Neko Case

Aside from the fact that I got shushed for good reason for talking during the opening act, and aside from the fact that the fellow sitting right in front of me had a rather wide skull and a lot of hair, and sometimes fidgeted, I had a splendid time at the Neko Case show at the Rio theater. Her music sounds like the jukebox in the last bar on earth. Her voice is powerful and scary. I like what they've done with the Rio. It used to be a shut-down movie theater with the words "Capitalism Kills'' on its fly-blown marquee. Now they have bands there all the time. Another sign that Santa Cruz has returned.

Maple Leaf Falls

Yesterday we took a hike into the Forest of Nisene Marks, down a set of steep canyons and second-growth forests, on an eroded path over planks that were railroad ties long ago. We dropped into a ravine and ended up hiking straight into a creek, dead-ending at a waterfall into a pool full of twigs, boulders and newts. There were tripping roots, redwoods forming rings and overhangs with shaggy grass and moss dripping off them. We saw a lot of oozing banana slugs along the way (they look like slices of under-ripe mango) and blue-winged moths in the ferns. Not a soul was out there, and I found a spot where you can lean into the sunshine and feel the mist in your face -- and if you keep still enough, dragonflies will land on your shoulder and stay there until you shoo them away.

I was just kidding about asking my four readers to stop reading my stupid blog

OK readers where did you go? I was just kidding when I told you that my life is not an open book. It is!!!! Give me some sorta sign. Look alive.

Widen Highway One --- and make it taller, too

I am in Santa Cruz for the summer. It's a wonderful experience, except for Highway One, which is crammed with people all of the time. Out here in Santa Cruz, widening Highway One is a very controversial issue. In fact there is a contingent of people that wants to reduce Highway One to just one lane, with a special diamond lane for unicycles running straight through the middle. The result is a sludgy highway. Yesterday it took me four and a half hours just to go a couple of kilometers. So here is my idea: widen Highway One from two to 18 lanes (18 on both sides.) Also make it taller by adding monorails and suspension bridges on top of it and tunnels underneath. All houses on either side of the highway will be seized by Eminem's Domain. (that's when you play bad music so loudly that people will leave their houses forever.) No more delays. Just do it.

Downtown Santa Cruz is less skanky than before ...

I like the new stores. The street musicians have most of the strings on their instruments now. Last time I was there, I saw just one frightening person, with a big beard and wild eyes. He was standing on a bench, yelling, "I am a little baby. Waaaaaaahhh! Waaaah!''

Zlog

My readership has returned to zero!! I will now feel less self-conscious about future posts.

A blog with zero readers is, technically, a 'zlog.'

Zlog

My readership has returned to zero!! I will now feel less self-conscious about future posts.

A blog with zero readers is, technically, a 'zlog.'

Beagle, one. Miscreant, zero

The other day, I left my recyclables container out for a few hours after the garbagemen came. I won't do that again. The neighbors are mostly very nice here but there is a house nearby with aging frat boys. One of them unzipped his pants and was, apparently, about to pee in our recyclables container (!!!!) but our borrowed beagle leapt up and howled through the fence, scaring him pretty badly. He zipped up and went elsewhere. I retrieved our recyclables container and it seems OK.

How to make MOLE and then have a bad hangover

My head is pounding right now because I went to a mole-making party at our friend Fidel's place yesterday and had too much tequila. Keep in mind. This is an experiential meal. This is not an exact science. Don't ask me about tablespoons and exact measurements because they do not exist. A certain amount of trial and error is involved. your basic ingredients will be La Abuelita mexican chocolate, pasilla peppers, lots of garlic, cloves, about three pounds of chicken (drumstick and breast combination according to your preference) and about two pounds of potatoes. Here's how it works: the first thing you do is down a shot of good tequila so you can work up the gumption to go to the store and buy 16 ounces, at least, of dried pasilla (sp?) peppers. Then boil up about 6 drumsticks and two pounds of chicken breast in just enough water to cover them. In a separate pot, boil up about two pounds of yukon potatoes. Leave the skins on!! Take the peppers and remove most of the seeds from them, in between taking big gulps of Corona and Anchor Steam to give you energy to take the seeds out. Then throw the peppers (without the seeds. They will burn the hell out of your mouth and you will be sorry. Trust me. Do not eat them!!) in a big cast-iron pan with an entire bulb of garlic. Cook it up in a few dollops of vegetable oil. It will smoke and burn a bit so make sure you're running the fan as fast as it will go. Wait about five minutes until the pasillas start to change color. Then stuff them in the blender with about ten whole cloves and put the blender on 'pulverize.' Put a hockey puck of La Abuelita Mexican chocolate in there and keep on blending with about a half a cup of chicken soup. At this point, the blender will cease to function. Send someone sober back home to get another blender. Wait a half an hour for the guy to come back, then keep blending. boil up about 10 drumsticks and two pounds of chicken breasts, and in a separate pot boil up a bunch of yukon potatoes, skins on. Dump the contents of the first and second blenders into the pot. Salt to taste. Serve with warm tortillas and potato chips that have been well-doused with Chrystal hot sauce. Trust me, it's damned good.

Omitting critical pieces of information is not lying.

I am dog-sitting in a lovely house. (I don't own the house.) The other day a man came up and said, 'what a lovely paint job on your house! I especially like the sun design near the door! The place is just beautiful.'' And instead of saying, 'hey, this is not my house,' I just said, "Thanks,'' as if to imply I painted the house and own it.

Doggie update

To all: The dog is doing very well -- she is happy and comfortable and is great company, too. Question --- do they make Altoids for dogs? (not just our dog but all dogs?)

My power will increase

I am very excited about my new job. I'm going to be the assistant lieutenant in the Santa Cruz-area division of a private nonprofit. Basically, I am in charge of secret operations in Aptos, making sure things that run smoothly. At this point I am pretty much an inspector but if I get promoted, my power will increase exponentially! I'll tell you how it goes.

Stepping away from this whole blog thing

Four readers. Fine. I didn't expect this to happen. I didn't ask for this to happen. And now, what do you know, it's getting too big. This means that I will have to step away from this whole blog thing unless one of you "cools it'' and stops reading the blog. Folks, I need to keep this sustainable, and to keep this sustainable means that the interest in it needs to be consistent, not 'out of control.' Signing off for now.

I have decided to pander

After thinking a bit more about this, I have decided to go ahead and pander.

I will not pander

To my readership: After some soul-searching, I have decided not to include controversial content or attractive graphics to increase my readership. I now have THREE readers and if I get more, well, so be it, but I will not go out and court a larger audience.

I Have A Reader!

The readership of my blog just increased by 1,000 percent. I have a reader! I know you're out there, though your identity is shrouded in mystery. To keep this welcome trend on target, I plan to 'juice up' the content with controversy soon. Hooray. (I have some idea of my one reader's identity but will keep my hunches to myself.) I am glad for the increase in readership but will not let it go to my head. Pretty soon I will have more readers than I can handle and this whole thing will get out of control.

Cat's weight in a holding pattern

In case you were wondering -- and you probably weren't --- my cat's weight remains in a holding pattern (see title.)

Dullness of blog equals small readership?

I am starting to wonder if there is a cause/effect relationship between the penetrating dullness of my blog and the size of my readership, which remains in the low one figures. There are 277 million Internet users out there. They are all looking at other blogs but not mine. I have two options. 1. To 'spice up' the content or 2. To customize the blog so it appeals to certain demographics. I'm too lazy to pursue these options. If you aren't interested in reading about parking tickets, lethargy and pets, you might want to look elsewhere.