You thought LA's traffic is hazardous

Rush hour in New Delhi is more dangerous these days with an old elephant holding up traffic if he suspects food in any of the cars. He forces the drivers to stop by standing in front of the car and then stays there until the driver gets out and he can extract his toll.

What's next? Raising the bus fare?

Get out of Purgitory free card

You'd think being retired I'd have this spic and span clean house. How wrong you'd be. My house cleaning consists of tidying up the kitchen and baths, making sure my dearly beloved has clean britches and dusting, if we have company. Of course when we have overnight guests I feel compelled to clean a bit more and since my family will be converging here in June I've been in Über clean mode.

Because I've gotten lazy I only do one or two chores a day then either walk, write for this and the PBE blogs or paint. I do spoil myself. Today's chores consisted in cleaning ceiling fans and the aluminium blinds in both front rooms. Yikes, what a boring job and if I were still associated with the Catholic Church I'm sure I would have offered up this time as penance for the poor souls in Purgatory. A product of some Catholic schooling, every boring job drags my mind back to Nuns making you feel no time is wasted when there are souls to push onto their final reward.

This sort of stuff all ways got me into trouble in school like the time I, quite seriously, asked the Nun if I could sort of "bank" some prayers for a few of my friends I know will need them once they die because they should be going straight to hell. Detention, Miss.

Something in the back of my mind say some recent Pope eliminated Purgatory a few years ago but I'm not sure. If this was changed I am sure everyone got the express into heaven just like when, during the the 60s, they eliminated the Friday penance of no meat. Says so somewhere in Canon Law, which, I might add, reads like some Californian ballot propositions. The church never does seem to get it's story right, Inquisitions, Indulgences, and Insolent Priests.

Under the Tuscan sun

When our dear friends visited Tuscany they brought back a lovely plate for our kitchen. It has all the wonderful colors of the kitchen and that is where it will hang but I couldn't resist a small, quick still life before it goes on the wall.

They also brought back some lovely photos so, even though I didn't travel to Italy, I can paint like I did. Only you and I will know this secret, shhhhhh.

Hate the war; not the Warriors

Something stabbed me in the heart on Friday while waiting for our movie to start. No, not a heart attack though with all that butter-flavored-oil on the popcorn these days I'm surprised. It wasn't a tussle with another movie goer for a seat but a commercial. God how I hate paying so much to view a movie and seeing commercials but this one gave me a jolt. It was for the National Guard and although I know about the Guard this commercial put this Memorial Day in perspective for me.

When these Americans signed up for the Guard they signed to serve America, Federal or State. They are the ones who show up during floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes with the knowledge that in times of war, they will serve there as well. They signed up to protect us with the understanding we'd protect and take care of them.

It is unfortunate they are in a place, I feel, is not serving democracy like the current administration tells us but serving some other interest we'll find out at a later time. I don't hold all of us responsible for letting this happen, for not voting to change the administration when we had a chance just like I don't hold the soldier responsible for being in Iraq.

We can really thank them for their service by bringing them home.

A Million Thanks

First in a kitchen flavor

Doing a kitchen theme is something I've always wanted to try. I've always been drawn, pardon the unplanned pun, to Cook's magazine, I've even framed two of their covers but wanted more of my kitchen palette. So here is a start. I hope the color looks better on a PC than it does on my Mac.

Comments or criticism always welcomed.

Why the good mood?

Walking has become quite a joyful event for me these days. I try to attach my walks to saving gas by making one stop and lots of walking in between businesses but on occasion I just walk.

This morning's walk was quite relaxing and before I knew it I'd walked much farther than I usually do. I try to take my mind of how far and just enjoy the time. That seemed to be successful this morning because I noticed so many different nice things. No one tried to run me down in the crosswalk, two people smiled and answered my bright and cheery hello, and I watched a squirrel scamper across the park and up into a tree carrying what I assumed was a nut.

There is no other word for the way they move except scamper. They seem to bounce in between each step as if their front feet are tied together, as well as their hind feet, like some escaped mental patient gloriously ignoring the fact their feet don't move independently when they run. Walking is a different matter. They can scoot up the tree moving all four appendages.

Enough of small furry animals, I have to say I'm most likely in a good mood because today was our daughter's birthday and we'll just say, she's an adult and leave the age alone. We took her to lunch; she picked a nice restaurant across from her office. It's always a treat to see her in the middle of the week. So Happy Birthday, lil Bird and thanks for being such an important part of our lives.

It's all about the Dinero

There is an e-mail being circulated now that shows the American flag upside down under a flag from Mexico. Snopes , my go to for anything controversial these days, had this to say about the incident that happened last year, by the way. High school students from neighboring high schools, angry with Montebello students for not joining in the walkout, took over the campus and re-hung the flags.

Was it wrong, yes. Does it mean this is the sentiment in the Hispanic community, no. The students guilty of the acts were punished and Montebello students now live with the accusations of their patriotism.

Immigration is a touchy subject right now, with no simple answer. We've looked the other way for years when it comes to hiring people for low-income jobs and now we want an quick fix. As long as people can get to this country and make a living they can't in their country, they will come, legal or not. And because everything is about the money, I'm sure what ever they come up with some fat-cat will make some more.

How to get noticed in California

My birthday is coming up and I know what I want, an air-horn. I've been doing a lot of walking. Trying to get healthy and keeping green, I walk about six miles a week. I'm hoping to increase it to ten but not unless I get an air-horn.

Why would I need one? To honk at all you bastards trying to run me over in the crosswalk. In California the crosswalk is sacred, a safety zone for the foot traveler. That is the intent but there seems to be a lack of communication to drivers, especially phone-to-ear drivers. For the love of god, I'm a fat lady in the crosswalk, you couldn't see me? I've taken to wearing brightly colored clothes but I refuse to carry a flag, what I need is something to blast them back to reality. The reality being, "You're driving a f#$%ing car, get off the phone!

The Gypsy Caravan is on it's way

WooHoo! My sister and her beloved and the Big Ass Truck are finally on the road and leaving Florida heading west. Their second night is in Pensacola but they will be in Ole Miss tomorrow. At least they are one time zone closer.

Please stand behind the yellow line

Here I go, being Green, again. I'd like to challenge all my friends to one day a week to leave your damn foreign oil sucking machine in the garage/carport/impound lot so that we can really send a message to the damn sucking oil companies. This is getting more ridiculous.

Someone was excited about not buying gas on Thursday. That'll show 'em. Yeah, right if, you buy 10 gallons a week and don't buy it on one certain how is that showing them? Well we could buy from the independents. Just where do you think THEY get the gas. Just because his name is Akmid doesn't mean he has a direct line to the Saudi well. Brains people, we all have them we could exercise them and our own bodies by cutting down on the consumption.

I'm not asking anything drastic, just start small. Meeting friends? Car pool. Two or more errands, park and walk. What will it cost you? Time? Jeese, you've got a dozen modern time saving appliances, time shouldn't be an issue.

I've been investigating riding public transportation to the Getty Center, I'm volunteering twice this week so that means two trips to LA on the bus. I will be posting my results. Plus, I might get a funny story out of the whole adventure.

Never give up

This just proves if you are persistant you will prevail.

Where is she?

I've been oh so terrible about posting here lately. I'm working furiously on my Getty Tour for the Central Garden and have been drawn into the WW Web. How easy to do. No Spiderman here but held against my will.

One more, then I'll get back to work

This is a work in progress. Pastel is just too much fun for me now but I do have other things I've got to do, like clean the bathrooms and dust. Way too much dust in this part of the country, we oh, so need some rain. Since sister and her pit crew will be here in a few weeks I should get busy. Oh, maybe I'll do that after I work a bit more on this.

Are they here yet?

My sister and brother-out-law have been residents of the Blue Tarp State, Florida to those of you with short memories, and for the last year have been trying to escape and come West. Their success is eminent. They've sold the house, bought and taken possession of the Big Ass Truck and were supposed to have the fifth wheel on Friday. A glitch has them still waiting but this should be rectified this afternoon, then a few days to get it loaded and they'll become Road Gypsies.

It should take them about a month to get to our place, but only because they have plans to stop along the way. Seems like they will be traveling in style with the Big Ass Truck pulling a fine RV with comforts of home. I'm a bit envious of all the wonderful sites yet to be discovered but will be thrilled to see photos.

Her blog should be filled with interesting places they find themselves and will be fun for me to track their path. I can't wait to see the Gypsy Caravan pull up out front so until that time, are they here yet?

Having a pastel moment

Because watercolor is literally a pain in my neck I've changed to pastel. Here's my first two.

Walkin' the Green Talk

This was my first UCLA Festival of Books and it was quite the adventure. I knew it would be crowded and the parking (8 bucks) a nightmare so my only alternative was to take public transportation. Hey, I talk about being "green" so let's try it.

Because I live about 35 miles from UCLA I decided to cut down my bus ridin' time a little and drive 15 miles to a central bus hub. The Metro website has this great trip planner and even better directions. A $3 all-day pass and two buses and I was there.

Arriving about 10:00 a.m. I thought this was too easy, then about noon the crowds came. Thank god I got lunch early because after twelve the lines were unbelievable. Lunch was two soft tacos and I found a shaded grassy area next to Janns Steps.

