Alix vs. Alex

Whose team are you on? Personally, I’m torn.

It was a quiet week here on Gull.  The wife and her gal pals headed to Tahoe. I spent most of the week suffering from the vapours.  The one bright spot was a Wednesday night pizza party at #1’s house. He sprung for the Amici’s pie, The Banker and I each brought a fine Zin and #2 arrived with a sixer of fake beer. The Belgian brought himself. He’s a big dog with Genentech so we don’t get to see much of him.  The entire crowd put on a brave face in the absence of their wives.  Some fought back tears.  Or maybe that was the anchovies. #2 said no anchovies so I recommended to #1 that he double up on them.  We even had them on the side for our Caesar.

The week before last the wife and I decided we needed a culture infusion, so we headed on Wednesday to see the Matisse show at MOMA. Not being the savviest of planners, we were unaware that MOMA is closed on Wednesdays. Therefore, we killed some time walking Yerba Buena Plaza. Howard St. between Third and Fourth was blocked off for a big upcoming Pokémon event. Most people don’t know it, but I am a big Pokémon fan. Before we headed back to the burbs, we lunched at Fang. Primo.  You gotta go.

The mid-terms are two months away.  I caught this during my news scan today.

For Republicans, wrote political analyst Charlie Cook, the founder of Cook Political Report, “the three most plausible outcomes are that it will be bad, really bad, or truly horrible.”

I’m all for it.  Word on the street is that reps in tight districts are trying to discourage any “support” from the President. And Melania will be a no-show at his Dallas shitshow.  At least he’s not talking about bombing Oman anymore.  That episode reminded me of McCain doing “bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys Barbara Ann. Of course, he was less insane than Trump, but that’s not saying much.

Mom, Dad’s on the Ground

This was the line of the week during our Stone Harbor trip. It was casually uttered by my lovely daughter as she remained relaxed in her beach chair.  I had made a valiant attempt at a soft landing into my chair but ended up on all fours. My wife gave me a hand up and my second seating try was successful. We laughed, we cried.

We did a Saturday to Saturday stay at nice place half a block from the beach in Stone Harbor, NJ. Things have changed a little since the 60’s and 70’s when my family would stay in a very basic cottage in Ocean City, NJ, often several blocks from the beach. I’m not sure a librarian’s salary would go too far in present day Stone Harbor.

We had a ton of fun with my 11-month-old twin grandchildren. The girl is crawling and the boy is starting to.  They were both cruising on the couch a lot as many relatives hovered around them. With so many hands available, the parents got a break and were able to catch up on sleep.

My wife’s brother and his family were a few blocks away and we had many cocktail hours and dinners with them. He expertly grilled steaks at his house and another night my son made his jerked chicken at our house. A few take-out meals filled in the rest. One night my sister got a ton of fried seafood, just like my mom and aunt used to back in the 60’s. I’m not one to complain – are you buying that? – but the calamari was a big, soggy disappointment. I do keep in mind that fried food to go is not often a good idea.

The boomers went out for a meal one night. It was in the same place as an excellent Japanese restaurant we used to patronize that had closed down a few years ago. It was BYOB so LA came to the rescue with her fine wines. My brother-in-law just brought a glass of vodka. Fortunately, he was not stopped on the way. The meal was quite good, but we were a little taken aback when they quibbled about splitting our salads. C’mon people, what kind of show are you running here?

The babies did well on the beach and in our pool. Our grandson was so relaxed in the pool one day that he fell asleep while he was being carried around. We brought a blow-up pool to the beach and filled it with seawater. I skipped a few beach days because I can’t take the heat anymore. A lot of people might say I've never been able to take the heat. We had mostly good weather and one day with intermittent rain.

