Bits 'n Pieces

Reader, apologies. I've been crapping out on posting and since I know you're on tenterhooks wanting to hear about the minutiae of my exhilarating life, I'll get right to it.

But first. Uh, jet brought down by a flock of geese? Anyone else scared shitless by this and really really glad this didn't happen over the open ocean? Mad props to pilot Captain Chelsey Sullenberger for amazing grace under pressure.

On a darker note, did anyone else know that chucking live birds into a jet engine is a routine part of safety testing? And that testers use the word "ingested" to describe the sought-for annihilation of the birds without loss of engine power? Could there be a more humane way to do this? Friends in aviation, get right on this because Professional Critic does not approve.

Last week Sarah came for a visit. Brunch was thrown with great amounts of mimosas, frittata, buckets of coffee and grossly delish Pillsbury cinnamon buns, my apartment full to busting with more people than it's ever seen. The kidlets forgot to talk about their outfits beforehand, or maybe they actually did, to great effect:



A few days later at the height of the current heat wave, Sarah and I went to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, which is a place of magic. That sounds so woo woo California but I don't care. I'm always a fan of places that rope off areas sea lions have claimed to keep the people out. They need to rest, the sea lions. Anyway this place is teh awesome because the rock formations make tons of tidepools if you go when the tide is low. Which you would, because that's the whole point of a place like this.

A sea anemone and other cool stuff in a tidepool. Hey look at that scary crab at the bottom of the picture my hands:



You can't tell because the zoom on my camera sucketh but there were about 40 sea lions snoozing on the rocks and lolling around the shallow pools created by the receding tide.



We stayed until the sun sank low in the sky:



And Sarah looked like a movie star:



It was exciting.


In fact, Gus passed out from all the excitement of having another person to torture at night and he's only just recovering now.

Finally, if you live in the LA area why don't you go see some live music? The record release party for Fol Chen is on February 7th in Echo Park. I went to high school with Mr. S. Bing but I can't be there so go and say hey for me. All the cool kids will be there.