No particular reason. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t been posting: no particular reason.

I’ve been running a lot. I want to start running even more — get these ol’ legs in shape for a marathon. I went running on Saturday with Nina at the PG&E Trail at Rancho, and I did loads better than I did last time. For instance: there was no bee stinging me in the head this time. Yay, team. All that climbing really had an impact on my legs, though: yowza. Keep doing the PG&E Trail, and I’m going to have the best butt in Santa Clara County.

Sophia has been sick. For a couple of months now she’s been complaining of stomach pains. But there are no other symptoms, like vomiting or, er, anything else, and she’s not using it to get out of anything, except possibly eating dinner, and that’s SOP anyhow. She gets up, groans, goes to school.

Darin’s car went in for a tune-up. They found a few things wrong with it. Guess how much it cost. No, more. No, more than that. Seriously. My first reaction was: “We have to buy a new car, right?” Right after our Christmas purchase of a new TV (a flat-screen LCD thing). Augh.

The weather has been beautiful. I realize everyone in the Northeast wishes I would crawl into a hole and shut up right about now, but it’s been fantastic here the past few days: mid-70s (or higher), sunny, mild. I’ve taken the kids to the park because these were clearly park days. In February. And you wonder why I love living in California?

And now I see Daryl has flung a meme my way. Off to work on a second post!

Yesterday I found several pieces of writing Sophia had made on the kitchen table. One read, “Mr. Sure is going to a in inportit meting.” Another had a picture of a rocket ship with the legend “rokit ship.”

She hadn’t asked anyone for help on these. She’d just written them, sounding out the words. Evidently “Mr. Sure” is supposed to be “Mr. Star,” which is kind of weird because on the paper with the rocket ship she’s spelled “star” correctly several times. And “a in” is her spelling of “an.” And I have no idea what this important meeting is.

Still: I’m just amazed.

I know, I know: this is what kids are supposed to learn. Those are generic kids. This kid hasn’t done this before. She’s gone from knowing how to read a few words to this in a few short months.

She loves writing and drawing. She leaves writing and pictures all over the place. My supply of printing paper is dwindling rapidly. I bought her some Crayola washable markers and she started making elaborate pictures. It’s funny to watch how her symbols for various things change: hair on girls is now long lines on both sides, even for girls like herself who have short hair.

Didn’t I just bring her home from the hospital?

Because real life is so much weirder than anything you can dream up:

TMZ has learned, director Lee Tamahori was scheduled to be arraigned today, on charges that he allegedly solicited an undercover cop while dressed in drag.

Tamahori, whose directing credits include, ‘Die Another Day,’ ‘XXX: State of the Union,’ ‘Along Came a Spider’ and ‘The Sopranos,’ was arrested in Hollywood on January 8, 2006. According to law enforcement, Tamahori was allegedly dressed in drag, approached an undercover officer who was in his car, entered the vehicle and offered to perform a sex act for money.

Really, the only reaction you can have to this is: WTF? If you read something like this in a Hollywood novel, you’d say, “Oh, what crap, no fairly successful director is going to do something like that. Go down to Hollywood Boulevard and pick up a hooker, sure. But this?” And you’d throw the book across the room.

(I once tried to think up the most shocking thing I could imagine a star doing, and I came up with “brother and sister celebrities openly living as a couple.” Then Angelina Jolie macks with her brother at the Oscars and I was like, Day-um.)

(Via Defamer.)