Playing hooky at Citi Field... watching the Mets trounce the Rockies 7 - 0

It's always nice when your team wins. But it's especially nice when you are attending the game at the ballpark. And today was an especially nice day. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. (At least I think they were singing. It was a little hard to hear them over the sound of the planes taking off and landing at LaGuardia.) And this afternoon the New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies 7 - 0 (in well under three hours!).

Johan Santana pitched for the Mets and did an excellent job. And the Mets scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead -- and never let it go.

The spouse and I and our friend M--- had a fantastic time at Citi Field (our first time at the Mets new stadium). And my only regret is that I didn't have one of those ginormous lenses for my Nikon D70. But at least I have the memories.

Play ball!

Male sea lion goes out with a bang

This story gives new meaning to the phrase "Be like Mike." ; )

For those of you who, like me, missed the story about Mike, the 19-year-old 550-pound California sea lion stud whose heart gave out while enjoying the charms of not one, not two, but three female sea lions at the Nuremberg Zoo in Germany last week, allow me (and the Daily Mail) to share.

According to the zoo, Mike was a "good-natured" fellow who was quite popular with the ladies -- and sired 12 sea lions over the years. However, a recent marathon mating session with paramours Farah, Tiffy, and Soda proved to be too much for the old fellow, and his ticker gave out.

When asked about their former lover, Farah, Tiffy, and Soda were quoted as saying "Aar, aar, aar."

Rest in peace, Mike.

What a trip

Or what develops when a middle-aged woman with a penchant for photography and her middle-aged spouse drop their tween daughter at sleepaway camp and then go on a six-day roadtrip to Montreal via Cooperstown and the Adirondacks.

You really otter see Cooperstown...






















And try that Foo Kin restaurant while you're there...






















or the Yum Yum Shack...

















and go on a tour at the Brewery Ommegang (where the beer flows like milk)...






















Then if you need to make a pitstop, and you happen to be passing through Lewis, New York, try Betty Beavers Truck Stop & Diner (even if you don't have a truck or a hankering for beaver)...






















In Montreal, be sure to say bonjour to the gnomes (who never roam alone)...

















and... sweet! (Good things those cupcakes are protected by ADT!)






















But don't forget to eat your veggies, which are fresh and plentiful at the Jean-Talon Market...















And be sure to quaff a Molson while you're in town... or bring home a truckload...

















Hmm... that bus looks a little fishy...

















A bientôt...

¡Ay Chihuahua! This summer is setting a record for celebrity deaths!

It has gotten to the point that every week I expect to hear that yet another famous person died. And this week did not disappoint (if that is the right term -- hey, it's 6 a.m. and I've been up since around 4).

As you may have already heard or read, this Tuesday a true icon, beloved and recognized by millions, suffered a major stroke and passed away. No, I am not talking about Frank McCourt, the author of Angela's Ashes, who died this past Sunday. I am referring to, of course, Gidget, the feisty 15-year-old chihuahua who was the star of countless Taco Bell ads (even though the chihuahua in the ads was supposedly male) and the movie Legally Blonde 2.

"She made so many people happy," said Sue Chipperton, Gidget's trainer. Si.

Adios amiga.

She's leaving home... and I'm a mess

In a few hours the spouse and I will be taking our daughter to her sleepaway camp up in Massachusetts -- and I feel like my heart is going to beat right out of my chest. It is only for three weeks, and she had a great time there last summer (so much so that the day we picked her up she asked if she could go back the next summer), but still. We are both (my daughter and I -- not the spouse, who is still snoring away in the bedroom) a bit... anxious. Because. You know.

It also does not help that I am "hormonal." ('Nuff said.) But just a word to the wise, to all you guys out there whose children are or are going off to sleepaway camp, for the first or second or third time, and whose wives may be feeling a wee bit... tense or anxious: now is NOT the time to be picking a fight with her.

Case in point: Yesterday, after spending the better part of the day packing up my daughter, doing laundry and making sure she had everything she needed for camp, and feeling incredibly tense and anxious (even though I know she and I will both, eventually, BE FINE), the spouse casually mentions he wants to go to yoga class this morning. Which is FINE. Really. So I equally casually ask him to gas up his car on the way back from yoga class, as we have to drive around 400 miles today. (After we drop our daughter off at sleepaway camp we are going on a little roadtrip, to Cooperstown, the Adirondacks, and Montreal.)

Now the response to that simple request should have been "OK. No problem." Or something like that. Especially as he knows I am ALWAYS a wee bit anxious before a big trip, and am extra hormonal, because... you know. But instead he says, not-so-casually, "I have around half a tank. That's plenty to get us up there."

So I say, slightly less casually, "Okay. But could you please fill it up anyway, since you'll be out, so we don't have to stop later?" And he says, not casually at all, "J-------, my car gets, like, 500 miles to the tank, more. We'll be fine." And I say, gritting my teeth, "Honey, please, can you JUST GO FILL UP THE TANK ON YOUR WAY BACK FROM YOGA?! Please?"

He is about to argue with me, but I cut him off. "Sweetheart. When your wife is a near basket case because her one and only child is going off to sleepaway camp for three weeks AND is hormonally challenged, the correct response is 'Yes, J-------.'"

Again, he starts to bring up the fact that his car is a HYBRID and gets over 40 miles to the gallon and that we should be perfectly fine, when I cut him off again. "What did I JUST say, dear?!"

"Yes, J-------."

I am now off to make my daughter, who just got up (and woke the spouse up), breakfast.

I will have my laptop on the road, as well as my cameras, so I hope to post some nice pictures.

Dinner in the "adult" room

No, the waitresses weren't topless. It was the new kid-free section of one of our favorite local restaurants. And I must say, the spouse and I greatly enjoyed dining amongst people who knew how to use their indoor voice and weren't playing hide-and-seek under our table or using my chair as part of an obstacle course.

Don't get me wrong. We like kids. So much so that we had one of our own. And we occasionally take her out to eat with us, to family-friendly establishments (though we didn't even do that when she was younger). But there are times when one prefers to be urchin-free while dining -- a concept that some parents and restaurants don't seem to understand.

One of my friends used to call it the "white tablecloth" rule, and it went like this: If a restaurant bills itself as a fine-dining establishment and has white tablecloths covering the tables, and the average entree costs over $20, and there is no kids menu, it is inappropriate to take children there after 7 p.m. (or at all).

This is not to say you should not take your children out to dinner once in a while, but that when you do take them out, do so before 7 p.m. and/or pick a place that advertises itself as child friendly. Also, as a courtesy, please do not assume that the other diners will love your little darlings as much as you do and won't mind all the whining and carrying on. They don't and they do.

That is why this evening the spouse and I were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at 5:30 p.m. at a family friendly establishment and were taken to the "adult" room. (That is exactly what the hostess called it.) And we enjoyed a most pleasant repast, until the hostess plopped a very noisy family with at least four children at the entrance to the adult room just as we were finishing our main courses. But still... progress.

Wishing you all a bon appetit and a delicious weekend...

Bored of the Sonia Sotomayor hearings? Tired of watching senators making asses of themselves? Then watch this instead.

This mule is no ass -- and is far more entertaining than newly Democratic Senator Arlen Specter.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And just so you don't think I'm biased, check out what this member of the GOP can do. Talk about painting an accurate picture!



And for those of you who have been unable (or unwilling) to watch our nation's senators quizzing of that wise Latina President Barack Obama nominated to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, just watch this recap from "The Colbert Report":

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Senator Wences Questions Sonia Sotomayor
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum

You're welcome.