While listening to MPR the other day, the commentators were discussing books for kids that are advanced readers. This book, Al Capone Does My Shirts, was one of the recommendations. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble for my oldest, although I really wanted to read it myself.

A fictional account of life on Alcatraz in the 1930s, the story revolves around Moose Flanagan, the son of a guard. Lots of great historically accurate descriptions of what life was like for the families of the workers who actually lived on the rock.

LOVED the ending too…

Yesterday we took in our La-Z-Boy recliner to a charity in Bloomington called Bridging Inc. They give furniture and other household items to people who are going through transitions in their lives.

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Yesterday my wife and I went to see the 1pm screening of the 2007 British Television Advertising Awards at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. We’ve seen these a number of times the past few years, but this was only the second time we’ve seen them in the new(er) McGuire Theater, which has a really great interior design.

Before we went in the theater, we checked out the Frida Kahlo exhibit next door, as there was absolutely no line. The exhibit was great and I learned a lot I didn’t know about the artist. We saw all three of the actual paintings shown above, two of which had pretty twisted stories behind them. Ms. Kahlo was one interesting personality, that’s for sure…

Despite the sad news later in the week, Christmas was a joyous time in the Kingsbury household. The girls got the house all decked out and couldn’t wait for Christmas Eve. I heard that Santa appreciated the cookies and milk and the reindeer ate up all of the reindeer food they left outside (in the tons of snow we’ve received this week).

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My maternal grandmother, Helen Smith, passed away today after a long fight with Alzheimer’s disease.

She really hasn’t been with us for a few years, so my first feeling is one of relief. My 88-year-old grandfather had been taking care of her by himself, which I know was very difficult for him. She was recently diagnosed with cancer and had stopped eating a few days ago.

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The last tech support trip to HSRA Los Angeles was very productive. My primary goals were to install new security cameras, troubleshoot a student data syncing problem, get their ID card machine working, re-image some old machines, install some new software and do the usual software updates across all 150 machines.

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My co-worker and I took a short little jog up I-15 to spend about ten hours in Las Vegas. We left on Sunday night and got to the Strip about 9:30. We checked in to Treasure Island and I took him on the walking tour of the middle of the Strip: TI, Mirage, Caesar’s Palace, Bellagio and the Venetian.

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Never thought I’d get a Prius as a rental car in LA, but it was one of the best rentals I’ve ever had.

The very geeky display screen gives you all sorts of info, but I’m still not entirely sure how the car decides to balance the gas motor with the electric one. It drove very much like our old Civic and averaged around 45mpg.

The only things I didn’t like were the annoying beeping when in reverse and the stupid refusal of the display to show the currently playing song on the radio unless you were stopped.

After celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary with my wife on Friday at Trattoria da Vinci in downtown St. Paul, I headed out on my favorite local airline to LAX.

Here’s a shot of the Redondo Beach Boardwalk–more pictures and posts to come after I get some rest…

UPDATE: Pictures are now available in the Los Angeles album of the photo gallery.

I’ve been sick as a dog lately, but I promised the girls I’d get them a Christmas tree this week.

Mission accomplished.

My parents have the Grand Marais newspaper sent to their home in St. Paul every week and pass it along to me after they read it. The Cook County News-Herald is a great small town paper and often has stories that make me smile. This week, though, they had a story that truly made me laugh out loud.

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Finished yet another book this week – The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell’s Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears, by Nick Jans.

I first became aware of the Timothy Treadwell story via Richard Thompson’s soundtrack to the Werner Herzog film Grizzly Man. I thought the movie was interesting and was anxious to read another take on this strange guy from California.

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