I did it!

Some might know I'm a docent at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. I've be there since 2000 and although I adore my volunteer job inside, I've always wanted the opportunity to give an architecture tour. Last year, when it was so busy during the holidays, a panic-filled docent asked if I could help with her tour group, she had sixty visitors. I was sad to say I couldn't and felt bad about not being able to pitch in. I'm a team player.

This past June I was granted my wish when another docent and myself were allowed to prepare a tour. We worked together with the help of our "boss", she was so kind to give us individual help, and while I was on vacation Lorrie, my partner, gave her tour. Her's was great, she said and knew I'd do well. We'll see.

Yesterday was my turn. I wasn't nervous but excited when I realized I was on the schedule. I walked out to meet my group with confidence, and a special love of the joint, so how could I fail. There were fourteen visitors waiting and before we moved to the first stop five more jumped in.

What wonderful people they were and asked intelligent questions about what I was telling them. They all stayed with me until the end, I've a short tour, and gave me a standing ovation. The standing wasn't the important part but the applause sure made me feel good.

Now that I'm trained I'll be able to help more with the crowds that come during the holidays, we are a destination for many tourists. Now I really feel part of the team.

Everyone loves their Teddy

I've not been posting much here lately because I just am not happy. Seems like Death is making an appearance way too often in my little corner of the world. This year I've lost two uncles, a good friend's mother and now another long time friend. Someone please, have a baby!

My life is such that I have a lot to be thankful for and knowing all these people has been sweet but boy, when you start losing friends it does make you think of your own mortality. Put your affairs in order, think about what needs to be done or said, things like that. Life is short. Sounds trite but it is.

Teddy was a nice guy and he always said I was beautiful. That would make me laughed and I'd reminded him he was blind, which legally he was, but he was sweet to say it anyway. Teddy was the poster child for what you shouldn't do when you were diabetic and he paid the price--but he did live life on his own terms.

When our little doggy Sheba would bark at him I told him it was because she was afraid of tall people and he'd lay on the floor so not to scare her, he was that kind of guy.

We'll miss you Theodore.

Is there an "L" in embarrass?

Having worked with the printed word I can feel for these poor folks. Typos can bring an editor to their knees and I don't care how many times it is proofed Public will become Pubic once in your career. I was lucky enough to have it on a cover in 72pt bold.

Baseball; strike two

Strike One: No joy in Mudville; Dodgers couldn't beat the Mets

I've always liked baseball from my first time watching the Dodgers play in the Los Angeles coliseum to the last Saturday night's heartbreaking defeat to the Mets. They played in the coliseum because Chavez Ravine wasn't Dodger's Stadium, yet.

Baseball is not for everyone. You have to enjoy the slow pace of the game to understand the nuances. I love the slow pace but the techie side of me loves the Tivo. It does help with all those nasty commercials.

Strike Two: Baseball pioneer Buck O'Neil dies at 92

Somehow he did not get elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame; missed by one vote. That was a pity because just listening to Buck talk about baseball you couldn't help but love the game, no matter your color. He spoke with reverence about the "good old days" and he had a right to, he was part of them. One vote shy I guess they felt he could wait another year.

Strike Three: That would be if O'Neil wasn't on the top of the next list for Cooperstown.

What about the baseball? Oh I'll watch it right down to the last pitch, someone has to root against the Mets. And next year, the boys in blue will do it next year.

Cease and desists

On-line banking has been the way I deal with bills for a long time and about two years ago I talked my darling husband into letting me pay all the household bills that way, too. It is so easy to schedule payments in case you are out of town.

Yesterday I received a letter from the trash company and they'd like me NOT to send them any more money. Somehow I'd gotten it in my mind to pay for our rubbish collection every month and had been doing so for two years. I now have a credit because they bill bi-monthly and won't have to pay for a year. At first I wondered why I wasn't getting an electronic bill but since I had no other communication from the company I forgot about it. Now I've got to remember to start paying again next year.

Do you use a broken pencil?

