Finally coming to the realization that next weekend I’m going to miss my first Crew Classic since I moved to San Diego in 2001.  I arrived too late in the year for the 2001 regatta, but made it in ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, and ‘08.  It’s not a bad thing necessarily – we’re going to be in Vegas and I’m sure we’ll have a great time.  Just a bit of sadness at missing an opportunity to hang out with the alums and cheer at a sport where Cal usually does really well.  It’s been kind of a symbolic start of spring for me (the first weekend of April)  and the local alums always host a great tent.

Things are a bit backed up around here.  Pretty much every day I’m either hurting or I’m drowsy from the drugs that make me not hurt.  Damn tendons.  Neither option helps productivity, though the essential things are going out the door.  Desperately need a sanity swim or twelve, but then I’d be hurting worse and I don’t need that at this point. 

Settling for vicarious exercising as a stop-gap measure.  Diego runs around the dog park until he’s tired, and I get to call it exercise because I’m at the park.

Also got a lot of vicarious exercise at the Crew Classic Sunday.  There was tough competition, so Cal didn’t win as much as they normally do, but the local alums ran an amazing brunch tent.  Nice place to sit and catch up with friends and grab a snack between races.  The camera got a workout too, but I’ve been too busy to finish going through the photos and finish captioning the gallery.  Sometime soon.

Still letting the mind digest last night’s return of Battlestar, and trying to sort out some thoughts from attending this morning’s taping of KPBS’ Envision San Diego.  Both are taking a back seat though to catching some quality naptime with Diego and being psyched for tomorrow’s Crew Classic. 

Early court appearances lead to long, long days, but it’s been a good day.  Lots got done, and now that hump day is over I’m ready slide into Crew Classic weekend, always a good time.  Even better since the alums are comping my admission in exchange for some photography. 

One of my gripes about San Diego is that the city is really good at promoting huge for-profit sports franchises, and really horrible about promoting the countless other sports and cultural events around town.  In my gut I think it’s true of most cities, but now that I’m in my seventh year here I notice it more than I have anywhere else.  That comes with being professionally homeless (a term from the Foreign Service days) for so long – no long-term memory of the annual events and not enough time to find all the hidden treasures.

So even though it was on my calendar, it was great to have the local alums remind me last night about the upcoming Crew Classic regatta.  Not that I would have forgotten, but they were using my photographs from last year’s regatta in their plea for housing for the visiting athletes, and the ego boost from that helped brighten the morning. 

 Weather permitting, April 6th will be my seventh Crew Classic.   My first was in 2002 and I haven’t missed one since.  The alumni tents, particularly Cal’s, are first rate venues to relax and catch up, with occasional walks to the shore to yell and cheer when the good races are on.  The competition brings together the best collegiate rowers in the county in spring weather that only San Diego can offer.  Still not sure?  Check out the photos from 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.  Even though San Diego’s not going to promote it, we will.  Come join the thousands of fans, have a beer and some meat off the grill, and watch the races.

Apologies in advance – I was going to do a longer post worthy of the weekend, but I’m too tired.  So for now, and maybe forever, please accept this brief synopsis:

Took too many photos.  Spent too much time in the sun.  Snacked well and caught up with a lot of the alums, which is always a good thing.  Cal alums rock.

Out of Cal Men’s three principal races, Cal teams won two.  The Men’s JV crew took their race by at least four boat lengths.  We’ll just concede the Women’s program is having an off year.  Overall though, it was a good weekend.  I still have a lot of imagery to go through, so hit the gallery again in a day or two if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

It’s officially spring now, and young not-too-old attorney’s fancies are turning toward frolicking in the sand and shore.  Unfortunately, winds described by the L.A. Times as gale force and approaching 60 mph (inland) are blowing allergens deep into my sinuses and causing the sky to alternate between a beautifully sunny blue and a dark rainy grey. 

I’m supposed to be working toward the deadline on an article.  I’m trying to chase down a client who was supposed to be paying for my spring break.  One of the pools I frequent is closed this week, and the other will close next week, both for seasonal maintenance.  A certain teacher is spending his spring break miserable, watching lousy TV amidst the empty keenex boxes in the living room and cursing the same allergens that are torturing me.

But on the other hand, I have the weekend alumni Spring Break bash known as Crew Classic to look forward to.  The local alumni boosted by ego a bit by using one of my photos from last year’s event to promote this year’s tent.  Some comments originating from one of the other sites also pumped up the ego a bit too, making think that I might even know what I’m talking about on some of this legal stuff. Even the strawberries are cooperating – we might have a shot of daquiri’s worth sometime soon here.

Gotta have a light at the end of the tunnel.

Some punk selling used rowing gear on eBay hotlinked one of my photographs of last year’s Crew Classic* to do something or other.  It wasn’t to show the merchandise, because the image shows different but similar gear.  I think it was just to make the point that used rowing gear makes one look cool.  Regardless, I shot him a note with the law firm e-mail addy, mentioning things like eBay’s terms of service, hotlinking and copyright violations.  He was too cool to answer me, but when I checked a few hours later it appeared that he’d taken my image down and stolen someone elses (hotlinked, and probably without permission too).  So, the question: Do I walk away or do I warn his new “host”?

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Hanging out in the little law office this morning.  Somone having a panic attack was going to get me some documents last night, so we could discuss some options this morning.  So far neither one has happened, so I surf the nets and putter around, staying available.  Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all.  Especially the one, because chocolate’s an aphrodisiac.  Better Valentine’s Day posts are here, here, and here.  Go read the people who put some thought and time into their holiday efforts.

We saw The Queen last night.  Outstanding movie, and Helen Mirren’s Oscar nomination is certainly deserved. 

Trying to get a swim in this afternoon.  It’ll be slow and ugly, and my first in nearly a month due to the space alien masquerading as a sinus tumor cold, but I think the sanity needs some time staring at the little black line.  That and I need to find a dry way of dealing with work stress.  Sitting around feeling sorry for myself makes me fat and bouncy.

Things to look forward to: My birthday and the 2007 Crew Classic, my sixth (2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002).

It was a long week. Ultimately a good week, filled with pleasant distractions, but trying at times. Went through some stress with the business of practicing law, but it seems to have passed for the moment. Can’t someone just write me a grant to go help small businesses and such so I don’t have to worry about billings and payments and stuff? No? Oh well. Maybe one of you would like a poolboy who practices law on the side. No? Seem to be striking out on the career here, so time to move along.

My annual drooling about Crew Classic has passed. Didn’t take as many photos as in years past, mostly because I was enjoying the company and conversation too much. My apologies to whoever it was anonymously asking for shots of Cal’s JV boat; seem to have missed that race completely. I think the keg was calling, but it may have been that the brats were coming off the grill. Damn that pesky social life interfering with my geekage.

Enjoyed reading about the Gospel of Judas. Loved that the research was sponsored by National Geographic. Makes me proud to have been a geography major way back when. Maybe some reimagined Christianity will even shake my adherence to Pastafarianism.

Not sure what the weekend plans are, but I think they will must either involve laundry or underwear shopping. Things are getting critical around here, though Pongo seems to have developed one of the largest Fortresses of Solitude I’ve seen in a long time.