Random Access

Friday
It was raining when I woke up this morning.
Then it turned to snow.
Then it rained again.
Then the sky was clear, blue and sunny.
*blink blink*

…and now, it’s raining again.

Just another day behind the Zion Curtain, I guess.

The day was good. The work day went by pretty quickly. Thanks to for the ride home this afternoon. Tonight was another meeting with the Clitorati. Caffeinated beverages and conversation. Then it was off to dinner… where we were joined by .

Stray Toasters

• I had a rant more-or-less worked out in my head for tonight’s “Random Access,” but I want to mull over a couple of things before I post it.
• The O’s beat the Yankees! 12 – 5… In Yankee Stadium.
  

• sent me the link to Ant City
• Congratulations to Maddox for being awarded “Best Web-Rant Pioneer” in City Weekly‘s “Best of Utah 2005” list.
• Magic woogie stick
• By way of :
  

• Do I believe in God? Do I believe in me? Let me tell ya…
  Some people wanna die so they can be free
  (I said) Life is just a game, we’re all just the same…don’t ya wanna play?

• By way of SciFi Wire: Bloom Updates Pirates Sequels
• Lightning is curled up in my lap, purring loudly.
• By way of BoingBoing.net: What’s your personal videogame history?
• ‘Nine has TV input again.
  (Translation: I finally figured out which CD had the correct drivers.)

• Arthur Dent
• I have two Gmail accounts that I never use.
  But, they’re there.
  *shrug*

• Man Arrested for Using $2 Bills at Best Buy

Quote of the Day
Tonight’s gem came from , at dinner. We had been talking about peoples’ allergies and a couple of folks at the table mentioned that they were allergic to cats. That lead to a comment about breeds of cats that don’t typically trigger peoples’ allergic response. Which lead to talking about hairless cats. Which lead to this:

They look majorly depressed because their ass is cold… and there’s nothing they can do about it!

We all got a good laugh out of that.

Namaste.

Thursday
The day went from sunny and clear to grey and dull. told me that a storm is supposed to move through the area tonight and tomorrow, bringing rain to the valley… and snow to the mountains. Up to two (2) feet of snow.

It was a pretty good day at work.

Post-work, I had dinner with at the local Macaroni Grill. There was little question as to whether or not my hunger had been sated when we left. We talked. We ate. We drank. I had cheesecake – it was very rich and topped with a caramel and fudge sauce. Tasty, tasty cheesecake…

Stray Toasters

• LS Micro, one of my favorite computer parts shops has gone out of business. In a matter of days they have gone from having a store full of merchandise to vapor. I drove past it this evening and there was nothing in there. And their website didn’t provide any clues as to their disappearance, either.
• Thanks to for sending me these links:
  • Overclocked Remix
  • LJ Drama
  • A Different Reminder
• “But I have clothes now.”
  

• Thanks to for sending me the following links:
  • The Pimp Party
  • Ghetto Prom 2004
• Having read Jon Ronson’s Them: Adventures with Extremists, I think that I’ll have to find a copy of his new book: The Men Who Stare at Goats
• Gallery of Shaken Faces
• “Kids, kids… what’s with all the screaming?
  “>

• Sesame Street: 25 of My Favorite Memories – Noo-ne-noo-ne-noo…
• I think that this is a well-done picture of Supergirl.
• 
• Adult Nintendo Games: 8-bit Hacking Gone Wild

Namaste.

Wednesday
The day went quickly. Which is not a bad way to spend the day at work. I got to work with a couple of new (to me) things… and didn’t wind up causing anything to break or explode, so I’m chalking that up as a “good” thing.

Tonight was the farewell/good luck get-together for ; he’s leaving Saturday to start working for MicroSquish. We went to The Bayou. There were a lot of people there to see him off. A lot. (And, , you missed Maddox. Again.) There were so many of us that we wound up commandeering tables in three areas. Big tables, too. It was a nice gathering. Best wishes for the future to as he starts on this new chapter in life.

News
Morning Edition: Connecticut Mulls Easing Assisted-Suicide Penalties
Morning Edition: A New Kind of Name Game (…only in Utah. *sigh*)
Talk of the Nation: The Role of the Judiciary
Day to Day: Nurses Protest Schwarzenegger’s Budget Cuts
All Things Considered: White Supremacist Hale Sentenced to 40 Years
Fresh Air: The Man Behind The Incredibles

Stray Toasters

• My copy of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has returned.
  And Iron Giant.
  And The Way of the Gun.
  All is well with the world again.

