Hello all.

Well, this past week was fun...8 hours before leaving for a conference in Quebec, the main propellerheads.com server died, leaving me to scramble to replace it until just before the cab arrived to take us to the airport. For those of you using the server, you probably noticed a really annoying ongoing outage for 4-5 days and I appologize. I did not have adequate backups, so things are taking longer than they should to restore.

Most pieces are back in place, so if you are still having trouble let me know. Just to make matters worse, the outage coincided with an outage of my voicemail and sms caused by AT&T which I didn't even realize until I returned. I sent out notifications to several people who never heard from me.

At any rate, the conference was fun:)

Well, as tired as I will be today it was worth it. Michele and I got up at 1:30 and had a fantastic dark viewing spot right in the backyard. The eclipse was fantastic and it moved much faster than I remember as a kid:) I didn't really have anything set up for it, but my new little camera propped up on a lens cap took some great pictures.

It only took three years, but we finally rustled up another block party. This one was as good as the last, or maybe even better since there were more kids and more water. The food was great, the sign was bigger than last time (and stayed in one piece), plenty of neighbors and former neighbors showed up, and everyone had a good time.

The highlight toward the end of the day was the sneak-attack water bombing and subsequent revenge of the super-soakers. The main benefit to small kids is that they are easier to lift, but the drawback is that they don't make very good shields.

Last weekend we went with Phil and Betsy to the Crucible's production of The Oddysey, and the Fire Arts Festival. Pretty amazing. Loud, but amazing. The play was OK and the special effects (aka Fire) were spectacular. It was great wandering around the show seeing all of the home-built devices meant to burn, pop, whistle, explode, etc. most of which are destined for Burning Man, although the Serpent Mother from the Flaming Lotus Girls is destined for the Netherlands! I wonder how they are getting it there?

A lot of fun, but very tiring too. We started the weekend by meeting a friend in Monterey before even checking in to The Jabberwock Inn. After a few minutes of relaxing with appetizers during, 'Sherry Hour', at the inn we headed over to my high school reunion. I was simultaneously amazed by the number of people who looked exactly the same as they did in high school and the number who were completely unrecognizeable. It was great seeing everyone and getting back in touch with friends I had not seen in years.

The next day we had a fantastic, though rushed, breakfast at the inn before rushing to Salinas for breakfast with old friends:) We got a brief look at someone's brand new iPhone before heading off to a Birthday party for Michele's new 1 year old cousin. Next, we stopped by to visit family, then headed back to Monterey for a nap and dinner. On the way out of town the next day we visited more friends in Salinas before heading home. Now we need a vacation!

Last night we had dinner with a friend we hadn't seen in a while, tomorrow lunch with another, along with my reunion, then on Saturday more family and friends. Other than all the running around, it is great seeing everyone.

While saying goodbye last night we all noticed a mini-succulent garden next to the sidewalk with incredible light on it. Nice night in Berkeley.

I think I like the trend of all the new ice cream shops. We went to Sketch last weekend while our friend was in town and although I think that Ici is better, the flavors were still great. And by the way, the picture wasn't posed. They were just relaxing contentedly after finishing their ice cream:)