The Shape of Things to Come

Little did I know that this skeleton waiting outside Don Cuco's was a harbinger of doom.

Well, not so much doom as a sinus infection. Hence my absence from the Internet for the following week or so. Sigh.

Hyrda's Big Project

We started breaking up the branches and twigs in the back yard Friday night (from the downed tree) and filled a big trash container and six or seven big bags.

I sawed up some of the medium branches that evening. Today Hydra bought a chain saw and got to work on the bigger branches.


Wow, what a lot of work! That's a 4 pound hammer. I tried splitting one log and it was about all I could do to get through it.

Gonna get the IcyHot ready!

Kitty and I were shopping in Palmdale all afternoon. We were tired too.

Solving Solvang

We drove three hours there and three hours back to visit Solvang. I've heard about this little Dutch-influenced town since about the time I moved to California in 1985.

The long drive probably puts more pressure on the place to please, but I have to say, I don't get it. It seemed mostly like a lot of overpriced shops selling things you could get anywhere with different town names stitched or painted or screen printed on them. We looked for a cowboy museum that was on a map, but which didn't seem to exist any longer.

This sandwich plate Hydra ordered at Bit o' Denmark, which I later found out is the oldest restaurant in town, was nice. So was the one that Kitty ordered.



This tasted better than it looks. It wasn't made of real wax. It was pork sausage and red potatoes.


The cultural highlight of the excursion: the giant bust of Hans Christian Anderson in the museum dedicated to him which is housed in the comfortable and inviting Book Loft bookstore.


I like this painting of him very, very much.

It wasn't a large exhibit, but it told about his unrequited loves and his publishing history, and there were lots of nicely illustrated books lying open inside cases. Would love to see more of the illustrations.


We wandered into an antiques place and wow! There were more grandfather clocks in this one shop than I had seen in the whole of my life before this day. They are amazing pieces of furniture with amazing prices like on sale for $34,000.00!

I tried to open the Louis the XVI cabinet to see if there were any deals on vintage Pyrex refrigerator containers, but it was locked.

Harumph.


Pretty gate on one of the side streets away from the commercial streets.


The drive up there and back through the Santa Ynez Valley was very pretty. Lots of rolling grassy hills dotted with live oaks...some of my favorite California landscapes.

We stopped to have a look at Lake Cachuma, which was created in 1953 by the construction of a dam. Amazing blue in the middle of the tan hills.

Rocky and Champ Hitch a Ride

These two fellows were pretty impressive on the trail this morning. We came up over a rise and there they were.

Yeah, I'll admit to a second of expecting to see coyotes up there rather than dogs. And another second of wonderful if these two German Shepherds were friends or foes.

They made it pretty clear pretty fast that they were easy to get along with. They were a very close team. They'd trot ahead of us and then pause with their haunches together and look over their shoulders for us. When we whistled for them, they came to us.

We realized that they are really big dogs without leashes and we were walking them into our quiet little neighborhood where lots of people walk their bite-sized dogs in the morning.

So we each took one by the collar, promised them water, and let them pretty much drag us the last few hundred yards to the house. We got them some water, shut them in the garage, and Hydra called the number on Champ's collar.

We found out that they were about a mile from home and that the dogs are owned by a father and son, and the son was miffed that the dad had let them out. Apparently, he let them out to "potty" and they never came back.

Ahem.

They'd probably traveled about a mile. (And it probably wasn't lost on the son that they were headed toward the freeway.)



This is what it would be like all the time if we had dogs.

Hmm, have to say that happy as we were to spend a little time with these gorgeous mammals, dog breath is not something you miss a lot.

Parrots have really lovely personal habits.



I love this shot. What a beautiful day for a romp and a ride home.

Return of the Giant Bowl o' Butter

If you've been reading for a while, you may recall that this is not the Giant Bowl o' Butter's first appearance on Any Given Sundry.

In these confusing economic times, I think the Giant Bowl o' Butter is a sign of hope. Or at least, a sign of faith that a large quantity of pancakes and toast will be sold today in one diner in the middle of the San Fernando Valley.

