Can you guess where I am right now?

I know that some of you have been wondering where the hell I’ve been these past few months… Well, there’s no simple answer. I have been many places. Some of them real, some of them more… conceptual in nature.

One of them was the level of hell designated for office moves. More specifically, the sublevel reserved for moves from a private office to a cubicle in space shared with two other groups, located further away from almost everything. I’m currently clawing my way back out.

As promised, the conclusion to my California story…

Now where was I… oh, right. After finally getting to LAX, I was surprised by a waiting car, which whisked me (as fast as one can “whisk” in LA traffic) to the hotel just as the reception dinner for my meeting was starting.

The hotel was… how should I put this…? VERY nice. Beautiful gardens with lots of water. The second oldest fig tree in the state of California (which was apparently payment for a bar tab).

It was right across from the beach—though separated by a bluff and a highway, as I would discover. (Check out a satellite view of the hotel on Google Maps.)

My room was equally impressive. They gave me a suite with a king size bed, a huge bathroom, a jacuzzi, and a sauna. That’s right, I had a freaking sauna in my room.

Not that I got to spend a lot of time in my room, mind you. My weekend was almost completely scheduled, from early breakfasts to late dinners.

But I made a point of putting my feet into the Pacific Ocean about an hour before I left. There was no way I was coming home without doing that! Pictures for your viewing pleasure after the jump. (more…)

Can you guess where I was over the weekend?

Those are my legs, standing in the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

For a moment there yesterday morning, I thought I’d wandered into one of my nightmares: SEPTA buses and more SEPTA buses.

Everywhere! As far as the eye could see! And none of them actually moving!

I was getting a little freaked out, but then I spotted this:

And I have to admit, my first thought was “El Shuttle? WTF? Does SEPTA think that’s Spanish for ‘bus’ or something?”

Well, it took me a minute, but I eventually remembered that the Market-Frankford El is currently bussing between 40th and 69th Streets.

Ugh. That IS a nightmare.

Before I forget… I wanted to show you guys the cake I made for the UFIL. He’s been an avid pipe smoker for more than 50 years, so Edo thought we should use that for the design. Originally, I also was going to have smoke rising from the pipe to form the words “Happy Birthday,” but that turned out to be a bit much (plus his real birthday was back in May). A painting by René Magritte was my inspiration.

I loved fireworks when I was a kid. The sight, the smell, the sound… especially the sound. The bigger the boom, the happier I was. My dad and I would call the extra loud ones “gutbusters,” and I looked forward to them every 4th of July.

But these days, I’ve become quite apathetic toward fireworks. It could be that I’ve just grown out of it, but I think it’s also because they seem less special than once were. Back in the day, it was hard to see decent fireworks. Now they are everywhere: anyone and everyone can put on a good show. And that’s great, but it does make them more commonplace.

My dad’s sentiments are pretty much in line with mine; my mom, on the other hand, still LOVES fireworks. It seems that as the quality increases, so does her enjoyment. If she could, I believe she would drag my father to every fireworks display in the tri-state area. So when my parents decided to come spend July 1st with me here in Philly, I couldn’t very well refuse to take them to see the pyrotechnics at Penn’s Landing that night.

I had the digital camera with me, so I amused myself by taking little movies and pictures of the fireworks. It actually made things a lot more fun, because given the nature of the subject, each photo turned out to be a surprise. I didn’t expect any of them to actually come out, but some of them did, and beautifully.

So… before the subject matter is completely irrelevant, I thought I’d post a few of my favorites. See the others after the jump. (more…)

This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
-Stan

This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
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I was browsing through some of our old pictures, and I came across a series of flower photos that Edo took at his parents’ home in Italy a couple years ago. There are some really gorgeous shots, many with cool close-ups of insects in the flowers, like the one above.

But look more carefully at this photo, and you will see that it is special. Apparently, he caught this particular bug in the act of making a little bug poo. Seriously. Here’s an closer close-up, if you want an even better view.

Now I’m perfectly willing to consider alternate theories, like maybe it’s a very conveniently placed speck of pollen. Or an egg sack. But until it’s proven otherwise, I’ll go on telling people that it’s poo.

This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
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This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
-DaveT

This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
-Stan

I’m swamped today, so I won’t really be around. Maybe later I’ll write something on my nice new monitor!!

This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
-Stan