We bookended the NJ stay at a DC Airbnb close to SB1’s house, in order to get more baby time. I especially like this one as it has a two-foot-wide lowered section of the ceiling that allows me to bump or skim my head when I’m not paying attention. On getaway Sunday #1 and family came over bearing fried chicken.  They were fresh off their Niagara Falls/MLB HOF/MA tour. They are the first members of the village to meet the twins.  The rest of the group will have their chance when they come in at Xmas.  Wouldn’t you like to be on that flight?!

I’m going to check out now without any celeb or political news, but let me know if you think I should devote a future post to Natalie Harp.

My Latest Stinkpiece

I’ve taken care of the critical business of the day, including grocery shopping, wishing a happy 68th to the Wig, and a shortened walk on my recuperating hip. I was fortunate to be able to connect with my favorite physiatrist via video call on my way to Tahoe last week.  I picked up some methylprednisolone at the Tahoe City CVS and am on the mend before I hop on the plane to DC Wednesday. I’ll get to hang out with my darling grandkids for ten days in DC and at the Jersey shore, along with the rest of my family. 

We headed to Tahoe on Tuesday along with Unc and Mashie. We took our Hyundai Ioniq as opposed to theirs since we have a button that closes the trunk door and theirs doesn’t. Talk about a case of buyer’s remorse! TCG and Katie welcomed us with open arms and a modicum of trepidation. We headed to #2’s house up the road for Taco Tuesday. Like a lot of the village guys, #2 is a good cook.  All I was required to do was prepare my 3-2-1 margaritas, which were a hit as usual. 

Wednesday was a little lazy, with the guys hanging back and the women spending time at the beach. We then headed to San Harbor around 4pm to catch these guys.

https://superdiamond.com/

Surreal Neil and the boys put on a good show. I grew up listening to this stuff so I enjoyed it.  They veered into other artist’s tunes for a few seconds during transition periods.  I thought I was hearing things when I heard a riff from Led Zep’s D’yer Mak’er. We skipped out a few minutes before the end and beat the crowd. Being up until 11pm is a rare experience for me.

Thursday was boat day, with the women in Katie’s boat and the guys in #2’s. We headed over to Gar Woods for lunch and then took over a buoy and tied the boats together.  The brave among us jumped in the water. I was not one of them. The evening brought us to the beach. My wife had prepped her oven-fried chicken and cornbread and we had corn, salad and Mashie’s baked treats for dessert. We played a new game called Chronolgy. #1 won the first and I won the second, but we did not go head to head as I sat out the first. I’m looking forward to a one on one match with #1 so I can crush his spirit. During the first game, TCG and #1 got a little chippy, as the football announcers say. Fortunately it did not escalate to the near cage match level we saw in Mexico City, detailed in my 3/1/26 post. During the evening #1 asked me if I’d be getting a post in before my East Coast trip, although I stated in my last one that that was unlikely. Again, he has spurred me to greatness. In response, I challenged him to a cage match.

Before the Tahoe trip, the wife and I made one of our rare trips to the movies.  I thought the 10am show and our advanced age would lead to a discounted ticket, but we paid the full freight at $18. We enjoyed the Olivia Wilde directed The Invite.  I understand she takes her shirt off a lot in her latest movie, so we may be catching that one as well.

There has been a lot going on in celebrity circles. Pete Davidson & Elsie Hewitt reached a co-parenting agreement. I expect that to be as successful as the U.S. / Iran memorandum of understanding. Nikki Bella told us she was celibate, Sid Wilson was kicked out of Slipknot, and ‘Big Brother’ evictee Jason De Puy spilled the tea on unseen pronoun fight with Devens and Kamu. Meanwhile, the Barbie sequel is stalled due to contract negotiations. That one hits hard.  How much is enough people??!! Lastly, Linda Blair has gone to the dogs.

In music, BTS is boycotting the Grammys after the introduction of a new Asian pop prize. Given that, I’m boycotting them too. North West, the 13-year-old turquoise-haired daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, has canceled her headlining tour with rapper Molly Santana. I am forever grateful for my normal childhood and truly feel sorry for all the kids of the Kardashian sisters.

As usual, politics has me tearing my hair out.  The morons are going after Dr. Fauci. I think I’ve said this before, but Rand Paul’s neighbor needs to pay him another visit. I was happy to see America’s sweetheart Jeanine Pirro drop the reflecting pool case against David Hearn. She attributed the problem to a shady installation, which made Trump go apoplectic. On the bright side, we are back to discussing an Iran ceasefire. Let’s all hope it holds this time. Also, FYI, I haven’t heard from Mitch.

OK, that’s it. I’m going to go stretch this ancient body before I tackle today’s NYT crossword. 

Blogmaxxing

I am the self-appointed language police and I'm tired of this crap.

https://www.wired.com/story/solomaxxing/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/opinion/children-parents-billionaires-wealth-fathers.html?eafs_enabled=false

https://billionthblog.blogspot.com/search?q=looksmaxxing

My computer just croaked so I am coming to you from my Chromebook. I hope it doesn't have any impact on the quality of my posts.  I did a few fantastic blog posts from France on it so there should be no worries.  My daughter got some old family videos off my PC just in time. I brought it in to a San Mateo firm so if it truly toast they can at least get the data off it.  I went to TCG the last time I had a problem but he has sold the business. The top three reasons he wanted to retire were 1) lower stress, 2) spend more time with friends, family and his money, and 3) not deal with DJ's lame-ass PC problems. SB1 will be spending a few weeks here at the end of the year so he can be my IT guy and set up whatever cheap box I decide to go with next.

The wife and I got to go to Heritage Fire yesterday. Since we are well connected with the Hotelier, we got the VIP parking and wristband, which allowed us to enter early and sit in the VIP section.  I did a lot of sitting since my hip is on the fritz again, but I'm hoping that is a temporary situation. I'm going to Tahoe tomorrow and the East Coast next week, so I need to be on my A game.  As I told my brother yesterday, my A game is the equivalent of everybody else's C game. But I'm getting off topic. Heritage Fire was a successful event and the chow was primo.  My fave was Macarena's ribeye paella. The wine was flowing as well. Some lady thought I might be the Hotelier's brother. I said "C'mon, I ain't that good looking".

https://www.thesanfranciscopeninsula.com/food-and-drink/heritage-fire/

As I said, I will be traveling quite a bit, so I may not be posting again until later in August.  I hate to tear the band-aid off like that, but I gotta be up front with my base.

Bulgogi

I sat down to write about my wonderful Napa weekend, so what is the deal with the title, you might rightly inquire. Well, I decided to try a new marinade for my BBQ chicken thighs, and I went with bulgogi. I made my own as opposed to buying a bottle. The test will be tonight.  If it is tasty, I’ll tell you it was fantastic. Otherwise, we will not speak of it again.

And before I delve in to Napa, I need to give a shout out to the Hoteliers for hosting us on July 4th, which I should have put in my last post. They grilled up some sausages and Wagyu hot dogs. This took place at their Burlingame property, not in San Mateo or Oakhurst.  They were in a good mood because they were able to get out of their foray into Manhattan real estate when the high-rise they bid on began to buckle.

This past Friday morning we loaded into #1’s Subaru and headed to Carneros to hang with the Banker and Tina. We had a Far Niente wine tasting on the grounds before our dinner in their courtyard.  That Mexican dish I referenced in my last post was actually Peruvian. The Mexican rice I bought paired well and I was also responsible for prepping the green beans #1 brought up. We also enjoyed a South African Pinotage they had brought back from their recent trip. My wife’s peach cake topped things off.

The big event on Saturday was a tasting at Aonair Winery & Caves. There is an interesting origin story for this place.  The owner started making wine in his basement when he was 17 and spent some years in the industry before buying the property from a Kona coffee magnate that got in trouble for building a tunnel under a county road. In a stroke of luck, the new owner discovered it was the county that built the road on the winery’s property, so the tunnel was legit.  We also learned that a lot of banks would not lend, but First Republic stepped up.  The Banker stated that he worked there and recalled the deal.  That got him a bottle of small batch reserve.

