7th inning stretch....

Today, the Cubs are 2.5 games up on the Brewers. I celebrate the moment with a little Harry...




Happpy Labor Day weekend everyone !

flora! flora! flora!

My co-worker, Gerri, and I were out photographing various buildings on campus the other day and were distracted by both colors and smells coming from the Biology department's greenhouse. Here's some of what we saw..



And just to prove our actual intentions for the walk, here's our Computer Science and Engineering building (thank you Paul Allen) ...

the tomato harvest begins...

They are so good.

still hoping for my island...

You've got to play to win. And since I didn't win on Tuesday, I bought a few more tickets. I estimate that jackpot would make for fine fun on my Blue Lagoon island.


Happy Friday everyone.

Go Cubs Go !

In celebration of the Cubs being tied for first place in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers, I thought I should pay a small tribute to Steve Goodman, (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago. Goodman wrote and performed many humorous songs about Chicago, including two about the Chicago Cubs: "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" and "Go, Cubs, Go".

On September 20, 1984, Goodman died at University of Washington Hospital in Seattle, Washington, his life finally taken by the leukemia from which he had anointed himself with the tongue-in-cheek nickname “Cool Hand Leuk”. He was only 36. Eleven days later, the Chicago Cubs played their first post-season game since 1945; Goodman had been asked to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before it; Jimmy Buffett filled in, and dedicated the song to Goodman. Some of Goodman's ashes were scattered at Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. (from wiki)

Video for the 2007 season - "Go Cubs Go"


An audio clip and lyrics of "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Wish" can be found here.

future property acquisition....

After I win mega millions tonight (estimated $171 million jackpot) I plan to buy the Blue Lagoon Island. Its present owners (Mr. and Mrs. Atkins diet) are selling it for a cool $25 million euro, or $33,703.968.54 USD. Leaves me a little left to furnish and stock the damn place and fly all my friends there.

is it October or August ???

I hate to complain about the weather because it is pretty much a waste of time. Until I become Mother Nature, there's not a damn thing I can do about it. But our lack of a summer is really depressing me. Thank god it was nice while my family was in town. It's supposed to take a turn later this week with temps in the mid-70s. Today is just a particularly chilly/rainy grey morning. I am grateful, however, not to be in the path of Hurricane Dean.

baby seal at alki beach

We went to Alki last night and saw a baby seal on the beach just north of the beach house. The area immediately around the seal was roped off by yellow police tape to keep people away. Seal mothers leave their babies on the beach as they fish for salmon - no mother in sight though. The baby watched everyone for a bit, then flopped back into the water and swam away. It was very fat and very cute.

Another pic here. Small bit on the westseattleblog page too.

family visit

My sister, brother-in-law and nephew were in from Illinois for a visit this week. We did a lot in five days...

...ate at the Athenian Room in the Market (Aaron is happy - just not thrilled with his mom taking his photo)...

...went to Colman Pool for an afternoon dip...

... Dan took them to see the Olympic Mountains at Hurricane Ridge...


...they waded in the Pacific at 3rd Beach...



... and we saw the Mariners get squashed by the Twins on Wednesday afternoon.


My nephew worked his way through his list of favorite places to eat - which included the previously mentioned Athenian Room, Mick Kellys Irish pub, Sunfish on Alki and the Mongolian Grill in Burien. He and my bro-in-law golfed Monday morning in West Seattle. All in all, it was a great visit. I miss them a lot and hope they'll come back soon !

guts and glory...

Thanks to everyone who donated to my 5K CCFA Walk/Run today. I raised a total of $300 - more than my goal ! I couldn't participate in the actual race though. I broke a couple of my toes last week and my foot is KILLING me. I still went, got my t-shirts and supported my team.

on my next trip to NYC...

...I want to find the Cash Cab. Anyone else addicted to this show ?? When I do go to New York to find this yellow mini van of trivia goodness roaming the streets of Manhattan, I'm taking my friend Maureen with me. Because combined, we would be a force of otherwise useless knowledge to be reckoned with. And hell yes we'd take the video challenge for double or nothing, Mr. Ben Bailey !

the boys are back in town...

The Red Sox are back in Seattle for a three game series. We sat in the Terrace Club for last night's game.

another loss for us...

Our baby girl Amma went in for surgery this morning to remove a tumor in her abdomen, but things were worse than anticipated and she needed to be put to sleep. Today was one month since we had to put Gabe to sleep, so we're feeling a bit empty right now. Amma "adopted" us seven years ago - she was in a very abusive situation next door and decided she would rather live with us. She was a joy to have around and we will miss her greatly. Thanks for finding us, Amma. We love you.

She's with her brother now.

you say to-may-to, I say to-maa-to...

I thought we were going to "scale" back on the number of tomato plants we planted (potted) this year, but we are once again finding ourselves in tomato hell. Don't get me wrong; I can't wait for the bazillion tomotoes to turn nice and ripe. I give them to my neighbors, put them out at work for people to take, Dan even takes them to school to put out on the salad bar. But the maintenance on these girls is a handful. Two full waterings today.


Here's a sampling of what we have for varieties this year: