Cool House - Friday 4/13/2007

I just like the way this house is situated off of Vasquez Canyon Road. The only problem with it is that there are huge power towers and lines around the other side.

Pick Your Own Artichokes - Thursday 4/12/2007

I have never before been offered the opportunity to pick my own artichoke. But there it was in black and brown on a hand lettered cardboard sign at the veggie stand on the back way home. Did I need to come back with my own knife?

No!

After selecting my pre-picked produce, I told the teenager running the stand that I'd like to pick my own artichoke and he cordially handed me a big sharp knife.



I was surprised at how easily I could cut through the stalk. I took four!

The teenager was very talkative and helpful. We discuessed vegetables, like he crookneck squash I just planted. He said it was too delicate for them to grow in a big way, but that mine should do fine. He also told me this was their first year planting artichokes, that they come back year after year, and that you get several stalks on each plant.


For the folks back home, this is what an artichoke field looks like.

Fire After Effects - Thursday 4/12/2007

Hondista helped me drop off the Tahoe at our mechanic's shop. Winds were very high--like up to 55 mph in the San Fernandro Valley--and ashes were being blown up from the canyons in the hills. It looked pretty hellish as we drove back on Hollywood Way.

There was a lot of ash in the air and some clunky junk hit Hondista's window.

Wednesday 4/11/2007

I don't know if you see these little roadside shrines in other parts of the country. I don't think I saw them till I moved to Southern California.

They mark the places where people died in accidents.



This one is particularly large and well-built, on a cross made of square metal poles. Some friends used the marker to write messages.


Others wrote in a metal and rubber bound notebook.

One Door Down - Tuesday 4/10/2007

But so much further philosophically.

Bob's closes down from 9pm to 6am the second Monday night/Tuesday morning of every month for cleaning. I usually get there between 5:15 and 5:30, so this is not acceptable.

I went next door to Starbucks for my morning writing session. And I didn't take my laptop.

It was kind of freeing. Much as I like being a regular, I have to admit that much of the adventure has gone out of Bob's.

Just a hundred feet from my usual booth at Bob's, my mysterious writing woman persona has been refreshed.

And the people watching is really interesting. The interchanges are quicker here. By the time one guy walked from the glass door to the counter, the barrista was holding his vente drip out at arms length. She swiped the Starbucks card he proffered and he was gone with a mighty "hi-ho..." No, but anyway. It was impressive, if not exactly heartwarming.

I think I may have to go back.

All It's Peeped Up to Be? You Decide - Monday 4/9/2007

First off, a word to the uninitiated: If you're going to nuke your Peeps, whether you're forcing them to joust or not, don't name them. If you do, no matter how adult your audience, you can be assured that there will be tears and possibly even recriminations.




Pre-nuke. Peachy and I square off. I'm backing the green Peep.



Sugary skin has been breached, but the much-ballyhooed deflation of the loser has not been acheived. Still, I claim victory.




Momalisa and Patches do battle on the same playing field seconds after the previous competitors' bodies have been removed and consumed. Momalisa's double-toothpick armed green Peep may have been hoisted upon its own petard.




Jenks goes all ninja on us, setting her pink Peep up for a reverse jab on the fly!




Not satisfied with the ambiguous outcome of the bout, Jenks got creative and performed some sort of corpse melding ceremony. Having at least one deeply disturbed person at your event is actually recommended. (Jenks might be available for parties for the right money.)



BTW, unlike the vein in a jumbo shrimp, the brown stuff inside a nuked Peep is yummy. It should not be removed before consumption.

Final word to the uninitiated: Use regular plates. The clean-up isn't that bad, and you won't spend the rest of the day picking paper out of your teeth.

Hondista could not be pulled into the festivities. But all in all I think the event was a success.

And Peeps are about a zillion times better hot and toasty. (Or is that the sugar high talking?)

[Edit: Check out the hot Peep-on-Peep action over at The Moon Topples!]

It's On!- Monday 4/9/2007

This year, for the first time ever, we're incorporating Peep jousting into the annual Peepapalooza!

I stopped by a grocery store this morning and all they had was the bunnies, so I went on to a drugstore to find an abundance of Peeps. Not liking to make a decision, I bought all three available colors.

We've scheduled the festivities for 11:00 a.m. PST.

Want to know how bad we are?

We're going to make the bunnies watch.

Ride 'im! - Sunday 4/8/2007

Dodger isn't often offered the opportunity to sit on a shoulder, so he's not terribly good at it. But he found a nice grip on Hydra's hoodie and rode him all the way from the living room to the bedroom. Yee ha!

Easter Treats - Saturday 4/7/2007

We wended our way down to Riverside County for an Easter feast with the cousins, and scored these little candy-filled fellows.

We win!