End of the year

Today is the last day of 2013.  When I was a kid, I used to think there was something magical about the last day of the year and would try to finish whatever I was working on before midnight.  I still have that sense of it, but I know whatever is left undone today will be there tomorrow.  I still strive to get things done, don't get me wrong, but there is not the childhood idea that things will fall apart if I don't get it done.

I haven't taken time to review 2013, a year a lot of people will be glad to see the end of.  I guess it was an ok year.  My daughter got married.  Now I have a son and daughter.  Nice, huh?  We have a few "challenges" as the yuppies say, but managed to come through them ok.  I am happy to have my husband to wake up to every morning, no matter what outside forces press in on us. Work continues to be a never-ending series of emergencies and routines.  I enjoy what I do, most of the time.  I work with some pretty great people ( along with some people whose behavior is so outlandish that if I put them in a book, the editor would chide me for being unrealistic).

I don't really make New Years' Resolutions.  My resolutions are the ongoing kind and have nothing to do with the supposed "magical" properties of the New Year.  The changes I am making for me are FOR ME and not because some flip in the calendar.  My usual resolution is to do one new volunteer thing this year.  It's fairly simple to do.  This year I hope we get a chance to travel a bit.  Every year we talk about going to the Grand Canyon, something I have yet to see, but we can never quite get it together to go.  I will be looking into how we can do it this summer, after my nephew's wedding in August.  At least, that's my plan and my hope.

So, do you have hopes and plans for the New Year?  Any resolutions you won't keep after the first week?   Resolve to be happy.  That works for me.

Monday morning already?

Where does the weekend go?  When you work all week, at least one of those two precious days is devoted to doing all the things you couldn't get to in the week.  In my case, that's laundry and grocery shopping.  I don't mind doing the chores, just sometimes, there HAS to be more than  finding all the socks.  I have a whole PILE of random socks that don't seem to have a mate.  I wonder if House Elves are stealing them.

A sad weekend around here.  Chris' aunt had a heart attack and was on life support.  I believe they have removed her, but have not heard.  My thoughts and love go out to the rest of the family.  It is never easy to say goodbye.

Chris and his mom came back from their road trip tired and sore from all the walking they did.  Apparently, half the planet decided to go to Vegas this weekend.  The place was a zoo! Kind of makes me glad I had to work.  I really hate crowds.  I am short and crowds tend to run me over.  Not fun!

As we wind down the year, I am thinking of 2013 and what sort of year it was; like any other, filled with joys and sorrows.  There was something online about putting "good things" notes in a jar, starting on New Year's Day and opening it on New Year's eve.  Sounds like a good idea, but frankly I would probably get the first month and then forget to do it.  Much like this blog, which I had tried to write every day but sometimes I am not inspired or running late and just can't muster the energy to do it.

Post Christmas thoughts

Christmas is over, pretty much.  The tree is too dry to turn the lights on and I need to see where to take it for recycling this year.  I think last year, the city just let you put it at the curb, but I have no idea.  It was a nice tree and a good Christmas, spent with eight of our friends and family in our little tiny apartment.  It's good to be able to have people in our home.  There was a time when I was in another place and it was not such a happy home.  Sure, it had all the "trappings" of "happy', but that was just the surface that the outside world was shown.   There is nothing like waking up and feeling a peace in your heart and that sigh of contentment that comes from being truly happy.  You can have all the material comforts of life and not be happy.  I am looking at my life and realizing I have it pretty good.   I am blessed with the love of family and friends and that in itself is my "Christmas miracle"

I have to work the rest of the week and I missed a trip to Vegas with my mother-in-law and my husband, two of the best traveling companions in the world.  I hope they are having a blast and come home with great stories and GREAT winnings!  Sunday can't come soon enough for me.  I am taking time to reflect on the year and count my blessings, being grateful for what I have and not looking at what I don't.  I have wonderful friends and family.  My life is peaceful, I no longer live in the center of the cyclone and for that I am eternally grateful.

Christmas Carols vs Seasonal songs

I have been trying to get my FALALALALA working and it's JUST NOT going anywhere.  But singing songs I consider Christmas songs got me to thinking; just how many songs we consider Christmas songs DON'T mention Christmas at all?

Jingle Bells.  We ALWAYS sing this at Christmas, but does it mention the holiday?  Nope.  Sing it for yourself.  I'll wait.....   SEE????   Why is it a "Christmas song" anyway?  it mentions snow and things that people who live in snow DO in the winter.  No Christmas, no baby Jesus, nada.

Winter Wonderland.  Not a whisper of anything remotely Christmas.

Frosty the snowman.  Sung by children at "Christmas" Concerts, but definately NOT a song about Christmas.

I like to think of Christmas songs as the ones I sung as a child in church, the "religious" part of the holiday.  I have been singing "The First Noel" and "Do you hear what I hear? , trying to get into the spirit of the season.  "Deck the Halls"  which celebrates the love and fellowship of the season has been playing in my head. YES I sing "don we now our GAY apparel"  lol.  Making the song PC and being afraid of the word GAY, for goodness sakes is just freaking crazy!

Christmas is TOMORROW ( we celebrate on Christmas Eve)  Am I ready?  NAH, but I will be as ready as I can be for the day. All of us here have had a small bout of something like the flu.  I slept for fourteen hours this weekend.  Stress, maybe?  I hope that's all it is.  I don't have TIME for the flu and I HAD my shot!

Wake Keeping

There was a wake keeping, a Nigerian tradition, last evening for my friend Ogechi Anum.  although she was not born into it, Ogechi embraced Nigerian culture and raised her three children well taught in the traditions of their father.

A group of us came from LAPL.  we were there at the appointed hour and the people just laughed and tried to instruct us on "Nigerian time"  It was lighthearted and I hope that the family knew that so many more of us wanted to be there.  We loved her.  She was the type of person you loved right away.  The minister did not seem to know her, but gave the sermon of Ruth and Naomi and applied it to her life.  They asked us to speak, but I just could not.  I loved that girl and as everyone seemed to be having warm, happy remembrances, I was afraid I would start to cry when I spoke.  Someone else did.  Here is what I would like to have said:

I knew Ogechi for about 15 years.  I met her when she became the Area Assistant in the Western Area Office.  She was always so up-beat, a good friend with a  great attitude.  She was shoulder to lean on.  Her children were her everything.  Family was everything to her.  No matter what disappointment life tossed at her, she never ever gave up, she had an indomitable spirit; she ALWAYS rose. It was fitting that she was born on Valentine's Day Those of us who loved her will miss her every day of our lives. I know I am better for having known her.

I am glad I went last night, although I did not get home until well after midnight.  It's hard when I had been up since about 5 yesterday morning.  I had to go to show love and respect for my friend and her family.  I think it was important that people knew the impact she had on her co-workers.  It was good to see her children, so grown up and strong.  They had her beautiful spirit, which shone through their eyes.  The room was full of love for her.  I am glad that I went.

I DON'T enjoy being a "girl"

I went to meet with a construction supervisor yesterday.  While staff and I discussed the placement of the proposed gate and the ramifications of said placement, the supervisor listened and then said           " It will be a gate of 24 fee where ever we put it.  You girls decide where you want it and tell us when we get out here."   GIRLS??????  Two of us "girls" have Masters Degrees and I have been spearheading projects like this for twenty-seven years.  GIRLS???  I haven't been a "girl" for 40 years!  OOOHHHHH  I held my tongue, but seriously that guy needed an education.  I run into this patronizing attitude from time to time, but really!  I wonder how he would have reacted to being called a "boy"  ( he was an older-than -me white man.)   Probably would not have phased him.  It's just that as a woman, working in a field where I interact with lots of construction people ( read- mostly men) I occasionally run into what I call "the little lady syndrome".  The Big Strong Man is going to help the Little Lady make up her mind and make decisions for her.  It drives me to distraction.  I know what I want. I have been making decisions on my own since I was in my teens.  It reminds me of a appliance store I went into when I was 19.  I had done my research and went into a local store to price the model I wanted from that store.  I wanted ( now mind you this was the 70's)  a top and bottom, avocado refrigerator.  The salesman tried to steer me to a DENTED side by side, in BRONZE.  Uh... NO that's not what I wanted- at ALL.  I told him so.  He pressured me.  You really want this.  No I don't.  I don't LIKE side by side, it was the wrong color AND it was damaged????    No I asked again about the model that I had come to look at and he again tried to dissuade me and sell me the damaged one.  Fine, I said if you are not going to show me the one I want, I will go elsewhere and turned on my heel and marched out of the store.  "You'll be sorry" he called after me ( seriously? I'll be SORRY????? ) NO I WON'T   I shouted back at him.    And I never was.  That avocado fridge lasted twenty plus years, as I knew it would.
Some guys just need a reality check.  In this day and age to call a group of professional women "girls" in that patronizing tone is not going to do you any good.

