Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Monday was bad enough the last few weeks, but now Chuck has returned and even I can’t record everything on television that night. At 8:00 I recorded The Big Bang Theory (still going strong with the nerd humor and followed by a fading How I Met Your Mother), Chuck (a good start to the second season, though the whole concept of the “intercept” still doesn’t make much sense), and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is really coming into its own. I like the whole Cameron on the fritz idea - giving her chip a flaw is a great way to make her character more human. Of course, recording those three shows at once (2 on the DVR, 1 on the iMac) means that Dancing with the Stars gets left out in the cold. I saw the first episode of that though, and if Brooke Burke doesn’t win I’ll be shocked (um, are they sure this woman had four kids?) Fortunately at 9:00 I only have one show to record... Heroes, which is off to a great start. There’s so much going on and so much action you almost have to take notes. But somehow it’s all staying coherent despite the intended confusion, which is not easy to do. I’ll comment on the rest of the Fall TV season soon.

It’s the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown! On my way to the concert the other day I came upon this truck and it’s precious cargo. Someone is going to have one awesome Halloween decoration this year. And yes, I know I shouldn’t be taking pictures while driving (I also took this shot while crossing the Gold Star Bridge in New London). It was just too cool to pass up.

I went to see Alanis Morissette in concert the other night in Wallingford. I’d never seen her live before and thought it was a great show, if a bit too short (90 minutes). I also would have like a few more arrangements that showed off her amazing voice, but she seemed shy and a bit uncomfortable in the spotlight. It’s interesting that someone who has sold over 50 million albums and has toured the world performing can still feel that way. I did manage to get my photo taken with her - she’s a lot smaller than she looks on TV. :-)

It’s time for another one of my culinary experiments. I was at the store the other day and decided to buy some bacon. I love bacon but I rarely buy it because cooking it makes the whole house smell, well, like bacon. If I cook it on the stove I also have a tendency to set off the smoke detectors (yes, I am quite the cook). My big idea this time was to try cooking bacon on the gas grill outdoors. I started out conservatively, placing only a couple of strips on the grill. It looked promising so I soon added a few more strips. Then it all went horribly wrong. As the grease dripped down, it ignited on the metal shield and my poor strips of bacon were burnt to a crisp. It all happened so fast - there was nothing I could do. This photo was taken a minute or so after I turned off the propane. Fortunately, the fire did not spread onto the deck (I had Jazzy’s pool right there just in case). But like all great cooks I recovered from my setback. I cooked the rest of the bacon in the microwave for three minutes, and then let them crisp up for a minute on the grill, resulting in perfect bacon for a delicious BLT. Well, actually it was a BCT - I swap out the lettuce and add cheese. Mmmm...

It was a great trip and there was so much to see and do, but I have to say that my favorite parts were the times when my Dad and I were alone and talking and laughing. One night we were chatting about how incompetent we were at folding clothes, and the impossibility of neatly folding the sheet that has the elastics for the bed corners. We were laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. It’s been a very long time since I’ve laughed that hard. We also bonded in our joint effort to promote donkey and dog rights in Albania. And at the end, we even managed to have fun in the airports and on the planes.

The Acropolis: Not much to see, except for 2,500 year-old marble buildings and a view of all of Athens.

Welcome to Zemblak, Albania. Zemblak is a village near Korçë where my father was born and raised. His two brothers live there still, and while we were there my Uncle Florence and I climbed up the mountain to take this photo. Despite the two of us not being able to talk to each other due to the language barrier, we managed to make each other laugh quite a bit. Apparently, we have the same style sense of humor.

I’ve always liked maps. I remember that as a child I often enjoyed a good world atlas or, even better, a globe. I would have gone crazy for something like Google Earth back then if it existed. My geeky ways haven’t changed too much, I suppose. I still like seeing the world, but now I prefer to see things up close when I get a chance.

Thanks to Triton (and his pops Poseidon) for a safe and non-epic journey, with not a siren or cyclops in sight. More later...

I’ve always been a tennis fan, though my enthusiasm for the sport has waned in recent years. But I may experience a revival after going to the U.S. Open yesterday. I now have a couple of rooting interests for the rest of the tournament... Mardy Fish (USA) on the men’s side and Flavia Pennetta (Italy) on the women’s. But I may have trouble finding the matches on TV in the near future...