Sara Likes Cupcakes

We saw these beautiful, simple grafitti cupcakes as we were coming back from the awesome Grand Lake Farmers Market near our house a few weeks ago.

I love silly shit like this. It makes me wish I could live in a real-life Mario Brothers game.

P.S. Doesn't preggo Sara look cute? You should see her stomach now--the alien is soon emerging!

Strike Ends!

I might want to explain the lack of posts for the past month on some sort of solidarity with Oakland Waste Management strikers, who just settled their contracts and are finally back on the job. In any other city if there were a garbage strike--even a partial one like this one--for nearly a month people would have gone batshit. But here it just seemed to be something to be tolerated.

ANYHOO...my excuse is far more mundane. I've been really busy getting ready for the upcoming appearance of Desmond Riley, the chip off the old robot block. Lots of classes, purchases, showers, obssessing, and planning have made my time a little short.

The good news is everything is moving along swimmingly--he was karate kicking me through Sara's stomach last night. Gotta find a dojo for him toute suite!

Taming the Fairies

Last weekend we had Sara's oldest friend over. She has a pair of very cute kids who were in serious need of entertainment. This was our ticket into the fabled Fairy Land, just down the street from us. You see, you can't get into Fairy Land without a kid (pedophiles need not apply).

Inside, it promised a land of wonder with storybooks sprinkled throughout that could be accessed with little keys purchased at the entrance. The first sign of what we would experience was illustrated in the warning at the ticket booth that about half of the storybooks weren't working. Oh well, all good fun.

The park itself is a total throwback. Very '70s with its bright houses made for kids to explore and slides for a bit of excitement. There were a couple of rides, most of which the jaded youth of today might find a little tame. Overall, though it was pretty amazing to see. I wonder how long a place like this will be able to stay open.

Cap'n Sara

While we were in Lake Tahoe, Sara and I went up to Angora Lakes. We likee the lemonade there and the beautiful views. When we saw that we could rent a canoe we were all about it. The last time we rented a canoe was in Pokhara in Nepal. That trip was kind of a nightmare, so it was good to have a fresh memory so that boating could be safe again.

Before that, the only boat that I had rented was in Central Park with my friends Carleen and Bruce. Ahh, good times, good times.

Can you believe that Sara is pregnant in that picture? Can't even see little Desmond pooking out there.

Awesome Putt Putt Golf

It's hard to find a good miniature golf course these days. They either fall into the giant castle with gross water all around it and little imagination camp or into the so ramshackle that you risk getting tetanus if you play variety. Luckily, South Lake Tahoe has a very cool, old school course that Sara and I go to when we are particularly jonesing for some goofy golf action.

There are three courses to pay: Fairybook, which is a bunch of fairy tales with some randomness thrown in, Dinosaurs, which is what it sounds like with an especially malaevolent monkey with glowing eyes for color, and the Castle, which is the best and longest and features one hole where a big black rubber spider springs up and down over the hole.

It's funny, I used to play mini golf with my dad in that, "your mother and I divorced when you were very young and I can't quite figure out how to entertain you and your brother" sort of way. He loved golf, but I wonder if he loved the small version. Anyway, my question is, given that I played a lot of golf growing up, why do I utterly suck and get trounced by Sara each time?

Arches in Utah

Sara and I went to Moab on our way across the country to our new place. We were dragging a 16' truck with our car behind it over mountain pass after mountain pass. At one point we were nearly two miles high--going about 10 mph up the hill--but still!

One of the real highlights was going to Arches National Park. I had never been there, and looking at those amazing rock formations and hiking around in the desert--even if it was 90 degrees plus--was a lot of fun.

After we trekked up to Delicate Arch around sunset we went to a restaurant where Sara had a mixed game tamale and I had caribou tenderloin. They were both delicious and really improved upon the crappy lunch we had survived that afternoon.

One thing that struck me about Arches was the amount of rock formations that look like giant penises. While I definitely have a mind that sees private parts in everything, these tackle boxes were out and proud at many of the stops. But of course we would never speak openly of such a thing since it might poison the minds of the children. To me, though, it was a very entertaining subplot as I tramped around.

Hello Oakland!

Finally back on the radar. After moving Sara from Houston with our little alien inside her belly, we have settled in picturesque Oakland, CA. I love Oakland. When you walk around San Francisco with this sense of entitlement. "I own this place. I pay enough rent, so I own this place."

In Oakland the feeling is a little different. After the fourth police car passes you in full-on code 3 (that's with sirens, speeding down the street for you non-cop sluts) your sense of entitlement kind of ebbs. In fact, you kind of wonder, "If this is the pretty nice part of Oakland, what the fuck is going on in the bad parts? Reinforced Hummers with National Guardspeople?"

Remember, when SF was all hippie and shit with peace and love, Oakland gave birth to the Black Panthers. There is a long history of resistance and activism here. I wonder how the current gentrification is going to happen.

Of course I am exaggerating. I love Oakland because it is so different from SF. When I describe it to people it's something about how it is like Brooklyn before Brooklyn became NYC, Jr. A little rough around the edges in a good way, a lot of interesting people and things happening, unexpected things around corners. For example, this little bird. Mr. Heron lives in the bird sanctuary in Lake Merritt and decided he wanted to go for a ride kind of like that guy in the wheelchair who got pushed down the highway by a big rig. He's a Pepper! Love it!

Anyway, love Oakland, love the new apartment, love the Pepper. Someone kill me now.

Goodbye Mission

Next Wednesday I move out of my lovely pad in the Mission and into Oakland. While I am supa excited to move into my new place--mostly because Sara will be there and not in Houston--I will definitely miss the food from the neighborhood.

Case in point is the tostada/tamale van. Now, usually vans like this kind of creep me out...looks like something a serial killer would drive. This van only has ki--I can't say it--excellent food. It never moves from its spot right on the corner across the street from me. The tostadas are amazing and it also has elote the way I learned to love it in Texas--a cup full of corn with sour cream, mayo, grated cheese, and chili on top. Delicioso. I will miss you, Dona Tere van.

Future Hooligan Alert

And now for the good news: Sara and I are having a baby!

This is the fruit of my loins in utero. Note how future baby is thumbing his nose to the world. A chip off the old blocks.

Chilaquiles

So I know this picture makes my guilty pleasure look as bad as Kurt Russell's nachos in Death Proof, but I swear these breakfast chilaquiles are delicious. On my little vacation back to Houston to remind Sara that she is still married to me we went to Buffalo Grille and I totally over-indulged. In fact, I am still paying for it with a creeping case of slow burn just above my heart.

If you've never had these little infernos--eggs on top of tortilla strips that have been soaked in hot lava juice--make sure you find a good first place to try them. I had some in SF that were fairly mediocre, and it is oh so important to be sure you get a good batch the first time. Well, maybe that would be a bad thing since you may turn into a zombie like me, craving chilaquiles whenever they are near. BRAINS!

Sara Gets Needled

Sara has been getting acupuncture for migraines. I've heard crazy stories from friends where they go in for their first session and have this total emotional reaction to the procedure, breaking down and crying. This did not happen for Sara. In fact, not much happened in either of her sessions.