Monday, December 30, 2024

2024 Year in Review: Posts

UPDATED!

Is this how we do this?

We just returned from 11 days on the road, and besides my ear canals being full of liquid, I'm making time now to go through my posts and put up some links here like I've done in the past. Again, mostly for me to be able to find them quickly.

Anyway, here they go:

  1. Ben Hur for Corrie's Birthday
  2. Norville Morriseau
  3. Cynthia Ann Parker
  4. Some Random Scooby-Doo Thing
  5. "Life is Hard" Files
  6. Some Watch BS (Part 2)
  7. The End of Tapped Out
  8. Best Halloween Ever
  9. Netflix Christmas Universe
  10. Harrison Farm Centennial
  11. Funny LA Vandalism
I think that's it...well, maybe this piece about spice snail broth noodles should be mentioned, too.

Anyway, Happy New Year! Our road trip that just concluded was epic, and will be here soon, along with, er, dozens of pictures...White Christmas and all!

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Double Rainbow Kind of Day

It wasn't a crazy "double rainbow," meme-ish thing, rather at two dioffeent times and places in the same day, I saw and took pictures of rainbows. 

It makes a certain sense, since rainbows are the result of specific weather conditions---recent rain, patchy clouds and incoming sunlight---and we got all that.


In the early afternoon, and then the later afternoon, at home, from the balcony:


Weather phenomena remind us that we're all just here, watching light bounce around.

Monday, December 9, 2024

Thanksgiving in Solvang

This year we went to Solvang to Auntie Anne's and Uncle Val's to celebrate Thanksgiving. My cousin Jake---two weeks older than me---and his wife and son also ascended to the southern portion of the Central Coast for the days, as did some more-removed family units from further afield. Katia and her brother Benny live San Diego way, they joined us with Benny's girlfriend Caspar. Kat and Benny are in the same generation as Cass, Camille, and Jackson (Jake's son), but are under 30, and their great-grandmother was the first cousin of my---and Jake's---grandmother.

Anne and Val know them quite well, dating back to when they were kids in New Jersey.

Anywho, I cooked the meal, and while we had a smattering of vegetarians and a vegan, I think there was enough food for everyone. I do think I overcooked the turkey, but that's me being hard on myself. Uncle Val showed Cass how to play Call of Duty, and Cass's FPS sills are pretty damn good.

I crashed pretty hard after finishing dinner on Thursday, and needed to rest, having fended off sickness for two weeks by then. But as I chilled in the recliner, as Cass and Camille and Jackson settled in, Uncle Val put on the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones movie. I missed a fair amount of it, but now I'd like to put eyes on it again. It wasn't so terrible!

I really only got pictures of the rad sky over the Central Coast.


The storm never hit us, but the sky looked very interesting.

Cass made quick friends with Anne and Val's new puppy, Logan:


And Camille liked being silly for the camera (as is the case most always):


It was a grand time with family, and while Anne and Val don't have kids of their own, they got to play grandma and grandpa for a few days, and that's always fun.

Friday, December 6, 2024

The Last Tube (Pour some out for the homies...)

Yikes:


This is the last tube of Trader Joe's toothpaste in our possession. We would normally buy four or five at a time. It's the best stuff out there. The store's been out for months as our supply dwindled. "In November," one worker there told me. 

Now it's December and the only word is from Internet sleuths and TJ managers saying that the company has changed vendors. Often times these changes lead to differences in the product, and we fans all hold out hope tat it will remain the best.