Sylvia for Quesident 2008

Please vote for her.

It's time for a change.

Chicago pix -- FINALLY!

Long overdue posting this photo, but I just got around to downloading photos from my fabulous trip to Chicago in October.

Here I am with my good friend Mari and her ex-roommate, Chris. We went to a jazz club to see some KILLER live music. Mari's old neighborhood was a touch gritty (in a very cool way) and it really set the atmosphere for live jazz in Chicago.

It was great to see her again and catch up. Jenny and I are very lucky to have such good friends all over the country, and the world, for that matter. We hope all of you have a fantastic holiday season!

Dear Metro driver: SHUT IT!

Metro here in DC is well-known for its low-hassle, clean transit experience (at least it's well-know to me for those things). But occasionally I'll get on a train with a frustrated DJ as driver. This is the kind of driver that WILL NOT STOP TALKING OVER THE INTERCOM THE ENTIRE WAY IN TO WORK AND HAS TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE STOPS, THE ELEVATORS, THE TIME OF DAY, THE...oh, were the all caps getting on your nerves? Well that's what the unrelenting chatter does to me.

Life's damn good, otherwise, though. And that's saying something! Have a great Tuesday!

She is no longer a baby

Though, I still call her my baby.
Here's some random facts about Syl:

No more baby food...
Her latest fave food is Trader Joe's "Pizza Rustico" which has kalamata olives and goat cheese on it. She also loves whole wheat waffles, with Fage yogurt on top.
Luxe life. She eats better than I do.

She is amazing at spotting "aiwr-pwane" and "woof woofs" and asks to watch "Hi-Fibe!?" while holding up 4 fingers.

She LOVES to wear hats. I have about five that my mom knitted her available at all times to let her put on and take off a million times in a row. She also likes to wear her pink pilot hat.

She greets Dada at the door each night when he comes home from work with a very loud, "hi-EYE-iii!!!"

She loves when we video tape her or take her picture. She also does a fake laugh, so she's known as "Hollywood" when she hams it up.

She finds squirrels and birds the MOST fascinating creatures EVER and greets them with her Pterodactyl yell. Also, Christmas lights on houses are VERY exciting and she screams and points at every one!

I will end this post with this thought:
I think she is a very cool kid because she is especially nice to older people and people in wheelchairs. She always says hi to them and I have been told by many a stranger that Sylvia saying "HI!" to them, made their day.

Have we overmilitarized our police forces?

There seems to be a trend in this country whereby the police are becoming less and less civilian protectors of the people and more and more of a military-type shock force, willing to use unjustified force to subdue suspects or borderline illegal coersion to trick people into giving up their civil rights.

More often than ever you see police officers in military-style clothing, with military-style weapons and tactics (for example, my home town of Oak Hill, with a population of a scant 7,000 people, has a K-9 unit—why?). It's only natural, then, for the officers to begin to think of themselves as a military unit, not a part of the population in general.

You see an example of the first problem cited above in this video of a recent tasering incident at UCLA. The police there taser a student multiple times instead of simply handcuffing and arresting him. More troubling is that his charge was not being in possession of his student ID. Hardly a major offense.

The second problem, that of coersion of suspects by trickery or intimidation, can be seen simply by watching the show "Cops." Time and again, suspects stopped for a minor infraction are told that the cops will go easy on them if they consent to a search of their vehicle. This is not true. The cops cannot "go harder" on you if you do not cooperate, and you are under NO OBLIGATION to grant a search of your vehicle, which is why the police ask for permission. Check out this great instructional video by the ACLU advising Americans of their rights when confronted by the police. It should be required viewing in civics classes (as if they still taught civics nowadays).

Also troubling is the habit of police officers to refer to the general populace as "civilians," as if they somehow have a lower status. In fact, the police officers are civilians as well.

I fully understand that being a police officer is a demanding, dangerous, and many times, thankless job. That's why I'm very grateful to the citizens of this country who choose the calling to protect and serve us. But having a dangerous, important job does not give a police organization or individual officers free reign to trample over the rights of the populace.

First A_nimal Board meeting!

Okay, I'm back to the underline code for this post, so break out your Enigma machines. Had my first meeting as an official, County-Executive-affirmed A_nimal Ma_tters Hea_ring B_oard member last night. The case involved whether or not to affirm the decision to declare a dog dangerous. The debate was not contentious, and my side won. This should be interesting. The next meeting is Wednesday night, and involves a barking complaint. We'll have to suss out whether or not this is a real complaint or just some neighbors looking for leverage against one another.

Arghh! Plumbing debacle in the works

I usually try to do most household repairs on my own, as a way to save dough and also just because I really enjoy fixing things around the house. My dad and I installed a new (used) dishwasher last week, for example.

But for some jobs, you simply have to call in the big guns. Take, if you will, a corroded, leaking bathtub trap. Now that's a replacement job in need of specialized tools and specialized skills. Unfortunately for us, those things cost a lot of specialized money.

We've been using the downstairs bathroom for showering for the last couple of weeks, and it looks like this will continue until we get the second estimate for replacing the upstairs bathtub trap. I'm not looking forward to the hole in my downstairs ceiling or the hole in my bank account. Ugh.

Grandparent madness!

Sylvie is currently in hog heaven, with grandma and grandpa in town for the weekend. She's also starting to do "babble talking" more and more. It's really funny because she uses correct intonation, but the words are all jibberish. Kind of like her daddy before coffee in the morning.

Moth-eaten cardigan sweaters are on aisle 7

So I was in Lowe's in Bowie Md yesterday buying a new showerhead for our downstairs bathroom. I had on standard November weekend attire, which for me is a boggin, flannel shirt, blue jeans (modern stylish ones that Jenny bought me), Vans, and my Carhardtt black jacket. Also I was unshaven and suitibly scruffy.

Apparently my wardrobe brought a flashback upon the girl who checked me out (in both senses of the phrase). As she finished scanning my items she blurted out, apropos of nothing, "I really like grunge. I wish I wouldn't have thrown out all those albums I had in college. I was looking for them the other day." I replied in the most delicate manner I could muster that MY WIFE and I also had regrets about some long lost CDs. She grinned sheepishly and I left, flattered yet somehow troubled.

Grunge is not the look I usually shoot for these days. I guess it's better than being confused for a gay man, which is what usually happens.

Kicking Ass!

What can I say? Other than SWEET!!!!!!

