When I was a little kid, my parents put this print of a Margaret Keane painting up in my room. I never really thought much about it, except that it kind of creeped me out. No, it *really* creeped me out. Those eyes… oh man, I can’t even begin to imagine how this image has warped my personality! I think this might still exist in my parents’ garage back in SoCal. I think it had a bamboo frame too.

While in Japan (and before we met), Mariko used to have a scooter like the one above. She cannot remember what happened to it, though. I can’t believe you can just not know what happened to you scooter? Crazy woman!

At Central Market, Koa finds a doggie outside the cafe.

At Central Market, the kids played at the playground.

At Central Market, the kids played at the playground.

At Central Market, the kids played at the playground. Bay got a big smoothie.

Tonight I went for a ride around the neighborhood. It was about 77° out when I started, which made for a perfect ride. First I went to the parking lot of the huge church “compound” near our place to practice some hard braking and slow tight turns. I saw the Austin Police Dept motorcycle cops doing their training there a couple weeks ago, and the parking lot was marked with painted pylons, which I used to do some u-turns. After doing that for a minute or so, I took off and rode around the neighborhood. Tonight was the first time I wore my full-face helmet, and it makes such a huge difference! I felt much more protected, and the wind was kept off my face and eyes, but visibility was still excellent. It didn’t even feel like I was wearing a helmet after a while. It is so much better riding with a full-face helmet as opposed to a half/open face helmet, even at 40mph and lower.