Jinxed? No. Cursed? Probably.

I still insist: I cannot be jinxed. That said, we've had a rough run with the car. As you may recall, we dropped some serious bank on it maybe 4 weeks ago and spent a lot of time feeling very clever indeed for having gotten it nice and maintenanced before the big trip up to Oregon. Then, a few days later, the alternator belt crapped out on us while we were trying to have a picnic outing. We got that fixed, for cheap this time, then crossed our fingers that nothing else would happen.

Well, joke's on us. On the way through SF on the way to Novato on Tuesday, we got rear-ended. No major damage, just a loose bumper and a new addition to the collection of scrapes and paint residue, but a pretty lame scenario nonetheless. Fortunately for us, the driver was nice about it and his insurance has been nice so far as well, but neither of us is feeling particularly optimistic about anything, especially anything car-related.

That said, the Novato 4th of July parade was pretty awesome. Sun-burned honkies in funny clothes as far as the eye could see! It was kind of a cross between the parade in True Stories and the celebration in Waiting for Guffman.* Here were my two favorite elements:

The random teenage metal band float! They had signs that said "we need a vocalist!" and a myspace link. They were actually pretty good.

The enormous pack of basset hounds in little outfits! Holy cute puppies on parade, batman!

I'll never be a fan of the 4th, but I've decided that ridiculous municipal parades are probably the best thing about it.

*If you haven't seen either of these movies, you owe it to yourself to do so, pronto.

P.S. Go check out the blog of that one girl I'm married to for a photo essay of the parade that nicely captures its ambience.