Christmas baking

When I was a kid, my mom would dedicate about a week to baking Christmas cookies.  We would frost and decorate and generally get in her way.  We gave the cookies to friends and neighbors.  I still do this, although not to the marathon degree that she did, or that even I did.  I once baked- I kid you not- 90 dozen cookies.  All types; chocolate chip, peanut butter ( pre-allergy, which I developed later) oatmeal, lebkuchen ( a traditional German Christmas cookie) and sugar cookies.  I made press cookies too.  Alas, my time these days is more limited ,so today I will be baking- or attempting to bake- the following:

Pumpkin bread
Chocolate chip cookies
Anise cookies
oatmeal cookies
sugar cookies
fudgies
haystacks.


I baked fruit cake and cranberry bread yesterday.   I would have done more, but we went out and got a tree, which we will be decorating today as well!

I will be baking some breads for my office mates.  I hope they are not disappointed, but I think I am going to make My Grandmother's spice cake, as my gift to them this year.  I have no idea why I am always looking at a tighter budget around Christmas time.  Isn't it always the way?

Still baking makes me feel close to my mom and my long ago childhood memories of baking cookies as part of the holiday tradition.

Let me know if you want some cookies!

"Winter Holidays"

It's that time of year again.  The season of love and joy.  The season where everybody complains that everyone else's holiday traditions are ruining theirs.  Ah yes, the holidays....

I wonder how celebrating MY traditions lessens anyone else's?  It's the same STUPID argument being levied regarding Gay Marriage rights.  Somehow, someone else having something make what I have less?

Here is what I have been thinking about ALL the Winter Holidays- Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice and Kwanza.  (I've been hearing about a humanist Holiday called "Human Light, but that's a new on e on me)  ALL of these holidays hold one theme in common: hope.  The birth of Christ gave new hope for salvation according to the Christian religion.  Hanukkah celebrates the hope that when all seems lost, faith will carry you through.  Solstice celebrates Winter and the hope of Spring. Kwanza celebrates the hope for unity and wisdom.   Winter is traditionally a time of reflection, a time when we remember the hopes and fears of the fading year and look forward with hope toward the new one.  Instead, we have turned it into a loud bickering shoving match.  Commercialism runs rampant and we forget the joy and wonder of the season.  We forget this is a time to count our blessings, remember our friends and the good that people have brought us this year.  We are inundated with BUY BUY BUY in the media and in the stores.  We strive for the "perfect" Martha Stewart holiday, not remembering that perfect is having your friends and family together not that magazine glossy photo style dinner on the table.  I have had a "perfect" holiday cheeseburger with friends.  The laughter and the warmth mean more to me than anything else.  As I place my food on the table this year, I will remember two things.  One- the main ingredient in a perfect holiday is love Two- Martha Stewart has a cast of thousands getting her meal camera ready!

December 8

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I have been SUPER busy, getting ready for our annual Holiday Boutique at McGroarty Arts Center.  I "run" the bakesale.  This means that from about 8:30 until after 6, yesterday I was up at the Center , dealing baked goods.  This year, I had a feeling we were going to be a little light in the baked goods, so the NIGHT before and the morning of, I was a baking demon.  I made TWO kinds of cupcakes, some brownies, some fudgies, and some cute little hot chocolate dippers.  We sold out to the walls!   I had one tray of random cupcakes and banana bread bites, which our vendors and volunteers dove on at the end of the day.  By my count, the bakesale raised about 500 bucks.  Pure profit, as all the goods are donated.  The chili-bowl sale went great guns as well.   We sold almost every bit of chili- also donated.  I made my famous California BBQ chili.  Chris says it needs a more tantalizing name.  Any suggestions?  I guess I will have to make a pot and have people come over to give it a new name! I had to fight my way into the kitchen with the line of people waiting to pay for their purchases from the vendors.   Everyone seemed to have a good time and after an initial downpour in the morning the weather even cooperated. It was colder than a well-diggers butt on the porch though.  After about two hours I couldn't feel my feet.  It took me several hours until I was warm enough and that's when the pain hit. My body CONSTANTLY reminds me I am not twenty or even thirty anymore.  Thank goodness for Bushmill's and pain meds!  I fell into bed around 8 and woke up around 7 this morning.  It was a good day and I am looking forward to seeing the financial report from this event.  I talked to a lot of people who had never been to the Center before, gave out more than a few class schedules and talked to people about getting on our mailing list.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks that jump-started  the U. S. involvement in World War II .  It is important to remember this day, no matter what the truth is- sneak attack or conspiracy theory that Roosevelt KNEW and wanted us in the war so badly that he let the attack go forward.  In any case, lives were lost and forever changed by this day.  By honoring the dead, we celebrate the lives they made possible for us.

We got a message from Julian Lennon ( well, not me personally, but in a global way on Facebook).  He is asking us NOT to dredge up the fact that today marks the anniversary of his father's murder.  I have to agree with him.  It can't be easy for him and Sean. They must both miss him terribly in a way that all those who light candles and sing "Give peace a chance" on this day never ever can.  Their loss is one we can never understand.  I posted this on a friend's page:

"At the end of the movie "Brian's song" , the voice-over reminds us NOT to remember how Brian died, but "that he lived. OH How he LIVED!" I think of John that way. His murder was tragic, but NOT the sum of his life. His impact, his life force, is still felt."

I think it would be more appropriate to celebrate on October 9th than to mourn on December 8.

The last Day of November

I do realize that it is  now the second  day of December and we have begun the Advent.  It's been a month of counting my blessings. I am thinking, in no particular order of things I need to remember to be thankful for:

Obviously, family and friends.  Without them, what is the purpose of life?

A job I can say I love, even if it does frustrate me from time to time.  I believe what I do has impact, makes someones life a little better.

I need to remember to be thankful for small things, like green lights when I am running late, good weather, a smile from someone, warm hugs.  I am constantly thankful for good books and my love of reading. 

I am trying to remember to have an "attitude of gratitude"  I am truly blessed.  I need to remember that what I want isn't always what I need, and that I have more than most in the things that are really important.

Post Thanksgiving thoughts

I didn't post yesterday, as I was busy cooking and getting the house ready for company.  I am thankful to be able to invite people into our home.  I am blessed with wonderful friends, whose dinner conversation was lively and thoughtful.

Thanksgiving is my traditional "calm before the storm" as I get ready to "gear up" for the holiday season. I DO NOT go to "Black Friday" sales.  There is NOTHING in the world I need SO badly that I need to be at some store at 6 in the morning and fight with someone over some discounted item.    Nothing says  "Merry Christmas"  like the fistfights, screaming, pushing and genuinely bad behavior you see at this kind of "event".  I dislike crowds to begin with.  Crowds in a  feeding frenzy is my idea of a preview to hell.

