Juke Box Hero

Since 2006 I've been titling posts with either lyrics from a song or an actual song title. I thought it'd be nice to document these choices; I'll keep this entry updated with info from new posts going forward.

Update: Starting with posts in 2010, I'm now listing the song reference at the bottom of the post, instead of updating a huge table. I've gone back and appended song reference information to all the earlier posts as well.

(Full disclosure: the iTunes buttons at the bottom of each post are encoded with my affiliate ID, so I get a cut if you buy anything.)

Overall I'm pleased with the range and diversity represented, but I'm a bit surprised at how much Zeppelin is listed. Guess I'm a child of the 70s after all.

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Juke Box Hero	Song by Foreigner

We Didn't Start the Fire

On 16 June 2009, the United States Global Change Research Program released a comprehensive report entitled Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. The USGCRP integrates input from 13 different federal government departments and agencies in an effort to help the US cope with global climate change.

I downloaded the full PDF copy and was looking it over when I was struck by a particular graphic.
On page 90 of the report is an illustration of temperature increase across the continental US, specifically projected increases in the number of days in which the temperature will exceed 100°F. Naturally the chromatic scale for the graphic runs in the so-called warmer colors, with a deep red representing the hottest temperatures. Looking at the worst scenario as a whole, therefore, gives the distinct impression of the country descending into a fire, with tongues of flame licking right up Texas, Arizona, and California's Central Valley.

Other than climate, what do those areas have in common? That's right, as America grapples with the equality of treatment for all her citizens, these areas seem to be, time and again, focal points for the narrow-minded and intolerant people who fight against marriage equality, employment equality, civil rights recognition, and who even threaten to secede.

Time and time again when efforts are made to treat all citizens equally, these areas lead the charge that fairness and respect for all will lead directly to Armageddon. Sure enough, look at the map: the flames of Hell are headed right toward them.

But the cause isn't gay marriage, it's their own damned SUVs.

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We Didn't Start the Fire	Song by Billy Joel

Driving in My Car

(Tip o'the hat to Daring Fireball)

Now this is a proper product review...

Top Gear ‘Throughly Tests’ a Ford Fiesta

That is all.

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Driving in My Car	Song by Madness

Making Plans for Nigel

On personal matters, it can take me a while to formulate plans of action. I need goals, however I'm not a goal-driven person. I'm more a goal-meandering person. I need an idea of where to go, then a plan, then a revised plan, and then I can start heading in the right direction.

Right now, I'm in the doldrums because I've achieved, for the most part, the last set of goals I'd set three years ago, but I don't have a new group to replace them. (That post is so old, it pre-dates the all-posts-are-titled-with-song-names-or-lyrics scheme I've been following for a while now. That post title is actually a ST:TNG quote.)

I still feel my employment requires exchanging parts of my soul for a paycheck. But in the three years since my previous post I've completely remodeled my house, made small steps toward regular exercise, and have spent plenty of time with Ku.

But I can tell that it's time to create more specific plans, and actually begin working toward them. And perhaps these plans will have some greater purpose to life incorporated therein. One can only hope. Or plan. Or something.

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Making Plans for Nigel	Song by XTC

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

In the darkest days of the Bush II regime, I investigated the possibility of California seceding from the United States. I found organizations like Free the Bear that posit our state — the seventh largest economy in the world — would be able to leave the Union of the United States of America and survive as an independent republic. But these groups never accurately characterize the likely response of a modern USA should a state try to secede and strike out on her own.

Eventually I came to realize that a large part of California's strength was her place in the Union.

Now it seems Conservatives are learning these same lessons. The folks in Texas have started to imply that secession is a topic of conversation. And as much as I'd be delighted to see them leave, perhaps they might want to review this analysis from the editors of Foreign Policy of what would happen should they try to dissolve the bonds of our Union. It's not a pretty picture:

In short: the state of Texas would rapidly become direly impoverished, would need to be heavily armed, and would be wracked with existential domestic and foreign policy threats. It would probably make our failed states list in short order."

Update: On the other hand, Ezra Klein ponders how the US would benefit from being Texas-less:

After Texas Governor Rick Perry fired up a Tea Party audience by musing about secession as a response to federal tax rates, I spent most of the day idly considering what it would look like for America if Texas seceded from the union. More trains! Universal health care! An end to an important hybrid food culture!"

Update 2: And Nate Silver takes a look at how Texas secession would help Democrats:

• If Texas were not in the Union, the Democrats would currently have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate — or at least they would once Al Franken gets seated. This is because, in a 98-seat Senate, only 59 votes would be required to break a filibuster.


• If Texas were not in the Union, the Republicans would operate from a significantly weakened position in the House, since the net 8-vote advantage their congressional delegation gives them in the state (they have 20 seats to the Democrats' 12) is by far their largest."

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Babe I'm Gonna Leave You	Song by Led Zeppelin

(Nothing but) Flowers

As Spring continues to unfold, the native plants and wildflowers in the front yard have begun to burst forth in bloom. The California Poppies have spread throughout the yard and are blooming profusely, their golden orange color a nice counterpart to the purples, reds, and blues of the other plants.

And today appeared the first bloom on the Wind Poppy plant, a rare California native cultivated by the fine folks at Annie's Annuals, which I have in a pot on the porch.

This poppy also has a golden orange color but the blooms are wide open, in contrast to the tighter flowers of a California Poppy, and the petals have undulations that look at once both heirloom and modern. It's like a cousin to our state flower — similar enough to evoke a familial resemblance but different enough to stand out.

The front yard is a sheer delight this Spring; whenever I'm sitting on the porch passersby comment on how much they enjoy the tapestry of colors and textures. I owe it all to Leslie Jaquith of Deva Gardens in Santa Cruz. It's amazing how well she took my disjointed thoughts about the yards and translated them into exactly what I wanted.

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(Nothing but) Flowers	Song by Talking Heads

Mystery Achievement

Yesterday I thought I'd have one bloom today, but two proud orange flowers greeted me this morning! Spurned on, perhaps, by its neighbor, a second California Poppy plant burst forth with a colorful Springtime flower, marking a bright advent to the season.

To further celebrate Spring, I planted some other native poppy varieties in the pots on the porch, and a dozen different heirloom tomato plants in the backyard beds. Look for more photos as they grow and bloom.

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Mystery Achievement	Song by Pretenders

Rite of Spring

The first California poppy bloom of the season began to unfurl today!

I'd noticed that the poppies were especially prolific this year, inhabiting the whole front yard, but wasn't sure how many of the new plants would actually flower. Well, one's taken up the challenge, at least. It's got one bloom unfurling now with at least two more to follow. And the plant behind it looks like it's not far behind.

What's more, just about every other flowering plant in the garden is beginning to bloom. Looks to be a colorful Spring!

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Rite of Spring	Ballet by Igor Stravinsky

Running in Fear from Imaginary Assailants

Ezra Klein at The American Prospect made a fantastic observation today regarding the Dow Jones Industrial Average:

Anyone else noticed that the Dow Jones Average now serves the same purpose on cable news shows that the terrorism alert level served between 2001 and 2004?"

I really wish the mass media could do a better job of framing economic (or political) issues instead of falling back on simple, athletically inspired metrics like "up" or "down," "ahead" or "behind."

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Running in Fear from Imaginary Assailants	Song by Charlie Hunter Trio

Pa Konane

Recently while fiddling with my iPhone I discovered a cool feature: region formats.

Sure, the iPhone supports dozens of languages, and if you set a language then the whole iPhone OS as well as any localized third-party apps will display in the specified language. But if you're not fluent in that language, you'll be lost on your own phone.

Region formats are different; they specify the preferred format for day, date, time, and phone numbers based on a specific region. But what's cool is that format isn't just the order of month and day or the use of dashes or brackets in a number, but the language of the days and months as well.

Even cooler, there's a region format for Hawai'i that uses the Hawaiian terms for the days (actually nights) of the week and the months of the year. Selecting that region format means that all the iPhone applications — even third-party ones that are correctly engineered — display dates in Hawaiian! In Weather, in Calendar, in Mail, in Stocks — everywhere there's a date, it's in Hawaiian.

Setting the iPhone couldn't be easier: tap Settings, tap General, scroll down and tap International, then tap Region Format. There are many regions listed, with some grouped under a language, such as Spanish, spoken in many different regions.

Not knowing Hawaiian myself, this has given me an opportunity to learn some interesting things about the language. For instance, as shown in the image above, all the days of the week start with pō except one: Lā pule, or Sunday. I guessed that Lā pule might mean "holy day" and some research revealed I was close. It actually means "prayer day" and reflects the influence Christian missionaries had on the islands.

