I was recently gifted (twice) with bags of fresh Meyer lemons from a hyper producing tree in a friend's backyard. These lemons, a cross between a mandarin and a lemon, are amazingly sweet. Truly stunning flavor. These combined with a bag of limes from Costco and my whole living room ceases to smell like lamb kibble and Marley's drool. If that isn't worth the price of a bag of limes, I don't know what is.

As an added bonus, I am finding new excuses multiple times a day to slice one open.

Some lime in my tomato juice with a dash of tabasco. A squeeze of lemon in my water bottle. Fresh juice for stir fry. A little more for preserving a half eaten avocados. Used rinds for cleaning out the disposal. Fresh lemon juice for making apple crisp. A slice to squeeze in a burrito with Tapatio. Some lemon wedges for iced green tea. And maybe a few limes for making rounds of caipirinhas. At lunch on a shitty Monday.

Not that I would EVER do such a thing.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Got to Vegas and found I had been "upgraded" into a Jr. Suite at the Signature. Had two rooms, two bathrooms, office, king bed, full kitchen, bar, jaccuzzi, balcony, and a cool flat screen that popped up out of the desk.

I felt pretty good about my upgrade. Until I realized it was an upgrade into the same room everyone had. It was a suite hotel.

Still. Bigger than my first (and second) apartment.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 06:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I spent a few days in Mammoth last week. It was a nice change of pace, although a constant conflict between needing to work and wanting to play. What I learned driving up past that amazing blanket of white, with three to five feet of snow on every rooftop, the sidewalks covered head high with drifts and hardly an obstacle left on the mountain, was that I really, really should have been in town when all that was coming down. Sure, half the lifts would have been closed, but so what? I could have rode through the trees off stump or down from chair five all damn day happy as a clam.

A really cold clam, but happy nonetheless.

The drive back was typically long, lonely, and gorgeous. I wonder how many miles I have logged through the eastern Sierra in the last fifteen years or so. Between all those climbing trips to Bishop and Lone Pine, the road trips to Yosemite and Tahoe, and now, the dozens of runs to ride/slide/fall down a mountain. I figure I've made some sixty trips or so, average of 300 miles each way, comes out to 36K miles.

I think my last car had fewer miles on it before I turned it in!

Not sure when the next trip will be. I miss my time on the rock. I miss Crossroads Cafe. I miss bloody knuckles that aren't the result of a tug of war with a 97 pound boxer. I miss long, fast single track and caked on dirt.

But I also miss powder. I suppose I'll keep an eye out for storms and hope they conveniently coincide with free Fridays.

Clearly, I need more time to play.

In other, utterly random, unrelated news, whole wheat pasta tonight with a tomato sauce and sauteed eggplant and yellow squash with garlic, onion, red wine, olive oil and topped with a little bit of mozzarella.

Last night, rice noodles with stir fried tofu, radishes and cucumber in tamarind, soy sauce and sesame oil on a bed of green leaf lettuce.

Breakfast of scrambled egg whites, diced asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and feta.

Lunch today, egg burrito with black beans, diced tomatoes, avocado and green chilies.

Snacks of sliced grannysmith apples with dusting of cinnamon and agave nectar.

I've seriously been on a tear. No processed foods. It's like a mission. Can I make a meal in 15 minutes or less based on whatever random shit we have in the kitchen. I'm getting better at it.

In other, other utterly random news, a new season of Top Gear is begun (FINALLY), and I saw my first Veyron on PCH. An event almost as exciting as running into a young Angelina Jolie back in 2000.

Almost. But with virtually the same effect.

Boys will be boys. Vegas tomorrow. Ciao.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been in the process of redecorating this year. Only took about two years of noodling on this to finally pull the trigger. The last decade was hard on the previous living room furniture. It no longer looked good. The dogs had used them as napkins a weeeeee bit too often. The microfiber had long ago lost all it's fiber and probably found a few too many microorganisms. And frankly, after ten years, I was sick to death of looking at the same old shit.

