can "conceive" of, eh?

Inconceivable!

He bugs me to no end. She does too though. At first I felt bad for him being so hen pecked. But at the same time, he let that happen over the course of their marriage.

And what now? He's got a bachelor pad, a 2 seat car and is traveling all over the place and telling magazines how much "he detests her". Whatever.

I never watched the show. Everything I know about them is from The Soup.

I feel bad for the kids, and only the kids.

Why anyone would be interested in watching someone else's very public, very horrible divorce is beyond me.

The idea that those people are somehow worth the attention is baffling. There are plenty of ugly divorces (and ugly people) in this world.

Letterman's Top Ten for last night were "Highlights" from Obama's speech to students:

#4.Told kids to listen to their parents, "Except for the 8 of you stuck with Jon and Kate"

I like Jon. I'd do Kate. Or is it the other way around?

It's the kids that are the source of all the trouble. I hope they realize that.

Ha ha, I wish!

Yeah, it is ugly. I feel very badly for the kids.

I dunno, I didn't feel too badly for him being henpecked, he pecked the hen and had 8 kids with her. It isn't easy. Physically or mentally.

I didn't like what he was saying either. About detesting her. I think he is a jerk.

I enjoyed watching the kids grow and interact but I don't like this ugliness.

Yeah, when are we going to see Kate in a two seater & drinking on the Riviera? Oh wait, she has to run to the store again....

And Alex, I know you jest, but, it can happen.

I think the two of them deserve each other, but their kids deserve much better.

Why again are these people celebrities?

It's all about the fvcked up hair, I think.

Speaking of hair..... During the MJ stuff, I kept meaning to ask, in all seriousness. Did anyone else besides me notice the weirdness of Jermaine Jackson's hair? Like it is painted on the sides of his head?

Non-sequiter ... but Sooooo what?

I'm reading an article in Time Mag on promising avenues toward a vaccine for CANCER. Pretty cool. The research is being done primarily, and separately, by two doctors. And I pretty much ignore their names because the first one is unpronounceable ... er, Dr. Douglas Schwartzentruber.

But the names come up so often in the piece that I start pronouncing them.

The second doctors name is much simpler. He's the other doc that's going to radically cure cancer. But the irony of his name doesn't hit me till I start pronouncing it. He is Dr. Larry Kwak.



You can't make this stuff up.

Amusing, but I'm guessing you're pronouncing it wrong (and Schwartzentruber doesn't seem that difficult to me, stop halway through the governor's name and add a potato).

It could be worse. It could be Suleman and family.

Oh wait.

My kids' orthodontist was Dr. Kruel, I kid you not.

I might live. I stayed home from work yesterday to schedule an appointment with my doctor and try to figure out how I could get myself to work. I drove home about three miles with double vision on Sunday and I don't want to do that again from any distance. Luckily I was able to hook up with a carpool with one of my coworkers. They usually have a full car but one person was on vacation today.

The double vision seems to happen most when I'm tired and possibly also when I'm out in too much glare and strong sunlight. I bought some clip on sunglasses for my glasses because the transitional lenses don't get dark enough in the car. I didn't have any problems with double vision last night which was encouraging but I was worried about going to work today.

I had to keep switching from my regular glasses and my reading glasses all day but my eyes survived that and I seem to be okay tonight. I'm going to carpool tomorrow and probably Friday, too (one person won't be part of the carpool starting tomorrow which is lucky for me). Then I see my doctor on Monday.

I hope I'm getting back to normal. I want my life back to normal, too.

Lindyhop, that has to be very scary and worrisome. When do you see the eye doctor?

I'm due for an eye checkup this Mon as well (for the Diabetes). I'll be thinking of you. *hugs*

Well, If we can't mock them in a People of Walmart website - then they have to become celebrities so we can feel justified in our mockery - it's the media version of human sacrifice.

How fast or slow your smile disappears is a good indicator of your true feelings about the person you just had a conversation with.

