On my list of things to do: Make one of these here trompe yer eye screensavers…
And get back to stuart about his novel.

On the plus side, it went smoothly enough at the tax place- half an hour, in and out… On the down or “delta” side, as we say in Santa Cruz non-profit circles, we owe more than a grand to the US government to spend on evil. The bloke was trying to get us to put money in IRAs or somesuch, which strikes me as a really bad acronym to use to encourage people to save. How’s about putting your earnings in a PLO or an ETA? Any takers? Thought not… Ah well. Feel strangely vindicated, I expected the worst and it happened. I always feel vaguely apprehensive when we get refunded money. So it’s all good. Anyroad, Liz & Mya are round and we’re going to watch Firefly, Joss Whedon’s sci-fi thing. Lovely.

Didn’t like the way our taxes looked when we tried e-filing last night, so we’re off to H&R block. Isn’t it grand being a grown-up?
If you’ve having trouble with the dropdown menu below, could you comment please? It should take you to the page, but i’m thinking maybe some early or ultranew versions of Internet Explorer won’t comply.
Have an educational yet depressing game of Top Trumps against the computer. I still haven’t beaten it…

{{popup klemluluinlove.jpg klemluluinlove 700×467}}klem & lulu in love Wrong on all kinds of levels. Courtesy of Jesse again.

Spent far too long making this drop down menu thing and there’s still a few which don’t work yet… Eeh well. I reckon we don’t need the moon phases thing neither now winter’s over and California skies stay clear for the next 9 months.

Click here for those pylon pictures I was on about. I’ve already alerted Flash. Not thrilling, I’ll grant you. When I used to play ‘I spy’ as a (v. young) lad on long motorway journeys, I’d always say HVOEW for High Voltage Overhead Electricity Wires every time. Which, looking back, didn’t bode too well for my social development. Still I live to tell the tale…
Read More “DANGER- High Voltage”

Just received this picture in an email from Jesse. Rather than grade papers he’s fired up photoshop and brought us this shot of Klem riding/replacing a horse…

Top-notch work, Sr. Barba. Many thanks. I especially like the way she leans into the curve. {{popup why.jpg why 450×338}}Here’s my attempt…

This link’ll take you to photos Sita took of the bunnies romp around the settees in our house last night. Good as gold the two of ’em. I’ve also just signed up for ‘pro’ membership of flickr.com and minutes after I forked over my credit card details heard it’s being bought up by Yahoo! and there’s going to be all kinds of improvements/ changes/ upgrades. Maybe I should’ve waited. Hey ho. I really like the whole community thing they’ve got going on there. That bloke from Davis who’d been to Santa Cruz and Taunton never got back to me mind, but I found out all about the umbrella man in SC thanks to one helpful flickr bloke.

Other news: I’m never sure how much info to share on this blog about other people (hence ‘self-absorption central’) but i think it’s now public knowledge that Scott & Becky’ve just had a baby boy called Leven and that Meghan and Tewbewks are wedlock bound. Am well happy for all you guys. (if you’d like me to remove this, just email me 😉 CONGRATS.

I’ve also just read Stu’s alternative plan for the 2nd half of his novel, it’s looking really good. I’ve got to let him know me thoughts sometime today before he goes and meets up with the bloomsbury peeps. As per usual I don’t have much to say except, fair bloody play. Shall have to think of something while i start photoshopping those pylons I mentioned last week.

Caption contest… comment below

Click the picture for the usual Picasa produced slideshow…

High time for a post, so here you go…
Basketball, bunnies, hummers, and clam juice.

Atticus has excelled himself. He’s been the very model of canine good behaviour from the outset and might even have won a reprieve in my affections. I especially like Sally’s new name for him, Asparagus.

Record time again for the homeward journey, 5 and a half hours. Sita drove the first 2 hours and i took photos out the window of pylons for Flash’s site. So if you’re into blurred pictures of industrial structures, check back here in 5 hours or so…
Read More “Just back from Los Angeles”

In Home Catering Menu (Chez Prit et Sam)

Hors D?Oeuvre served with Henriot, Souverain Brut,NV Champagne
Bouchee aux Champignon with mushroom duxelle and Gruyere Cheese

Tuna Tartine- Seared Fennel Crusted Tuna with Olives on Herb Toast
Salade D?Epinards- baby spinach, Roquefort, red grapes, walnuts, pears

Poisson- served with Chateau D’Aqueria, Tavel 2002 Ros?
Bouillabaisse- saffron based seafood stew

Volaille- served with Ch?teau La Roque, Pic Saint Loup, Languedoc 2002
Canard- seared duck breast, Camargue rice, orange gastrique

Dessert- served with Graham?s, Six Grapes, Reserve Porto
Fondant au Chocolat- served with espresso ice cream

And now I’m full. If I get the chance I’ll explain all about this post. Crazy busy and time for bed…

{{popup stpaddys.jpg stpaddys 800×533}}stpaddys
15 days to make a better one…

More photos from today’s walk with the dog up the coast by Davenport.

Similar pictures to a fortnight ago, except now there’s a few poppies out. Still featuring the patented Atticus-shakycam-action.

I saw these potatoes in Safeway today. They’re individually wrapped ‘Bakers’ with instructions on how to microwave them (‘7 minutes’). No warnings that once microwaved, contents may be hot.

Quietish day today, thanks for asking. Tanya, becky, scott and naiomi came round last night for another in our series of sophisticated dinner parties. at the end of the evening tanya and I finished a game of scrabble we’d started last monday at sita’s basketball game on me pda and we managed a draw. how often does that happen? very good use of the board too…

i bought meself Zuma and downloaded a demo of Text Twist too for the Palm which is grand. (Them there links’ll take you to the online versions which are fun enough too). So when we were walking Mr.A today I could stand outside Safeway and Blockbuster with him playing PDA games whilst sita shopped.

A friend of ours, Val, roped me into playing backing guitar for a song she’s going to sing at the 2005 Santa Cruz Queer Youth Leadership Awards. So today we auditioned at the diversity centre and got through to the next round… I’m doing the translation for the event again. It’s a laugh and all for a good cause. They wanted to know what we’d be wearing for the event and thought it strange we hadn’t the first clue. It’s not till mid april for christ’s sake… i’m thinking a cute little black number… but anyroad, val and her daughter Sage, took us out for lunch at the Walnut Avenue Bistro. Which was well nice… I’m starting to be a bit fussier about me food these days… a mixture of stress, more chewing than usual and old age has brought on Temporo-Mandibular Disorder whereupon my jaw is trying to escape from its hinges so i’m all about nice soft food and small little bites right now.

Young Mr.Craggs has been back in touch after I forwarded him an article from the taunton times about someone impaling themself on the gates of Vivary Park in Taunton. Which has some very similar details to an accident he himself had himself about 10 years ago… and that’s stirred up some interest in these here pages from the bristol, ahem, posse. Gav’s in Melbourne of course, now. I think i knew that…

Mother’s day tomorrow- Thanks for the reminder, Annelise, and me Grandma’s birthday any day now too. Am off to watch Curb your enthusiasm series 3. Couldn’t be collectively arsed to get to the cinema for The Aviator. Maybe next week. Possibly more blogging tomorrow. Got lots of translations to do. Stay in touch, like. Fond regards…

Web design? Social work? Oaxaca?

Just rang me Nanny to wish her a happy Saint David’s Day and in return she gave me a quick lesson in Welsh pronunciation. Bless. Promised to have a proper chat this weekend.