If you're wondering what the heck is going on in the economy, let me steer you toward a couple of terrific episodes of This American Life. It's an NPR radio show that you can listen to online or download to your mp3 player.

#365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy explains in a very simple way--it has to be for me to understand it!--what they're talking about when they talk about a credit freeze. It's a follow-up to #355: The Giant Pool of Money, which explains the mortgage crisis. The two are related, as you probably guessed. But there's this whole world of high finance that I never really knew about, and it's what's behind your mutual fund investments, etc.

If you want more info on the economic situation from the folks who brought us this helpful stuff, check out the Planet Money Blog.

If you want a little fascinating escapism, check out the other episodes available on This American Life. The stories are always interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes touching.

Or check out the terrific storytelling that is going on at The Moth. I recommend Richie DiSalvo's tale of his experiences with a man named Anthony the Hat in NYC.

Another Hopeful Thing!

The candidates roasted each other at the Alfred E. Smith Catholic Charities Dinner last night.

I find it wonderful that these guys can laugh at themselves and each other. These are worth the 15 minutes each to watch.




There now. Don't you feel better?

Last Night's Debate : My 22 Cents

When I walked into Andrew's NoHo Diner this morning, this cobwebbed fellow reminded me of John McCain. There's even a reference to his military service hovering behind him.

Of course, if this were John McCain, he would be lot paler. And a lot angrier.

It became even more clear last night that John McCain has no poker face whatsoever. He keeps chastising Barack Obama for showing his cards by saying what he would or wouldn't do regarding foreign policy ("You don't say that out loud!") But seriously, McCain's furious half the time and he can't keep it off his face. Is this the man we want negotiating settlements with hostile nations?

I think not.

And stop telling me I'm angry about the country's financial meltdown. I'm--- What am I? I'm aghast. I'm bewildered. I'm a little afraid. But what does angry get you? Nothing rational.

McCain's given up trying to be rational and is just resorting to spreading rumors started by bloggers like me. (And you know you can't trust us.) He's already got his base in his pocket, what he needed to do last night was gain people who find themselves in the center politically, and I can't imagine he did that.

I agree with Barak Obama regarding abortion rights. No one wants more abortions. But I believe that it's a woman's choice and it needs to remain legal.

I understand what McCain was trying to get at when he commented on the definition of a "woman's health" being stretched to allow late term abortions to women whose lives aren't actually in danger. But an across the board ban is just wrong. As Rachel Maddow commented on the MSNB post-game show, this means you're forcing a woman to take a pregnancy to full term even if it's going to kill her. I can't agree with that.

There's no equivalent for men. There just isn't. Unless you want to say that the prostate is involved in reproduction, so if you get prostate cancer you can't treat it because of loss of potential life.

I'm excited that I might have an opportunity to opt into the same health care system that serves federal employees. As Obama said in the prior debate, John F. Kennedy didn't know how we were going to get to the moon when he set it as a goal for the end of the sixties, but you have to set your intentions if you're going to get a thing done.

I loved Barack Obama's composure. I loved that he actually answered most of the questions. It was great that he confronted McCain about the rabble rousing that Sarah Palin's been doing and which she is not responding to responsibly. McCain's claim that Obama was somehow putting down the 99% of reasonable people at the rallies where epithets have been slung--- Well, that was just a pathetic attempt to make Obama look elitist.

Guess what? I want a smart president. I want an educated, thoughtful, flexible, hopeful, inspiring president. I want the person with his or her finger on the button to at least be able to pronounce the word "nuclear."

I'll say it right out loud, I want an eloquent president.



Okay, there are probably pictures of me out there that are almost this embarrassing, but this shot from the debate last night is just too funny not to pass up. Click on the photo to see where I found it.

Craaaaazy Pumpkin

A decoration that EastCoast sent us for the office.



More decor.


Who knew there were other flavors of candy corn? There are caramel and caramel apple, at least.

Pumpkin Time

"I am sometimes called pumpkin. Because why?"



Only one pumpkin's going into the oven.


