***Weekend Words***

Words
My enthusiasm was bolstered on Sunday while attending Michael Stackpole's signing of his latest work, The Secret Atlas.

Weights
I had hope to hit the gym on Saturday but my cold--though greatly reduced--still persist. I'll see how it goes this week.

Whatever
The Spouse had a certification class that would take all day. I crawled out of bed around 1000 and prepared to bring my car for a checkup before heading down to San Diego. Unfortunately, the car rentals would not rent since I didn't bring any picture ID. This is despite the fact the manager personally knew me from other branches. I had to pick up my car from the garage and trekked down, steaming.

I enjoyed the Stackpole signing. The author radiated enthusiasm which spilled on to me and other aspiring writers in the dozen attendees. I would later check out his homepage and found it to be quite extensive.

Afterwards I drove to Hillcrest where I read and napped at Davids.My plans were to grab an early dinner and read until late in the evening. R. called around 1600 to head home instead of the original plan to put in a few hours to do paperwork. Grudgingly, I headed back. Fortunately traffic was light on the 5 and I made it by 1800.

We dined at one of our favorite restaurants before retiring for the evening.

Sunday, while R. dealt with remodeling issues (i.e., floor and cabinet staining), I watered our lawns. Our sprinkler system is still down after the electric company shut off our neighborhood power for a day back a few weeks ago. After I was done, we headed out to the Renaissance Faire. This year it was held in Irwindale instead of Devore. Apparently the Devore park had raised the rent. According to one regular vendor, the move actually worked out better for the Faire and Irwindale; there were plans to shut down the beautiful park.

I noted a few changes. First, the weather was far nicer than out in Devore. Cooling breezes keep the temperature better than tolerable. This was good; some of the costumes--especially the armor!--looked quite uncomfortable to wear all day. This year, there was a "haunted house" in the shape of a dragon at the entrance.

After a quick snack (I had bread, cheddar cheese, and sausage. Yum!), we walked around, oohing and ahhing the folks and the shops. R., of course, wanted to stop at every other shop. I noted more minorities participating at the Faire than our past visit. After admiring the costume of one particular musketeer (who had a nice butt, by the by), I've decided to disregard my hesitation that the Faire is for Anglo-Saxon descendants only and buy a costume for myself in a latter visit. (R. bought a noble's outfit--of course--last year.)

We collapsed at home. Or at least I did. R. put in a couple of hours on-call. We then headed out for a late dinner, finally going to sleep around 2300. Overall, a wonderful weekend.

(Image found on the Internet and all rights belong to its owner(s))