Hey! That sounds so cool! I know the Hubster would have loved to have been there!! Again, wow, freakin' wow!!!

lindyhop that does sound frightening! I wouldn't want to drive, or, walk out the door without someone to help me in case things weren't right. I hope you get an answer right away!

lashbear~I was waiting for results to see if I had diabetes. I don't. But,I was worried because it seems my vision isn't so great of late. Turns out I have anemia but I hope iron will just wipe that out.

Actually the ER doctor on Monday consulted with an eye doctor and he didn't consider it to be a vision problem. Instead they think it's weak eye muscles. I see my regular doctor on Monday and he could refer me to a neurologist. But in the meantime the symptoms have disappeared which is a great relief.

Personally I'm beginning to think it's the result of stress and fatigue (perhaps all acting on weak eye muscles). I haven't cut back at all on using the computer and reading and sewing (at least until I deconstructed my sewing machine but that's another story). But I did take it easier than usual for a couple of days and it seems to have helped. I've had no double vision problems since Monday evening so I'm slowly getting back into my regular routines.

Maybe you were listening to too much Foreigner?

No.:)
No.:)

Thanks abg!! I was soo relieved when the doctors' office called me. Of course, I was hoping for nothing to come back from my tests but so glad it wasn't diabetes.

That sounds like so much fun! Sort of like Critical Mass but during the day!! AND with Lance Armstrong! So cool!

I don't know if you saw posts on Facebook about it but on the last CM Rick was so jazzed that they took a drastic turn and went across the Coronado Bridge!! Only about 300 {I think} made it all of the way across until they made the rest turn around. Rick was so thrilled, even though they had to ride through Coronado and then across the Silver Strand back to downtown.

I haven't riden it but I went to the park and I started to feel the excitment of it all. Sooo tempting!!

This is going to sound weird and I'll be the first to say it's only a half-baked thought but I think that putting Ellen in as a judge on American Idol had more to do with people being ticked off about Adam Lambert not winning than anything else. I think Fox is trying to paint itself as not being anti-gay. It maybe a total wingnut opinion but that struck me as a possibility this morning over my Honey Nut Cheerios.

I think they just said, "Paula was nice. Who else is nice? Ellen's nice. And maybe . . . nope, just Ellen."

I went back for my MRI yesterday. Thanks to an IV dose of Valium, I was able to endure the entire hour inside the machine.

An IV dose! Wow! Glad you were able to make it thorugh it this time.

Woke up at 4AM this morning when the backyard hose ruptured. Couldn't get back to sleep - or so I thought as Toucans appeared on the roof that flew away before I could get the camera even though Bob cat cubs and an anteater showed up instead. I think there may have been something a little extra in my BBQ sauce last night.

We drove down to Seal Beach to have lunch at Woody's. It turns out that there is a craft fair this weekend.

Just an aside... There are a lot of old white people in Seal Beach!

Did you toss them any fish?

So a coworker just requested to be added to my Facebook account and now I'm struggling over how to tweak the privacy settings. I suppose one good outcome may be to reduce my bitching about work - which usually rank just a hair above reporting alimentary status.

Well done you.

Wtg, SM!

What an odd thing to have broken on my car - the automatic cancel for my right turn signal isn't working. The signal itself works, the left turn and cancel work just fine, but if I turn right and straighten the wheel, the signal doesn't cancel. I guess the little plastic bit that clicks it off broke off or something. It's mildly annoying and probably not even worth the cost of getting it repaired.

$2,137.43 and it has to be fixed via the trunk.

And probably also involes taking apart the dash.

If you don't get it fixed, you'll want to drive hunched down in your seat, dressed as an old man.

Just got back from camping at McArthur-Burney. Had a good time, very relaxed.

It rained on us but only just barely, one afternoon, but stopped by the time we'd folded up the chairs and stuck them by a tree, and again the following morning, which stopped before we actually got out of bed.

Otherwise, it was just beautiful.

Ended the trip with a side trip through Lassen Volcanic National Park. I'm very glad I did that. Beautiful bit of forest, some volcanic steam vents, and a couple really pretty lakes. Highly recommend.

Little plastic thingy, probably have to pull the steering wheel.

Solution: only turn left.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do

So....I've almost posted twice today in a thread where I'd have just been raining on people's parade...pissing in their Cheerios...harshing their mellows.

And yet both times I left without clicking submit. I'm getting all growed up. Though not so all growed up that I don't come here and obliquely do it.

Aww, I'll miss Cheerio-pissing Alex.

It may be from lack of sleep or the fact that I'm uber gay but I just pictured Alex on a tugboat wearing a fur hat.

VGCM

Bwahahahaha

I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow.

Yeah, I'm resisting the urge to do something like that Alex.

Get ready for me love cuz I'm a cummah!

Did Chernabog just out-gay Gemini Cricket?

Life's candy and the sun's a ball o'buttah!

Obama with a lightsaber. Too awesome not to share.

He did. The next time I see him, I'm going to hit him with my purse.
:D

Looks like the Wolfpack is down to 9 cats....Patches has packed his bags and moved on to a better place.

Patches adopted us about 5 years ago after being dumped by his previous owners (they moved away and left him behnd). The past couple of months he's being losing weight drastically and not eating well at all. The past week or so I haven't seen him and he hasn't been coming home when called. We are assuming he's gone to meet his maker, knowing outdoor kitties leave when they are dying.

Goodbye Patch...you'll be missed.

*waves*

Hi everyone.

Miss you...

heya!!!! :cool:

I'm so sorry, Diane.

Another shot in the sequence, slightly less flattering (not to Obama)

Today, Dad, Grandma and I have to do some running around while I do my homework.
Dad and I are going to my friend's High School Football game later on. Apparently, my friend really wants me to go, and watch him beat the crap outta everyone, and let's not forget, Breaking bones. His quote, not mine. :cool:

Do you think someone made sure he never held a red light saber?

Love it! And the expression on Michelle's face... Who gets the opportunity to *fence* with the president???? Awesome.

I'm sorry. At least he had a good home and love.

Miss you, too! **hugs**

Hehehehe.... He will wear red ties, though.

Ever had one of those days when people just come up to you and say, "Hey, great picture in the paper today" ?



It's an article on the theatre company I'm currently working with. I had no idea. The picture is from rehearsal a couple of weeks ago.

Okay, this is killing me. Possibly literally. I'm falling asleep fine. Mostly staying asleep fine. But stuck in REM sleep and waking up exhausted with a head full of dreams. WTF! I take already take benedryl every night for allergies, so I'm sort of immune to its soporific effects. And I'm pretty sure it's stress, because it started when the whole clerkship applying started and is also manifesting itself in other ways, like eyelid flutter. But I don't *feel* stressed. And I REALLY need some restful sleep.

Hey Ozron - I thought your were a guy. And how come they didn't show your face?

So awesome! Congrats! Cool pic!
:)

Nowadays, with the proliferation of video cameras, you've got to expect that if you run a lady through the chin with a sword, it's going to show up somewhere.

Words of Wisdom Comin' At You ...
 

One person’s clown barf is the next person’s gorgeous.

Why, WHY O LORD, do I have to live through the Second Coming of Leggings?

Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl Saturday. Looks like the $20 tickets are still available (plus TicketBastard fee of $6.75).

Cherny and I are going... anyone else planning on being there?

So I'm on my way home from work, driving down a busy four lane road when I see something fall out of an SUV going the other way. At first I thought it was a stuffed animal like a teddy bear but after it finished rolling it got up and started running between the cars. It was a little brown dog.

I quickly pulled over on a side street and ran back to see about the little guy. He was on the other side of the road but as I was trying to get to him, he came to me. Across four lanes of heavy traffic. :eek: Luckily he made it, and came right up to me. A beautiful little Pomeranian. Friendly as could be but unfortunately not wearing any ID.

The SUV he jumped out of never stopped, and was long gone but I figured they just had not noticed and would be back shortly....

So I waited..... waited..... waited.... Talked to a bunch of people walking by, waited some more until finally the SUV returned with another little Pomeranian in the back. So I put the dog back into the car and the guy driving was like. "Uh thanks". No remorse, almost no response at all and just drove off (with the windows still down for god sakes). It kind of pissed me off. The dog fell out of his car on a freaking major road. I regret I didn't just keep the little guy.

