The future is gasohol. The ability to produce all of our energy needs in the US, without drilling, without emitting greenhouse gasses? I’m so pumped right now. Been thinking about this since I was little and first learned about methane. The author of the article below even got the word gnarly in there.
Bowis and I went to Mammoth this weekend. Well, really just for Saturday. Here’s how the time line went:
Friday - 5:30 pm - Bronwen and Ben go to Disneyland California Adventure. They ride the new Monsters Inc. ride and the swinging Ferris wheel.
8:00 pm - Bronwen and Ben eat dinner at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana. Delicious sandwiches on homemade bread and large mugs of decaffeinated tea.
9:30 pm - Ben leaves home to spend “night” at Bowis’ place in Santa Monica.
10:00 pm - Ben arrives Santa Monica and promptly falls asleep on the couch while watching Carlito’s Way.
Saturday - 3:30 am - Bowis and Ben wake up and leave for 4 hour drive to Mammoth.
6:30 am - we get a speeding ticket for going 90 in a 55. The cop was a total nerd and was hiding in a trench with all of his lights out. But the sun is rising behind us and Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the “lower 48″ states, is standing right in front of us.
7:30 am - arrive in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Rent skis, eat b-fast at Mc D’s, buy lift tickets, which are now $70 for a day of skiing.
9:00 am - hit the slopes. It’s snowing, 20 mph gusts of freezing wind, and the top half of the mountain is shut down, but it’s cool because no one is around.
3:00 pm - make our last run through the bitter cold and 4 inches of fresh powder, and start the long drive home through a beautiful sunset.
9:30 pm - roll back to Santa Monica, tired, sore, and broke.
Classic trip - and probably the last time I do it all in one day.
Saw 3 movies this weekend — weird mix, I know:
- Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room. Documentry on rise and fall of Enron. Amazing that so many people knew what was happening, but no one did, said, or asked the question, why? I like how Enron engineered the California energy crisis and rolling blackouts.
- Madagascar: ALMOST has the Disney/Pixar magic. Some pretty funny parts and bit characters.
- Merchant of Venice: Well-done. I never could read Shakespeare and understand all of what was going on so I’m thankful for screen adaptations of his plays. Even if you don’t get the language, the visuals make it clear what is happening. This one is quite good, methinks (is that iambic pentameter?). I didn’t think Al Pacino would be a good cast, but he played the part well.
Nana, Bronwen’s grandmother, has been here all weekend. Today is her 89th birthday. She is old. She’s also in great shape. She still drives around Minneapolis in a big, cushy American car. She lives by herself. And she was up for the adventure of a trip to The OC. We got her a plane ticket for Christmas. Last night, we were on our way out to her birthday dinner, and Nana took a spill in our parking garage. She didn’t see a step and fell on the concrete. Instead of dinner, we took her to Hoag hospital and got her X-rayed. She’s got a slight break in her left arm. They put her in a temporary splint and was in no condition to travel this morning.
Bronwen is doing an awesome job caring for her while I’m at work. Nana needs help with everything now — getting out of a chair is tough. Bronwen’s out getting her some clothes to wear. Bronwen booked Nana a ticket back to DC so Beret can take care of her while she heals.
Life is so fragile. It’s tough to be old — tougher to be old and alone.
Mmmmmm…. Memory Foam. Bronwen got us a mattress-top slab of memory foam. It is some wonderful stuff. It hugs my body while I drift off to sleep. I can now sleep on my side as the memory foam holds me just-so. I loves me some memory foam.
I wore my Redskins t-shirt for the last time this football season. Skins lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Seattle Seahawks in what was a pretty ugly game — a game in which the Redskins had more than enough chances to win. The defense did its job and created opportunity. The offense played without spark. I’m not brokenhearted because they far exceeded my expectations for the season. Here’s to next year.
Went to NYC this weekend. The trip started out with a horrible tone. Bronwen picked me up at the office and we raced to the airport. As we’re pulling into the airport, I realize I left my wallet at the office, 30 minutes away. Our flight leaves in 45 minutes. Bronwen was a champ and stayed with me as we flew back to the office to get my wallet. I was so angry. Couldn’t believe I had done something so stupid. We cruised in silence, got to the airport, and got on the standby list for a red eye to New York’s JFK. We were lucky and they had two extra seats on the flight. The seats also happened to be front-row, next to each other — a charmed life we live.
Our time with the Himes, Nick and Kim, Kirsten and James, and Ali was awesome. Spent the day cruising around So-Ho. Saw James’ studio. Ate at Cafeteria and some great Italian place. Sunday heard an excellent sermon at Redeemer and walked around Central Park. Don’t forget the bagels and street dogs. So good. I’m exhausted.
Few thoughts on NYC. Weekend or business trips there are fun. I have no desire to live there. I have no idea how a person, let alone a family, can handle the lack of personal space. Everything is cramped. All winter, the city is a billion shades of gray. It makes no sense to me that New Yorkers are so snooty about living there. What’s with all the ‘tude? Life there is…. expensive. The trip started the second we got to Gate 2 at Long Beach airport. The gate agents were on edge. The passengers were loud and I overheard several abrasive cell phone conversations and overuse of the F-bomb. The female fashion was strange — furry cowboy boots, baggy pants tucked into the boots, with a short skirt over the whole thing, several layers of sweaters, each one progressively getting shorter, the last one with a fur lining.
Went to DC for Christmas. Pretty mild weather — not very cold, no snow, little rain. Got to spend a little time with Newcotts, Moyers, and friends. Time felt a little compressed though. That might be because I took the red eye from Long Beach, CA to DC, arriving at 5:00 am on Christmas Eve. I had a middle seat, no leg room, and couldn’t sleep. Ended up watching a U2 Vertigo concert and Casino on the DirecTV InFlight. Got in super tired, napped, spent the day with Newcotts, and went to the 11:00pm-midnight Christmas Eve service at 4th Church — a tradition I was not willing to give up for lack of sleep. I think that jumble of events set a tone for the whole trip — wish I could have gotten there sooner.
When we got back, I had a surf in some monster waves with Erik down at 34th street in Newport. Then, Bronwen and I drove up to Lake Arrowhead to spend New Year’s Eve with some friends from our church. We spent the night eating and playing Catch Phrase. It poured all weekend and was a nice, restful end to a 10 day vacation. AND, The Redskins are in the playoffs for the first time in 6 years. Go Skins! 2006 is looking great.