(The title will make sense only at the end, but I couldn’t resist using it.)

First off, before anyone asks, yes of course I called my Mother today to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. I would have taken her out for brunch but, well, the 800 mile round trip was a little much to squeeze into a Sunday.

(Amazingly, this is written without a single joke relating to a particular infamous ice-skater, but feel free to add your own.)

If you scroll down the site as it is right now, you’ll probably notice something: there’s not a single hike posted. Only a lowly backpack from almost three weeks ago.

If you’ve stopped by seeking hiking posts, you’re probably disappointed. Perhaps even tearing up just a little bit. There, there. *pat’s on back* Don’t fret, just click here.

Unfortunately, there won’t be any new hikes posted for at least a couple more weeks. Sad, no?

Well, thank you all for the nice comments on yesterday’s post. The whole thing was a little surreal.

I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t point you all in the direction of fellow blogger Lori MacBlogger, who wrote a piece (and a wonderfully written piece at that) that actually was published in the LA Times last week. The real paper, mind you: paper, ink, held in the hands of thousands of people, the whole deal.

Go check it out.

I don’t spend a whole lot of time looking at the Blog Stats pages that WordPress provides. As lovely as they are, with cool charts and lists of incoming links and references and what not, obsessing over my daily hit count just isn’t my thing.

After all, I have some high quality commenters, which is better than a 10,000 hit day any day.

Still, late Friday night, after having finished packing for a weekend trip out of town, I found myself perusing the page before shutting down the computer for the weekend. My attention perked up a bit when I saw an incoming link from the LA Times.

The LA Times?

(Sorry for the lack of posting, I’ve been riveted to “Carrier” all week…)

A couple of weeks ago, an absolute first happened: a woman made the first move on the dating site, sending me an e-mail.

Once I picked myself up off the floor, nursing the bruise on my head from where it struck the coffee table after I passed out from the shock of it all, I replied. I answered her questions, asked a couple of my own, it was all good.

Honestly, given my track record in on line dating, I didn’t expect a response. Oddly, I got one. Heck, I didn’t even pass out the second time.

Bear Canyon Trail Camp is one of those places that really shows how remarkable the Angeles National Forest is. Situated only a few miles north of Pasadena, the camp feels remote and wild and far removed from Los Angeles.

There’s nothing quite like the Festival of Books. Despite the reputation LA has as a vacuous, non-reading town, thousands of people show up on the UCLA to celebrate the written word. That’ by any definition, is pretty cool.

Of course, it also happened to be blisteringly hot. It was my only complaint of the day, really, as I drained my Camelbak, downed giant sodas and even went for the oh-my-God-I-can’t-believe-it’s-so-sweet-it-hurts cherry Slushie.

Buh, oh, maaaaan, did it taste good…

I’d love to write about the Festival of Books tonight. Really I would.

But it’s 9:00 at night and my un-air-conditioned home is almost 90 degrees, and writing is the furthest thing from my mind.

Maybe tomorrow. For now, I’m just going to go melt into a puddle on the couch…

In the process of seeking the proper Brawny Man image for the Cute vs. Handsome post, I ran across the ultimate find: the Brawny Man website.

An entire website, dedicated to the fictional character used to hock paper towels? Well, of course, I had to click.

Turns out, I had discovered the illustrious Brawny Academy and perhaps, just perhaps, the secret to attaining the elusive “handsome” moniker after all.

(Will comment on the much more interesting post below tonight…)

So here I am at work at lunch, mulling over the upcoming weekend.