Geoff's Uncle Maurie treated us to a special brunch today at the newly renovated Cliff House. What a great job they did with the building!  The new dining area on the north side has fantastic views of the rocks and seals.  Grand windows look out over the ocean, and light and surf is brought inside at every turn. Our family has a long tradition of leisurely brunches at the buffet. The harp is still there, and the food was, if anything, better than we remembered. Click for photographs of the new Cliff House and our brunch.

Current count 2373 songs, 5.8 days of music, 7.65 GB. (Maxtor 250GB external drive shipped Thursday and due to arrive by next Friday)

Today's LJ play session was a couple hours of mulling over of S2 Component layout advanced options. Wonderful geeky stuff, and complex enough to keep me from tweaking the journal's look... probably for quite a while. The only external change I managed today was to include a "Link for this entry" on every entry. I copied that completely from the Component Help journal, and don't even like the way every entry gets the message. My journal entries and those on my friends' page that already have comments on them now have two identical links to the full entry. One says [...]

Starship Captain! by UberdudeUsernameWhat is the name of your starship?Uptight First OfficerfuzzygrufChallenged Helm/ NavigationcjsmithToken Alien ScientistfyellinTarty Nymphomaniac YeomanallanhSubstance Abusing Ship's Doctorotterpop58Ensign Smith (aka "the victim")krisjensenShip's Engineer /Drunkotterpop58Arch Nemesis Alien CommanderallanhYour ship's secret weaponTribblesHow does your mission end?Ship's Doctor busted for possesionQuiz created with MemeGen! Now this is the type of blog I didn't expect ever to do. It's fuzzygruf's fault for having furfairy as a friend. It's not my fault. Really.

I know how I'm supposed to get in trouble at the gym.  I read all the signs in the locker room about what will get me on management's black list. But, I did it a different way. I went up to the desk at Brannan Street Gold's Thursday morning just after they broke into the house music to deliver a 30-second spiel on their sun tanning booth special.  I told the desk clerks that I really didn't like having commercials interrupting the background music, especially since we're kind of a captive audience while working out. "We tell people about the [...]

This quotation is the best one in  Fortune's February 7, 2005 article on the tech trends.  The story is Why There's No Escaping the Blog  and the comment is from Steve Hayden, vice chairman of advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, which creates blogs for clients. I guess blogging must be passe, though:   it's being featured in business magazines.  Damn!  I just started, and I am already behind on the culture curve.

Yes! This is a grammar book that's been at the top of the best seller lists in Great Britain and in the United States. A best-selling book focused on punctuation? Kinda freaky, eh? The trick is that Eats, Shoots & Leaves is written which such humor and helpfulness that its success also feels good. I want Lynne Truss to become fabulously wealthy and a role model for budding word geeks everywhere. Its commercial popularity is due to more than a "revenge of the nerds'" buying ecstasy.  The chapters contain real guidance for writing clearly while offering an iconoclastic tartness to counteract the potentially dry [...]

Just took down the flag which has been flying out our window since Inauguration Day -- we flew the gay flag that day and left it up in lingering commentary. Monday we flew the American flag in honor of Martin Luther King. Makes sense to me.

I bet my parents would never have been offered braces when they were in their 50's.  People that old weren't expected to be around long enough to care if their teeth snarled or fell our in 10 years. It certainly would not seem worth the effort.  "Let them be -- pull them if they are a problem and get a bridge." We care now. 50 is not so old, bordering on ancient, that all but comfort care is withheld.  The news media can talk about the great studies on longevity and the change in society's attitudes on aging.  But, it's [...]

My mind has been stuck in "receive only" mode for nearly a week. Last Thursday we heard Senator George McGovern (pictured left) talk about American foreign policy at the Commonwealth Club. Friday we listened to Tony Kushner (pictured right) chat on stage with Berkeley Rep's artist director, Tony Taccone.  Saturday both Geoff and I went to an all-day class on Spiritual Paths and Practices Among the World's Religions at the Unitarian Universalist church.  There were only five of us in this class:  Geoff, a nurse, two ministers, and me.  George Williams, the man who conducted the session, is a former Cal [...]