Yes, this post is about a restaurant bathroom.

When we were in Santa Barbara, Naomi and I went to the Palace Grill, a popular Cajun Restaurant downtown.  The food was so-so, but the trip was worth it because the bathroom was awesome.

All along the perimeter of the wall, a row of tiles were decorated with cartoons of naked people doing all sorts of funny things.

 

 

I have an immature sense of humor, so I find it absolutely hilarious.  Who ever came up with these caricatures is genius.

Back to School

One of the most unique aspects of my life is that my only sibling is more than a dozen years younger than me.  For most of my early life, I was an only child.  And then, during the beginning of my adolescence, I got a new member of the family, who I treated as a pet of sorts.  I remember during my senior year of high-school, my friend and I used the then 4-year-old Naomi as a study subject for an AP Psychology class.  We followed her around pre-school to record her interactions with other children and made her do tasks to track stages of development. 

Now Naomi is a high-school senior and her college application and admission process is a family affair.  I offered to take Naomi on a visit to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  She needed to see the schools and I needed a vacation. 

We did a four day road trip.  The first stop was Santa Barbara.  We went on an obligatory tour around campus with very good guides. 

Reading about UCSB on the sunny campus

Chickens, Sheep and Cows

For once, I am not planning on writing about farm animals we have been eating.  In fact, my trip to Hidden Villa, a nature preserve with a working farm on-site in Los Altos Hills, was a welcome change to my all-too-static routine.  It is amazing how something so simple as interacting with cute baby animals can quickly improve morale.  It simply made me happy.  I think I was more excited to see the baby animals than some of the children who were also at the farm.

First, there were the pigs-I think there were at least seven.  They were in a pen that was a bit far away, but I did manage to get a few cute photos, of every angle.  The rumors are true-all pigs do is eat.  I tried very hard not to think of the piggies as bacon!

Happy Bir-ZZZ-day, Papa!

It is a cliche to say that we love to celebrate happy occasions with food.  However, it is a sign of how well you know somebody when you are able to pick a restaurant that suites their tastes and personality perfectly.  When it came time to celebrate Dad's birthday, I knew that we couldn't go wrong with a restaurant that served meat, lots and lots of red, juicy meat. 

Books, TV, and Shopping

Oh dearest Blog, I feel like I have abandoned you!  And it didn't take long either-I just started blogging in January.  I will try to be better.

I have been going into winter hibernation/introversion mode lately.  I have been doing a lot of reading, watching TV and movies, and shopping.  There is nothing wrong with that-I  enjoy these activities-but I will be doing more social things in the next month, so there will be more fun things to document.

But for the sake of trying to write about "mi vida loca",  I will quickly run through some of my favorite reading, watching and sartorial finds from the past month.

Books

I absolutely love historical fiction, especially material that is set in the early 20th century.  A few months ago, I picked up Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.  I just saw the cover and was hooked right away.

How chic and decadent does the woman look?  The book is about a young woman trying to make it in Depression-era New York, and let's just say that I read for 24 hours straight, and even missed a party so that I didn't have to interrupt my reading.