hot hot hot

Got in the car yesterday and it told us it was 111 degrees. SHEESH.
No wonder people hang out at the mall so much! The LEGO store has nothing to taunt me with. I should have bought those air conditioners from Chris...
Global warming is alive and well here in the Bay Area. Oh and smog allergies as well.
*HACK*

Stuff you're not supposed to know.

How is it when you find out stuff that you're NOT supposed to know - it weighs so heavily on you?

Stuff I'd rather just forget keeps rolling around in my head. It makes me feel pissed off sometimes, and uncaring other times.

You know - when you find out some politician did something crazy... you get weirded out.

But that's not what's on my mind... and I'm not telling so don't ask.

Friday the 13th

Today is once again... MY DAY! I love Friday the 13th. I somehow feel lucky while so many others cower with superstition. Be afraid all ye worrisome people. Be very afraid. :)

Uncle again!!! ...and... AGAIN!!!

Tuesday last week while everyone was out voting, Maria and Greg had their twins Harlow & Lyla. They sure are cute! Yet again I have the chance to build on the "crazy uncle" or "cool uncle" status. I'm sure it will eventually turn into "wacky uncle from freaks-ville". We shall see how things develop.

Uncle time(s) 2!!!

Check her out: "Anna Elizabeth Sharlow" is getting printed - not for committing her first felony, but for being tracked along her life long journey as a human.

I meant to post about this earlier, but I'm an uncle AGAIN.
My other sister Carrie had a baby in October.
Congrats Brad & Carrie!

Now I get to be the "cool" uncle twice over! (Soon to be four times! More on that as the situation develops!)

Chip!

"Chip" could be short for:
Chipper
Chipotle
Chippy
Chocolate Chip

We're not sure, but Chip is the newest Harlow family member. He's pretty cute and a ball of crazy. Yesterday I found him IN the fireplace behind the screen. He was covered in soot so we bathed him with a warm wet washcloth. He laid there and purred. I think he felt like his Momma was cleaning him. He's 6 months old.

Michael Thomas is on good terms with him, but Maddi has yet to let him get close without growling. She's very territorial it seems.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Our next stop was Vancouver, Canada. The drive up was relatively uneventful, passed right through Seattle. Check out my pics here on Flickr.

Vancouver has an awesome backdrop of mountains to the north but the city itself is like Superman's crystal fortress. The city is a densely packed pile of glass skyscrapers. During the day it was kind of ugly, but when dusk came and people started turning on their lights, the city seemed to come alive and glow.

If you're ever in Vancouver, there's a section of Hastings street between Chinatown and Gastown you should avoid. AJ and I walked through that area once while exploring and it was overloaded with the homeless. From a distance it looked crowded and busy, like something was going on or many tourists were gathered. However, when we got closer we realized it was 100% bums. Not begging for change bums; Standing around trying to find another fix bums. Luckily they couldn't be concerned with passersby so we made it through the gauntlet without issue. I'd just stay away from there next time, though. Chris Degnan also recommended we stay away from that area... though after the fact. :)

Speaking of Chris Degnan, we hadn't seen him in about 5 years. It was really good to catch up and although we only were able to have lunch together, (Gorilla Foods - AWESOME) it was like old times, just chatting abotu everything under the sun. 'Deggy' also took us on a quick tour of the Relic office where he works. It's on the 15th floor of one of those glass skyscrapers. Pretty awesome view from there!

On our first day in Vancouver we walked all around downtown and then some totalling about 12 miles. Our feet were pretty beat! The next day we drove to other neighborhoods like West Van and Commercial St. Commercial street was Vancouver's Haight/Ashbury. Lots of hippie wanna-bes and many places for us to eat! We got all kinds of vegan desserts that we took with us for the drive home. The cool thing about Canada is all the hemp you could find in the food and everyday prodects. Hemp is great for protein and omega 3. It also is super strong and makes great bags and clothes.

Overall Vancouver was pretty cool, but we liked Portland better. :)