You can see just how important a birthday this was for our bearded grand-baby. We barely remember this moment in our own lives, but do recall hearing something about how this particular day was special. Oh well, there are several other things that we can't remember... we think. Hmmm. Let's see now...

Jane will leave in a few minutes to help Pat celebrate her birthday. We're not sure exactly which birthday. First they will eat, and then they'll go see a movie. David begged off. He has places to go and things to do, if he can just remember where and what.

Our local weather [your major concern, eh?] has moved beyond May Gray and into June Gloom, the silly California way of saying that we've had a month of cool weather, morning fog, and a few clouds. They call that a bad thing. We call it Seattle Summer and pray that it will last forever. And folks here call US weird? Heck, we've only run our A/C about 5 days so far this year.

Sat 6 June
Jane just returned from another day of shooting an independent movie. She would have finished her part yesterday except for highly unusual rain delays. She plays Mrs. Snow, the drunk and grumpy grandmother of a teenage girl. And in a week or two we will drive some 200 miles up the coast to a location near San Luis Obispo where they will shoot Jane's final scenes.

Last night a woman called to offer Jane a part in a commercial next weekend. Evidently they worked together in an earlier gig, but Jane can't remember when. Wow... a job with no audition! Sadly, that date conflicts with Jane's planned trip to Houston next week. Happily, they rearranged their schedule so she can do it. Double-wow!!

In Houston Jane will help celebrate the wedding of her niece, Kristin, and enjoy five days of fun and frolic in the Houston's killer humidity. But David has three rehearsals and two concerts while she is gone, so Jane agreed to let him stay home... unguarded. This goes against her better judgment, but what can she do. After all, the boy is almost fully grown now.

Tue 9 June
The 9:am Flyaway bus to LAX carried Jane away for the rest of the week, leaving David all unsupervised to write stuff on the internets. Once Jane reached Houston, they all headed for Galveston, where the family rented a home with enough beds for the whole clan to gather for several days and prepare for the Saturday wedding. If you'll turn off the TV and step outside this evening when it's quiet, you'll be able to hear the roar, no matter where you live.

In keeping with the JaDa tradition, David rushed out this morning and failed to grab his other key ring or turn the little doorknob doodah so he could get back in. Sound familiar? Anyhow, once he dropped Jane at the bus, ate breakfast at IHOP, and delivered a box of headshots to Jane's new agent, he found he was locked out... and both our landlords were gone for the day.

So he jumped back in the car and drove to church in time for the final 45 minutes of Cracker Barrel, a gathering of old f... um, retired church guys who gather twice a week to sit and eat donuts and gab about the olden days. The first time David attended, he got grilled about his political views, and then he was asked to get up and move to a chair on the Democratic side of the long table. Much of the talk there is non-political, but there's lots of heated repetition of talking points. These old Methodist men may be "one in the spirit", but they're clearly two in the Cracker Barrel.

Next, he wandered down to Lake Balboa to enjoy the cool cloudy day, watch a fisherman and a bunch of ducks, and listen to the radio for a couple of hours. Then out to Grandpa Fred's for early bird BBQ. A Bruce Willis movie was being projected onto an entire wall with the sound so loud that we might as well have been backstage in a bowling alley. At 4:30 he returned to find that Amber was home, and she unlocked the cabin for him. Now here he is, tippy-tapping away on the old family Macintosh and bringing you the news.

This could be a long week.

Thu 11 June
Tuesday night at choir rehearsal David felt totally wrung out and his voice was doing odder things than usual. Wednesday was better but his slight throat tickle slowly got worse until it was burning by bedtime.

Today he called the doctor and got a 2:00 appointment. David and Doc agreed it was his old sinus acting up, so he got some meds and went home to self-medicate and skip his choir dress rehearsal in hopes of salvaging a little voice for the Saturday and Sunday concerts. He is not optimistic.

Then snooping on the computer tonight he discovered Garrison Keillor on Salon.com. We love him on A Prairie Home Companion, and that website includes his weekly essays on a variety of subjects – slightly off-center and surprising, much like his Lake Wobegon adventures that amble around and eventually take you somewhere you did not know you needed to go. David says that if he could write like that... well, he could stop worrying about how to become tall, dark and slender.

If you are a Garrison fan, or want to chance getting hooked, then click HERE, look on the left side column under "Weekly" and click on his name.

Sat 13 June
Thursday we mentioned Garrison Keilor so today we posted one of his essays at the bottom of our Favorite Guest Writers page. We believe you will enjoy it. It's funny, it's non-political, and it's about Motherhood. How safe can we get?

David went to dress rehearsal last night to sit in the audience and take notes. He's saving his tenor voice, what's left of it, for the big show tonight. He sang along a little and found that high notes wore him out fast, but he can sing some amazing low C's. He hopes his college dream of becoming a bass singer, or at least a baritone, may yet come true.

Mon 15 June
Jane returned to California last night, thus finally restoring order to the home place. She reports that Kristin's wedding was lovely, the beach retreat was cool, the Houston weather was normal (hotter'n hell) and the grandkids are fine. About noon today she lit out to attend her class, with a film shoot looming sometime in her near future, once they notify her where and when.