• As is moving to Seattle, this is somewhat relevant. Even if he wasn’t moving there, I’d still post this: Joe Chiodo and Michael “Pooch” Pucciarelli art on display at Roq la Rue Gallery.
• April is National Poetry Month.
• This is relevant also because of … and because sent it to me and said that I should look at the movies. She said that they were amusing. She was right.
• In light of ‘s post about (cell) phone usage in the bathroom, I bring you this.
• I don’t have a joke here, but as a cat owner (as much as anyone can “own” a cat), this amused me to no end.
  

• The Art of Shawn Wolfe
• Guinness Stout.
• For : Pinball’s Last Remaining Wizard
• “I am the sore bedlam fury of angelic bastard!”
  

• Star Wars Fans in Line… at the Wrong Theater
• Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Tetris

Namaste.

Tuesday
Despite waking up to the remnants of a light dusting of snow, today was a good day. I was busy, so the day moved quickly. Which is a good thing because I went to sleep far later than I had planned last night. And even a cup of hot, caffeinated goodness wasn’t enough to ward of the tiredness that crept up on me this afternoon. So I decided to combat it with a cup of tea. Earl Grey. Hot. That helped… but it was still something of a struggle.

After work, and I headed to the U of U Hospital to see Allie. When we got there, she wasn’t in her room. I took a guess that she might have been in the library, a couple of floors up. So, we went there and found… that she wasn’t there, either. *boggle* Granted, it’s a good-sized hospital and she could have been anywhere, but those were my best two guesses. We headed back to her room to leave a note. I had barely uncapped the pen when Allie walked in. She had decided to go on walkabout. Hiking, to be specific – the hospital (and the rest of the U of U campus) abuts the Wasatch Mountains. We visited with her for about an hour.

We met and for dinner at Tres Hombres. Dinner was good, as was the company.

News
Morning Edition: Soldiers Return Home
Talk of the Nation: Scotland’s Sword of Wallace
Day to Day: Slate’s Explainer: Why So Few Baseball Cheerleaders?
All Things Considered: Ohio Marriage Law Hampers Efforts Against Domestic Abuse
All Things Considered: A Visit to the ‘Rejection Show’
All Things Considered: Author Saul Bellow Dies at Age 89

RadioWest: Mondo Utah – An interview with Trent Harris

Stray Toasters

• I work with a guy who reminds me of the father from Daria.
• Land Walker (translated by babelfish)
• “The Eggmen had got lost in Glasgow” –
• Utah drivers. *shakes fist*
• From boingboing.net: Student, teacher punished for bypassing school’s ‘net filters
• “Snooch, you know better than that.”
  

Namaste.

Monday
After all of the decent weather that has graced the Salt Lake Valley, I woke up to a chilly 40-something degrees and grey skies. Not auspicious. Nor did it really get better until the evening. Rain in the valley. Snow on the mountains. Clouds that hung low in the sky, like dull whitish-grey blankets. Welcome to Spring in Utah.

Work was. It wasn’t really “bad” nor was it really “good.” It simply… was. But it was a “Monday,” so that was to be somewhat expected.

After work, and I stopped at a nearby Hollywood Video – I needed to feed my cotton candy addiction. The young lady at the counter seemed a bit… shocked, I guess… that I didn’t want to rent a movie. I think it threw her off-guard, in fact. She was polite, but not “customer service friendly.” I would almost say that she bordered on nervousness, but I’m not sure. No matter. I left the establishment with four bags of spun sugar confection.

Then it was home for dinner. And 24. And the NCAA Final. The Carolina Tarheels are the 2005 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions. Go ‘Heels! Since neither the Terps nor the Boilers made it to the big dance, Carolina’s cool with me.

Dave and Jamie came over for poker tonight. We played while the NCAA tourney was on the TV. The final breakdowns:

1. and me (we called it a tie)
2. Jamie
3. Dave

There was another good thing about the day: Opening Day of the 2005 Major League Baseball season.

The O’s played the Oakland A’s. And blanked them, 0 – 4.
Starting off the season with a win is always nice.
Doing it in front of the hometown crowd is just icing on the cake.