So I will do a few necessary things today, but mostly I plan to relax and read and rest.  The next few weeks promise to be a whirl of activity, starting with the McGroarty Holiday Boutique - aka the Chili-bowl sale.  It's Saturday the 7th from 10-5.  I will be working the Bakesale, as usual.  I am not sure just what I am going to be baking, but I WILL be making my California BBQ Chili for the event.  You buy a handmade bowl and get to fill it with the chilli of your choice for ten bucks. It's a GREAT deal!  If you haven't been to McGroarty  Arts Center in Tujunga, you should come up for this event.  Local vendors and the house decorated for the holidays.  It's a lot of fun!

a funny thing happened.....

I was getting ready to leave work yesterday to go to my LAST Tai-chi class.  I will probably try to get a DVD to do it at home, or find a class that is more suited to my time limits.  I need something to help with my strength and balance, not so much as defense training ( I got THAT from my childhood, thankyouverymuch).  I went into the ladies room at work and quickly changed out of my work clothes into my workout clothes.  Some of my stuff fell off the hook and onto the floor.  I heard the bathroom door open ( we have stalls and I was in one of them)   I heard the person leave RAPIDLY.  Oh well.  I thought.  I got myself dressed and went back to my office.  AS I was coming down the hall, I met a phalanx of Security Officers, game faces on.  "what's up, guys? I asked.  One said "There's a mess in the Ladies restroom. '" "Huh, I was just in there"  I replied trying to recreate what they might be talking about in my head. " Did you see a bunch of clothes on the floor?" He asked.  OH!!!!!  "That was ME! ' I said " I was changing to my workout stuff.  I don't like to change in my cubicle."  They all laughed and went back down stairs.

I'm gonna hear about this!


and least I forget; today I am thankful for the approaching holiday and the chance to get together with good friends.  Let the baking begin!  Tonight I prep the cranberries and bake the pies.

For Ogechi

This weekend, the world lost one of the sweetest souls I have ever encountered.  Ogechi Anum passed from this life on Saturday.  Her friends and her family hold her and each other in our hearts at this tragic time.

I knew Ogechi for a long time.  I met her when she became the Area Secretary for the Western Region.  We shared joys ( our children) pain ( children and ex-husbands) and life in general.  She always had a ready laugh at her misfortunes.  At one point, I told her "Girl, if either one of us looses a pet, we are a country song"

Her name, taken during her marriage to her children's father, meant "God's Time"  She told me once, her given name was Jessica, which does not suit her at all.  She was always "Ogechi".  She had had a difficult childhood, but managed to remain upbeat and loving to both her parents.  Here life was not an easy one.  I worried about her.

The last time we talked, it was about some mundane thing that was happening at her branch- perhaps mice, or the roaches that were as big a battleships.  We laughed and I said as I always did that we should get together for tea- or something stronger!  She laughed and said that we should and that would be nice.  Sadly, this will never be and I am thinking about her and ALL the friends I promise to get together with "someday".  Sometimes "someday" never comes.  To honor her, I will be contacting all my "we'll get together someday" friends and MAKE A FIRM DATE.  I encourage all of you to do this.  Don't wait until it's too late to share a laugh or a heartfelt talk with someone.  Ogechi was my friend.  I will miss her and wish like hell we had made the time for that cup of tea.

ARGH! Thanksgiving is THURSDAY and I'm NOT ready!

Does time speed up as you get older?  It seems like it.  Chris and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this week.  Hard to believe, it seems like just yesterday that we were married.  We went to the Getty Villa.  I had never been there.  It is beautiful, with LOTS of statuary.  I will have to post a picture of my favorite "The Muse".  While wandering through the rooms, I saw some pieces that made me think "what if these are kids school projects and we are revering them as great examples of the art of the time?" Ok bad.

Thanksgiving is coming at me way too fast.  I have about eight people coming for dinner and I need to get the house in some semblance of order.  I look forward to the meal with good friends, but the WORK at getting the house "company ready" is a drag.  So what am I doing?  Sitting at the computer, fooling around.   Admittedly, my housemates are still asleep, so there is no way I can do some of the stuff I need to do, but I am feeling LAZY.  I need some motivation ( as if the prospect of a houseful of people isn't enough!)  I need to look in my pantry to see what I need and get my tail to the store.  I love cooking and Thanksgiving is a MAJOR event around here.  It's always fun to have good friends in our home.  I am thankful to be able to do that.  It wasn't always the case in my life.  I am glad for the peace in my home and the joy of the beginning of the holiday season.

Do you remember this day?

Every generation has it's defining moment of innocence lost.  For our parents it was Pearl Harbor.  For our children, it was 9-11 But for the generation of Baby Boomers, it is November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas.

I remember exactly where I was; in the back seat of my parents green Belair.  It was a long car and it had fins.  My mother has just picked me up from morning session kindergarten when the news came on the radio,  She pulled the car over at the corner of Bartee and Van Nuys and wept.  I didn't really understand it, I suppose, but I knew something terrible had happened.   People walked around in a daze.  We watched the services on television, still not understanding the "why" of the equation.

We still mourn JFK and the promise he brought to us; a promise unfulfilled.  I think about those he left behind, how every year, his life and tragic death is played out in the media.  It must be difficult and I wonder if time and repetition makes it any easier to bear.  The Kennedy family has had their share of very public tragedy, I wonder if they learn from an early age how to bear grief stoically and publicly.  I remember reading that the nation looked to Jackie to show us how to mourn.  What a terrible burden that must have been on a young woman with small children.  It must have been agony not to be able to shut herself away from the public and bear her personal tragedy before the world with such grace.  I could not have done it and I wonder how she did it.  From all accounts she was a very private person, thrust into the national spotlight by her marriage to a very high profile man.  In our grief, we turned to her, forgetting she was a woman needing comfort, not the one we should look to to comfort us.  We forgot she was a woman and tried to make her into something else.  I think that's why she married Onassis, not for love but shelter from the storm.  I don't really know, just conjecture I suppose.

Still the iconic images of those days, fifty years ago are burned in our collective conscious.   The motorcade, JFK grabbing his throat,  the secret service agent crawling on the trunk of the car, Jackie's hand stretched out to him, young John saluting his father's casket.  The young widow in a black mantilla holding the hands of her young children.

Where were  you, fifty years ago today?

Happy Anniversary- MUSHY alert!

I am truly thankful that back in September of 2007, I decided that staying home and brooding was not for me; that I was going to get out there and have FUN!  I went to a bar called Studio Suite in Studio City to see a band called "Evita Freaks"  I liked the singer's voice.  They had contacted me on My Space and  I  thought it would be fun to see them live.  Arriving at the venue, I immediately fell into conversation with Evita and liked her a lot.  They had this bass player, named Jajuba.  One look at him and I knew.  I believe in love at first sight.  I have to.  It happened to me.  He had a girlfriend at the time, so I decided we could be friends.  THAT relationship ended and we started dating.  Four years ago today, we were married. 

Chris is my best friend, my soul-mate and the best partner a woman could hope for.  He "gets"  me and makes me feel safe and happy.  He has been by my side through some pretty rough days, always loving and supportive. 

I am so glad I decided to go out that night.  Happy Anniversary, sweetheart.

The appliance that makes me dinner

Can I be thankful for my crockpot?   Well, I am.  As the autumn cold comes in, I drag the pot off the top of my refrigerator and place it on the counter, where it stays until some time in, oh, APRIL!  I love the comfort foods I can start off early in the morning before leaving for work and come home and MOST of the meal is waiting for me.  I recently made a pork loin in it- something I had never tried before. It was heavenly!    Who knew it wasn't just for making chili and spaghetti sauce?  Apparently you can COOK in the darn thing!  Tonight's dinner, chicken stroganoff, is on it's way this morning.

I love cooking, because I like food.  I actually knew someone once who said he didn't like food, but ate because he had to!  I wonder if he just wasn't exposed to good food or there really are people who don't like to eat.  Alien concept here. My dad was a professional cook and I git the gene from him.  I exposed my daughter to good food, as well a traditional kid comfort food so her palate was expanded when she was little.  I read an article about these people in New York who were complaining that their nanny didn't know what quinoa was and they were SHOCKED.  Geez.  When Kate was little and I put new food on her plate, I told her she only had to take two bites; one to taste it and one to be sure she didn't like it.  I am not fond of forcing kids to eat things they don't like, but she had to try it at least.  It worked very well.  There were no battles as the "two bite rule" was a firm one.

