which is a good thing, because Tuesdays are great! Tuesdays are 10x better than Monday, so they have a built-in comparative advantage. Also, Tuesdays are Windows Update day in M$ land. The day has gone fast and it’s already lunch, even on the west coast. I’m blogging to you as I eat this wonderful spinach, sausage, and red pepper pizza from Mezza Luna, muy muy yummy. I also have a big salad with a nice balsamic vinaigrette, yummy.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. I had been super tired the week before and still didn’t catch up on all of my rest. Today though, all caught up! Friday was passable because of fun post by Reka, so I was able to comment up a storm with help from Kevlar and Houston. Unfortunately, Thorette did not win the name contest.

Saturday came and went. The only thing of memory was the LA Galaxy v. Chelsea match. Although David Beckham wasn’t replaced by Harry Potter, he did alright in the 20 minutes he played, only one corner. Since I’m an avid soccer fan, I tuned in more Chelsea than anything else. After all of their chances in the 1st half, it should have been 4-0 Chelsea, but they were rusty and the Galaxy had Xavier. There was a lot of media hoopla, did you hear? Apparently Beckham likes to cry a lot, or at least that’s what he says. Given that, I don’t think he’ll help soccer into the mainstream. What will dad’s scream at their kids? “Oh, you’re crying, why don’t you play soccer then? Get off the diamond (or shed)!”

The lunch break is almost over. Time to catch up on some Desktop Tower Defense, the most addictive game EVAR!

I’m back in Oregon and I seem to have brought the weather back with me.  I arrived in Minneapolis last Friday and the tell-tale signs of Midwest were there.  Humid, check.  Hot, check.  Stale air, check.  As we drove down to DSM, and then skAnkeny, nothing had changed from my many years in Iowa.  The weather was muggy, the landscape was flat and the place ached for a healthy rain, think 1993.

We arrived in Ankeny and I ate dinner with the folks.  I proceeded to the happenin’ spot for drinking with college & high school friends, the Applebee’s.  No, Tyler Florence was not there for me to kick his ass, but the atmosphere was nothing short of middle-class boredom.  The day was long, and I was tired after 8 hours of flying and layovers and 4 hours of driving.  On the upside, quality beef is easier to come by in Iowa, so I would eat burgers and steak and nachos all weekend.  Yummy.

Saturday started off well enough, slept in til 10am.  Tried to watch Wimbledon but that damn thing’s been getting rained out.  Rented some movies with Mom, got Strangers with Candy, Children of Men and Music & Lyrics.  Can you guess which ones I chose?  At night I went up to Ames to visit more friends.  Saw Knocked Up, hilarious!  Got back online too.  I had been without internet since

Sunday, did some web work for freelance, drove around Ankeny, then went to Marshalltown to visit Grandma for her birthday.  Apparently the thing to do for your birthday in Iowa is to go to Ice Cream Socials in rural churches.  I had never been and it was interesting.  Sandwiches, beans and salad, topped off with homemade ice cream and pie.  Pretty good stuff, although the music entertainment was weird.

Monday, awoke for more Wimbledon, but more rain delays.  Serena Williams was saved by the rain.  Watched the Children of Men and then Strangers with Candy.  Children of Men was still great, and SwC was hilarious.  I first saw SwC at the Bijou and it totally pulls off the TV series to film transition.  The plot is stupid, but it doesn’t matter because the characters are awesome.  Colbert, Dinello and Sedaris, plus famous guest stars appearances by Allison Janney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Dan Hedaya, Ian Holm, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker.  Don’t forget Principal Onyx Blackman.

Tuesday, slept in, watched more Wimbledon, then went to the Jordan Creek Mall.  Oculon knows what I’m talking about.  This monstrosity has been pumping out stripmalls and one-off stores around it’s perimeter for a while now and I think only the interstate will stop it’s advances.  Went to Ocean’s 13 with mom, pretty good.  Way better than Ocean’s 12, but there were some cameos from that movie.  Not as good as Ocean’s 11, but the plot made sense even if some things were glossed over.

Wednesday, got up at the ass-crack o’ dawn, again and waited at Des Moines International Airport for my Minneapolis connection.  Aside, I think you’re airport has to be able to fly to an international location in order for you to put in ‘International’ in title.  I think Des Moines fails to fly to directly to Canada, so they’re liars.  The Minneapolis flight was delayed, so I missed my connection to Seattle.  Amazingly the airports weren’t packed on the 4th of July, so I was rebooked to Portland.  I had to layover there for 2hr50m, but it was all good, free wi-fi!

Now I’m back at work and although my vacation is over, I’m loving the internet.  Oh internet, what would I do without you?