Weird Cloud - Saturday 6/6/2009

No, Weird Cloud is not my Native American name, thank you very much.

It's this thing that was hovering over Palmdale on Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure this formation is caused by a lee wave. If you Google "lee wave" and click on Images, you get photos of things that look like this.

The View From Behind the Band - Friday 6/5/2009

We were invited to lead a Songmakers hoot on Friday night! It's a fun responsibility and honestly an honor to be invited to lead a hoot. Basically, all we had to do was open the evening with a song (in this case On the Road Again) and make sure everyone gets a turn to play and/or sing.

Kat's singing. Bobbie, Kay, Jim and Nina (clockwise in the background).


Frank takes a break on the dobro. Terry rests and listens behind him.

I don't have the energy to make up nicknames for everyone, and there are no innocents to protect here.



Except maybe Hydra.



Joel dreams up another witty remark.


Barry!


The very cool way that Barry adds some shimmer to his cymbals. We seldom have a drummer at a hoot, and he's really great at reading the tone of each song and adding the right amount of percussion.

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate - Thursday 6/4/2009

So I went for my fancy-schmanzy haircut in WeHo on Thursday. It was a lot of fun, and the stylist was very sweet and entertaining. He's in town for a couple of days, but is in the middle of taking care of the Divine Miss M during her current run in Las Vegas.

Yes, the last person before me whose hair he styled was Bette Middler. So that makes us sisters under the follicales or something, doesn't it?

All I know is, I can't stop humming "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."



The before shot, in which I consider myself a blank canvas, ready to be transformed into a sophisticated woman-about-town ala--- I don't know, New Yorker cover art?



The after shot, which frankly doesn't look much different to me. The way he blow dryed it, it had a lot of bounce and curled up at the bottom.

Do you think I am ever going to be able to get it to do anything remotely like this again? Forecast is very iffy on that one.

I ended a twenty-minute bout with a curl brush and blow dryer in tears the other morning. It just wasn't happening. I was so frustrated and upset.

"Jeez, it's just hair," you're thinking, right? Well, it's just hair and I'm going to my 30th high school reunion in a couple of weeks. And you know, this cut was supposed to take 10 years and 20 pounds off my face.

I spent a few days moaning about this to anyone who would listen, thinking that what I should have said was, "Give me the most flattering haircut you can and I will make it work," instead of the more subtle, "I won't cry if you cut my hair short." I think when he asked why I let it grow out and I said to make it easy at the gym, he decided not to take much length off.

Please note that objects in foreground appear larger
than is actually flattering

I've been feeling like I blew my chance to get something different and exciting. But you know, this fellow deals with a lot of high-maintenance clients whose long hair is part of their careers. So he can probably do without the drama of a too-short cut.

Besides which, if I can't make his most simple cut work, how would I have fared with the makeover cut I had vaguely in mind?

As Los Angelista advised, I could go back and ask him to fix it. But you know, there is no chance I'll be spending $200 to see him again. And he's out of town for the next few weeks, tending to The Divine ( I feel I can call her that now).

So this morning (a few days later still) I wet it and let it go. He said the cut would release the curls if I decided not to blow dry.

This is my naturally wavy self. Maybe I should woman-up and just go with the natural thing my hair wants to do and fashion be damned.

Sigh.

Moove Over! - Wednesday 6/3/2009

My Moo Cards arrived today! Even the packaging is fabulous.

I found out about these at the Toma Leche blogger event when Los Angelista pulled hers out and we all oohed and ahhed and chose our favorite design.




These are about half the size of a traditional business card but more sturdy, and they come packed in a nice little plastic box. I ordered the small orange card holder, too.



What's really cool is that you can order up to 100 different designs in a pack of 100 cards. You can use the nifty designs they offer on the site, or you can upload your own photos and crop them to fit on the cards.

I used my own photos and I really like the way they turned out. I used 14 different images. My contact info is on the back. Just my email address and my blog address. I can write my telephone number on it if I decide I want to.

If you're interested in getting your own Moo cards, email me for a discount code!

Dinner, Again - Monday 6/1/2009

Cooked up the last of the garbanzo beans. Steamed them and added a little very good olive oil. Wonderful farmer's market tomatoes and fresh basil. Fresh baby artichokes sauteed with onions and garlic and topped with a little Parmesan cheese.

I found the recipe for the baby artichokes at Simply Recipes. I'd never used fresh baby artichokes before. It does take a while to clean these, but they don't have well-developed chokes, so you can just eat the whole trimmed artichokes.

I love artichokes, really I do.

Hydra's Heights and Fresh Garbanzos. - Sunday 5/31/2009

So of course, the first time I decide not to accompany Hydra on his hike, he goes and scales his mountain! That's him waving his crutch above his head after calling me on the cell phone to alert me to his feat.

Boys cannot be trusted!



Tomato and artichoke progress, just so you know.


I just heard Evan Kleiman sing the praises of fresh garbanzo beans on Good Food recently, and what should I find at my local Vallarta market?

The very thing I was looking for!



There are 1-2 beans per pod. Usually one.

They aren't beige. They're green!


See them in there? They're yummy fresh or steamed and drizzled with some good olive oil. On the radio, they said that people roast them over grills.

The pods are fairly tender, but not tender enough to eat. Not bad shelling... I pressed on them till they popped open like little balloons and then took out the beans.