I hope everyone had a fantastic fourth! Noodles and I did. We got up early so we could beat the heat, and walked five miles down Bolsa Chica way.


(Bolsa Chica is a state park that brought in thousands of dollars in income to the state just this past weekend. Nevertheless, our esteemed governator plans to close state parks to save the minute part of the budget they represent (not to mention that they also generate income).)











But I digress. We had so much fun, and it was such a gorgeous day, so I loaded up Sam into the bike basket and we rode five miles along the beach. (That is the good news. The bad news is that I woke up at 2 am with my both quads so cramped up I could not move my legs.)


Hung out with the neighbors and ate and drank way too much!

Oh, and I also went and saw Public Enemies over the weekend. Loved the movie, and loved the soundtrack so much that I downloaded it last night on iTunes and on to my iPod. That's the good news. The bad news is that some electrical leprechaun snuck into my house again and discombobulated my iPod overnight, so now it will no longer charge or recognizes any outlet for charging it.

This is on the heels of my HP Notebook coming down last Thursday with a Windows Vista glitch - I get an endless loop message "configuring updates 3 of 3 0% do not turn off your computer."

Apparently, this is not uncommon, but I've been unable to fix it with any proposed solutions I've found on the web. Right now, "open window, toss out computer" seems like the best advice.

Work is slower, but boring.

The dog and I are getting fat.

The bird is good.

The mice and rats are winning the war.

And this is my current knitting project - Birdwalk Sock in progress

How was your 4th?

Had a FANTASTIC time in NYC!

Saw the frog exhibition at the Museum of Natural History

Drank wine and ate cheese at the Boathouse

Enjoyed Blithe Spirit

Finally got to try the Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes

Saw Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

Went to the zoo (sleeping red panda)

Drank and ate too much

And toured the museums.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg! There are so many great things to do and see, and I truly had a wonderful time!

And tomorrow, she's off! To the Big Apple, that is. I'm very excited to go. Planned outings include going to see Blithe Spirit and Billy Elliot, and meeting up with Auburn Kat. Other likely sightseeing includes the frog exhibition at the Natural History Museum, followed by a visit to the Shake Shack and some local yarn shops, the Met, MOMA, and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Can't wait to see how my friends the Polar Bears are doing at the Central Park Zoo, and whether they still serve good Pinot Grigio at the Boathouse.

Not sure if I can blog from my iPhone, but I'll post pictures when I get back, and will definitely be posting photos in the mean time on facebook and twitter!

Hope everyone else has a good week . . .

THIS is the face of the great mouse hunter . . .
When I got up to get a cup of coffee at 0-dark-thirty this week, what did I find waiting for me on the kitchen rug? A dead mouse left for me by Miss Noodles.



Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Although my father died in 1977 and my grandfather in 1985, I have not been relieved of celebrating this Hallmark Holiday. Since my mother's birthday is June 19, the family always does a combined mom's birthday/father's day for my brother celebration. So, although I'm working most of the weekend, I'm also having a BBQ this afternoon. As usual, the family has requested that we BBQ filet mignons. I don't really mind buying 50 dollars worth of meat, but no one bothers to tell me who all is coming to the BBQ. This leaves me to guess how many steaks to buy. I had scheduled the BBQ for 4 pm, so that I could work earlier in the day. I discovered Thursday night that my mom had changed the time to 3 pm, so that my niece - who works at 5 pm, and who no one told me was coming - can attend. . . . sigh . . .



Any ways, the cake is in the oven, and dinner should be pretty easy to prepare.


I have a stressful Monday and Tuesday ahead of me, but then . . . I leave on Thursday for 5 days in NYC. I plan to spend a good part of it drunk in Central Park.

My second book for Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge is The Legal Limit by Martin Clark.

In The Legal Limit, the main character, Mason Hunt, is a young attorney who finds his ascent from a miserable childhood with an abusive father to career success undermined by his complex relationship with his older brother, Gates, a former high school football hero turned bad. Mason knows Gates is poison but cannot forget the debt he owes his brother for protecting him from their abusive father. The inevitable trouble comes one drunken night while Mason is still in law school, when the Hunt boys, still in their early 20s, find themselves cornered by a drunken redneck on a deserted country road. Gates shoots and kills the man, and Mason takes the lead to protect Gates from the repercussions of his crime. (Apparently, this story is based on an actual crime from the 1980s).

While Gates’ life continues to spiral downward, Mason goes on to marry a beautiful artist and work as the district attorney in his home town of Stuart, in Patrick County. Unwilling to ever take responsibility for his actions, Hunt's wild ways land him in jail on a 44-year sentence for drug trafficking. He comes to resent his younger brother's refusal to use his power to spring him. Fraternal bitterness leads to blackmail, leaving Mason "morally hog-tied, an accessory after the fact, the entire damnable bundle laid at his feet by someone he loved dearly."

