May I just say:

and note that further imagery exploring the artistic effects of light abd shadow involved in my recent visit to my in-laws in Laguna Beach on a perfect late-summer weekend may be found here, here, here, and here.

Worthy of note were the amusingly provocative Oracle banners at the SeaTac federal screening positions:

“Oracle makes Linux unbreakable: Everybody knows Linux costs less. Now it’s faster and more reliable too.”

Translation: “Bill, your software broke last month. Loved it! See you soon – love, Larry.”

I also actually went swimming in the ocean for the first time in at least twenty years. It was fun, but, naturally, I seem to have an ear infection. Every time I get in the water, my head soaks it up like a sponge and it dribbles out for days and days.

We were there for my father-in-law’s 75th birthday party, and it was great fun.

The trip ended with United’s outbound plane experiencing starter failure in an engine – they put us on a direct Alaskan flight that we barely made, and which was so empty I cannot imagine how they can run the service.