Now if we can solidify the wins in VA and MT all will be seriously good. I'm very happy this morning!

Great job Mr. Dean!

More, and different, board member madness

Well, guess who is the newest member of the M_ontgomery C_ounty A_nimal M_atters H_earing B_oard? That's right, M_e. (If I keep doing stuff I don't want Googled, this site is going to need an Enigma machine.)

The deal is this: I'm trying to become more active in the community and also strenghen my resume without resorting to grad school. I figured being on a board or two couldn't hurt, so I started applying to several county board openings that I thought would be interesting and fulfilling. I had a couple interviews, and ended up getting nominated to be on the A_nimal M_atters H_earing B_oard. Pretty cool!

What does the board do? Well think of the show Animal Cops. The board members are the ones who get to work after the cops do their thing to rule on disputes involving animals. So let's say your neighbor's mutt won't shut up. You file a complaint with the county. The board decides who's right and who's wrong. Or...let's say you keep your horse tied up with no food or water. We decide whether or not you get a hefty fine. Same for dangerous animals in the neighborhood, enforcing leash laws, etc.

The cool thing about this gig is that I'll (one hopes) be in the postion to be able to actually do some real good in the community. I hope that I'll be able to play a part in keeping people and animals in the county safe and happy. I'm looking forward to getting started with it. Wish me luck!

Travel mania

Went to Chicago for a conference last week and this week I'm in NYC for another one! Whew! Jenny's mom came in to stay with her and the baby while I'm away, so that's good.

Last night I went down to the Lower East Side to get some dinner and see some bands, both of which were very good. Silo, in particular, was fantastic. I went with a good buddy of mine from D.C., Keith. Neither of us knew the other was coming to the show, so it's a good thing we ran into each other on the exhibit hall floor. Strange how those types of things work out.

I really love NYC. I'm not sure living here would be all it was cracked up to be if you didn't pull in at least $500K/year, though. It would be torture to have to scrape by on PB&J with all these good restaurants just sitting there taunting you every night.

Long time, no blog. Sorry.

Sorry all for the long time between blogs. We've been really busy lately, for several reasons--not the least of which is that I've accepted a new job: A_ctuarial S_tandards B_oard P_rogram M_anager (underlines inserted to prevent Googling eyes).

It's still the same company, but I'll be doing new, different, and exciting things. Plus I get a bigger office with a bank of windows overlooking scenic L Street. Schweet.

There are certain aspects of the job that I have definite reservations about (taking minutes at board meetings, doing on-the-fly editing on a big screen projected in front of the board), but I feel that I'll be up to the challenge!

I'll be editing A_ctuarial S_tandards of P_ractice and a newsletter, as well as doing the print buying for said publications, so I've got that going for me. Gunga Ga-...Gunga Galunga.

Movin' on up, just like the Jeffersons.

Book published!

My mom's cousins' book is going to be available at the end of October.
This is SO exciting!
Please check it out as my Grandma Ida's recipes should be in there.
I am so proud.

Follow-up on my eye surgery

Well, that certainly sucked. The procedure only lasted about 10 minutes, but I've got to tell you, that crap that they inject into your face to numb it freaking kills. It must have the viscosity of maple syrup, because it seemed like he was slowly squeezing a pound of acid into my eye socket. It really hurt.

They then clamped my eye open with a device straight out of "A Clockwork Orange" and removed a small amber pellet out of my eyelid. Sorry if this is TMI, by the way. Turns out a sty had gone evil and decided to crystalize and stay a while. Not fun.

Pretty much back to normal now, though, thank goodness.

Dread

I have to go into the opthamologist today to have minor eyelid surgery. I'm really dreading it, as it involves several sharp objects being inserted into my face. I'm not good with needles in the best of circumstances, and having someone poke one into my eyelid is not the most fun thing I can think of to do this afternoon. Wish me luck.

Election Day Fiasco

Well, here in MD, it's primary election day. I usually never miss the chance to vote, so I made my way first thing this morning to the neighborhood elementary school that doubles as my polling place. Unfortunately, I was unable to cast my vote.

Here in decently upscale Montgomery County, we apparently have trouble getting voter authorization cards to the electronic voting machines on time. So, I was informed upon my arrival that I would not be able to vote electronically, but I could wait 30 minutes and cast a provisional ballot. I didn't have 30 minutes. Like most folks, I had to go to work. So I left.

The volunteer told me that the polls will remain open until 8pm, and possibly later, and I will trek back after work. But I wonder how many folks won't bother to make the second effort. Probably most of them.

Why, oh why, is it so freaking difficult to vote (and have your vote actually counted) in this country? It's high time that America gets its collective sh!t together on this issue.

Coal keeps WV poor

This weekend, West Virginia University played Marshall in the first annual "Friends of Coal" Bowl in Morgantown. WVU predictibly whooped Marshall, but for me, the game was marred by the near-constant pro-coal industry sales pitch by the announcers, commercials, and "special guests" in the booth. Former Marshall coach Bob Pruett and former WVU coach Don Nehlen, both on the pro-industry lobby group's payroll as spokespeople, told about all the glories of the coal industry and the massive force of good it is for our humble state.

Let me say that my family have been heavily involved in coal mining going back several generations. Coal miners are not the problem. In fact, my grandfathers on both sides and my great-grandfather on my dad's side were all miners. My dad was a federal mine inspector for 35+ years. My dad and mom do not share my views on mining, and point out, rightly, that money from mining and, in my case, inspecting mines, put me through college and gave us a nice place to live. This is true.

Several thousand people in WV make a damn good living by being coal miners, with salaries averaging around $65,000, well above the norm in the state. The "Friends of Coal" group makes much hay about how many jobs in WV mining produces. They act as if the whole state would collapse should mining go away, or god forbid, be regulated and properly taxed. But just how many miners are actually working in WV?

16,455 miners. That's it. That means that coal mining employs 0.9% of the state's population. (My numbers come from the 2002 Census, if you're wondering.)

Do you know what Don Blankenship, CEO of WV's biggest coal company, Massey Energy, made in 2003? $6,105,714 (according to salary.com). That's per year.

McDowell county, which has produced more coal than any other county in the state, has a per capita income of $17,622 (as of 2005). That means it would take the average citizen of McDowell county 347 years to make what Dandy Don makes in a single year. In fact, Don makes in a single day about what our average Joe in Welch takes a whole year to earn. If he has a job, that is. The unemployment rate in McDowell county is 8.6%. Ouch. Seen in that light, coal doesn't look so good for McDowell county, after all.