News
Morning Edition: This I Believe Invites Citizens to Share Beliefs
Morning Edition: A Very Hip Julius Caesar
Morning Edition: An Offer You Can’t Refuse – : Check this out.
Talk of the Nation: Baseball’s Opening Day

Stray Toasters

• In talking with a few other people, it seems that many of us had a case of the Mondays.
• We picked up the audiobook version The African-American Audio Experience from the library a couple of weeks ago. I’ll listen to it at work. I’m also going to dust off the Pimsleur’s Italian I, too. After all, if I am going to be at my desk for hours a day, I might as well get some enrichment out of it, too.
• Jeph Loeb & the Girl from Krypton
• Click the bunny.      (You know you want to.)
• I saw Steamboy over the weekend. This is a succinct, yet fairly accurate description of the movie, courtesy of Cinescape.com:
  

  STEAMBOY (Sony)
  Katsuhiro Otomo directs his first full anime feature since Akira, and it’s a corker! Set in 1866, it’s in many ways a prequel to the sci-fi subgenre in which steam technology continued to develop without being replaced by electronics and internal combustion engines. Father and son inventors duel over the use of a new steam power source they’ve invented, with third generation Steam boy Ray caught in the middle. Fantastic artwork and a story that builds into a spectacular finish. A must see.

• And with but a click, the satellite service is paid for another month.
• It looks as though Frank Langella will be Perry White in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns.
• : The covers to Issues: #5, #6 and #7.
  Click the artwork to enlarge the image.

• Giggles: “Hecky!”
  Hector: “Snoogie poops!”
  Hubert: “I’m going to be someplace less creepy.”
  

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
     “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

Namaste.

Another Salt Lake Valley Sunday

Thanks to the miracle of modern science (SCIENCE!) that is Day Saving Time – and it’s “saving” not “savings” – we lost an hour of sleep last night. Although, the fact that I stayed up until 6:00 playing online poker might have had something to do with it… But, I made up for that hour by sleeping an (at least) an hour longer than I had planned this morning. From there, the rest of the early afternoon was rather lazy.

When I finally managed to get myself into gear, I went to visit my friend, Allie, at U of U Hospital for a couple of hours. We had a pretty good time. I’m going to try and head over there later this week.

After that, I dropped in to say “Hullo” to . I was going to check out the Dawn of War LAN that he was having. Turns out that it never happened. So, we chatted for a bit.

Home. And pizza. And The Shawshank Redemption. And Kojak. Not the 1973 Telly Savalas Kojak; this was the new-for-2005 Ving Rhames Kojak. It wasn’t bad. And, let’s face it: Ving Rhames is a bad ass, no matter what. I may have a new Sunday night show to watch. Followed that up with a couple of episodes of L&O: SVU. The first one episode was a repeat of the episode that aired on NBC this past Tuesday. I wasn’t aware until recently that USA Network was under the NBC umbrella. Even so, I didn’t expect them to encore episodes on USA so quickly.

I made inroads to dual-head ‘Nine tonight. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a rather important factor into account: The card that I had planned on using as the secondary graphics card was an AGP card. Which means that I couldn’t use it – my primary card is an AGP card. *braincramp* I have two other cards that I can use: One is another AGP card, the other is a PCI card (GOOD!), but it doesn’t give me the resolution that I want (BAD!). I’ll have to consider how I want to proceed from this point.

Stray Toasters

• I don’t fill out a lot of online quizzes, but I was curious to see how I’d do on the “American Logic Test” that’s been floating around for the past few weeks.
  

  WooHoo You scored 23 American Logic Points!

  Out of 27. You actually have some American logic, but hopefully you didn’t cheat…

  My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 95% on American Logic

  Link: The American logic Test written by You4got2Evolve on Ok Cupid

  
  I took the test once and didn’t look up any answers.

• Every once in a while, says or does something that makes me chuckle.
• “Attack of the Show” What in the Nine Hells kind of name is that for a tech-related show?!? *sigh* What has G4TV done?
• By way of Slashdot: Games That Shoot Back
• I “found” my copy of Smoke and Mirrors. Last week. In Santa Rosa. I had forgotten that I had loaned it to Sandi when she came out here last year. I still need to track down my copy of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, however.
• Purple monkey dishwasher!
• A former coworker returned my copy of Sandman: The Dream Country trade paperback. I had forgotten that I even owned a copy of it, let alone the fact that I had loaned it to her.
• He say one and one and one is three
• Side-by-side comparisons of Sin City: the comic vs. the movie

Quote of the Day
While I was at the hospital, I overheard this on the room-to-room intercom:

“Hilda, your man wants to speak to you on the phone… right away.”

