No seriously, I just thought I'd do an update, a lot happened recently.

First things first - Craigslist. This weekend, on Saturday night, I found the snare drum to end all snare drums, for a price I liked, with money in my pocket. I called the guy, he said it was still available, and I asked him "Is it okay if I come for it tomorrow?" It was already late on Saturday, and I would have had to drive to Belmont from Oakland. "Sure" he says, and we set up a time, and I got directions. Well, guess what happened. You probably already know. The bastard sold it to someone else. Thank god I didn't drive all the way out there, I would have been even more pissed than I am now, and I am pissed. Had I known he was selling to the first person who showed up to his door, I'd have gone late Saturday night. But I asked if it was okay to come tomorrow, and he said yes, so I didn't. I don't know why this one is so hard to let go, I've missed opportunities on CL before. But goddammit, I am so pissed.

I might have been able to go get it earlier on Sunday, but we had a WEDDING faire to go to! Did you know that wedding faires are spelled with an "e" on the end? Ya learn something new every day, I tell ya. Well, we picked up Mom, drove to Palmdale, and met up with Kat's mom, Uncle Amer, and eventually, Grace and Alma.  We tried all the entrees available (we're leaning toward the tri-tip and salmon), saw a brief mock wedding, looked at tuxedo vests, cakes, flower arrangements, centerpieces, DJ options, and then some. I put a few pictures from the day on the wedding website ( http://jimandkat.weddingwindow.com ), you can check them out if you like.

My sister is returning today from a ten day trip to Ghana - I can't wait to hear all about it! She went with her classmates from grad school.

THE A's! start the season tonight - wait - TODAY in Seattle; I thought this was going to be a night game, but I guess folks in Seattle don't have a problem making it to a 3:30pm start on a Monday. I have a problem with it though, as I have to work all day. That said, we were invited to Oakland's opening night a week from today, for a full-on, large group tailgate party. Oh man, I would love to be there. So much so, I may just go to the lot sans ticket and enjoy some food and libations with some close friends. I just got a new BP jersey too, I need an excuse to wear it since I got it at the end of Spring Training; I'll be wearing it while all the A's will be shelving theirs. Nevertheless, I am excited about the new season, and will do my traditional buying-of-the-new-hat very soon. Which reminds me, did you know that all the players' hats have changed this year? Instead of wool, they're made out of something else now.

Also of note, last week we saw Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau in concert at Zellerbach Hall, keeping a trend this year of seeing good jazz shows for cheap/free. However, this was not quite the greatest show. To be frank, the sound in the Hall, which is normally excellent, was poorly mixed this night - Mehldau's piano was mostly drowned out by Pat Metheny's guitar and the addition of Metheny to Mehldau's existing trio seemd forced most of the night. Both artists sounded fantastic in their own right, and shined particularly bright during their duet performances, where they could occupy as much sonic space as was possible for two stringed instruments. But once the band joined them onstage, the music became somewhat contrived, particularly the "drum n bass" style song where Pat used his MIDI/synth guitar. it was a weeknight, and we left about 90 minutes after the show started. It went for 2.5 hours, from what I heard. We just weren't particularly enthralled, and from conversations with a few others who attended that night, we weren't the only ones.

That same week was a holiday for us state employees, so I spent my Friday trying to hit the last of the snow in Tahoe, with my friend and co-worker Jon. We left Oakland around 6am and got to Northstar at around 9:30 or so. It had snowed on Monday and Tuesday earlier that week, but I couldn't really tell. It was slushy, springtime conditions, but we had a good time as it was not too crowded. I only bailed once and it was in relatively nice snow - I kept thinking 'Please don't bail on the wet ice...." But the one thing I forgot - sunscreen. I didn't get a picture, but I got the goggle/raccoon tanline. My skin is all dry and peely now. Gross!

Well, I guess that's it. Keep checking our wedding website now and again, I added some new pictures, not just from the wedding faire, but from another recent wedding we attended. Let me know if you want to go to an A's game this month. Try and come see my one gig this month at McGee's in Alameda on April 28th.

Oh, and if you know anyone selling a Ludwig snare drum, either Supraphonic, Super-Sensitive, or Black Beauty, let me know. It needs to be 6.5" deep, also called the "John Bonham" or "Led Zep" snare.