I know when something is broken.
A glass doesn't hold water,
a leg doesn't support you,
a building falls down.

A country doesn't protect children.

By the way, that includes children here and in other countries we are suppose to help become free.

Do not forget to vote in November.

You have the power to fix broken things.

She was pretty in pink

In May 2006 we lost a dear friend, Sue Christensen and in honor of her birthday her family asked everyone to remember her fondly, which we do, and to send off a pink helium balloon in her honor.

So here is darling husband with our two balloons, her name and birthdate attached.

We watched as they floated skyward and wished the dear little woman, Happy Birthday. She had many happy returns because she'd touched so many people.

Hope ya liked them, Sue.

The district

Everything seems to be on a different scale in DC--definitely larger--as if made for giants and we happened upon it.

We did not drive in the District but stayed in Falls Church west of the Capital and took the Orange Line Metro in every day. It's clean and mostly on-time and I never once felt un-safe but we did not ride at night. Hell, we were too tired to stay longer than eight hours. We dragged our sorry California asses home with the rest of the commuters.

Since we did some traveling at rush-hour I did find myself standing closer to my fellow Americans than I had ever done before. You could tell the tourists, we were saying, "Oh, excuse me," when we bumped into someone. Most of the commuters had what Dan called, "the thousand yard stare" and some how, they slept on the train. It was a "people-watchers" convention for the price of a ticket.


This is part of the Lincoln Memorial one of my must sees. Some where, in my archives, is a picture of me, sister, mom and dad here on the steps. I was in a stroller so I can't say I remember anything, I just remember the photo.

The view is great, you look over the reflection pool to the Washington monument. While we were at this end we saw the Viet Nam Wall and the Korean War Memorial. Both moving tributes to our lost soldiers. Between the pool and the Washington monument is the new WWII Memorial. It is huge and I have to be honest, not as impressive as others. It's just big, that's all.

With so many museums it was like paradise for me and I indulged myself for four days. The Smithsonian has so many and then there are the National Galleries. Not enough time.

Air and Space, that was on Dan's must-see list.
Hirshhorn, Modern Art
Freer, Asian Art
American Art and Portrait Galleries
National Archives
National Gallery
Native American Museum
Botanical Garden
National Sculpture Garden

There were things I'd like to have seen but ran out of time. What did I regret not seeing? The American History Museum was closed for renovation. Both Dan and I would have loved that one. We never got over to the Roosevelt Memorial either and they say that one is special. We did not spend time going through the Capital nor the White House. Didn't care must for the current occupants. Would have gone to the see the Supremes but they weren't in session.

Would I go back again? In a heartbeat, there is such an energy in that city, everyone moving with a purpose while the tourists just mosey around them. I liked that.

Mind where you step

There are some strange things growing in New Jersey. I'm sure some fungi person could tell me what this is. I thought it looked interesting enough to take a closer look. Nice color combo in nature.

Strolling on the boardwalk in New Jersey

Loved the Friday afternoon we spent on the boardwalk in Wildwood with the Cousins. It was filled with all the sights and sounds and smells I'd imagined. We'd headed down there for a Car Show with Shawn and Gail and Jeff and Dawn. With six we needed two cars so we rode with Jeff and Dawn to get to know them better.

I had to snap a photo of Curley's. We didn't eat there but ate pizza at Little Nicky's. Now doesn't that just sound like Jersey? We then proceeded to look at the cars parked on the boardwalk. The weather couldn't have been better and since it was a three-day car show it wasn't crowded.

These are the cousins in both age and height order. Thanks Jeff for the educating us to the differences between hamsters and gerbils. Shawn, loved the boardwalk pizza and chocolate strawberries and thanks for being our tour guide, and darling husband, thanks for taking me along.

Six state tour

To get to another state we have to drive at least five hours in one direction. Last week darling husband and myself did six in one day. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and don't forget the state of confusion, which is where you are after paying all dem damn tolls on the highways. Give me higher gas tax any day. The locals have something cool called an Easy Pass that allows them to slide right through without stopping while us schmucks are sitting in line behind someone giving the attendent a hundred for a three buck toll. Sheesh!

