Off the grid

I'll be off the grid for a few days, exploring the rainforest of Costa Rica.

I'll be back Wednesday, November 30th, assuming there are no serious snake bites or perilous drops from the cables of the canopy tour.

High Fidelity

All time best movie about this issue.

We are music junkies. We can't even let go of our old paraphernalia. We have 10 boxes of albums in the basement. We haven't played them in years, but we have moved them, unplayed, from house to house four different times. The last time we moved, they were so heavy and we were that much older, that we should have rented a forklift. Next to the albums in the basement are 50 lbs. of custom-created cassette tapes in various tape holders. We only listen to a few of them now in the car on road trips.

Our current stereo system operates from a CD jukebox that holds 400 CDs. When we last moved we hooked up the stereo and discovered to our horror that all of the programming for the jukebox had been wiped out. So we laboriously re-programmed and re-entered all of the CDs. Then a month ago during a power blackout, the jukebox AGAIN wiped out it's programming. That was the final straw.

That, plus the advent of iTunes. So we're going all digital at Christmas. We're getting a family iPod for everything. 5,000 songs should do it. Bob's copying all the CDs from the jukebox into iTunes on his computer in anticipation of the arrival of the iPod.

It's amazing the lengths we go to for music. But hey, what's life without a sound track?

Brownie

Pretty soon our lives will be all turned upside down. Say hello to Brownie...our new cockapoo puppy. Dorothy is flying up with him on December 22 from Florida. He will be about 20 pounds when he's grown.

Many thanks to Dorothy for finding him!

OK all you dog people out there...send me any advice I need on raising a puppy or books we should read. I've heard it's like having a baby in the house. Oh boy!

The Ferry

That could be me in the red bathing cap on the dock. When I spent summers at Chautauqua Lake in the 1970s the greatest thing was the ferry.

Our cottage was right down the street and we'd pay - what? a quarter? to ride the ferry over to the Casino - the big building in the background.

There was no gambling at the Casino but it did have greasy fries and pinball machines. We played innumerable rounds of shuffle bowling and bought penny candy.

The ferry is still there, but just for show. A huge bridge and highway now crosses the middle of the lake. When they were building it, my cousins would ride their motor boat by the pilings and throw firecrackers at them. I loved that.

The bridge isn't right. The ferry is the spirit of the place.

Lucky 13

Cousins Dan, Jim, Jon, Mike, Matt, Dylan, Drew, Kate, Abby, Ryan, Jessica, Gavin and now....Isabelle.

Isn't she beautiful?

Vote for Kelly

I first met Kelly in high school. We shared liberal politics, progressive moms and a desire to get out in the wide world.

We saw each other briefly in college when we were both in D.C. suffering through Reagan's America. I was doing an internship in the Senate. She was fighting the good fight for various progressive causes. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. But Kelly was already doing her thing. She was where the action was.

Kelly found her place in Los Angeles fighting hard for all the right things, especially the environment and women's rights.

I don't know anyone more perfectly suited for the kind of job she's going for now. Kelly will be great in the California State Assembly. But I have no doubt she will go far beyond that. Kelly, we need leaders like you. Thanks for always going for it.

To my Los Angeles friends...not only must vote for her, you must somehow sneak in a vote from me.