But if lā means day then why do all the other names start with pō? Well, as I learned at UniLang, the Hawaiians traditionally started the 24-hour cycle at night, much the way we actually start a day at Midnight, and pō means night. The second part of the word specifies numerical order, first through sixth. So Monday is Pō'akahi or first night. Tuesday is Pō'alua or second night and on down the line to Saturday, Pō'aono. (Makes far more sense than a mix of celestial objects and Norse, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon gods, like in English.)

The iPhone OS even nails the little details: in Calendar on month view, Pō'akahi through Pō'aono are abbreviated P1 to P6, just as their names denote.

As for the post title, "Pa Konane" is a traditional Hawaiian song about the "bright touch" of the Moon.

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Pa Konane	Folk song performed by Manualua (and many others)

The Evil That Men Do

That jackass Phil Gramm is at it again. He gutted the regulations that kept economic disasters like our current predicament from happening, but that wasn't enough. Now he's responsible for Swiss bank UBS becoming a haven for tax evaders.

Daily Kos contributor Devilstower has the full scoop, complete with references and citations. It's not pretty, but it's an important read. Check it out.

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The Evil That Men Do	Song by Yo La Tengo

Riders on the Storm

For the first time I can recall, a professional bicycle race came through Santa Cruz. Specifically, Stage Two of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California race ended here in Downtown Santa Cruz, after starting in Sausalito this morning.

Even more exciting, not only did the race come through Downtown, it went right down my street! That's right, I hung out in my front yard today and watched bike racing luminaries such as Lance Armstrong fly by not more than 10 feet in front of me. To chronicle such a momentous event, I took pictures and pulled together a photo page.

Aside from the fun of seeing the racers speed down my street, it was interesting to watch the weather seemingly cooperate with my fair city's debut as a staging ground for the Tour of California. While cycling through the mountains, the racers were reportedly deluged with rain. And even here in Santa Cruz, the rain was steady until about 10:30.

But as can be seen in my pictures, the rain stopped mid-morning and by Noon the streets were dry. A couple of quick showers made things interesting — I had Neighbor Nicole taking refuge on my porch for a few minutes — but they stopped by 13:30.

When the first riders came by at 13:56, not only were the streets dry, but the sun had just broke through the clouds. And Downtown stayed partly cloudy the whole time the racers were streaming through. By 15:00, all the riders had gone by, and the grey was back. By 16:00, dark storm clouds filled the sky. And by 16:30, hail was falling. It was almost like the collective will of Santa Cruz had managed to push back the storm just long enough so the riders could cross the line. After that it came rushing back in with a vengeance.

I only hope the tour organizers remember our meteorological manipulation when they plan next year's route.

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Riders on the Storm	Song by The Doors

Free Yourself

Apple announced today that all 10 million songs available in the iTunes Store will be in the iTunes Plus format; eight million available immediately with the other two million later this month by the end of this quarter. This means the tracks are encoded in higher quality and are not governed by the FairPlay system that restricted use of the music to certain methods and numbers of computers.

This represents a significant change of world-view on the part of the music labels, one that should be celebrated and encouraged. So head right over to the iTunes Store, click the iTunes Plus link in the Quick Links list on the right side, and upgrade your music library today!

But remember, just because there's no digital-rights management restrictions on these files does not mean you should redistribute them beyond your own personal use. Don't Steal Music!

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Free Yourself	Song by The Untouchables

Your Time is Gonna Come

Lyin', cheatin', hurtin, that's all you seem to do
Messin' around, every guy in town
Puttin' me down for thinkin' of someone new
Always the same, playin' your game
Drive me insane, trouble's gonna come to you."

The leadership of the Mormon church strongly urged members to donate millions of dollars — some estimates reach $20 million — to pass Proposition 8, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This is all I gotta say to ya...
Your time is gonna come."

According to a New York Times review of the book The Mormon Corporate Empire, the church is worth more than $8 billion, and it has wide political power. Its strength is based on the devotion of six million members worldwide; three million of them live in the United States. The authors say their premise is ''that the Mormon financial/political enterprise is not simply an American success story but rather an ongoing crusade to reshape our society and its democratic institutions.''

So, all the ads that duped California voters into thinking Proposition 8 would victimize children were sponsored by a fringe religion in Utah.

