Vegging out

The veggie garden survived the hailstorm pretty well (this picture was taken right after planting). The bell peppers are growing. No snap pea shoots yet (planted out of view of this photo). In the rear corner is lemon balm. Our yard is crazy with it, and we used to pull most of it out because it can take over but have since learned its value for tissanes (like a tea) and body products. Supposedly it's also good for calming dogs, though we have yet to brew any for Esther.

Speaking of Esther, check out Kat's May 30 entry for a funny pic.

All hail breaks loose

We kept hearing that a cold front was moving in, but all day it had been pleasant and sunny out. Then it got overcast for a while. Next thing we know, bam! Here comes the hail! It lasted only about two minutes but managed to pelt the poppies and columbines, and it turned the street white. Crazy! Now it's just raining. Of course it is. It's Tuesday, the start of my weekend!

The life of Reilly

Charles Nelson Reilly has departed this mortal coil at age 76.

Best remembered by me as a regular on "Match Game" (best game show ever!) and as Horatio J. Hoodoo on Sid & Marty Krofft's "Lidsville."

Trivia I just learned about CNR on IMDb: He met "Match Game" host Gene Rayburn while serving as Rayburn's understudy on Broadway in "Bye Bye Birdie." He was a several-time Tony nominee and one-time winner. He and his partner were together for 27 years.

Quote: "When I die, it's going to read, 'Game Show Fixture Passes Away.' Nothing about the theater or Tony Awards or Emmys. But it doesn't bother me."

Season's weedings

	My neighbor Cristine & I decided to try planting a little vegetable garden around the side of the house in a cute little structure that a past tenant built. It was completely full of weeds when I started (these photos are after pulling about half of them).
	Today we planted tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, crookneck squash and seeds for sugar snap peas. I would show you a photo of our handiwork, but with the rain that's currently coming down, I'm guessing it's a bit flooded (and possibly the peas have washed away). Will include a shot when it dries out a bit. I noticed the Anaheim already has a small pepper growing. We had great luck with peppers last year; so-so luck with tomatoes. We made sure to cage them this time, as last time they were too unwieldy.

P.S. Thanks to Kat for teaching me to make html tables. I'm still learning, but this is my fanciest one yet!

New blooms

The backyard gets better all the time. Actually, the bleeding hearts have been around for a while. They're my favorites.

Our niece!

Here's Rebecca, all swaddled up. Look at that hair!

Craigslist rocks!

We just posted our second item for sale on Craigslist, and both times, the first person who's come to look at the item bought it.

We got this fabulous turquoise (though it looks more sea green here) sectional in Albuquerque at a thrift store. It has never fit in our place here (the setup in the photo is for sale purposes only; we had it split into different rooms and one piece stored in the basement). It's super-cool but just not practical for our narrow turn-of-the-century rowhouse, and besides we have a brand-new couch on order. The dogs' little nails also did a number of some of the cushions, but we still managed to sell it for the same amount we paid for it. The only downside is we agreed to hold onto it for three more weeks, when the buyer moves into her new place.

While the woman was here looking at it, Angus & Esther hopped up to lie down, and then little neighbor Grayson came in and started jumping up and down on it. Luckily, the woman is really laid back and said she didn't mind at all. "It'll probably have a wine stain on it a week after I get it," she said.

We have a bunch of other stuff in our basement taking up valuable storage space that's going on next. Craigslist makes it so easy to sell (and it's a free service), there's no reason not to. So there you have my testimonial!

Call me Auntgela!

Michael (aka Munchael) and I have a niece! Rebecca Ellen was born on Mother's Day, 8 lbs. 13 oz., 20 inches long. Congratulations and all our love to Leah & Kyle!

Creatures great & small

Summer's almost here, and our yard has been dog central. Two of our more recent neighbors have brought new dogs into the mix. There's Morris, the "gentle giant" American bulldog who, if you just saw his backside, you'd think was a tiger. He is gigantic but the most mellow dog of the lot. Our dogs are still getting used to him. Though he's calm and slow, his size intimidates them a little. The newest member of the commune is Radar, a golden retriever puppy. There is a reason all those commercials use golden puppies. They have the most adorable faces and are fuzzy and snuggly.

Radio days

If you're bored, go to This American Life to hear my radio moment. My friend Dan in Louisville put together this segment and interviewed some of his friends on their "Zoom" recollections. Click on "full episode" to listen. The "Zoom" segment doesn't start until about 4:40 minutes in, if you want to "zoom" ahead. I'm in some of the early part of it, actually even singing part of the theme song on national radio. Ugh. The bulk of my interview comes in around 26:22 minutes. Pretty funny.

