November 2004

- Monday, November 29, 2004 -
I always hate going back to work after a long (or short) weekend. But today we signed the sale papers for the Condo. It should record tomorrow (Tuesday). Then, no more payments, no more Association dues, no more utility bills, no more pain, heartache, and stress. Well, let's just say that it is a good thing to be done with.

- Sunday, November 28, 2004 -
Oops. The Sacramento Kings streak of seven wins in a row comes to an end against a very good Minnesota team. Great game until the last three minutes or so.

Most of the four-day weekend was spent at home, taking care of business and putting some shelving together. Bought at IKEA, best furniture (and more) store in the world, as far as I know. Is this what they call 'nesting'?

Also this weekend we did our annual viewing of the film "Home For The Holidays". If you have not seen this, it is a great film, directed by Jodie Foster with an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr, Holly Hunter, Clair Danes, Anne Bancroft, and many more. It shows a very disfunctional family trying their best to have a Thanksgiving dinner together. Believe me, no matter how weird your family is, watching this family will make yours seem a little less strange! Funny and moving too.

- Friday, November 26, 2004 -
The Sacramento Kings beat the Lakers in Los Angeles! HA!!

- Thursday, November 25, 2004 -
Thanksgiving. We had a great non-turkey meal with all the fixins. And no animals died! We have a sort-of tradition for the two of us to spend the day in our new (well, not quite so new) home. We had a relaxing, low-stress day. Jared (see friends page) stopped by for a little while too.

- Tuesday, November 23, 2004 -
We had dinner at the in-laws. Nice of them to make a vegetarian meal for us. Tasty too.

- Sunday, November 21, 2004 -
Kings win again. That's five in a row.

- Saturday, November 20, 2004 -
Since we are vegetarians, the traditional Turkey Day is not for us. Somehow, killing and eating a defenseless animal is not for us. Never mind that the animal was fed hormones and crammed in a tiny cage before it was killed. We instead decided to honor kindness instead of killing and so we attended the Celebration FOR The Turkeys. It was held in Orland, California at Farm Sanctuary. There they actually care about saving animals, instead of torturing and eating them.

For this special day, now in it's 19th year, the turkeys are the centerpiece of the day. But they are alive, not dead and cooked. We fed the turkeys thanksgiving dinner consisting of cranberry salad, pumpkin pie, and squash. We also had a vegan thanksgiving feast ourselves and visited all the other animals on the farm, many of whom had been rescued from cruel fates. Petra said "I was never more proud to be a vegetarian" and I totally agree with her.

- Friday, November 19, 2004 -
Kings win!

- Thursday, November 18, 2004 -
We have an offer on selling the condo, hopefully it will close at the end of the month.

- Sunday, November 14, 2004 -
What a busy weekend. Great, though. Tonight we went to the Sacramento Kings game. They won easily and looked good, especially in the second half. Chris Webber didn't do much but the rest of the team was on, especially Brad Miller.

- Saturday, November 13, 2004 -
Our anniversary!! And they said it wouldn't last. We spent the evening with friends Larry and Robin, first dinner at Zelda's Pizza. The waitresses there are known for their surly demeanor but this one was actually helpful and pleasant. And of course the pizza was wonderful. I recommend the Pesto pizza. Lots of garlic too. I take the tomatoes off but that is up to you.

Next we did the Second Saturday art walk, well, actually part of it was a drive. We went to quite a few different galleries with a wide variety of art. Interesting and entertaining.

Then it was over to Luna's Cafe for some beverages and music. Opening act was Scott Miller, who was ok but nothing special. But the main act was local artist Anton Barbeau. He was solo with just a guitar but there was not a dull moment in his entire set. His between-song patter was very witty and clever, and his songs were those things too and more. He's a gifted, if quirky, songwriter and I highly recommend seeing him in an acoustic setting like this. He also played his "Banana Song" and dedicated it to us for our anniversary. We really enjoyed his set. He calls his music "intelligent, fractured pop" and I wouldn't disagree with that. But in the best way possible.

- Friday, November 12, 2004 -
We had dinner at Hamburger Mary's. I know, what are two vegetarians doing at a burger place? Well, they will substitute a garden burger or Boca pattie on any burger. And their food is good, so is the ambience. Of course the Karaoke later in the evening is an acquired taste. That's why they have a full bar!

- Tuesday, November 9, 2004 -
The Kings played their first home game, after losing three in a row on the road. They looked pretty good tonight, though, and handled the Toronto Raptors wire to wire. It wasn't really even close. I love to see a nice, secure win. Go Kings!

- Sunday, November 7, 2004 -
Lunch at a new place that opened up recently near here, Daphne's Greek Cafe. It was kind of yuppified Greek food and it was very good. Decent price and plenty to eat too. Recommended for another visit. Well, I have to be sure, don't I?

- Saturday, November 6, 2004 -
Three days in a row at the gym (after a few off). It's kind of tough but it feels good in a way to know I did it. Petra is scrapbooking so I went alone. I took my new MP3 player and had some great music (Andy Partidge of XTC) to work out to, made it go really quick.

Also spent some time today trying to transfer video from VHS tapes to the PC and onto DVD. There's a bit of a learning curve but I'm getting there. I started with some taped Prince videos, in Petra's honor.

- Wednesday, November 3, 2004 -
Doom and gloom today. Dubya won a second term to finish and expand upon the damage he did in his first term. It's hard to figure. The economy is bad, over 1100 US soldiers dead in IRAQ with no end in sight, he's gutted every environmental protection that he could, he appoints radical right-wing judges, he lied about weapons of mass destruction and the IRAQ/Al-Quiada link (did I spell that right?), and, of course, he can barely speak in complete sentences. But they say he's the kind of guy you would want to have a beer with. Well, no way. Some us us have standards.

The good news, I guess, is that 49% of the voters still hate Bush, a pretty large number of people.

- Monday, November 1, 2004 -
Just got back from a few days in Santa Cruz, CA. Whoa! Do they know a thing or two about celebrating Halloween! The long main street was blocked off and lit up, and thousands of revellers were out. Many were in costume, ranging from devils, short-skirted policewomen and nurses, clowns, lingerie models, pillsbury doughboys, Kerrys, Arnies, and Bushs, and so much more. It was crowded, wild, and a real anything-goes show. And a lot of fun!

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