I hope Californians keep that in mind as they consider their Winter ski vacations, their Summer hiking trips, and any stays at the Marriott hotel chain, which is owned by a wealthy Mormon family.

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Your Time is Gonna Come	Song by Led Zeppelin

Good Times Bad Times

From my house I can hear the people gathered in downtown Santa Cruz, cheering for President-elect Barack Obama. Horns are honking, passers by are whooping, and someone out by the high school is setting off actual, professional-quality fireworks.

And I'm glad, too. Glad for the country and glad for my neighbors who helped change the course of this great nation.

But while the thought of Obama as president-elect should be cheerful, my heart is heavy because the citizens of the once-great state of California have decided to enshrine fear and discrimination into the state constitution.

As of 5 Nov 2008, 00:45 PST, with 63.6% of the precincts reporting statewide, Proposition 8 was passing, 52.7% to 47.3%. This means select California citizens will be constitutionally forbidden to marry, despite the fact the California Supreme Court has said such discrimination is wrong. In other words, even though a group of judges — legal scholars — has evaluated California law and said that forbidding marriage from a specific group is illegal, the voters of California have overridden them to ensure such discrimination is constitutionally sanctioned.

This despite the fact that states such as Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York have voted to recognize the validity of all marriages, regardless of gender composition. So much for the idea that California is at the vanguard of personal rights and freedoms.

I never thought I'd see this once-great state fall so far.

It seems Californians have decided the separate-but-equal postulate put forth in Plessy v. Ferguson is actually valid. But that idea is 112 years old, and was soundly rejected in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. Regardless, the Mormon church has been able to convince a majority of Californians to deny basic societal rights to a small group of citizens. I'm sure they're proud of themselves.

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Good Times Bad Times	Song by Led Zeppelin

Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly? Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?

Yes, I had an earlier post about the discriminatory nature of Proposition 8. But it was long and somewhat obtuse. Here's the gist, short and sweet:



At one time California had laws that discriminated based on race and ethnicity. We've moved beyond that, as you'd expect from the greatest, most diverse and accepting state in the Union. There's no reason to backtrack.

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"Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly? Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?"	Lyrics from the song Don't Take Your Love from Me, written by Henry Nemo and performed by Nancy Wilson (among many others including Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Julie London, etc.)

New World Coming

There's a new day dawning that belongs to you and me. There's a new voice humming; you can hear it if you try."

Coming in peace. Coming in joy."

Not sure what you want for the future of this great nation, but I know what I want. It's specified in the clip above and I'll be voting appropriately on 4 Nov 2008.

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New World Coming	Song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, performed by Nina Simone (and covered by Mama Cass)

Communication Breakdown

Now because he knows that his economic theories don't work, he's been spending these last few days calling me every name in the book. Lately he's called me a socialist, for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class." — Senator Barack Obama

Personally, I believe sharing your PB&J makes you a good American, not a bad American. But clearly that's because I'm a godless heathen who wants our enemies to prevail.

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Communication Breakdown	Song by Led Zeppelin

Get Up Stand Up

Please vote.



It's the only legal way to cancel out (or support) your neighbors.

(Anyone notice Neighbor John in the video? Or was it Neighbor Gary?)

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Get Up Stand Up	Song by Bob Marley

Drop the Hate

There are a lot of claims and counter-claims circulating about California Proposition 8.

Sometimes — as when determining grammatical structure or mathematical function — a helpful technique is to substitute a different value for one of the primary variables in the matter at hand, be it a sentence or equation. This can remove, for example, a semantically loaded element and replace it with something more universally accepted. Without the emotional cloud overhead, you can better evaluate the matter objectively.

One group has done this, taking an advertisement in favor of Prop 8 and substituting "interracial" for "same sex."



This substitution deftly manifests the discriminatory nature of the proposition. It makes clear what could have been confusing: Proposition 8 has only one goal, to codify prejudicism into the California Constitution so that the opinions of a few narrow-minded individuals become law for tens of millions of Californians.

In fact, with this simple substitution, the pro-8 group is quickly hoisted by their own petard.

Now — on the cusp of what could be a glorious 21st Century — there are very few people who would even attempt to defend a ban on marriage between different races, or different religions, or different classes. We've all seen many happy unions, and have probably learned to not even speculate on how a given match will fare in the future. Sure, he parties all night and she spends all day ministering to the aged and infirm; that doesn't mean they won't have a long and fruitful marriage.

