Sophie lives on through S.O.P.H.I.E.

And they called John Kerry a flip-flopper.

Mornings are spent on work, mostly accounting.

Afternoons are spent moving items in to our new house.

Evenings are spent organizing all the crap we’ve accumulated since we moved here and/or we didn’t clean up during the move from Albuquerque.

I’m tired and I’m sore, but I’m happy.

Last Tuesday, we took a flight to L.A. so my love could take a class required for his job. We arrived in the early afternoon and, while I had expected to work over the next three days, the trip didn’t quite end up that way.

First, we got upgraded to first class. We have enough frequent flyer miles now that it happened automatically and we were, to say the least, surprised.

Then - and for the first time in a few years - we had zero issues picking up our rental car. It was ready, clean, and the make/model we desired, so no irritating trip back to the counter was necessary. We just jumped in and left. Thank you, Hertz.

We hit very little traffic between LAX and Hollywood, which is always our first stop. We also met very little traffic getting to Orange County, which was strange considering we didn’t get on the freeway until 3:00pm.

When we checked in to our hotel, we were told overnight parking would be $18. That’s pretty normal for a 4-star hotel, but when we checked out, our bill showed only a $7 overnight fee.

When we left the hotel to find dinner, we found a great adult store sitting just below a costume shop. We bought many bargain items at both, including a small plastic violin purse for my deco era gangster’s moll outfit. I still can’t decide if I’ll be wearing it for Hallowe’en this year, but it’s good to have the right accessory if I do.

I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was craving lobster, but I hate spending a lot of money on how little you really get when you order it. As we drove toward Newport Beach, however, we spotted a sign for Woody’s Wharf: Tuesdays - $19.95 Lobster Special. Hallelujah - it was Tuesday! And there was much rejoicing, but even better, the lobster was excellent and my love had Kobe beef sliders. I never thought that the words Kobe beef would meet the concept of sliders, but they were delicious.

While the non-husband was in his class the next day, I had a nice long lunch with my aunt. We rarely get to spend much time one-on-one together, so that was a treat. She also paid, so it was literally a treat as well.

When his class was over at 4 o’clock, my love wanted to get on the highway toward our next hotel destination in Hollywood. I told him that would be a very, very bad idea in L.A.’s renowned afternoon rush hour. He insisted, however, so we set up the Garmin GPS with updated traffic reports, tuned in to an AM radio station which gives a traffic report every few minutes (KNX 1070, in case you ever need to know), he logged on to Google Maps with the “show traffic” function on his Blackberry, and we hit the road.

We arrived at our hotel at 5:20pm, even with a quick jaunt through downtown to avoid traffic. I am SO not kidding and if you know anything about Southern California, you know what a feat this was.

The next day, a very good friend invited me on a spa retreat. I generally don’t like spas; they tend to be expensive and snobby. Still, L.A. is the land of such things, and I really wanted to spend time with this particular Goddess while we visited the area, so I agreed. I had a horizontal shower and wheat stalk scrub followed by a facial. These were so ultimately relaxing, I felt comfortable enough to go to dinner without any makeup on. I know how shocking that sounds to anyone who knows me, but it’s true.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find my friend had brought an online coupon AND we received a 20% discount for making our appointments on a Wednesday, so we paid less than half price for each treatment. Plus they gave us a $20 off discount card on our next visit! Thank you, Burke Williams.

We called my hard-working man, who had remained at the hotel to get things done all day, and he met us at one of L.A.’s best sushi and robata places. The three of us bonded over sake (both hot and cold), amazing hand-rolled sushi prepared right in front of us, tuna and sea eel which was to die for, and flirting with our chef and servers to the point of distraction. Thank you, Katana.

Then we drove back to our friend’s place and ended the evening on a high note, so to speak.

We flew back to Denver the next afternoon in business class, where the booze is free, the seats recline all the way back to allow comfortable sleep, and they still serve real food.

I could very much get used to all this.

Not spoiled; karmically due.

“Music doth sooth the savage breast.”

I’ve created magic with it. I’ve escaped with it. I continue to be mesmerized by it.

It is my strength and my weakness, my savior and my downfall.

And when it’s really good … it is transcendant and beyond words.

Humble and speechless.

That is the title of this piece by Stephen H. Segal, who is editorial director of Weird Tales.

Now I regret I missed the steampunk panel at Dragon*Con.

Re-posted from my friend G. (via MySpace):

I’m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight …

OK, much clearer now.

He doesn’t say much, but when he does, it’s priceless.

How does the phrase “President Sarah Palin” strike you?

*shiver*

Did you know the U.S. Ambassadors have been kicked out of Venezuela and Bolivia? And that we’ve responded by kicking their Ambassadors out as well?

Were you aware the Taliban has kidnapped two Chinese engineers in Pakistan? Further, that they want the release of 15 Taliban prisoners as an exchange?

How about what’s going on between Georgia and Russia? As an applicant to NATO, are you aware we may have to defend them as an ally?

Still don’t know why these things are important?

Consider that Venezuela is the largest supplier of oil to the U.S. Not Saudi Arabia, VENEZUELA.

Think about Chinese involvement with our efforts against the Taliban and what that would mean to the region and the world.

Now consider this: What would war with Russia look like?

Wake up.

From Doug Stanhope:

Spread this as far & wide as possible. It’s my website for Bristol Palin.

Get on it, kids. Send it to your friends, but also to pro-life groups and to any news sources with mock outrage. And don’t forget to sign the guest book!

I love that man.