After the “Did we just hear what we thought we heard” shock wore off, Allie and I got a good laugh out of it.

Namaste.

Saturday
I didn’t do a lot today.
It’s the weekend and, quite simply, I didn’t want to do much.

I went to see Steamboy this afternoon. I enjoyed it. Some of the scenes in near the end of the movie seemed a little disjointed, especially compared to the rest of the movie, but on the whole, I thought that it was pretty good. After the movie, I went to End Zone and picked up a few more Heroclix. I wound up with a lot of duplicates of ‘clix that I already owned. But, as the song says: “That’s the way that Lady Luck dances…”

, , and I met a few other friends for dinner (at Cafe Med) and a movie (Sin City). I haven’t read the graphic novels – and Frank Miller’s writing can be hit-or-miss with me – but I liked this. Comic book noir. Stylized without being too over the top. There were elements that required suspension of disbelief, but when you’re talking about a movie based on a comic book, you expect that.

We skipped bowling (sorry, … ) but did go to breakfast. It was a small group. There was some interesting people-watching tonight. A couple of the post-bar rush patrons were more than slightly inebriated. Which made them all the more amusing. And, as this is LDS General Conference weekend, the Singles didn’t show up tonight. Oh, well.

Random Access

Peace on Earth, can it be
Years from now, perhaps we’ll see
See the day of glory
See the day, when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again
     “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” by David Bowie and Bing Crosby

Pope John Paul II died today.
May he find peaceful rest beyond the Gates of Heaven.

In nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

Stray Toaster
Happy Birthday to the April LJers:

• and
• (Hey…. you just saw Rocky!)

Namaste.

…and that brings us to Friday.

I’m hoping that today’s weather wasn’t just God and Mother Nature playing a cruel April Fool’s Day joke on us. It was a sunny, blue sky day. And it was warm. Warm enough that you wouldn’t know that just days ago it had just snowed. Amazing.

I had a nice end to the work week: As I was leaving the office, one of the gentlemen with whom I work said: “Nice week that you put in.” Wow. I wasn’t expecting that, but it definitely put a smile on my face. And the fact that he said it in front of one of the higher-ups (and the guy who interviewed me) didn’t hurt, either. I think that I’m going to like it here.

After work, I tooled around with for a bit. I even fed comic book and plastic crack addictions. Just a little bit. Among the ‘clix, the stand-outs were: Rocket Red (veteran), Jessie Quick (veteran) and Green Lantern (experienced). Yeah, it’s Hal “I’m-not-as-dead-as-I-used-to-be” Jordan and not John Stewart, but he’s still a GL. That’s fine with me. I found a few issues of The Legion (v4), too. I think that I’m going to try for a full run of that series. But, I digress. During our excursion, we went to one of the local Savers stores. There, I saw what had to be one of the most dichotomous – and amusing – things that I’ve seen in a long time: A Roto-Rooter coffee mug. Yep. It put an entirely new spin on: “This coffee tastes like shit!” It amused me so much that I took a picture of it. (Picture link to be added later… when the %(#*$# thing makes it from my phone to my email account.) We saw a few other odd items, like something that looked a shag carpet rendition of a southwestern desert scene, some horrible furniture… and some old albums. Yeah, those things that people listened to before CDs and cassettes and 8-track tapes.

After that, it was off to meet with the Unholy Order of the Clitorati, which tonight had a small turn-out. But, as usual, it was good to get together with friends and unwind from the week. I read a few comics, glanced over a few magazines and did the City Weekly crossword. (, it took me a little longer than usual to finish because a few of the clues didn’t sink in at first.) From there it was on to dinner at Cheers: North. 80s music, not-quite-but-close-to TMI and Corona. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• Considering what time it is now and what time I got up this morning, it’s little wonder that I’m tired.
• Slot Furniture
• I like David Bowie’s Absolute Beginners.
  Find it.
  Listen to it.
  Judge for yourself.

• Of the April Fool’s Day jokes that I saw today, water found on Mars has to be my favorite.
• Mark Waid.
• Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer came on while we were at dinner. Maybe it’s me, but I can think of about eleventy-billion things that are more romantic than telling someone “I want to be your sledgehammer.” That doesn’t stop the song from being catchy, though. And it had a pretty cool stop-motion video, too.
• “I blame you for being my friend.”
  