My crockpot will be getting a workout this season.  I am looking forward to expanding my recipe base and seeing what it can do!

Requiescat in pace, Cherie Maylis

I hate when you get that phone call, out of the blue, telling you someone you knew has died.  This happened yesterday, in the middle of my workday.  I got a voicemail from a co-worker, telling me that Cherie Maylis had died.  I was stunned, as you usually are when you get that kind of news.  I knew she had been ill, but didn't think she was that ill.  Her funeral was SUNDAY.  No one thought to call me and tell me.

I guess a lot of people didn't know about my relationship with Cherie.  She was my first mentor in the Library Department.  She was my first real  "boss".  She hired me as a ten-hour messenger clerk in 1976 at Pacoima Library.  I had been her "Girl's Day" girl.  "Girls' Day" is the precursor to "Take your daughters to work day"  I remember going with her to Central Library for "Book Look", the cheery nickname for "Book inspection that the then-admin did not like. I always called it "Book Look" Cherie was a Young Adult Librarian at the time .  I learned a lot about working with people and the public from Cherie. 

I know her given name was Cheryl, but I knew her as Cherie and that's the name I used most of  the time.  I know later in her career she preferred her given name, but gave me a pass on using it as I had known her so long.  She was an expert quilter.  I won a quilt she made at a raffle, " The Bremen town Musicians"  I am glad I still have it.

I am thankful I knew her, thankful for friends who have guided me on my career path,as she did.  We had lost touch, but the last time I saw her was in our local Denny's ( the only DECENT place to eat in Tujunga- lol)  She was with a young friend and they seemed to be talking about something that was  private and important to the young girl.  Cherie was a kind person, always helpful to the "kidlets" as she called them.  She was a wonderful Children's Librarian and an advocate for her profession.  A few of us are planning some kind of get together to remember her and what she meant to us.  I think she wanted a private service, but memorial services are for the living and grief shared is grief relieved.

Rest well, my friend.

Poetry

I woke up this morning, confusing the last lines of two Robert Frost poems with similar themes "  I kept thinking "the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep" and "Two roads diverged in the woods and I, I took the road less travel by , and that has made all the difference" were lines from the same poem.  It took me a bit to remember that they were not, but because they are BOTH Frost, and I was half awake, you can understand my confusion.  Just why I had Frost on the brain ( in more ways than one) is unclear, except I was at McGroarty on Saturday and the actor playing John McGroarty ( Joe DeCenzo, who did a masterful job of staying in character)  read some of John's poetry.  When he announced he would be doing so, a wise-guy in the crowd asked if he would be reading Robert Frost. He didn't, but Frost must have stuck in my brain.


I don't know if I take the road less traveled all that often.   I am usually in a hurry and taking the shortest route.  I take the road that appeals to me, however and seldom take direction well.  I make my choices for me- and THAT has made all the difference in my life.

The feeling I get from the last lines of "Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening" is that Frost is taking a moment to reflect, to slow down for a moment and enjoy something.  The horse is in a hurry ( sure -HE'S the one standing in the snow, as it "fills up" the woods.)  Frost would like to stay, but has much to do.  The dual meaning of the poem and the use of the word "sleep" meaning both the physical act of sleeping and death is what has made the poem resonate for so long.  Perhaps my subconscious was reminding me to slow down, for although I too have "promises to keep"  I also have "miles to go before I sleep."

I am thankful for poetry.  I haven't written any in a while and  may try to reawaken my passion for the art form.  Up here in Sunland-Tujunga, we have a poet laureate, some year they have been excellent, one year the guy just disappeared.  He was a total disappointment!  It's not something I would take on, but one of these day, I am going to muster the courage to read something I wrote in public!  My poetry is still personal for me, most of the time I like it but don't know if it's "right" or ready for public viewing.  One of these days.....

Sunday morning

I am on my second cup of joe this morning and I will probably have more.  I love my morning joe.

We had a full house for last night's "Thanks and Giving" event for McGroarty Arts Center.  There wasn't a seat to be had and it was nice to see so many people who had never been tot he Center before.  I wound up helping to tend bar, which I usually do.    People had a good time and I HOPE we raised a lot of much needed funds for the Center.  I know people will be back and we did raise awareness of  the place, in any case.  Save December 7 for the chili bowl/holiday boutique.  I am making my world famous chili ;)

Went to class yesterday morning and yes they DID give us real food for breakfast.  Good thing.  The topics are vital for Stewards to understand, but FOUR HOURS of training reminded me that I haven't been a student since 1980!  UGH.  One of my peers looked like he fell asleep during the last half hour!  Good information, just too much of it at one time, I suppose.

I have my work cut out for me today.  I have to start getting the house ready for the holidays.  They really snuck up on me this year.  Next week is our anniversary, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas.  Where did the year go?

I am thankful for an evening at McGroarty with friends old and new.  We had a "special guest" in the form of John McGroarty ( wonderfully possessing the body of local actor and all around nice guy Joe DeCenzo) Great job, Joe!

Saturday Morning

Up early on a Saturday, getting ready to go to Stewards training.  They promised us breakfast, but I am sitting here having coffee and thinking about what I have to do today.  All I can say is it had better be a REAL breakfast, not a muffin and juice!  I am going to need FOOD and if they don't have FOOD ( pastries do not count as real food) I am going to be disappointed  AND I will probably have trouble focusing.  I always eat a good breakfast when I have an early morning meeting so I don't zone out.

Had a lovely session at Heart and Soul Healing Arts Center last evening.  I always come home very relaxed and happy  Unfortunately, the center is experiencing some change and they will be moving to a small location.  I hope they can continue some of the classes they have offered in the past, as I find it helps me to focus.

Today, I am thankful for the classes I am taking that will help me grow.  My dad used to say "If you stop learning, you stop living"  He was right.

Being busy

Last night, lying in bed, I "composed" a complete blog, but as the computer is downstairs and I was upstairs and cozily settled, I thought "I will remember it in the morning.  I should know better.  I can't even remember what I wanted to talk about!  Age.  Sigh.  My memory is not as sharp as it once was, and I worry about Alzheimer's, as my mother died from it.  It's probably just overload.  I need to slow down.  Really.  I say that all the time, but it's true.    For instance my schedule this week included TWO meetings on Monday ( yes it was a holiday, but these were personal commitments)  Tai  Chi on Tuesday, a meeting of the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council on Wednesday, My Union's Election on Thursday (I'm the chair)  and a class this evening.  Tomorrow I have a class in the morning and McGroarty's "Thanks and Giving" Dinner in the evening.  Chris asked what I was doing Sunday."SLEEP" I announced.  I fear he is getting the short end of the stick here.  I am making more time for reading, which I find relaxing.  Trying to spend less time on computer games and more time doing things I enjoy.  I like being busy, but sometimes I just need to stop and relax!

Still being "thankful"  I am thankful today is Friday and the weekend, although busy will afford me some quality time with my husband.

I'm LATE, I'm Late I'm late

ok so I got so busy yesterday that I forgot to write something and by the time I got home it was after 9 and my brains were .. mush!  I went to a mind-numbing session of the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood council.  There was this one guy who gave a presentation about how the Government was going to ruin us all because they haven't drained the silt out of the Pacoima dam in over 30 years and now it needs to be done.  BIG surprise, that after 30 years we need to do something about it.  The guy ranted on using all those words meant to incite.  He gave an outline of the plan, saying we needed to protest ALL of the options.  He failed to provide any reasonable solution to the problem.  He's just worried about the solution not being in HIS backyard.  Most telling was a picture he had taken from the view from HIS house and then superimposed what the view would look like if the "Government" was allowed to continue with it's evil plan to fix the problem with the Pacoima dam.  The guy was the epitome of a NIMBY.  You know "Fix the problem, make it go away, but Not IN My Back Yard!"  He would have had more cred with me if he actually had some kind of idea on how to solve the problem.  He kept railing about how it would ruin the neighborhood  for "our children and their children"  So will a flood if the dam breaks.  I would like to know what this group thinks should be done, not that the County Department of Public Works is evil and will ruin our lives and property values.

