Chinese New Year begins February 18 this year. It will be the Year of the Boar (or Pig). Get your tickets now for the SF Symphony celebration that happens on Saturday, February 24 at 4pm. The program will blend traditional Chinese and Western instruments and music. After the concert there will be a festival reception, with lion dancers, fortune tellers, Chinese desserts and tea bars. 14-year-old piano prodigy Peng Peng will play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.

There is a Group Hug this Saturday in Golden Gate Park. No, really. Why do you look so surprised? Oh, I know - because you were going to schedule one yourself and now all your thunder is gone. Well get it together and at least go out and support this one....and next time plan a little further out, okay?

Ry's rock climbing birthday party was great. There were plenty of belayers so no one had to wait too long to climb. Figuring out the cake was the hardest part. I finally went with the base of Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake (family tradition), then I baked the portion that sits on top. If you can't tell, it is a reproduction of Half Dome in Yosemite. If you don't believe me, follow the link and see a photo that proves it. I used a pan that is normally used to make one of those doll cakes with the big dress (it's called a Wonder Mold) and then I just cut it as best I could to represent Half Dome. The kids loved taking it apart....and even loved eating it although I make no claims as to the flavor of the Half Dome portion of the cake. Sprinkle ground graham crackers for dirt, add a couple of climbers and some trees and outdoor gear, and voilá!

From the top of the mountain!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!

Just got back from Tahoe - the traditional birthday celebratory weekend for Ryan. This year we did NorthStar instead of Squaw Valley for the first time ever. I was completely wary, given my propensity towards the amenities of the Village at Squaw, but I have to say that NorthStar is really giving Squaw a run for its money in the non-skier arena. There is a beautiful new ice rink as the backdrop for the new Village at NorthStar, which is surrounded by huge pergolas with fire pits and oversize comfortable furniture to sit around and sip your Starbuck's all day. And if that wasn't enough, there are two bars outside to serve adult beverages beginning at noon. They haven't yet finished all the phases, but by next ski season most everything will be in (including the much-needed sushi restaurant). Ry and Si skiied blue runs both days and then Si came down and ice-skated while Ry and Scott skiied black diamonds. Crazy kids. Also, if you're only staying for a night or two, the hotel rooms in the Village are perfect....they are right there and very comfortable.....but if you're staying longer, you'll need more room.

I went to the Berkeley post office today to mail an oversize envelope. I needed it weighed before I could send it, so I began by pulling a number to see a mail clerk. I pulled number 16. They were on number 57. Really. I then realized there was a great machine that weighed envelopes and distributed postage all with a few punches of buttons and a credit card. Sadly it didn't work and this was the sign that was posted. It took me several minutes of pondering just exactly what I would prefer to bare before I decided to simply walk away. I'll mail my envelope tomorrow.

This Shoe Wheel is the coolest thing. I can see all the shoes that are laying around in the bottom of the closet going in here. Because you know the three shoe organizers you already have are full and now you're taking over your significant other's shoe space with no regard whatsoever for where their shoes go. They seem to be sold out right now, but go ahead....backorder one.....I bet you won't be sorry.

Scott got a long-desired record player for Christmas and we finally broke it out today along with all the albums that have been gathering dust in the garage for the last 20 years. Found all the old stand-bys.....CCR, BTO, Doors, Beatles, AC DC, Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Airplane, along with the errant Abba, Elton John, Sound of Music and ten versions of Hair. Can you guess who brought which music to the marriage? Anyway, loved by all is Peter Frampton, so it's with much joy that we introduce Ry and Si to the talk box.

Totally stolen verbatim from Threebase.com: "The good kids in the UCSC Engineering Department attempted to celebrate Engineering Week by arranging 3,800 Post-Its in an homage to Super Mario Bros. Too bad the nerdy Econ department tore it down. At least the Web page lives on."

I love harmless college pranks (or hacks). I especially love engineering student college pranks. A couple of others: the Cannon Heist courtesy of Harvey Mudd and Caltech; Al Gore Buzzword Bingo from an MIT graduation ceremony. In fact check out MIT Hacks listed chronologically to enjoy almost 20 years of fun. Gentle reminder: green type means you can click through to the link!

Trees 5, 6 and 7

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Some lovely-looking gifts have been arriving for the holidays.....and they've been packed in styrofoam peanuts. In an effort to find the best way to recycle these, I offer the following tip: The Peanut Hotline, 800-828-2214 and loosefillpackaging.com, is the national reuse program for plastic packing peanuts. Consumers can drop off their leftover plastic packing peanuts at Peanut Hotline collection sites. There are over 1,500 collection sites in the US. Just pop your city or zip code into the search bar and it will find a location close to you. Yeah!

Tree 4

Tree 3