What

If you have wondered what happened to our little survivor – Bebe, well, this is our boy at nine months. Doing fine thank you. Just fine.

I’ve wanted to get some more fotos of Bebe for our friends and family up for a while now. It seems like just yesterday, but our little chihuahua is all grown up and doing fine. Bebe knows his name and place in the family, which is at the top as far as he is concerned. We’re doing ok too. The spring has brought better weather, which for the moment is not hot or cold. How long Sacramento will stay this way this year is yet to be decided. There are a few more fotos in the gallery including one of him playing in the water. I mention it because it has always been my impression that chihuahuas and water just don’t mix. I guess, at least in his case, that is just a rumor. But I also have to say he is one of those little dogs that has no idea of his size or the risk it brings. He is just as protective as any dog three times his size. He is about seven inches high at the shoulder as near as I can tell. He doesn’t stand still for measuring very often!

My Dad (Ray), Jan (my Uncle Ralph’s wife, Jini (my Mother), and my Uncle Ralph after lunch at Applebee’s in Sacramento.

My Uncle Ralph and his wife Jan came up to Sacramento on their way to a reunion early this week. We don’t get to see them as much as we would like so it was nice to visit with them, even if it was just for lunch. Honestly, we don’t get down to LA either so I can’t complain. Things are what they are. Ralph managed to get a foto of me in the mix so maybe I will post that one of these days (assuming I get a copy and didn’t break his camera).

I keep meaning to mention some of the great authors that I’ve been listening to lately through podcasts. I have no sense of how many people are now using resources like iTunes and PodioBooks to find new authors and fiction to listen to, but I’m guessing it is more every day. For me, it all started when I was in Mexico, riding the buses between Morelia and Cueramaro on weekends. I started listening to some classic radio shows from the Radio Nostalgia Network. They are sort of a hub for a lot of different podcasts of both classic and new audio in the style of “the golden age of radio” and through them I started to discover a lot of new fiction I didn’t know existed.

If you haven’t gotten into it and you like good fiction, I recommend you give it a try. If you listened to what are called “Audio Books” and said this isn’t for me, I understand why this might not sound all that interesting. Most audio books are just – well, somebody reading a book. Thanks to guys like Scott Sigler, the new wave of audio fiction has more in common with classic radio plays than with the somewhat dry readings you may have tried in the past. They are quite often read by the author and sometimes by a cast of readers like a radio play. They often include sound effects and different voicings for different characters. There is emotion, drama, laughter – the kind of feeling that the author wants you to experience. Most of them are in 20-40 minute “bites” that include an introduction (the story so far) and a teaser for the next podcast. There is often some insight into the author and what is driving them to put all the time and energy into this (like getting out into the world and finding an audience!). Usually some of the audience feedback that is sent in while the podcast is unfolding is read or played (yeah, the audience gets air play too) and you get a sense of participation and knowing an author. Lots of fun. In short, something approachable that you can listen to while you comute, work out or just relax. (Did I mention it is free?)

You don’t have to have an iPod. I don’t. You don’t have to have a Mac computer. I do. You don’t even have to use iTunes, although it is free and a good place to start. You can find almost any genre at this point, although just a year ago it would have been more challenging. I listen to a wide range of things and gradually I am putting up links to them on my sidebar here on my fotolog. Why not? They have given me a lot of enjoyment and I continue to find more through the promotions the authors share each other. It is infectious. And yes, in this case that is a play on words.

So just for fun, here’s a list of some of the podcasts I am listening to:

Scott Sigler - His work is probably some of the best known now and although he has only been doing it for about two years, he has done much to define the genre. His writing is mainly science fiction and horror, adult. He has become the success story of audio fiction on the web, since his podcasting has not only brought other authors out into the field, but has also gained him a book contract.

JC Hutchins - JC, as he likes to be called, is another science fiction writer with a great series called 7th Son. He and Scott Sigler trade a lot of barbs, jokes and promotions so it begins to feel like a club, and not a bad one at that.

Seth Harwood – Seth’s writing is unlike either Scott or JC, but like them, he puts a lot of feeling into his podcasts. He is in the San Francisco Bay Area, so he has hung out with Scott and credits him for some of the tricks of the trade it takes to put together an engaging reading. Seth has one series of stories going in the noir crime genre (Jack Palms) that is set in San Francisco, and a more personal feeling series of short stories, A Long Way from Disney.

Mike Bennett – Mike is one of the funniest writers and readers I have heard in a long time. He is English and his humor is well, quite British (what can you expect?), adult, and over the top. His story “One Among the Sleepless” is still going on as I write this and has me watching his podcast “feed” like a hawk. His stories are a bit twisted (!) in both content and the story line.

