Newcott Blog

Bronwen and I decided to do forget flying back to DC this year and instead do as little as possible in the OC. We housesat for our friends who live in a trailer on the beach in El Morro Canyon/Crystal Cove. Their front porch looks out over the Pacific ocean. I started the morning surfing with my buddy Eric Paulson up in Huntington Beach. I caught a nice long wave to end the session — always a triumph when you end a session on a high note. Then, Bronwen and I cooked turkey, walked on the beach, went to a movie, took a nap, and finished reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe aloud. THAT’S how I like to spend Thanksgiving. Maybe my perfect Thanksgiving.

We saw Chicken Little in 3D. I can’t believe they don’t make more movies in 3D. The movie uses the new Disney digital projection. I think the Irvine Spectrum is one of the first theaters outfitted with the setup. The sound and picture was super crisp. The movie really came to life.

Now it’s back to work and Christmas shopping.

So many projects. Still working on that bathroom vanity. This weekend I made 6 drawers and started building the wood frame for the bathroom vanity. It’s a bit more work than I anticipated. Tons of wood, cuts, nails, screws, little spacing decisions. I hope it ends up looking nice and not like some crazy, splintery mess.

I also helped Eric make some baseboard cuts. He’s putting in some sweet 6 inch base, which looks super nice. I realize now I probably should have put something like that in my place. It looks so clean.

Friday night, Bronwen and I sat at home doing nothing. It was so relaxing. I started digitizing some old home movies. That is a big project too. I hope editing them will be simple and painless.

Here are some pics of the new bathroom sinks (and a couple of my swollen finger). I had to build a counter into the wall, tile the counter and backsplash, then do all the plumbing to get the sinks to hook into a single sink hookup. Took a weekend to do. Next I’ll be building cabinets and drawers for beneath the counter.

On Saturday I played in the annual flag football tournament at UCI. The Merage Bowl, happens every year. We raise money for the Special Olympics and play. This is the first year my class lost. The class of 2006 beat us in the finals. I’m so sore today — three days later. It hurts to get up from my chair. I jammed my left ring finger while trying to pull a flag.

Spent the rest of the weekend building a bathroom vanity and installing two new sinks. That took SOoooo much time. I was so frustrated by the end of it too. To cap it all off, one of the brand new faucets is leaky. BLAST! And I spent so much time hooking the whole jazz up. My buddy Eric Paulson was a HUGE help. I’m going to return the favor with a little baseboard action over at his place next weekent.

I am officially not guilty of trespassing, stealing fence, or destroying plant life. A successful day in small claims court.

The judge was mean and grumpy. I had an entourage of witnesses and a stack of evidence. The plaintiffs, Jennifer Johnson and Analisa Gonzales, were disorganized. They didn’t have a single receipt for damages. I had 4 copies of a tabbed binder of defense material, including Board meeting minutes, home owner association regulations, Home Depot SKUs, and color photographs. Bronwen helped point out to the judge where in the meeting minutes I had been authorized to do tree trimming work. Eric, John, Amy, and Leo spoke on my behalf. We prayed God would confuse the enemy. It was a team effort. We won. We all celebrated last night with a wine and pizza party at our house.

Being in small claims court was a learning experience. 6 cases were tried before mine. Most were medical cases. One dude was suing his health club because someone stole $1,400 in cash and his Rolex from his locker. Why does anyone carry $1,400 in cash and a Rolex to the gym? But the judge awarded him damages because he felt the health club was negligent. One woman sued her doctor because he didn’t inflate one of her breast implants high enough. Another woman said the doc burned her face with a cosmetic laser.

Great show last night. Here are some pics and small movies: http://gallery.newcott.com/v/u2_concert_la_11_1_2005. I took some of them by holding my digital camera up to binoculars. Pretty cool — Next time, I’ll do that some more. Our seats were great. We were front row in the 300 level, right above the stage.

Highlights:
- Larry Mullen’s Birthday. We sang to him. They brought out a cake with candles for him. Larry got on the mike after the “40″ finale.
- Girl Band, I think they were called Exit. Bono pulled a girl band out of the crowd and they jumped on U2’s instruments. They were really good and totally jammed out a great version of “Out of Control”. The band sat and watched, and eventually played along. Why doesn’t stuff like that happen to me?
- 2 1/2 hours. They played a nice long set list.
- Mrs. Serajevo. Bono belted out the opera part.

This weekend, we went up to Santa Monica/Malibu for Christina Bowis’ wedding. At the reception, we pushed a bunch of tables together and ate with all the old DC crew. Fun having everyone together. Pics here: http://gallery.newcott.com/v/cbowis_wedding_10_2005

Mari — Thank you for the fine recommendation. Prison Break is indeed one of the best new shows this season. I watched two episodes last night and was fully engaged. The plot is complex, the backstory is mysterious, and the characters are compelling. There is a ton of action and fighting too. Those agents had me all fired up when they shot the kid’s step parents. I added a Season Pass for Prison Break last night.

Now for a few questions: Who is the Vice President, and why does she want to kill everyone? Who is the mafioso guy in the visitor room? Why is the main dude in the hole, yet he gets out on work detail?