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Every now and then, the fans prevail and pull a show from cancellation. So a la Family Guy, we have the return of Elena #1 in tonight’s very special episode where the evil corporations and predatory men close in on our heroine. I have clipped judiciously…she was rambling a bit.

My dear. I sincerely apologize before you. I am guilty that I do not write to you the letter. I am so sorry. You understand my honey? The standard of life constantly rises and the salary remains same. I already whole year try to find to myself new good work. But I am trapped with failure. I and my girlfriend wanted to open the business. But while at us it turns out nothing. We have economic education and we understand as it is necessary to make business. The big seed capital is necessary. But communicating with you I feel better. I shall speak you the truth. At first I simply wanted to have the friend from other country. I did not trust that foreign men others. I thought that all men identical as our Russian. They try to have relations with women only to lie in bed. I understand that the majority of men want to get acquainted with me then to drag me in bed. It bothered for me. I not a simple doll. Now I was convinced that you not such as Russian men. You have soul and respect for the person. Fairly to tell I have attachment to you and I am ready to be your wife. But the life builds on my way of a barrier. While I have no opportunity to arrive to you. I cannot save the sufficient sum of money for trip. I am sorry my honey. I shall wait for your letters knowing that it lifts my mood.

This has brightened an otherwise gray, foggy day. Frankly, I’m dragging this morning, because the Claritin I took last night made it very hard to sleep. This is the Claritin D, and while it does an amazing job clearing my nasal passages, it fills my head with random crazy dreams. Really. I have the oddest, fitfull nights on Claritin. Today, I dreamt about President Bush imitating Dana Carvey imitating Bush Sr. Where THAT dream came from, I may never know.

So, we can talk about Elena, or we can read about existential Claritin experiences. Or, better yet, we can look at a photo from Venice.

On May 12th and 13th, I am participating in my 10th photo show with my Portfolio classmates at Ft. Mason. Our spring shows are extra special, because they are just with members of my Portfolio class…a group that morphs slowly over time, but is always a close knit group. Most of these folks have done several shows with me.

This spring, our show is called “Natural Acts”. I’ve decided to hang some of the industrial series that I’ve been working on. You’ll probably recognize these two samples from previous posts.

So, if you’re in SF on the evening of May 12th (6-9) or during the day on the 13th (10-5), then drop by the Ft. Mason Center, Building B, Room 106.

Its been over a week now since Elena #1 or #2 have written. So, out of curiosity, I wrote a short “Hi” note to see if I could trigger something new. Well, Elena #2 no longer exists. I feel strangely abandoned!

Is this how NBC felt when Friends went off the air?

So yes, I’ve become an iPod fanatic, because frankly it has added a new distraction to some of the duller parts of my life: commuting, flights, airports, expense reports. Well that, and that it has allowed me to dust off parts of my CD collection that I haven’t listened to in the Great State of California.

But let’s set the record straight: the iPod’s shuffle algorithm is NOT random. No way. I don’t care what Apple says. I have noticed that the same bands come up over and over…and I’m not sure this is a bad thing.

Being an inquisitive one, I did today’s equivalent of “in-depth research”; I did a Google search.

I didn’t find anything to substantiate my claim…although there are several pages dedicated to this topic, including lots of denials from Apple. Personally, I think that Apple should tout this “smart shuffle”. I think that it makes “random” more like how a DJ would program an iPod.

Let’s take my current shuffle session. I have 1153 songs today. About 30 of them are from Yes. I have heard 3 in the past hour. And honestly, every 5 songs since I have owned this iPod HAS TO BE from U2. (Tell me that Apple doesn’t favor U2.)

Anyhow, I think that the iPod is 1) clustering songs as it randomly selects artists, 2) favoring newly added items, and 3) repeating recently played items. This is smart programming, and I love it.

But, I can’t prove it and I’m rambling and you really came to this blog to see pictures. Tomorrow.

What a nice weekend. We spent it primarily enjoying the sunshine in the garden, although we did get out for a couple of nice long drives. Our garden activities were primarily spring prunings, repotting, and fertilizing. Temperatures haven’t turned warm yet, so most of our plants are still holding out for the real deal.

Friday night, we went out with Chris to one of our favorite restaurants: Lime in the Castro. Fun music, cool ambiance, very fine mojitos, and mini-hamburgers. Oh, and mini-ice cream cookies for desert! Last night, we all went out to El Torreador in West Portal–one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

And one other fun photo…something you just don’t see every day.

[Oh, by the way…there were no lollypops. Just teasing.]