1) Happy July and Why I like the Fourth of July : Parades, BBQs, homemade peach ice cream, good homemade fried chicken, potato salad, little kid's bikes all dressed up in crepe paper, fireworks, riding one's bike in Huntington Beach on the boardwalk and watching the world go by. And most importantly, it is the only major US holiday with no completed stressed out family dinner!

Fourth of July 1988 was the first time I was out of the country for the 4th and I was very sad. I was studying Italian in Florence and the Mormon missionaries who worked one of the Piazzas did not invite me to their BBQ (Elder Jones & Elder Bolton and I had had a few run ins previously and they were adverse to attempting to convert me after the first run in, but they did later rub in the fact that they had fried chicken and watermelon.).

Fourth of July 2002, I was at LAX and in the airplane flying to London. The post-9/11 very full Terminal 4 at LAX was eerily quiet on that particular Independence Day and my Mom worried extensively that it was a very bad day to fly. It was just quiet. No chicken, no homemade peach ice cream, and no cute kids in parades with crepe paper in their bike's spokes. Just lots of police and a very safe plane ride to London-town.

This year, I will spend the Fourth of July, not riding bikes with my sister in HB, but in meetings in Dublin for our MSCMM project. I am already sad. I suppose I should make some fried chicken, find some fireworks, and invite a few folk over... But the good news is that there will be no stressful family get together. Wahoo!

2) When I read the newspaper, I always start with the comics, move to the weather page, then opinion, and finally the front page news. My mom starts with the the front page news and then moves to the weather, and only later, if she has time, does she read the opinion section. She never reads the comics. When I read the weather page, I love the precipitation charts, the moon's comings and goings as well as global temps. My mom prefers the tidal charts and the Highs and Lows, as she is a surfer and she has her priorities as to what swell it is when.

Yesterday both the Irish Times and the LA Times online version listed the moon as rising in the 11:00am hour and under moonset listed "No Moon Set". How can the moon not set? This morning's Irish Times had the moon rising around 11:40am, so it had to set sometime yesterday.... Inquiring minds want to know what kind of astronomical / meterological laziness is this on the part of the weather page contributors????

3) Go HPV Vaccination! Thank God, it was approved. If you are female and breathing, go get vaccinated! Let's make cervical cancer history.

4) Just in time for the 4th of July, from the NY Times : 10 Days That Changed History

5) Laugh out loud funny post from Derek Powazek for the dog owners and lovers amongst us : My Dog is So Smart.