Can't get to you now, relaxin'

And now, a little Yiddish

Dolores and I carpool to the Getty on Wednesdays. I think I enjoy that as much as the Getty its self. We do laugh a lot and I learn a bit of Yiddish at no extra cost.

Here is one of her definitions.

A schlemeil is someone who drops something on the floor.

A schlimazel steps in it.

A little green update

My daughter is getting into the swing of solar cooking. First she cooked a pot of rice, this time she's done a near-complete dinner. I could not be prouder.

Me? I'm still try to cut down on oil consumption by taking some public trans and walking to the market when I've forgotten one or two items. Now that the summer has turned up the heat that's not as easy, so I keep my errands to the early morning. Lucky, most of our stores open early here.

Speaking of shopping at the market. Do you hate those plastic bags as much as I do? Most markets these days sell the reusable shopping bags. Trader Joe's has the coolest. I keep an assortment in my trunk to accommodate any size purchase.

Last week I did get a chance to try the Metro Train into LA. I'm always looking for the perfect balance to get me to the Getty Center. I carpool most weeks and when I don't try an alternative. The train to Van Nuys stops just about ten minutes from my house and after a 30 minute ride I pick up one bus that goes directly to the Getty. This save me a bit of time because I don't have to transfer; no waiting for that additional bus.

Is this cheaper for me or save me time? Nope. I do it because I have to prove to myself it can be done. We should all find a way to conserve, all of us.

Bring a book

Traveling by bus I have found some interesting people. Take the last trip. I'm sitting on the bench, minding my own business, reading my book. When you travel this way it's always good to have something to do while you wait. A nicely dressed, somewhere near 40 year-old, walks up and sits beside me and proceeds to tell me her life story. Do I have one of those sympathetic faces?

Her story was too long for this post but the synopsis was she didn't get the job she applied for because they don't hire felons. This got my attention; I closed my book. She went into some long involved situation where she hooked up with a "weirdo", her words, and offered, with the help of a friend, to move is stuff into a storage unit. Flash forward to a storage yard where the moving friend gets drunk, she gets irritated and slams the car into reverse to race out of there, not seeing her helping friend who's bent down behind the car. Yep, backed over her and killed her instantly, she said.

Me: Killing someone with a car isn't felony manslaughter, is it?
Her: It is if you leave the scene of the accident.

She said she didn't drive away but ran down the street to a hospital to get help. So they have a trial and "... now I can't get a stinkin' job!"

Sad situation, yes, but never in this conversation did she mention the friend she'd killed, never. My god, no remorse at all? Nope, just poor me, now my life is ruined. Oh look, here's the bus.

August Desktop Calendar

Here is the desktop background picture to be used as a calendar for August. It's easy but you need to know how to change your background on your computer. Here are some quick steps:

• Click on appropriate link.
  large calendar, 1680 x 1050
  medium calendar, 1024 x 640
  small calendar, 800 x 500
  

• PC users-right click or Mac users Control click, the image and select "Set as Desktop Background"

The calendar is now your background and all your files or shortcuts will be floating on top. You can rearrange them but not the background calendar.

Don't want it once you've selected it?
PC users:

• Select Start, Control Panel, Appearance & Themes, Change desktop background.
• If the image is distorted, select "center" under Position.
• To remove, select none and apply.

MAC users:

• Select System Preferences
• Desktop & Screen Saver
• Select a new image
• If the image is distorted, select "center" from the pull-down

I like to use the smaller size that keeps a boarder around the calendar. I hope you enjoy this little feature and let me know if you use it.

We need less priests and more Uncle Daves

I'll confess; I've never been a great Catholic. My family ranges from people like me to one who should have been a priest. My uncle goes to Mass every day of his life and has for as long as I can remember. I, on the other hand, can't remember the last Mass I attended other than a funeral.

What has me confused is why so many abuse victims? Are there that many ratty-assed priests? Mahonney said he was truly sorry. Yeah, sorry he had to pay out all that money. Tell me what they are doing to keep this from happening again, then I'll be happy. LA Catholic Church apologies.

Now the Pope says "Other Christians are not true Christians." Huh? Another uncle, recently departed, was a Lutheran, through and through. Never missed church and was the most genuinely honest and moral person I've ever known. So when he died you think St Pete says, oops, all that good living, sorry, we've about 100 pedophile priests ahead of you, you know, Catholicism is the only true religion.

Does this sound like another religion? If you don't believe in my way of thinking … fill in the blanks. I'm not saying Pope Benny and the Jets suggests strapping on vests and heading down to the local Protestant Church but come on, where did this come from? There is a reason pontificate, to express one's opinion in a way considered annoying, came from that section of Rome.