Coal (and more recently, timber) have made up the lion's share of West Virginia's industrial base since the state broke away from VA during the Civil War. Through all those years, coal has been the engine that drove West Virginia's economy. It's given thousands upon thousands of workers jobs throughout those years (and it gave a lot of them black lung, too, but we'll ignore that for now). I won't dispute that. So what has been the end result of all those great years of mining? Surely, such a fantastic industry would have turned West Virginia into one of the richest, most progressive places in the nation, right? Wrong.

After 150 years of coal mining, WV is

50th in Median Income: $24,880
Number 8 in amount of persons below poverty level: 16.7%
3rd in unemployment: 7.5%
50th in persons 25 or older with a bachelor's degree: 15.3%
40th in teacher's salaries: $38,461
5th in infant mortality: 9.1/1000 births

No matter how you slice it, that sucks. My point is that for all the snowjobs put forth by ex-football coaches and bass pros, the hard facts are that WV has never done all that well under the coal regime, even in the best of times--the '50s--when coal companies still actually employed people to mine coal instead of giant mechanical draglines.

And speaking of giant, mechanical draglines, those monstrosities gouge out huge chunks of the Appalachian skyline day after day, enriching guys like Blankenship and other out-of-state corporations (Massey, for example, is located in Richmond, VA--well away from the horrors it inflicts on our mountainsides.)

On Saturday, FOC spokesman Nehlen said to the announcer "Some people don't like us because we sometimes make a little bit of a mess." Count me as some people Don. WV is a great place. I just hope that the people living there wake up to the fact that "coal = jobs" is a myth before it's too late and they are living on a landscape that looks more like the moon than the lush paradise they grew up with.

Japanese TV is truly weird...and hilarious!

This is apparently an instructional video for young women on vacation to the U.S. who are expecting to be robbed by a dude with a bandana tied upside down on his bald head. The looks on the dancers' faces don't quite seem to match the phrases they chant... "spare me my life...spare me my life..."

Very bizarre.

Almost like a sick joke on all of us

According to this article in today's Washington Post, a plane from Britain to Dulles was diverted to Logan Intl. in Boston due to a claustrophobic woman going a tad nutso in the cabin.

According to the story (bold added by me for emphasis), "Her behavior was reported to the pilot, who diverted the plane to Boston. The woman did not have a screwdriver, the officials said, but she did have matches of a type that are allowed on flights. She also had hand cream, which should not have made it through security at Heathrow under the new rules formulated last week."

Come again? Certainly it did not just say that you could bring FREAKING MATCHES onto a plane, but hand cream was verboten?

Certainly the Post made an error here, right? Nope. According to the Transportation Security Administration Web site, "You may not bring matches in your checked baggage because of safety regulations. You may, however, bring up to four books of safety (non-strike anywhere) matches in your carry-on baggage or on your person. For safety reasons, you may not bring “strike anywhere” matches at all."

Oh, and incidentally, my swiss army knife with a 2 1/2" blade? Not allowed. Metal, sharp-pointed scissors with a 4" blade? Allowed. Does this make sense to anyone???

This just goes to show how much of a farce this whole airline security show really is. Unreal.

The terrorists have already won

Some would argue that we scored a major victory in the battle against terrorism yesterday when British authorities arrested a score of home-grown religious wackos bend on blowing up airplanes. And in the short term, we did. Undoubtedly, lives have been saved by good police work and diplomatic work between UK and Pakistani government intelligence agencies. My kudos go out to all officers involved in breaking up this admittedly nefarious plot.

Still, I can't help shaking my head at the reaction to this somber news. Instead of taking a logical, methodical approach to this new threat (which isn't really new, btw, it's been done by al Queda before), we, in typical fashion for the Bush regime, throw the baby out with the bathwater and ban all liquids, pastes, gels (even Speed Stick-type deodorants), and electronics from flights. Passengers are made to dump all of these potentially dangerous items into common trash receptacles at airport security posts. Soon, presumably, we will all be forced to fly naked.

Meanwhile, the terrorists have gotten what they wanted all along. The object of terrorism is, logically, to instill terror in a population. You would be hard-pressed to show that this objective has not been achieved here in the U.S. We are a nation engulfed in irrational fear, which is propagated at all turns by the media and, especially, our own government. The latter, in despicable fashion, uses it to further their own political gains, The former uses it to sell papers, laundry detergent, and cars.

You have a MUCH higher likelihood of being killed in a car wreck on your way home tonight than of being killed in a terror attack. In fact the likelihood is so small as to be almost nonexistent. So people, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, QUIT BEING SO AFRAID!

Vacationing in West Virginia

Sorry for not posting in a while, we were away for a few days on vacation in WV, and I'm still catching up on work and stuff.

Like I said, we took 5 days to go have some well-deserved r and r down on the Greenbrier River with my folks. The weather cooperated nicely and fun was had by all, especially Sylvia, who was the happy recipient of a new, under-porch swing from Grandma and Granpa (see photo).

I fished a lot, and caught more bass in three days than I've caught in three years. It was amazing! A fish per cast, basically.

I was sad to have to come home and go back to work.

12 Galaxies Protestor

If you've ever been to downtown San Francisco, you might have noticed a Chinese-American man in sunglasses and a suit ambling down the sidewalk with a protest sign reading "Impeach Clinton 12 Galaxies Conspiracy Mind Altering" or some other seemingly random statement.

An Internet filmmaker, James Dirschberger, has produced an excellent 15 minute documentary about the protester, whose name is Frank Chu, that includes a lunchtime interview in which Frank explains the sign and his reason for protesting.

Frank lives across the Bay in Oakland and makes his way into The City each day to walk up and down Market Street, trying to inform the world of his plight. He believes that the Clinton administration, in league with the CIA and the mysterious "12 Galaxies," used hi-tech invisible cameras to make a movie about him and his family that was subsequently aired in the 12 Galaxies, generating considerable income. Frank's daily protests aim to get his fair share of those movie profits: $12 billion or so.

While we may be tempted to laugh at Frank and his crazy theories, there is an underlying sadness to the film. It's obvious that Frank needs psychiatric help, but his paranoia and fears of government control keep him from taking his medication.

Good luck Frank, I hope you get satisfaction someday.

Senator Andrew Moore, aka Grandpa

I'm in the midst of reading Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick (very gripping, btw), and it's gotten me interested in my own colonial family history.

