California Adventure^2 This is not going to be a long post. We just spent two days at the Disney theme parks and I'm not as once as I young was. Here are the highlights from yesterday's adventure at Disney's California Adventure with our friends Jim and Steve. Kira and I walked by everyone getting their breakfast at Starbucks and grabbed a breakfast burrito at the Shawarma cart in the Avengers Pavilion and coffee from Ghirardelli chocolatier in San Fransokyo.

Day one of giving money to Disney

Parts of My Vacation This blog post will be brought to you in five three parts. Part 1 - Kira arrives On Friday evening I left Gary and Kyle's1 house and went to stay with Jim and Steve. Kira was due in later that night and this was where we would be staying on Friday and Saturday. Kira has a pretty good saga for her part of the journey - Her original flight was due in at midnight PST (aka 3am in Boston), but when that flight was delayed she was offered an earlier flight that would get her into LAX at 8:30.

The day was more about spending time with friends than cooking, but cooking is easier to write about

Soarin’ Over California Kyle is a pilot and yesterday I got the opportunity to get an aerial tour of Catalina and Los Angeles. This probably deserves a longer post, but I'm tired so I'm going with: Top Ten Things I Saw Flying over LA1 Kyle, calmly flying us over to the island for lunch South Side of Catalina Island Walt Disney Concert Hall, it's Gustavo's final season but I couldn't see what the season is going to be like from the air…

Off we go into the wild blue yonder

Photo Friday: Peters Canyon Trail

Not Mon Cirque, Not Mes Singes I worked during the morning today, but I took some time to go running on the Peters Canyon Trail with Gary. I'm not used to running on mountain trails these days so I was definitely the one holding us back as we tackled the 600ft of elevation gain. The views were amazing, reminding me of how much I miss the mountains.

Life is a Mystery

They’re Gonna Put Me In the Movies I had another busy day of work today. I did manage to get in a run and meet an old friend for lunch, but yesterday I took the afternoon off and went to Universal Studios. Gary and I managed to hit every ride in the park and do the back lot tour in just six hours. I haven't been to Universal Studios in a long time so every ride was new to me.

And all I have to do is act naturally.

A Non-technical post on my Tech Blog

A Non-technical post on my Tech Blog

Out There A-Havin’ Fun I'm not really on vacation this week, but I am enjoying my days in California. I am keeping to my East Coast work hours so I was logged in and working pretty early. I got a lot of work done and actually did a lot of programming today. I found that elusive flow state that is pretty rare these days and that meant I had time in the afternoon to go out to…

In the warm California sun

"we come to this place for magic"

The start of three weeks in CA

Photo Friday : Edgell Memorial Library

I got hungry writing this one

Za’atar I Hardly Know Her When I cooked my way through The Weekday Vegetarians there was a recipe for za'atar Pizza Dough Flatbread that used a sprinkling of za'atar on it. (It's pretty good, but not really what I would call cooking.) Knowing that I was going to make the flatbread at some point I bought a small jar of za'atar at the grocery store when I saw it.

The Internet is my cook book

Tech Community Tuesday I never did finish my tech blog post on AI, but I submitted an AI-centric talk for the PASS Summit in November so I imagine I will be getting back to that. Tonight I am switching gears and working on a post about my experiences in the SQL tech community. It's been a big part of my career and someone threw out a prompt for people to write about "one or more things you learned at ANY conference you have attended that has impacted you or how you work".

I really am working on a post for the other blog

The Gochujang Connection Since I discovered it last year I;ve read the So Many Dishes blog very regularly and I've probably flagged a dozen or so recipe that I want to cook and a couple that I have (Picadillo and an as yet un-blogged Pozole-like pork chili). Usually when I find a recipe I want to make I flag it and weeks or months will go by before I think of it again, this time I am cooking a recipe that Lynn blogged about last week.

Look an acutal post about cooking on my cooking blog

Blogging at the Speed of Life I have several recipes I've cooked and want to blog about, but it's been a while since I blogged about what I did on the day I did it so I thought I'd give that a try. This weekend went by pretty quickly. Kira was in NYC yesterday seeing Chess on Broadway with her sister, her mother, and Melanie (among others).

