Yesterday afternoon was a beautiful day in the Los Angeles area. It had rained that morning and in combination with the brisk wind, the skies were clear over Whittier with impressive clouds on the horizons. I took Espen up into the hills above our house for the first time, and we flew a little kite I’d gotten him for Christmas. Merely tossing it in the air was enough to launch it, and the look on his face when I turned control of it over to him made up for not having brought water with us on our hike. Espen scolded me on the latter point, saying that Snorty and The Little Boy Named Espen always brought water and rope with them when they went on hikes around the Island. Sure enough, so they do. Where was my head? The hills are only green for three months out of the year, so it’s important to enjoy them while at their best.

the house within
This is the second year that Heather has made a big cardboard house for the kids. Last year’s was cool, but this years is even better. It has an upstairs, a pillow pit, rooftop merlons, etc. I think that not having a refrigerator box to work with opened up a lot more creative options.

SongCam
We have a web-cam that we turn on from time to time. New link on the left. If you instant message us, we’ll turn it on.

yikesy truth
“You know, if every “Woman’s Studies” department was closed, and the student loans were used to create businesses that hired women instead of studied them like tragic butterflies impaled on the patriarchal pin, we might be better off. Granted, we?d be without PhDs theses like “Rape Symbolism and Beatrix Potter: A Rake?s Progress,” but the culture would survive; the only noticeable effect at all would be a 17% decrease in Frieda Kahlo poster sales, and a 50% decrease in 33-year old college students.” This from a witty response by James Lileks to an article about a couple who put up funds for a billboard attacking Christmas as “rampantly consumerist” and “religiously exclusivist.” Worth reading for the eptness of the skewering.