Actually, my best radio moment probably was talking to Bob Geldof on "Rock Line" in the late '80s. Of course, that conversation was much briefer and more one-sided.

And that's all I've got. Sorry no real posts. Maybe now that the weather is finally good for real (knock on wood), we'll be out and about more and have something to offer you.

Cuteness in the house

Our neighbor Grayson hung out this morning while his parents were working/running errands. He's just the cutest, sweetest kid.

Also, last week I started volunteering at the Dumb Friends League, where we adopted Esther. Today, in only my second week, I already managed to fall in love. There is a little skinny Chihuahua who is the spitting image of Angus. She isn't up for adoption yet, as she has some fear issues, but is enrolled in the "Canine Courage" program to get socialized. You could've fooled me. She is a super-sweet dog and loved my attention. She even has expressive eyes like Angus. So if anyone's in the market for Angus' double ...

Life in the city

Living close to downtown, we often find fliers left on our windshields, usually for clubs or DJs, but this is one is the best by far -- a drag-queen competition at the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Center, which, among other things, puts on the annual gay pride fest that starts in the park near our house. I only wish I'd gotten to see pix of the other candidates!

Happy Peepster!

Check out these brilliant uses of Peeps. My favorites are Mommie Peepest, The Peepsons, Reservoir Peeps, Little Miss Peep, Peep Haw and Say Anything.

Oh, and remember how spring was springing a few weeks ago? Well, now, snow is snowing. It's our third snowfall in the past two weeks. When does it ever end? It does remind me of the year it snowed on Easter back home once when I was a kid and, instead of a snowman, we made a snowbunny.

A 1 and a 2 and a 1 and a 2 and a 1 and a 2 and a 1 and a 3

Well, all I can say is it's a good thing the Oregon Ducks are in the Elite Eight to mix things up ever so slightly. Of course, given my marital lineage, I'd be cheering for them regardless of their seed, but, c'mon, 1's and 2's?! I stand by my earlier assertion that, overall, it's been a fairly boring championship.

I know my brother-in-law thinks it's only because of my bracket in his pool, but I have so many brackets in so many different pools, it's not about that. Just always nice to see some low seeds in the mix. Even with the nail-biters, they mostly came down to the higher seed winning.

So, that's all I have to say on that topic, except: May the better water animal win today in Ducks vs. Gators. GO DUCKS!

Spring is springing

Let the madness begin

Sheesh, what a boring NCAA Tournament so far. Give me some upsets!

A snowball's chance in hell ...

... is pretty good, as apparently we live there. Yesterday we were out in the bare-grass backyard with our neighbors, with temps around 55. Since early this morning, it's been snowing steadily (with no signs of stopping yet again), and I just cleaned off what looked to be 6 inches of snow from the car.

Sure glad we didn't get that carwash we wanted yesterday.

On a sweeter note, made King Arthur Flour's Apple Cobbler today to warm things up. That cookbook hasn't let me down yet. Unlike the #*%&#(*&%W#)*&% weather.

Oscars

As usual, I'm working on an awards night so get only a secondhand version of the goings-on and who wore what. I did take part in the Oscar pool at work and one online, but this year my viewing is pitiful. Of all the movies that received nominations, I've only seen "Little Miss Sunshine," "Little Children," "An Inconvenient Truth," "Jesus Camp," "Babel," "Borat," "Superman Returns," "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." So, really, very few of the major contenders.

My favorite movie of the year was "Sunshine," though frankly I was surprised to see it get nominated. It faces stiff competition from some heavy-hitters. I had high hopes for "Babel" but was really disappointed. It was too slow, too long and I didn't get enough of any characters to really care what happened to them -- not even Brad Pitt!

While all odds point to Eddie Murphy winning for best supporting actor, it's hard to cheer on the guy who's also currently starring in "Norbit." I may feel different if I'd actually seen the movie. Jackie Earle Haley is my sentimental favorite, and he absolutely has an award-worthy performance for his creepy yet heartbreaking turn in "Little Children."

Sounds like Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Hudson have the other awards wrapped up, and I have no real opinion on any of these categories. Of the supporting actresses whose movies I've seen, Adriana Barraza was the best, and her storyline in "Babel" was the most compelling.

Sheesh, what a lame blog entry. I guess next year I'll need to see more nominated films!

