fankstiving

View from Black Hill, mistakenly called Black Mountain by the family all these years. Note: if you can climb it in 20 minutes, it is not a mountain.


La pareja feliz


When the tide is out, it's good for fishing. We did not catch any fish. We did, however, find and eat some delicious mussels and crab claws (don't worry, Corey researched the Internet for hours to make sure that our chances of getting hauled away to jail after hauling our bounty away from the beach would be virtually nil). We boiled them in hot water with salt, pepper, and cayenne, and then dipped in hot butter. Delish. I hope this isn't turning into a food blog, but I daresay we consistently find ourselves eating some pretty amazing meals.

Although they did not catch any fish, Corey and my younger brother did however successfully have long conversations with what J might call "the shaggy man" (more on J and his conspiracy theories later, hopefully, perhaps) and what Corey not-so-affectionately called "weird Californian hippies." Despite the shagginess, Corey gave away all his remaining stinky squid bait to them.


20 pounds of non free-range, non organic, Food-4-Less love.


The famous turkey in this infamous, eponymous portrait of my sister and I:



Corey and electric carving knife vs. 20-pounds Food-4-Less steroids


Corey: 1


Seconds before I mushed it all together and greedily slurped it down, smacking my lips eagerly and wiping my fingers off on my pants.


The happy family: near centennials, Generation X, Generation Whatever-a-Mid-80's-Birth-Is-Called, and Generation World of Warcraft (behind lens) Reprezentz.



Can you spot the monarchs of Pismo beach. Hint: those brown things that look like leaves? They're not.


Damn you global warming, and your 1-2 degree changes of temperature in a specific region.


Cindy McCain's birthplace. McCain is not nearly so old as the Ancient Ones; his outer shell has not yet even calcified.



Walking among the trees and on the pier of Pismo beach.


Local wildlife.


At the IHOP, the gourmet experience of lunch with my grandparents was complete.


Classy eating is free refills.


We watched the sky this weekend and saw lots of good stuff.


Man, look at this fat seal! This guy was so fat he just kind of rolled around in the water while the restaurant workers tossed him scraps! When he didn't like what they served him, like fish skins, he would just spit it lazily out and the seagulls and pelicans would squawk over it! (The subsequent 3-way tug-of-war that ensued between 2 seagulls and a pelican was equally entertaining to watch) He was so fat he could barely open his eyes, just had them in little slits! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the piniped version of the Dude!


Man, don't you just want to be an otter and lie on your back in the water with your little feet peeking out while your little kid white-faced otters roll around and splash and play behind you? What a life.


Or how about these rock squirrels? Man, I'd like a fat belly from granola bars (from a box that say best before 2005) and peanuts.


The surf was crazy on the jetty. I'm glad we didn't go fishing there. Even if the jetty is distinctively lacking in shaggy men.


More local wildlife (blue heron).


A post-Thanksgiving family portrait.