We had a two-week vacation which was a bit long but we had so much to do. Visit darling's relatives in New Jersey which are darling second cousins. Gail and Shawn live on a private lake and it was almost too good to leave, they were super hosts.

This is darling husband and second-cousin paddling in from a morning ride. They have this view from their beach. Tough place to stay, right?

Not only did they give us a super room to stay in they stuffed us with local delicacies. Yeah, they held us down and force fed us, well, that's what I'm planning to tell my Dr. when he sees I've gained weight. We enjoyed Philly Cheese Steaks, Pepperoni Bread, Tasty Kakes, Boardwalk Pizza in Wildwood, Philadelphia Soft Pretzels and Kohr's frozen custard.

Surprisingly with all the chewing we did we could find time to see some sights, Downtown Philadelphia, Liberty Bell, New Jersey shore and my all time favorite, the Barnes Foundation Museum. Please visit this link because you wouldn't believe me if I told you about the collection. It's worth 6 billion dollars, yes, "B".

We left New Jersey and drove to DC and got to see most of the things we'd planned on. I say most because you can't do it in four days--I don't think you could do it in a week. More about DC later, but know it was wonderful.

So we're back home again for a while. Well, we seem to be back home again, the pillow feels different, but maybe I'm just in the state of confusion once again.

Sheesh, does she ever stay home?

Well, I'm off on another vacation. Me and darling husband are taking off for Philly tomorrow to see some relatives then off to DC. I'm thrilled since there are more museums than I can count. I don't care if I see the White House but to stand in front of that big old statue of Lincoln, well, it will be a moment.

So for two weeks I won't post but I hope to bring back many a East coast photo to show y'all.

Dave at the Hollywood Bowl

I'm very late with this post but wanted to mention a few things about the concert.

What a performance! Dave et al were jammin' at the Hollywood Bowl and it was great. No, it was almost the best performance I've seen them give. Golden Gate Park was the best, I'll always have a place in my heart for the San Francisco show. That whole weekend was a blast.

What made it so good? One was Robert Randolph, his opening act, sat in on two songs the best being Louisana Bayou. They jammed like they've never done before and we just sucked it in, from the fifth row--I might add. My darling daughter always gets the best seats and these were wonderful. "Suck this, peasants!" I stole that line from my son-in-law.

The crowd was a bit on the odd side, but thankfully just a few. I've never seen anyone sit down at DMB performance so it was odd when the couple in front of us did. Good for short little me but odd none the less. Too young to be tired and if they thought they were fooling anyone by sitting down to "light up" they weren't. Loved the no smoking signs at the Bowl, yeah, right. Should say, no smoking but if you wanna toke a bit, we'll look the other way. Makes for a happy crowd and hell, we gotta sell that expensive snack bar crap.

Another odd thing, during a ballad when it was more quiet, the conversation level started. So distracting. Go outside if you're trying to pick-up someone, for god's sake.

None of this affected the night for me, I had the best time and will I go next year? Yes, as long as we still have fun and jump and dance and scream I'll be there.

Car crash: animal style*

Oh no, not another "I hate drivers" post! I'm afraid, yes.

Driving home from the Getty Wednesday night, about 7:00 pm my carpool buddy, Dolores and I were witness to a traffic accident.

Let me set the scene:

Busy corner, Lassen and Balboa.
In-n-out Hamburgers stand is on the south-east corner with a long line of cars in the drive-thru.
I'm stopped in the left turn lane, one car in front of me. Solid traffic beside me.

Ok, so my light turns green and the guy in front doesn't even move, so I wait. The traffic across has just started to roll when this idiot, coming from my left, blows the light at an amazing rate of speed. He misses the guy in front of me, clips the woman in the lane next to us, hits the breaks; skids and hits some car we can't see, then jumps the curb and t-bones some poor shmuck in the drive through.

