Day 142 - Memorial Day Project

In the 11-year lifespan of my car, it has never once spent the night in a garage.

Until tonight.

Took me most of the day to clean out the garage, then another hour to wash the car, but for the first time ever, my clean car goes in a clean garage.

Random Baseball Musings

For some strange reason, during one of last week's Blue Jays / Mariners games, the good folks at Safeco Field in Seattle decided to close the roof in the bottom of the third inning. With two runners on. And Ichiro at bat. Thankfully he had the good sense to step out of the batter's box until the roof's shadow had moved behind him. Which begs the question: If the sun was shining, why close the roof?

Just wondering.


And is it my imagination, or is Casey Kotchman standing awfully close to the plate for an on-deck hitter? Usually the on-deck circle is just beyond the dugout steps, but Kotchman seems like he's more toward behind home.

Again, just wondering . . .

Day 141 - Alphabet

Last of the letters I've shot . . . gotta go get the rest.

Art Project

This is for reader Chicago Dave (who's married to Margie), and is my source for all things Cubs-related.

My boss and I are both baseball fans and like taking stadium panoramas whenever we go to games. Since our offices are right across from one another, we decided to create our own custom art installation with pictures we've shot ourselves (see above). He took the top and bottom ones (Dodger and old Yankee Stadium, respectively) and I took the one in the middle (new Busch in St. Louis).

But we have another blank wall in need of some . . . "enhancements." We've looked at Fatheads (blech, too expensive) and other pre-made artwork, but then got the brilliant idea to create an out-of-town baseball scoreboard with the standings of all six divisions that could be updated daily. I made a quick mock-up (see below), and we're going to proceed slowly as not to offend those with non-baseball sensibilities.

Day 140 - Alphabet

Do you?

Undeserved Love

Talent is defined as "a special natural ability or aptitude," but that doesn't even come close to describing Jana. For reasons that I could never justify or explain, she made a quilt for me. By hand. Not just any quilt, but one with such detailed and intricate panels, it's simply stunning.


Words can't even describe how in awe I am of Jana's talent, or how appreciative I am of this wonderful gift. Someone asked me when she gave me the quilt what I did to deserve it, and my answer's still the same - "Absolutely nothing."

It is truly a work of art, one that I will forever cherish. Thank you, Jana . . . you're the bestest.

Day 139 - Alphabet

Day 138 - Alphabet

In-N-Out . . . so good, yet oh so bad.

Day 137 - Alphabet

Day 136 - Alphabet

This is from the Def Jam Records sign, next to Interscope . . .

Day 135 - Alphabet

Interscope Records is just down the street . . .

Day 134 - Alphabet

Wanted to wait until I had all the letters, but I need to burn off some days . . .

Day 133 - Guest Photographer

Aunty Lou requested this shot of me shooting the pinacate beetle; she's convinced I deleted the picture. My apologies for the lack of focus; certain individuals aren't quite clear on what MANUAL focus means.

Day 132 - People I Dig

H-Mac is one of those incredibly talented people who you just know is destined for greatness.

Day 131 - Bugs

Thank goodness my sister didn't know how to focus my other camera, otherwise there would've been a picture of me flat on my stomach shooting this pinacate beetle, or as it's more commonly known, a stink beetle.

Day 130 - Gardens

It's amazing I even spotted this tiny grasshopper(?) in the garden, and it's even more amazing that it stayed still when I moved the camera in. Click on the picture for a closer look.

Day 129 - People I Dig

Uncle Don is my father's oldest brother, wise beyond his years, kind and gentle like few others, and laughs often.

Day 128 - Laughter

I'm convinced we don't laugh enough, certainly not this kind of laugh. I love my cousin / brudder from anudder mudder John and his wife Jana tons.

Day 127 - Bringin' the Cheese

White chicken enchiladas with lots of melty cheese . . .

Day 126 - Gardens

No idea what this is, but it's in my sister's garden, and it's pretty.

Day 125 - Eye See You

Hi Cam!

Day 124 - Gardens

My sister has the most unique plants in her garden - this is a kangaroo paw plant.

Day 123 - People I Dig

TD's birthday is May 4th, a day she happens to share with Star Wars geeks across the universe (May the Fourth . . . Be With You). She was a good sport about the whole thing and has been a breath of fresh air in our department.

Day 122 - Sushi

Eating at Omino last night, I had the following: hamachi (amberjack), sawara (Japanese Spanish mackerel), shimaaji (white trevally), honmaguro (bluefin tuna), tobiuo (flying fish), hiramasa (yellowtail), Spanish mackerel, and shiromaguro (albacore tuna). The picture is of the hamachi . . .

Day 121 - Recording Studio

My sister was in the recording studio laying down piano tracks for an album she's playing on . . . nine hours for seven songs.

Day 120 - Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

Julia Child wrote in Mastering the Art of French Cooking that "you can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken."

Onion, garlic, lemon, flat-leaf parsley, and salt and pepper . . . nothing else.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Child