It's all in how you look at it

My darling friend Dolores was at the dentist this week and when asked by the staff if she was "attached" she said no. They have a man she should meet, he drives at night and has his own teeth and is only 94 year-old. She thinks she might pass on that introduction.

Different things are important at different times.

When you're 15,
"He can drive his mother's car."

When you're 25,
"He has his own car and can buy alcohol."

When you're 35,
"He has a job and never been married."

When you're 65,
"He has a pension and health insurance."

When you're 95,
"He can still drive."

Tuscan wall

This is from Ilva's photos. I hope she still doesn't mind if I paint them. For some reason I've started working smaller rather than larger. Larger is what I want but each time I choose something it becomes about 8 x 10 inches. I must get out of this rut. In my defense, this size is easier to transport back and forth to class.

Disclaimer: I'm just snapping a pix from my dinky camera for these posts.

Diamonds are what this girl wants

Baseball has always been one of the few sports I will attend in person. When my dearly beloved and suffered through my unfortunate incarceration in Bakersfield we became fond of the local Minor League team, the Blaze. The behind-home-plate tickets went for about five bucks and two dollar beers. What's not to love? You could even pick up tickets from local merchants. These got you into the cheap seats for a buck or two. You could go for a few innings and leave when the other team scored double digits. It was like being in the movie Bull Durham, without Tim Robbins or Kevin Costner, of course.

Now the LA Dodgers' tickets are a bit pricier. You could spend a grand for two similar tickets so I am content to watch them on TV, the seats are more comfortable. A trip to the ball field is what a desire so I hope to talk the old boy into at least one outing before the end of the season.

You might have noticed on the right-hand side the blog I've posted some "News" about the Dodgers. They are doing great right now, first place in the West so here's hoping we have something to cheer about in October.

So many sights; so little paper

Back from a week at the beach. This is the dry hills around Santa Ynez. The sky was a beautiful blue, no fog. More on the trip but I needed to get this out of my head and on paper.

Dolphins off the beach in Ventura. They came about an hour before sunset. I missed the shot of two of them surfing in a wave, you'll have to take my word.



Our camp in Pismo. Wow, what a nice place. Pismo Coast Village RV Resort.


Creek between us and the town of Pismo. Simply wonderful. Only draw back: there is a six month wait for reservations. We were lucky because we only wanted two days and we were willing to move for the second day.

Slight remodel

We are off to the beach for some camping this week. It won't be as hot as last week but still it's good to get away. While I'm gone I've left a few new things to ponder so ponder at will.

Blogger has added a few new features to the side of their blogs. I'm trying the Poll with a question about visiting this blog. Not that I care that much but what I am doing is testing its functionality before I put it on our food blog, PBE.

The other is "A bit of News" also located on the right-hand side; scroll down. I've added stories about things that interest me, Apple, the LA Dodgers, and Simi Valley, California. These topics could change. I do need to find a way to filter these topics. Apple is coming up with stories about "apple pie".

Ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?

This would be the theme of my Saturday.

• Blogger is wonky
• I get out my sewing machine, which was just repaired, and the case was put on wrong so I can't plug it in.
• My printer is acting foolish
• I went out to do some shopping and when I returned the sprinklers had been running for two hours.
• My husband is away and not answering his cell phone.
• When I tried to access my voice-mail it says it's been disabled and to call. They aren't there on the weekend.
• Trying to talk with my sister, she's on the road traveling, the phone is wonky.
  
• I can't find my recipe for my shortbread cookies.

I'm going back to bed, see ya on Monday

Poppy

This is from a photo Doodles took at the Getty Center while they were visiting last month. Oh, has it been that long they've been gone? Where does the time go?

She and Mr Doodles are busy taking more photos so I can continue to paint. Damn nice of them, don't you think?

All aboooaaaarrd!

With July comes triple digits here in Southern California. Since our mornings are still cool enough to walk I've challenged myself to be up and out before 7:00 am. This isn't too difficult because I've always been a "morning person."

One of my routes takes me across a railroad crossing and usually the train is the Metrolink, a commuter train heading for Los Angeles. This morning a fast moving freight made me stop. With the sun behind the train I turned and watched the hypnotic flash of the cars going by. The space between each car was a framed picture and it reminded me of a Zoetrope, the precursor to moving pictures.

On the opposite side of the train a man walking his dog was frozen into separate frames. I was mesmerized. Sequenced frames viewed together would make one fluid motion; a moving picture. The the train passed returning everything to normal. I had to wonder if that's how movies were invented.

Poultry from the Getty

These are really called Echeveria but I've always know them as Hens and Chickens, they are a succulent similar to an aloe but they have these wonderful pinky orange flowers. This painting is from another photo taken by my sister, doodles, at the Getty Center last month. I love how the leathery leaves absorb the pink from the flowers.