And a near miracle patched up David's voice enough that he was able to sing both concerts with full range and almost full control. Let's hear it for smart doctors, fortunate timing, and some miracle drugs. Sadly, all those low C's have slipped away.

Tue 16 June
Today's email brought an exciting surprise. Our baby boy in Seattle has found enough time between his stonework jobs to publish an online music album that is just amazing. This fuzzy-faced guy has some cool musical stuff going on behind that shy smile, and we are delighted to share. He's a one-man show: composer, lyricist, performer, recording engineer, editor, publisher and internet techie. So turn up your sound – or better still, put on your best headphones – then click HERE and spend 15 minutes getting to know the musical Mark Shepherd. Stay longer if you like, but don't skip "Ground Bloom", our new favorite.

Sat 20 June
A gray and drizzly morning after our first hot week in the past two months. Jane is gone to shoot a spec commercial for State Farm Insurance, while David is out trying to get some sort of agricultural project going – any project at all. Here in the land of fruits and nuts and endless sunshine, he can surely grow something besides a beard.

Yesterday we went to Hollywood so Jane could audition for [something] that required a "well rounded granny wearing shorts and casual poolside attire." So David dropped her off there on Melrose Ave in an area where an outfit like that won't even get you a second glance. Within 20 minutes she was finished, and we cruised back home through Laurel Canyon, out Ventura Blvd, and up Balboa Blvd with only a short pause at the Burger King drive-thru window. This city is easy if you can limit your drive times to the daylight hours between 11:00 and 2:00.

Last Thursday we drove back out to Camarillo to tour a rental we spotted on Craigslist. The older manufactured home is in a gated golf community, and its front window is just 50 feet from the #6 tee box and maybe 80 feet from the lake. The lovely green view out front is balanced by a spectacularly rocky mountain rising at least 1000 feet just across the street in back.

With two bedrooms, two baths, two living areas, a nice kitchen, laundry, workshop, covered parking for three vehicles, and completely furnished... what's not to like? Well, it's a bit dark and shag-carpety and at least an hour out the 101 from audition land – quite a bit more during AM and PM drive times. Still, the ocean air means little need for heating or AC, and most of the utilities are paid. Hmmmm.

Wed 24 June
Jane has a callback tomorrow and another audition, too. This is a relief to David, because Jane's "Nobody loves me" mantra was driving him nuts. Auditions always do wonders for her spirits, especially callbacks. But still she obsesses about her one tiny paid gig in the past year. Yes, we are watching the unemployment numbers here, and we say many a prayer of thanks for modest pensions.

We heard from our actor friend, Pat, who just finished a shoot for LifeAlert (not that "I've fallen and I can't get up" outfit, but a very similar product.) She spent the whole day crawling around on a concrete driveway as they took shot after shot, and that kept up until she finally begged for mercy. Pat reports that the producer suffered a rare guilt attack and added an extra $200 to her embarrassingly low contract. Next time you hear about those rich actors on strike... think of Pat.

And if you haven't visited our Guffaws, Giggles and Snorts page lately, we invite you to navigate on over there, especially if you enjoy Britain's Got Talent, not to mention Riverdance.

Sat 27 June
Finally... it's the day that Jane finishes her part in the movie she began early this month. She studied maps and printed directions to the location and then lit out about 10:am. At 10:20 she called. "I'm lost. What do I do?" A quick map check got her back on the road. We haven't heard any more. Either she got there, or she's out of cell phone range.

Wednesday's callback turned ugly when Jane arrived and looked at the script. By now we're used to dancing grannies, grumpy grannies, confused grannies and even Alzheimer's grannies, but nothing like the demeaning stuff they'd planned for a small cast of old folks. Jane returned the script and left as some young flunky asked what's the big deal. Some things jist ain't funny, punk.

David spent an hour in our pool yesterday. It may be too small for actual swimming, but it's perfect for actual chilling, especially in late afternoon when some shady areas help avoid sunburn. If this week hovers at 100˚ as predicted, we expect he'll do a lot more chilling.

Sun 28 June
Guess what? Jane had to go back again today. They couldn't get it all done yesterday.

She got home last night about 10:pm all sweaty, windburned and itchy. Once she found the place, she found the ugly side of movie making. It was high on a hill at the edge of the desert. The house was not air conditioned. The dry wind was well over 100˚. They couldn't get all her scenes done. Otherwise, it was a wonderful day.

But today was better. She didn't get lost. They worked in the shade of the garage most of the time. The AC worked so they could cool off in the house. And besides, everyone was just wonderful and complimentary and kind to her during her four days on the shoot. Since she was paid by the day and because of yesterday's overtime, she'll earn a good bit more than she signed on for.

So this doubles her paid gigs for the year, and auditions have picked up a lot in the past two weeks. Now Granny's just another over-paid Hollywood starlet.

Mon 29 June
After a morning outing, David just came home saying how much he likes this place. First, instead of his usual Russian-American barber, a Korean-American man gave him an excellent haircut. Then a Mexican-American man washed his car. After lunch at a Chinese-American restaurant, an African-American woman checked his groceries. We have an Armenian-American mechanic, a favorite Jewish-American deli, two German-American friends, and David and Jane are both Scots-Irish-Texian-Americans.

How soon can we drop all the prefixes and just be... Americans?