On Public Education

I went to get a haircut yesterday, and explained to the hairdresser that my hair had to be quite short, as I will be playing FDR in "Annie," which opens next weekend at DMTC in Davis. She had never heard of Franklin Delano Roosevelt! I gave a thumbnail history of the Depression, and World War II, which she seemed to have heard of, at least a little bit. To be fair, she seemed to be an immigrant, but still!!!

On the Relative Merits of Various Extreme Sports

Skydiving is probably the best: no matter one's age or physical condition, it shouldn't be that hard to contrive to fall out of an airplane.

The New Cycle of Rain

After the Pineapple Express went through last week - at least, went through Arizona, anyway...

An aside:

The term "Pineapple Express" is often used in California to signify a long band of moisture featuring heavy rain originating around Hawaii. I use the term more loosely, to signify any long band of moisture, featuring heavy rain, originating from roughly the same latitude as Hawaii.

Anyway....after the Pineapple Express went through last week , a cutoff low established itself off the California coast, which is acting like a mechanical cog propelling a conveyor belt of moisture from the tropics. Over the next week, the cog (the low) will slowly move inland, offering new opportunities for rain for the entire SW. We are in a rain phase! Halleluljah! (Snowpacks south of 42 degrees latitude are above average: long-term Palmer drought severity index is in fairly good shape everywhere except Montana and Wyoming.)