There’s nothing quite like the beach in the last official week of summer.

We were at Big Corona, finally able to enjoy the new and shiny restrooms. There were lots and lots of families taking advantage of the cool refuge of the water from the hot sun. Young boogie-boarders (my son among them for the first time) thronged the waves, almost all of them wiping out ninety percent of the time, but they were still having a blast. Fathers and sons dug huge holes in the sand, building bulwarks against the encroaching tide. Mothers dipped the tiny toes of their babies in the water, watching with delight the giggles that usually ensued. Seagulls fought and barked amongst themselves over remnants of chips and bread. Screeches, conversation, radio stations, and laughter could all be heard.

Then, bits of silence appeared, as people began to notice the dolphins playing along the invisible buoy line. The silence spread as more and more people became aware. We shaded our eyes and pointed excitedly as the dolphins continued to play, with even the lifeguard boat giving chase at their antics.

It was all good.

I know that I can’t be the only one planning my strategy for the Orange International Festival occurring this weekend at the Plaza.

Last year we waited in line for what seemed like hours as the woefully unprepared Girl Scouts were bombarded with customers at their sno-cone booth. They may have been short-staffed or something, because it would have been all too easy to walk away without paying. But then, who would do something like that? Never mind, don’t answer.

Then a bit later we hit the El Modena High School’s Mexican food booth, and I have to say it was fairly tasty.

Sometimes the whole affair can be a bit overwhelming, as it usually takes approximately a half hour to find a parking spot, and then the valiant attempts not to get crushed by all the people. I think we made it to only two “streets” and the middle part last year, as it was intensely hot and we had forgotten the stroller, so our little man was not digging the scene. If It hadn’t been for the sno-cone, it would have been total anarchy.

Clue me in on some of your favorite things to eat/drink at the Festival. And no fair not telling just because you want to keep the good stuff to yourself.

Well, after the fun Democratic meeting that I attended on Monday night, we have our endorsements the Republicans have theirs and let the races begin.

Read Claudio’s four part series on the Democratic endorsement meeting over at O-Juice (It’s four parts because the meeting really was that long)

Tim Whitacre has his take on the Republican endorsement meeting on the propositions at O-Juice

On a separate note:
The AH gets a facelift

High School Football is back

Supervisor race heats up

Chapman to re-enact the Miranda Rights Trial

And here I am with another post, trying to pick up the slack for MIke. Again. We have no mercy around here, even for people who have to get up every 3-4 hours in the middle of the night to feed a cranky baby! None!

Just kidding, Mike! Hang tough!

So today marked the official purchase of land for the city of Anaheim’s much-hyped Platinum Triangle transportation hub. The land is located between The Pond and Angel Stadium, and it will be interesting to see how freaking long it takes get the thing up and running. Although it actually sounds as if it is a viable idea, since unlike a lot of stations, you could actually get off the train/bus and arrive fairly close to your destination. And who wouldn’t want to avoid at all costs that 10 buck parking at the Pond?

They also mentioned that they planned on the hub having speed-rail capability.

Now, chant with me, my friends:

“Bullet train to Vegas, bullet train to Vegas!”

Since Gina’s been kicking my ass in terms of posting since she’s gotten here, I thought I’d chime in with a few…

Thinks that rock in Orange County

(cue 60 second news montage background funk)

Maggiano’s in Costa Mesa. Yes, I know it’s a chain, and yes, they’re not as vegetarian friendly as they should be. But man, you haven’t lived (and felt like you were gonna die) until you’ve had rich, delicious, all you can eat Italian food. As George Miller said, “The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.”

The Family Lounge at Mainplace Santa Ana. Before I had a child, I wouldn’t haven’t even cared enough to check it out, but the girlfriend and I wandered in last time we were there, and man, it’s awesome. Big cushy chairs. Rooms for breastfeeding. Bottle warmers. Dads welcome. All the little things that make trips to the mall less horrid.

Farmer’s Markets in OC, especially Saturday morning in Irvine. It doesn’t take much driving east to find out we’ve still got a fair bit of farmland in OC, and fresh foods really do taste better. In season fruit, vendors with breads, cheeses and meats – it’s hard to go wrong. It’s also next to the Trader Joe’s for all your SoCalFauxHippie food needs.

What else have you found rockin’?

I know everyone is anticipating our list of the top fictional OC Characters and what we have to say about them (it might be what I have to say about them, with others commenting, but I digress).

I’m putting together the trading cards as we speak and I should have them ready to accompany their post soon.

Thanks to blogging.la for the template. It was a big help!

Orange County did not even rate a mention on America’s Drunkest Cities as listed in Forbes Magazine. I can sort of understand how we were beaten by the likes of New York, Boston and Vegas. But come on, Cincinnati? Norfolk?

I suppose you could say that our lack of imbibing makes us a classier place. That all of the natural beauty and wonderful weather we have puts alcohol way down on the list as a means to increase our happiness.

Or it could just be that Orange County is never really categorized as a “city.” Somehow Orange County became an accepted national identity for over 20 quite disparate cities, and I’m torn as to how that happened. I’m not sure there is any other geographical place with a similar circumstance. I’d hate to give Fox that kind of power, but it seems like the show put Orange County on the map of America’s consciousness. Prior to the show, we were always just sort of lumped in with Los Angeles in the minds of anyone residing anywhere other than Southern California. And really, how was anyone on the outside to know better?

But I’m chafing over here. We deserve some respect. It’s time we gathered the tattered rags of our pride around our shoulders and declared that there must have been a grave miscalculation. No way is Charlotte drunker than us.

Since his degree is in political science, which has absolutely nothing in common with a business degree, my husband needs to take some prerequisites for his MBA. He figured he would take them at Fullerton JC, since overall the classes would be cheaper. So he registered for an online class and went to the bookstore to purchase the book.

Guess how much…

No, higher…

One hundred and sixty dollars! For a textbook!

Are the pages edged in gold leaf? Is the cover hand-painted? Is it made out of some sort of revolutionary material that will never crease or stain? Will it tutor him?

Since the answers to those questions are no, no, no and don’t we wish, I fail to understand why so much money is required.

Alas, it’s too big to try to go in with someone and copy the pages. Don’t think we hadn’t thought of that already.

I would like to nominate the Imperial Highway exit from the 91 east as the ugliest stretch of offramp in Orange County. Not so much the middle part, but anything off to the driver’s right is usually full of trash, always full of dead weeds, with the occasional graffiti on the wall thrown in for good measure. Not to mention the lovely chain link fence that borders the scenic parking lot view of Don Jose’s. Caltrans has been teasing me for months with some landscaping signs, but since they went up in April, not a thing has been done. Maybe the Mercedes dealership that is being built right off the 91 past the offramp will give them some impetus. Or not.

I was hoping to post the top 15 fictional OC’ers today, but I was running around town and I got caught up on a project at home.

If any of the authors want to write up a bio for some of the characters on the list that I sent out, please do. Just let me know which ones and where they should rank.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming….