Deck Dog

Dustin and Glenkerry on the deck on a very pleasant Monday afternoon.


Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

The Perfect Wine with Fish?

White, of course!

Dustin and I had tuna sandwiches for lunch, and in keeping with that, sipped Chardonnay at beer thirty. Up to bat was 2007 Clos du Bois North County.

Too bad we couldn’t have drunk the wine with the sandwiches, or nibbled the sandwiches with the wine; another day perhaps.


Clos du Bois
Geyserville, CA
http://clodubois.com/

The Inaugural 2009 (Public) Deck Sit

It got a bit warmer today than yesterday, and was still quite nice at beer thirty, so we trouped out to the deck and reclined. Ahhhh!

Dustin brought back strawberries, a bottle of goji juice with citrus, and a bottle of Girasole Vineyards’ 2007 Chard from lunch and tucked them all in the reefer. At beer thirty, he poured about half-a-Chimay-glass worth of chardonnay, a couple of splashes of goji, and two or so sliced-up strawberries. My!! Very interesting! and very tasty!

The Inaugural 2009 Beer Thirty on the Deck

We didn’t do much sitting, so it’s not a Deck Sit yet…

Belgian was speaking, so Belgian it was, Affligem Dubbel. Interesting stuff. It’s quite dry, if you can call Belgian ale dry; not at all sweet, but certainly not hoppy. Curtis liked it pretty well; I’m pretty sure I do. I’ll just have to get another bottle, eh?

Their importer, Star Brand Imports, characterizes the Dubbel as “sweet”; I worry about what they’d call ”dry”.

Affligem’s Web site starts out with monks (presumably) chanting; very nice!

Meanwhile, Dustin was enjoying 2006 Folie à Deux Zinfandel from Amador County; the winery itself is Napa Valley-based, however. Dustin was quite happy with the Zin, as was I, having snuck a glass last night.

God and Friends

The last page of Reader’s Digest magazine is a collection of quotes revolving around a theme that changes monthly. The theme in the March 2009 issue is friends. The best one, attributed to anonymous:

“Friends are God’s way of apologizing to us for our families.”

Different Take on a Mess

Today’s Daily Thought from Real Simple:



I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

— Nancie J. Carmody

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Now playing: Frank Leister - Long and Far
via FoxyTunes

True Friends

Today’s Daily Thought from Real Simple:



True friends are those who, when you make a fool of yourself, don't believe that this condition is permanent.

— Erwin T. Randall

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Now playing: Moloney - Keane - O’Connell - Here I Am From Donegal
via FoxyTunes

Friends’ View

Today’s Daily Thought from Real Simple:



A friend is someone who sees through you and still enjoys the view.
— Wilma Askinas

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Now playing: Yolanda Kondonassis - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
via FoxyTunes

In the Mood

Went to see In The Mood at the Santa Cruz Civic with Kelly last night.

Wow!

Now, I’m not really a fan of big band/swing, but this was a spectacular show! The singing was pretty good, the dancing was great, and the orchestra, String of Pearls (rightly described on the Web site as sensational) made the show!! A great time was had by all.

I didn’t notice before the show (Kelly and I were busy chit-chatting), but was utterly gobsmacked to notice afterwards that the place wasn’t even half full… Santa Cruz, you missed a great time!

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Now playing: Andrea Bocelli - O Sole Mio
via FoxyTunes

Love and Hate, Friends and Enemies

From Quotes of the Day, today:

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

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Now playing: Don McLean - Empty Chairs
via FoxyTunes

The Inaugural 2008 (Public) Deck Sit

About the time Steve was knocking off work tonight, the topic of conversation turned to beer, as in Steve’s asking, “You have any around here, Mo!?”

Do I have any beer around? Oh, please!! A couple of bottles of Sierra Nevada 2006 Celebration Ale came out of the reefer and into the glasses and out we proceeded to the deck. It’s been in the low- to mid-70s during the day most of the week, so it wasn't at all uncomfortable.

We chatted about this and that, and were all quite impressed with the solar-charged night lights that Bob and I picked up at Home Depot last night.

Family, friends, a glass of good beer, doesn’t get much better…

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Now playing: Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
via FoxyTunes

Ouch! This One Hurts…

Today’s Daily Thought from Real Simple:




We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.

— Roderick Thorp

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Now playing: Chris Botti - Estate
via FoxyTunes

A Word (or two) to the Wise

Rules for Paramedics

What Else Is Family For?

Putting the Fun in Funeral

Randy is right: his wife, Kit, rocks!

Fish Fry!