There were vendors booths all over the campus from big book sellers to little self-published authors. A man stopped me and read a bit of a poem from his book. We all need more poetry in our lives and I was glad to hear his on a warm sunny day in Los Angeles, with 100,000 of our closest friends.

If you had kids this would be the place to come. There was an entire area set aside for kids books with a stage where different celebs read aloud.

I'd did make it over to the Cooking Stage to see Food Network's Chef Dave Leiberman give a demo. He wasn't as smooth as his TV show but very friendly with the crowd answering all types of questions. It was a bit breezy and toppled his sign.

Ok, so what did I save by going "green?" At 52 cents a mile from the hub, $ 12.21, oh, and 8 bucks for parking less the 3 dollar day pass that saved me $17.21 for the day. For my 15 mile trip I cut out about 14 lbs of carbon. Doesn't sound like much but this is just one trip in a Hybrid Honda so if you had some huge SUV suckin' the life out of California it would help to travel, if only for a bit of your trip, by public transportation.

Will I do this again? Yes, I'm at the Getty Center, same bus line, once a week so when we have big traffic days, I'm gonna bus-it. Benefit? Saved money, got to read my book--both coming and going--got to see some poor soul that tucks his shirt into his underpants--and doesn't care. But that's for another post.

The Secret of the Getty

I've heard of people "playing" the travertine but here it is.

I remember 1950s

Editor's note: There is absolutely nothing important in this post; just me musing.

For some reason, my parents didn't own a washing machine so that meant weekly trips to the Laundromat. If we were living in an apartment, which we did when we first came to Southern California from Indiana, and my mom was working, it was easier for her to haul everything to the local wash-a-teria and do it all at one time. This was agonizing because I got hauled along with the sheets.

In Culver City I remember a store next door to the Laundromat, it was a convenience store called "Pronto Market." Never did understand why they called them "convenience" stores when I was a kid but as an adult, on the way to a party, yes oh so convenient.

Bribing me with a buck allowed me to peruse the magazines and candy selections but because I was an odd kid I'd check out everything else. Who knows, maybe I was thinking of a party for some of my other ten-year-old friends and as I remember, it was a liquor store with a cold case of milk and soda and some odd snack/party items. Yup, they have those packages of little drink umbrellas, must remember those for my next soiree.

The store changed names, I can't be sure of the year, maybe in the 60s and it was an odd name, Trader Joe's. They added a few different items but still had that party theme. Buy a keg, bags of chips, case of beer, ice; that sort of fare. I'd forgotten about them until sometime in the 70s when we moved to Simi and seems like TJ's moved to the valley. Still a place to stock up with drinks for a party; nothing special.

Fast forward to the 90s--the 80s were a blur to me--working in Westlake I stopped in the store quite by accident. Someone raved about their wine selection and hey, they had a bigger store that carried quite a lot of wine and some other interesting items; fresh cheese for one. Cheese the regular markets didn't carry. I was hooked.

Now I carry my own shopping bags and in a Trader Joe's at least twice a week. I love all their dairy products including the cheese selection. Why are they cheaper than the big markets? The staff is always accommodating and they seem happy to be there, like it's a big party everyday. I look forward to April for the buck daffodils. The wine brought me in but the cheese made me a customer for life.Well, that and the fact they still carry those little paper drink umbrellas.

Loss of a Pet

Here is an interesting survey from Purdue University. They are compiling infomation about how pet owners grieve after a loss. Pet Loss Survey.

We, the Jolly Family, have had three dogs, our current is darling Buddy, the wire-haired-terrorist. It is sad to lose a pet but we've always thought the pain in losing is offset by the joy of giving them a much better life.


Editor's note: The Jolly Family is a name we've called ourselves, darling husband, lil bird, and me.

It only takes one bad Geek

Back in March I had a "melt-down" in our local Best Buy. Why? Well, it might have been a combination of my neck problem, my age, and the fact that they were acting so stupid I had to get angry. The next day I went to the doctor about my neck, I can't do anything about my age and I really never wrote/called Best Buy about the idiots they have in, what they laughingly call, customer service, but I did swear off the store.

Yesterday I changed my printer cartridges and remembered seeing a recycle bin for empties; dead batteries, too, at Best Buy. Not wanting to goop up the land fill I went there and yup, they took the cartridges. Being a bit happier than I was the last time I entered their store I thought I'd check there supply of photo printer paper. To my utter amazement one staff member took me to the department and asked that staff member to help me, which he did. I mean he really helped me. He told me about the different papers and I wasn't going to buy but wanted to know if he was knowledgable, he was. Amazed I walked to another department, the same damn treatment.

What could have created this turn around I wondered? A new interest in customer service? Or maybe trying to boost their sagging image. One of their "geeks" got caught being bad and I'm sure there was a prime directive from the corp. office about being professional.