Many of us have colonial ancestory stories, to be sure, although most are not historically proven. One of forebearers that is pretty well documented is my great-great-great-great-grandfather, General Andrew Moore (1752 - 1821). He was my maternal grandmother's grandfather's grandfather, and was one of the first House reps for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He went on to serve as a U.S. Senator from Virginia between 1799-1804 (though not concurrently), and finally served as the U.S. marshall for Virginia until his death in 1821.

He was a captain in the American Revolution, and served alongside George Washington, who subsequently granted Moore a bunch of land in southwestern Virginia (and what later became West Virginia). Unfortunately, that land is not mine now. Not that I'm bitter. Grrr....

Anywho, as a young man he went on an expedition to the West Indies and was shipwrecked. He and his companions survived on a diet of lizard until their rescue. (This is documented in some history books, and really, could I make something that bizarre up?)

His gravestone, in Lexington, Virginia, reads: "A soldier of the Revolution. A member of the first U. S. Congress. The first senator west of the Blue Ridge. A member of the convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States, and a marshall of Virginia for twenty years."

You can check out his Congressional biography here.

Pretty cool stuff. Do you have any famous (or infamous) relatives?

Blech news/good weekend

Well it looks like the world is seriously going to hell in a handbasket these days. There seems to be no end to the ways that people can find to kill other people, mostly in the name of religion. Bah.

Well, in spite of the depressing news from the Middle East, we had a great, if warm, weekend. Sylvie, Jenny, and I putzed around the house most of the time trying to stay cool, and we also made a trip to the pool yesterday for some much-deserved cooling off.

My band let go of our singer, so we're back to being a trio. I'm singing most of the songs, and the drummer, Stuart, is picking up a couple, Phil Collins style. Honestly, I think we'll be able to move much faster now. I've joked with the guys that our first CD has to be called "Glacial Speed." That or we change the name of the band from My Life On Hold to My Band On Hold. :-)

What the hell? Zidane loses his mind.

Whoa. I DID NOT see that one coming. I don't think anyone did. Honestly, I was actually holding my nose and rooting for France in the final (the lesser of two evils, I guess, and I didn't want another Euro team to have more than three Cup titles). I thought the game was well played with substantially less Italiodiving than previous matches, and Zidane looked particularly good for the French side.

The French were starting to really take control of the game and the Italians were looking like they were dreading another disasterous PK scenario. Then, out of nowhere, Zidane BLASTS Materazzi with the most vicious head butt I've ever seen. He literally took the unawares defender off his feet, and Materazzi didn't look to be faking the ensuing pain. Look at it this way: Zidane makes his living using his head to strike a soccer ball at speeds approaching 30mph. That is some serious force, and when that type of force is applied directly to someone's sternum, that has got to hurt.

Of course France went on to blow the game on Trez's botched PK and the rest is history. I'm still dying to know what was said that could make such an experienced, normally calm player fly so completely off the handle in the middle of the biggest game of his career. It's gotta be better than "yo mamma wears combat boots," certainly. (Early press reports were along the lines of "your sister is a whore.") Time, and one hopes, Zidane, will tell.

Birthday Girl + Cake

I have finally uploaded some birthday photos...more to come via email later!
Sylvia also had her first bday doc appt this past week...she did great!
She's a petite chick in terms of height, which is no suprise considering how TALL Joe and I are! She weighs 24 pounds, 9 ounces.

She now HAS to eat food herself at the beginning of every meal. So I chop up bananas, cooked broccoli, cheese, O's etc. and give her those first and then she'll have some pureed food...She's also transitioning from formula to whole milk.
We're introducing new foods every three days. So this week will be tomatoes, wheat,garlic, olive oil...Hoping she can have some pasta with us soon.

We think she's on the verge of walking as she loves to stand and let go and she's able to go between Joe and I, taking a mini-step or too. Mostly though she loves to stand at the toy bin (aka a Sterilite plastic box) and yank and throw all the toys out of it, then crawl at a rapid pace around the room then chuck the soccer ball at Joe, then bang on the gate, then stand and bang on the door and then try to climb on the couch and get the remote and then try to pull all the kleenex out of the box, then try to bang the TV, then try to drop her mini piano on her own toes, then "read"
and then play with her mega legos, then dance when jazz music comes on...and point at her belly button whenever you start a sentence with "where is your..." - everything is the belly button and then do down dog and laugh, then grab mamas face and then bite mama's nose, zerbert mamas shoulder, hug and kiss dadas fuzzy head....
PHEW. This is all in 15 min. HAHA!
Can I go to bed now?

More birthday stuff

I had grand visions of the birthday cake that I was going to bake and decorate for Sylvia. Well, the planning ideas vs. the reality of the party were very different.
So, my mom (who had flown in from California w. my dad), baked the cake, made the frosting and helped me decorate it.

I now understand the power of delegation!

Here's a photo of the cake and my attempt of a volcano:

Sylvie's birthday/4th of July recap

Well, we had a fantastic party for Sylvie's 1st birthday on Saturday. Both sets of grandparents came in, and we had about 25 guests to help us celebrate. I simply cannot believe it's already been a year since Sylvia came into our lives. She has grown into such a wonderful, friendly, super fun kid, and I'm the proudest daddy out there, let me tell you!

My folks hung around for the 4th, and we cooked out, watched the Italy/Germany game, and had a great time together. It was hard to go back to work today, that's for sure!

Ahhh Painkillers...

It's 11p EDT, July 2, 2006.

One year ago today, at this exact time, I received my epidural.

Epidural: it's a good thing.

After an emergency C-section, Sylvia was born at 355a, July 3, 2005.
Where has this past year gone?

Today has been a teary and sentimental day for me.

Happy Almost Birthday to my sweet girl.
I love you,
Mama

A casa como siempre ¡Coño!

Well, both my teams are now officially out of the World Cup. The U.S. I kind of figured would bow out early, but the Spaniards, well, I had high hopes this time. They always choke in the WC, though, so my hopes weren't all that high.

The worst part of it is that we got served by the Frogs. That really hurts. Here are my picks for the rest of the tourney:

England 2 - Portugal 1 The Portuguese are such whiney biotches. I hope the Engerlanders can destroy them.

Brazil 3 - France 2 The Frogs will put up a good fight on this one, but the Brazilians keep doing just enough to win, which is what they'll do here, too.

