Got the cards out

As always, we finished the cards and newsletter by December 1. A great way to stay in touch, though it seems less urgent in the Facebook era.

Guitar footpedals at 1st Covenant

...tacked to a piece of plywood...

Wii Sports Resort

After a friend brought it over for Thanksgiving, I bought Wii Sports Resort. It's worth the purchase for the table tennis game alone, though it has 11 other games included. It feels and sounds exactly like playing real table tennis.

Jesus rocks!

Steve, the guitarist at First Covenant, has this sticker on his guitar case.

At the Studio Theatre dressing room...

...there is a wonderful wall where actors have signed the bricks.

Alien technology fails us again

The sound guy at the show had a dead battery in his truck so John asked me if I could give him a jump. But when I brought my Prius over and popped the hood, he couldn't find the battery.

I found out later that the battery is in the back with the spare tire.

Playing in the rain

Tonight the John Skinner Band played at the Christmas tree lighting as usual. It rained and we got pretty wet. Fortunately, the security guys put up umbrellas and I don't think anything got permanently damaged.

Day at the movies

We went to see Fantastic Mr. Fox today. Quite good. Very much in the spirit of Roald Dahl.

History of Thanksgiving

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An amazing flute performance

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Rachel brought some black tea from England

It's a powerful drug.

Turning innocent kids into criminals

Since Rachel is visiting, I went to Hollywood Video to rent a copy of Mario Kart for the Wii. The salesman told me that all the copies were out; some were damaged, others were missing, and some were "referred to a collection agency."

Peanuts car

What is a Christmas tree without a moose?

Unbelievable concert

I went to a house concert at the home of John and Daphne Bruno in Davis: Tamir Hendelman (godlike) on piano, Jeff Clayton on reeds. Stupendous. They both play in the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

A Christmas Carol starring us!

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No farting in this bathroom

I would love to have been in the meeting where they decided how to graphically represent farts.

JibJab Rhythmic Gymnastics starring Mark and Jennifer

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The wait is over

There was until recently a restaurant in Granite Bay called Toast. It went out of business. Finally, I can say: "Toast is toast."

Do not donate cars to the SPCA

I don't think most dogs can drive safely. (Case in point: my dog took this picture, and he was drunk out of his mind at the time.)

This Christmas tree makes the piano look like a toy

Not getting their message out

I had a 3:00 appointment to ease a customer's keys in midtown. While I was doing it, I mentioned that right afterwards, I was going to Bloodsource, which was only a block away. "That's a club, right?" she asked. "No, " I said. "That's where you give blood."

A Derek Jeter quarter

An actual quarter with Derek Jeter painted on one side.

We were eating at the South Pine Street Cafe...

...and we ran into two of the guys from Second City that we saw the night before!! This guy (the one black guy in the group) grew up very near where Jennifer grew up. They had fun comparing notes.

In Nevada City, you're either in tourism, real estate,...

...or some New Age profession that you've pulled out of your organically-cleansed butt.

Second City in Nevada City

We saw Second City's touring company in the historic Nevada Theatre. We were lucky enough to get seats in the front row. For the second act finale, they asked Jennifer her name, profession, and a few more questions, and then sang an extended ensemble song about Jennifer! They seemed very surprised to find a lawyer who hated "being mean" and liked "saving the environment." Very surreal to hear a song about Jennifer. Overall, a great show. As usual, I laughed until I cried.

The best part of Sacramento

We saw a tall ship today in Old Sacramento

Tree with giant ornaments

And Thanksgiving isn't for three weeks!

Hit me, matey, I'm full of candy. Arrr

Not a command, just a suggestion

And please don't spit on your computer screen.

You know what's really scary?

Rotting post-Halloween pumpkins.

"Can't" is not in this artist's vocabulary

Piano key chewed up by mice

I almost got my paranormal problem solved

But unfortunately, all the little tear-off strips were gone.

Jennifer considers the dark side

This suit is on display at the California History Museum, proving that all that stuff in the movie really happened.

Boxes of books

Believe it or not, these seven boxes contain over 1,000 children's books bound for a library in Lesotho.

I said I needed atlases...

...to send to an African library, and someone donated this Onion parody.