The sulfur residue and Life is Beautiful

At graduation tonight one of our keynote speakers was Dirk Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Department of Interior, so I'm pretty close to a full cabinet secretary and could almost smell the sulfur residue on him from W, as Hugo Chavez would say. The guy seemed pretty nice. He gave a good speech, smiled, showed some humor, and I couldn't even bring myself to even gently boo a Bush cabinet secretary, so I must be going soft -- kidding. I told him he's a lot sunnier than Cheney. Graduation was a success. Another year in the books.

I'm off for almost two months. I'm diving on Friday in one of the wonders of the world in Palau. I have been lounging at the Mandi Spa, dove Lau Lau yesterday and The Grotto the day prior. Life is good right now. I ate at Kuri- ya on Middle Road, a Ruth Tighe inspired choice, but not her recommendation. The place is great -- very authentic. I was only in Japan once, but that place is exactly what I remember Osaka restaurants looking like. The only gripe there is that my food took a small eternity to arrive. Nearby Shelly's Pizza has gotten significantly better since they opened. I bought a pie there in week one, and frankly, I was disappointed, but they've worked the kinks out of the system, and the pie there now makes me feel like I'm back in Jersey.

I watched the next to last Sopranos episode last night and it was Coppola like in its brilliance. The New York media goes crazy over this show, and sometimes they are right. The famous Pine Barrens episode rises to the occasion. The last one did as well. I always liked it, and I've naturally seen them all, but overall, I not as ebullient in my praise as others. The last episode measured up, though, as did the Lost finale, which was fantastic.

There are a few downsides. The ant situation on the home front is nuts lately. I don't know what it is that drives them inside with such eagerness at certain times, but this is one of those times. Also, the power is getting whackier than ever. I have a clock that pushes ahead almost one hour per week with the weird power situation. It is getting worse. I have a tv I bought new that seems to be fading from the lousy power as well, but overall life is good right now.