I staged that picture and then put the rice back in the fridge

Look at This Cool Stick I Found MAdventure #11: Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Two weeks ago Kira and I made time for another Massachusetts Adventure. This was our second trip to Salem in less than a year and I would recommend it, although I am told it is best to avoid during October. The history of the Salem Witch Trials has seemed to create a partly-serious/partly-touristy connection to the Wiccan community and gets very crowded leading up to Halloween.

More adventures

Because @lhertzel asked for some pics of "everyone in their finery"

After the Wedding, Before the Blizzard Saturday February 21 The morning after the wedding Kira and I woke up on the early side. (I found out later that Kira only got a few hours of sleep). There was a brunch scheduled later that morning, but before that Kira and I spent some time loading up the car and the van with all of the wedding stuff. It was a little disorganized and we were both tired.

The end of Wedding Week

The After Party Friday February 20, Late Night Because partying on the dance floor until 11pm wearing cat ears and waving around glow sticks wasn't enough there was an after party in the Red Lion Tavern promising: "Live piano karaoke, late-night snacks, cash bar and merriment! " "Attire: PJs/Take Off Your Heels!" To start things off we were treated to a set from Melanie and Eric's friends, Ryan and Isabel, who own and run a comedy club called…

This is the fourth party so far by my count

Tech Tuesday: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the AI I'm still working on a tech post for my other blog and I am thinking of turning it into a presentation for a conference next fall (with the same title as this blog post). I still have a lot of concerns about AI, but I've resolved myself to learning what I need to know to keep up. Some things I've learned this week.

Tech Tuesday: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the AI

I'm still working on a tech post for my other blog and I am thinking of turning it into a presentation for a conference next fall (with the same title as this blog post). I still have a lot of concerns about AI, but I've resolved myself…

Happy Trans Day of Visibility. I know trans people and I know fascists who are making life difficult for trans people. The trans people are pretty cool and I'm glad I know them. The fascists can go fall down a deep dark hole.

What’s Next After No Kings 3? · No Kings On March 28, millions of us made it clear: we don't do kings in America. Our nonviolent movement is only growing. At our March 31 Mass Call, you'll hear from leaders and fellow local activists to cele...

I'm attending No Kings's event, “What’s Next After No Kings 3?” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

Wedding Day Shenanigans (cont.) During the happy hour and the speeches people were playing Wedding Bingo the whole time. I already had enough going on that night so I opted to skip the bingo, but people were really into it. Once you had a bingo you sent a text to a phone number they set up just for the night. It was monitored by their friend who added people to a drawing for prizes later that night.

Which would you give up sauce or kissing?

Wedding Day Shenanigans The Reviews are in for the one night only showing of Melanie and Eric's wedding: "This Wedding Reception was better than my own." - Mother of the Bride "The Reception was amazing, almost like a Broadway show." - random Wedding guest "That is the best Wedding band I've ever heard." - staff at the Red Lion Inn "My daughter is getting married soon and I'm glad she isn't here to see this, it would be too much pressure to live up to this reception." - another random Wedding guest…

I really thought this would be one post

Two Sips of Diet Coke Everyone put their phones away for the wedding ceremony so I don't have any pictures to help jog my memory. This will be whatever I managed to keep in my brain. Kira and I entered into the processional when cued. We waited just out of sight while Melanie made her grand entrance on the balcony above us and then she came down the stairs.

I might update after I watch the video...

Five minutes 'til curtain...

The Day Arrives Friday February 20, Daytime It was a big day and I am not even going to try and write it all in one sitting. This post will just cover the time up to the actual ceremony and even that I am going break down into four parts. Morning After a late night (for us) out at the welcome party the night before Kira and I both still woke up early.

Nice Day for a White Wedding

We’ll All Go Together Thursday February 19, Evening When planning the wedding Melanie and Eric opted not to do the traditional rehearsal dinner (the rehearsal lunch came about as an after thought at some point) and instead they wanted to have a Welcome party the night before the wedding. It would be open to anyone who could make it. Nothing too complicated, maybe pizza and beer at a brewery?

Wil you go laddie go

Thought I'd take a swipe at writing a little about dating apps