The Days Just Go On Being Beautiful - Thursday 12/14/2006

This plant, for instance, keeps on catching the sunlight outside Aunt Muriel's patio door, even though she's no longer here to enjoy it.

Today was the memorial. It was really lovely to have a glimpse of the friends and traditions that Aunt Muriel cherished. Hydra gave a truly lovely eulogy in which he mentioned that wherever she was, she always carried home with her. Then he sang, "Who Will Watch the Home Place?" by Kate Long and I tried to harmonize, but it was very emotional. The family asked me to write a memorial poem, so I did, and I read it.

Roses in Bottles - Wednesday 12/13/2006

I brought these miniature roses in from the little tree out front on Sunday. They still look pretty good, I think.

They're in little medicine bottles I bought in a second hand place in Lone Pine. The guy I bought them from said that they were dug up around the foundation of a an old house up there.

I like having old stuff around.

Make Mine a Double - Tuesday 11/12/2006

...espresso, that is.

Bob's was closed for the morning, so I headed for the Starbucks next door. I don't often drink coffee, but when I do, I really enjoy it.

I adore espresso with a little sugar and a little cream. It reminds me of cafes in Europe. I like the cups, the dark flavor, the aroma.

It's good to shake up the routine a bit every now and again.

Schitzo Radio - Monday 12/11/2006

Okay, I know that schitzo has nothing to do with mulilple personalities in the new DSM, but you know what I'm saying when I use the word.

I love NPR, but listening to it as my little Echo and I wind through the mountains on the way to and from work can be a bit surreal. I have three options for NPR (KCRW at 89.9 or 88.1 and KPCC at 89.3), which would be really wonderful if any of them were available uninterrupted by static or other stations.

89.9 just fizzes in and out. 88.1 is overlapped by KKJZ, a jazz station out of Cal State Long Beach. This has caused me to miss a couple of cell phone calls as I attributed the muffled beat of my be-boppin’ ring tone to a jazz encroachment.

89.3, on the other hand, is overridden by a Christian station whose preachers seem particularly vehement about social ills. Imagine concentrating on a wonderful Terri Gross interview or an All Things Considered arts profile only to be told that you had darn well better repent right this instant.

Yikes!

Lions in Winter - Sunday 12/10/2006

The family circled the wagons at our house on Sunday.

After brunch, we went and peeked through the fences at Shambala, Tippi Hedron's lion rescue operation, which is about 5 miles from our house. Hydra and I haven't visited the place for a tour yet, but we've stopped by several times to look in. Usually, the lions and tigers are down in the bottom of the little valley. These guys were just about 15 feet from us.

The real highlight was when one of these big males started roaring. I captured some bad video but good audio. You can hear it on YouTube. [EDIT: Okay, not yet, but I'm working on it.]

We also drove up Aliso Canyon road, toward the snow. It was 41 degrees up there. Too cold for our thin SoCal blood!

Wee Blue Notebook - Saturday 12/9/2006

My mom sent me this little notebook that I carried around when I was 14 and 15. I had regular big notebooks I was journaling in, but this was for flashes of inspiration.

It's pretty embarrassing, how seriously I took myself. It's interesting to see how into the natural world I was then, as now. Can't stop myself writing about it.

That, and love poems to my unrequieted first love. Now, I'm pretty sure he was gay, but I'm not sure whether he ever came out. I know he got married after college. I hope he's found a way to be happy, because he was a really good guy.

It was amazing, looking at this after all these years. In some instances, I could remember exactly where I was when I wrote the words. My nicest little insight came while riding the team bus with the players and cheerleaders to a basketball game. I was there as a reporter for the school paper. I had a moment of feeling isolated, looking at my reflection in the dark window, and then noticing one of the best players staring out his own window, probably feeling pretty much the same thing.

When I read him some of the lines, laughing, Hydra said I was being too hard on my younger self. I guess you have to write all the trite out of your system in order to get to the more interesting stuff.

