The sun, the moon and the stars

A catch-all headline is what you get when you haven't written for two, nearly three, days. So here goes...

The sun. We're officially a month past the start of the vernal equinox, so it only makes sense that we'd be having warm, trending to hot, weather these days. Personally, I'd rather add layers than shed clothes, but here I am sitting in a T-shirt and shorts in the basement, owing to the lingering heat from this afternoon. We're in for a hot stretch these next few days, with predicted highs of 85 Wednesday and Thursday, 91 on Friday, then 98 on Saturday and Sunday. Ugh. Enough of the sun. Bring on the cool fall weather.

The moon. Yesterday was the 40th (fortieth!) anniversary of the moon landing. The question that seemed to be everywhere: Where were you when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon? My colleague, the multitalented cartoonist Jack Ohman, wrote a wonderful reminiscence for The Oregonian. I was 16 at the time, but I've got to confess: I have no idea where I was. I don't have any explanation other than some people and events simply matter more. In our Mexican Catholic family, John and Robert Kennedy were revered as saints, so I sure remember where I was when each of them was shot. Same goes for when Saigon fell, the Challenger exploded and the Twin Towers were attacked. Though I feel sheepish for not recalling the event better, it is pretty (expletive) amazing that human beings could figure -- with absolute precision -- how to send a man to another celestial body, millions of miles away, and bring him back.

The stars. As I left work last night around 6 p.m., I emerged from the tunnel (well, actually more of a breezeway) onto Jefferson Street and couldn't help but notice the scene across the street. Dozens of people -- many of them holding cameras, lights and other portable equipment -- filled the sidewalk outside the brick-facade University Club and snaked around the corner onto Sixth Avenue, while a traffic cop made sure cars and buses didn't come close to disrupting what was going on. It was the cast and crew of "Leverage," a TNT series that's been filming at various locations around town. Instantly recognizable: Timothy Hutton, the star of the show, who was seated in a chair, holding a small child in his lap. I have yet to see the show but, with this touch of Hollywood so close at hand, I now have the incentive to check it out. Especially since Hutton seems to be a pretty good guy.