The theme of The Legal Limit deals more with good v. bad/moral vs. immoral, than with legal vs. illegal. The characters are complex - none are all good, or all bad. For most, right and wrong are situational determinations based on what will benefit that character the most at that time. On a side note, one character’s closeted homosexuality is awkwardly dealt with.

I liked this book, and Clark writes a good thriller, but the ending was a bit anti-climactic, and seemed to me to be a bit of a cop out. Clark may be on his way to being the next Grisham (and by that I mean Grisham in his heyday, not the watered down version we get today), but he’s not quite there yet. Nevertheless, I’ll definitely pick up his next book.

My last haiku was also for Maggie’s Southern Reading challenge, and she’s challenged us again this year, so here goes:

The Robber Bridegroom
Comes a' courtin', but will she
Fall in love in time?

We're in the midst of a good case of June gloom here in So Cal, with a bit of rain last week and overall, cool temperatures.

But don't tell Samantha that. I'm pretty swamped at work, but did get out last weekend for a couple five mile walks with Miss Noodles. Even though she is a mix of Basenji (African hunting dog) and Chihuahua (perro de Mexico), she apparently is not built to stand the heat. (And by heat, I mean lovely temperatures in the low '70s).She was fading quickly on our walk home, so we stopped periodically for rests in the shade. The walk took a bit longer than I had planned on, but a good time was had by all . . . or at least by me.

My pink calla lilies are back, which always makes me happy, and my monarch butterfly plant is in bloom.

I went on a cooking binge over the weekend - Slow Cooker Soft Taco Stack, Mediteranean soup, chicken and broccoli couscous, curry chicken salad, and a fritatta. Yes, I did share them all with my brother.

I finally watched True Blood - the first season. I enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse book - Dead Until Dark - that it's based upon. In fact, that was the first book I read for Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge two years ago. You can read my review here .

Been reading alot, knitting a little, and trying to keep up with work deadlines. What have you been up to?

Had a fabulous time in Maui - enjoyed some pretty sunsets, lovely snorkeling, long walks, and even did a jigsaw puzzle.
Stayed pretty much on California time, so I was up early to head out for a 5 mile walk while it was still cool. Read and listened to lots of books - The Robber Bridegroom, Aunts aren't Gentlemen - audio, A Gentleman of Leisure - audio, If Death Ever Slept - audio, Murder on the Orient Express - audio, Five Little Pigs - audio, The Legal Limit, and Fleshmarket alley - audio.

Drank a lot of pinot grigio, and ate too many times at Longhis and Kimo's. Oh, and the local gourmet market - the Honolua Store - that also serves really good meals that all the workingmen come for - had a great variety of goat cheeses from the local Surfing Goat Dairy.

Sam had a bit of a rough time being alone while I was on vacation without Hanna for the first time, but we spent all day together today.

Tomorrow back to work . . . and back on the diet!

How have you been?

My first book for Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge is the Robber Bridegroom - my first experience with Eudora Welty, and it was not at all what I expected. I expected a more serious author - and maybe she is in her other works, but in the Robber Bridegroom she's created a delightfully unbelievable, far-fetched and bizarre "tall tale."

Many of the elements of a fairy tale are there– Salome, the ugly and wicked stepmother, Rosamond, the beautiful daughter, Clement, the naive and loving father, and Jamie, the handsome hero. The story takes place along the Natchez Trace in Mississippi with "Red Indians", robbers and a few real life American characters (Mike Fink, the Harp Brothers), filling up the bad guy roles. Rosamond's adoring father, Clement Musgrove, is a wealthy planter who meets Jamie at an inn, where he is saved from a savage death at the hands of Fink, and unwittingly brings his disruptive presence into the Musgrove family.

Many deaths, lies, misunderstandings and berry stains later, Rosamond and Jamie do live happily ever after. . . and Rosamond even starts telling the truth. . . well mostly the truth, "it was all true but the blue canopy".

I enjoyed this book a lot, and will definitely look for some more Welty to read.

Maui on the 23rd, Maui on the 23rd . . . this is the chant that keeps me going for the next 12 days . . .



My gladiolas are rocking the garden! This is my first stalk of flowers, and it looks like I'll have lots more.

Tuesday nights have become standard lately, watching American Idol and tweeting the performances with LA, Ryan and Kookla on Twitter. Added bonus? Picking out which cliches will be cues to drink! Tonight I enjoyed a lovely glass of Merlot. I'm rooting for Adam, the ummm, flamboyant singer from San Diego. This dude can sing. Second choice, Kris. Run screaming from the room if he wins? Danny Gokey.

Work is busy, but that's good. It allows me to keep the economy recovering by buying lots of sock yarn. I'm pretty much obsessed these days with knitting and wearing cool, hand knit socks. In my defense, I'd like to point out the following - they are comfie and unique, and allow me to wear comfie clogs. The last time I wore heels was to a wedding a few weeks back.

Book wise, I'm enjoying listening to the Jeeves and Wooster books on my iPod, and I'm listening to another good thriller from Joseph Finder - Killer Instinct.

What's going on with everyone else?