• I think that I may spend some time tomorrow setting up ‘Nine as a dual-monitor system.

That’s it. I’m beat.

Namaste.

Thursday
One more till the weekend and I can’t complain. The week is going well. I am a self-professed “not a morning person” kind of guy. But, I’ve been getting up at (or very close to) 7:30 this week. Sure, I’m still a little slower than I should be when it comes to getting out of bed when the alarm goes off, but it’s not a chore.

Random Access

There’s water pouring from my veins
Gone away, all my earthly pains
And now my blood must feed the land and thee
God take my soul, save my family
     “I Will (Requiem for a Farmer)” by emmet swimming

Terry Schiavo died today.
I hope that she has found peace.
my condolences and prayers go out to her family. Both sides of the family.

I think that it’s very sad that her husband would not allow her family to be there to say goodbye to her. Whatever his reasons, it is not my place to judge his actions. I like to believe that if I were in a similar situation, my family would be able to put aside their differences, if any, and see me off as a family and not as two, disparate groups. I hope that the Schiavo and Schindler families are able to reconcile their feelings and honor her life without dragging her memory through the muck.

Stray Toasters

• I don’t care what anyone else says: Sometimes, you just need to bump a little Digital Underground and Tupac in your headphones at work.
• We’ve gone over this before.
  And we’re going over it again.
  Tipping.
  (Thanks to for the link.)

• This made me laugh.
• A hero or a hooligan?
  Well, that part’s never clear
  Pride or shame, it’s all the same
  Who’s innocent or who’s to blame?
  Politics or just a game?
  Well in the end they knew his name…

• Thanks to Comics2Film, I just saw the newest trailer for Fantastic Four. It made my inner comic geek smile. A lot.
• We did a little grocery shopping this evening. We were walking down a snack aisle and I saw a box of “Screaming Yellow Zonkers.” I haven’t had those in YEARs. Many, many years. I didn’t get a box of them, but they did make me smile. It’s funny how some of the most simple things can trigger memories.
• The first article on this page, from Comics Continuum, has info about Sin City… which opens Friday. And which I would like to see this weekend.
• For : Guess who’s back in Gotham? No, not them. No, strike two. Give up? Well, I’m not telling you. But you can read about it here.

Quote of the Day
Denzel Washington was on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight. I have enjoyed his work for many years and he is an interesting – and entertaining – interviewee. After his segment was over, I checked IMDb to see what information the site had on him. I also came upon this quote:

“I’m very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That’s my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it’s not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.”

And with that, good night.

Namaste.

Wednesday
It snowed through the night. We woke up to a lovely blanket of Mother Nature’s laughter. It continued, intermittently, through the day and seemed to have exhausted itself by late afternoon.

Tonight was Game Night. We actually seemed to accomplish something. Which goes under the “good thing” heading. It’s also “good” because I’ve been on the fence as to whether I wanted to remain a part of this game; tonight’s session makes me want to stay with it for a while longer.

Stray Toasters

• I just had a couple of bars from Van Morrison’s Moondance play on the radio my head.
• Were-Tribbles!
• The 2005 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards
• I finally got VNC to play nicely with others. I still don’t know why it wasn’t working properly, but apparently a fresh installation has taken care of the problem.
• Always Listen to the Nerd
• : There’s more info about Kitty Pryde: Shadow and Flame here, it’s about 2/3 of the way down the page.
• The pre-release buzz on Sin City sounds good. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
• Doctor Who?!? It seems as though Christopher Eccleston, the latest in a long line of actors to portray Doctor Who has quit. After one episode.
• “My happy place is dead! YOU KILLED IT!”
  

• I (finally) tried Gaim today… and liked it. I may be making the switch from Trillian.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Today was my first day on the new job. Too bad that my last hour or so of sleep was so crappy. Odd dreams combined with happy-to-see-us cats made for a lot of broken sleep. Good thing that I went to bed fairly early last night.

Paperwork.
Workstation setup.
Stuff.

But, after all was said and done, I have to admit: It was a good day. Even if it’s snowing outside now. (Have I mentioned “eight months of winter” recently?) The day was capped off with dinner in the company of and . We ate at Outback. Prime rib. Tasty. I even have a little bit left over which will either be lunch or dinner tomorrow.

