Lunas 24, 28.

DIARY

- WEEKEND - Mel from Salisbury came over on Friday night and we stayed up for awhile and talked. I hadn't seen her since summer 2003 when Jess and I rendezvoused (sp?) with her in Toledo of all places.
- On Saturday we went out to eat at the solar powered Habana Cafe on Fulton Street, where I also ran into Michelle from Facts on File, and her family. I think I'm going to like this place a lot; it seems like a great possibility for Thursday reading. For $6, I got a beer, some Mexican corn and a hot dog. It's not the cheapest deal in New York, but it's distinctly below average. The real exchange is in the atmosphere; electricity is conserved to enable to solar array. As such, one places an order at the register, pays, and the order is served up from a trailer parked outside. There are picnic tables, but vendors ahve also set up a sort of market, with paintings, jewely, and so forth. And there's great music, too. After we ate, Mel headed off into Manhattan, and Jess and I went home, stopping at the Farmers Market on the way for an Apple Pie. I was going to clean and write; and while I did, in fact, clean, the writing gave way to watching Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Later, I met Mel, Chris (from Mathews House) and his girlfriend Summer at a restaurant, Zen Palate in Union Square. It's not my typical far (being high on concentrate soy product and accoutrements) but was actually pretty good and the bowl I came away with was as big as my head. I also liked catching up with Chris, who I haven't seen in a very-eventful five years. Both Chris and summer are studying paleontology on Long Island. Mel is living in Providence, doing work for an architecture firm. So they're all productive and, best, accessible. We stopped at whole foods to get beer for a party thrown by U of C alums, and headed out toward Park Slope, but I stopped at home to meet with Jessica. We took the R train and arrived at elevenish. At the party I also saw Pam and Galeet, and we stayed and hung out until two-ish, then took the train back.
- Sunday was somewhat more relaxed. I decided to skip church (meaning I'll be making that up sometime during the week this week). I got some cleaning done, wrote another chapter of the Zombie story, and fired off one of the critiques I'm behind on from my Gates' workshop. Only eight to go... Jess and I had Little Louie's for dinner.

- WEATHER - While there's record heat over the Southwest and unusual thunderstorms over the Pacific Northwest, the big story this week is Alberto, the first hurricane of the 2006 season (though I believe it's now been downgraded to a tropical storm). Interestingly, all three of these events interact quite explicitly.
First, it is impossible for hurricanes to form over the Atlantic this early in the season. Hurricanes require a surface water temperature of close to eighty degrees, and it will take months for the cold Canary currents off the west coast of Africa to warm sufficiently. The Gulf Stream, on the other hand, is a warm tropical current able to build a tropical depression from early June on. But since any hurricanes will be forming over the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, they don't have the space of water to build over. While this means weaker storms, it is somewhat counteracted by the unpredictable wind patterns that come with such an uneven patchwork of land and islands, continental shelves and inland ranges.
As it happens, the record heat in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona is being caused by a huge anticyclone that has been funneling dry winds and blocking cold fronts. Moreover the jet stream is buckling around the northwest, causing the aforementioned storms, before accelerating to the south. The combined effects of these two patterns is that Alberto could actually be split from its low pressure center; after landfall, the main cyclone would cut across Florida and out over the Atlantic while the associate storm clouds would be carried up along the East Coast in very un-tropical style. As a modest-sized storm, the damage should be moderate at worst (though storm surges along the Florida panhandle are a concern) but the behavior of the storm itself is unusual.

- TIGERS - 40 wins. 23 losses. Still the best record in the major leagues. And this has been a difficult run; when the Tigers went up for the last time in their series against the Blue Jay, they were without Polanco, Ordonez, and Monroe. Still with Pudge reminding us (for the moment) why exactly we paid so much for him and Infante (the lynchpin, by Leyland's prediction) scoring two runs, the Tigers were able to claim a 5-8 record in recent games against the other American League Playoff Contenders. Specifically, that's 1-3 vs. the Yankees, 1-2 vs. the Red Sox, 1-2 vs. the White Sox, and 2-1 vs. the Blue Jays. Not great, but no patented losing streak either. Next up, the Devil Rays, who aren't AL East's Kansas City this year.

- JUNE - Is accordion month.
- TODAY - Is World Day against Child Labor.
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Djuna Barnes and Anne Frank.

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
CBC News: Suspect accused of wanting to behead [Canadian] Prime Minister, lawyer claims.
ABC News: Gay marriage amendment fails in Senate.
The Register: Scientists probe 2,000-year-old Greek computer.
ZDNet: House rejects Net neutrality rules.
Reuters UK: Three detainees kill themselves at Guantanamo.
CNN.com: Tropical storm set to soak Florida.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What are your three favorite song covers?

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