Robert says I have too high standards for our web essays, and that we should put more pictures up on the web whether or not we have exciting, thrill-filled, highly-crafted text to accompany them. This, then, is our June and July 2000 picture dump, with enough text to see you through the context of the pictures, and very little smooth prose, flowing narrative, or well-thought-out phrasing to spice them up.

1. Another football game at UCLA, above Lot 4, in between the women's gym and the men's gym (also known as Alessio's favorite place to shower, other than our house--no wait, that's Jason). Striking a football pose in the foreground is Martin I, who dressed for the occasion (a sunny 75-degree afternoon) in a long-sleeved black shirt and black pants--what else?
   
   
2. A trip to the Long Beach aquarium--pictured are two of the more photogenic specimens: some two-inch high eels that bury themselves in sand and then wave around, and a very slow-moving (even for a turtle) turtle. Generally I was taking a lot of blurry pictures that day, what with sea lions and suction-fish and puffins moving away as soon as I got close to the glass, but somehow the turtle picture did not turn out blurry--and note that this is actually the full-motion video of the turtle for the whole ten minutes we stood in front of him.
   
3. Our Second Annual Fourth of July Patriot Pre-Fireworks Sushi took place in between July 3rd and July 5th, with Martin I (Martin II having returned to Denmark two days previously), Amit, Alessio, Jason, and David the Spaniard in attendance. With sake and plum wine to drink and an Independence Tart (berry-cherry with butterscotch custard cream and a sweet cookie crust) for dessert, we dined on an artistic representation of an American flag with bigeye tuna and yellowtail nigiri, as well as many inside out rolls with tobiko, more nigiri (including Spanish mackeral and halibut with scallions & ponzu sauce), and a rainbow pressed sushi. Afterwards we went to see fireworks at Marina del Rey, with Alessio (ahem) as navigator and Amit as the long-suffering driver.
   
   
4. At midnight, on July 8th--early Saturday morning--we were in the Barne & Noble in the Westside Pavilion picking up our copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I finished it by that night at 9pm--understand, of course, that in the intervening twenty-one hours I had to get enough sleep so I could function at work, drive to work, work, drive home from work, go food shopping, and make and eat dinner. That explains the late finish. I think it's the best Harry Potter yet--more of the same from the first three books, but better done. Though I could predict who was going to die, I didn't figure out who the villian was for quite awhile. This is me reading the book Saturday morning before work, while eating a banana-chocolate chip muffin and wearing the Harry Potter glasses they gave us at the party the night before.

5. Spurred into action by our dislike of all non-New York-style pizza, our fondness for onion pizza, and a nice crop of sweet Walla Walla onions, we decided to make pizza for dinner on Sunday evening. I made the dough, sliced the onions, tomatoes, and basil, and laid out the tomato sauce and cheeses ahead of time, while Robert burnt--er, cooked--the sausage. When Amit and Alessio arrived, each person formed, rolled out and shaped a pizza pie, and selected the toppings; pictured is Amit rolling out his pizza (it ended up much larger than it was in this shot), Alessio chatting during dinner, and Amit at dessert, after one too many helping of pecan-praline ice cream and homemade donut peach buckle.