Holding onto Vacation - Tuesday 7/11/2006

I just can’t let it go. I don’t want to get into this routine where I feel like I have to rush home every night.

So I stopped by the coffee house in Acton on my way home and wrote for about an hour. When I got up to leave, I noticed these flowers on the next table.

I’m so glad I’m taking a photo every day. It reminds me to notice. And isn’t that basically what writers are doing? Noticing?

Last night I had an idea for a short story. It's been a long time since something came to me like this. I stopped everything and wrote it down. There were even bits of dialogue!

When I was on vacation and friends asked about my writing, I told them that I have been thinking a lot about conflict, and how it works in fiction.

Then I threatened to rough them up.

Sunset on Big Lake, Indiana

We used to go swimming here.

I should probably also mention that this is the view from the first house my mother and father lived in after they were married. Can you imagine?

See more progress on: Photograph 43 Sunsets

Sooo brown. Monday 7/10/2006

Wow. It was green and soft in the Midwest. It’s prickly and brown out here at this time of year.

Took Soledad Canyon Road home yesterday. It’s a little longer, but more scenic than the freeway. I had the road pretty much to myself.

I tell myself that, yes, it will be green and balmy here again, right about the time everything is dormant in Indiana.

How old _are_ these planes, anyway? - Sunday 7/9/2006

I mean, really! They still have ashtrays in them. I don’t even remember the last time it was legal to smoke on an airplane. I think we had a steward who was younger than this plane.

Well, it got us home safely, so I guess…

One lousey photo - Saturday 7/8/2006

Yeah, that’s right. One truly lousey photo the whole day of the wedding! There were SO many cameras, it just seemed a little silly for me to try and get any shots myself. I took this on the way to the reception.

It was a very nice ceremony. The fanciest wedding I’ve ever been to. The reception was fun, with lots of dancing.

Rehearsal Dinner - Friday

We weren’t in the wedding, but we were invited to the rehearsal dinner since we came from so far away. It was a lot of fun, and I was honored to sit next to my friends, the mother and father of the bride. We have been good friends since before either of their kids were born, even though we moved away a long time ago.

This photo, taken around midnight I’d guess, sort of says it all. It was a great Italian meal, and there were many types of wine to sample. We stayed until the wee hours of Saturday and then all we had to do was climb the stairs to our hotel room.

Unfortunately, none of us thought to blow out the candles, so the fire alarm went off at 6:15 the next morning and we got to see what people wear to bed. Ahem.

To be fair, this is how the tables looked before we descended upon them:

Barn in Noble County - Friday 7/7/2006

On our way to Cleveland. A parting shot from Noble County. I would love to spend more time taking photos of all the old barns around here.

Red Hat Scarecrow - Thursday 7/6/2006 bonus

In my mom’s yard.

We drove up and had lunch with my brother, B, and went to Shipshewana on this day, but I hardly took any pictures up that way. Huh.

Home Cooking! - Thursday 7/6/2006

Breakfast by Mom! No one makes fried potatoes and eggs like she does. Not even me. My sister and her husband joined us for breakfast. She brought freshly picked raspberries. Mmmm.

Beautiful Downtown Fort Wayne - Wednesday 7/5/2006 bonus

View of the Allen County Courthouse dome from Frieman Square. D used to work at the Performing Arts Center, which is behind us. I used to work at a restaurant on an historic street about a block from here.

Another former dwelling - Wednesday 7/5/2006 bonus

The other place we shared in Fort Wayne. We knew almost everyone in the 7-8 apartments in this old house. Our place was around the side with a window facing the house next door, but it was a good place to live anyway. Walked to work.

We drove the few blocks to this corner from where we met with friends for lunch at Halls Gas House. Great prime rib sandwich for lunch, and the prices are fabulous compared to L.A. area.

Our former home - 7/5/2006

This is the last place D and I lived in Fort Wayne. The Jackson Street house. We had most of the upstairs, with a screened in porch and our own private entrance. It was a great apartment in the wonderful West Central neighborhood. I loved living in that area. A lot of artsy people lived there… People we knew from hanging out at the Blue Mountain Coffee Company (coffee house) and Henry’s bar, who were artists and artisans, and friends from our life in local theater. A good place to walk a few blocks through on a Sunday morning to fetch a newspaper.

It wasn’t purple then, but isn’t it grand? It was green when we lived there.

K decorating a balloon - July 4th bonus

Mom bought dozens of balloons for a water balloon toss, but they turned out to be miserly little unbreakable creatues. For some reason a few of us got a little fixated on blowing them up, even though they were really hard to get air into it.

