I'm sure everyone's forgotten all about this site...indeed, one could argue that I had myself let it slip from my transom. It's so much less interesting than it used to be when I was young and in college, all the way back in 2004. And for that, I'm terribly sorry.

So a quick up-to-date is in order, I suppose. So where to start...?

Backing up to 2007: We spent Christmas on a European adventure, taking Bridgette and her bf Azad with us to introduce them to the world at large. We spent two days travesing around Paris (really gorgeous--I'm dying to go back as soon as possible!). Weather was chilly but clear--and we had a guided tour of Montmartre, followed up by wine and cheese. Awesome trip!

Afterwards, we headed to Mannheim, Germany to hang with my sister Janet and her family for Christmas. A few days later we rented a car and drove up to Berlin (I got to drive the Autobahn! Yay 120mph!). We stayed at our landlord/friend Michael's apartment in the Wedding area of Berlin; Deb came down with stomach flu almost as soon as we got into town, and stayed that way for the next five days. The kids and I managed to get some sightseeing done anyway, including  Checkpoint Charlie and New Year's Eve at the Brandenburg Gates. A couple million drunk Germans and their personal caches of fireworks all going off at once... 

So now to the present....

I've just finished my second year at the same school, although a different grade, and I have to say tha, aside from the BS-laden teacher-training program I was forced to endure for two years running, this year was reasonably successful. I'm confident that my little gaggle of eight- and nine-year-olds are mostly ready for the continuing odyssey of fourth grade, at least as much as I could make them.

However, this was to be my last year at this school. Deb and I are moving to Seattle in less than a month! We're furiously packing (rather, thinning the herd of stuff, and prepping for a weekend of yard sales in mid-July). We had a "going-away" party a coujple of weeks ago and had over 50 people show up. Our social calendar has packed up considerably for the next few weeks, with friends wanting to spend as much time as they can with us before we leave.

 

Meantime, Bridgette is going to Pasadena City College, having just finished her High School requirements. She and Azad's band, Siamese Guns, are doing really well and waiting for all their members to come of age so they can tour. Their stuff is pretty damned good, and can be found at http://myspace.com/siamesegunsband. I'm pretty proud.

 

So there we are. Now that I've re-broken the ice, I'll be haranguing about politics, media, etc. soon, I think.