With two weeks to go until Christmas we went up to Disneyland Sunday for a little shopping and a chance to for our little Sith Bobblelord Darth Santa to check out the decor.  The results were great, and are all in their very own little gallery.  Honestly, I haven’t had this much fun with a little plastic toy in years, and the response from other guests and cast members at the park were fabulous.

Decompressing after a very busy couple of weeks.  Geekery on both ends, starting with the midnight opening of Harry Potter and ending with our last Coaster ride north from Comic-Con on Sunday.  In between though, in case you missed it was the San Clemente Ocean Festival.  Pancake breakfast for charity, and lots of fun in the sun.  Had a great time and took lots of pictures on the Saturday.

After many years of Comic-Con, we finally went in costume.  We weren’t insane about it.  Even in San Diego, head to toe neoprene is just way too much for me.  And while it might hurt to admit it, I just don’t have the abs of a Spartan warrior/Roman gladiator.  But it certainly brought the experience to a new level: it was a conversation starter and a point of reference.  We were asked to pose for photos and brought smiles to a lot of over-30 faces as they remembered their first Akbar and Jeff moments and we had some nice chats with the folks at the Bongo Comics booth.  Randy even got to meet the Creator, Matt Groening, himself.  While I think returning as Akbar and Jeff next year would get stale, I think we both agree we need to keep going in costume when we return to Comic-Con – the experience is not just different, but seriously better.

Gazing into my crystal ball, I do foresee that:

• We will be eating here for Dining Out For Life this upcoming Thursday.
• These photos will be considered at the San Diego County Fair’s Exhibition of Photography, and hopefully be on the list when the winners are announced in June.
  
• We will then spend five days and four nights celebrating that win, school being out, Randy’s Masters degree and our third wedding anniversary at the Cliffs in Pismo Beach.

Compare:

The shot of the Grizzly is from today at the zoo. The photo of Diego was taken last year.  But they both seem to be giving me that same stare.  That ‘don’t you have anything better to do with that camera‘ stare.  Didn’t really think about it until the shots showed up next to each other as random picks at the photo gallery, but now I’m just kinda freaked out about it.

Still in escrow (or at least no one’s told us differently).

Still free of prostate cancer (confirmed by the official finger of BorgHealth this morning).

Still wondering why I decorate for Christmas even though I have a dog.

Many of you have probably heard the news elsewhere, but we’re moving.  We’re in escrow on a townhouse in nearby San Marcus and hope to complete the move by the end of the year.   There will be more details and more photos down the road, but as a teaser some shots from the inspection yesterday have been posted over at the photo gallery.

While the place is in good shape, there are certainly a lot of things we want to do to make it a home we can really be proud of.  A perfect example is the lighting.  Sure, this works in that utilitarian sense that it provides illumination and prevents people from falling down the stairs.  But something like this would be so much more fabulous, wouldn’t it?

Took some time after a business trip to San Jose (Yes, I know the way to San Jose) to drive down the coast and take a few photos.  Not as many photos as I would’ve liked due to some weather, but it was still a worthwhile couple of days. Cleared out the head and listened to a lot of old music too.

Found an interesting new map of California too, though I suspect I’d have difficulty getting it into the glove box.

Except for a run to the gym and the bank, it looks like Friday will be spent chained to the desk coding the Great Unbillable Project, the website that gives me karma instead of cash.  After work though, going to try and get down to La Jolla and watch UCSD and Long Beach State play a little water polo.

Cuz, ya know, that’s a good way to start the weekend.

This will be the first game of the season for us since we skipped the Triton Invitational last month.  Besides, at the rate California and the UC budgets are going, we can’t really count on these things being around forever, so we better catch local match ups when we can.  Yes, I’m being pessimistic, but it’s getting harder and harder to be anything but.

Taking a break from dealing with the real world for a bit.  Time to focus on the wild and fantastic sides of life, and celebrate the announcement the ComicCon will be in San Diego for at least five more years.  Time to par-teh like a stormtrooper!