I don’t think my niece, K, will mind me posting this photo too much. Beautiful concentration.

Home! - 7/4/2006

Actually, we arrived on the 3rd, but I didn’t take any photos of the yard. We had a big family gathering on the 4th.

This is mom’s back deck. I grew up in all this green!

Noble County Courthouse - Monday 7/3/2006

Just a few miles from home, now! This is the courthouse in Albion, the town where I went to middle school and high school. Indiana has wonderful county courthouses.

In the evening, we went to Columbia City to see my cousin DF and his friend play at an open mike night. D & I and my sister ended up getting up and doing a short set. Sis and I sang Sentimental Journey accapella, in harmony. Then D accompanied us on Teenager In Love. Then sis and I sat down and D did Those Were the Days and I Won’t Sing Bob Dylan while wandering through the cafe with his guitar. Fun!

How Refreshing! - Sunday 7/2/2006

Nobody yields to peds in L.A.!

On our way to brunch with the gang at The Beggar’s Banquet.

The trip is already beginning to be a dot-to-dot of meeting and eating.

Party in Waiting - Saturday 7/1/2006

The chairs are ready, at TT’s place outside of East Lansing. Beautiful spot for a party that lasted from early afternoon till late at night. What time did we go home?

This innocent looking setting, though, was the scene of the attack of the mosquitoes. I counted 53 bites on my ankles and legs, in spite of spraying myself with Cutter. Torment!

Old Faceful - Friday 7/30/2006

The waterfountain inside Elderly Instruments. No visit to East Lansing is complete without a pilgrimmage to this house of music.

D & I went there with the G sisters around midday. I got tired and went to lie in the shade under a tree outside. We spent the evening in the family home of the G sisters, talking and singing with the others. We now hail from Acton, Berkeley, New York City, and North Carolina.

Light and Power - Thursday 6/29/2006 bonus

First shot taken in Lansing, Michigan. The impressive old Light and Power building at sunset. It was a truly lovely evening, and we’d just come from a wonderful meal in the Radisson dining room, where our friend WT works.

What tha'?? - Thursday, 6/29/2006

Okay, I’m probably dating myself here, but… does anyone else remember when the planes seemed shiney and new? When they fed you and gave you pillows, and replaced broken parts so you wouldn’t start wondering what the heck else is cracked and shaking apart in the important parts of the plane?

Actually, maybe this is just a ploy to sell more nerve-numbing hard liquor.

Fly! Be free! - Wednesday 6/28/2006

The little parrot finger puppet on my desk empathizes with my desire to start my vacation.

About half-packed, all reservations made, pet-sitter hired and familiarized with the pampering of the birds, etc.

Just a few hours of work between me and my trip!

My foot on the way to work - Wednesday 6/27/2006

Ha! My foot will do this one more time this week and then it will be loosed for vacation! (Note the flashy little flower on the toenail? I had my annual girly-day yesterday. So spoiled.)

Lone Boot - Monday 6/26/2006

I cannot believe I got this shot at all. I pulled up to the stoplight at the corner of Sierra Highway and—I think it’s The Old Road—and there was this boot staring at me. I grabbed my camera out of the bag on the front seat and just had time to snap this over my left arm as the light turned green.

Something about this. Who’s missing this boot?

I have been listening to Reading Lolita in Tehran on my commute, and I have to think that this boot would mean something very obvious and grim to the author. I feel grateful that this boot probably just fell off a truck.

#56 Now, Voyager (1942)

Huh! I can’t beleive I’d never seen this one before. It’s very melodramatic, and deals with psychological issues in kind of amusing ways, but I couldn’t quite stop watching. As the TCM host said, it’s an ugly duckling story.

Bette Davis is really wonderful in it, especially during the scenes on the cruise and just after, as she is sort of coming into herself. Interesting to see Paul Henreid as a romantic lead instead of the cuckold to Bogart’s Rick in Casablanca. He does all right. Claude Rains is always delightful, in my book. And Mary Wickes… I wish they’d developed the relationship between her and Davis’s character more, but you can’t have everything.

SPOILERS

---

I didn’t realize the famous scene in which Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes at once and then hands one to Bette Davis was in this movie. I have to say that it was probably a lot hotter back then, and that honestly, by the third time he did it and I was supposed to be all moved, I actually giggled. Aw, darn it.