So remember, when you go to vote: No on H8, No on Prop 8.

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Drop the Hate	Song by Fatboy Slim

For All to See

Just yesterday I heard someone say of Barack Obama, "there's nothing there." This is a persistent charge against Senator Obama, frustrating not just because it's false but because there's abundant information available to refute it.

So it got me thinking I could gather Obama's most recent and relevant policy positions into a blog post, only to find the hyper-efficient Obama/Biden campaign had just posted a fantastic two-minute video summary:



Here are the major points:

• Stimulate economy with a tax cut for 95% of working Americans. Families making less than $200,000 a year will get a tax cut, which will directly improve their finances.


• End tax breaks for companies that relocate jobs overseas, and instead create tax credits to reward companies that create new jobs for Americans.


• Help small businesses, the true economic engine of America, weather these tough times with low-cost loans.


• Position America to be competitive in an uncertain future by working to reduce the healthcare costs that are a massive drag on our economy, breaking our dependence on foreign oil so we're not reliant on some of the world's most unstable regions, and making sure all American children have the education they need to succeed.


• Bring about a responsible end to the war in Iraq, a war that costs the US $10 billion a month. Yes, $10 billion every month, even though the Iraqi budget now shows a surplus and we currently have the largest deficit this country has ever seen.


• Active management of the new bailout plans underway, so that the benefit goes to taxpayers, not corporate officers.


• End the current tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of this nation's citizens so as to fund tax cuts for 95% of all working Americans.


• Close corporate tax loopholes, often inserted into spending bills and budgets at the last minute by lobbyists working for companies and industries.


• Audit all Government spending, with the goal of ending programs that don't produce cost-effective results.

Clear, reasoned, responsible plans that will better America by directly benefiting the vast majority of Americans. Substance centered around what this country needs right now. Right there for all to see.

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For All to See	Song by Buffalo Tom

Everything counts in large amounts.

Much is being said about the specific failings of the Republican candidate for Vice President. However what's really at issue is not the parentage of her alleged offspring, or the offspring of her offspring, or her documented abuses of power (which pale in comparison to the abuses wrought by the Bush administration).

And it's not her lack of experience; recent history has seen many dubiously qualified Vice Presidents and Vice Presidential nominees.

No, the real issue is the sheer, unmitigated hypocrisy being revealed in this nation's governing elite. And while the traditional media continues to be unable to effectively process and expose this hypocrisy, that doesn't stop America's most capable, most talented political commentator:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sarah Palin Gender Card
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Unfortunately I can only legitimately get that clip in a non-standards-based (though admittedly common) format, so if you're reading this on an iPhone or iPod touch, let me break it down for you:

• On 29 August 2008, Karl Rove cited Sarah Palin's experience as mayor of a town of about 9,000 souls and governor of a state with a population of less than 700,000 as strong examples of her executive experience and by extension her ability to be Vice President.


• However on 10 August 2008, Karl Rove dismissed possible Democratic VP candidate Tim Kaine as not being capable to possibly lead this nation since he's merely the governor of Virginia (population 7.6 million) and former mayor of the town of Richmond (population 200,000).


• On 2 September 2008, sycophantic TV commentator Bill O'Reilly said that the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter should be a "personal matter" and shouldn't be part of political commentary.


• However on 19 December 2007, Bill O'Reilly indignantly cited the pregnancy of 16-year-old unmarried Jamie Lynn Spears as primarily the fault of "the parents of the girl, who obviously have little control over her." He went on to call them "pinheads."


• On 2 September 2008, Republican operative Dick Morris said a male candidate would never have to endure the, at that point, 72 hours of scrutiny that Palin had faced, saying it was indicative of the "deep sexism that runs through our society."


• However on 5 November 2007, Dick Morris was talking about Hillary Clinton's campaign when he said "when a woman wants to be President, she shouldn't complain based on gender." He went on to say that Clinton continuously "retreats behind the apron strings" whenever she faces scrutiny of her policies and positions.


• On 5 November 2007, McCain advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer said that people who think they're helping Clinton by playing "this gender card" were in fact hurting her, and that it would be "a terrible mistake for her [Clinton] to try to play this victimology or victimization card because it's just not what we want in a President."


