Fabulous Mr. Fox

A visitor at the dome! It must be denning nearby, I've seen it several times.

Ice Storm

A winter storm yesterday has left everything coated with a scrim of shimmering ice. It makes the trees look pretty, but they are singing & creaking this morning in a very ominous way. We'll lose a few big branches out of this one, I'm sure.

The dome, I have found, grows icicles like crazy. They don't form on the rounded part, of course; but when the sun hits the concrete, the melt flows down the dome slope & out along the dormer overhangs, which grow a rather impressive icicle crop. I've also learned that once the melting process gets a little further along, ice & snow sliding off of a concrete structure makes a loud & distinctive noise inside that structure. Scared the cats half to death the first time we heard it!

Winter Storm

Well, the first storm of the season arrived with much fanfare, but not very much snow here... just a light dusting in this part of the world. So my out-of-state readers can rest easy that we are all safe & warm, despite what the national news says.

If you haven't checked out the dome blog lately, you should really keep an eye on it over the next few weeks. It is finally finished! (or, at least, finished enough to occupy. I have no illusions that there won't be a zillion things still to do once we get into it.) Moving day is this Saturday and there should be lots of pictures. So stay tuned!

Autumn Auburn

I'm tired of the way my hair goes dark & dull in the winter... so I got some natural henna to play with the color a bit. The results were a nice rich chestnut, just a few shades off of my natural color. It's not very noticeable in artificial light, but shows quite red in the sun. Plus the gray has all magically turned to red highlights. :-)

Henna is a major hassle, but the payoff is the next day, when your hair doesn't smell like chemicals. Instead, my hair has a slightly grassy smell, sort of like new-cut hay. I love the color.

Into the Woods

Last night the UCM Theater department staged Into the Woods, one of my favorite Sondheim musicals, just for my birthday! (OK, maybe it wasn't just for me, but I like to think so...) Really fun, well done production. The interesting twist: All the costumes & sets were done with a steampunk sensibility... all pseudo-Victoriana and whimsical brass pressure dials sprouting from the trees. A really enjoyable evening!

Company Picnic

At our annual company picnic, there's always a few things that are a given: way too much food brought to the potluck, a corny speech given by the president, and a fun time hanging out without worrying about the phones ringing for a few hours. We can't always count on nice sunny weather, but we got it this year.

This year's Social Committee (which includes your humble author) chose the usual variety of outdoor team games. The main event, of course, was the tug-of-war. Peter, our president, tapped me for his team, mainly on the strength of my football background, I think. Here the team confers on our crucial fifth pick.

From left: Todd (IT programmer), Shawn (sales), Kirk (marketing director), me (Response Lab programmer), and Peter (president/captain.) Ready to rock & roll! How did we do?

CHAMPIONS! Bragging rights are secure for the year.

Mmmmm.... Bacon!

The Bacon Brothers is a blues-rock band fronted by well-known guitarist/composer Michael Bacon and his kid brother Kevin. Yes, that Kevin Bacon. They were the season opener for UCM's Performing Art Series last night, and let me tell you, they rocked the place. They did a lot of original music, mixed in with a little Beatles & Stones type stuff, some of it a little rough -- it was obvious that they were touring some new material that hadn't quite acquired its final polish. Fine with me! I like the shows that aren't overly slick. I bought the tickets expecting something of a novelty act, but these guys are the real deal... not a movie-star vanity band, but hard-rocking, gritty-sounding, authentic bluesmen with a great live show. Don't miss them.

Kevin Bacon is better known, of course, for his movie work, and for the parlor game that his oeuvre has spawned. I'm willing to bet that my Bacon score of three was one of the lowest in the audience last night. Here's how I get there:
1. I appeared (uncredited) in the girls-football-themed "Fighting Fridas" episode of American Family, starring Edward James Olmos.
2. Edward James Olmos was in the silly baseball movie Talent for the Game, which also featured Terry Kinney.
3. Terry Kinney co-starred in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon. Voila.