You should have kept the dog, Moonie.

This week, Heather and I adopted a dog that was rescued after he had been dumped from a car on a major freeway (we named him Snake). Even with the horrible overpopulation of dogs and cats, there are some people that just shouldn't be pet owners...

And, since we always love happy endings, here's a picture of Snake I took less than an hour ago:

Awwww - such cuteness. Congrats to the Pods - and to Snake for ending up with a wonderful family.

You SHOULD have kept the little guy. Stupid idiot owners. Dogs should be belted in or in a crate while in the car.

Oh, and Snake is a CUTIE PIE! Plus, he LOVES me and doesn't want to taste me. :)

How are those toppers working out MP?

So I guess there is no Detour festival this year - which doesn't surprise me since despite the fun time I had, there was hardly any crowd. Seems the LA Weekly is dropping Goldenvoice for Live Nation and doing a "festival" at the Gibson Amphitheater. Eh well, not terribly inspired by the line-up

So I put my iPod on shuffle and a Mutaytor song came on. Their songs always remind me of Matt and Mark. Then I started thinking about going with Matt, Rose and Mark to Knott's Scary Farm the last 2 years and was bummed thinking that I won't be doing that this year. Bah!
It made my cheese sad.
:(

I wanna get paid to do this...

Brad it won't be the same without you this year at Knott's Scary Farm to make fun of me while i'm scared and screaming. Plus we're going with Louis from France for his first ever visit. This is gonna be fun but you will be missed. I'm already missing you while we plan our visits. :( My cheese is sad too but look forward to your visit out here when you come.

So, tickets to the David Sedaris reading - purchased!
Next task: obtain Holidays on Ice so hubbo will know who the hell David Sedaris is.

So I'm off for my final trip to my Mom's house to help my Aunt load up her stuff. House is sold. It's sad but one less thing I have to deal with. Last chance for petrefied wedding cake.

I'm off to the grocery store and doctor's office......geez it's way too early for this on a Saturday!

Off to another day of looking at houses... maybe today we'll find the one we buy.

Ooh, have a great time! He's fantastic live. :) GD had never read a book of his and he loved it....and then read some books of his afterwards.

Yes, he is fantastic live. Though I disagree that his books are great. For some reason I only find him funny out loud.

Enjoy! You won't be disappointed. I've seen him numerous time and he's always been a joy to listen to.

I've been to one of David Sedaris' readings and it was a blast. He's so funny. I think "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is still my favorite of his. And I love listening to "Santaland Diaries" every Xmas.
:)

So speaking of great live... Cherny, Beej and I just saw Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl. Uploaded a couple clips.

Je ne veux pas travailler

Sing (with Luis from Sesame Street!)

I love that song but [geek]someone needs to work with the singer on getting rid of the English dipthongization in her French vowels [/geek]. It's ooky.

So, I love this joke, now making its way around the internet:

Marketing always gets the blame. That's ok, though. We can usually persuade ourselves out of it.

So, we picked apples off one tree by our driveway. We got three big grocery bags full. We didn't spray so some will be wormy. Any good ones are going into a pie for dessert tonight.

CP thinks I should buy this shirt and wear it to the next gay day.

Im thinking youve somehow pissed the girl off

Oh yes - definately GD!

:)

You know, I think I am in love with Joel McHale.

He's in The Informant! though he's not given much to do. Odd to seem him in a straight dramatic role.

ETA: Just looked at his Wiki page. I didn't know that he went to the University of Washington and he was there at the same time as me. It says he was on the football team which mean I almost certainly met him a few times back then. Plus, the photo on his wiki page really makes him look like they put Ryan Seacrest's head on a much taller body.

Oooh! So the next time you both are at homecoming you could get me an autographed 8 x 10?

I just saw a Christmas commercial on TV just now.
It's Sept 21st!!!
:mad:

Well? have YOU got all your christmas shopping done yet? no? I thought not. :p

So exactly how can my color printer run out of both Yellow and Cyan when I'm printing a one page word document with NO COLOR!

Fishy I tell ya, fishy.

