mac totally lied about reading a whole book today, so I started reading it and asking him about it. Guess who is FURIOUS! I am using this as an opportunity to talk about conscience and I've decided I'm seeing it as a good thing, even if he is fuming pile of boy.

I just gave myself a timeout from my boy. I'm in my room, blasting music and playing on the internet. Somehow I think this is backwards. But it is keeping him alive, so there is that.

Skippy dippy!

Needed to pick up my first-ever Zipcar at USC at 6:30am today in order to leave enough time to get to Irvine by 9am. I set the alarm wrong and woke up at 7:30am. Didn't get there 'til 8:15. Missed a turnoff and had to turn around on the fwy and the direction I NOW had to go in was the commute direction. Arrived at Irvine 10 min. late and the tractor/haywagon had already taken off on the tour. No one was allowed to walk or to drive into the field. Expensive rental of car now completely wasted. And I was short of sleep for nothing.

I did get to taste about a dozen different varieties of dragonfruit and I took loads of pictures. If I weren't so frickin' tired, I would have driven straight to Descanso Gardens just so I could go somewhere I can't normally get to due to my carlessness.

I have made Zatarain's jambalaya to soothe my affronted heart.

Hermanos! The devil has built a robot!

Sorry. That just came over me. I think it's time to go home.

My hometown is pretty bad when it comes to cycling infrastructure so I've been trying to talk with merchants about adding bike racks. I usually ask if there's a customer comment card and then fill that out and mail it in. Trader Joe's has a rack but it's the old-fashioned kind that will bend your tire rims. I asked if they had a card. They didn't. But the guy who would normally take care of that decision was there and I got to talk to him about 10 min. on what I think they could do to improve their bike infrastructure - making cyclists happy and keeping car-drivers happier. He was very receptive and open-minded and that was a refreshing change. Anyway, it was a very positive thing so I thought I'd write about something positive that happened.

Looks like I got lucky, just got back from my swim and heard thunder.

In domestic events, I....well, I pounded holes in the bottom of a metal flowerpot that I thought had holes, but clearly hadn't (it was full from this morning_) and made a cheesecloth "bag" to hang around my tomato. My tiny, $3 fat grape sized tomato. Bird got the other one. There may be more, I see a few buds. It seems to only produce one at a time.

fuming pile of boy.

I'm loving this phrase. So evocative. I'm sorry you had occasion to coin it, though.

I went to the grocery store tonight. They had an employee filling creme puffs. She was dressed as a fairy princess with a tutu and a crown. I bought one. I couldn't NOT buy one.

You did the right thing, Cash.

I have a rental car. I'm paying for it anyway. I *should* go out. But I cannot get an affirmative from any of the LA foax I've contacted. Hammer Improv is doing a show in less than an hour but I find it hard to justify spending the $ when I'm just going by myself. I mean, if it had the usual suspects I'd probably leap at the chance, but they're on half strength. And they go on last and I didn't get enough sleep. I hate that I don't feel like I'm worth it all by myself but there *are* extenuating circumstances. $10 is a lot of $ to me right now.

Oh well, I guess this means a better night's sleep for tomorrow's Huntington Gardens tour.

Cash, that is a must-buy in my book, also? Awesome!