Can you imagine, coming home, just gonna pick up a few burgers for dinner and whammo gets nailed waiting to order.

In-n-out is a Southern California burger joint that has quite a following and the title is from my darling husband. Animal style is a way to order your hamburger.

If they say it's ok, it probably isn't

Men, if your partner pats your hand and say with a weak smile, "It's ok, it happens to everyone." and you live in the Southern California area, you probably cut me off on the freeway Wednesday. You see, I cursed you and not the normal curse you out, such as "You mother f***in' son-of-a-bitch" but a real honest to goodness curse. A curse something like, "You will not satisfy your partner for a week you ... (see above)."

We have a lane on the freeway for carpools and it is double-stripped so that means, for some people who are remedial, you can not cross it even if your goddamn exit is coming up and you've been talking on the phone/picking your nose or whatever fills your drive time and you are way too late/important/stupid to just get off at the next exit. This does not mean you have the right of way. I don't care how lovely your mother thought you were when she toilet-trained you, stay the hell in your lane.

And if you are standing at a meeting with your fly is down, it was my bumper you were riding at 75 mile-an-hour and had the fucking nerve to flash your lights at me.

I'm not picking on men. My hermanas get their own retribution.

Somethings are manditory

My vacation with my sister is over. Sigh. I did get used to her being here but she has a house and a husband in Florida and needed to get back to sell one of them. Since husbands don't go for much it's the house she needs to sell.

She had a "wish list" and I'm afraid we didn't get everything accomplished. Means she needs to return. We did get to the desert and did quite a lot of cooking, and had a ball eating at some new places. Oh, and we laughed a lot. Really, a lot.

We saw a taping of the Late Late Night Show, visited an emergency room, met Little Bird in the desert to have a spa experience and a wonderful dessert, even got to Surfas to buy some kitchen goodies. She helped me find towels and wall art for the house and we didn't annoy darling husband too much, or so he says. Trips to our Farmer's Market were among her favorites--I have to say, me too. I'm hoping to find something like that on my trip to New Jersey next week.

So, it's just me and husband and the bald headed dog and I have to say it's lonely right now. Too hot to go outside and the last day of a three day vacation so want to stay far away from any freeway this afternoon.

I'm just waiting for sunset so I can sit out on the patio and think about the fun things we did and maybe I'll just laugh out loud because few make me laugh like my sister does.

Doggie Disguise

Some breeds of dogs get a bad rap and this website seems to have the answer. Have a dog that people are afraid of? Just get a Doggie Disguise and be done with the fearful looks from strangers on the street. Who thinks of this stuff?

Our own darling Buddy has a new disguise of his own. We think he looks handsome and quite a bit younger with his summer buzz. It was a miscommunication with the groomer but he'll be back to furry-Buddy by Christmas.

My life as a crack whore

Anticipating the evening with my daughter and Dave Matthews Monday night, I was is such a good mood. So when I stopped by the market to buy some drinks and saw a "street person" playing the guitar I dropped some money in his tray. I know, I never give money, it's so enabling, but guitar, music, Dave and the Hollywood Bowl, you get the picture.

"Here ya go friend."

"Do I know you?" he said? "Oh yeah, you're that crack whore."

I laughed out loud so I guess I got a return on my investment.

And my evening with Little Bird and Dave, as good as expected, maybe better.

He'll be here on Monday

Who is he? Dave Matthews and I'll be seeing the Monday concert at the Hollywood Bowl with my darling daughter. She usually sees him at least twice when he's in the area and I get to go once. This time she will see three concerts, Irvine tonight, Chula Vista tomorrow night and Hollywood on Monday.

That photo was from one of my all time favorite concerts, Vegas, and I think it was 1999. Little Bird would be able to say exactly you see, she's the big fan, I like his band a lot but most of the fun is going with her.

So Monday night I'll pick her up and we'll make the pilgrimage and shout and dance and be deaf for the next day but I wouldn't miss it for the world. Heck, who knows how many more years will I be able to go.

He's coming to town