Cool! That means my favorite Easter shows will play in November! ;)

So, Friday is the day I find out whether I have been selected for any interviews through the AG's Honors Program. Keep your fingers crossed that I have interview email waiting for me Friday!

(The "thanks but no" emails don't go out until a week later...although I'm thinking one could extrapolate if one did not receive one on the 25th....)

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Pru.

Congrats on the new doggie, mp.


Hey everyone...'sup?

So, Maggie Smith is so wonderful. Did you catch "First Wives' Club" on tv the other night? Maggie Smith had a throwaway role but, to me, she stole the movie right from under the noses of Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton.

Don't miss "The prime of Miss Jean Brodie" if you can get it.

I'll lend my copy.

When I got on a website of mine (Gaia), I got a new message. So I thought it was just another message about a RP of mine. But then I see it was from someone that I haven't heard from in a long time.

That made my day. :)

You know, I have that on DVD and have yet to watch it. Maybe I should crack it open.
:)

We just caught that recently. Man, she's glorious. And I haven't seen young-ish actors swap so easily between 12 and 20 before; seeing the lead girl so... "little," and seeing her painted topless later on as a quasi-adult... surprising!

Do I get bonus points for having gone to a girls' school similar to the one in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"? (But in the late 60's and early 70's)

So, why do rates on interest-bearing checking accounts vary so widely? One bank quotes 0.050 on a $1,000 minimum balance, while another quotes .001 on minimum $15,000 and on and on.

Tonight is the first preview for The Drowsy Chaperone. I have butterflies upon butterflies in my tummy. Breathing, breathing, breathing...
:)

Attention:

Prudence has a new plan. A new plan that will prevent her from feeling hopeless and trapped. A new plan that will let her be excited about the future once again.

Going back to school!

Seriously.

If I go get an LLM in a couple years I'll a) no longer be a "stale" grad when hiring picks up again; b) can go to a higher-ranked school and take advantage of the prestige factor; and c) gain more expertise in a specific area to be a better candidate. GWU has a government procurement LLM program that would actually make a logical trajectory from my current job, so it wouldn't look so bizarre. And they'll do part-time, so if I could transfer to a position in DC I wouldn't lose salary/benefits.

There are other programs, too. I don't know what I'd pick. I'm just happy to have found another path that doesn't rely on me getting a highly-competitive slot in the worst.job market.ever.

Awesome, Pru!
:)

YAY, Pru!

Break a leg, GC!

Sooo... long day.... damn.

Pru, you got more guts than I. Good luck.

Seriously.

:cool:

Pru: awesome! Good idea on the prestige thing too!

Didja make your cold feet hot? (Like a Best Man ought) :D

I did. That scene is so much fun and quite stressful. But tonight we got a wonderful response from the audience that floored us.

About ten minutes before curtain, I decided to not be nervous any more and I wasn't. It was the weirdest thing ever. Mind over matter, I guess.

I had so much fun tonight.
:)

I wish I could be there, I love that show. Do the actors stay out of the audience?

They do. We don't come forward of the proscenium until the very end. It's a great moment. Our Man in Chair is awesome.

"It's a brand new daaaaaayyyyy...."
The jingle in the commercial for Ross'. Can't stand it. Makes me want to scream!
:D

I have a "day off" from work today. That doesn't mean I don't have to work, it just means I don't go into the store.

Meanwhile, my awnings were installed today. They look great! Kimchi has not had a good day, however. She was VERY upset that there were strangers in her yard.

Funny stuff about the workplace emails about stolen food... My favorite was a note stuck on the fridge prior to last Christmas. Being so long ago, I don't remember the contents, but I'm sure I can ask the originator, as it was her Diet Coke that was stolen.

Do you love the news about a metal detector guy finding the biggest treasure trove of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver ever or what?
The best photos I can find so far are here.

Let's hop on a plane and go to the opening of the exhibit.

Chris told me about this last night before bed. We had to pull out the computer and look at pictures then get the big History of England tome out and put things in perspective. Chris fell asleep while I was reading out loud. It is fascinating stuff! To think these items have been buried in the ground for so long and no one uncovered them until now. I wonder how they go there? I so wish I knew their story!

