Coolin' In Cali

*Sigh*

Back from a restful, fun-filled and Xmas flavored week in Southern California. As far as I can remember, it was the second one I've spent in the Golden State (I lived about an hour away from San Francisco for about eight months in fifth grade) and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Basically all I did was eat, drink and be merry. There's no danger in me moving there any time soon, but I sure do like to visit.

The only low point of the trip was the Celtics / Clippers game. That was painful. My heart sank earlier in the week when I got the news that Paul Pierce would be out 2 to 3 weeks due to a foot injury. I almost didn't believe it when I saw it scroll across the news ticker on ESPNews. Paul's so damn durable that he's only missed 19 games in 8 years. Perk,Wally and Kandi were back but none of them are in shape and (much like the entire team) generally played like poop. Funniest (and most irreverent) part of the night: During the pre-game moment of silence for former President Gerald Ford, someone in the crowd yelled "Kandi sucks!" at the top of his lungs that had the more respectful members of Clipper Nation nodding along in agreement.

I didn't get any photos due to the Staples Center draconian camera policy, but I was really impressed with the venue overall. It's huge but still cozy. The sightlines from pretty much everywhere were great. The food selection isn't as good as I thought it would be, however. It's mostly nachos and dogs. If you want a burger or chicken, you have to go to Mickey D's. Ugh. Also, all the championship banners for the Lakers are grouped together on two or three flags and they are placed way up in the top corner of the rafters, almost as an afterthought. That was strange and definitely made the venue feel more like a multi-purpose arena than the home of the hated Lakers. I dunno, maybe they move them into a more prominent place for Lakers games. All I know is the one time I went to the Fleet Center a few years ago, I spent half the game staring at the overwhelming number of Celtics related things hanging from the rafters there. I took some photos of them and stored them on my old laptop. I'll have to dig around and see if I can find them. But I digress...

The best part of coming home was getting to see the Mister for the first time in what seemed like ages. Here he is resting after we played fetch until he ripped my hands to shreds. Hey, love hurts.

Don't forget tonight is the last ever bluestate. Hope to see you there.