That being said, I came home ad relaxed my mind in a book.  I am reading Neil Gaimen's  "The Ocean at the End of the Lane"  Quirky.  I have never read any of his other books, at least I don't remember them.  It's quite good and I hope to finish it by tomorrow because it's due back at the library and I already have a few books I had forgotten to return on time.  I was JUST a day late on them but you know I am at the library EVERY FREAKING DAY, so it's.. well ... embarrassing!  I am thankful for books.  To probably misquote Emily Dickinson "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away"  I find that reading relaxes that part of my brain that is wound up tight from the incidents that make up my days these days.  Reading has always been my joy.  So many books, so little time!

Happy Monday-Tuesday

While I am thankful for long weekends ( I was off Friday AND MONDAY) I dread what I call Monday-Tuesday.  All the work that comes in over the weekend is waiting for me PLUS what will happen today.  Just have to power thru it and do what comes next, I suppose. 

Yesterday I had several meetings , all of which went MUCH better than I expected.  It was a relief, really.  I need to stop what they call ANTS ( automatic negative thinking) and flip the script to think, "well, it won't be so bad"  Maybe it will be better than I thought.  Yesterday's meetings were.  I am hopeful at the progress I made at each of them. 

Thank you Veterans and Active Service members

Why do we only take one day to think about the people who served and are serving in the military?  Once a year, we remember the sacrifices that were made, so that we could continue to enjoy our way of life.  This was actually Armistice Day, the Day World War I  "The War to End All Wars" was ended.  At the Eleventh hour on the Eleventh day of the Eleventh month, all fighting ceased.  The poem "In Flanders's Fields" written by a doctor looking over the graves of the dead,watching the poppies blow "between the crosses row on row"  I read somewhere that the violence of the battle and the way the ground was torn up is what caused the poppies to grow.  The poem begins by mourning the dead, but ends by shaking a fist at the living, reminding them that they need to take up arms in the fight as well.  I don't know how I feel about that. Perhaps it is meant as  "do not let us have died in vain" and to complete the task they set out to do.  Finish the fight for us.  Probably.  But the poem that begins by mourning the dead, has the dead challenging others to fight and perhaps to die as well.   It's sad, in any case.

Do they still sell paper poppies to aid the veterans?  It used to be you would see them near stores and such, members of the VFW, selling poppies.  I doubt kids today understand the meaning.  A few year ago, I saw an old vet- probably WWII or Korean War- selling poppies near the museum.  I didn't have any money, so I went over and asked if I could give him a hug.  He took the hug and I thanked him for his service.  It was the least I could do.

I am going to try to get over to pack boxes at Operation Gratitude sometime this holiday season.  I enjoy the work, although it is so crowded these day it's hard to do the work!  That's a GOOD thing, though.  If you are not familiar with the organization, they pack individual boxes for the military and each box is addressed to an individual, not "Any soldier" but "Pvt John Smith" and "Captain Mary Jones"  It's kind of nice and the letters and emails the organization gets are very touching.  Worth the effort and I will try to make time this year.

Happy Veterans Day former and current service members!  I am thankful for the gifts your service has brought me.

Art in my community

I attended the River Rock Arts Colony exhibit opening at Modest Fly Art Gallery last evening.  I am thankful to live that I live in a community that is filled with artists.  The exhibit was interesting and inspiring.  It was lovely to see so many people turn out for the event.  The small exhibit space was jam packed with people.  We were graced by the presence of The Oldest Rock In Sunland Tujunga, who made a rare appearance in the Community.  I hope there were a LOT of sales as part of last evening benefited McGroarty Arts Center.  I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful art colony in our community.

Regarding yesterday's post about Zarkana, if forgot to mention this.  How RUDE is it to show up halfway through the performance and not hurry to your seat?  People came in VERY late and because there was no discernible pause in the show were SEATED during the performance.  There ought to be a rule.  If you are more than 10 minutes late, you don't get seated.  I was annoyed at a very LARGE group of people who had obviously been having too much fun in the cocktail lounge to make the show on time.  Why yes, the world DOES revolve around you.

I bought some artist reproduction note card at the event last evening which are nice for framing and putting in my cube at work.  I need some new art in my cubicle.

Thankful day 9

I am thankful for road trips that go well, thankful for the journey there and the coming home.  I had a pretty good time in Las Vegas ( except the losing at slots part, that wasn't as much fun as I wish it were)

I saw the show Zarkana.  It was odd.  I had NO idea about the story line, so I bought a program for ten bucks, thinking it would be more like the one that I get every year at the Pageant of the Masters which is VERY informative.  Sadly , this was not.  Apparently the story is about Zark a magician  who has lost his love and his mojo.  They are in a abandoned theater where a number of women who try to seduce him away from Lia who is his true love.  I had to read that in some kind of review online.  It was impossible to tell, especially since they were singing in what I TOOK to be Italian.  I read that in another review.  It was some made up kind of language, based on "circus language"  They said they originally sung in English, but thought that it gave the audience "too much to pay attention to" so they decided to sing in the made up language.  I found it confusing.  Why bother to make up a story that NO ONE EVER EXPLAINS?????? How in the world was I to infer the story from the action?  I couldn't.  Let me just put this out there as well.  I don't like clowns.  The clowns in this show were annoying.  They did this longish bit about squeaking wheels and shoes that deteriorated into a long fart joke.  Sigh.  They changed the show recently as someone was injured on the "wheel of death" The acrobatics were wonderful , but the show was so slow in spots I wondered what was wrong with it. 

I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to my next two days off!

REALLY THANKFUL- and somewhat shocked

I am leaving town for an overnight trip with a friend.  My sweet husband insisted I needed some time away.  I was going through some bags looking for a few things I may need for the trip.  I put my hand into a bag I had used for a number of things and WHAT was in there?  My grandmother's 1930's style crystal necklace.  The necklace I took as a child from her jewelry box after her death and my mother let me and my sister pick two things each from her jewelry box.  The necklace that went missing when we were evacuated after the Station Fire FOUR years ago!  The necklace I mourned, not because it was worth anything, but what it was worth to me.  I never saw her wearing it, mind you, but it was hers and it made me feel connected to her by it.  I could scarcely believe it.  I had purchased one that was "sort of" like it, so I looked in the box for that one and there it was!  I still cannot believe that after four years, I have found it again!  Thankful?  You'd better believe it!!!!

The Seventh Day

Do you remember the Sunday night radio program- I think it was on KMET- called "The Seventh Day"?  They would play a full album.  I don't listen to the radio much up here, we don't get good reception and in my car, I listen to books on tape.  I used to love "The Seventh Day" and the DJs in the 70's and 80's who had music knowledge, not just people who mistake crash behavior for humor.  There IS a station I listen to sometimes 100.3, the Sound.  They have been hiring the older DJs and just did a KMET night.  It's nice to hear Uncle Joe Benson in the morning, although the morning guy they had was pretty good too.  I am thankful I was exposed to good music as a child (you thought I was going to forget to mention what I was thankful for, didn't you?)  My Dad was a Big Band and Dixieland fan.  I was a child when the Beatles hit and their music was my soundtrack.  I was more a Beatles than a Stones fan.  The harmony and sweetness spoke to me more than the grit of the Stones, but I do like the Stones.  My go-to music has always been the "California sound" the singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Jackson Browne and of course, America.  This was the music of my teen years, that brings me back to a happier and sometimes a sadder time in my life.  I often wonder if I love the songs for the memories they bring with them, or if the memories are clearer, wrapped in the songs?

