The last time this happened Danielle was a baby. 24 years later, Mt St Helens is twitching away, threatening to dust the Puget Sound with ash and other flying rubbish. Or maybe just burp a little hot lava and change the shape of the crater. Either way, it’s all the buzz around here, and everybody’s watching the seismo-maps intently and clutching their Starbucks cups nervously as if this mocha might be their last. It’s really not a dangerous situation (just as it wasn’t the last time, 24 years ago) unless you happen to live directly on Mt St Helens (and therefore, by definition, be completely crazy). It’s just very exciting and interesting, and unlike most big events that affect the whole city, is totally out of anyone’s control, which makes it 200% more exciting than, say, a Seahawks game (which, as we all know, has already been carefully pre-determined by the football clubs in order to fill those $$$ seats and line their pockets). The subsurface quakes are coming every 4 minutes or so now, and have just recently started surpassing Richter mag 3 (there were a couple 3.3’s the last time i checked) so everyone get your canned food stockpiled and be ready for a few unplanned days off work! I think Dad still has a jar in the garage at home, sealed, full of ash from 1980 that landed in Montana. Maybe i’ll get to start a jar of my own – better go home and find a jar, too. :)

And hey – guess what? (The last dentist caved and now they’re all recommending Trident?) NO! Today is Ann Penner’s birthday – happy birthday Ann! She’s probably reading cases right now for stuffy law professors, when i’m sure she’d rather be at home making “shrimp toast” and drying fruit. Anyway, keep up the hard work Ann, and may none of your parachutes turn out to be knapsacks. ;)

Just saw Jeff Gordon on tv – he’s getting old! And bald! He’s only seven years older than me… Does that mean i’m getting old?? Scary!

How can it be so cold in the mornings lately, and still my home office is a muggy sweatbox by 10pm? Weather is annoying.

Sent Clint and Christi home a bit ago, after spending the evening with them. Hadn’t seen them all summer, as they were in El Centro, CA (trans: the end of the earth) all summer, following Christi’s wildlife management internship. They just made it back to civilization the middle of this month. It’s great having them back in town, I missed them a lot. For those who weren’t paying attention, they both drive 300ZX’s like mine, and were one of the big reasons I joined the Nissan team in the first place. Their involvement, as well as JasonM’s (who also has a 300 in his ever-growing vehicle collection) gave me the confidence to buy my dream car, and the further aplomb to tackle the rebuild project last winter, as opposed to paying some shop a boatload of money to do it (or just sitting in the driver’s seat rocking and whimpering until the men in white coats and gloves took me away). So short story: they’re really important to me as friends and fellow Zed-heads, and i’m glad they’re home.

Talked with Mom for a bit too, tonite, keeping her up past her bedtime. She and Dad apparently think i tell you all too much about my personal life on this here website, so I’d just like to ask any readers out there who are stalkers, vampires, telemarketers, mormons, pantomimes or IRS agents to, uh, stop reading my website and, uh, take your buggy eyes elsewhere, you mashers! To the Swiss bankers and my friends in the Italian mafia, you are still of course encouraged to read the site daily, and as usual my numbered account where the deposits should be made is surreptitiously posted in the photo gallery.

I meant to say something last week when it was still current news, but huge congrats to Robin and Jim on their marriage this month (Sept 18th). I’m sorry i couldn’t be there in person, but i sincerely wish them nothing but superiffic lives together filled with wonderfulness and all the best life has to offer. They are both great people ( for those that don’t know them, trust me on this) and i predict they will do even more good for the world as a team than they have individually. Best wishes, you crazy kids!

One more bit of randomness before i put a sock in it for the nite. I found the last bit of pictures from Europe last year (i know, you’ve almost forgotten i did that, it was like forever ago!). A whole day of photos, from a trip into old-world Tuscany, to a great town called Siena. I’m gonna slap them into the photo gallery for you to enjoy, so gimme a few minutes and then go check out Streets of Siena, the Siena Duomo, the Siena Piazza and some random Siena Art & Architecture. An amazing, beautiful walled city with charm and history positively oozing out of the cobblestones. One of many places i would love to see again, and even more so would love to take you all there to enjoy it with me. So go peep those and pretend we’re planning a vacation together. :)

Stopped in the Apple store to look at all the pretty new things i can’t have. Why do i do this to myself?

Got the final check from john l scott in the mail today – woo hoo! About time… Made a special trip, it’s in the bank already :)