• However on 3 September 2008, Pfotenhauer marched dutifully in front of the TV cameras to say that the nature of the commentary about Palin and her family was "disrespectful to her as a woman," that she was concerned the media should know better than to "belittle the accomplishments of women," and that questions about Palin's ability to balance one of the world's most intense jobs with the needs of her young children to be "one of the most outrageous double standards" she'd ever seen.


• And finally, in March 2008, Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin said of Hillary Clinton: "when I hear a statement like that, coming from a woman candidate, with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, man, that doesn't do us any good. ... I mean, work harder, prove yourself to an even greater degree that you're capable, that your going to be the best candidate."

And these people wonder why so much of the nation has turned against them. As Andrew Sullivan posted today:

They are a religious and cultural identity party, primed to rally to anything their leaders say and question nothing. That's why they're so dangerous.

They can do anything and defend it — invade a country on false pretenses, grind the military into extreme danger, trash the Geneva Conventions, expand government at a record pace, threaten war with Iran and Russia — and still say with a straight face that they are the party of national security, fiscal restraint, foreign policy wisdom and military pride. It doesn't matter what they do; these people believe in this cause because it is about God and America and their own identity. And when you have a major political party constructed like that, they can do anything. And they have."

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"Everything counts in large amounts."	Lyric from the song Everything Counts by Depeche Mode

Really Saying Something (He Was Really Sayin' Somethin')

Yes, it's too long to be a sound bite, but this exchange between Barack Obama and a Democratic party operative in Albuquerque is worthy of greater exposure because it demonstrates the evaluation and nuance that should go into positions regarding our Middle East conflicts, and it's a great example of acknowledging the views and concerns of our base while setting expectations on how to meet those concerns while effectively governing.



We won't all be in lock-step, but that doesn't mean we can't all follow a worthy leader.

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Really Saying Something (He Was Really Sayin' Somethin')	Song by Bananarama with Fun Boy Three

Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves

Looks like sea creatures have determined they can't count on human assistance. In New Zealand, two pygmy sperm whales were stranded despite hours of assistance from humans, reports AP via CNN. The mother whale and her calf had been coaxed off the beach by rescuers but were then repeatedly stranded on a nearby sandbar, despite all human intervention.

But then to the rescue came Moko, a female bottlenose dolphin. Much like how a middle-aged woman in a store deftly helps mind a stranger's child as the harried young mother fumbles with purse and coupons, Moko glided in and immediately calmed the whales, then smoothly guided them back out to sea.

"They had arched their backs and were calling to one another, but as soon as the dolphin turned up they submerged into the water and followed her," AP quotes Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.

Personally, I'm glad to see aquatics starting to police themselves. After all, once they...er...stand up, then we can stand down.

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Sisters are Doin' It for Themselves	Song by Eurythmics with Aretha Franklin

Sorry I'm not home right now, I'm walking into spiderwebs.

Photographic evidence of my lax housekeeping skills; here's what was on my living room table this afternoon, right next to the preamp remote that I'd been using all day and the stack of mail from the week.

I've been getting home so late for the last couple of weeks there's no way of knowing how long the web had been there.

Guess I need to start a weekend routine of some basic cleaning lest Nature completely reclaim my house.

And yes, after taking the picture I crushed the spider and removed the web. I've no leniency for squatters in my house.

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"Sorry I'm not home right now, I'm walking into spiderwebs."	Lyrics from the song Spiderwebs by No Doubt

Check items off, let nothing be missed, sing I to myself and my 100 lists.

Despite having access to some way-cool, still under development, task-management software, and even though I'd set aside the whole morning, I'm still dragging my feet when it comes to listing and prioritizing all the things I need to do.

So as part of my procrastinating, I started pondering why I was procrastinating. Yep, it's that bad. And while the answer is probably blindingly obvious to, well, anyone, it took me a half-hour of cogitation to realize that once I list the tasks I need to complete, I'll then have to actually complete them.

Thus, I'm not just procrastinating, I'm metaprocrastinating.

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"Check items off, let nothing be missed, sing I to myself and my 100 lists."	Lyrics from the song Girl of 100 Lists by The Go-Go's

Left for Dead

Had a beach picnic on the Fourth and the fridge is filled with leftovers that are going to go bad if I don't use them soon. There's half a red onion, half a lime, and some vegetable stock all left for dead unless I do something.