Day 5 and other thoughts...

Well, it's Wednesday, and I am thankful that I have Friday and Monday off.  ;)  I am hoping for wonderful weather this weekend and I am looking forward to taking a small road-trip with a friend. It's been a long time since I did anything like that and I am looking forward to having a stress-free trip.

Mini rant.   I play "word with Friends" and I KNOW that the game is sponsored BUT WHY do I have to watch the same stupid 30 second spot every time I open a new game page?  Some of them are just annoying.  I am particularly sick of the toothpaste add- I think it's Colgate but I can't be sure.  The woman cheeses into the camera as she is brushing her teeth, she cheeses into the camera from the dentist chair and she cheeses at the end of the spot.  She's... annoying.  I stop playing the game after three or four adds. Can't they just put up a still ad?  I could look at it and then go on to my game, appreciating the sponsor, not getting pissed off at them. Rant over.

Day 4

As I go through the month of November, I am trying to focus on the small things I am thankful for.  Today, I am thankful for a good night's sleep.  It's been a while since I really slept without nightmares.  Last night when I got home, I was tired to the point of being crabby.  I felt myself snapping at Chris and Jenn and decided THAT was enough of that and took myself upstairs to bed.   I read for a bit ( the new Sue Grafton) and fell asleep.  I didn't wake up screaming or shaking from some Horror themed nightmare for a change and got a pretty good night's sleep.  Not enough can be said about how it feels to actually wake up feeling rested. 

I have a lot on my plate at work today.  I might actually get it all done!

Day 4

Trying not to get cliche here, but can I say I am thankful for friends?  Specifically I am thankful for dinner with friends.  There is nothing as nice as spending an evening around a table, eating and talking.  The thing I try NOT to discuss at dinner, I am sorry to say, is politics.  Although most of my friends are like-minded, there are one or two whose opinion may vary.  Getting into an impassioned discussion about it can be upsetting.  I firmly believe in the American political system but frankly one of the two parties has sorely tried my patience with their behavior. 

This weekend, we had the good fortune to have dinner with friends on BOTH nights.  Conversation and laughter is the best way to prepare for the week ahead.

Thanksfulness continues

I am thankful for crisp autumn days, where the sun is shining brightly and there is a definite "snap" in the air.  When I was a kid, I called these days in early November "Roller Skating Days" as the weather was perfect for careening down the sidewalks, zooming along in the clear cold air. Unlike Summer, where early in the morning you could feel the underlying heat that was just below the surface of the morning air.  November has always been my favorite month; days are cool and the air seems cleaner somehow. I enjoy the cooler temps and do a lot of soups and stews and baking!

Thankful. Day two

Can I be thankful for coffee?  Probably not, it seems a bit shallow to be thankful for a beverage.  So, I will be thankful that I can sit in my kitchen and listen to my coffee maker pumping out my morning java.  I am thankful that I am able to make a cup and share a cup with friends. To be able to say, after sharing a meal in our home "does anyone want coffee with dessert?" 

I am looking forward to having a meal this evening with an old friend I haven't seen in ages.   I am making lasagna, so I'd better get cracking!

November 1- I'm Thankful

It's November.  Someone started something last year, or maybe the year before, that every day in November they posted something they are thankful for.  I am going to 'try" and do that ( please don't quote Yoda or EST and tell me "there is no try only do.")  Last year I tried to do more than one thing a day and it got overwhelming.  I am going to post only ONE thing per day and I challenge you ( yes you reading this blog) to think of your one thing per day.  You can reply to my post or post it on your Facebook page, if you want to share!

So here goes.

I am thankful to wake up with my husband each morning.  I know, I know it sounds like a cop-out, but it is truly one thing I appreciate.  I am lucky to have found him and am grateful that he is in my life.  I don't mean to get all mushy, but life is sweeter with him.  He is my rock.

That's MY first "thankful".  What's yours?

Happy Halloween

Good Samhain, everyone!   Have you ever looked at someone on Halloween and had to think "Costume, or bad sartorial sense?"  It's going to be that kind of day.  The holiday kind of snuck up on me, so the only decorations we have up this year are pumpkins carved by Chris and Jenn.  We have some candy- the kind we LIKE so if we don't get any kids we won't have to eat BAD candy ( oh the horror of that!)

I am wearing my vintage John Foggerty "Eye of the Zombie" t-shirt as my nod to the day.  I no longer work in the public sector, so I don't have to go in costume.  I was thinking about how my mom would make our costumes and she kept the old ones in a big barrel in the garage to sort thru and reinvent every year.  One year she made matching Raggedy Ann and Andy costumes for me and the girl next door who was my best friend at the time.  It was fun.  I wonder if she liked sewing or if it was just something she did because she grew up in the Depression. In elementary school, most of my clothes were handmade by my mom.  It was only later, when she went back to work that we bought clothes.

Whatever you do today, however you celebrate the season, have fun and be safe and remember; Life's too short to eat bad candy!

Reaction to Magritte's "empire of light"

"Dominion"

Night begins in the street

Daylight moves skyward
Then follows the sun
To it's western conclusion

Night begins in the house

The sound of children's laughter
Bare feet slapping on wooden floors
Gives way to the warm scent of dinner
Plates ringing
The evening is a soft comfort

The sound of a woman
Murmuring in her kitchen
The sound of a man
Answering her with a low laugh

Night surrounds the house

Outside
The street lamp
Pushes away
A small bit of the darkness
In a soft circle
Lighting the house
And the street below

Trying to find my happy

Things have been a little hectic lately and I feel like I am just going through the motions, trying to get through the week and into the weekend.  Tired and achy.  Complaining?  Yeah I guess I am.  I am working on my "attitude of gratitude"   so despite the difficulties we are facing I will try to remember the following good things

1-  I am married to my best friend. 
2- I am loved
3- I have wonderful friends and family
4- I have a place to live
5- I have food in the refrigerator and the pantry is full
6- I have a job I love ( most of the time)
7- The only constant is change.

My mom was a worrier and I got the "worrying gene" in spades.  I am working on NOT worrying about things I have no control over.  Chris can do that and I am learning from him.

In November, I will try to think of one thing each day I am thankful for.  It will help me focus on what is important and what is not.  I will try not to default to what is called "automatic negative thinking" and flip it to a positive.  It's work, but good work all the same.

Watching old movies, Falling down stairs

I have been watching old movies from the 40's lately, specifically I watched Casablanca a few weeks ago and the Maltese Falcon this weekend.  The thing I love about old movies , vs today's films, is that they are more character and dialogue driven.  Not so much  about special effects and action, like car chases, but more about the storyline.  I must confess that I didn't like the Maltese Falcon as much as I thought I would.  Bogie's character is discussed as a sympathetic man, but he's cheating with his partner's wife, stringing along his secretary and "charms" the Mary Astor character into believing he has feelings for her.   He takes his partner's name off the door before the poor guy's body is cold.I wondered how the homosexual reference from Mary Astor to Peter Lorre slipped past the Hayes Office.  If the movie were made today, we would have seen car chases and explosions and the inevitable sequel, with Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in a classic  "buddy" picture, with them cavorting all over the Middle East in search of "the black bird".  I will have to watch it again and maybe read the book, as I understand the novel is MUCH darker.  I much prefer Bogie's Rick from Casablanca, a seeming hard boiled, world weary sort, who has a soft spot;he helps the young couple win enough at the roulette wheel to escape Casablanca without the wife having to do something with that horrid police captain. I like Rick.  For Sam Spade, the jury's still out.

On Saturday, I fell down the stairs at McGroarty Arts Center.  Lucky for me, I know how to fall, so there is minimal damage to my knees.  It hurts and I am pretty sore, but unbroken.  It ruined my night, somewhat, as I was planning on homemade pizza and I couldn't do it.  Still I enjoyed the Roundtable pizza my husband picked up and watching the ball game with a friend was a lot of fun ( it would have been MORE fun if Boston had won and the game not ended on that weird call.)  Ah well, as they say "That's baseball!"

