Earthquakes do, too.   Luckily, the majority of the time when there are swarms of earthquakes near volcanoes  they aren’t associated with eruptions.   That’s about all you can say about them that is good.   Rainier had a bunch over the past week.  No big deal.  We stepped up monitoring the barrier, but it held.   Then Devlin ordered a bunch of us out to check some of the other big piles of rock in our area.  I went to Mt. Adams.   It’s beautiful and other than being a long drive, not a problem.   Here’s a link to a  picture of the mountain–you’ll note that all of our volcanoes look pretty much alike–well, except for Mount St. Helens where she blew away one side.  

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Adams/Locale/framework.html

As I was on the road, I missed most of my sports, which was just as well.  Things didn’t go well for any of my teams.  Oh, well. 

BTW, Laurel is excited about the recipe idea.   Alexis suggested Laurel post a cake recipe later this week that she got out of the 3-ring binder Alexis keeps of her favorite recipes. 

Well, off to get some sleep.

DJ

Okay, you know how Alexis likes to drag me along to concerts with her.   Well, she outdid herself this time.   Marvin Hamlisch directed the Seattle Symphony in a pops concert honoring music from the 1950′s and early 60′s, with Sha na na as the special guest stars.   I was reluctant to accept her invitation, but Devlin insisted that I not refuse her generous offer.   You know, I suspect he had ulterior motives–like keeping me out of trouble or somthing.   Not that it got me out of footing the bill for pizza and pretzels as well as cold beverages to pay Cullen back for fixing the computers. 

But I digress.   Let me say that Beneroya Hall is an amazing venue with incredible accoustics.    It’s a beautiful place, and not a bad seat in the place.       The orchestra did a great job playing a selection of music that everyone recognized–from the theme music from Dragnet and I Love Lucy, to some classic ballads.   Then Sha na na came out and wowed us all with their renditions of Love Potion No. 9, Great Balls of Fire,  the Peppermint Twist, and a classic Righteous Brothers song.    Don’t tell her I said anything, but you should have seen Alexis trying to keep up with the Hand Jive!   And if you love Doo Wop music, they’re definitely the band of choice!

In the end, I was glad I went.   The Chiefs and Seahawks both lost.   However, the Mariners beat the Yankees two games out of three over the weekend!   While that doesn’t make up for the football loses, it does help.

 Off to work . . .

D.J.  

Okay, when most people hear “Area 51,” they think Roswell, they think aliens, they think . . . . well, it’s sometimes hard to understand what they’re thinking.   However, here in Seattle, Area 51 is right field in Safeco Field, the undisputed territory of one ICHIRO SUZUKI.   Seriously, I’m betting there’ll be a shrine honoring the man there someday because it’s doubtful we’ll ever see another like him in our lifetimes.  

Why, you might ask?   Well, at the rate he’s racking up amazing stats, he’s going to need a record book of his own just to list them all.   Sunday, he added another one to the list—this is his ninth CONSECUTIVE year with 200 or more hits.    Did you hear that?   Ninth.   Consecutive.  Year.  

Incredible.  Simply incredible.   And he shows no sign of slowing down.   I think Pete Rose had ten years with 200 hits, but evidently they weren’t all in a row.   Can’t wait to see what Ichiro does next year.  

And to wrap up this sports report–the Chiefs lost, but they were tied going into the last two minutes.   (I’m ignoring the fact that the other team scored twice after that.)   The Seahawks won big time.  

And the Mariners split a doubleheader with Texas on Sunday.   I’m amazed they didn’t all just float away in the rain they had there in Arlington starting Friday pretty much straight through both games Sunday.  

Hope everyone had a great weekend.   

 DJ

Sorry to be so late posting this morning–but, hey, it’s a three-day weekend, not to mention rainy and cool in the Northwest.   All of that adds up to sleeping in.  Which I did.  Which I enjoyed.  And which I might get back to doing soon as long as Devlin doesn’t figure out that’s what I’m up to.   I assume none of you will tell him. 

Fall is definitely in the air here.   Oddly enough, one of the first signs the weather is about to change here is the appearance of spiders and their webs.   I’ve caught sight of  several of the little critters already, so their webs can’t be far behind.   Alexis isn’t much of a fan of spiders of any kind, but she does like the look of their webs covered in droplets of dew in the mornings.   How poetic of her.

Another sign of fall, of course, is the talk of baseball playoffs intermixed with football scores.   Ah, yes, no wonder fall is my favorite time of the year.   And score!  The NFL channel is broadcasting most of the playoff games so I’ve been able to watch a whole bunch of them!    At least it gives me something interesting to watch when I’m pulling a late shift.    There are teams I love (Chiefs, Seahawks), teams I like (Steelers), and teams I hate (pretty much the rest of both leagues.)   In other words, I’m a typical football fan.  

Back to baseball–the Mariners won’t make the playoffs this year, but after the crappy season they had last year, I’m just glad they’ve had a winning season so far.  Even breaking even is a major improvement.   Considering how many injuries the team has had and how they’ve had to patch together a team to field, I’m satisfied.   And Ichiro got his 2,000th hit the other day.   He’s an amazing athlete.   His specialty is infield hits–how cool is that???

 Alexis has had her nose stuck in a book most of the weekend–she seems to think rainy, cool weather is best enjoyed with a good book and a thermos of hot tea.  She’s been drinking White Peony or Prince of Wales mostly.   The book she just finished is MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS–an anthology written by Ilona Andrews and others.   Must have been good.  Not even I could distract her–not even with my shirt off.   She also watched the last two Lord of the Rings movies–something about Karl Urban again.   Yeah, right.  I saw her watching Haldir and Faramir, too.    

Well, back to bed.   Or maybe off to Starbucks.   I could use a double shot of someting and Alexis would love a mocha frap about now.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

 DJ