Germany 3 - Argentina 1 This is going to be the surprise of the tournament. Germany looks damn good. So do Argentina, but they'll be overconfident. Don't underestimate the home field advantage, either.

Italy 2 - Ukraine 0 An easy win for the pasta-eaters.

Then for the semis:

Germany 2 - Italy 2 (Germany on PKs)

Brazil 2 - England 0

FINAL
Brazil 3 - Germany 1

If you're betting on the Cup, bet against all the picks above. I suck at this.

Water water everywhere

Quite a storm this has been.
Sunday we lost power for over 6 hours in the middle of a very muggy day.
We've had lots of road closures, flooding and mudslides in the area:
See map --
We've been OK (knock wood) but we are constantly checking the basement for water and Joe's been outside pushing water off the tent a million times...
Another set of storms is supposed to hit this afternoon.
UGH.
Sylvia and I will go run to the library today after her nap and before her lunch, in order to get a second of fresh air and get out of the house!!!!
We spend most afternoons with Sylvia napping or playing with her toys.
I am going a bit stir crazy.

Zinfandel tasting party

In May (yes I am a bit behind in the blogging) we had a Zinfandel tasting party.
Our friends, Bill and Kim, Michele and Beck and his parents came by.
The winner was by Rancho Zabago and the second place wine was by Gnarly Head.
I discovered that I actually like Zin. Never knew it.
I think our next party will either be for Pino Grigio or Rioja.

U.S. Blood and Guts!

For the last week and a half, I have been all-soccer, all the time. The World Cup is in full swing, and for the Italian team that means swinging elbows, as U.S. forward Brian McBride's face can attest.

After the first U.S. game vs. the Czech Republic, where our boys were shellac'ed 3-0 and looked to be on the way to an early exit, most everybody predicted that the Italians (who, let's face it, are pretty damn good at soccer) would crush us like Chianti grapes. Italian midfielder and resident pretty boy Totti was quoted as saying he was too busy getting his hair done to watch the U. S. Czech game. Well, since he was totally ineffectual and got subbed around minute 30, maybe next time he'll watch.

I've never seen the U.S. team show so much grit and determination, and the 1-1 tie with the pasta eaters leaves us in good shape to advance to the round of 16. If we can beat Ghana (we should) and Italy can beat the Czechs (they should) on Thursday, we're golden.

It hurts me to say it, but Go Italy!

Happy Satan Day!

June 6, '06, otherwise known as 6.6.6.

Suggested listening:
AC/DC: Highway to Hell
AC/DC: Hell's Bells
AC/DC: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
AC/DC: C.O.D. (Care of the Devil)
Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast
Slayer: Anything they've ever put out

D.C. not as big a terror target as South Dakota

According the new grant budget put out by the Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. is in the lowest 25% of "states" in a likely-to-be-attacked ranking that was the basis of how much security grant money each area receive this year. Who's at more risk of being attacked (and getting more money to prevent it), according to the DHS? Witness the insanity:

West Virginia $7.5 million homeland security grant (Okay, everyone knows I love W.V. best of all, but c'mon. The terrorists aren't coming for the strip mines, people.)

Idaho $6.7 million (The terrorists hate taters!)

Oregon $4.7 million (They will try to cripple our pot-growing abilities.)

Montana $4.5 million (We must kill all them cowboys, Abdul!)

Utah $4.5 million (Attack the holy-underwear wearing infidels!)

Rhode Island: $4.5 million (Do they even get "Providence" re-runs in Pakistan?)

Wyoming: $4.4 million (I guess Buffalo are a bigger symbol of America than the Washington Monument.)

South Dakota: $4.4 million (Okay, there aren't even a majority of U.S. Citizens that could pick out S.D. on a map, but Al Queda can? Riiiight.)

Puerto Rico: $4.3 million (Uh, is this a joke?)

D.C.: $4.3 million homeland security grant

Also on the list for increased funding: Kansas City, MO and St. Louis, MO; Louisville, KY; Omaha, NE (Yes, folks, Nebraska, #1 on Al Queda target lists worldwide, I'm sure); five cities in Jeb Bush's Florida (Actually, Orlando is one of them and I agree that Disney would be a legitimate target. But Ft. Lauderdale? Sorry Muslim extremists, not even close to 100 virgins at Spring Break.)

But that's not all! New York City is also on the not-likely-to-get-the-shit-bombed-out-of-it list.

NEW YORK CITY? D.C.? WTF?! These are the only two places in the nation THAT GOT ATTACKED!!!!!

What a colossal waste of taxpayers' money. Someone please wake me from this Orwellian nightmare.

Gardening Vigilantes!

These are our neighbors from down the street, Mr. & Mrs. S.
They are the traveling gardening vigilantes!

They cruise around in their SUV fixing up gardens that look shabby in our neighborhood.
I see Mrs. S often as she walks alot. She is always complimentary of our yard, which is sweet. She also always comments on our neighbor's yard as it's very overgrown. She mentioned to me one day that she was going to come by and fix up his yard. I thought, "no way." Today was the day I was proven wrong.

I was sitting feeding Sylvia and I heard a weed-whacker and thought, "how odd, my neighbor B. is never home at 2p what's going on?" Of course being the nosy mama that I am, Sylvia and I went to investigate and lo and behold, it was not B. but Mr. and Mrs. S!

She: sporting a fine looking, 1980's-era terrycloth headband, shorty shorts and a tank top, was hand-clipping the edges of B.'s grass near the stairs. I KID YOU NOT.

He: dressed in all white from head to toe (he must have recently attended P.Diddy's White Party in the Hamptons), in his fabu kneesocks, was weed-whacking at an amazing pace.

Please note: it was 90 degrees today and that's not counting the mega humidity!

Mr. and Mrs. S, you ROCK.

Bay United FC, R.I.P.

Jason, looking pained, for some reason. We hadn't even started the post-game drinking yet!


Matthew and I consider yet another humiliating loss, probably. Now to the bar!

I was a late-comer to soccer. In what is now obviously the most tragic irony ever to befall me, I did not like nor understand The Beautiful Game in 1994 when the U.S. hosted its first World Cup. The fact that Spain played its matches a mere 15 blocks east of my house on Capitol Hill and I didn't bother to even notice now haunts my soccer-obsessed dreams. Yes, it was not until when I moved to Spain in 1996 that I came to fully appreciate the world's most popular sport.

