Tossing al dente rigatoni with freshly made sauce from Marcella Harzan’s recipe in a hot pan, with some chopped up Italian parsley (which is surprisingly wonderful) and grated Parmesan. Even the nieces and nephew loved it. And hating on my cooking is their favorite sport.

We’ve reached the melting point of pure evil

Hopefully won’t get called for work tomorrow, so I can relax and, let’s check the list, oh, ok, I see, so I can relax and do four hours of school work. What is wrong with me?

Try to keep it down, Alien Baby Agent Orangey aka Ruby aka Rubes is napping.

Home. Worked a full day today. Ugh. Anyway, LOOK AT THESE LOTUS BLOOMS! Five from one plant. New league record

MeanCat showing me his dance moves as we walk around on this gross hot humid evening.

The walkway zinnias are six feet tall and more. Now that’s an entrance!

The Justices are waiting for the arrival of…THE NIECES AND NEPHEW!! It’s their annual summer visit! 10th time. Nieces had another amazing year at Penn State & youngest nephew just graduated high school. And they still want to spend a few weeks here. So the Blacky Whiteys are so happy.

Home. And to decompress from a trial & new stuff, I made Marcella Hazan’s tomato & butter/onion pasta sauce. Prepped 3 lbs of roma tomatoes in food mill. Then cooked them down for an hour to evaporate most water/concentrate flavor, with butter & vidalia onion (remove at end). WOW

Big stretch Friday breakfast with six of the seven gangsters of The Eastside Orangeys plus Hippy Limpers plus, eventually, Imposter Limpers. Chubba Wubbs Mommy got her tire scratching fix, and I got my orangey fix. Win win. Also creamsicle 3 is beyond sweet. Tails Up & Head Butts today!

Everyone talks about how justice is blind. No one talks about how justice is also stretchy

We tend to gloss over the unconditional surrender of Congress to do its constitutional duties because we never had a fancy surrender ceremony. Just endless soundbites of cowardice

Happy birthday, dad. You would have been 81 today. You dying at age 67 seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago. I’m trying to do good with the tools and the name you gave me, and the luck I don’t deserve but accept.

The Justices of the Court of Appeals for the Skinnerville Circuit will not vote to confirm the grotesquely ill-suited nominee for Attorney General.

Tried out food mill with some Roma tomatoes. In the words of St. Augustine of Hippo in his seminal work “On the City of God Against the Pagans—De civitate Dei contra paganos”, ‘yo, check this out, I gonna make some awesome sauce!’

Home. And MeanCat, history’s greatest monster, greeted me in the back where he had spent the day stretching and sharpening his nails cuz that’s what he does.

The Orangey King. All he demands is that you praise him at all times, that you hang posters of him everywhere, that you put his face on your money & his name on your buildings, that you surrender your dignity & honor to lie for him, & that you ignore his many, many crimes.

Wednesday breakfast with five of the seven gangsters of The Eastside Orangeys plus Imposter Limpers. Chubba Wubbs Mommy stood by the tire without scratching it; she says she developing willpower. Creamsicle 3 squeaked at me when I petted him, and that makes the world better today

Alien Baby Agent Orangey aka Ruby aka Rubes watched my zoom negotiations before falling asleep. She’s the sweetest cat.

Done with tonight’s transactional law class. Did a 45-minute negotiation exercise with detailed hypothetical. Lots of prep work. I was the seller. Really interesting & actually fun 45 minutes. Now time to read to the Blacky Whiteys and then go to sleep. Cuz mornings come early.

Just had to make this sauce before class. It’s Marcella Hazan’s famous tomato/butter/onion sauce. Good lord is it good. Recipe is perfect for 1 lb of pasta: is perfect in all ways. Used a vidalia onion; remove it at the end. Simmer for 50 minutes. Toss pasta in the hot sauce skillet with butter. Wow

Je ne sais quoi but in orange

The Justices of the Court of Appeals for the Skinnerville Circuit have retired for the evening. Attorneys filing obviously fraudulent and self-dealing cases to please a loyalty-less criminal loser should avoid this court at all costs.

While the debate of ‘what’ the law is continues, the ‘shape’ of the law is settled. It’s a loaf

For those familiar with my geographic cuisine obsessions, you know what this means.

Monday breakfast with six of the seven Eastside Orangeys plus Hippy Limpers and Imposter Limpers. Standoffish Orangey slept in. They were all at breakfast yesterday. These are the best gangsters around. We love them. We Are The Eastside Orangeys! And we matter

A polite shower

Chief Justice Grumpy Face Blacky Whitey is displeased with how humans treat the law like a pry bar and not as a dry roof

Made pesto with some of the basil we are growing in the back. MeanCat’s main cash crop to fund his regime, so I had to harvest some while he was napping. In this house, pesto is a most dangerous recipe. But man is it delicious. And soooo easy.

To avoid an awkward obituary, to give your life positive lasting meaning, do this everyday: “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

MeanCat sharpening his claws on a metal chair. Never gets less terrifying. He’s relaxing in his back yard before another full day of felonies

Grumpy Face Blacky Whitey aka Grumps reading her ruling from the bench.

End of a much appreciated rain shower. Now it’s story time with the Blacky Whiteys

Rude

greetings from Grumpy Face Blacky Whitey & Regular Face Blacky Whitey. Our guest has departed and these Justices of the Court of Appeals for the Skinnerville Circuit demand some attention from me right now.

Big Leany is GOING to get his lean time no matter what. I tend to be busy a lot but there is always time for his version of ‘lean on me.’

Mix of Japanese eggplant and regular gross eggplant growing well.

gross muggy hot Saturday breakfast with four stinky boys of the Eastside Orangeys plus Hippy Limpers plus Imposter Limpers. Gave creamsicle 3 some great head rubs cuz he’s the best. We Are The Eastside Orangeys

Home. Hopefully for a while. Me sleepy. MeanCat said it’s too hot. Gotta water the roses cuz it’s disrespectfully hot and gross, and then eat but more likely just read for a few minutes before I pass out & hope phone don’t ring.

No matter what, obligations continue. Theresa fed Eastside Orangeys and I went to mom’s. Where Baby Blondie 1 wanted lots of head rubs. Such a sweet and confident kitty now.

Home again. Left at midnight. Have court in a few hours. We don’t have to be this way. I stared at the flowers for a minute.

Big Leany leans. It what he does

Communist rain not the confused with Peter Gabriel’s Red Rain. Or maybe…

At least after this we get this

Our communist basil and communist hibiscus and communist daisies and communist zinnia are organizing. You’re supposed to be very afraid. Cuz of the communist

Home. Long day. Here’s a communist dahlia

Having this once-feral alien baby agent orangey now demanding rubs while napping in bed matters a great deal to me. All it took was being quiet and kind for one day. And then repeating that one day for five years and counting. Grand gestures are for frauds.

A Communist Thursday breakfast with five of the Eastside Orangeys plus Hippy Limpers plus Gentrification Kitty plus Imposter Limpers. They enjoyed cool water and a nice meal. Video won’t upload again so here’s a photo.

The Extra Orangey aka Adam Driver aka Marmalade aka Marms, with The Baked Potato aka Bakey. Possibly a perfect photo of a perfect moment.

Home. It was rude and disrespectful hot today. We actually don’t get this hot here often. Lots of 97 for weeks but not 101. Luckily it was also humid so we got that going for us. Which is nice. Was in court half the day so I was in a different kind of fire.