Let's not forget what really matters in all this: fresh air, exercise and a diverting hobby.

The truly exciting find will be the scroll containing the policy issued by the Anglo-Saxon insurance company that paid off on this lost treasure and will now asserteth its divine right of subrogation.

Sure this one case is an amazing story and all, but let's keep it in perspective. Running around with a metal detector is still one of the nerdiest endeavors ever created by modern man.

In two weeks we'll learn that this is a hoax, the treasure was planted by a metal detector manufacturer, and the discoverer was an unwitting employee.

Don't let my husband see this.. he's been wanting a metal detector for awhile. dork.;)

So, I actually consoled a stranger at a cocktail party today. Me!

I was a sickeningly selfless.

I guess the sun was over the yardarm somewhere.

We do not stand on formalities here. Cocktails were at 11 a.m., lunch at 12. And beer isn't just for breakfast anymore.

Drinking that early in the day...no wonder someone needed consoling.

I think his odds of finding 1300 year old Anglo-Saxon treasure in California is rather slim.

Depends on if that manufacturer exports to the United States.

You ARE Auntie Mame, aren't you? :cheers:

Mwah, lashbear! Many would say Endora.

So, I am dedicating this weekend to sewing a knee-length dress in ivory duchesse satin. It's very Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and it's for Daughter #2 to wear to the Homecoming dance.

That settles it. I'll be there for Sunday Brunch.

So, overheard in Target by the women's belts.

First teenage girl : "You know what I figured out?"
Other teenage girl: "What?"
First teenage girl: "Mrs. Schmitz smells just like my grandma."

What color belts were they looking at?

I'm bored.

I'm thirsty.

And I'm Morley Safer. All this, plus Andy Rooney, here on 60 minutes

Hi Morley.

How cool is this?

While fairly cool, they DID NOT PULL PICTURES out of people brains. They looked a neural activity to match it up a know photo they had seen.

There's a Frankie and Annette movie on in the living room and Bob Cummings is in it and he just told someone that his (character's) name is Robert Orville. And I thought, oh, that's his real name. And I know why his middle name is Orville. I'm worried about that.

No more problems with double vision but I'm only wearing my contact lenses for part of the day (as my optometrist has advised for years). I saw my doctor about two weeks ago and he referred me to an ophthalmologist who has referred me to a more specialized ophthalmologist who I'll see in a couple of weeks. The diagnosis, besides diplopia (double vision), is strabismus (that's probably misspelled) which is when your eyes don't line up together the way they should. It's one of those things that can happen as you get older (I'm getting really tired of hearing that explanation for various phenomena) and could have been exacerbated by my wearing the mono-vision contacts too long each day.

I hope I won't be told not to wear the contacts at all because I really need them at work. When I wear my glasses at work I have to keep switching between my progressive lens glasses and my reading glasses in order to read the computer screen and the routine drives me up the wall.

Old. It sucks. But not as much as the alternative.:rolleyes:

We now have a Wii.

WEEEeeeee!!! :D

I got one about 3 weeks ago. Played it once......

:rolleyes:

And it exploded?

Great, now I'm picturing an explosive stream of wii

That is nothing new.

Exactly so, grasshopper. It's such good news that you're making progress on finding a fix for your eyesight problems.

It's only 8:30, and I'm already muttering to myself. Not a good sign.

The Wii never decided to function, so we still haven't played it. No Wii for us.

What's it not doing?
Everything plugged in correctly?

8.3 quake in Samoa. Hawai'i is on a tsunami watch.

Yikes! How long before you know you are safe?

I read that Samoa as Sonoma and wondered why we didn't feel anything.

Hope the tsunami doesn't materialize.

Looks like one hit Samoa.

Estimate is that if a tsunami is going to hit Hawaii it will get there at about 1PM local time (which would be 4PM Pacific). So you've got plenty of time to get to to beach and get in position to pose for some awesome "running from a tsunami" shots.

And don't forget, you can pickup some really fresh fish right off the shore when the water flows out.....

and some really cool "man, I can't believe I'm walking out this far, the water should be over my head" shots too.

Hey, be careful now!