At brunch Niece No. 1 said that she will be attending an East Coast university next fall. Niece No. 2 is ecstatic. And Nephew No. 3 called dibs on Niece No. 1's bedroom. Niece No. 1 will be graduating from high school at the end of the month, and then she is looking forward to enjoying a relaxing summer before heading back East.

I finally tried Studio Diner, after several failed attempts. It's a fun place to have a meal any time of the day. Studio Diner is located next to the Stu Segall Studios. Stu Segall produced television series Veronica Mars, Silk Stalkings, Renegade, and countless others. I now have a place to recommend when people have no idea where to eat, and reluctantly end up at Denny's.

The other day, my four year old 17-inch Powerbook crashed. It had been relatively problem-free until now. Fortunately, I had been saving files to a portable hard drive, so I didn't lose too much. Last weekend, my 24-inch iMac crashed. Again, I had been saving files to the portable hard drive. I am now using my (knock on wood) tried-and-true five year old 12-inch Powerbook. It's a relic. I don't think that Apple makes this one anymore. I am going to spend some time getting the iMac up and running again. It will take a while to reload the programs. I am not sure what I'll be doing with the 17-inch Powerbook. I'd like to get MacBook Air. I haven't used my educator's discount at Apple this year.

I've been contemplating getting a new daily driver for a couple of months. At the time, I found four Prius' equiped exactly how I wanted, in the color I wanted, at Toyota of San Francisco. I check their availablity over the weekend, and all four have been sold. I've been looking at Mini Cooper S's at Crevier Mini in Orange County. They have one that is equiped almost the way I like, and in the the color I like. While I was at the Mercedes dealer, I went to see the smart cars. They're teeny on the outside. But surprisingly comfortable on the inside. The cars on the lot were already spoken for. The sales guy said that they're taking orders, and that it will take almost a year for delivery. The smart car makes a lot of sense for me. Often times I don't have passengers, and my commute to and from the office is on the city streets. I am not sure about driving a smart car on the freeway.

Bike to Work Day is scheduled for tomorrow. I used to ride my bike to the office on Bike to Work Day, and a few other times a year. Used to. That was in San Francisco. It was fun, for the most part. You'd ride with a bunch of other bikers, so it felt safer. Kind of like power in numbers. But other days when I'd bike to work were a little scary. I'd try to find shortcuts and ways to avoid heavy traffic. One such route took me through an industrial part of the city, riding under overpasses. Looking back, it was crazy. But it was a great workout, with all of the hills I had to manage to get to and from the workplace.

The end of the Spring semester is just about here. This semester has been by far the best I've taught. Except for a couple of students, this group has been the most enjoyable to teach. I've had my share of problem students in the past, and this semester is no different. I noticed what to appeared as if a student used a camera phone to take pics of another student's exam. I pretended not to notice, and to let the student believe he outsmarted me and the other student. I will make no mention of this. This student tends to leave class early. So for the next couple of sessions I'll just wait until the student leaves the classroom before I review for the final exam. I am not obligated to repeat lecture material to students who are not in attendance. That's one of my "problem students." I mentioned that I had a couple this semester. Another student, who was a very good student, all of a sudden stopped attending class. The last class this student was present, I noticed this student asking classmates if they could spare some money for gas. I witnessed this from my desk, but pretended not to notice. The other day in class, I asked the group of students if they have seen or heard from "Peter." One student piped up and announced, "I haven't seen him, but he ripped me off 20 bucks!" Drama, drama, drama!

It's amazing how much the price of real estate has dropped recently. This one-bedroom condo that I've been following has had a price drop of nearly $30k. I've heard that the real estated prices will continue to drop for a while. One of my clients, who develops residential real estate, claimed that prices will drop anywhere from 10 to 20 percent before prices level off. Good thing I'm patient. I'll wait until the real estate market is saturated and it will be a "buyers' market." This will give me time to start buying furniture, accessories and art work.

What is it with artists? Artists make their living by selling their work, and I totally respect that. I like to aquire works from artists I know personally. And it's not because I am looking for a friends and family discount. Like I said, I am more than willing to pay for art. I have had to go behind my friends' backs in order to aquire their work. One friend found out, but the other has not. At least not yet. I told the gallery owner not to reveal who purchased the art work. My friend told me, about a week later, that she sold three pieces to some woman. The gallery owner told my friend that some woman came in and paid cash for the art. This series of my friend's art deals with the concentration camps during World War II. Her parents spent time in concentration camps.

This piece is called "Laundry Day". I like that the faces reveal no identity. They're not recognizably Asian. They could be of any ethnicity. I like that the individuals are so close to each other, suggesting a crowded, over-populated condition. The individuals appears to be "stuck," while the laundry is moving gracefully in the wind.

This piece is titled "Big Brother." I obviously appreciate the architectural influence of this piece. But I really like the composition. I've had these pieces for a couple of weeks. I'm taking the three pieces I aquired to the frame shop. I'll keep them wrapped until they're ready to be displayed on the wall.

The weather was great, with summer-like temperatures and blue skies. The Lotus came out from under its carcover and made its way over the hills east of San Diego. I drove past a couple of local casinos but fought the urge to feed the slots. The dry heat started to ger really uncomfortable, especially with the top off. The weather is supposed to be nice for the next few days, which means I'll be taking the Lotus out more often. Now that gas prices have gone beyond the four dollar mark, it makes more sense (cents?) to drive the four cylinder, fuel efficient two-seater. The SUV will be sitting in the garage under the carcover.