...It's sad, so sad. It's a sad, sad situation. And it's getting more and more absurd.

Photos now online:
Returning from Bakersfield part 5: Patriots Park (03-May-2009) et seq.

After a delicious brunch at Zingo's -- I got a peanut butter and bacon sandwich -- it's not really summoner_lenne9's cup of tea, though; she likes Thai food and other cuisines a lot better than American Diner Food -- and pie, some of which were baked by our very waitress -- ( we made a detour to look at Patriots Park... )

Lynn and I talked a little about Sarah, who's not quite an adopted daughter or niece, and we're not quite adopted relations. It's a lot of fun -- I come from a family of six (two sisters, one brother), so I'm used to a large family situation, and now I get to enjoy having more "kids" of my own even though Maria's all grown up now. It struck me that we didn't pick Sarah out of the crowd; she picked us.

Not everyone wants to have friends far outside their peer group. I try to be friends with everyone. I didn't have a lot of friends over 30 when I was in my earlier twenties, nor many under 25 when I was in my thirties. I give science fiction and anime fandom most of the credit for introducing me to cross-generational friendships, although I suppose they're more common nowadays thanks to the internet.

( Finally it was time to say our good-byes and leave Bakersfield... )

We left the Screaming Squirrel just as Sarah's mom was leaving work too. We dropped off Sarah at her house (right), and headed home.

We made it home after about two more hours of driving, with two stops to trade drivers and get a snack on the way.

Streets like a jungle, so call the police. Following the herd down to Greece. On holiday

This Saturday is the "SoCal Cosplay Gathering" at Mason Regional Park, in Irvine. ( I've been trying to put my thoughts and plans in order... )

I'd like to make it clear that I'm not complaining. It's an interesting task, and the sort of logistics exercise that I take in stride these days. We'll have no trouble pulling it off, and I've got contingency plans in case some of the people can't show -- worst case scenario would be I leave the park after mixing up the first ten gallons of lemonade, go back to buy or retrieve the stuff we're missing and pay another five bucks to get back in the park. I just thought some of y'all might be interested in all this.