Another bike commute to jury duty today. An unexpectedly long lunch meant I got to really enjoy the awful Euro dance music coming from the Dance Zone kiosk on the Third Street Promenade today, where I chose to park my bike, eat my lunch, and read today’s adventure, The Shooting Star. I think the strongest […]

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After having pumped my tires on Thursday, cleaned the bike on Friday, and purchased a new lock cable on Saturday, I rode to jury duty for the first time – rode my bike, period, for the first time in a long time. The commute was not bad at all, just 20 minutes, much of it […]

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Another picturesque spot to do some reading: in Morro Bay, looking out at The Rock. King Ottokar’s Sceptre, which introduces us to the Balkan nations of Syldavia and Borduria, sets the scene for some of Hergé’s richest inventions, from the two nations’ cross-border rivalry to the maddening diva Bianca Castafiore. The travel brochure which Tintin […]

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I think you’d really have to stay at the Madonna Inn for a week or so to get the full effect, switching rooms every night to get a better sense of the variety of decor. Our “Bit of Solvang,” or a “Study in Blue,” as it could be called, was fine, but fairly unremarkable. The […]

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After attempting both new Santa Monica beer places for a special “end of a long week of jury duty” lunch — both the Fifth Amendment and West 4th/Jane were closed, despite advertising that they’d be open — I ended up at Le Pain Quotidien for lunch, where I enjoyed a tasty prosciutto sandwich and mint […]

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I moved a short distance from the County Building today to a shady tree in front of the Santa Monica Civic Center to spend my lunch break. Next up in the Tintin Canon is Tintin in the Congo the most controversial Tintin book – for good reason – and another one that I only have […]

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My new job could be a lot worse. I get to work in Santa Monica, my commute is pretty short – ten or twelve minutes – I’ve got free parking, I only work five hours a day, I’ve got an hour and a half for lunch, and I don’t take my work home with me. […]

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We’re in the middle of another brief, enjoyable trip to Alaska. We all ran the Snow City 5k this morning, and followed it up with a tasty lunch at the Moose’s Tooth. We’ve spent the rest of the time seeing the new sights around town – the Museum downtown, a new beer bar out our […]

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I watched the game and the final day festivities this morning, and it’s sad to see the place go. It was the home of my first major league baseball experience, and the park where I’ve seen the most games. I never saw a playoff game there, but those years I was living in Connecticut – […]

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I stopped by Opening Ceremony tonight before the Jon Brion/Nels Cline show that’s about to start, and checked out their Lego room. I don’t really know what to do with myself in a place like that, with clothes too expensive for me to even look at, and rooms whose gender emphasis I’m surely misinterpreting, leading […]

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We had a really great weekend in Anchorage, with lots of good family time, fun with Scott cleaning out the basement (sounds fun, I know), a 5k race, and most importantly, a surprise dinner for my parents’ 40th anniversary that went off without a hitch. Aimee and I arrived late Thursday night, after a delightful […]

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This is one of those things I might normally post a del.icio.us link to, but I couldn’t resist on this one – Legos and archives, two of my favorite things… Watch the video and read the account of the tour of the Lego Vault, where one of nearly every Lego set ever made is kept […]

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I haven’t been living here long, and didn’t go there that many times, but I went as often as I could, as long as I’ve lived here, and I’m sad to see it go. Here’s to the Largo at the Coronet, we’ll see how it goes.

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It still seems slightly amazing that I can remember anything that happened nearly twenty years ago, but I guess I’m not in my twenties anymore, so I should stop being surprised. It’s Brent’s birthday today (he’s not in his twenties, either), and the combination of that event and the ubiquitous advertising announcing the return of […]

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