this is what we see from our windows every 4th of july. this is the view straight out west to the horizon.

the quality of these videos is pretty bad, i know; but i think you get the idea.

this is a much tougher shot of the fireworks display at the mouth of the cuyahoga river here in town. i'm not very good at this movie stuff, and the reflection of the apartment on the window almost overpowers the fireworks display. almost. oh yeah -- and you'll have to tilt your head sideways (to the left) to see it at the proper angle. sorry.

we spent the weekend in minneapolis visiting with the howe's (the kazoofus howe's). a good time was had by all (!). i told kathy that our plans were: eat, sleep, hang out with the howe's, meet keri and keith (of kinnicchick), and laugh. mission accomplished. in addition to those stated goals, we also shopped, drove around, and walked our butts off. when i told my sister we were heading to minneapolis for the weekend, her response was, "what the hell for?" she assumed, as had i, that minneapolis/st. paul was not much of a destination. i LOVED it! what a great couple of towns! no kidding. would be a great area even if the howe's and keri and keith weren't there.

here's a picture of kath and my new bff, kenzie:

and here's a picture of all three of the howe's involved in something, i think it was some kind of wiccan shit, spell-casting, i think.

we are never moving again. i know -- never say never, but... bill and i were talking about going to the show tonight -- today is our 34th wedding anniversary, btw -- but why leave when this is what we can watch right from our windows?

i've had at least three encounters this week with people who park in handicapped spaces because they were "in a hurry," "didn't know it was a handicapped space," or just damned didn't care.

i'm just not going to say anything anymore. at least out loud.

jackson move. leg stuck in floor through to basement. not hurt. floor replaced. big mess. hayden moves in. little matt moves in. anne visits. yay kucinich! anne moves in. bill busy. mac mini murdered. macbook. coincidence? cake baking, cake baking, cake baking. sheba surgery. sheba all better. mmmmm. 2 gig memory. mmmmmmm. craft robo arghhhhh. craft robo submitting. snow. freddie 8 years old! new york city. bad, bad tour guide. tour guide lucky to be alive. yummy museum. yummy waldorf. yummy new york. go cavs! thank you, cavs! next year, cavs. i love you, lebron. and cavs. go indians! cupcakes! buttercream success! hillary lies. yay obama! mccain sucks. matt busy. no sleep. craft robo. adobe illustrator is my bitch. or will be. bill chokes drunk at concert. i hate blogging. emails piling up. scooter must be ridden. easter lamb cake! i love mother's day! no more cake platters! tickets to clapton! tickets to visit kazoofus and keri! more black keys. more cupcakes. no more cupcakes. ever. 12.7 megapixels camera! glass blower. spa in sf in august? tuscany next year for 35th anniversary?

and ...

jax and anne engaged!!!

p.s. copy and paste this link to view the few nyc pictures we took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72303348@N00/sets/72157605164602129/

The Cleveland Orchestra's 19th annual free summer concert on Public Square opened with the Star-Spangled Banner. A friend called, asking I where I was at that moment, to which I replied, "Walking the dogs on Ontario near Public Square listening to 'Summertime' from 'Porgy and Bess.'" He asked if he'd be able to see the fireworks from our rooftop deck -- "Perfect view," I replied; but he thought he wouldn't make it by about 10 after 10, the time I thought they would start. He forgot that the concert was tonight.

During the concert, lightning over Lake Erie illuminated the sky, moving toward the North Shore. I started walking west, heading toward home, dogs stopping to check out many people who rarely ventured downtown, but staked out small pieces of real estate with their collapsible chairs, blankets, and strollers, people laughing, smiling, wearing glowing necklaces and flashing glasses, enjoying their community through music conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero, his fourth appearance as guest conductor of the best orchestra in the world, attended by over 50,000 and heard by many more at the restaurants and cafes near Public Square, on a warm night, electricity in the air.

Fireworks, against the backdrop of the pink, granite, chevron-shaped skyscraper, shot into the night sky, explosions reflected in the windows of the 50-story tower, after the Orchestra finished "Stars and Stripes Forever," just as the first drops of rain began to fall.

And the closer the dogs and I got to home, the harder the rain poured down; but the red, white, and blue incendiary display wasn't dampened, the crowd roaring its approval, as it had the entire evening after each number the Orchestra played.

Man and nature collaborated to an event that will be long remembered by those who witnessed it.

Isn't it interesting that just when Bush, et al., plus Insane McCain, who is shilling for big bucks, call for off-shore drilling for oil, which won't do anything to the price of gas, but will set up oil companies for major profits farther into the future, at a time when Bush the Lesser might be on various boards of directors, raking in cash for his posterity, the federal government freezes the use of federal land for development of solar energy farms?

Why the delay? "Environmental studies" are needed.

The reason? This is an industry in its infancy.

I LEARNED ABOUT SOLAR CELLS IN THE FOURTH GRADE.

MORE THAN 40 YEARS AGO.

I finally figured it out, though. It's not real.

I'm a character in someone's really bad novel, one that she's making up as she goes along.

Why couldn't I have been Odysseus? Things made so much more sense.

Back in 1995, a large undersea oil field was discovered -- how, I don't know -- and in 1997, a test well was drilled to determine what was down there. Four more wells were drilled to check out the scope of the field, the Neptune Field, which is about 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, over ten years later, not one barrel of oil has been pumped, although the drilling platform is designed to pump 50,000 barrels of crude oil and 50 million cubic feet of gas a day. The U.S. is currently using about 9.3 million barrels per day, almost 200 times the amount of oil that will be produced at maximum capacity by the Neptune platform.

The good news is that after 13 years, the Neptune platform might start pumping oil and gas. But do you think the gas price will come down at all because of the 50,000 barrels added to the nation's oil supply? The answer is NO.

Now, not only does John McCain want to remain in Iraq indefinitely (or is that infinitely) and kill, kill, kill, he wants to drill, drill, drill -- he'll probably be dead by the time the first drop of oil is produced, sometime late in the next decade. Do you think the gas price will come down at all in the year 2020 because of the oil that will be added to the nation's oil supply at that time (Or will you have the last of the V-8 Interceptors?)? The answer is NO.

On a brighter note, on the trip to Minneapolis, I saw two wonders of modern technology: the Dyson hand dryer in an airport men's room and the hand dryer that sounded like a jet engine and that nearly ripped my hands off in the men's room at the Lion's Tap in Eden Prarie.

I knew that I wasn't going to be able to see all the sights in just one weekend, but I'm kinda like disappointed that I didn't get to see the chainsaw-carved trout down in Preston, but I guess it was maybe like outta the way a little. And I'm not really interested in chainsaws or trout, actually. So, what of it -- I mean, it doesn't sing or anything, does it? Same kinda reason I didn't take in the Spam Museum.

But Ed's Museum -- that mighta been cool. Gotta call ahead, though, and make sure it's open. 507-352-4205.

WARNING: The Transportation Safety Administration does open your checked bag if you are carrying 16 cans of Skyline Chili.

Skyline Chili is, apparently, on the long list of instruments of terror.

Or maybe it was the Danny Boy's Mac-N-Cheese Pizza that was frozen and wrapped in aluminum foil that alerted the x-ray guy, along with the image of 16 cans.