Finding Ways to Say Goodbye - Friday 12/8/2006

I'd be willing to bet that Aunt Muriel had this mischevious look in her eye at some point during each of her 95 years. Did she just recite one of those Cockney hand-me-down rhymes she learned as a kid?

This photo was taken last Christmas. She's wearing the crown that came out of her Christmas cracker.

Aunt Muriel passed away very early Friday morning, in her sleep.

She had a great sense of humor and uncommon common sense. She was a voracious reader and a wonderful storyteller and conversationalist. She was an LPN. She took care of her sister and both brothers in their last days.

I will always feel grateful to have known her, and to have felt her love. Lucky to have gotten her in the bargain when I married Hydra.

We spent part of the morning in this park with family. The memorial will be next week.

We'll all miss Aunt Grandma sharply for a long, long time.

Tea Kettle - Thursday 12/7/2006

Today I felt well enough to get up and make some tea. This is progress.

Thanks in no small part, I am sure, to the Thai hot and sour soup Hydra picked up on the way home last night.

My Pillow, My Friend - Wednesday 12/6/2006

Ugh. Spent the whole day in bed. Some kind of weird cold. Puffy eyes, dizzy, very sleepy.

Magical Mystery Tour - Tuesday 12/5/2006

Tammy took me for a mystery hike. She thought I'd like this place, and I did. We went looking for a hot springs that she'd seen Huell Howser do a story on in California's Gold, a wonderful local travel show. We couldn't find it. Neither could the six women we talked to at The Trails Cafe later.


View of the Griffith Observatory from the trail we were on. You can hike up to the observatory from this side, but we didn't go that far.


Part of the menu at the Trails Cafe, which looks like a hamburger shack and has only picnic tables around it. The tomato tart was fabulous. Like, "I have to go back" fabulous. You know, we'll also give finding the spring another shot.

A picturesque basket of lemons behind the cafe. It was a great break. We were gone from work for about an hour and a half, but it felt like three.

Modeling Woes - Monday 12/4/2006

Is it just me, or does Luna seem a little embarrassed?

A Mighty Wind - Sunday 12/3/2006

It's been so windy for the past few days! Gusts up to 70 miles per hour, they said.

There's no good way to show the wind. It sure does scrub the sky clean.

It sure does bring a lot of branches down from the willow tree. Hydra gathered them up and put them in the garbage.

Night Music - Saturday 12/2/2006

Before he began to play, Chet told us that he'd dreamed of visiting Greece when he was a child in New York City in the 1930s. But it was so expensive and so far away, he never thought he'd make it. Well, he did make it in 1975, and he stood in front of the Acropolis, just as he'd always hoped he would. And he played us some tunes from the land of his parents' birth. He's a good man and an amzing player, and I suppose all of envisioned the day he was remembering.

Hydra and I recently resigned from the board of the acoustic music club that brings people like Chet, and us, and many many others together. We'd done it for a few years, and helped to deal with a big censorship issue that came up a couple of years ago. But then I found myself very uncomfortable with some of the political songs Hydra likes to do. Like I didn't want him to upset people and we were on the board and that made a difference. So we quit the board, but not the club. And I will stop with the nervous behavior and not make Hydra feel like he shouldn't do whatever songs he wants. It still makes me nervous to do something that might make people not like him or us, but that's my personal issue.

I'm not proud of wanting to conform. I just like the mostly apolitical nature of these gatherings, and I would rather not hear American love it or leave it songs. The price for that might just be not doing songs from the other end of the political spectrum. The problem came when songs about peace were labeled anti-war and there was some talk of banning them.

Hydra did a Steve Earle song about peace in Jerusalem on Saturday night, and it was beautful and I was proud of him. At least three men, including Chet, came over and shook his hand and complimented the song.

It's often hard for me to remember to not try to be likable to everyone. Hydra sets a good example of being true to one's convictions.

The Chocolate Project - Friday 12/1/2006

I love sharing good stuff.

Today I brought in the Trader Joe's sipping chocolate I've been bragging up at work. It's thick and strong and kind of wonderful.