So, let's make some bean soup! I start by simmering the chopped red onion in olive oil until it begins to caramelize. I salt and pepper the onions generously, both to bring out the water and to bolster the flavor of this simple, thick soup.

Next I add two cans of cannellini beans, liquid and all. I heat the beans for a couple of minutes then add vegetable stock to cover them, mix everything together and bring it to a boil.

Once boiling, I lower the heat and simmer the soup until the aroma moves from the sharp tang of stock to the pillowy heartiness of stewed beans (at least 20 minutes). To finish the soup I squeeze in the juice from the half a lime then mash the beans with a potato masher until most of them are pureed and the soup is nice and thick.

It goes great with a couple slices of good wheat bread and the spicy fruit of a Stryker 2002 Syrah (Estate Alexander Valley).

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Left for Dead	Song by Voodoo Glow Skulls

A Good Year for the Roses

This was one of those slow Santa Cruz days; the overcast didn't burn off until almost three in the afternoon. For some reason, as long as it's overcast out I'm fine just puttering around the house, picking up stuff and doing laundry. But once the sun comes out I start feeling guilty about staying at home. It's like the marine layer keeps my thoughts trapped at home, but once it evaporates I remember the many things I could be doing out in the world.

But I've much to do around the house so I figured a nice glass of sangria would be a fitting way to celebrate the sun's arrival, tardy as it may be.

So in a pitcher went two sliced oranges, one blood and one Valencia, and two chopped apples, one Fuji and one Granny Smith, along with two cinnamon sticks. Then in went a tablespoon of powdered sugar and three tablespoons each of Grand Marnier and brandy, stirred to coat the fruit. That mixture then sat for an hour to draw out the juices from the fruit.

Finally I added a cup of orange juice and a bottle of red wine. My selection was a 2005 Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato (imported by Bonny Doon Vineyard). The striking, almost overwhelming, bouquet of roses on this Ruchè blends nicely with the fruit in the sangria.

Once everything blends for a while and is served over ice, the result is a fine, tasty sangria. But be careful, it's quite potent regardless of how easy it is to drink. (Something I always forget until about halfway through the glass.)

The sangria recipe is from Martha Stewart, though she calls for a cup of grapes in hers. I don't think the grapes add much to the overall result so I usually don't bother.

Oh, and speaking of not bothering, the overcast was back by four-twenty. Cozy.

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A Good Year for the Roses	Song covered by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, originally by George Jones

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather.

A month ago I potted some plants, including cilantro. Normally I don't do well with plants, but I've been making an effort to keep these watered.

Well tonight I made a batch of salsa and thus had occasion to harvest some of my flourishing herb. I'm amazed at how much the cilantro has grown in just a month; here's a shot of the plant after I cut about a half-a-bunch's worth off the bottom. It's already two feet tall, and showing no signs of slowing down.

The cilantro was the perfect touch in a batch of restaurant-style salsa, giving it a fresh snap of flavor. The salsa's easy to make and the secret, taught to me years ago by my buddy, Tony, is to parboil the tomatoes and jalapeños before blending. This keeps them from turning rancid in a couple of days, and keeps the salsa from becoming too watery.

Tonight, for instance, I parboiled two roma tomatoes and three jalapeño peppers. (Use roma tomatoes as they have less pulp, once again helping avoid watery salsa.) Don't let the water come to an actual boil, and stop when the tomato skins peal. For an added depth of flavor, I add a handful of peppercorns to the water.

While the produce was parboiling, I stripped the leaves off the half-bunch of cilantro and put them in the food processor. Then I pulled the tomatoes and jalapeños out of the peppered hot water and put them in the processor. Next I poured in a 15-ounce can of "fire-roasted" crushed tomatoes — yep, that's why there were only two fresh tomatoes. I like to use a mix of fresh and canned, and the roasted ones have a nice smoky note. Finally I added about a quarter-teaspoon of chopped garlic (just used the stuff in a jar if you have it) and some salt and pepper.

Pulse until it looks like what you want: not too chunky and not soup. This particular ratio turned out great, with a bit of heat but not too much. I mushed up an avocado and added three spoonfuls of salsa for a quick-and-dirty guacamole, which made a fine dinner accompanied by blue-corn chips and paired with a 2005 Beaujolais Villages.