When I returned to the U.S. and moved to San Francisco in January of 1997, I decided that it might be cool to actually learn to play the game. I grew up with football, baseball, and -- god help me -- basketball, so I knew less than nothing about how to kick a soccer ball properly. My best friend, Jason, had played in high school, so he and I went to a park near my house in Oakland and he showed me the ropes.

Soon after, Jason, our great friend Matthew (a rugby player from Engerland), and I got the bright idea to form a rec league team and compete in the Golden Gate Soccer League, which was co-ed and seemed like a good way to meet women.

With that noble goal in mind, I rounded up some coworkers and as many of our friends who would risk embarassment on the pitch and we were off. We dubbed ourselves Bay United FC, on the count of having players from all five areas of the S.F. Bay Area (S.F., Oakland, Alameda, Emeryville, and Berkeley).

I found a place to get some snazzy jerseys made up, designed a bitchin' logo, and voilá! We were a team. One problem: we sucked.

Turns out almost none of us knew how to really play soccer well, and we were soundly beaten in match after match. No matter, the real purpose of the team was the after-game happy hours. There we sat as a team, drinking brews, eating fish and chips, and laughing at all of our mistakes while celebrating any triumphs (like keeping the game close or scoring a goal). Everyone looked forward to each Sunday's game, and we all formed a close bond that I'll always remember fondly.

But here's where the storybook ending comes in. In the league, every team made the playoffs, so we were in as well. We came into the opening playoff game defeated, as in the opposite of undefeated. We hadn't won a single game the entire season and were determined to finally pull one out. As fate (and the tournament bracket) would have it, we were playing the top-seeded team (we were, of course, the lowest seed).

The game was hard-fought throughout, and we ended regulation in a 0-0 tie. Since this was the playoffs, we had to have a winner, so to overtime we went. The overtime worked in a way whereby each team lost a player after so many minutes of not scoring and we took it down to three on three. That's when our star forward, a blonde accountant (who lead a quite unaccountant-like life on the weekends), scored the goal that sent us into the next round and sent the top seeds home to their mommies.

I felt like I had just won the World Cup.

We lost the next playoff game, not that it mattered by then. The team carried on in various incarnations with a multitude of players (although the core group of Matthew, Jason, and I were always there) until around 2001, when we finally decided to call it quits.

When I'm watching the World Cup in two weeks with a brew in hand, I, for one, will remember the Bay United FC and toast to my teammates. We had a hell of a time.

Old friends visit!

jengabevisit
Originally uploaded by Xose.

This weekend we were very happy to play host to some good friends from our days in San Francisco, Jen and Gabe.

Jen was in town for a book expo in the D.C. Convention Center, so they made the trek up to Silver Spring on Metro for a cookout in the back yard. Sylvia was excited to meet them, and Jenny and I were very psyched to hang out with such fun people again.

I worked with Jen at CMP while in S.F., and she and Gabe made the cross-country move about a year before Jenny and I did (we're all part of the great exodus of post-dot-com talent from the ultra-expensive Bay Area).

We had fun catching up and marveling at how much we know about each others' recent lives due to reading each other's blogs. It's amazing that the Internet allows you to keep up with family and friends all over the world. In my opinion, this is one of the best things about the Internet: the capability to bring people together, even if they are far apart geographically.

Anyway, we had a great time with Gabe and Jen, and hope to see them again soon! Thanks for coming down guys!

The quagmire deepens....

The depths to which Iraq has sunk since our illegal invasion are ever more harrowing. According to a new report in today's San Francisco Chronicle, Iraqis are fleeing Baghdad in droves to escape the rampant murders taking place every hour of every day with no end in sight.

Are these people better off now than when Saddam was in power?

"With only six hours of electricity a day and shortages of essentials such as gasoline, Iraqis exchange horror stories of unspeakable violence, which cannot be independently confirmed and might or might not be true.

Someone said a Sunni woman was shot in Amariya this week because she was driving. Someone else said a neighbor who had disappeared last month died of a heart attack in captivity. Women share these stories during short, rare trips to the few grocery shops that are still open.

'Everybody is scared,' said one woman in Amariya. 'No one can protect us.'"

Not that anyone could have seen this coming before we invaded, right? Geez.

Studio time on no sleep

First, our apologies for the non-postings as of late. Sylvie has been bent on a parental sleep-deprivation study, and has reduced us to quivering masses of jelly in little more than a week of zero good night's sleep. At least her thesis will pretty much write itself, now.

I was in the studio with my band, MyLOH (My Life on Hold), this weekend recording three songs for our upcoming demo CD. Sounded really good, and I can't wait to hear the final mixdown. I'll post here when links are available. Now to get a gig somewhere....

The best kiss ever

Sorry Joe but I have to say, I received the best kiss ever last night.
It happened about 330a. Yes, 330a in the wee hours of the morning.
Poor Sylvia suddenly got this weird dry cough (kinda allergies) and unfortunately it's one of those trigger-spasm coughs that scares her and wakes her up. So needless to say, she and I and Joe were up all night.
It was so sad b/c at 3a, I tried to give her to Joe for a sec while I washed bottles for her and that did not work AT ALL. She was completely freaking out, crying...which of course made her cough worse...OY. I think we have a bit of separation anxiety starting. So, I got her from Joe and she and I sat on the couch and I sang her the Sylvia song that I only sing her when she's upset. It's something I made up when she was very little and she was having a bad night and I just basically hug her really tight and sing it to her. Last night, she calmed down and just stared up at me with these big, saucer eyes - it was one of those moments where even though you are so tired you could puke, you don't care because it's the best, just to be in that moment where you are able to soothe your child. I was giving her kisses to chill her out and then went I put my cheek next to hers, all of a sudden I felt a "smooch!" She kissed me!
I am telling you, the BEST!

More curtain detail photos

I can only post 5 pics per post, so here's the detail for Sylvia's room and also the pattern for the great room valences (it's a very subtle plaid):

Curtain mania

Joe's mom made us four sets of curtains while she was visiting this past weekend.

We now have curtains for the bathroom, the kitchen, the great room*** and the baby's room.
What a task!!!

I am not crafty at all so I mostly did the shopping portion of the project.
I picked out the fabric and then Joe's mom sewed and sewed and sewed.

*** Valances only, in the great room but still no small task, as each window is 106" in length.

Thanks so much Patsy!

Here are some photos:

Nana & Home improvement central

My mom visited last week and had a great time hanging out with Sylvia. We went to Brookside Gardens and also did some retail therapy. Sylvia got some cool music toys from nana and also her very own boombox. Sylvia's been listening to jazz, classical and pop tunes.