Later today, we'll launch December in a festive way with a tasting. I have only made this one serving at a time, so we shall see if I make a big mess or what. Gonna use the foamer Braveheart gave me for Christmas to blend the chocolate and the milk, then top it with the extra-creamy whipped cream I picked up this morning.

Jingle jingle!

The Lights Are On... - Thursday 11/30/2006

...but no one's home.

This hummer was left running in the restaurant parking lot.

What tha--?

You don't just run in and out of Bob's Big Boy. You sit. For like a half an hour. I-- I can't even begin to write about this.

It's all too obvious.

Sing in the Sunshine - Tuesday 11/28/2006

This is out of order because I was all caught up in my computer issues on Wednesday morning.

This guy was sitting on the corner across from the coffee house, just playing for himself. It was sunny, but pretty darn cold for Southern California.

It's always good to see people engaged in their art.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Writers - Wednesday 11/29/2006

I'm not making any claims about the quality of my writing but you would have to agree that in terms of quantity, I have been a very good writer this month.

I wrote another 2000+ words of character notes this morning before work. I'd left my USB drive on my desk yesterday. A simple one-block walk to my office before writing would have helped with about 50% of the sick feeling in my stomach right now.

I plugged in my trusty laptop to recharge it and to download my work to the USB drive, and...thump. It won't boot up. At all. It just whirs for a split second and then it stops. I've tried removing the battery, etc.

The manufacturer's warranty has expired. I think I bought the extended warranty. I would really like those notes and the outline I was so excited about having finished, more than even if they just gave me a brand new computer.

At least I have the whole manuscript on USB and printed out. It's just...potentially really sad.

[EDIT: IT'S OKAY!!!! I called the support service from Circuit City and they ran me through discharging all the power... It was more than just taking out the battery. And found out I may have a recall issue regarding static electricity. But the main thing is, my writing from this morning is all there, and now backed up on my USB drive, and being printed out imminently. Glad I didn't have a meltdown. I would have felt pretty silly.

To paraphrase John Lennon, happiness is a warm USB drive.]

Bam! Here's Some More For You! - Monday 11/27/2006

Christmas spirit, that is. I was minding my own business, typing away at my usual table at Bob's around 5:30 this morning when--BAM!--this Christmas bulb landed on my table. I hadn't even noticed that they'd decorated the chandeliers above the booths.

When I tried to hand it to the waiter, he said, "Oh, no. It's destiny. That one's yours. It picked you."

So, okay. I brought it with me. I will secure the tie ribbon a little better and hang it over my desk. Is this some sort of odd synchronicity or what? When I got to work, I found answers to my question about types of ropes and knots that I'd posted on the NaNoWriMo forum where you can ask realism questions.

Also... Today I printed out my rough draft manuscript, double-spaced (yes, on recycled paper), because I feel like I deserve to haul this monster into my writing group tomorrow night and plop it down on Gia's coffee table. They will be almost as happy as I am...maybe more so. They don't have to rework it!

Christmas Spirit - Sunday 11/26/2006

Hydra's got it! He spent quite a few hours getting all this stuff arranged. It looks great as you come up the street!

See how the bear is skiiing down from the star!?

Feeling Like a Winner - Saturday 11/25/2006

That's what they call you on NaNoWriMo when you write 50,000 words in 30 days. And that's what you feel like too!

What an amazing thing! I actually have a first draft, very nearly complete, and it actually has a plot. My writer friends will rejoice for me. I am not the go-to gal for plot. I would sit and describe an early morning hike or a good looking man for six pages if I could get away with it.

But I powered through this, and I have an actual series of events, and characters I love enough to want to go back and straighten things out for. There are some blind canyons, some conflicting character elements that will need work. It's a true mess, but it tells a story. And the story will support what I really want to say about these people.

I am astonished, empowered, so so grateful to the people who put together NaNoWriMo, and to all of you who cheered me along this path. I respond very well to positive feedback.

[Dancing a silly silly victory dance around the room, out into the yard, and back again!]

And on the 25th day, the tea turned to hot chocolate. And there was whipped cream. And it was good.

