So here's a blatant plug for my favorite coffee shop in all of Naples, FL. PJ's is a chain originating in New Orleans. They sell your basic coffee and espresso drinks, bakery with a slightly more gormet leaning, and very nice breakfast sandwiches. My favorite is the cajun.

But that's not all . . . .

There's a wine bar. That's right you can get drunk and hyper. "Have it!"

So why PJ's and not say . . . my own damn espresso machine in my own damn apartment? Free Wi-Fi, baby! This place has been my lifeline to the cyber-world for the past month. (How sad is it that I need a lifeline to the cyber-world. You think the real world would be enough.)

Actually, the service is amazing here too. The owner/manager recognizes Monkey-Girl and me and has had us sample new stuff before it gets on the menu. The other employees are always very friendly. In fact, when they realized I hadn't had a frequent customers card they not only gave me a card right away they were sure to "punch it up" a few extra times to make up for previously missed opportunities.

Monkey-Girl and I are going to have to drop in on a Friday night some time. Allegedly there's a great jazz/blues musician here from 8 to 11.

In conclusion, please support this fine establishment. Find your nearest PJ's here.

Here We Go Again

Michael Bay's Transformers set to open in theaters on Monday. (When does a movie open on a Monday?) Transfans, as we call ourselves, are just about over the fact that Mr. Bay has not projected images of twenty-three year old toys on the screen. The more sane elements of the fandom realize that, as important as we think we are, no feature film could be supported by the minuscule percentage of the populace represented by those "fans" of the franchise that only recognize the first two seasons of the original cartoon series as valid.

The release of the movie related toys did fan the flames of the ever-present fan whining. (We Transfans pride ourselves on never being happy about our chosen obsession.) I'll own up to not finding a vast majority of the new toys appealing. I only purchased the Optimus Prime toy, and it's great.

Anyway, the fandom got over itself and settled into a very mature wait-and-see mode concerning the movie . . . for about a day. Then the above image was released.

Transformers Animated will be the new vehicle for selling Hasbro's second best selling toy line for boys. (Star Wars is king of that mountain.) Pictured here are the Autobots (the good guys) from the cartoon premiering this January. What a cool new look! This is something totally different. We're going to see such a fresh take on this franchise that we'll probably draw in a whole new generation of fans.

Of course, the "real" fans (those who hadn't paid attention to franchise from 1986 to 2006) are pissed. We really should just get over ourselves.

Monkey-Girl is probably skipping this post. She is my anchor to the real world. The real world just doesn't care about toys the way I and other fans do. Thank you, Monkey-Girl.

Looking Ahead

There are many events coming up in my life over the next several weeks.

1) Next week the Transformers movie comes out. Not too exciting for most people, but those who know me know that this a big deal for me. It's no Star Wars premier, but I'll be at the first screening. (It helps that it's at 8 pm and not midnight.)

2) My mom is moving. She has a buyer for her old house, we're just waiting for the seller to accept her offer on the new condo. I can't be there to help move. (I'm not overly disappointed.) I will be her first house guest. Which brings us to . . .

3) I'm going home! I'll be able to see my family for the first time since Christmas. (The return of trash talkin' Game Night.) It will be my first opportunity to see my monkey-toed niece! (See number three below.) Monkey-Girl can't come. C'est la vie!

4) I wish I had a fourth thing. It would seem less pathetic. I guess living in hot, humid paradise is so dull that having three things to look forward to seems like a lot.

Well, I'm off to buy my bus ticket from O'Hare to Kenosha. Bon jour!

Belated Birthdays

Well, I couldn't get on the internet yesterday so I have a little bit of catching up to do today. So, without further ado, here are my birthday acknowledgements:

1) Star Wars turned thirty on May 25th. (I know, I know. I said I had some catching up to do.) Today's image is from an actual movie poster released in 1978 to commemorate the film's one-year "birthday." Only theaters showing the film for one year straight were sent these. You can imagine the price they now command. (You'll have to be content with imagining as I'm a little too lazy to look it up.)

2) My mother-in-law's birthday was yesterday. I called and left her a birthday message on her answering machine. She had to work on her birthday. I'm a recent convert to the sanctity of birthdays and think that this is a very sad situation. (My own birthday being so close to an actual holiday shields me from more birth/workdays than most.) Despite the fates conspiring against her, Mom 2 had a nice birthday due, in part, to a bit of news we delivered to her:

3) My niece was born yesterday! I haven't seen her yet, but a reliable source (Mom 1) tells me she is beautiful. My brother is, as expected, a very proud papa. We'll be receiving photos of Monkey-Toes soon. (My niece apparently has long toes that just can't stop wiggling. Awesome!) I can now be referred to as Uncle Penguin Poet. No, that's too easy to shorten to Uncle P. P.

I'm going back to cruise the 'net as Monkey-Girl has some more catching up to do as she was called away earlier for a "pastoral emergency." Have a great day!

Hello There

This has to be quick because it's getting late and Monkey-Girl needs to rest. She's had quite a week so far. (Yes, I know it's only Tuesday.) She's carried the pager for two shifts and gotten some two very difficult calls. I can't say anything mostly because I can't know.

So this monkey is for my monkey. Enjoy, and think of her as she faces three more days of THE PAGER.

Life is a Beach

No naughty pun here. Monkey-Girl and I have to endure these crazy, beautiful sunsets every night. If that wasn't bad enough, the whole thing happens just a leisurely twenty-minute walk from our apartment. (Seriously, we're living way above our income bracket here.)

I'd like to say there's a downside to all of this, but (for me) there isn't. I'm on summer break. I get to hang out at this lovely coffee shop and update my blog. Monkey-Girl is the one doing all the work.

The poor little thing is dealing with some pretty big stuff too. In addition to classes each morning she's doing rounds as a hospital chaplain each afternoon. She's helping people through some pretty huge stuff. I can't relate any stories as I can't know any. I'll just say that my job for the summer is taking care of her.

I'll have to get the camera out so I can show you all of the cool stuff we've experienced so far. I'll tease you with a teaser: owlets.

Lizard Attack

No, no, we weren't attacked by a lizard. We freed our cat, Mercutio, from "camp" today. He attacked several lizards. (No lizards were harmed in the inspiration for this post.)

We can't have Merc live with us here in Florida because the CPE program Monkey-Girl is participating in (they also hold the lease on our apartment) had a problem with fleas in one of their apartments last year. So we visited the big lug and took him for a walk behind the store.

Florida has about twenty times as many lizards as Tennessee has squirrels. Merc was in heaven. Monkey-Girl and I were having a blast watching our little idiot bound after a lizard he wouldn't have noticed unless it moved. (Maybe Mercutio is part T-Rex.)

He seems to be adjusting to life at "camp" well. (How sad is it that we can't admit we're boarding our cat?) Monkey-Girl is trying to butter-up the director of the CPE program and get him to let us take our little guy home with us.

A special thank you goes out to Dr. Curt Connors (a.k.a. The Lizard) of Spider-Man fame as his image appears at the top of this post. I was looking on-line for a photo of the lizards we saw this morning, but this one was so much more fun.

Hello From Naples!

Well, well, well . . . .

After a long time without a laptop I'm back. I've got the ol' compaq on life support with donor organs on their way. I'll be more able to update now that school is done and Monkey-Girl has us down in beautiful, hot, Florida.

For now, I've got to finish checking my 100+ e-mails. Then I'm going to order dessert from this lovely cafe we're sitting/working.

Type back at you soon!