The Master of the Angry Cat

The back of a chair at Espresso Metro

My 2000th post

This is the label for a painting at the new Weatherstone's coffeehouse which is now owned by the Old Soul bakery. Cool photo!

Музыкальный кот

I found this pencil drawing of a cat among a great pile of sheet music while tuning in a Russian church.

Mii Joe

Liz's boyfriend Joe making his Mii while Liz and Rachel comment.

And they put out fires, too

This is an old Sacramento Solons program hanging on the wall at Capital Dawg (great hot dogs!) Apparently their mascot was a fire hydrant.

They were out of the Boba Fett

Rachel got a Princess Leia USB drive.

A suspicious-looking wound

In a related story, I raised a piano from the dead.

Great name for an apartment house

Burke and Felix

We went to a party celebrating Burke's graduation from Berkeley (Phi Beta Kappa!). Here she is with Felix, her English boyfriend, who first came here as an exchange student six years ago. He has a posh accent.

New collage

"Resonator." Note the wedding picture of my mom.

Chris Harvey installation

I got a notice about an art installation by my college roommate and 7th-grade lab partner, Chris Harvey. I'm sure it will be brilliant. Pictures to follow.

A mobile above the register at Espresso Metro.

I love this guy...

...because he makes me look so young and healthy.

Beautifully retro

This is from the Oasis Lounge at the John Wayne airport in Irvine. The whole restaurant is done in atomic age style; over the bar they put modern flat screen TVs inside a retro television case.

Rachel gets the sheepskin

The only person not enjoying this is Rachel herself. She says she hates being onstage for any reason and reacts with terror when she hears her name called.

Rachel graduates from UC Irvine

Rachel's graduation from Irvine

Dinner at a Chinese restaurant. From left: Jennifer, my mom, the waiter, Rachel, and her boyfriend Kevin. Rachel's friend Krista, who we had never met, still hadn't arrived. She has a habit of breaking engagements at the last minute. Jennifer bet Rachel five dollars that Krista wouldn't show up (she eventually did).

A day ahead of Rachel's graduation from UC Irvine, we went to the Discovery Science Museum. It features a giant cube balanced on point. I especially remember a virtual volleyball game where teams of kids stood in front of a green screen. Very southern California.

Most fun in Irvine

Rachel took us to a place called to Yogurtland, where you get your own yogurt and toppings and pay by the ounce. The line was out the door.

Sweet mystery of life

The Wii console finally came. To quote my eBay feedback on the transaction, "My life is now complete. Thank you."

Only the really lame ones are left

This is the Graduation section of the greeting card aisle at Rite Aid today.

I played with a trio at Intel today. The security was incredible. I understand, because they have some of the most valuable intellectual property in the world. I couldn't use or comprehend any of it, but still.

Pimp your Victorian

Woodland is full of people renovating their historic Victorians. Here is one in mid-remodel, up on blocks.

The Next Chapter, a big (too big?) independent bookstore in Woodland, finally closed. I'm amazed that it lasted so long; it opened well into the amazon.com era. I always tried to buy something there whenever I was in Woodland. To be honest, I admired it more for its building (originally a hardware store) than for its contents.

The Jesus on top of the register is taking offerings.

I played with the John Skinner band at a lavish Filipino wedding today. They had a money dance similar to what you see here. People came up to the bride and pinned currency to her dress.

Incredible way to search images and video

When I do an illustration or cartoon I almost always start by doing a Google image search to collect images. Here is an incredible way to quickly scan dozens of images at a time.

Awkward signs

Old video of Rachel doing the varieties of awkward.

We have world-class... traffic!

The current repairs on I-5 are causing continuous LA-style traffic jams. Moving so slowly allows one to fully appreciate this majestic interchange.

Wii Tennis

When we were visiting Rachel in Irvine she introduced me to the Wii. We played tennis together. I have never had any desire to buy a video console... until now! I had to get it on eBay because, seriously, there is not a single Wii console to be had in Sacramento. I checked around.

At my customer's house is this hand-drawn map from 1928 of a part of Philadelphia ("Old Houses of Fairmount Park" showing the historic houses of about twenty distinguished families. Some of these houses are along Girard Avenue near the zoo, and I remember driving down that street and remarking on the huge (now dilapidated) houses and how grand they must have once been.
Played with Ron Davis last night... it looks like the November dates are really going to happen. It is a tour called "In the Mood" out of Eastern Canada with singers and a big band. They can save thousands by hiring us instead of flying out their regular band. The dates are all set; Ron just has to negotiate the deal. Hooray for Ron!

Another road trip

Ron Davis has possibly booked a tour for his big band in November... a week to ten days up and down the West Coast. The pay is not great but it would make for great blog posts!
...and it would be a great opportunity to visit friends and family in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Portland, and Seattle.

I have a customer who collects wood stoves. This small one was designed for the inside of a tented milk wagon, to keep the milk from freezing. (What a horrible job — delivering milk in a drafty wagon in the middle of winter.)

This license plate is from Mexico. I'm glad that they're not too proud to use a tomato as their symbol!