I've decided I'm not an adult. Rather, I'm a very tall, foul mouthed child (ala South Park).

I ready the "adult content" thing a bit farther and really what it was meant for is communities and people who post nude pictures and such. They said it's actually been asked for by the users for some time. They also said flagging content doesn't mean it will get reviewed/banned/changed unless a LOT of people flag and report it.

Therefore...

Gaddamit I've got a chipped tooth. Must have happened last night or this morning because it's just felt like I bit my tongue. Fuck. I hate dentists (anyone know a good one in the Manhattan Beach/Lawndale/El Segundo area?).

There's a lot...separated by city. Commentary has not yet been added (that will take a while and will take form half here and half on the picture pages, stories here, short comments there).

http://www.nettleleaf.net/Italy

Enjoy!

If you want any full sized, let me know. There are some great wallpaper shots.

Oh, mindymoon, the last emotion icon (exhausted) was the top of one of the characters heads on a table. :)

Too much packing left to do!

18 hours and counting...

Happy Birthday ngelinadb!

In other news...Sunday is three days away. I have lots of sewing to do. Arg.

My family is still safe and haven't been evacuated. They're still relatively close to the Witch Creek fire in San Diego, but outside the evac zone. We'll see what happens if the wind picks up. I've got one aunt down near Qualcomm, but since they're evacing to that area, she should be fine. The others are in north Escondido and Oceanside, so baring any serious changes in wind, they should be fine too. Brian's parents are still the closest to any of the zones. They're up in the hills in Rancho Sante Fe/Olivenhein and they did evac for a little while yesterday. It's close for them and they really only have one way out.

I've been districted all day at work watching maps and checking updates. Witch Creek is 1% contained...well...whatever. That's like nothing. The damn thing is threatening San Diego from Santee to Carlsbad and almost out east to Julian. It's a beast. You look at the county map and it's covering a huge amount. 200,000 acres. That is one hell of a fire.

Up this direction, things are still blazing in the hills and pretty much surrounding metro Los Angeles. The sky is a disgusting brown/gray color and there was ash falling on my car to and from work today. I'm probably 35-40 miles from the closest fire. Even walking a few buildings over to pick up lunch was a task. I canceled archery practice because air quality is so poor. At least we're not burning.

Damn you, Santa Ana!

Los Angeles Is Burning
Artist(Band):Bad Religion

Somewhere high in the desert near a curtain of blue
St. Anne's skirts are billowing
But down here in the city of limelights
The fans of Santa Ana are withering
And you can't deny the living is easy
If you never look behind the scenery
It's Showtime for dry climes
And bedlam is dreaming of rain

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the MURDER wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning

This is not a test
of the emergency broadcast system
When Malibu fires and radio towers
Conspire to dance again
And I cannot believe the Media Mecca
They're only trying to peddle reality
Catch it on Prime Time
Story at nine
The whole world is going insane

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the MURDER wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is Burning

A placard reads "the end of days"
Jacaranda boughs are bending in the haze
More a question than a curse
How could hell be any worse
The flames are stunning
The cameras running
So take warning!

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the MURDER wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning

This was the song playing on the radio on the way to work this morning. Fitting. Really. Too well at that. There are fires all around the county. I'm lucky that I'm near the coast and we've got a breeze that is keeping us flame free. And I live basically across the street from the fire station. The skies are a brownish gray and there is some soot in the air, even in Culver City. Air quality sucks, but not as bad as other areas. I wouldn't want to stay outside for long, but I was okay from my office to the car.

My mom called this morning to tell me they haven't been evacuated yet, but they could be. Google Maps is missing a few of the fire, like the one in San Marcos that is the closest to my parents. My godmother has already been evacuated from her home in San Marcos, I don't know if she's allowed back yet. My aunt in Escondido is apparently just far enough way in the right direction of the wind to not be evacuated.

Brian is safe, there's nothing around his house but dirt. His parents were evacuated this morning, but told they could go back a little while ago. Apparently the San Marcos fire is almost contained, which is good. My other aunt's are far enough away from the fires that they weren't at much risk. There was enough risk for the family to put in out-of-state contact points with my great aunt & uncle and a second cousin in Kentucky. Hopefully there's no need to use them.

I'm glad to hear that all my friends are safe so far. I've got lots in my thoughts who are near fires and hopefully they will not have to be evacuated or, if they are, that they return to a safe and whole home.

Fire Map

Gakked from eowyna

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of today). As usual, bold what you have read, italicize what you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. The numbers after each one are the number of LT users who used the tag of that book.

( List of books )

I'm actually surprised that some of these are on the most "unread" books. I can understand it though. I think I own a few on the list that I haven't read yet but are on the "I'll get to it one day" list.

Gakked from mindymoon.

http://www.poodwaddle.com/realage.swf

How old are you really?

Biological Age: 29
Real Age: 18.3

Average Life Expectancy: 74
My life expectancy: 84.7

I would have guessed different...but whatever, I'm not complaining



*My boss left the office today saying "Enjoy the Monsoon!"  Yeah, it rained, I guess that's a SoCal monsoon...

Looking forward to a weekend of sleeping in, making garb, going to Company of Clothiers.  Excellent.

GWW in less than 2 weeks...must clean out car and start prepping.  Wow.

I put up the survey for Collegium Caidis. If you know what that is, you can take the survey here.

I also put up my pictures from my DC Trip. I like #'s 95, 102, 121, 127, 144, 216, 234, and 229. Yeah, there are a lot. Sunday had great dramatic clouds which made for easy picture taking. Still working on the Horus story that goes with some of them.