Outside Merlin’s Rest, East Lake Street’s pub-quiz central.

A happy Mother’s Day to all!

Pictured above is my wife, Kelly, mother of the inimitable (thank goodness…) Jack and Peter, at the St. Patrick’s Day pre-opening of Merlin’s Rest. She’s wearing a shirt from the lamented (lamentable?) Irish Well, emblazoned with the long Welsh place name “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch” (ask Mr. Dingley to tell his joke about the train to said spot, but set aside plenty of time).

Bill Watkins: gadabout, raconteur, boulevardier, as spotted at Merlin’s Rest.

I’m back from San Francisco with two rolls of black and white film and a roll of color slides to process; quite a town, San Francisco.

The bar at Merlin’s Rest.

I’m on auto-pilot this week–putatitvely attending the Sun JavaOne conference in San Francisco, or so my employer thinks, when in fact I’m drawn more to City Lights Books and Chinatown than discussions of Service Oriented Architecture and .NET interoperability. Between sessions, I hope to at least catch some of the classic sights, like this bridge and chain from Craig Ferroggiaro.

John Dingley, one of the proprieters of Merlin’s Rest, leans in close to deliver a quiz question.

I’m on auto-pilot this week–putatitvely attending the Sun JavaOne conference in San Francisco, or so my employer thinks, when in fact I’m drawn more to City Lights Books and Chinatown than discussions of Service Oriented Architecture and .NET interoperability. Between sessions, I hope to take in sights like this Chinatown shot from James Patrick Griffin.

And here’s Lucy again at Merlin’s Rest’s Sunday pub quiz. She gets two pictures, whereas poor Ludwig gets only one, because even Ludwig will have to admit that she’s the prettier.

I’m on auto-pilot this week–putatitvely attending the Sun JavaOne conference in San Francisco, or so my employer thinks, when in fact I’m drawn more to City Lights Books and Chinatown than discussions of Service Oriented Architecture and .NET interoperability. You know, City Lights, Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s bookstore that brought out Ginsberg’s “Howl” and remains a mecca for people who love books. You can see a great picture of it here from James Patrick Griffin.

And here’s Lucy at Merlin’s Rest’s Sunday pub quiz.

I’m on auto-pilot this week–putatitvely attending the Sun JavaOne conference in San Francisco, or so my employer thinks, when in fact I’m drawn more to City Lights Books and Chinatown than discussions of Service Oriented Architecture and .NET interoperability. Between sessions, I hope to see things like those captured in this collection of Polaroids from CURSIVE BUILDINGS.

Here’s Ludwig of the Fat Chance Jug Band, just before the mighty Monotremes took first place in the first Merlin’s Rest Sunday pub quiz.

I’m on auto-pilot this week–putatitvely attending the Sun JavaOne conference in San Francisco, or so my employer thinks, when in fact I’m drawn more to City Lights Books and Chinatown than discussions of Service Oriented Architecture and .NET interoperability. Between sessions, I hope to see things like the squeezebox girl as found by “your waitress”.