The weather is fine in Alameda, the rain has gone away and the sunny days are here. The beach is getting crowded, the poppies are blooming all over with their bright orange color and I am relaxed, since the tax season is over.

We got modernized here at our house. We had central heating added, replacing a old floor furnace and it is nice.

I bought an Amega 1200 and have been doing some cartooning on it with their deluxe Paint 4.5 and a program called DCTV which makes it easy to get an image from video. It has been fascinating and I have been ignoring the clone and the mac for a while.

We planted four pots of tomatos very late (about the first of May) and they are doing nicely.

I am currently reading a book titled "Making Democracy Work - civic traditions in modern Italy" by Robert Putnam. It's a description, very scholarly, about 20 or so Italian states all changing under a new set of rules from year 1970 to 1990 and how civic responsibility and trust seems to be the most important factor in making democracy work. So far it is fascinating.

Lastly, there seems to be some talk about Deconstructionism, a recent technique in explaining literature by an enlightened few to the ignorant masses. Rose Anne and I don't seem to get it except as a way to run down something without saying anything constructive. Does anybody know about this technique.