See more progress on: Keep Track of All the Movies I Watch in 2006

#55 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

So much astonishing fun. Wow, two movies in a row that succeed largely by breaking all the rules and doing it with amazing skill. An amazing balance of comedy and almost-too-much violence.

It brought to mind half a dozen other films, none of which I can think of now, except for Get Shorty, and that mostly because of the guy who comes to L.A. from elsewhere and gets involved with the industry.

Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer are a whole lot of fun. I think Val’s truly underrated. I think Spartan (2004) really turned my thinking around on him. Good grief, I see on IMDB that he is in 10 movies this year! Is he in some sort of workathon death-match with Christopher Walken!??

See more progress on: Keep Track of All the Movies I Watch in 2006

Outside Looking In - Sunday 6/25/2006

...at the plants, etc, behind my kitchen sink.

I was outside scrubbing out the bird bath, washing down the outside table and bench, washing Dodger’s playset. Early in the day, before the heat set in.

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

Penguin on my wall - Saturday 6/24/2006

I found it at a thrift shop. It’s ceramic. It’s probably a spoon rest or a soap dish, but I like it on my wall.

Is that so wrong?

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

Just before falling asleep.... Friday 6/23/2006

I took the train because I had one more round trip on the 10-trip ticket that will expire on June 27th. On the ride home, I was reading my paper, but I fell asleep and only woke up when the train came to a stop in Acton! Jumped up, skittered down the stairs.

Irritated a woman who was sauntering down the stairs talking on her cell phone. She really went off on me for saying, “Excuse me, I need to get off the train.” I was still groggy, but I could see that she wasn’t listening to my explanation or apology. Sigh. I think it was really just a big show of her moxie for whomever was on the other end of the call. So ridiculous.

On the other hand, a really wonderful thing happened the same mornig. I’d been making notes on the first 154 pages of a friend’s rewrite of her novel, and when I got up to get off the train I left the notebook on the table! I didn’t even realize it until the woman who’d been sitting across from me came all the way downstairs to the door area and gave it to me! She said she’d nodded off, but she woke and saw I’d left without it, and she came down. It didn’t have any ID in it, so it just would have been lost, along with about 8 hours worth of my focused attention on the writing. Whew! I thanked her so much that she thanked me back and said, “Bless you!”

So, you know, there really are all kinds. It’s going to be a while before I’m on the train again, but I hope I remember to carry a thank you card with me for that kind lady. She really made my day.

Highland and Melrose - Thursday 6/22/2006

Anyway, I think that's where I saw this billboard. Seemed very odd to me that ST and I were just talking about religious extremism over breakfast this morning. There’s an article in the Los Angeles Times today about religious groups trying to bring on The End Times of Biblical prophecy, and then I saw this sign!

And shortly after that, this license plate.

Franklin Canyon - Wednesday 6/21/2006

G called in the morning and asked if I wanted to go for an hour hike before our writing group. I said yes! We drove up to Franklin Canyon and had a really nice time. It was amazingly cool up there, with all the trees to shade us and little streams running along the roads and paths. A really nice break from the regular week!

Up close and personal with G's favorite tree.

Herbilicious! - Tuesday 6/21/2006

My writing group is going to take note of the Summer Solstice tonight, and I suggested that we share a communal cup of sage tea as part of our little celbration. So I went out and harvested some from my herb garden.

As soon as I saw the little plot of land outside the back door of our house, I knew I wanted an herb garden there. This abundance lies just a few steps from the stove. In this shot you can see summer savory, varigated sage, oregano and rosemary. There’s also thyme a little further down, and mint around the corner. Mmm!

I love fresh herbs, and I love that I have made this small wonderful thing happen.

Bagged herbs, ready to share with my friends....

My Crocs Rock! - Monday 6/19/2006

I am still learning the many valuable aspects of wearing outrageously comfortable, brilliantly pink shoes.

1) They are outrageously comfortable. Did I mention that? Little foot-massaging ridges inside. Light! Airy!

2) Pink shoes don’t go with anything—so they go with everything! Unless you are one of those ladies who gets herself up in a monochromatic outfit every day…which requires too much focus for people like me.

3) No one will ever, ever suspect you of hiding a WMD in the soles

4) You can assume that the department store dressing room staff holds you in disdain because of your shoes, not your hair, clothes, bag, waistline or age.

5) If you drop a big container of watermelon at your feet, the juice will splash right in through the holes! This may not exactly be a selling point, but it is one of the features I discovered this morning!

Get yourself some! Seriously, you won’t regret it.

