six word story: he discovered a shortcut to china.

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photo friday: the city

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Photo Friday

cash grab

i went to tahoe/reno over the weekend, and for the first time, i flew. (and boy, are my arms tired!)

i fear it's spoiled me for future trips, as the take-off to touch-down time is 55 minutes, with just 38 of that being flying time.

i was doing well friday night, two-and-a-half hours at the roulette table followed by an hour at a single deck $5 table (!) and fueled by shots of patrón (no chaser, thanks) with a couple of beers mixed in for good measure.

saturday was a downward spiral. maybe one winning hand, total? goes to show -- gotta quit while you're ahead.

the plane ride home was uneventful, save for him being on my flight.

oh, and standing next to him while he boarded the flight ahead of us to LAX. it made me giggle that he had a barney (as in the purple dinosaur) tote bag as his carry-on.

six word sunday: faster and faster, higher and higher

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flyin' that plane solo

When Jewels and I lived in our last apartment, we had a mysterious guy living across the hall from us. He seemed to come and go at odd hours and had random women over frequently at odd hours, among other things.

I also found him to be extremely attractive.

I can't leave well enough alone, so when his Wall Street Journal continually got delivered to our apartment by mistake, I took it upon myself to take a peek at his name. (No, I'm not a stalker!)

Jewels surmised he was a pilot, as we lived near an airport at the time, and thus kept odd hours.

I'd smile when I passed him on the property, but nothing more than a "hello" was ever exchanged between us.

When I started my current job, I moved to a different apartment and began living by myself and promptly forgot about our mysterious pilot friend.

Until one day as I was driving near the airport and saw our former neighbor, standing alongside his car and a tow truck.

A few months after that, I was wandering around the courtyard that surrounds one of my restaurants, and guess who was there? Our mysterious former neighbor.

Each time I'd see him I'd get a kick out of it, because surely, he'd have no idea who I was. So when Jewels and I were at Barnes and Noble a few months ago and she starts convulsing and saying,"The pilot! The pilot!" like she was on "Fantasy Island," I looked at her strangely. Then I turned around, and there he was.

Perhaps my taste in men has changed, or he's aged badly, but the guy was looking like he'd seen better days. It didn't stop me from passing a couple of two (okay, three) times just to get another look.

I love trips down memory lane.

six word sunday: the party was a great success.

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benched

from this:







to this:



thanks, jewels and cy!

wino.

when i was born, my father purchased a bottle of wine to be opened on my 21st birthday. we neglected to drink it then, and instead waited over 6 years beyond that date, until thanksgiving of 2006. and my goodness, was it a good bottle.

interesting to me, and, if you know me, perhaps you'll find it to be also, that the label illustration is of a seaside motif. i guess even at my birth i was emitting an ocean-loving vibe.

i saved the label using a label remover because i'm sentimental like dat.