Home again home again

Back from my weekend in phoenix for mom's surprise party - a swell time was had by all. It was odd, however, that my trip to the great saguaro desert was marred by... rain? It's true: phoenix had a much-needed three-day, on-and-off thunderstorm that coincided with my trip by a simple twist of fate. We were able to make very good use of the breaks in the weather though: it cleared up enough for: a great walk through the desert with mom (who was surprised, btw, and had i think a great time) & dad and mom's sisters (there were not one but two rusted and bullet-ridden VW chassis out there!); another walk out among the cacti to shoot bb guns at stray beer bottles with my nephew (9 years old and he's a good shot!); a football game with dad, my niece and nephew; and then more playing (and swordfighting!) with the kids and one of my grad school colleagues and his wife and their kids.

Big shoutout to my sister lori! She did a great job putting together mom's party and handling the whole weekend. Really really REALLY proud of her and happy for her.

In case you're wondering, maybe don't watch borat with your folks.

Do, though, read CASH - the autobiography of johnny cash. Good book, people. Hey, i'm not a big country music fan by any stretch of the imagination, but the man in black made some great music, and had great stories to tell.

And for the love of god see the movie citizen ruth! This flick got a bunch of attention when it came out something like 10 years ago, but for some reason hasn't stayed on the radar much. I just got around to watching it on the flights to AZ and back, and it's so worth watching. Great take on media manipulation in activism, with a focus on the abortion rights debate (sometimes pronounced 'focus on the family.')

And btw - librarians are hiding something...