They come in other colors and styles, and you can find them at Whole Foods Markets as well as their website. I bought mine at a funky little tee shirt / smoke shop in Ventura.

The photo below is from their website. They're for women, men, kids.

Home for the Holiday? - Sunday 6/18/2006

I saw all these trucks parked along a street where you don’t usually see them and I had to wonder if they were dads stopping over for Father’s Day.

Mine died in 1990, but he was…

A farmer’s son, who worked hard while going to high school. A high school basketball star. An Army-Airforce football player right after WWII. A Golden Gloves Heavy Weight regional champion.

A friend to strangers. A factory worker. A mechanic who owned his own service station. A great dancer, with my mom in his arms. A traveler who took us on great camping vacations and eventually went to Europe—even lived there for two years—which no one else in his peer group was doing.

A guy who prefaced advice to his kids with phrases like, “I don’t want to tell you what to do, but…” and really meant it. A man who acheived his dream of paying off his house.

A regular at the breakfast counter in the town of 150 where he’d owned his service station…so much so that his coffee cup stayed empty in front of his usual stool while the waitress and his friends began to worry, on the morning that he died.

I still miss him sometimes.

Who's your daddy? I love to hear about him.

Venture to Ventura - Saturday 6/17/2006

We drove up to Ventura for the day. D needed to take his guitar up to a luthier there for repairs.

The fabulous heavy duty guitar case he bought to protect his fabulous guitar flopped shut unexpectedly and one of the latches took a bite out of the finish on the back. That, Alanis, is ironic.

We wandered around, tried out a South American restaurant—some of the food was great, but the ceviche was not ceviche. It was gaspacho with shrimp in it. Went to a couple of museums. Nice nice day.

Train Station 5:25 a.m. - Friday 6/16/2006

Took the train today for the first time since May. I’ve been able to work through lunch and leave an hour early for the past few weeks because we’re slow now. My leaving early won’t mean that a coworker has to cover something for me.

The moon was still up. Lovely morning.

Baby Squirrel con Quail - Wednesday 6/14/2006

MM wanted to see the baby squirrel, so here you go. It’s having a great time stuffing its cheeks with Dodger’s leftover seeds.

The funny thing about the squirrels is that they will sit and sort through the food, and come back and pick over it again, until it’s all gone. Why not just scoop it up at all at once and figure it out later? Nope, they want the best they can find every time!

I didn’t even see the quail in this shot till I looked at the review screen on my camera!

Sunset walk

Didn’t pick up the mail on the way home, so I had to walk down to the mailbox, about 5 minutes there and back. Bonus! D went with me and then tugged me over to the cross road, and we walked all around the neighborhood for a half an hour. I’d almost forgotten we lived in a neighborhood, we get so enchanted with our own yard!

Sad moment: we found this dead snake in our yard, right by the road. I thought I smelled something! We wonder if it was run over on the road and sort of wriggled into the yard. Couldn’t see a head on it!

Ick, I clearly didn’t get all the snails out of the yard over the weekend. I intend to move this carcass up the hillside tonight. It’s still good coyote food, isn’t it?

See more progress on: go outside more

Stone Heart

Bowl.

Sunshine.

Banana bowl - Tuesday 6//13/2006

So pretty. So functional.

And good for you, too.

A Clutter of Clips - Monday 6/12/2006

That must be the plural for clips.

Don’t you think?

Snails. Why'd it have to be snails? - Sunday 6/11/2006

EEEEEEEEK. I spent about an hour picking snails off the wall, from behind the wall, from under the damp ground cover. More than 3 liters of snails (I collected them in old bottles).

Even though I used disposable gloves, just washing wasn’t good enough. I had to have a shower.

These empty shells I found are the invertibrate equivalent of mounted deer heads.

I read somewhere recently that the Brown Garden Snail was introduced to California in the mid-1800s as a possible food source for San Franciscans. So I guess we could just wait for them to reproduce again and throw a big ol' escargot fest.

Not bloody likely.

Star Jasmine - Saturday 9/10/2006

After the work, I sat in the shade created by the star jasmine that runs up one of the porch poles and had an ice chai. Mmmm.

Yard Project - Saturday 6/10/2006

We had let stuff accumulate back here because no one can really see it but us. Old PVC pipes, the frame from a broken glass-topped patio table, our old front door. Eeek!

We carted away the junk last weekend, and this weekend I spent a couple of hours clearing out leaves and rearranging the concrete pieces that we aren’t going to get rid of, but aren’t using yet. It’ll be a nice place to sit outside in the heat of the summer!