Michelle and I just got back from watching Fido. It is a really funny, really twisted black comedy. It satirizes the '50s and dog movies, and it has zombies. The audience reaction seemed positive. I hope it gets a wide release. Meanwhile, everyone who's in Santa Barbara should try to see the Saturday showing at the film festival.

Based on prior experiences with the health care system, I've decided the best thing to do if I'm billed for the wrong amount is do nothing. My dentist had been billing me for $23 extra (supposed to be a reduced "you're in the right mob...I mean plan" rate). I could have called my insurance company, or the office, and tried to get it straightened ( Read more... )

Michelle and I made a very tasty Apple-Pear pie tonight. It also featured golden raisins, lemon zest, and a crumb top crust. It will definitely get made again.

There is frost on the roof of my car. It's been a long time since that's happened.

I just got back from spending New Year's Weekend in Monterey with Michelle. It was a wonderful trip. ( The full story )

After long, albeit intermittent, urging, my friends James and Gwen finally convinced me to go swimming with them down at Los Baños. On the plus side, not only did I manage to head to a store, find a pair of swim goggles and sleek trunks, and get back to work in under half an hour, because it was winter things were on sale. On the downside, my ( Read more... )

This year for Thanksgiving my friends groundmagnet and bookturtle came down from San Fransisco. We had a basic but tasty dinner with a brined turkey, chipotle smashed sweet potatoes, an apple pie, a chocolate-pecan pie, and a variety of wine. I had a great time hanging out and chatting, especially since I haven't seen bookturtle in a long time. She also brought down a signed ( Read more... )

I thought I had completed my Thanksgiving shopping at a record early time. I'd woken up at 6:15 AM to drive Mike to the airport, then gone to the 24 hour supermarket. However, I forgot to get the onion, apple, and herbs to put in the turkey while I roast it. Oh well. I was right that they'd have a fresh selection of turkeys stocked from the ( Read more... )

So Mike and I finally got some new bookshelves, which we've been needing for quite a while, as we were both out of space. We found them at "Dream Weaver Furniture" in Ventura. We'd found the place because 8bitnintendo had looked up places that sold the brand of oak shelves she got. The ones we ended up getting were cherry, and much less...imposing, but also ( Read more... )

I need an alarm clock that's set to wake my up when I'm not in REM sleep. Not only does it annoy me to miss part of a dream, but I am REALLY loggy when I'm interrupted in certain parts of the sleep cycle, even if I've gotten a reasonable amount of sleep.