My mom got us a runner for our hallway -- which was much needed as our 50 year old wood floors creak SO loudly and the new rug helps to muffle the sound. I really appreciate having the rug as the snapping and creaking of the floors was making me nuts!
Mom was also going to help me make curtains but we decided to wait as we'd have to mail the cloth back and forth.

Joe's parents are here right now and Patsy's been a curtain making machine...more on that later.

The kid's got good taste!

She thinks that the guys on the back of the record cover are the funniest thing around, and she screamed bloody murder (in the rue morgue) when we took the CD away from her.... Sylvie. All metal. All the time.

Jenny's mom coming to town

Jennifer's mother is coming to visit later tonight, so Sylvie will get some grandma time in for the next few days. Dad will get some much-needed time in the ampworks to try to fix one of his old builds that keeps squealing like a stuck pig.

We're also in the middle of trying to figure out what the hell to do with our lawn/garden. I think Jenny and her mom are gonna hit the greenhouse circuit this weekend, as we're in the market for flowers and a dogwood tree to plant for Sylvie in the front yard.

And then there's the matter that our entire backyard has turned to moss. Do the chores ever end? Uh...no.

Don't ban the bonfires!

I read with dismay a story posted on the SFGate.com site this morning about an impending ban on Ocean Beach bonfires.

The bonfire tradition is special to Jenny and I because that's where we met: at a bonfire on Ocean Beach. It would be a real shame if other folks couldn't have the same opportunity to gather, meet, and fall in love that we did.

The ocean is so cold in S.F., that really, bonfires are one of the only good ways to enjoy the Pacific. And while I understand the problems faced by the SFPD, the Park Service, and the local residents, I don't think banning the fires is the way to go. I hope that volunteer clean-up crews will step up to the plate to save this wonderful San Francisco tradition. [photo taken from sfgate.com/Kim Komenich]

Randy Freaking Rhoades

My mom must have heard me trying to master this riff about 18 million times. Sorry mom! When I was in middle/high school, I wanted to be this guy SO bad...

Randy Rhoades was from outer space, people. He redefined the instrument, IMHO.

Blindness freaking sucks

Sweet mother of crimeny.

I went to the opthamologist yesterday for a check up and to get my new prescription. I need new glasses because my little daughter has this game she calls "grab the specs." Last week she expanded the game to "...and break them in half." :-( Alas, my spec-tacular Scandanavian glasses are no more.

Soooo....I headed up to the opthamologist to get my examination. During the exam, he puts these crazy pupil-dilation drops in my eyes. I have never had this done before and I was not thrilled when I discovered that it renders you unable to focus on anything less than 10 feet away. Oh, and it also makes any sunlight burn your eyeballs right out of your skull.

Not able to drive home after the appointment, I stumbled into the Army surplus store next door and bought the cheapest sunglasses they had ($12). Couldn't read the tag, so I hope the guy didn't rip me off TOO bad.

Then I squinted my way to Bethesda's famous Rock Bottom Brewery to kill time until I could see well enough to drive again. Couldn't read the menu, and had to ask some girl sitting next to me to find Jason's number on my cell phone. Jason thought this would be a good pick up line; he may try it. If it works, look for him to be sporting shades and a white cane in the near future.

It took a full seven hours for the dilation to wear off, and I felt weird and queasy for the whole time. Not fun.

Spring is here!

Spring is definitely here in DC and every day it gets prettier as more trees and flowers begin to bloom. But along with the blooming are also our raging allergies...

We had a great weekend and Joe did a bunch of house stuff. He scrubbed the algae/green stuff off the house and the shed, he began to paint the kitchen cabinets (we're going to look for a different color, so it's on hold), he put on some screens so we can open the sunroom windows (YAH!), he weeded my peonies so they would not get choked, he repotted my new plant by the front door, he painted/removed rust from our front porch railing, he raked up old leaves and weeded this very overgrown spot in the backyard, he took out the patio furniture, last weekend he went to the dump to get rid of all this junk/wood that the previous owners of our house left here, he also babysat for me so I could get some time away both on Saturday and Sunday! PHEW. I am tired just from writing this.
Thanks Joe!

Do we know what really happened on 9-11?

First, let me say that I shudder to think that any government entity had any foreshadowing of the horrible events of 9-11, much less had an active part in planning and executing it. But, I will also say that there are many unresolved mysteries surrounding the event that make me think that, at the least, we are not getting the full story.

Some of the many questions that bug me:

1. Why did both towers fall down after burning only less than 2 hrs? A skyscraper in Venezuela burned for 17 hrs and still stood. One in Madrid burned for 24 hours and still stood. And, in fact, there are only three documented cases of buildings collapsing because of fire. They are WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7 (which wasn't even hit by an airplane, btw).

2. Steel melts at approx. 2000 degrees F. Jet fuel burns at approx. 1300 degrees F. You do the math.

3. How were all four black boxes on the WTC planes completely incinerated, yet the intact passport of a terrorist, made of paper was found intact?

4. Why has the government not released the surveillance tapes of the plane hitting the Pentagon?

5. Why did the wings of the Pentagon plane "disintegrate" without breaking out the window frames on either side of the impact area? Where was the tail section wreckage? The engine wreckage?

There are many more, but I won't go on here. And lest you think I've turned into some crackpot nutcase, I'm in pretty elite company:

Here's San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford's column on the subject.

And here is New York magazine's take on it.

Finally, here is an excellent video documentary called 9/11 Loose Change that brings up a host of troubling questions surrounding the events of 9/11 and how the facts don't seem to jibe with the official storyline. Please watch this before thinking that it's all bullcrap.

The point here? We deserve a more thorough examination of the events surrounding the most heinous terrorist act in the nation's history. The victims deserve it, and so do we, the Vox Populi.

Fabu

Check me out...I SO have to recreate this outfit for Sylvia. I love it!
Also, I think Sylvia has my body, what do you all think? :O)
That's me at the beach w. my uncle feeding me some food.
Thanks Mom for getting me copies of these photos; they're the BEST!

Holy overtones, Batman!

So pretty much everyone reads comics as a kid, right? Well, the folks over at Superdickery.com decided that it would be fun to go back as adults and take a second look. What they found was interesting:

1. Superman is a total dick. The guy is constantly killing Batman, Jimmy Olsen, Wonder Woman, and even his beloved (or is she?) Lois Lane...again and again.

2. The guys drawing these comics back in the day were either really naïve or really naughty. After viewing some of the "unintended sexual meanings" cartoons, you MUST come to the conclusion that they were the latter. If you need examples, you can look here. But, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED, DO NOT LOOK AT THIS ONE. (I'm serious, don't look.)

3. Batman and Robin were gay. Look, this disturbs me as much as it does the next red-blooded American male, but the proof is in the pudding, folks. Read these comics! The truth will horribly reveal itself!

4. The guys that drew Wonder Woman just wanted an excuse to draw sexy girls in bondage. I mean, week after week, issue after issue, Wonder Woman is bound with chains, with ropes, with her own frickin' golden lasso. It's amazing, really, that she ever got out of the house.

Great weekend!

My Mom and Dad came up this weekend to babysit so Jenny and I could have a couple "nights on the town."

On Friday, we went to a fabu St. Patrick's Day party hosted by our friend Ed in D.C. The party was PACKED (at least 100 people in his two bedroom condo), and we lots of really nice folks.

During the party folks were giving out stickers for the benefit of single folks, gold stars for gay singles, and American flags for straight singles. Married folks like us were out of luck, alas. Of course, as usual, I was instantly asked if I wanted a star, since I looked so obviously gay. It's got to be the glasses.

On Saturday we went back into D.C. to Dukem, our newest favorite Ethiopian restaurant with two more new friends that Jenny knows from the neighborhood. The food and conversation were both excellent. Man I love Wats.

It was, of course, great to spend more time with my Mom and Dad, and the baby was LOVING her extended granmagrampa time.

To round things off, we planted some shrubs, bulbs, and seeds, and I hauled a crapload of junk from behind my shed to the bed of my truck. Looks like a trip to the dump is in order. The Spring cleaning frenzy starts now, people.

Comment problems fixed!

Hi everyone!

I was just alerted that when people have been trying to comment on our blog, it wasn't working properly....

I've fixed the problem now, I think, so please comment away!!!

J,J, & S

Future pianist?

We went down to Joe's parents' house this past weekend and Sylvia indicated that she'd like to play the organ. So, here she is, playing her debut piece, "Minuet in Geeh:"

Generation Make

It seems that DIY is quite the rage these days. The hipster culture has embraced everything from quilting to cooking to wine making to guitar amp building, and personally I think that's pretty freaking cool.

I learned my DIY skills from my dad and mom. My dad always taught me to break down problems into component parts and solve the bits to make the whole work. My mom was DIY when DIY wasn't cool, teaching herself to speak Spanish, quilt, paint, refinish furniture, etc.

I've refinished an old guitar, built a handful of amps of my own design (or based loosely on previous designs), made my own soccer goals, and done a few other neat projects.

If you haven't made anything with your own two hands, you should give it a try. It's a very rewarding feeling to use something that you have personally crafted.

Try these links on for size to get started building, cooking, knitting, whatever....

AX84: Build your own guitar amps!
Make Magazine
Indestructables: Millions of cool projects here
ReadyMade Magazine

BRRR

Well, I am happy to announce that it is currently 17 degrees here in DC.
I really want to go to sleep but am hiding out in our guest room b/c Ms. Sylvia is having sleeping issues due to teething and if I walk out in the hall she can "sense" me and pops up and wants to play. Oy. Hopefully Joe will get her back to sleep soon -- so I can go to bed also.
The weather has been so weird this past week. We had the major snow dump last weekend, then we had 3 days of ~60 degree weather, then on Friday we had major winds (so fierce that it ripped one of our storm windows off of the house), then today the temperature dropped to the bone chilling 17 degrees that I mentioned above.
We have a fire in the fireplace and plan on camping out at home tomorrow...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Love,
Sylvia

Knife fight in D.C.!!! I got on the news!!!

Holy. Crap.

So I'm walking out of my office to go to the dentist yesterday. I'm passing the little mobile hot dog stand outside my office's front door (the corner of 17th and L, NW--this is the HEART of downtown people!) when I hear shouting from my left. I turn to see a homeless guy and a Hispanic guy arguing loudly. Many "f%$ks and "hijo de p#$as" were heard. Like any red-blooded American male, I hark back to sixth grade and hang out to see the inevitable punch-up. That's when I see the knife.

The homeless guy is holding a big ol' hunting knife with a blade that looks to be about four or five inches long! Woah. I grab my phone and scream at them, "I'm calling 911 right now!" in the hopes that it would make the homeless guy run off. They both ignore me. The hispanic guy goes over to his three friends, one of whom hands him a handled box cutter to defend himself with. This is getting uglier by the minute.

As I'm on the phone with 911, out of nowhere a paramilitary looking D.C. cop comes striding down the street, gun drawn, shouting at the dudes to get on the ground. They do. Then up runs a TV cameraman and reporter, who happened to be driving by at the right time. As the cop is starting to arrest the hispanic guy, I went to the cop and told him that he was only defending himself. (We found out on the news later that he was not charged, thankfully.) Other cops quickly arrive on the scene, one of which takes my detailed statement, and the TV crew interviews me. Crazy stuff.

And then, at 11 o'clock, comes my brief moment of stardom. Sweet! Already, I've heard from two of my printer contacts that saw my interview on the news...it's only a matter of time before Hollywood comes calling. I won't forget you all at the Oscars.

Blog tagged!

Thanks Sarah! I'll do this one (Xose)

Four jobs I’ve had:
Printing salesman
Archaeological Assistant
Deputy Editor in Chief
Sales dork at Heck's Dept. Store

Four Movies I can watch over and over:
Star Wars
This Is Spinal Tap
The Jerk
The Blues Brothers

Four Places I’ve Lived:
Montgomery, WV
Oviedo, Spain
Oakland
Durham, NC

Four TV shows I love:
Buffy
The Shield
The Wire
Angel

Four places I’ve vacationed
Chile
Morrocco
England
Finland

Four of my favorite dishes:
Asturian Fabada
Spanish chorizo
Jenny's pork chops, kraut, and apple sauce
Pote Asturianu

Four sites I visit daily:
AX84
Questionable Content
Diesel Sweeties
Asturian-American Migration Forum

Four places I would rather be right now:
At home with Jenny and Sylvie B.
On the river in WV
Honalulu
London

Four bloggers I’m tagging:
No tags....

photos from the weekend