Freshly made broccoli mushroom soup garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds and mashed pumpkin with butter...and a little maple syrup too.

It's nice to work at home.

A Mighty Wind

It sounded like someone was throwing gravel at our bedroom all night. In the morning, there were branches down and the tomatoes were knocked over.

Well, the wind wasn't done with us.


After several big windy slams, the whole house shook...and our big shade tree broke and the top half fell on the house!






Hydra had the day off. Not so much after all. He spent most of the day on the roof, cutting up branches. The ladder kept being blown down, so he was at my mercy.



Now both the back yard and the front yard are full of branches and we're down our best shade tree. Sigh.

Randy Travis at the LPAC

We were impressed with all the instruments on stage. All of them were played!

It was a really fun evening. I don't listen to much country anymore, but I bought all his music as it came out in the 80s. It was great to hear a bunch of my old favorites, and I loved his new song "Everything That I Own Has a Dent." He had some good jokes and stories and seemed to have a great time, which is always fun to watch.



This poster in the lobby doesn't really do him justice. We bought the new CD, Around the Bend.

Everyone's Anonymous but Mom and Dodger

I'm going to call her by her stripper name--you know, when you use your first pet's name as your given name and the name of the first street you lived on as your surname--but she's still kind of obviously related to me.

So Kitty West, it is.

Dodger adores her. He brings her name up every so often, like it's the best idea ever.

"Kitty!" he says, n the same tone he says, "ice cream!"

He was happy to sit on her knee in the camper as she sipped coffee imported from the Starbuck's in Fillmore.

So what's your stripper name? Mine's either Tootsie West or Fritzie West...not sure which one came first.

The Front Fell Off

Our friends from Camarillo told us about this clip from an Aussie comedy duo. Too much fun!

Trains, Trailers and Automobiles

Mom's train was supposed to arrive at 8:15 this morning. But it didn't.

First there was an engine problem and they crawled into Albuquerque, NM. Then they had to wait in Kingman, AZ to replace the crew who had been working too long. Then they hit rail traffic as they approached Los Angeles. I learned all this from the nice lady in Amtrak customer service.

So Hydra came home early, and we packed up the trailer and he headed for the campground to meet up with our Songmaker friends. I followed a little way in the Echo and then peeled off to head for downtown L.A. and Union Station.

She's supposed to arrive at 4:04!



I love the seats at Union Station. I'm not so wild about the fact that now they say the Southwest Chief isn't going to arrive till 5p.m.


It was a warm day. Every so often a breeze blew up. There's a nice little public space around this gazebo at the end of Olvera Street.

There are a lot of homeless people downtown. I'd forgotten what that's like. You just have to think a bit about how you engage other people...like, a lot less freely.



This woman was the only person dancing to music played by a flutist who accompanied a recording. It was kind of lovely to watch her spin and dip, her purse and a shopping bag near her feet.


Three friends have their photo taken.

Around this time Mom called to let me know the train wouldn't be arriving until 6 p.m.

Hydra's always thinking about another guitar.

Ooh, I could have had his name painted on one of these--in any color!



This particular specimen does, indeed, look superior. I walked to the far end of Chinatown. Went to the fabulous Wonder Food Bakery for a couple of egg custard tarts. Don't be fooled by their location amid trinket shops, they have wonderful baked goods.


I walked under the dragons on the way out of the district.


Just as I started to cross Alameda at 5:40 I heard something about the Southwest Chief arriving! I went inside and no one could tell me what track it had just arrived on.

We found each other after a few trips up and down the long corridor for me. It's just exciting to see people pouring into the station from all those entrances.


By 6:15 we were seated at a table at Phillippe's! It's only a couple of blocks from the train station. What a nice way to avoid the last of the heavy traffic draining out of downtown. We split a beef dip, a turkey dip and some potato salad.

What's even more amazing is that it only took an hour and fifteen minutes to get all the way to Fillmore. I almost missed the exit to the 126 from the 5, the traffic was moving so well. After traveling more than 48 hours on the train, Mom was gracious about being whisked off to a campground.