So I painted the walls, moved some stuff around, and spent a little bit of dough on some new pieces. Sectional and silk pillows by LiveStyle in Venice Beach, Herman Miller Eames Lounge Chair and Classic steel cocktail table by Room and Board.

I plan to eventually replace the dining room chairs, the bar stools, the media console, and possibly, the bookcases. And the art might be reconfigured with new prints or new patterns. Not like I have a shortage of photography. Not sure on that yet. Maybe a collage of small prints. Maybe a few big pieces hanging around.

Most importantly, as it is DESPERATELY needed, I think I have the landlord on board with adding new laminate flooring and hope to have that installed inside a month or so. Nothing will help the place more than that.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Some of my favorite photographs are when I find something beautiful in the seemingly mundane.

A little water. A little asphalt. Cool, curvy reflection.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sometimes I try to find just a different perspective on the seemingly ordinary.

Not sure I liked this perspective as much as I liked the outcome.

Another pier sunset, this time shot through the life gaurd stand.

In other news, it's Monday. It's raining. And when the weather is bad, I'd rather be where bad weather is good weather.

Someplace where snow and gravity (and beer) make big smiles. Maybe next time.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The weather report predicts at least seven days of snow for Mammoth.

And Mammoth Mountain, although not an unbiased source, anticipates 8 - 12 FEET of snow over the next two weeks.

And Joe has already rented his condo. Leaving me, well, out in the warm.

I may have to revisit those numbers for my own place in Mammoth. Of course, the only way to make said place profitable would be to let other people use it, so I'd still be left in SoCal during the storms.

Dammit. No matter how I slice it, these snow sports are expensive.

Regardless, anyone with a room, broadband and interest in a mid week trip, LET ME KNOW.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sitting on the balcony at breakfast this morning, we watched a whale (too far away to determine the species) breaching off the coast of Santa Monica. Seventeen years in SoCal, and this is my first whale sighting (here).

This made me remember, "Oh! I like whales!"

Despite the annual gray whale migration past OC, and the dozens and dozens of charters the leave right from Dana Point, I still haven't done a local whale watching tour yet. I've seen whales in Antarctica and Hawaii and Canada, but have never gone to visit them right outside my door.

Need to add that to my to-do list for this winter.

That and I need to budget some time and money this year for either diving with whale sharks or cage diving with great whites.

Yeah, I know we are talking about fish and mammals, but I've had these aquatic adventures on my bucket list for approaching a decade now. I think it's about time to scratch some of them off.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Four years ago yesterday, I (with a little coaxing), adopted a skinny, dirty, zit-faced boxer dog from the Orange County Pound named "Mo." I don't really know how old he was. Somewhere between one and three years. He was brindle, flashy, lean, maybe 50 pounds or so, with huge copper eyes and a melancholy expression.

When we took him out of his cage, he walked calmly next to his handler to the visitation room. He did a quick nasal recon of the room, walked over to me, leaned on my leg, put a paw in my lap, and looked me in the eye.

And I had found my dog.

Since then, he's been my shadow and partner and accompanied me to Texas, Utah, Arizona, and all over California. He's been smuggled into parks and apartments and even a restaurant or two, and only looks at me sadly when I'm putting on the big boy clothes and he knows he'll be stuck at home. Personally, I wish I could bring him. I think he's probably a better closer than me anyhow.

Sure, he isn't quite as athletic and his face is turning silver and he is stinking me out of my office right now. He got expelled from day care for violating the three strikes rule, and he does occasionally like to enjoy a savory pile of poop on a camping trip, but he is, still, the best decision I have ever made. And my very best friend.

So very glad I found you Josh. So very glad indeed.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I haven't had a lot of time to write lately. End of the fiscal year. Holidays. Projects. Snow.

So here's a photo from my iPhone that I like. I tried to get this shot a half dozen times last year but always forgot to bring my SLR until after the legion pulled it down.

Strangely, I like the shot from my iPhone probably better than what I could have accomplished with my big iron.

And here's a plane and a sunset. I suppose it's a shot that made the seasonal (I should have known better) air traffic control delays into SFO worth the wait.

Posted by themightyjimbo at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)