Happy Birthday Amy Lang!

hope it's a great one...and I hope you don't have to grab anything too large with your creepy small hands.

cutest thing since Nick in a pink bunny costume

This pic made my day:

Someone's drunk in the kitchen

As if I couldn't do 90% of his routines from memory already, I'm going to see Jim Gaffigan perform live in Portland on Friday. I'm going with my roommate Maria and 3 of our friends who have heard of him but don't really know what he's all about. I hope they don't get annoyed when I start saying "HOT POCKET" in falsetto during the show.

Jealous? Of course you are.

The end of Cal's football revolution?

Well, its been a great ride. Our hopes for the season were raised higher than ever before, but after watching last night's game, it feels more like the Holmo Era than any time since 2001. Sure, we catch a few more passes than we did in the late 90's, but the quality of the play calling seems strangely familiar ("Up the middle" anyone?).

I think there is a silver lining, though. Remember when we were terrified by some Big 10 school recruiting Tedford away from our cracked and cramped stadium. Michigan is probably feeling pretty good about their coach right now, since he has slowly crawled back up the rankings to #15 after an embarrassing loss to Appalachian State. Meanwhile, Tedford has managed to take his team from #2 in the country to irrelevant in just 21 days. It reminds me of how our team could manage to give up 21 points in 2 minutes under Holmo.

For better or for worse, we may not need to worry about losing Tedford after this season.

My own fire update

The red part is the Santiago fire in Orange County. The bright green marker is my parents' house.

Disco Inferno

So I thought I would give you the latest on the San Diego fires. They are already 10 times worse than the fires a few years ago. Both my Aunts and Uncles have been evacuated. One set is living with my parents. John is living with me on a voluntary evacuation. The air was just too bad where he was. Here in PB things are ok. There are clearly a lot of evacuees around here because there is NO parking anywhere. John and I just got out of the water after what was actually an amazing surf session. 3-5 feet, glassy rights and lefts perfect for longboarding. Long rides, clean lines, cool water. I have to say though that I felt a little like Nero, fiddling while Rome burned. But the news said we should stay off the road, don't use cell phones or appliances, and generally stay out of the way. Well surfing was none of those things so in a small way we were doing our part. In all seriousness though John and I are trying to figure out where we can pitch in and are looking for volunteer opportunities. I don't have any money or stuff to donate but there are about 10,000 people at Qualcom Stadium and they might need some help. All reports say that the relief efforts so far are going really well. But we just got word that FEMA is on the way, so we expect everything to go to shit pretty soon. Someone's gonna do a heckufa job on something. But the family and everyone I know is fine. Thanks for asking. More to come.

We are so screwed...

Does everyone realize that we just lost to a team that was beaten badly by Notre Dame, who was slaughtered by USC, who lost to Stanford. Basically, we suck far worse than anyone thought.

The Back Up

wow

Canada is Weird

Erin is right. Canada is weird. And cold.

They've already started minting coins to commemorate the 2010 Olympics. Wes, I brought a quarter home for you. It features a proud member of Canada's Olympic team: The Curler.


I was also attacked by a crocodile.


The food was amazing. Nick, the streets really are paved with smoked meat, and it is delicious.

My Front Yard

This tree is right outside my front yard. Its monstrous and beautiful. Its changed colors twice in the last week. I took this picture yesterday.



PS - You know that smell right after it rains? You know the smell of a wood fire far off in the distance? Combine those two - it pretty much smells like that here all the time.

Things I learned during my weekend in DC:

1. John Fenwick was the first European to settle in West Jersey. I learned this at the John Fenwick Service Area. Fascinating.

2. I am out of shape enough that Wii sports make me tired.

3. The Bears are STILL the Bears - infuriating, yet slightly comforting.

4. The state of Delaware is good for nothing but tolls: 14 miles of road and $9 worth of tolls to be exact.

5. My music collection is horribly outdated. Am taking any and all recommendations of good new stuff.

6. Washington-Dulles Airport is in fact in Virginia, which IS NOT on the way to New York from Washington DC. In fact, it is approximately 46 kilometers in the opposite direction of New York, in case anyone was wondering.