Apologies for the darkness of the photograph above: the man on the right is
Khaled Hosseini, author of
The Kite Runner (which I read and liked quite well) and
A Thousand Splendid Suns (which I haven't read). Mr. Hosseini sat right next to B. on Saturday night at an event at UCSD (he was honored as UCSD Alumnus of the Year). He's very nice, very quiet . . . A lot of folks (many of them female, I might add) came up to him asking to have books signed or have their photos taken with him--it was like seeing the literary equivalent of a rock star. By some accounts,
The Kite Runner has sold 10 million copies and been published in 42 languages.
I felt a bit weird about having my photo taken with him, so I "
Kinneared" him--you have to read the link to a hilarious post on one of my favorite blogs,
The Yarn Harlot, to understand what that means!
Winter sunsets... 
Kute Kate the Kat...she lives with Miss Robin. Here she looks ever so slightly disgruntled because she was being confined to one room temporarily. Check out that girl's whiskers!
Flying Porta-Potties... wheeeee!!!
Random dogs. This one had spectacular doggy eyebrows, which you can't really see here. 
"Help, the ivy ate my mailbox" (said in Meryl Streep Australian accent). 
And getting to meet--unabashed name dropping ahead, be warned--Joyce Carol Oates and hear her read... it's so marvelous (due to my beloved university librarian spouse) to be able to experience the fruits of modern culture. We have had dinner with Salman Rushdie (told you there was name dropping in store!); attended a reception with Philip Glass; and got to shake Ravi Shankar's hand (B. did, anyway). It's not only exciting to get to meet these folks and experience what I have dubbed "brushes with greatness," but we get to hear these authors' writing read in their own voices or hear a composer's latest music being premiered. I feel quite privileged...and I smile.