We had a great diner that evening at Don Giovanni. They turned the heaters up at one point, which allowed me to re-heat my dish of Ziti Amatriciana. The Banker recommended the house wine and it was a winner. Our Uber ride home was a highlight.  We were greeted in Spanish, so I took it as my cue to gab a little. He said my Spanish was good. He then threw us a curve ball and said he was from Afghanistan and had been an interpreter for a colonel in the U.S. Army. He said he spoke Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian.  His three kids born over there were “amateur Americans” and his three kids born here were “organic Americans”.  He was quite engaging, but we all thought he might be a Vivarin customer.

Alas, all good times must come to an end.  After breakfast Sunday morning, we hung by the pool for a few hours before heading back to the FC. It is my fervent hope that #1 did not ruin our chances for another invite.

Pressure

Is it internal or external? I’m trying to figure it out. Being an artiste, I do feel driven to write two or three paragraphs on occasion. But when I see midnight blog hits from friend and stalker muse #1, who has just returned from a month-long international jaunt, I feel compelled to not disappoint. Also, the bio prompts from my wife, which I mentioned in my last post, continue to appear.  The latest is “Describe your childhood home.” My first stab at that was “Well, first off, they were all hovels. A librarian’s kid does not live in palaces”. I’m still trying to figure out if I was a lazy librarian’s son or a librarian’s lazy son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGM8fDzS5UQ&list=RDWGM8fDzS5UQ&start_radio=1

I’m happy to be launching this post today as it will be conversation fodder when #1 and I drive up with our better halves to Napa on Friday.  We’ve been invited up to The Banker and Tina’s home away from home.  They have had us there a few times, so they should know better, but they continue to invite us back.  #1 will prepare an amazing Mexican dish for one evening and we will go out the other. I’ve been tasked with making rice, which stretches the limits of my culinary ability. It looks like we are in for good weather, with temps topping out in the high 80s. We are lucky to be in this part of the country.

A Foster City restaurant has made the Chron for their family friendly policy. I sent it off to 4M and he agrees with it. I can understand that but perhaps they could be a little less in your face about it. However, that is not how the owner rolls, also evidenced by the sign below that appeared there a few years ago.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-policy-unruly-kids-22334581.php

Anyone heard from Mitch?

Dia del Padre

I chatted with my kids on Father’s Day. We had upbeat conversations and they didn’t ask for any boomer cash. My wife gave me a gift that will turn into a biography. She will ask a series of questions and I will respond. When complete, the answers will be compiled into a book. I guess she is like #1, in that she thinks I don’t write enough. The first question is regarding my best childhood memory.  I think that will be a series of things, but what I remember vividly is my child-like sense of wonder.

I recalled the old man on Sunday. He has been gone 17 years now. Beneath his gruff exterior was a gruff interior. I kid. He was a pretty quiet dude, but he had a sense of humor.  He was fine when I called him El Viejo or Papa Doc.

We had a great Father’s Day with a whole passel of Wigs.  The Wig and CC were in town visiting two of their four kids and their beautiful granddaughter. The wife and I prepared BBQ chicken, baked beans and pasta salad.  CC brought a green salad and my wife, a baking queen, produced a plum torte.  She also made Aperol Spritzes for the gang. I did not have one as I am not hip enough.

We had a nice dinner up the street on Friday with the driveway cocktail squad. We had all noticed that our new neighbors, who have not moved in yet, were installing a security system. My wife mentioned that we’ve rarely locked our doors in our 32 years here.  I told the crowd that the new neighbors had not originally planned to install the alarm system, but then they met us and changed their mind.

I have a quick question before I go.  Would you entrust your reflecting pool rehab to this guy?