Alright, it’s probably time to post something “real” or “interesting”, so here goes. I played basketball early this morning (as is usual on Fridays) before Sarah got up to go to school. I played well and enjoyed myself (save for the little problem that I like to call my lower back). Sarah left for school a few minutes after I got home; she’s looking forward to the weekend but will have a lot of work to do tonight, as she is taking Monday and Tuesday off (Rebekah is visiting next week). Speaking of that, I should probably get to straightening the house.

Okay, I started to write this post, and then I realized I didn’t really have anything to say today. Sure, I could make things up or talk, as usual, about something inconsequential, but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll just

Hannah and Travis arrived safely in Michigan. I’ve almost got the house clean again. For a while, I contemplated buying a leaf blower, opening the doors and window, and just going crazy. You’ll note there that window (as opposed to windows) was not a typo: we have two doors but only one window. I don’t know many other houses that are similar. Actually, the last place we lived had exactly the same setup, so perhaps all apartments have a low window-to-door ratio. Personally, I’d rather see more windows. Since you’re now thoroughly bored, I’ll just leave you with that.

The view from Heisler Park

Crescent Bay

Today we went to Heisler Park and Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. The top three are at Heisler and the bottom is at Crescent.

I have a few more pictures to post, but I'll have to save that for later: Hannah and Travis are still snoring (and sleeping), so I can't turn on the light in order to see well enough to do the pictures. The weather has been great (74 yesterday), so they've been enjoying the pool and tennis court for the last few days. We went out for pizza on Wednesday (the local pizza place we always take visitors to), and yesterday we went to Fashion Island for a few hours in the evening. Hannah and Travis ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory; Sarah and I took our walk and looked at the puppies in the pet store. If Hannah and Travis decide to wake up today, we may do something, but that prospect doesn't look entirely promising...

As requested, here are the pictures of anonymous parents. Aren't they nice...

Above, some mollusks Sarah tried to eat. Below, the sunset off the coast of Little Corona.

Below, more mollusks.

Photos worked for the other blog but failed just in time for this one. I had some good ones too...

Above, I found an ax-murderer at Fashion Island.

Above, Hannah and Travis at Litte Corona. Believe it or not, they were standing knee-deep in the ocean. Okay, no they weren't, but it was fun while it lasted, wasn't it?

Below, what Hannah and Travis were doing before we agreed to take them out to do something fun.


Below, some monkeys attempt to ford a stream.

Alright! Pictures are working again. Unfortunately, it's almost bedtime, so I don't have time to do as many as you'd like. You read that correctly. Anywho, tomorrow I'll make an attempt to do some more. After church today, we went to Fashion Island, an upscale, outdoor mall in Newport Beach. After that, we stopped by "Little Corona", a beach known mostly only to locals and photographers (great spot for graduation and engagement pictures). I will see if I can post those pictures tomorrow. This shot was taken near "The Wedge", a famous surfing spot in Newport Beach (where a few people are paralyzed and/or die every year due to the rough surf and proximity to a rocky jetty). Across the bay from Hannah and Travis (to the left of Hannah) is a cove where much of Gilligan's Island was filmed.

Will try again to post pictures. Took some good ones today...

Blogger is still being persnickety. Definitely getting annoying.

Blogger is really starting to tick me off. Forbidden this. Pictures won't upload that. I have half a mind to ask for my money back, what with it being a free site and all.

To whomever it may concern:

Pictures were going to be posted today. Max and Sarah and Hannah and Travis went to the beach, looked at expensive houses, browsed in shops, ate lunch on Newport Pier, and took a frightfully exciting trip to Costco. As was noted, pictures were GOING to be posted today. Unfortunately, the good people at Blogger have been having some problems with their site as of late, and the pictures will not be posted today. Perhaps tomorrow things will be working again. Perhaps not.

The Management

Life is cyclical. Life is cyclical. I haven’t been feeling terribly creatively lately, and so the stream poems (which weren’t incredibly luminescent as it stands) has come to be less than a trickle. Who knows what will be next: short stories, long stories, news, lies, comedy, truths, basketball scores, pictures of monkeys. You just never know, and you’ll just have to wait and see what mood next strikes…

Yesterday’s day of basketball didn’t disappoint. Additionally, today’s day of basketball has just begun. I predict that some teams will win, while other teams will lose. On a sad note, I have a little cleaning to do, as Hannah and Travis arrive late this evening. Note that their arrival is not the sad thing, it’s more the cleaning.

Sarah has decided to start her own blog. If you’d like to view it, go to untenured.blogspot.com by clicking here.