John Lenahan – Shadowmagic is an Irish mythology and fantasy tale with some really interesting ideas about time. The reading is wonderful and the story is well, fantastic fantasy for all ages. This one caught me by surprise – I wasn’t sure I would like it at first. Like they say though, give it three or four episodes and see if you can give it up. I couldn’t.

There are a lot more to put here, and maybe I will, but right now I need to get some lunch. So, enjoy the first hollyhock of the season in our garden while I go eat with a little chihuahua…

—>

May 16th, 2007 by Mike
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A

Tacos de carnitas on a spring afternoon at Scribner Bend Vineyards. Yes, I’m alive and well and the Tempranillo is wonderful.

Ok. I couldn’t resist the joke in the caption for the foto of Scribner Bend Vineyards. It was a nice afternoon though, despite the clouds and rain in some areas of the Sacramento valley. My friends Marilyn & Enrique made me aware of the event. Enrique provided the music and friends provided the food. It is a nice little trip down the Sacramento River and there are several new wineries in the area.

I have been busy – no excuse really, but it is true. Work, getting back into the swing of things here in California, a new family member (Bebe) and my postings have slipped away. It isn’t that I haven’t been taking fotos either. I have been taking LOTS. So many in fact I’m not sure how I will catch up. But somehow I will.

There were two fiestas in the same day actually. Carina had her birthday at their new house in Rio Linda later the same afternoon. Here she is, in her dancing hat, waiting for one of the presents to be assembled.

However, if the day the two fotos above were taken was any measure – it won’t be easy. There was also a fiesta for Carina’s birthday in Rio Linda on the other side of Sacramento on the same day. I got some fotos of that too. Not too many, but you can see what I have in the gallery. There should be others gradually joining the gallery too – I have to do something with the backlog I have!

We’ve been enjoying many happy times with Rey’s family in Sacramento this year. Valerie, the littlest smiling face in this foto, is always happy and always a joy to Pedro (her Grandfather) and the rest of the family. They are living out in Rio Linda now so they are close.

So, I’m keeping busy but I hope to get some more entries up soon. I have enjoyed reading the many comments that have found their way into my entries lately from friends and family from Cueramaro. I hope to get back there soon. I miss Mexico more and more.

—> May 10th, 2007 by Mike
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Take

I don’t usually say anything that might be construed as political on Memoriafoto. I just don’t feel this is the place for it, but…

With that understanding, I have to say that there is a law being considered in the US that I have some specific insight into because I live here and have so many Mexican friends. I know a great number of my readers are in the US and also have friends and family in Mexico. Please take a moment and check out this link on the weblog of my fellow expat friends in Morelia – Livin’ la vida Lopez

While you are at it – check out their weblog too.

In the meantime, I am preparing another entry and will get it up in the next couple of days…

—> February 21st, 2006 by Mike
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Artesa

At Rey’s request, we went to Artesa Winery in Carneros Valley near Napa the last weekend in January to celebrate his birthday. After a month of overcast and fog in Sacramento, it was wonderful to come to the Napa Valley and find it sunny and warm.

I doubt most visitors to Carneros realize the name is a Spanish term for people who sell meat – butchers. I also imagine it is not something the local vintners association spends a lot of time talking about either. If you had been through the area not so many years ago, you would have understood the association. The hilly grasslands that make up the Carneros Valley were once home to many cattle ranches on the road between Napa and Sonoma and a Spanish land grant.

We have visited and enjoyed Artesa since it was built. The Raventos family who owns the winery has been in the wine business for over 500 years and owns Groupo Codorniu. Their wines are among the best in the area and their winery is our favorite for its style and the views from its hilltop location. The knowledge, care, and sophistication they bring to Artesa is a product of their long success in the business. We celebrated New Years in Cueramaro with a glass of Curee Raventos we were able to find at the market in Irapuato.

I have included a gallery of fotos from our trip – enjoy your virtual tour, then go see it for yourself. —>

February 11th, 2005 by Mike
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Telling

I have been working on the gallery I have to put my fotos online. Some of them are from the old site, many are new. It has been a surprising process. I realize I have several hundred pictures and that in them is a story of the people and places I have been over the past three months.

The gallery has been restyled and I like the way it looks better. I have not tried to put the full size picture files online. Too many of our family and friends don’t have fast connections to view it with. I have the original files on disk, so they are available. There is a “slideshow” feature on the gallery that runs well if you would like to try it.

It is nice to see the story the gallery tells unfold. The threads are all there – our house in Cueramaro, our family and friends there, my travels, the people I work with in Morelia, and the things I see daily. You’re going to have to keep returning to see it, but it is coming together. —>

January 26th, 2005 by Mike
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