My late father-in-law offers his own candidates for Coffee Mug of the Year, both thrown, glazed, and fired by his grandson.
We miss you, Ba.
Son can Kick
One field goal. 70,000 spectators. $1,000. He has now made more money playing sports in front of more people than anyone else in our family.
Thank you, #UCLAAthletics, #Allstate, and the Palmisano family!
Post Meeting Snack
Finishing up a Thursday night meeting around 8:30, we were both starving and I was way short on calories.
The sidewalks roll up early in our little beach town, so we found ourselves at IHOP. Unperturbed, Aaron ordered two full entrees: T-bone steak and eggs, and tri-tip ends and eggs. And yes, he ate it all.
He probably ate five times the calories I did, but I’m 58 and on maintenance, and Aaron is 21 and bulking up for intramural basketball. He can get away with it: I can’t.
As an aside: there is nothing like father-son bonding over late-nite diner food.
What’s Your Sign?
When we get together with a group of friends, often the conversation turns to the Chinese Zodiac and who is what sign. We talk about how Aaron is a Horse, like his grandfather, and how Sunny is a Goat, though also a bit of a Monkey. When it gets to me, I modestly note that I am a Dragon.
The last time we had this discussion, one of Sunny’s friends asked, “what kind of dragon: fire, wood, earth, water…” Sunny felt compelled to look over at me disparagingly and volunteer, “he is a Gas Dragon.”
Given how my digestive tendencies have evolved of late, I find myself unable to contest this.
Later, looking through my Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual, I found one. Picture appended.
The good news is that the next time I run a D&D adventure, I have the perfect beast or NPC to drop in at level 12.
Kick-Back Stack
Sunny’s eyes just about came out of her head when the waitress at Kick Back Jack’s set these monster blueberry pancakes down in front of her.
My dear wife had her revenge, though: she made it through about 80% of this massive stack, then jumped back into the car and drove another four hours.
Never underestimate the ability of a thin person to make food just seem to disappear.
For the record, I only ever attended UCLA as a summer program participant and an extension student. But my father and my son are both Bruins, so I claim association via legacy.
Bruin Ball
Things I thought I would never see: UCLA Football in the top 10 nationwide. Somebody pinch me.
The heater on the second floor is working. The heater on the ground floor is kaput. The thermocline halfway down the stairs was brutal this morning.
September Progress Report: De-Amazoning
In our first month of cutting our ties with Amazon, we have taken the following steps.
1. Spouse cancelled her Prime subscription
2. Shifted all book purchases to a trustworthy list of independent booksellers, with Powell’s as our primary go-to.
3. Cancelled all “subscribe-and-save” subscriptions and found new and economical sources or substitutes for those items.
4. Ceased purchase of all Kindle books and began buying used hard copy editions from independent bookstores.
5. Began transcribing my Amazon Prime Music playlists in preparation for terminating Prime and beginning a long term effort to acquire LPs, DVDs, and legitimate digital recordings of my favorites.
A Bucket and a Pen 