Location Does Matter

Great weekend, though bright and hot. We spent the two days at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at its new location, the USC campus in Los Angeles, California.

I admit I have been burned out attending the event for some time now. I know a lot of it had to do with our online bookstore which we closed last year. Before then, we attended the fair primarily to improve our stock. That meant trudging with piles of hardcovers in sometimes 90+ Farenheit heat to stand in line as we waited our turn to get the books signed before bolting to the next location. More than once did we only have an hour or two the entire weekend to see the fair for pleasure.

Three factors made this year's fair to be different. One that we closed our book business and thus removing the imputus to, well, get those damned books signed. The second reason is then we had few books to get signed. Lastly, the fair was in a new location.

Never underestimate the difference a new location can change a once familiar venue. Suddently I really had to focus on my surroundings just to make sure we didn't get lost. The land, the paths, the buildings, heck, even the bathrooms, were all different. My enthusiasm was back as I took in the new sights, smells, even tastes. (The food venue on the USC campus is drastically different than the more poor UCLA.) I thoroughly enjoyed myself, a sharp contrast to last year's fair.

I don't expect the euphoria to be the same next year. But I gained a new perspective this weekend and hope to follow through until next year's showing.

A Tale of Two Holidays

Seder and Passover. Two different celebrations of, in my eyes, the same holiday.

I celebrated both this year. Last Monday, I joined the spouse's family to celebrate Seder for the first time. I've been invited many times in the past but have always declined due to my discomfort with religion. This year, I decided to attend. Why? Even I don't know my motivation. I think it involves family.

Anyway, I was the second guest to arrive and had fun whiling away the time with the hosts, their cousin and her new beau. An aunt and her son arrived next. We then proceeded to commence the ceremony and dinner since we really didn't know when the spouse would arrive.

The Seder was interesting. A celebration of the Israelites exodus from Egypt, the holiday involved reading from a book and performing the appropriate acts (e.g., washing the hands, breaking the matzo, etc.) The spouse arrived towards the end of the first half where we reached the part to have dinner. We never did the second half of the Seder.

Easter I celebrated with my sister and her family. There we watched the little ones find their Easter eggs while discussing the latest tidbits of our lives. The spouse, of course, rounded this weekend.

In Today's News

Yesterday:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. Fun, though disjointed at times. (I really didn't get a sense of time was flying in the movie.) Dinner at CPK. Mojito virtually had no alcohol. (Sad Panda).

Today:
Wonderful breakfast this morning. LA Auto Show next with Kent and Leo. W00t!

Weekend Words

The alarm I set woke us up on Saturday, a rarity. We crawled out of bed, the spouse first, then me, then headed out to the local car dealership to pick up the spouse's car. It now has oil-eating issues; the cheerful car tech informed us that's normal for ten-year old engines in five year old cars. Translation: new car early next year.

PJ Abbey had only one table filled when we arrived. We gorged ourselves on our regular fair of two separate omelet plates raspberry and stuffed raspberry and cream french toast slices. Good thing, too, since we spent the rest of the day at Renfaire and didn't have our next meal until thirteen hours later.

On Sunday, we brunched again at the Circle. However, before stepping into the restaurant, we admired the autos of yesteryear parked in every nook and cranny, staged by the local car enthusiasts group. I waxed and waned about taking pics and writing a blog post or even an article for my sites, but ultimately decided it wasn't appropriate, subject-wise. Afterwards, the spouse and I went our separate ways. Day passed quickly with the Internet and the telly. We dined on fish.

Four cups of coffee.

Busy having Fun

Breakfast with The Spouse at PJ Abbey's followed by a wonderful walkabout Old Towne Orange. Lunch with KKS to display the Ford Fusion Hybrids features. Rushed home for game night. Four cups!

A Nice Finish

Finished off the day with dinner with the Spouse. Said dinner already broke resolution for better health. Ah, well. There's tomorrow.

Gifts from my sibs. Lots of gift certs. And candy. Bad, bad! Squee!

Hot chocolate made by my sweetie. Overall, 4.5 cups of mocha chocolate. Soy, of course.


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Carpe Diem (seize the day)

Before that First Cup

I should just go back to sleep. That's how I'm feeling at the moment. We had woken up early (for a weekend) since The Spouse is rounding the hospital this weekend and normally I'd go back to bed after parting.

But not today. One of my goals this year is get our place in shape, and I had planned to do so by some daily spring cleaning. Morning would be the perfect time to do so; I'm up, I get some exercise, and I don't feel guilty throughout the day.

But that's not the only reason I'm still up. I have a birthday breakfast this morning. And there's all-day gaming. And I don't want to be late.

Cup Rating

The Spouse suggested I rate the day by cups of coffee. I like that idea.
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Carpe Diem (seize the day)

New Blog, New Year

After hemming and hawing for several hours, I decided to enter the New Year with a new blog.

So, what's with the name, "State of the Coffee"? A couple of months ago, I was inspired to start video clips on, you guess it, coffee. Specifically, I would record my impression on every cup of coffee I drank per day and post them on videos sites like Youtube. The spouse, hearing my idea, suggested the name.

Fortunately, common sense won out. I don't have the equipment, and I drink too much coffee on a daily basis to make it practical. The name stuck, though.

So what's the purpose of this blog as opposed to the others. Back to basics, baby. I originally started blogging to jot down my thoughts for prosperity's sake. Now I feel it's even more important. Apparently, my memory, reaching 40 years, is doing some spring cleaning. I'm increasingly having difficulty remembering stuff, both trivial and important. Spouse reassured me, though, it's not dementia. Apparently folks who think they may have it paradoxically don't; i.e., folks who do suffer dementia deny the fact. Got it?