Basketball on TV. Live, streaming basketball on the internet. It’s officially March. It’s too bad I have things to do: I’d really like to watch multiple basketball games at once for hours at a time. Who am I kidding; I don’t have things to do.

In important news, Monmouth thrashed Hampton in the NCAA tournament play-in game. They now have the honor of playing Villanova in the actual first round of the Big Dance. I bring it up solely to mention that Monmouth has a giant (7-2, 320 pounds) who never played basketball until college. Now he’s playing in the NCAA tournament. Who’s responsible for my genes?!? We need to have a chat.

In less important news, Sarah has more parent-teacher conferences today; though, the kids have the day off: she was pretty excited about that. I don’t have kids here with me today either. I’m pretty excited about that.

Monday saw me do little (if we’re assuming days of the week have vision, which we’re not). Sarah left frantically this morning, returning a while later for the things she’d forgotten, and I’m hoping that wasn’t the high point of her day. With parent-teacher conferences starting, you never can be too sure.

Go away.

Well, the weekend is almost over, and, may I say, good riddance. When you don’t have a job, weekends are just the time when things are more crowded than usual: the walking path, the beach, the grocery store, the living room, etc., etc. Hopefully no one with a job or weekday obligation reads this: I’ll probably have some hate mail in store.

Sarah and I didn’t do a ton. She did a little shopping. I did a little cleaning. We did some DVD watching (Andy Griffith marathon; Walk the Line). I think we went for a walk or two. I told you, we didn’t really do anything. Unless you count the earthquake. Kidding.

The poems must stop.

My complaint didn’t really seem to have an effect. I need to register a complaint about that. In other news, Sarah hasn’t been sleeping well. As of late, she’s been waking up too early and then sleeping fitfully thereafter. I doubt it has anything to do with the fact that I sleep fitfully every night, tossing, turning, and generally mimicking the effects of an earthquake. Yeah, I doubt it has anything to do with that. I need to register a complaint.

My apple core!
It dropped,
fell on the floor,
and plopped.

I need to register a complaint. California is supposed to have great weather (remember comments such as, “how about this weather?” and “how do you like this weather?”). I mean, it’s the “Sunshine State”, for crying out loud (it isn’t, Florida owns that designation). The high today is 67 (and sunny; what do you think of this weather?), but Saturday’s high is only 55. It’s patently absurd. I heard it might get down to 38 at night. If that’s the case, we may have to use our heat for the first time this year. I thought this was supposed to be California! What will happen to the oranges? Call your congressperson. Call your weatherperson. Call a cloud. For, the love of all in the world that’s good, do something!

If I’d thought ahead

With a big bellow,
I said hello
to Jello.

That’s really not true.
I’d have made blue.
With green hue.

In truth, I was bored,
told lies galore,
must get more.

I’ve tried to update several times today with little success. When I typed in the site’s address, a page came up that said “Forbidden”. Perhaps some of you saw this as well. Interesting that access to my own site was forbidden to me. Oh well.

Sarah and I had an uneventful weekend, save for that car chase, but I’ll save that boring story for some other time. I’m sure you saw it on the news anyway.

Ode to a Southern California Rainstorm

Yesterday,
No one was forestalling.
Today,
Worms are crawling.
Trucks aren’t hauling.
Cars are stalling.
People are bawling.
The sky is falling.

P.S. To forestall means to deal with or think about beforehand, to anticipate. Additionally, I tried to work in "mauling", but I just didn't like the results...

It’s raining today. In many regions of the world, rain is welcome. In some places, a monsoon brings death and destruction. In one place, a sprinkle makes people question whether there’s a God. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? It’s raining!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!? WHY????????????????????????????? Isn’t two times a year enough already, you cruel dictator!!!!!!!!!!!!

In other news, I’ve been doing some stretching lately. I hope to be able to walk again by the time I’m 50, so I’ve been taking inordinate measures to ensure the health of my back (for instance, I no longer place heavy pieces of metal on myself and bounce up and down and up). We’ll see how that turns out. Sarah is still here, somewhere. Wait, she’s at school now. Hard lady to keep track of, let me tell you: she’s either at school or at home, or, sometimes on rare occasions, she brings things from school to home. There’s trouble when that happens…

Ode to a tax return

They owe me.
The program showed me.
Their gettaway
Won't be Scott-free.
Who's Scott?

Today I did our taxes. In the end, we were taxed little and had really paid too much tax: we'll be getting a large refund. The whole process was rather taxing. Tax.