The Polar Bear in My Library - Friday 11/24/2006

Yes, Hyrda gets a little excited about Christmas. After almost seven years in our house, we have a nice stockpile of Christmas lights. But until this week, no light-up animatronic animals.

He spent much of the day building a platform for this guy, who will be seen skiing down from the star on the front peak of the house. He used scrap wood for the platform and we were tickled that the project didn't require a run into Lowe's for anything. We have the tools and the leftovers. We are like real home owners now.

Dodger kept an eye on this guy for me. Suspicious looking git. Don't let him near the pistachios!

I cooked us up a turkey yesterday. Yum. It was free range, and it was the best I've ever made. Not because of the herb-and-garlic butter I rubbed all over it, or the cooking bag, because we've done that before. No more bargain basement turkeys for us.

Thanksgiving - Thursday 11/23/2006

Isn't this lovely? Hydra's cousin, Sharon, made the stained glass angels that adorned our plates. She came all the way from Michigan to share the day with us, at our mutual cousin's house in Orange County.

Sunlight on leaves passed during our post-dinner, pre-dessert walk:




I'm thankful for so much, but right now am thinking of how grateful I am for this artistic life I am leading. My friends and family are so creative and exciting.

I think the following quote, from the book I'm reading right now, is actually applicable to most forms of artistic expression:

“There are these rare moments when musicians together touch something sweeter than they’ve ever found before in rehearsals or performance, beyond the merely collaborative or technically proficient, when their expression becomes as easy and graceful as friendship or love. This is when they give us a glimpse of what we might be, of our best selves, and of an impossible world in which you give everything you have to others, but lose nothing of yourself. Out in the real world there exist detailed plans, visionary projects for peaceable realms, all conflicts resolved, happiness for everyone, for ever—mirages for which people are prepared to die and kill. Christ’s kingdom on earth, the workers’ paradise, the ideal Islamic state. But only in music, and only on rare occasions, does the curtain actually lift on this dream of community, and it’s tantalizingly conjured, before fading away on the last notes.”

from Saturday by Ian McEwan

Alien Lifeform - Wednesday 11/22/2006

I've never been been able to grow a plant from an avocado pit that hadn't already begun to sprout inside the fruit. So it seems wasteful not to give this pit its chance at a longer, leafier life.

The Lunatic in my Office - Tuesday 11/21/2006

I love it when our office manager brings her puppy, Luna, to work with her. Luna's the perfect office dog. Friendly and just energetic enough to be fun. She comes in and says hello when she first gets here. Then stops by for a little ankle lick when she makes her rounds a couple of times a day.

She's gotten good at playing with tennis balls, but she's not supposed to pull the fluff off of them.

Playing

Playing
PlayingWhat? I'm not supposed to pull off the fluff? Like... never?


Really. I never imagined you meant never.

Eyeing the Pig - Monday 11/20/2006

The pig believes itself to be safe.

The pig knows it's Thanksgiving this week; a holiday traditionally more threatening to the turkey.

What the pig hasn't realized is that I've been spending most of my allowance on breakfasts out and chai tea lattes.

The pig is in danger.

Pity the pig.

Moving Forward - Sunday 11/19/2006

I received this mug from the Elegant E on Saturday! She receieve one from me, too!

The first thing it held was a celebratory margarita on the rocks for passing the 35,000 word mark.

I spent 4 1/2 hours dealing with computer problems. Kind of messed up my momentum. Ah well. Still ahead of the game, techinically.

I calmed down and filled it with tea on Sunday. ;)

On the other side, it says "Novelist Fuel." Tee hee.

Power - Saturday 11/18/2006

I took this photo as part of an assignment from friends over on 43Things to take a photograph of "power." I had to think a lot about this one. What do I think is powerful?

Standing up for what you believe, even when it’s not the popular position. Peaceful resistance.

A few years ago in the U.S.--even a few months ago--it felt a little dangerous to say that we shouldn’t be in Iraq. I found out that a few people who I thought of as friends would like to shut me up. They thought I was a threat to the security of our country for saying what I believed.

