Happy 70th, Marilyn

Today's highlight was a surprise birthday dinner at Marianni's in Santa Clara for my "ex-wife" Marilyn. She turns 70 on March 1. Marilyn played my wife in Come Blow Your Horn at Santa Clara Players a few years ago, and she played another man's wife (Lady Margaret) in Play On! which I directed at the same theater in 2003. She's a long-time board member and secretary of the group, and chairs the play-reading committee.

And for the past year, she has been hosting her little brother Alan as he recovers from radical blood cancer treatments which involved replacing his blood cells with her stem cells. In theory, he eventually will show up as her on a DNA blood test.

Alan organized the party, which was attended by many of her theater friends, her brothers and sister, their spouses and a grandson and granddaughter. I took a lot of pictures, which will be posted here when I get the red-eye out and reduce them for web viewing. Any day now.

Also at the dinner was her mother, who is ninety-something, and somehow still manages to drive her car. Come to think of it, two other women in their 90's were at the dinner. One of them is still active as an actress with the company's one-act play program.

Pretty Pictures

Played with my macro lens this weekend, it turns out to be pretty good as a general-purpose lens, too. http://www.howeird.com/gallery/Macro_022505/index.html

( pretty cherry blossom [HUGE] behind the cut )