Jen with her bee-yoo-tiful new car.

Jen plays with a monkey that I got her for her birthday. She has a full-fledged collection of monkeys that I’ve given her as presents. This one is special, though — it makes noise, and you can fling it at people! (It’s called a Bungee Monkey.)

Bonnie and Tom Stone, parents of my honorary sister Kim, sit behind the booster-club food table during Kim’s tennis team’s match against Bristol Eastern on May 15. For more pictures from that tennis match, click here.

My good friend, former next-door neighbor, and honorary older sister Elise Discenza poses for a picture with me… at her wedding reception!!! I can’t believe Elise is married!!! :)

Becky says goodbye to Hugh Manatee at Los Angeles’s Union Station, a few minutes before Hugh and I left for our cross-country train trip from L.A. to Connecticut.

Becky cuddles with Sully.

Becky’s roommate Rachel poses with her traveling companion, Beavis the Bunny, before leaving for a weekend in Columbus, Ohio playing at nationals with the USC softball team.

My roommates, Cameron and Brent, with my friend Suzanne, in our living room.

I got some incredible video footage Monday evening of the huge “Williams” wildfire about 30 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. From the top of any parking structure or other tall building on USC’s campus, you can see not only the smoke, but the actual flames. I’ll post my videos on this website ASAP. In the mean time, you can read about the fires here. As of Monday evening, the fire had burned 5,000 acres and was only 5 to 10 percent contained.

Meanwhile, back in my hometown of Newington, Connecticut, it seems there was a bit of wild weather recently…

A thunderstorm on Sept. 11 knocked a large branch off a tree in our back yard, blew it over the roof, and dumped it the front yard — in the process, partially blocking my bedroom window and the light-up American flag that my parents had turned on, at my request, in commemoration of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Above is a photo of the scene that my mom just sent me. Here’s another photo of the fallen branch in all its glory.

Finally, speaking of wild weather, Hurricane Isidore may have given the U.S. Gulf Coast a major break by unexpectedly spending the last 30 hours inland over the Yucatan Peninsula. The once-mighty storm, almost a Category 4 monster when it made landfall, is now barely a tropical storm, and may be downgraded to a tropical depression within a few hours. Forecasters say it will probably re-intensify once it re-emerges over the Gulf (although, I frankly, I wonder about that), but at any rate it seems unlikely to regain its former potency before making its second landfall (probably in Louisiana later this week).

Mr. Bun claimed victory Tuesday in both the Adollyan presidential primary and the Internet dolly election. He beat Comodore Hufenpuf 10-5 among human voters on this website, and 55% to 45% among dolly voters in Adollya.

For those of you who voted, thanks for participating in the Internet dolly election! Once the candidates select their vice-presidential runningmates and are formally nominated by their parties later this summer, another Internet election will take place, allowing you to vote for president.

For now, click here to read all about Tuesday’s presidential primary in Adollya.

Online election results: Bun 10, Hufenpuf 5. Adollyan results: Bun 5,337, Hufenpuf 4,426.

It’s Mr. Bun vs. Comadore Hufenpuf! The dollies of Adollya get to decide who will be the Republidolly presidential nominee… but YOU can help decide who will be the Internet champion! VOTE NOW in the box at right!

One year ago Monday, I had a bit of downtime during a weekend trip to New York City, so I decided on a whim to ride the subway to New York’s tallest skyscraper and take the elevator up to the observation deck. On Monday, I did the same thing — but my destination wasn’t the same building. Of course, that’s because New York’s tallest buildings, the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, were destroyed in the horrible terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, and the Empire State Building has now tragically re-assumed the title of the Big Apple’s tallest skyscraper.

Since I can never again return to the “Top of the World” observation deck that I visited on June 3, 2001 — nor to the 107th-floor gift shop where I bought the New York Beanie Baby now known as Unity Bear — I did the next-best thing Monday, making a pilgrimage to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, from where Unity Bear and I looked out at the beautiful views of New York, and stared wistfully toward the hole in the skyline where the World Trade Center once stood. (For more on Unity Bear, click here.)

I also visited the area near Ground Zero and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday. And that was just the tail end of a wonderful weekend in which Becky came to town and we saw “Cabaret” on Broadway, toured Central Park, and strolled through Greenwich Village, among other things. Check back soon for more photos of our weekend, including my parents’ 25th anniversary party Friday night!

Out of ESB. Bought a new teddy bear there. :)

At observation deck of Empire State Building. Got picture of WTC native Unity Bear & me in front of downtown skyline.