I went into the local café today and what did I see? Yes, there were the people on their laptops taking advantage of the WiFi and the people reading Doestoyevsky in the original Klingon and possibly some people, I don’t know, chatting with one another.

But right in the center of the café? A group of people playing Seafarers of Catan.

Never saw that at the Sherman Oaks Starbucks, man.

I love this town.

Daryl tagged me with the Four Things meme that I’ve seen around. So here goes:

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Shill in a magic act
2. Book shelver at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. Technical writer
4. TV show intern

Four movies I can watch over and over again:

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Casablanca
3. Amadeus
4. The Wizard of Oz

(Wow. This was harder than I’d thought it would be. I had to sit here for a while and really think about what movies I wouldn’t mind watching over and over again. I don’t actually watch movies over and over again, though, except for movies that the kids want to see. And currently one of those is the Wizard of Oz, which I haven’t minded rewatching a few times.)

Four places I’ve lived:

1. West Hartford, CT.
2. San Francisco, CA.
3. Mountain View, CA.
4. Sherman Oaks, CA.

(You may notice a trend there…)

Four TV Shows I love:

1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Arrested Development (alas)
3. The Backyardigans (yup, still love it)
4. Yikes. That I really love? Okay, I’ll go with Scrubs, even though I only watch it by accident, when Darin does

Four Places I’ve vacationed:

1. Cozumel, Mexico
2. Ireland
3. Israel
4. Poland

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. Creme brulée French toast
2. Oatmeal
3. Lamb chops. Mmm, lamb chops.
4. Any sweet petite treat from Fleur de Cocoa. Or Sweet Lady Jane (sigh).

Four blogs that I visit daily:

1. Firedoglake
2. Digby
3. Miss Snark
4. Born Again Gym Bunny

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Paris
2. New York
3. Grand Cayman
4. Bonaire

(Hm. This is a toughie, because it is “right now” as this very minute? Or in general? Because I don’t want to be in NYC if, say, there’s a freaking blizzard going on. And Grand Cayman during hurricane season? Not so much.)

Four bloggers I am tagging:

1. Pooks
2. Sage
3. Tamar
4. Toni

(Alphabetical order, in case you’re wondering.)

No particular reason. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t been posting: no particular reason.

I’ve been running a lot. I want to start running even more — get these ol’ legs in shape for a marathon. I went running on Saturday with Nina at the PG&E Trail at Rancho, and I did loads better than I did last time. For instance: there was no bee stinging me in the head this time. Yay, team. All that climbing really had an impact on my legs, though: yowza. Keep doing the PG&E Trail, and I’m going to have the best butt in Santa Clara County.

Sophia has been sick. For a couple of months now she’s been complaining of stomach pains. But there are no other symptoms, like vomiting or, er, anything else, and she’s not using it to get out of anything, except possibly eating dinner, and that’s SOP anyhow. She gets up, groans, goes to school.

Darin’s car went in for a tune-up. They found a few things wrong with it. Guess how much it cost. No, more. No, more than that. Seriously. My first reaction was: “We have to buy a new car, right?” Right after our Christmas purchase of a new TV (a flat-screen LCD thing). Augh.

The weather has been beautiful. I realize everyone in the Northeast wishes I would crawl into a hole and shut up right about now, but it’s been fantastic here the past few days: mid-70s (or higher), sunny, mild. I’ve taken the kids to the park because these were clearly park days. In February. And you wonder why I love living in California?

And now I see Daryl has flung a meme my way. Off to work on a second post!