The Men’s Club at St Mark’s threw their 5th annual fish fry this evening. The fish was quite tasty, and there were tenors and basses to be abused by.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

TO THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 30s 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright-colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms… WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live in us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent’s bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!

(Thanks to April for passing this along!)

Funeral For a Friend

Before we moved, I asked Tony to leave me on the choir mailing list, so I wouldn’t feel so lonely. It’s been interesting, comparing what Tony’s picked for Mass to what I pick when it’s my week, and when Tom Keens gets going, of course, it’s pretty hysterical.

This morning’s e-mail to the choir was entitled “Marisa’s Funeral Music”; Marisa is his 15-year-old daughter (his and Cindy’s 2nd)… Seems she was found at home Saturday morning…


Local girls’ basketball player found dead at 15
St Bede’s Announcements
Remembering Marisa
Marisa
In Loving Memory…
Three games enough
Remembering Marisa
Hundreds say goodbye to Marisa
School coping with student's death
Obituary
Obit Guestbook
La Cañada Flintridge Kiwanis AM
Sophomore Always Smiled
Area’s (girls’ basketball) teams will be young and restless

ST. BEDE THE VENERABLE
MUSIC FOR THE LITURGY
DATE: Saturday, October 23, 2004
TIME: 9:30 a.m.
LITURGY: Funeral Mass for Marisa

PRELUDE: harp music

ENTRANCE: Litany of the Saints – Becker

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Shelter Me, O God – B. Hurd

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION: Celtic Alleluia

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS: Be Thou My Vision – J. Rutter

HOLY: Mass of Creation

MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION: Mass of Creation

AMEN: Mass of Creation

OUR FATHER: chant

LAMB OF GOD: O Westron Wynde – H. Willan

COMMUNION: You Are Mine – D. Haas
God Be In My Head – J. Rutter
?

SONG AT FINAL BLESSING: Song of Farewell – E. Sands

RECESSIONAL: You Raise Me Up (solo: Lisa)

Hurricane Edith

Fr Mike dragged in this morning, looking really beat. He’d gotten the new (Tibetan Terrier?) puppy, to replace Mabel, on Monday. Besides all the usual harum-skarum of a puppy in the house, Archie (Mabel’s buddy-boy) was not pleased…

Fr Mike had gotten Edith a couple of stuffers, which she just loved. Archie got ahold of them, and wouldn’t let her have them back. He also dissected the squeakers out of ’em (I have a feeling there were more indignities perpetrated on the poor little things, but Fr Mike spared us the gories).

Seems like, for the nonce, the Bunkers are reigning supreme in the rectory!

Our First Earthquake

I'm feeling right at home now...

Brettford called to check up on us, and Yack and Patrick IMed me.

USGS's CIIM (Community Internet Intensity Map)
Preliminary Earthquake report - Magnitude 6.5 San Simeon Quake
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program - Northern California
TOPO map centered at earthquake

Santa Cruz Sentinel
AP, at the Sentinel
SF Chronicle (via AP)
CNN


IM w/ Patrick
1:41 PM
dieppe101: Back home? Feel the quake?
Mo! Langdon: Oh, yes, but it was almost a non-event here. Did you feel it?
dieppe101: The building 20 stories, was swaying back and forth.. I'm on 15th floor... lasted almost a minute I swear.
Mo! Langdon: Wheeeeee!!!
dieppe101: Felt queasy but beyond that not much.
Mo! Langdon: You should go here: http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/STORE/X40148755/ciim_form.html and fill out the form.
dieppe101: Eh, it was probably magnified cause of the way the building is made... best quake I've felt in a while though!
1:50 PM
Mo! Langdon: LOL!!
Mo! Langdon: Actually, I was thinking, while the shaking was going on, "Ah! I feel at home, now!"
dieppe101: Oh well nice to see ya'll for Xmas.. back to work for me!
dieppe101: Yeah! You were close to it too!
Mo! Langdon: Seems as though points south felt it *tons* more...
dieppe101: Yeah perhaps..


IM w/ Yack

1:33 PM
jckobzeff: Soooooooo, how was the quake?
1:35 PM
Mo! Langdon: Almost a non-event here... Check here: http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/STORE/X40148755/ciim_stats_1.html
Mo! Langdon: Did you feel it?
jckobzeff: Nope, just found out about it a few minutes ago....
Mo! Langdon: We felt it, and didn't think much of it, and hadn't gotten around to turning on the radio, so figured it was just a little local hiccup. One of my brothers-in-law called up, to make sure we were OK, and we got some of the gory details then. We've been checking out USGS, and the local news rag, etc.
1:40 PM
jckobzeff: OK, cool to hear that you all are OK... See ya!
Mo! Langdon: See ya!