I got together with Ron and Kim on Sunday for a wine-tasting trip to Santa Cruz. Unbeknownst to me, they had also invited talk.bizarre alum, squirty, and her bf, Zak. I hadn't seen squirty since HOTT.BOB back in 1997, so it was a pleasant surprise.

We drove up over the hill to Scrooz and had breakfast at Cafe Brazil, where we were joined by another teedotbee'er, Digger, who lived nearby. The essence of unborn chickens and much coffee was consumed.

Having laid down the proper alcohol-absorbing layer of foodstuffs, we proceeded up the coast to Bonny Doon Vineyards. We tasted several fine whites and reds, along with a couple of excellent dessert wines. I bought a bottle of Big House Red en Screw Cap, Le Cigare Volant, Madiran Heart of Darkness, and the incredible Bouteille Call.

After whining, we headed over to Pescadero and stopped at a little country store that sold a bazillion varieties of bulk beans. I bypassed the lentils and limas, and purchased a jar of olallieberry jam instead.

On Tuesday, I dined upon fine Mexican cuisine with a fine friend at Santana Row, and on Wednesday, I drove up to Dublin to see my old high-school buddy Tom and his wife Melody. Good times and good wine were had by all.

I met Uncle Jim last night at Da Hukilau in Palo Alto for some Hawaiian grub and brightly-colored umbrella drinks. We chowed down island favorites like ahi poke, mahi-mahi, Kahlua cabbage, and SPAM musubi.

So much for the fun stuff. In the not-so-fun category: the shippers destroyed one of my system crates, my laptop's hard drive crashed on Wednesday, and this morning I had mice in my classroom...the furry rodent kind...not the 3-button kind. After scrambling around for a few minutes with a cardboard box, we managed to trap the wily critter and released it back into the wild, unharmed.

Tomorrow, I head back home for Wisconsin for a week, then I'm off to Boulder.