Home

The Stick: Dad Turns 86, Lisa Turns 17

October 9, 2026

gem ocean, travel, who knows , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Stick in the Fall is perfection. This iteration’s fun included dad and laura, and noelie and lisa (from the UK).

First a NEWS FLASH!  McGraw wins at Bocce…

 

(the editors were not paid (much) for this disinformation.)

It all started with a sunset. Or was that a full moon?

The dogs were psyched to be back in the Atlantic.

This is not a dog. It is a bloody margaret.

However, this is a dog.

Full moon walk.

Catoctin Creek in the house.

Cheers.

Fuck All Y’all models.

What? Drinking again?!

Angelic

The flags

Designed to drive the dogs bannanas

Hey look, new table.

Sun goes down.

Moon comes up.

The best one.

Dog at dusk.

Get up and do it again.

Maybe gets surprized!!!!

The great science experiment.

Challenge Accepted: Make a Proper Japanese Waitress Belly Laugh at Yamazato

March 3, 2026

gem food, travel , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Dinner at Yamazato is exceptional, even 15 years on from the first visit. Absolutely world class. And Japanese service to boot.

The question is, can you make a proper Kimono wearing Japanese waitress belly laugh? Well, yes…if you are us. We had so much fun.

I mean, maybe the martinis we started with at 23 had something to do with it?

Or maybe it was mr big nose? No one knows.

But wow.

Who us? Goof off?

Happy Birthday gem-san.

A Blast From the Software Security Past on 23

March 3, 2026

gem travel, who knows , , , , , 1 Comment

Who are these people? Madou? Florence? McGraw? Noelie? All together? No fucking way.

A nice way to turn 3C is to gather the geeks in Amsterdam for a photo shoot.

Walking in Amsterdam

March 2, 2026

gem travel , , , , , 1 Comment

Lisa and Noelie arrived just in time for the surprise.

Decompressing at the Stick

August 1, 2025

gem cooking, dogs, ocean, travel, wedding , , , , , , , 1 Comment

After all of the planning, and then the actual event itself, we were ready to put our feet up. So we did.

The Stick with Göran, Anne, Noelie, Lisa, Rhine and April—hosted by the newly married McGraws! Late May is perfection at the beach. No people.

Oh yeah, the dogs came too. We rented a huge vehicle in Pittsburgh to cart everyone and all their stuff down.

Now back to those feet…

About the only complication was figuring out the state of the improperly-installed dishwasher. We built our own sign to signify state. It was good in theory. LOL.

As always, cooking was an important part of our beach time. Romey and Lisa made a delicious meal indeed.

The dogs felt left out.

The view from the porch leads to inner peace.

We did make a few cocktails.

Tranquility…unless you are a ball.

Just add more olives.

Starts like this…

Ends up like this. Thanks John and Joan!

A Modest Proposal

January 16, 2024

gem fashion, food, who knows , , , , , , , 11 Comments

Our trip to Rio was memorable and filled with love on all fronts.  NYE in Leblon, Philosophy sesssions, poetry, and the most magical wedding we’ve ever attended. So how to celebrate Romey’s birthday?

With some misdirection and planning, that’s how.

The only person who may have had an inkling about what was to come might have been Noelie.  We bought the black diamonds together in London.

So dinner plans were made at the Hotel Santa Teresa (a place we are going to have to stay one day).  Dinner was excellent.

But what’s this Christmasy looking thing? A birthday gift?

Delivered with the lines, “I have a question first. Would you like to be a McGraw?”

Yes.

And with that, our trip to Rio reached perfection.