What Goes Around - Friday 2/1/2008

I wrote first thing this morning, of course.

But one of my other projects today was to make postcards from some of my photographs. The photo of the cards didn't come out as well as the cards themselves.

I'm sending these to a big-time writer who has been kind enough to carry on a correspondence with me for a couple of years. I'm sure she does this for a lot of writers. She uses postcards, so I thought I'd make her some and put postage on them so she can continue her good work.



I would like to say in my defense that this peach/blueberry pie is only the third pie I've ever made. And that I don't think the thermostat on my oven is right, because I had to leave it in there for about 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for to get it browned at all.

But for Pete's sake, will some one help me with this whole sealing the crust issue? I made cute little scallops around the edge of the pie plate, but you can't tell it now. It sort of got pulled taut during baking. Any clues for me? Just leave a lot more when I trim the dough in the first place??

From sampling the filling that oozed out onto the aluminum foil (I have learned a thing or two around the kitchen after all), it's gonna be delish. The peaches are from our crop last summer, frozen lo these many months.

Cool Thing: My essay, "It Ain't Las Vegas" is now available online (without most of the photos, sadly) at Weber: The Contemporary West. Check out the other writers, too. It's a good journal!

This One's for The American - Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cause The American (in Toront0) and I share an appreciation for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and I was telling her about this billboard for the Oscars. It looks a lot better without the power lines through it, but you get the photos you can get, ladies and gentlemen.

There seems to be a consensus (around my office anyway) that a huge push will be made to end the WGA strike in time for the Oscar on Sunday, February 24th. Because nobody wants to cross a picket line, yeah?

I heard a news report today that if the strike's not over by Oscar night, the show will go on without all the staging and the stars, and will consist of clips, commentary and "unusual entertainment concepts."

Yikes! Poor Jon. He has to prep for two shows, and one of them has to include "unusual entertainment concepts."

Whatever happens, in my little corner of the world we don't expect to be back up to full steam until about 3 weeks after the end of the strike. Who knows? We're up to two whole days of work a week because the WGA has made some side deals with some production companies, some of whom have sent us scripts. We also do animation, and those folks were left in the dust a while back.

Meanwhile, check out this installment of Speechless. It's in black and white. Classy!

Moonlighting - Wednesday 1/30/2008

Lady Liberty is alive and well and is currently booking appointments to do your taxes.



The sad truth of the long shot. That's a feed store across the road to the right. Somehow I don't think a lot of my fellow Actonites are going to trust their finances to a a guy in a green dress and horns.

But maybe he can write off his Hallowe'en costume?

I was on the cell with Hydra when I first passed through the 4-way stop at Sierra Highway and Crown Valley Road (the closest thing we have to a stop light here in Acton.) I laughed out loud and Hydra suggested I go back and get the shot. Not having anything better on the flashcard today, I obliged. Glad I did.

I actually waved at him and pointed at the camera. People are pretty cool, really.

Thanks, H.

Texas Rocks Acton - Tuesday 1/29/2008

I think I've made it clear that I like rocks.

I brought these back from Texas with me. The one one the left is from Joe and Jax's land...the place where I took a photo of the wall he'd built and the misty view. The one on the right is from the Guadalupe River near Jax's dad's river house. Clearly, it's been worn by the water.

Cool Thing: I found this link to the geology of the Canyon Lakes Gorge, which I showed a photo of a few days ago. The rock looks a lot like this stuff. Guess the weathering happened very quickly.

Soapbox: This is a new featurette where I'm going to randomly post about things I'm thinking about from time to time. George W. Bush's plan to send us each a rebate check is just an insulting bribe. I can't believe this works on people. And I would like some one to tell me just how much it costs to process and mail each of these $300.00 checks.

In Flight Photos - Monday 1/28/2008

I got a whole kick out of taking photos as we came into the L.A. area. I saw the reservoir along the 14 outside Palmdale and was all prepped to try to get an overhead photo of our house, but there were clouds for the next few miles. This is over the development in Santa Clarita.


See that line in the middle!? That's where the L.A. Aquaduct comes down out of the mountains and pours into the reservoir along the 5 near where the 14 begins.



Lookit! The shadow of our plane!


Yeah , you're right. I'm a dork.



Very artsy shot of Dodger trying to avoid the flash. He was so glad to see me.

He sat on my bent knee and gazed at me adoringly for the first hour or more. After a while he was willing to turn around and watch the PBS special Parrots in the Land of Oz.

Now I Can Remember the Alamo - Sunday 1/27/2008

The obligatory shot of the front of the church at the Alamo. No one I know is in this photograph.



What's cool here is that you can see the chisel marks in the stone. Someone made these. Probably in the late 1720s.


A Spaniard wore these spurs. If I were a horse I would be ready to move all the time.



An arbor off to the side of the church building. Those are peeled cedar beams above. Joe and Jax's bed is made of the same thing...though less worn.


The garden behind the Alamo.

From what I gather, on the day of the big battle it was considerably less peaceful here.



The Crockett Hotel. I didn't know it when I took the photograph, but this hotel stands where "Davy Crockett defended the southeast palisade of the Alamo...in 1836." And presumably, also where he died.

We thought it would be nice to make as much money off his name as possible.



I love this bas relief that's on a bridge over the San Antonio River Walk.



Bottles in the window of Joe & Jax's computer room back home. We have windows like this in common.

Homey Texas - Saturday January 26. 2008

A fence I saw while out walking the dogs with Jax.

The work of a local potter. The face is his wife's.

From atop the Canyon Dam.

This gorge was created spontaneously when the water overflowed the spillway in July 2002. This used to be flat ground. Jax's dad's house was near the other end of this new gorge. He was evacuated. The river went around one side of his house and the spillway release went around the other.

Concrete core samples used to build walls at Jax's dad's river house, on the Guadalupe. Pretty smart to get these free building materials.

There are no building codes in the unicorporated areas. This wall turned out really cool, but there are some questionable structures in the areas, but then that's just a taste of that famous Texan independence.

Those concrete core samples in use. They look nice, huh?