I wore no flowers in my hair

Nor did I see Haight-Ashbury or City Lights bookstore*, Pacific Heights or the Painted Ladies. But we had a blast in the Bay Area and covered a lot of ground while we were there, with lots of sights left on our checklist next time we visit. We stayed with Ann & Curt, who live in a super-cute area of Oakland called Rockridge. Had several meals and drinks in that area, including at the Conga Lounge tiki bar. Michael and I sampled the "Elixir of Love," similar to a White Russian.

Michael and I spent a day in San Francisco while Ann & Curt were at work. The weather was dreary during most of our trip, and while walking down Lombard Street, we got caught in a rainstorm. It was the first heavy rain for my new "raincoat," which I discovered isn't one at all, so I spent the next few hours trying to dry off and warm up. During our visit to the city, I had shrimp cocktail at Fisherman's Wharf, and we had Chinese lunch in Chinatown and chocolate from Ghirardelli Square. I think my favorite part of the city was the cable cars. They are charming and efficient, and it's amazing they can make it up and down all those hills.

We also caught up with Michael's crew of SF friends (sans our friend and wedding officiant, John, who's studying in Ireland) before heading to the gorgeous Art Deco Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Based on our past experience, Michael and I were excited to see opening act Neko Case but not so much main attraction Merle Haggard. Neko shone, as usual, and she always manages to hit every note (I'm betting the national anthem would be a piece of cake for her); Merle, not so much. And Merle's wife-backup singer, not at all. Ouch. (In Merle's defense, he had a cold, but it's the second time we've seen him, and both times he's just gone through the motions. And as Michael said, "I don't really like saxophone solos in my country music." I'm sure he put on a fantastic show back in the day.)

Ann & Curt took us to Sausalito before we flew out, and we got outstanding views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Also loaded up on saltwater taffy, which I love but my teeth don't.

The best of the rest:








Michael got his fortune from this mechanical lady at Musee Mecanique, a cool old-time arcade at the wharf. I would include the link, but as soon I went to the Web site, I got scary laughter and ventriloquist-doll-looking beings, so I steered away immediately. You can look it up yourself. Funny, it wasn't so creepy in person.


Musical monkeys at the Musee Mecanique. Some of the displays were macabre -- a man hanging from a guillotine and guys freaking out on visions in an opium den.


I had to see Lombard Street. I always associate it with the Barbra "I'm married to Dr. Kiley" Streisand and Ryan "I'm a mean dad" O'Neal flick "What's Up Doc?" but honestly don't remember if they even drove down it. I do know their zany antics in a stolen ice-cream cart take them down steep streets, through a Chinatown parade and through a truckload of chicken crates. Anyway, to me, Lombard Street has always been the quintessential San Francisco site.


A view from the Bay. I liked this little tugboat.


I took this photo for my mother-in-law, Becky, and because it struck me as funny. Akin to Ping's Home Cooking.


Cool sign on the BART (Bay Area Riders Together) train.


An adorable Chihuahua, Prada, at an upscale pet store in Ghirardelli Square. She was full grown, but I'd bet anything this is what Angus looked like as a puppy.

***

*While we got no dose of the Beats in their native habitat, Michael and I did see part of benzedrine-amped Jack Kerouac's typed scroll of "On the Road" at the Denver library recently. Cool to see, even though I'm not a fan of the book. No photos allowed, though I did get this shot of Flat Stanley hanging with Gregory Corso, Kerouac, David Amram and others. The photo was among those accompanying the OTR scroll (Kerouac spent a lot time in Denver, apparently). As for Flat Stanley, he's wrapping up his whirlwind tour of Denver and ready to return to my goddaughter Claire in Indiana.

Getting back to my roots

I was getting tired of having eyebrows that were darker than my red hair (though now they are lighter than my hair), so I dyed it "dark brown." Michael assures me it's brown, though it looks more black to me. I am getting used to it, but it is darker than I'd planned (so now I'll get light roots, and the gray ones will particularly stand out). Anyway, I was ready for a change. With me, who knows if it will last. I think a few people at work might do a double take when they see me since they've only know me as a redhead.


Ann's blog reminded me to take photos of Valentine's flowers (though, in our case, they were anniversary flowers). Michael got me lovely organic orange roses (they were out of carnations); the yellow tulips are from our neighbors Cristine, Shane and Grayson.

Michael and I celebrated our third anniversary with dinner at Red Tango in Wheat Ridge, a suburb about 20 minutes away. I had a black-bean ravioli in gorgonzola sauce with grilled chicken; he had barbecued pork loin with chipotle sauce.

Oh, and it's been snowing. As of the 20th, we will have had snow on the ground for two solid months.

Next up: Photos from our Bay Area trip.