Tuesday mornig ramblings.

I've decided I don't like taking Tai-chi classes.  I am not looking forward to going.  Ugh.  I have paid for the class but I don't think I am getting out of it what I thought I would.  The instructor is nice and the people in the class are nice,  I just don't feel it.  There is a series online I am going to look at and BOOK time with my husband to do this.  That means we put it on the calendar and DO IT.    It might be better here at home.  I missed last week's class due to INSANE Dodger playoff traffic.  I was trapped for an HOUR on Sunset Bl.  I HATE that the City has eliminated the third lane on Sunset- it's BUS ONLY now.  There aren't THAT many buses, unless they know something I don't about the increase in bus-lines on Sunset.  Oh sure, there is the Stadium Shuttle, but that's only during the season. Now that the season is over ( WAHHHHHH)  Maybe they should go back to giving us all the lanes and increase traffic flow.  Los Angeles is not known for great transit.

I posted the following on the website for my Union;

Election Ballots were mailed out and by now, most of you should have received your ballots.  I am asking each member to do one thing. VOTE!  Take a few moments out of your busy day and look over the candidates, make your choices and MAIL IT BACK.  It’s that simple.  Please don’t ignore the ballot or think that your vote doesn’t matter.  Each vote counts.  The last election, only about a quarter of the eligible voters cast a ballot.  It’s easy and sometimes popular to sit back and complain about the way the Union is run.  You ARE the Union.  EAA is a MEMBER DRIVEN organization; the Board of Governors is responsible to YOU.  I urge you to become more involved in your Union.  Take this small step.  VOTE!

I wonder what kind of flak I will get for it!

EARLY Saturday Morning. UGH

Why am I up at o-dark-hundred, you ask?   Well, I promised to make my Mother-in-law's FAMOUS oatmeal fudgies for some people and FORGOT I wouldn't be home until LATE last night so here I am.  The fudgies are setting up on the dining room table.  I am thinking about going back to bed.   We promised to meet early this morning.  Why do I do this?

They are still working on my plumbing.  There are HUGE holes everywhere and a pipe in the downstairs bathroom wall that is not connected to anything and I think it should be.  I have NO idea- at ALL- if they are coming back today or it will be like this until Monday.  It's got to be done, so we will live with it.  I know the holes will be patched as soon as it's possible ( unlike the LAST manager who fixed the leak but left a gaping hole in my kitchen ceiling that my son-in-law finally fixed ( he told me HE was tired of looking at it and thought I deserved better)

So, my beloved Dodgers are out.  This means only one thing.  GO BOSTON!!!!  Not rooting for the Cards.  BLEH.  Besides, my Mom was a Sox fan ( well Ted Williams at any rate)  You know the rallying cry of Dodger fans is "WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR" anyway.  I really thought they had a chance this year.  That's baseball.

But it's going to be a beautiful day out there.  I need to get my act together for the day we have planned.  I may drown my Dodger-less Series sorrow in a Fudgie or two.

Friday morning, A rant I have held in draft for a while.

I really don't mean to just write a rant but these are the things that are bothering me.

Now that the stupid shutdown has been lifted and we have three months until this crap happens AGAIN, I have to say this;  I am SICK of politics.  I am SICK of the finger-pointing and posturing and misinformation being oozed out by every side of the non-debate debate.  If they spent MORE time working and less time being gits, this would have been solved a LONG time ago. The fact that they are blaming OBAMA, when according to the LAW, only the HOUSE has the power to cause a shutdown just plays more to the misinformation and shadow games in American Politics.  My cousin is here from England and when we were talking about it, I had to confess I didn't really get everything that was going on either.  It made my head swim.

I have been trying for TWO DAYS to get my prescription refilled.  It's cheaper if you do it online, but the online system says I can't order the meds.  My doc wrote the prescription at the beginning of October, but as I still has some left, we adjusted the dose and I NOW need to refill.  No Can Do.  I was on hold for TWENTY MINUTES and still got nothing.  Computers.  A new way for large corporations to piss you off!  The website is a JOKE.  I can't even FIND the number for my pharmacy ( there are a zillion of them) without jumping through a bunch of back doors.  Seriously?  I am a semi-professional researcher.  What would the average person do?

Why do people in cube-farms think that other people can't hear their conversations on the phone?  I have an office mate who constantly uses the hands-free speakerphone and SHOUTS.  I was trying to concentrate yesterday- working on something fairly detailed, and I just COULDN'T  Normally, it's ok.  Yesterday was just a really off day.

I am looking forward to the weekend.  I came home to a kitchen full of plaster dust and a broken kitchen fan.  It was a small cheapy one so I have no idea if the plaster dust was the problem or it just gave up the ghost.  Small price to pay for rust free water and no leaking toilet!

Playing tourguide and meeting with friends

It's funny, but I usually think that people come to LA in the summer.  In the last week I have met up with friends traveling from Australia and my cousin from England.  We met up with our Aussie friends in Santa Monica for lunch.  These are the type of friends that you have an instant connection to, conversation can go on for hours and even if it's been several years since you were in the same room, it feels like just moments.  One day, we hope to visit with them in Australia.  It's on my list of places I want to see.

I was SO excited when I heard from my distant cousin that he and his partner were coming to LA.  I found this branch of the family via Ancestry.com, as I have found most of my recent family connections.  I think his father and I share great-great grandparents.  It was wonderful to meet them; they are the nicest people.  I dragged the two of them on a walking tour of downtown LA which included Central library ( well I took them to two, just because we were there in Little Tokyo)  We went to Olvera St and has taquitos  at Celito Lindo.  We went to Little Tokyo and took the DASH bus past the Music Center and The Disney Hall.  We skipped Angel's Flight.  I heard the operators were cited for some irregularity recently ( the story goes that they were using a tree branch to slow it down- YIKES!)  I ALMOST talked them into posing with the stuffed donkey at the entrance to Olvera St.   ALMOST!  We agreed that they would have needed a bit of tequila to do that one.  It was a beautiful, if a wee bit warm, day.  I really enjoyed myself and hope they did too!

The owners of my building are going to be replumbing our unit, starting this morning.  I have NO idea what I will be coming home to, but I trust I will have water of some kind.  We will deal with whatever it is.  The water in the pipes comes out rusty right now so ANYTHING is an improvement.  This is an old building.

I missed my Tuesday Tai Chi class.  I got caught in hideous rush hour Dodger traffic, no matter where I went I was in bumper to bumper traffic.  What I want to know is WHAT GENIUS has designated the right lane as a BUS LANE?  This forces all the CARS into two lanes.  THAT'S working out real well, I can tell you.  I blame AnVil , the "transit mayor"  he had more cockamamie ideas than anyone in the last few months of his term; including "every lane a bike lane"  which is just foolhardy if you've ever DRIVEN in Los Angeles. It's dangerous enough in a car!

Oh GREAT More books I haven't read yet.

I got an email from a friend yesterday afternoon asking me to join her at an ALOUD program at Central Library where I work, to hear one of her favorite auathors. I had never heard of Alice McDermott, but the theme was "the joy of NOT writing for the movies" and I hadn't seen my friend in a while so I stayed at work, completing a project, until it was time to go grab my car from the lot where I park and go to the program.

I am glad I was in the office, as there was yet ANOTHER plumbing emergency at one of the branches.  Honestly, these things are cyclical.  This week it's plumbing, next week it will be windows or doors.

