Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Last Day of Being 34
Well, this is it, my last day of being 34. Tomorrow I turn the big three-five. For the most part, it is really just another number to me. I guess it ought to feel significant, but it doesn't really. Oddly enough, I suspect it's most significant effect is the fact that it now puts me officially into a new demographic: the 35-44 year olds instead of the 25-34 year olds. In other words, I am no longer part of the main "target market" for many consumer goods, ostensibly as I no longer have the amount of free income those younger than myself have to spend, what with a mortgage and 1(.5) kids and so on. On the upside I believe it easier to get such things as insurance, loans, etc as I am assumed to be the rational, level-headed type by the time I get to my current age. Ha! to both points (and proud of it. ;-) Vanessa's been keen on the idea of heading back to the ol' Science Centre, and Erika woke up just as we were about to head out, so she ended up joining us, which I welcomed. A much shorter visit this time, and we spent a good chunk of it in the "Human Body" section, trying to drive home info about the "baby in Mommy's tummy", while Vanessa pressed every button and turned every knob in sight. She was fascinated briefly by a scene in a movie of a woman giving birth, which we managed to see twice. Soon after we had a light lunch, and then she showed signs of being tired, and we whisked her (and us) home. This evening we had a grand meal of sashimi and sushi at Yumei Sushi. Had the "love boat" which is a mix of sashimi and sushi. I didn't realize just how much food it actually was -- way too much actually, but it was sooo good. Yummy sushi indeed! And for desert we all had some green tea ice cream -- Vanessa's favourite. All in all, a very nice way to finish off my thirty-fourth year around the Sun. Looking forward to at least another 35!

Tonight I had Michael K. and his daughter Nicole over for dinner. Treated them both to my "enhanced" pizza, which is aregular store-bought pizza to which I've added large amounts of shredded brie and/or cheddar. His wife Debbie is currently in Greece, helping to clean-out a relative's home, and we know them both from the couple's group we all attended together. Michael hasn't spent much extended time alone with his daughter, and so I promised Debbie to have him over for a dinner sometime during the week. The idea of having two temporarily-single Dads getting together over pizza and red-wine really appealed to me, and it was a good excuse to invite him over. Nicole is just a bit younger than Vanessa, so they got on like two houses on fire, running all around, chasing each other on the main floor, playing with all of the toys in Vanessa's room, and then settling down to watch a DVD of Disney's The Little Mermaid together. This gave meand Michael the chance to sit and gab. Computer stuff, cloning technology, what its like with the women away, etc. Guy talk, loved it! Actually, Michael did much of the talking that night; I figured he didn't really have much of a chance to speak to other adults in a relaxed setting all week, so I let him unload. Had a great time myself, and I feel a real kinship wih Michael, especially when talking about being temporarily a single parent. When the kids were showing signs of weariness, they both left.

In Praise of Good Tea
Yesterday, at the office, I tried Tazo's Chai tea that our kindly office administrator Diane got for us. I haven't had Chai since last summer -- I think as an iced latte-type drink -- and man, is it a tasty tea. It reminded me that the first time I had a Tazo tea was when I was in Pasadena last Spring at a Webmaster's conference. The hotel I was staying at offered it along with their breakfast. Now up until that point I had pretty much avoided having tea, remembering my late Father's statement about the supposed fact the "you can't get a decent cup of tea in the States", a lesson learned from several business trips he had while working for Litton, and which I had pretty much confirmed the many times I've been down there myself. Now, there is good tea to be found in the States: it is Tazo. Last evening I trekked down to the local Starbucks after picking up Vanessa -- the Beach is lousy with coffee shops, with two Starbucks and two Second Cups in a 6-block stretch, along with a few non-franchise operations -- and picked up Tazo Chai for myself. Normally, I like drinking the flavoured teas that Second Cup distributes, but of late have been having a hard time tracking down the Cherry Vanilla one I particularly enjoy. Guess I'll be drinking more Chai for the next little while. Synchronicity
No, I'm not talking about The Police album from years ago, but am referring instead to the original, Jungian term. This was one of the topics covered in this week's Artist's Way session on Tuesday night. And I noticed a number of such happy coincidences this past week. A funny one was waking up with a toothache, then, while abstractedly rummaging around through the previous day's mail, getting a reminder notice from my Dentist, and then the same Dentist office calling me later that day. Another happened while looking through more resumes for the Graphic Artist's position, and then getting a call myself out of the blue -- in the middle of someone else's resume -- from a headhunter about an interesting-sounding job. Coincidences? Maybe, but whether I believe in the true synchronicity or not, I am now more open to watching for these happenings, and look more to taking cues from them when they occur.