We ate the egg custard tarts in the car. Tender and delicately flavored, they flaked all over us.

Gotta say, it was much nicer for Mom to be stuck on a train than a plane, and it was much nicer for me to roam downtown rather than pace the baggage area at LAX.

We win!

Graywater in Action

So I'm home today, getting ready to go camping and waiting for the Southwest Chief to roll into Los Angeles Union Station (it's now predicted to be almost 8 hours late.) The house is clean. I'm just loading more CDs onto my iPod, doing laundry and checking the Amtrak site every hour or so.

I've been thinking about using more graywater, but my dish soap is kind of gunky when I'm done with it. But lookie here! This is where the water comes out of the washing machine and goes down the drain. I'd thought about putting a bucket there, but even though our front loader uses tens of gallons less water than a top loader, it's still potentially more than my 5 gallon bucket could handle.



But hey! I'm not in another room furiously pounding away on some writing project or reorganizing bookshelves or, ahem, watching television. When I heard the final rinse water start to gurgle out, it was really easy to just stick the watering can under the hose and capture it.

I turned the washer off and on and off again so there was no spillage. It filled up a lot faster than it does in the sink.

And viola! Only slightly gray water for the appreciative plants on the front porch. This is sooo cool!

More about the Southwest Chief. My mom's arriving on it today. It was supposed to come in at 8:15 a.m. After several postponements due to engine problems, having to replace the crew in Kingman, AZ and freight train induced railway congestion around Los Angeles, it's now looking more like 4:00 p.m.

I'm just glad she's on a train for this delay and not roasting somewhere on a runway.

Viral Election Graphics

I don't know who came up with these. The were forwarded to me by Weens, who got 'em from Scryblgrrl.





Pretty much says it all!

Coffee and Debates

Andrew's (fka Sitton's) was closed from 11:30 last night till 5:30 this morning, so I visited a Starbucks I hadn't been to before. This one at the corner of Magnolia and Lankershim actually makes you feel like you're in a big city. Which isn't always the case in the San Fernando Valley.

I think it was the bus stop right outside my window. And the parking lot is out of sight, so it seems like customers are actually walking up to the coffee house. I liked it.

The link between coffee and debates is a thin one here, I'll admit. They were separated by a nine-hour work day. But coffee and conversation have been linked since the beginning of the brew so...

I'm very pleased that everyone seems to be giving Barack Obama the win in the debate tonight. I agree, but then I know I am voting for Obama so it's nice when the official commentators think the same thing I do.

I am honestly getting tired of all the number-tossing regarding who voted how many times for what. I guess this is for people who are just now starting to pay attention and who don't know that a really good cause may go down because it's attached to a heineous bill. We really have to stop letting our legislators put riders on bills. It's cowardly in that they don't want to admit to having supported something. It's inefficient at best, and immobilizing at worst.

If you haven't been to The Last Noel lately, you have missed his wonderful comments on elitism in this election, and you may have missed these observations about Palin's inaccuracies by Rachel Maddox:

Carpe Cookies!

Yeah, sometimes being an adult really rocks.

Like tonight, when I whipped up something like a healthy chicken ala king and a big batch of chocolate chip cookies with pecans...and decided that really what I wanted for supper was cookies and milk.

The chicken will be there tomorrow. The cookies will never again be fresh and hot out of the oven.

Mmmm.

Now Really....

Isn't this taking it a little far? It's like we have to have our bottles with us each and every second of the day!

Or is the cupholder on this shopping cart a direct result of the Starbucks kiosk that was installed in the grocery store last year? With all those blended drinks hovering around 400 calories a pop, is it any wonder everyone's struggling with weight?

How Clean Was My Cupboard?

I was in the midst of reorganizing my kitchen cabinets when Dodger went missing. Where could he be?

Turns out, he'd claimed this one as his own. He's swinging his head back and forth in full on defensive mode.

I meant to take a photo of this cabinet post-reorg, but haven't gotten around to it. It's so much less cluttered now.

Oh, and the parrot infestation has been taken care of.