Happy Birthday, Cho!

Today was Cho's birthday so I made him dinner. I can't remember the last time I cooked for my dad but I really should do so more often. We had prawns in butter sauce, rice pilaf, and heirloom tomato bruschetta.

My dad likes to brag that he eats six meals a day. In fact, he declared today that his appetite was a "gift from heaven." He's too much. Anyway, this dinner was meal number four and he had plans to have another meal with his granddaughter a couple hours later.

Arnon gifted him two bags of swiss chard and green lettuce from his vegetable garden. I was about to get upset at Arnon but I learned that Cho had asked for them. (So no dog house for Arnon ... this time.)

Stupid Product

Maybe it's just me, because I think goatees are ridiculous, but this is a seriously lame product.   Click Here

Kevin and Valerie's Luau

Here are some photos from Kevin and Valerie's Luau. While the other guests remained in the backyard, we had to move to the living room after being smoked out by the foul smoke from the fire pit. Kevin had recently remodeled his bathroom and he used the old wood from the bathroom in the fire pit.

I think Arnon looks so pretty with head gear, whether it be flowers or beads, like in this photo.

Crate and Barrel

Recently, I bought three dinner plates and two spatulas at Crate and Barrel and as expected they wrapped each item in paper to protect from damage. It was only after I got home that I realized the clerk had used an unusual amount of paper.

See Photo

What the hell was he thinking?

Proud Papa

Last weekend, Arnon and I had the puffs over so Arnon could serve his garden fresh vegetables for dinner. He selected red and striped beets, Swiss chard, and green lettuce. I must admit that the beets were fantastic.

Arnon was so proud of the vegetables, which he considers his children since he raised them from seeds. He even kissed some of them after picking them.

Dmitriy and Polina's Baby Shower

Crab Feast at Fisherman's Wharf

Fairy Princess or Pirate?

Both, of course.

More Art to Love

I've mentioned before that I love Mackenzie Thorpe's "The Forgotten" (far left) and Robert Cook's "Kiss the Sky" (left).

I would love to hang them in my living room but Arnon thinks they're too gloomy. I think they're calming.

Did you think Garden State was a feel-good movie? If yes, then you can appreciate what I mean about these two paintings.

Come to think of it, they would work well in the bedroom.

Anyway, I recently came across two more pieces by Mackenzie Thorpe that I've fallen in love with.

The first is a sculpture called "My Crucifixion" (top right) and the other is a painting entitled "Don't Leave Me Here" (right).

If I had the money I'd buy them right away, but I don't, so I asked Arnon and he said no.

How rude.

Can someone please give me $10,000 so I can buy these four pieces?

Andy and Yesenia's Birthday BBQ

Here are some photos from Andy and Yesenia's birthday BBQ last weekend. It was the first time I went to a BBQ and didn't gorge myself. I was too busy drinking cup after cup of Yesenia's home made Sangria. Yum!

Duct Tape Moving Van

Home Depot Parking Lot Scam

Credit: Roger

Locked Out

For the second time in a month, I locked myself out of the house. Prior to living in this house, I locked myself out only twice in thirty years, so I don't think it's a flaky character issue, as Arnon suggested, but simply that the house is hostile towards those who don't feel they should have to carry keys around the house.

Fortunately, we have nice neighbors who let me use their phone and also offered to make me breakfast. While waiting for Arnon to come to my rescue, I met some other neighbors who invited me into their home for a tour. I also had a chance to talk with a couple who were just moving into their new house.

So what first started out as a nuisance resulted in a charming morning getting to know my neighbors.

A Fresh Start

I had planned on updating the look of my site for the first of July, but as you can see I'm a month behind. In fact, I'm behind on everything. I don't know why I can't seem to get my act together.

Arnon, on the other hand, is on top of everything.

He wanted to clean-up the backyard by tearing down the patio cover and removing all of the shrubbery. Done. He wanted the front yard landscaped. Done. He wanted to start a vegetable garden. Done.

Arnon keeps a list of tasks he needs to complete, as do I, but he actually takes steps to complete the tasks and remove them from his list. Meanwhile, my list keeps growing longer.

A large part of my problem has to do with timing. For example, even though I missed my target date of July 1st to update the look of my site, I could have implemented the new look any time in the last month, right? Wrong. I had to wait until today, August 1st. And if I had forgotten to do it today? Well, I would have had to wait until September 1st.

I know what you're thinking. "Don't be so ridiculous! Just do it!" I tell myself these same things daily and yet I can't bring myself to do anything until the first of the next month.

So what do I do while waiting for the current month to end? I brood over my to-do list and my absurdity.

Anyway, if you're curious about the photos used in the banner above and in the sidebar, I took them from the air when Arnon and I went hot air ballooning over the Cappadocia region in Turkey on May 31st.