News
Morning Edition: DJs Face Off with Laptop Compositions
Day to Day: Traveling Across America, British-Style
All Things Considered: Ashes Found at Nazi Camp Reburied
All Things Considered: Attorney Johnnie Cochran Dies
Fresh Air: Rebuilding a Life: Who She Was

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to , I have a added new webcomic to my list o’ favorites: Bunny
• The Photography of Loretta Lux
• After a two-year hiatus, May 15^th is the scheduled launch for STS-114.
• Real Doll Photography
• : We Are Legion and Phantom Girl (v5)
• Do we need a “…the unauthorized story” or “…the behind-the-scenes” story about every damned show that made it to the air in the 70s and 80s?

  No?

  I didn’t think so either. But, another one is one the way. About, of all things, Mork & Mindy. Yes, I watched the show as a kid. I liked it. But I don’t really give a flying rat’s ass about what happened off-camera. People lived their lives… and those lives weren’t always pretty. Go figure. I don’t need a two-hour “biopic,” of sorts, to tell me that.

• Gizmoduck!
• From Newsarama: Lee Bermejo on Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
  

  Everybody seems to be focused on thinking that Superman is a villain in our story and Lex is the good guy but that is never how it seemed to me. It always just seemed like a wonderful tragedy based on different points of view. We aren’t doing an Elseworlds story where we’re changing characters or their motivations so drastically. It just asks the question, if you are Lex Luthor, why do you hate Superman?

• Cheetos are addictive.
• “It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion…”
  

And that’s all the news from snowy Lake Saline.

Namaste.

Monday
We’re back.

We packed, got ready and said our goodbyes to Julie and the boys. We headed to Sonoma to see the grands, tell them goodbye and borrow their car for the trip to SF. On the way, we passed Infineon Raceway (formerly known as “Sears Point”).

Our first stop: Chinatown. We had Dim Sum at a restaurant that Sandi and Jim have been to before. Tasty. Very tasty, indeed. We walked around the area for a couple of hours and then headed to Golden Gate Park, where we toured the Japanese Tea Gardens. They were beautiful… and the flowers were not even fully in bloom.

We left there and headed to Oakland and the airport. And got stuck in a traffic jam on the SF side of the Bay Bridge. Bumper to bumper for a couple of miles and then, it just… opened up. Go figure.

When we got to the airport, we said goodbye to the in-laws and checked in at curbside. (Pre-printing your boarding passes is a very good thing, indeed.) Although our flight left a little late, we touched down right when we were scheduled to do so. And it was raining.

Put on my blue suede shoes Eastland boots
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues Deseret News
In the middle of the pouring rain

I wonder if it’s the rain that passed through Santa Rosa yesterday. Not that it really matters. What matters is that we had a great vacation (see Jess’ version of it here) and we need to do it again. Soon.

Tomorrow: Work. (w00t!)
I’m looking forward to it.
And I’m a little nervous.
But, more than that: I’m thankful to have a job.

Stray Toasters

• I have LOTS of pictures from the past weekend. Maybe I’ll try have them posted by this weekend. Maybe not. We shall see.
• Thank you, again, to for watching the kids and the house while we were gone.
• Toes are the coefficient of damnation…
  

And that’s it for now.

Namaste.

Sunday
I hope that everyone had a good Easter.

The day started well. I wanted to go to a sunrise Easter service at one of the local churches, but I woke up later than I had originally intended, so that idea flamed-out. I was awakened by Jenny, Julie and the boys yelling about goodies that the Easter Bunny had left; actually, I’m Ivory Soap sure that Julie was the official reason that I was awakened… but I’m magnanimous enough to spread the blame around. Naturally, the first thing that I wanted to see was a mug, full of coffee, in my hand. And one appeared there shortly. The world then became a better place.

Jim and Sandi’s landlord, also named “Jim,” came around a little later, to show Jim his newest toy: A Ferrari 360 Spider. I don’t know if synchronized drooling is an official Olympic sport, but if it is, the boys should be signed up for try-outs. I didn’t drool, but I will admit that it is a fine – and VERY expensive – piece of automotive engineering. Jim (the landlord, not the in-law) took the boys for a ride. Then Sandi. Then Julie. I came back into the house because it was a little cooler than I liked. Someone came in and said that Jim had asked if I had wanted to take a spin. Mama didn’t raise no foolish children: I went for a ride. It was nice. Very nice. The car purred. And it went fast. Which is pretty much what you would expect from a Ferrari. Jim went for a ride after the rest of us had been; it was almost funny to watch him fold himself into the car.