Oh, and not that I wanted to turn this blog into some sort of HGTV special, but since I mentioned my recent gardening efforts, I figured an update on the poppies is in order. As shown in the picture, the California poppies I potted a month ago are now in glorious bloom! Each pot is thriving and they seem to take turns bursting forth with flowers. Which reminds me...they're probably due for some water...

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"Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather."	Lyric from the song Scarborough Fair/Canticle by Simon and Garfunkel

The talking trees are silent in a noisy way.

We got our trees today!

A week ago I noticed that squares had been spray-painted on the sidewalk in front of the parking lot next to my house. Inside the squares was the notation "tree." I was quite excited by the notion we might be getting some new trees on our block; sure enough, this morning three trees arrived on a flat-bed truck, along with a crane to lift them into place.

A crew cut away the concrete sidewalk, dug a hole, and put the young trees in place. They placed three trees along the face of the lot, one at each end and one in the middle. (The trees were placed on the Center Street side of the lot; the Cedar Street side has trees already.)

The foreman says the trees won't grow too tall and hit the power lines, but rather should fill out nicely. They will definitely add some beauty to a dull stretch of block. And give Jake something new to anoint.

It's cool the city had budget for this.

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"The talking trees are silent in a noisy way."	Lyric from the song The Singing Sea by Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch

Let Our Garden Grow

Potted the remaining California Poppy plant today. I also picked up some cilantro and rosemary that were on sale and potted those, too. I'm hoping they all will be easy to grow, given my indifference to rigorous gardening methods (read: inability to water regularly).

I put the pots up on the back steps so they will get more sun. I'm hoping this placement also makes it difficult for Jake to pee on them.

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Let Our Garden Grow	Song by The Bad Plus

As Far As Thieves Go

I've always admired our state flower, the California Poppy. I like the golden orange color and the way it suddenly appears in Spring, all bright and proud. It's hardy, as a good wildflower should be, and since it's a native it tolerates poor soils and sparse water.

Early Spanish settlers called this plant Dormidera, or the drowsy one, because the petals curl up at night.

When I bought my house it had two stained glass windows that depicted (or so I believe) California Poppies as they greet the day, curled tight and ready to unfurl. During my remodel I salvaged these windows and had them remounted in the dining room, with exterior lights set above for a striking evening illumination.

And to continue the poppy theme in the remodeled house I chose a new front door with leaded glass depicting a trio of poppy flowers. This, too, is eye-catching at night when the porch light shines through.

So clearly I'm predisposed to these flowers, and I've been intending to plant some around the house. On Saturday I went to the local garden center to get some liquid fertilizer and a sprayer; the front lawn's been looking a bit peaked ever since it was mowed a couple of weeks ago and I find spritzing it with some "fortified water" helps it come around. While there I came across the last, lonely California Poppy plant available, a fine, flowering specimen from the good folks at Annie's Annuals. Naturally I bought it.

As I walked home I thought about where to put the poppy, and decided it would do best in a pot on the front porch. That spot gets lots of afternoon sun and the bright flowers will look good against my beige walls. But Saturday was a busy day and I didn't have time to pot the plant. Instead I set it on the porch, its new "home," to be dealt with on Sunday.

I wake this morning, make a big pot of coffee, and head out front to get the Sunday paper. And the plant is gone. Some miserable, selfish, evil person has stolen my California Poppy right off my front porch. Immediately I'm angry. Not because of money lost; the plant was only $5. But because this theft was so unjustified. The plant won't provide anyone food or shelter, this wasn't a theft of necessity. Rather it was one of convenience, an item taken because it was easily reached.

I spend some time moping around, thinking I'll need to put up a front fence before I can even enjoy the sight of some flowers on my porch. Then I get angry again: there's no reason why I can't have a pot of flowers, and I'd be damned if some miscreant is going to keep me from adding a little color to my home. So I decide to get some more poppies and plant them in my largest, heaviest terra cotta pot and put them right on the porch.

Off I go to a different local garden center. I get three poppy plants, big and bushy but unfortunately not in bloom as their abducted cousin was, and some more potting soil. Back home I clean up the two biggest matching pots I have and get to work.

Unfortunately I've misjudged how much potting soil I need for these large pots; I can only fill one and the garden center has closed early for Easter. But no matter. I get one pot filled and placed proudly on the porch. It's my house, my yard, and I will have California Poppies on the porch.

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As Far As Thieves Go	Song by Blind Spot