Keep your hands and feet away from her mouth

Let's just say that the rest of the family was a bit taken aback when Ellen requested the turkey leg. And then ate it. Beware of Carnivore.

Not the Brady Bunch

We've reconnected with our adult cousins (three girls with strange parallel lives to me and my two brothers), and now we get together the night before Thanksgiving. It's a great new family tradition.

Remember where we parked

The sun is rising as we arrive at the LAX parking lot, about to begin our trek to Chicago for the holiday.

In the shadow of the mountains

We live in a very different environment now. Here, the San Gabriels loom over a playground in Pasadena.

Wizard of DMV

Ooooh-kay, buddy. You and your Mercedes are the Great and Powerful Oz, parked in front of the donut shop here. Whatever you say.

Stargazing

A cool little iPhone app tells me what stars and planets I'm seeing in the sky. A particularly bright star overhead turned out to be Jupiter on this night.

Mmm, generically refreshing!

Outside the Pavilions supermarket, they have a machine featuring their own generic brand of pop, with the world's most halfassedly-changed brand names. Would you care for "The Dr."? Or perhaps some "Mountain Breeze"? There's always the simply named "Orange" or you could push the button for the wonders that await behind the "Mystery Flavor?" window.

Sand n' slides

We found a great playground in Pasadena. It's in a park that seems to host about sixty thousand kiddie soccer teams, each in their own neon-colored uniforms.

Mary Kay's uncle

Yes, it's the Pink Upholsterer van. You gotta problem wit dat? Who else gonna do your pink upholstery for you?

View from my driveway

Every morning, I go outside to get the newspaper. This is my view when I turn around.