Richard says no one ever takes pictures of him. 

Richard 7 1 08

I wonder why .........  ; D

In other recent developments, Richard's Mom & Dad have accepted our invitation to come to the ranch for Thanksgiving, so we are looking at flight options.  Current thinking is to take Wednesday off and travel out Tuesday night.  If we can figure out a way to dive Monterrey Bay while we are in the area, we may.  (Kyle, wanna come?  I know you'll be in new baby mode, but the invite is there). 

Also, we are taking Mon/Tuesday off, and are heading down to West Palm Beach for a dive trip.  Got a 3 1/2 star hotel for $50 on PriceLine so I'm pretty excited about that! I'm sure we'll have pictures.  Meanwhile, have a SAFE & SANE Fourth of July, and don't forget -- if you're not wearing a flag lapel pin, you're probably a terrorist!

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Date nite with my baby at the Fabulous Fox last night.  It was the kick off for their Summer Movie Festival, and they were showing Martin Scorcese's Shine a Light.  Local musician Chuck Leavell, keyboardist with the Allman Bros and now plays with the Rolling Stones opened the show.  During a Q&A prior to the screening, he told a story of one of the film nights, and everyone came in their Halloween costumes.  This is him, showing the picture of his nephew, dressed as Keith Richards, being held by Keith Richards.  Pretty darn cute!

RS at Fox

The big surprise for me out of the movie, was how completely sweet, charming and funny Keith Richards comes across as.  I guess I've never seen anything but the caricature of thim, and of course the cheesy and fun Pirates of the Caribbean role. 

And most of the movie, he's either clearly just reeling from the effects of an off-stage hit, or getting carried away in the music.  This is, surely, a man who continues to model better living through chemistry.  Every bit of his body is relaxed and dream, shoulder slouching and moving, but not to the rhythm of the music at all, but then you'll see his hands are going at the guitar strings like crazy. 

Here's the obligatory geek shot of Richard & I, with the beautiful skyscape ceiling of the Fox behind us. 

US at Fox

No date night is complete without a romantic meal.  Since we'd taken the bus we walked down Peachtree from the theater, and stopped at a place I've been curious to try for a while called Eno.  Just sampled from the appetizer menu, but we enjoyed what we tried.  Highlight was a beautiful composition with a poached egg, white asparagas in a lemon basil sauce served with super fresh Georgia shrimp.  Subtle, rich, and gorgeous on the plate.

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As the election cycle has progressed, I've really held my tounge.  But last night's non-concession speech, though not unexpected, was a disappointment to me.  And I kept reading about Hillary's request to tell her what to do.  Then I saw a blog commentor who was disgusted because she went to www.hillaryclinton.com to try and explain her preference was for Hillary to bow out gracefully and found the ONLY OPTION is to send a form letter with the following text:

I'm with you Hillary, and I am proud of everything we are fighting for.

AND, to put the cherry on it, there's a running box: join supporter first name, last initial, town and state.  Which means IF YOU SEND A DISSENTING OPINION, it's going to register as SUPPORT.  Oh my FREAKIN GAWD. 

You know?  I really didn't want to join the anti-Hillary camp.  I really didn't want to see it come to this.  But if her intent is to stir up party unity, believe you/me, she's done it.  I am now a fully blown ANYONE but Hillary, ANYWHERE, ANY WAY registered voter. 

Outrageous

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We had a busy weekend between Richard's best man duties in a Kilt and my officiating duties on Saturday, then
Richard teaching both an Intro to Cave and Cave class, and my taking/passing an Intro to Cave class.  That means on Sunday, my co-student dive buddy Greg and I were about 400 feet into the earth at a depth of about 65 ft.  Very clear water, which was great to be able to see the layers of sandstone. 

David (the groom) Cody (son & ring bearer) Richard and Park Ranger Aaron prep for the Ceremony

Kilts & Ranger

 Here's David & Lynn (bride & groom) on the dive platform above Madison Springs.  You might recognize the Minister ;D  After the ceremony & reception, Richard (best man/cave dive instructor extrodinaire) took them for a tour of the Cavern Zone. 

Ceremony

This is my favorite of the Richard in a Kilt photos

Me Hearties

And we have no idea what we were doing when this was taken, but it makes us laugh. 

In Sync

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My baby decided to blow his dive business profits on me (he got some cash for inspecting SCUBA tanks) and we went to the Atlanta Fish Market for dinner. 

It's pretty good seafood, though the dining room is a bit loud.  But the real draw is the HUGE leaping copper salmon sculpture out front. 

ATL Fish Market

So I decided to wear the sweater tank top Lisa knit me for my birthday. 

ATL Fish Market Samma

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Talk about convenie .....

I found a restaurant review for a Japanese place about 3 miles from our house, and it described something I was sure were NORI POCKETS!  Richard says ... guess I know where we're going for supper tomorrow night. 

Atlanta Nori Pockets1

Yup!  One is Salmon Flakes, the other is Spicy Cod Roe, but both are NORI POCKETS!  $2 & $3 each.  We also had gyoza with frilly lace patterns around the fried bottom edge.  Hard to see in this picture but lovely. 

Richard had Ten-Don, and we also shared yellow tail sashimi.  Definately could taste the difference in the rice, but it also did not seem like they used much vinegar. 

The waitress was already staring because I was taking this picture.  But when Richard took this one (yuppers, stolen from his vox ;D ) she called her friend over to watch.  The Victory fingers really cracked them up. 

Hashiguchi Jr. Japanese Restaurant

Atlanta Nori Pockets

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While waiting for a table at Shoney’s yesterday (Price, party of 24!) Bella, Richard, her cousin Josh and I were in front of the toy-grab arcade game when Bella found a penny.  It was approximately 11:15am. 

Bella: Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck!

Samma: Thanks! You should keep it so that YOU can have the good luck. Besides, it’s sticky. 

Bella: Ewww!  YOU keep it.

Samma: It’s so sticky, I bet it will stick to Richard’s head. 

Richard: 

Samma: STICK.

::::time passes::::

Bella: It’s still there! I’m going to set my stop-watch and see how long it stays. 

::::time passes::::

Bella: It’s been 5 minutes, 28 seconds.

::::time passes::::

Bella: It’s been 9 minutes!

Josh: You don’t have to keep calling out every minute you know. 

Bella: I bet this is a World Record!  You should keep it on to see how long it will stay. 

::::time passes::::

Bella: It’s been 45 minutes!

::::time passes::::

Samma: We have to drive back to Atlanta now.  We’ll let you know when the penny comes off Richard’s head. 

::::hugs, kisses, good-byes::::

And on the road, Richard met many interesting people.  Or perhaps, many people met one interesting Richard, with a Penny on his head! 

In the time we left Greensboro, Richard-with-a-penny-on-his-head:

1) Got gas and drinks (some looks, but no comments)

2) Went through a Furniture Outlet mall (Dude!  You’ve got a penny on your head!)

3) Viewed Nantahalla Gorge

Richard Penny1

4) Bought snacks (Did you know you had a penny stuck on your head?)

5) Got gas (no comments)

6) Ate dinner at a really awesome Indian place (pardon me, sir, but why do you have a penny on your head?)

After calls from Lisa & Bella, D.O.D. and Ellenor, who caught me laughing so hard I could hardly answer the phone, Richard settled in to read his Lonely Planet Japan book. 

Richard Penny2

An official time count isn’t possible but Richard reports the penny was still on his head when he woke up at 1a, but when he woke up again at 3a it was gone. 

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01 16 08

I never posted a REAL picture of my actual RAV4, so today's snow storm seemed a good opportunity.  Ain't it pretty?  And check out the SNOW!  It's coming down like crazy, and Richard says it's doing the same at our house, so the drive home should be fun.  But speaking of pictures, check out how incredibly similar it is to the pics I did post! Behold, the power of Google Image Search!  

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I would be jealous of my guy getting a new grillfriend, but fortunately, he likes to share!

Richard BBQ

Richard BBQ 2

Richard BBQ 1st light

And even better, he cooked LAMB for me on it!  YUM! 

Richard BBQ mmmm Lamb

Lucky, lucky me!

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I liked Mom's Thanksgiving shiner so much, I decided to grow my own.  With a little help from Paco's Claws of DOOOOOOOOOOOM, of course. 

Shiner

Cheaper than wrestling alligators, though!

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