It is evident...

...that I have not been blogging.

What I have been doing is a whole lot of working (I'm still hoping to pay off the credit card debt accumulated over my last two years of grad school, in preparation for accumulating more during the next who-knows-how-many), more working (there are multiple jobs, after all), and some playing.

Bryant introduced me to the burrowing owl family that lives at the end of my parents' street. In this picture, it is 7:30 a.m. Monday morning and already 90°. Bryant didn't take any pictures of the owl, but he did get me.

It just occurred to me that it might have been in retribution for the many I took of him Sunday night; this is my favorite. That the lighting was soft and heavy and pink, I was unable to capture in pixels, though I did try...





and try...










and try.

To celebrate the Fourth, Bryant and I scrambled up the moonlit hill behind the house, where we could see municipal fireworks displays not only in Desert Hot Springs, but in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Indio. We stopped to chat with neighbors on the way back to the house; it had been a hot day, but the evening breeze lured people into their yards and the street to look over the valley lights and swap stories.

Today, it was back to work in my frigid office--although there was a celebratory barbecue for lunch. Tomorrow, though, a bunch of us are going to see the Shins and Belle & Sebastian with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl! I'm thrilled!

The weekend's plans include tripping to San Diego to see Ted and Heather and April and Chris, and, of course, FUTBOL! The match promises to be exciting: April's loyalties lie with France, where she spent one school year, and mine with my beloved Italy. We may start ranting in our respective romance languages; anything could happen.