I got to the program and saw a few actors I recognized from television; Fred Willard and Joanne Whorley  Remember her from Laugh-in?  I sure do.  She was nice and polite and waited in line with the rest of us.  There were probably a whole bunch of writers there, but I never recognize anyone anyway.  It was an interesting talk.  McDermott's current book "Someone" is set in pre WWII  Brooklyn, centered around an Irish family. I will have to read it, as MY Irish family lived in Brooklyn- pre-WWII.  Apparently most of her books are Irish-Catholic themed.  She read an excerpt and it was compelling.  The talk drifted to poets and authors she admires and she mentioned a book by Yeats in which he explores mystical themes in Celtic literature. Like most people, I love Yeats.  His work as a poet has a disarming simplicity that resonates with me. I tried to reserve the book last night, but the system was down ( at MIDNIGHT- go figure) and I need to do that this morning. If it's IN I might just go find it, although I have about five or six books I am reading right now.  I am greedy when it comes to books, or maybe that's needy.  Like any English major, I need to have several books to pick up depending on my mindset.  I really don't know if reading books like "Anna covered in Blood" is the best for my nighttime reading!

McDermott never really got around to the theme of the talk.  She touched briefly on why, for her, fiction is better.  I do get kind of tired of people slamming the movie industry.  In some cases I wonder if it's not "sour grapes"  Still I enjoyed her enough to look into her fiction and maybe try to see the film based on her novel "After this" ( I think that's the one, anyway I need to  Google it.)  She did tell a funny story about meeting director Milos Foreman.  She was genuinely charming, when the moderator said she was going to read something that McDermott had written about writing, then handed McDermott the paper, McDermott took the paper and read the passage to herself. "Did you write that?" The moderator asked "No, but it's lovely" she responded.  The moderator flushed and snatched the paper back only to realize it was a critique of McDermott's book written by someone who was in the audience who waved and laughed.

I was nice to get out for the evening and have a catch up conversation with my friend.  We need to do that more often!

Books and Movies

So many books, so little time.  I have not been sleeping well, AGAIN and by the time I get home from work, get dinner done and things tidied up in the kitchen I am one whipped puppy.  So I haven't been reading.  I wonder if I could take an entire day just to lie around reading?  hmm, my idea of a nice day, I suppose.  It's not going to happen and I don't think I could do it unless there were no one in the house.  "Certain" people distract me ;)

Saw "Oz the Great and Powerful" the other day.  It was a huge flop theatrically, but it was a thought provoking movie and we had quite a discussion afterward.  Most of it centered around the books of L. Frank Baum and what the character of the wizard was like in this film.  It was beautifully filmed, although we all agreed that as the "wicked Witch"  Mila Kunis' makeup COULD have been better.  James Franco was passable as the wizard.  I wonder if it were not meant to be seen in 3D, the effects were pretty cool, the story rather predictable but what do you expect from a Wizard of Oz themed film.  You can't re-invent the basic character of the wizard, a carnival con man, and make him a long lost prince or something.

I have about seven books I have to read.  I am enjoying them, I just keep falling asleep after about five pages.  But there IS hope for me.  MONDAY is a holiday!!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness month

I found a lump in my left breast last week.  I admit I kind of freaked  me out.  About eight years ago, a routine mammogram ( my first EVER) found THREE lumps in my left breast.  The biopsy deemed them "suspicious" and I had the surgery to remove them.  They were NOT cancerous, but "Suspicious" enough to require me to have mammograms every six months for several years.  I am thankful for that first mammogram, as my doctor said they could have become cancer, if I hadn't caught it so early on.  I have had several more scares, each time including this one I have been fortunate to have been given a clean report.

The point of all of this,is I suppose, that you should remember to check yourself monthly.  This includes men, BTW.  We forget that they too can have breast cancer.  I posted a heart on my page, a sign to other women to remember to check.  I was reminded by a wonderful blog post from my friend Cindy Alexander, herself a cancer Warrior,(I think of people who fought Cancer as Warriors, not survivors, because it's a FIGHT you are in, a battle and you come out the victor)  that we need to be vocal about it, not cute and silent.  Society sexualizes women's breasts to the point where bathing suits that barely cover the nipples are acceptable but public breastfeeding is considered obscene. 

So remind a friend today.  Breast cancer is not the killer it once was.  With research and education, we CAN fight back and win this battle.

The "Cult" of Celebrity

A conversation with friends got me to thinking about how I feel about people who are "famous".   Being famous is like an addiction for some people, they crave attention and the spotlight and will do anything to get there and STAY there.  Growing up in Los Angeles, you learn early on that being in "the Industry" is a job just like any other job.  I am not impressed with  tv actors or film stars simply because of their appearance in my home or in the theaters; and while I am sure they are nice people for the most part, my happiness does not depend upon them.  The same goes  for musicians and supermodels. The only musician on whose daily life my happiness balances is my bass player husband, Chris.

I have had dinner, or drinks with authors and musicians and actors. We have had some wonderful conversations, so I don't mean to imply that people who work in the entertainment industry don't have something that interests me.  It's just when I see someone on the street, I don't rush up to them and gush and tell them how wonderful they are.  I don't want to be their new best friend.  Some of them, I couldn't care less about.   I was playing that game with myself "If you could invite anyone who ever lived to dinner, who would it be?  I came up with my great-grandmother, who was a midwife in the 1880s  and my great-great grandfather, who was a soldier in the Civil War.  That would be an interesting conversation, far better than any current celebrity.  Who would YOU have at your table?

On a side note, Happy Birthday to my Big Sister Joanie!  Love you!!!

Friday morning

I know it's been a busy week when I haven't had a chance to sit and collect my thoughts much.  I have been running like crazy and am looking forward to resting this weekend ( By  a show of hands, how many of you actually think I will rest? Yeah, me neither)

On Monday,I had the chance to see my favorite film of all time, the Wizard of Oz, on the big screen.  We squeezed it in around doctor visits and other things, but it really helped to see it. I felt better and the visit to my doctor reassured me as well.  I finally have a doctor I can trust who talks to me as if I were a person, not a medical record number.  Seeing the film, restored and in 3-D was amazing.  The makeup on the scarecrow, was terrific.  You could see where his face was supposed to be a burlap bag.  Dorothy had a spray of freckles across her nose.  I wanted to see it with two of my friends who are fans as well, but we just couldn't arrange time together.  If it is still playing anywhere and we can "road trip" to do it, that would be a lot of fun too.

Monday night  we went to Maria's Italian Kitchen in Encino. They have been real supportive of my cousin Robert Zorn's book, Cemetery John ( and if you haven't read it WHY NOT???)  Robert was here in Los Angeles on business and we finally got the chance to meet and talk.  What a wonderful evening it was!  The hosts of the party, George and Jenny were so nice, lively conversation about books and movies and  life in general.  We closed the place down and talked way into the night. I am sure the staff thought we would keep them there until dawn.  I tried to make a note off all the books they were talking about.  I did get a copy of "Will in the World" about Shakespeare.  I started it last night.  I am now reading FIVE books at a time.  

Tuesday, I started a Tai Chi class at Kaiser, and while I am an uncoordinated mess, I think I will enjoy the class.  I hope I am not a hopeless student.  The instructor is a nice gentle person.  Tai Chi is supposed to help with balance, among other things and I am feeling a little more off balance these days. 

Wednesday, I had a board meeting at McGroarty. It went fairly well and I am hopeful for new beginnings there.  We have a lot of events coming up and I will be inviting you all to all of them!  Next up is a Volunteer Day and The Big Draw.  More about them later.

Last night I had dinner with two good friends who make me laugh.  It was nice to see them and have dinner at the Eagle Rock Sizzler, although I will tell you this, the ribs were way overcooked.  Talk about movies, baseball and current events mixed in with catching up on our lives was a wonderful way to wind the day down.  Tom always complains when I don't write this blog, so I am glad I provide some entertainment for him ( comment away Tom!)

So that's my week, but I can't get away from this without making ONE political comment.  I  am SICK to death of the finger-pointing and the crud being flung around.  Shut up and solve the problem.  Don't try to spin it.  I have friends who think Obama is to blame for all of this. Nope I blame CONGRESS-- ALL of Congress. The Republicans seem hell-bent on having a hissy fit, still pissed because they lost the election .  Both sides have dug in their heels and the American People are the losers in this game.  We need NOT to re-elect any current member of Congress.  I know it won't happen, but it should. Throw them all out!