Saving Spiderman

On a whim, this past Saturday, I took us for a long drive south down Foothill Boulevard from its northern terminus on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto to the very southern end in Cupertino where it becomes a small two lane byway that runs alongside Stevens Creek reservoir. The trail winds up over the mountains and then down into a deep, forested other-world where you drive just a few feet away from an idyllic gurgling stream and tall redwoods. On a tight switchback deep in the valley, we noticed a downed motorcycle in a shallow ditch at the edge of the curve and a visibly shaken motorcyclist trying to get up. The remoteness of the locale and the fact that we had not spotted another vehicle on the road for several miles, T thought we should stop and assist. Me being the resident non-samaritan, argued against it. Well, in my head at least. We backed up and I got out of the car to help the cyclist lift his bike out of the ravine. Using all of our might, we lifted it up and motored it out. The cyclist finally took off his helmet and for a good half minute, I stared in disbelief. It was Toby Maguire in the flesh. Yeh, that Toby Maguire. Or someone that looked a whole hell of a lot like him. His brother perhaps? The loud sputter of his engine snapped me out of my celebrity trance. As I got back in the car, he thanked us profusely for our assistance. The entire drive back, I was thinking about how we saved Spiderman that afternoon. Anyhow, the impromptu daytrip was full of other unexpected discoveries including a pleasant walk along the commercial hearts of Los Altos and the charming hamlet of Saratoga. The latter was especially picturesque. The town sits comfortably between the sloping mountainside and the flat valley and is perched above an active creek. The shops and eateries are clearly first rate and quite impressive in appearance and manner. We will definitely have to make a return visit and try one of the restaurants sometime. Everytime I think I know the Bay Area, random drives like this confirm otherwise.

There Goes the Neighborhood...

Arianna Huffington's new weblog (link here) pools together individual blog postings from a number of well-known political and social commentators, e.g., Arthur Schlesinger and Jim Pinkerton, as well as some interesting "teaser" postings from non-politicos, including actor John Cusack, director Mike Nichols, playwright David Mamet, and comedy writer Harry Shearer. Unbelievable who's blogging these days. Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Oye.

Mr. and Mrs. Bussey

My cousin Sandy and her new husband Greg were married a week ago at the lovely Perkin's Chapel at Southern Methodist University in Dallas (link) and held their reception at my uncle and aunt's country club, Brookhaven (link). My mother, "the family representative", was quite impressed with the ceremony. Kudos to the newlyweds.