After Jim (landlord, not in-law) left, we came back in and lounged about the house for a few hours. Then came lunch; today’s fare – bratwurst, hot dogs and hamburgers, cooked on the grill. That’s right, I’m almost 1000 miles from home and still got to cook out. After lunch, Jim took Jenny for a ride on his motorcycle… just as it started to rain – I can’t complain about this too much as it’s been a great weekend, weatherwise, with this exception. He and I went then went to the store to pick up a few things for dinner; I stopped at the Hollywood Video to pick up some cotton candy (I picked up a bag for each of the boys, too). We came back and there was more hanging-out-with-the-family until it was time for Sandi and Julie to take Jenny back to the airport. (When they got back, they said that the rain poured down all the way to San Francisco and that the drive was horrible.)

Dinner. Spaghetti! I didn’t eat if from the plate that Sandi got for me a few years ago: A serving plate. (Yeah… I like spaghetti. A lot.) But, it was spaghetti, nonetheless. I had two healthy servings. And they were good. After dinner, we finished watching The Incredibles, including many/most of the special features on the second DVD.

And that brings us pretty much up to now.

Tomorrow, we will collect our things, put them into our suitcases and make the trek back to San Francisco. On the way, we’re making a sidetrip to Sonoma, to say goodbye to the grandparent-units. We’re going to do a little more sightseeing and shopping before winging our way back to the Land behind the Zion Curtain. It has been a great trip – and greatly needed – and we’re already trying to make plans for a return sometime this summer or fall.

Stray Toasters

• I talked with the parental-units, 2/3 of the sibko and my uncle today. All of them are doing well.
• Congrats to “EveryDave,” as calls him, on his new job. I’m beginning to think that last week really was “Get a New Job Week” for some of us in SLC.
• Thanks to for pointing out the webcam links from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
• Spun. Sugar. Confection.
• Have you seen this man? I’m willing to bet that you have.
• Morris Day has a new album!
• I think that I am going to reconfigure ‘Nine to run a dual-monitor set-up. Possibly even a tri-monitor configuration, if I’m feeling really adventurous. 17″ monitors flanking the 21″ one. Yes, that would be a wonderful thing.
• has devised an interesting song format. He even got a mention on boingboing.net for it.
• “My ears are burning…”
  

I think that’s everything that I had to say. At least, it’s everything that I remember. If there’s more, I’m sure that it will be in morrownight’s post. But, until then…

Namaste.

Saturday
Day Three of the Great Sonoma Valley Vacation draws to a close.

I’m still having a great time with the “in-laws.”

The fact that it’s sunny and warm-ish doesn’t hurt, either.

It’s odd to think of waking up at 8:30 as “sleeping in,” but there you have it. I woke up and had breakfast with the family-unit. When we finally got into gear (which takes some time when you have ten people – three of whom are 10 and under – trying to get ready), we headed to Sonoma.

We went wine tasting at The Wine Room and Sebastiani. We bought a few bottles to take back behind the Zion Curtain.

When we left Sebastiani, we headed to Sonoma’s Town Square. There was a park surrounded by shops and restaurants. We walked through the park and into some of the shops. From there, it was off to visit Grandma and Grandpa, Charlie (Jess’ uncle) and his family. We hung out there for a while and then Charlie took Jess, Grandma, Grandpa and me (individually) for a spin on his new Harley; it was nice. Very nice. Charlie and Jim got got twin ‘cycles… so I now have to get Jim to take me out for a spin on his bike. It’s all about being an equal-opportunity passenger, don’tcha know?

We came home for dinner (chicken quesadillas) and general family hanging-out. After dinner had settled, Jess, Jenny, Julie, Vikki, Connor and I went to Trader Joe’s and Target. We saw a couple of fashion don’ts. BAD ones. Surprisingly, we haven’t seen as many of those this trip as I would have expected. Oh, well. We still have two days left. Anything can happen. At Target, I saw some of the Justice League Unlimited action figure 3-packs… but they did not have the one with John Stewart in it. Dammit. I’ll have to check the local Toys ‘R’ Us and see if I can find one there.

