We're Number Three (So Far)!

Last year at this time San Diego was vying for a new precipitation record -- the wettest season ever. But as the the 2004-2005 season came to an end, the rain halted and the record stalled at third wettest, somewhere in the neighborhood of 22 inches for the year.

Now it seems that when the rains stopped last year, they stopped for good. This year, San Diego has been vying for another new precipitation record -- the driest season ever. From the July beginning of the 2005-2006 season to the start of this month, San Diego had seen less than 3 inches of rain. But in March the rain began.

On the 19th, a 0.02 inch drizzle took the season total out of contention for driest ever, with 3.03 inches beating the 2001-2002 record low of 3.02. Since the 19th, the rains have continued. Storms last night pushed the season total to 3.70 inches, past the 1960-1961 second place spot of 3.46. Now the season can finish no lower than the third driest.

Of course, in this case the word "storms" is relative. In fact, with an unofficial tally of 0.35 inches for the night in a season barely crawling toward the 4 inch mark (we're expected to break it by Thursday), it's almost laughable.

But it was awfully nice, nonetheless.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Grabbingsand. And Happy Belated, Denise Irene LPPN.

Stage Name Revealed?

The president of the theatre company I am currently working for forwarded me a brief personality test, not knowing my weakness for such tests. It was a mass mailing; she had no clue who would respond, or that I would immediately jump on the thing.

The question to be answered was "which movie star are you?" After answering a mere 10 questions, my personality would be compared to those of the stars "researchers" had painstakingly analyzed. In the end, I would be compared to one of six stars: Madonna (wild and crazy but in control of her own life), Doris Day (fun, friendly, and popular: a real crowd pleaser), Debbie Reynolds (the cute, witty best friend that no one risks losing), Grace Kelly (a lover with passion and commitment), Katherine Hepburn (a real thinker who doesn't take crap from anyone), or Elizabeth Taylor (who knows what she wants and how to get it -- or him).

I couldn't resist. And -- no surprise to anyone, I'm sure -- I came out as the commitment-minded Grace Kelly.

Of course, just whent the stage name "Kelly Grace" started to sound good, the Movie.com test came along and asked me the same question. And who did I turn out to be this time?

According to the Movies.com Which Movie Star Are You Like? quiz, you're: George Clooney Everyone loves you, and you're only getting better (and better-looking!) with age. You're a generous, loyal and fun-loving friend, and you also seem to really care about your politics, consistently putting yourself on the line for your beliefs. We wish there were more of you out there. Take this quiz at Movies.com

Well, aren't I dashing! Maybe I should ditch the "Kelly Grace" idea and go with "Kelly Clooney."

On second thought, no. It just reeks of Rosie O'Donnell lusting after Tom Cruise. Which reeks a little of TV's Jack McFarland lusting after Cher, now that I think about it. Which brings me back to "Grace" -- sans "Will."

"Kelly Grace." I like it. I'm drawn to broad farces, so a name like "Grace" serves up just the right amount of irony.

Whattaya wanna bet it's been done?

If you're a sucker for these darned things too, I found a link to the first test online.

So Says the iPod

Should you ever wake up in a deep blue funk, take to heart this lesson my iPod taught me in the wee hours of this morning: there's damn little that a powerful dose of Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Johnnie Taylor, and Aretha Franklin can't fix. But Michael Franks should be avoided at all costs.