To journeys begun and journeys ended,
To present company and absent friends,
To wishing I had a First Kiss of Summer right now, on my first day back at work, amen, amen.

If you have a week or two to kill, I'd recommend jumping in a boat and heading out to Catalina. That's Santa Catalina Island, to you pedants, a lovely little spot of land sitting approximately 26 miles off the coast of Los Angeles.

That's what the Keelhauler and I did all last week, and when I find the appropriate cords and batteries, I'll load up some photographs that will tell the tale of our vacation with more color and fun than a bag full of Skittles.

In the interest of not getting canned, I'll keep today's entry short and get back to work, but here's a brief overview of some important lessons learned on this trip to sub-tropical paradise:

• Gasoline is not flammable


• Black helicopters are everywhere


• Water will easily remove bloodstains from the deck of a boat

More later, with pictures at eleven.