what are we observing this month? december edition

since december first is a saturday, i thought i would put together our incomplete/unofficial monthly list of observances a day early. this way you can get started observing right at midnight. goodbye national impotency month, and hello:

bingo's birthday month
learn a foreign language month
safe toys and gifts month
take a new years resolution to stop smoking month
national sign up for summer camp month
national tie month
national write a business plan month

now get out there and observe!

the man of my dreams?

ever since starting this blog, when i see something or do something that i think is of some interest to someone (or even just to myself), i'll think, "gee, i should blog about that." well, last night, for the first time to my knowledge, i had that thought in a dream. during my dream last night, dream david was on a bike ride and thought, "gee, i should blog about that", and so i am going to do it for him.

briefly, marta and i were at a party at wilford brimley's apartment on division street in grand rapids. it was back in the old days before division got gentrified, but brimley's place was still pretty nice. it was a younger brimley, like from that show our house, not from his more current work in diabetes commercials. clint, (a former member of my lab), mauricio (a friend of marta's from college), and most of the cast of cacoon were there. it was a fine party, complete with delicious sandwiches. at some point in the party brimley and i left and went for a bike ride. this is when i had the 'gee, i should blog about this' moment. if i was awake i'm sure i would think the same thing about a bike ride with a super star like wilford brinley. the bike ride led us to a very grand museum where marta rejoined us for a look around. she may have been on the bike ride too. i'm not totally sure. that is about all i remember. dreams are weird like that.

santa barbara and the urban wine trail

ever wonder where the guy who played davy crockett and daniel boone ended up? ever wonder where the actual location of hidden valley, of hidden valley ranch dressing fame, is? ever wonder where the first motel 6 and first egg mcmuffin are from?

we discovered the answer to all these questions this weekend, as we traveled south in search of wine. joined by chris and olivia, we traveled four hours south to the american riviera to soak up the sunshine and wine offerings of santa barbara. (the answer to those questions is, in fact, santa barbara).



in addition to the many vineyards and wineries in the surrounding mountains, santa barbara is home to an urban walking wine trail, on which you can visit more wineries than any one adult really ought to in one day. we toured and tasted all day saturday in the warm santa barbara sunshine.

marta and olivia peek from behind a wine barrel.

coon skin caps are more the rule than the exception at fess parker winery in the santa maria valley outside of santa barbara. fess parker runs this joint, but he never got over his television roles as davy crockett and daniel boone.



in case you're wondering if all we did in 3 days was taste wine, you'll be comforted to know that we also went to a brewery.

happy thanksgiving (belated)

we hosted thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. it was the first time we have hosted a holiday meal, and everyone had a handsome time. in fact, we won a large trophy for hosting the "best thanksgiving ever 2007--second place." here is a picture of our victorious host with his large trophy.

here is a picture of feasting in action.



and here is a picture of beth after breaking wine glass number 2. david looks on, unaware of the fate that has befallen 2 red wine glasses.


it's ok. beth is awesome.

everyone is awesome, and no one vomited as a result of the thanksgiving festivities.

happy thanksgiving from the staples.

thicket or bramble?

1)

2)

3)

4)

skyview drive-in theater and flea market

we finally made it to the santa cruz flea market. the flea market has been held every weekend, since 1971, on the grounds of the skyview drive-in movie theater. next weekend, the flea market will be held for the very last time. when we heard the news that sutter (a hospital system in california) bought the land for hospital expansion, we knew now was the time to shop the flea market.


it's a crazy place. you can buy just about anything you can think of down there. winter coat? yes. ninja knives? yep. original nintendo gaming system? sure. toothpaste? you got it. avocados? absolutely. i'm sorry it's taken this long for us to shop there. i don't want to give too much away, but i will say that our one purchase should put a christmas time smile on the faces of our dear nature-loving friends chris and olivia. (hey c&o--believe us, there is NO need to reciprocate).

we intend to make it to the drive-in movie theater before dec 2.....the last, sad showing of movies on the big drive-in screens. let's just hope they're not still showing fred claus. i mean, how stupid does that look?

moon rise, sun set

ok, the moon may be rising, setting, or just hovering above. i don't have any idea about how it moves, but i snapped this photo on my ride from the ucsc campus. the trees at the bottom are wilder ranch state park and the water beyond them is the monterey bay.

can i un-make you a sandwich?

i'll try...

de laveaga

we finally made it to the the beautiful wooded hillside above santa cruz that is home to the world famous de laveaga disc golf course. haven't heard of it? weird. anyway, it is a 27 hole disc golf course that is exceptionally beautiful and tirelessly challenging. it was fun. we feel a bit sheepish that today was the first time we've been there. we will be going back. soon.

david sends off a drive from the tee.

marta makes a powerful backhand shot from the fairway

david, stuck deep in the rough

quiet concentration on the putt.

checkmate?!?!!?!

if i told you that last night government airplanes crop dusted all of santa cruz county with a cocktail of synthetic chemicals known as 'checkmate', you would probably think that i've been living in santa cruz too long and the radical conspiracy theorists had gotten to me, but it is true.

in an attempt to eradicate an invasive pest, the light brown apple moth (LBAM), which to date has caused absolutely no damage to crops, the california department of agriculture sprayed down our entire county with a cocktail of chemicals called checkmate. first let me say that checkmate is a super creepy name. it mimics the pheromones given off by the female LBAMs. the idea is that the male moths won't know how to locate the females because the whole county smells like breading moths. this results in their inability to mate, and the eradication of this invasive species. this seems like a pretty good strategy; although from what i understand, previous attempts to eradicate a species through the use of pheromones have a 0% success rate.

anyway, it was pretty creepy last night when low flying planes started criss-crossing above us, distributing a class III toxic pesticide over our fair county (class III isn't too bad, but it's still creepy). santa cruz is a place where they don't even fluoridate the water because they are afraid it is a government mind control plot, so you can imagine how people are reacting to this. i must say, i'm none too comfortable with it either.

since the government shows no signs of caring about what its citizens want, i guess santa cruz is going to get carpet bombed by checkmate every 30 days for the next several years. i'm just hoping that my back pain, tingling finger tips, and the sour taste in my mouth are psychosomatic. just in case they aren't, think i know what i want for christmas.

golden gate view

this is a 180 degree panorama take from the south tower of the golden gate bridge. the view is east into the bay, so san francisco is to the right, marin county is to the left, and directly in the middle is alcatraz. if you click on the photo you get a better view.

ninja?

every time i see this sign, either in picture or in person, i think it says 'ninja market', even though i know it doesn't.

on wisconsin

we went to la rocca's corner tavern on columbus in north beach, san francisco, on saturday morning with 100 other wisconsin alumni. we watched the badgers play The ohio state. amid the boisterous cheers, 9 am miller lite, and delicious brats, we found ourselves warmed with the comraderie of alumni. we were so excited that we bought t-shirts.

tshirts.......

brats....

la rocca's.....

noooooooooo!

the latest headline news from cnn has rocked me to the core. noooooooooooooooo!

what are we observing this month? november edition

celebrate empty nester month
international microfinance month
learn chinese month
national impotency month
national inspirational role models month
national marrow awareness month (vegetable or bone filling?)
national pomegranate month
national roasting month
vegan month

as always, this is an incomplete list, and you should feel free to comment with any that are important to you. i'm just glad we made it out of what could have been a pretty dangerous month for our good friend dave hamm (see comments).