TAR BALLS!

as we all know, this week as tar balls hit texas, it meant that every gulf state now has oil washing up on the shores. sad. i know. they even found oil in crab embryos in the Back Bay (not technically the gulf, but connected), which means that the oil has officially ruined sea life at every level of development now.

anyway, in light of the oil washing ashore. we thought we might go hunting for some tar balls today, A.K.A. liquid gold, black gold, etc.

instead, we found this little rascal. he thought it would be cool to walk around out at the beach and make dead serious faces at us. i think he succeeded.

he hasn't spent many of his days with sand between his toes, and i think he sorta hated it. i just hope he gets over it with time, because we will be spending plenty of time at the beach over the course of his lifetime.

as you can see. no tar balls at biloxi beach... just two parents and a son who aren't quite sure when the camera is going to take their picture.

so after our black gold/tar ball hunt turned up short. we decided to resurrect our new yorker spirits. and since their aren't many good brunching establishments, we opted to go antiquing...

and i must say. we definitely struck gold! check out these original F.W. Dixon Hardy Boys books...

so amazing. i used to read these with my dad as a kid. by that i mean, we would read the same books he read when he was a kid. however, his collection of Hardy Boys books have been split amongst my dad's brothers and presumably their sons too.

way back when, my dad and i looked all over to find more originals. i think we even went to a couple D.I.'s to look. and knowing my mom, maybe even Sam Weller's in Salt Lake, but my memories aren't that sharp. but i do remember, they are impossible to find. especially in large quantities. long story short, i know a gold mine when i see one when it comes to original HB collections. and speaking of collections, if anyone has a spare $895 for the COMPLETE set of F.W. Dixon's Hardy Boys with the original dust jackets, let me know, because it was also for sale where i picked up my newest six...

i also picked up these rad wide camera straps for $5 a pop. classically awesome. but i'm not sure which one is better:

option A?

or option B:? what do you vote for?

i almost wish i could put them both on at the same time. but i have to decide, because i'm pretty sure emily wants to put the other one on her point and shoot.... and i'm not sure if she's kidding. ;)