Stray Toasters

• I just had a rum and Pepsi night cap. It was close enough to Captain and Coke to get me by. And it was good.
• :
  1. I like the idea of a party… but it’s going to be at least next weekend before I’m ready for it and I’m pretty sure that Other-Rob’s dance card is going to be pretty full for the next few days, as well.
  2. I hope that you were able to find someone to go to breakfast with you. I tend to forget that these things kind of… fall apart… when I’m not in town. Should I designate you as second-in-command for these things when I’m not around? I’m pretty sure that everyone would step in line if you told them where to go. And how to get there. And if they should wear their gasoline drawers. And if a handbasket is required.
• The countryside around the wineries in Sonoma is pretty. Lots of trees and green, rolling hills. It reminds me of home – the East Coast, not Utah.
• Yes, that IS Darius Rucker, of Hootie and the Blowfish fame, dressed up like Glenn Campbell’s proverbial Rhinestone Cowboy in the new Burger King commercials.
• Be yourself, that’s fine
  Find yourself, there’s time
  Lose yourself, well I’m right here beside you

• Jim and I picked up bratwurst on the way home tonight. Mm-hmm, that’s right: We’re cookin’ them up on the grill for lunch.
• I just noticed something on TV Land’s web site: They don’t have the lyrics to the theme from The Andy Griffith Show on the “Unsung Theme Songs” page. No, I don’t know why the song was going through my head at this time of the night, but it was. (I suspect that might have had a hand in it, though.) I have emailed a comment about this to TV Land; we shall see if anything is done about it.

Tomorrow is Easter. I’m looking forward to that. There are three boys here who will wake up and expect Easter baskets and the goodies that go along with them. I don’t expect them to be quiet about that. And that I am not looking forward to. But that’s something with which I will deal after the sun is up.

Happy Easter to you and your families.

Namaste.

Friday
Day Two of the Great California Easter Vacation was every bit as good as Day One.

We went to Bodega Bay for an afternoon at the beach. And, for the second time in three years, I have touched the Pacific Ocean. It was windy and cool there, too. Windy enough that I could easily fly my kite. Cold enough that I was a bit chilly in a long-sleeved shirt. But it was fun. I even tossed the football around with the nephew-units. A little while later, part of the family-unit went walking farther up the beach… and found a dolphin carcass. It had apparently been shot, gutted and beheaded. I don’t think that I missed anything by not seeing that.

On the way back, we stopped at “Candy and Kites.” Appropriately enough, they had candy and kites there. Jess stocked us up with salt water taffy. We then went to the Bodega Bay Surf Shop. I don’t think that I’ve ever been in a non-wannabe surf shop before. We also stopped at one other place on the way home, but I don’t remember the name. *shrug* Something that I learned this afternoon, though: Bodega Bay is where Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was filmed.

We came home for a birthday cookout for Jim’s birthday. The rest of the Sonoma/Santa Rosa-area contingent of the family came over, too. I haven’t seen them since the 2001 Disney trip, so it was good to see them. There was lots of food. Lots of free-flowing tasty beverages. Lots of people. Lots of fun.

After the party died out and everyone had left, Julie (one of Jess’ sisters) took Jess and me to downtown Santa Rosa to meet some of her friends for drinks at Third Street Aleworks. I “creatively acquired” pint glasses for Julie and me. On the way back to the car, I started singing Banana Boat (Day-O) in the parking garage. Loudly. I couldn’t help it: The acoustics were great. Julie, half-jokingly, suggested/dared that I sing Amazing Grace. I did. Also loudly. I don’t think that she expected me to do that.

Stray Toasters

• I forgot to mention something last night: For the first time in two-and-a-half years, I got to sleep in MY bed.

  When Jess and I moved in together, we took the bed that I had bought after moving to Utah to her parents’ house for storage. So far, so good. When her parents moved a couple of years ago, the bed moved with them. We didn’t really think about/notice it until we were unpacking the moving van, but it was too late to do anything at that point. So… it has remained with them. And last night, I got to sleep on it. I found it amusing to have to wait so long to sleep on my own bed. But, it also made for a good way to claim bed-space here: “No, you can’t sleep there. That’s my bed.” And, I didn’t even have to use “Privilege of the First Born.” It just doesn’t get any better than that!

• Congratulations to . He has been hired by Microsoft and will be leaving the inversion-prone Salt Lake Valley and relocating to Seattle. However, this is something of a mixed blessing as he will no longer be around for me to yell “Sulu!” at when he shows up for coffee.
• I taught one of the nephew-units how to (properly) throw a football this morning. By this afternoon, his skill had greatly improved.
• Kites GOOOD!!! *gesture*
• Seagulls. In a non-land-locked state. Imagine that!

Now, it’s late-ish and I’m tired.

Namaste.