To me, freedom of speech is at the core of what this country is supposed to stand for. Get rid of that, and you don’t have much left to defend.

As evidenced by the recent elections, some people’s minds have been changed. The large and small actions of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people willing to speak up have made a difference. Oh, and Keith Olberman's comments helped give us courage, too.

It isn't solved, but the ways of talking about it are opening up.

[Edit: If you are interested in what other people are doing for this goal on 43Things, take a look.]

Other People's Lives - Friday 11/17/2006

I wrote at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Friday. A) I have been out of their wonderful loose leaf Chai tea for more than a week and B) I could not. not. not. face another bowl of Big Boy oatmeal this week.

The honeymoon is over, Bob.

Have to admit it was nice to be in a place where the music wasn't all recorded before 1963. And it's a decidedly younger crowd that stops at the Bean in the early a.m. Considering that my characters are late twenties, this could be a good influence.

Also, Jennifer Love Hewitt stopped in for a cuppa and was very very sweet to the woman who recognized her and talked to her for a little bit.

This little apple turkey next to the cash register just took me places for a few minutes. Oh, yeah. Here I am with my commute and my early morning writing, and all my other stuff, and there is also a little boy making a surprise for his auntie who works at a coffee house.

Wonderful world.

Farmstand Vegetables - Thursday 11/15/2006

I didn't intend this to be my photo for the day. It just happens to be the only one I took. I took it to remind myself what went into the impromptu veggie dish I made. Good food shots are a whole 'nother art form. This was much better than it looks.

I stopped by the farmstand on Sierra Highway at Vasquez Canyon Road with the intention of mixing up my bad veggie habits a bit. You can only be expected to eat so many servings of broccoli or brussels sprouts before beginning to form an aversion.

So... I picked out a bunch of likely looking stuff, and here's the recipe. It was very good hot, and very good cold. Watch out Franklin Stove, this may be part of our next meeting's meal!

Farmstand Veggies

1 1/2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 large yellow crook-neck squash
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch squares
1 large ear of sweet corn, cut from the cob
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup black olives, finely chopped
3-4 leaves fresh basil or 1-2 tsp dried

Sautee the garlic and onions in a large skillet till the onions are translucent. Add the squash, pepper, corn, tomato and black olives. Cook until the squash is obviously cooked--it gets a little translucent too. Add the basil and cook another 2-3 minutes.

I'm not sure if you really need the tomato. Or you could use a whole one. I just had that much left over from something else and tossed it in. What makes this different is the chopped olives. I'd had them in a pasta dish over the weekend and though it would be good in this mix. Mmm!

This Is My Brain - Wednesday 11/15/2006

This is my brain on NaNoWriMo:



Near as I can figure, all this creative output has nearly nixed my ability to sleep. So far I've actually had more energy than usual.

In spite of waking up early or in the middle of the night, with my characters asking me how they are going to deal with what I'm going to put them through next. Actually, I think they're strong enough to cope with it, if I'm strong enough to give them a real challenge.

I told a very peripheral acquaintence about NaNoWriMo yesterday, but I didn't explain it right, and I woke up at 1 am this morning with a sinus headache, worrying that this guy thinks I'm a dilettante. What kind of moron thinks she can write a novel in a month? No one, it's just a first draft...

Oh, for PETE'S SAKE. Lighten up.

Manic energy can be a very handy thing.

On the other hand, it seems that it can turn on you when you least expect it.

[Note to my mom, and any other safety conscious individuals: the 75 mph photo was taken from the passenger seat of Hydra's Tahoe.]

Money Is No Object - Tuesday 11/14/2006

The lovely, thoughtful American in Toronto sent this breast cancer awareness commemorative Canadian quarter to me to give to Gia about six months ago. Last night I finally had my wallet open during our writing group meeting, and I remembered to give the quarter to Gia. It was still wrapped in AiT's note.

If you are thinking about making a small considerate gesture, go ahead and do it. Thank people. Acknowledge good behavior and good service. Let the friend of a friend know that it matters that she is alive.

Your positive action may just ripple through our world in ways we can't begin to imagine.