Yoga Gal's Monologues

"Try never get drunk outside your own house." Jack Keronac

2011-08-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

This is a no brainer. One factor, no one should hit the road after having a few but the cost of buying a few cocktails has gone up so high that you need to take out a loan to get a good buzz on at a bar these days! Even at a dive bar, a martini can be as high as $10 a drink, at most bars in LA it's up to $12! There has always been a 100% mark up on liquor but these days I think it has gone up to 150%! Damn! For the cost of three drinks I can buy a full 1.75 liter bottle of fine booze for the same cost and I can make my drinks stringer!

There is a classic 1940 movie titled
The Lost Weekend" where a man with a major drinking problem take $10 and with that he buys five drinks at a bar and buys two bottles of booze! Now that was the good old days!

So here to mixing your own and cheers!

"What we have here, is a lack of communication"

2011-08-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

"Submission to everything, open, listening" - Jack Keronac

I once heard a New Age female preacher state, that listening is one of the greatest act of love. There is so much truth in that statement, for how often have you been fighting with a love one and you found yourself shouting at them:"You're not listening to me!" ?

Why do you think people are so willing to dish out $100 dollars an hour to an therapist, just so they can talk to a person , who will just sit back an LISTEN!

One of the most frustrating things a person can do to me, that makes me want to stick a fork in their neck, is to cut me off before I finish a sentence, so they can jump in with their opinion! It's maddening!

The art of listening is also a sign of great intelligence! Any fool can have an opinion but an intelligent person, sits back, observes and listens!

Last night, while having dinner with my friend Steve, at a little cafe in Old Towne Pasadena, there was a very young,attractive, Japanese couple sitting next to us. It was Friday night, Date Night, but these two young people were more involved with their Smart Phones than they were with each other! She was on her Face Book page-heaven only knows what she was texting on it, and he was playing some game on his Apple IPhone! They spoke only a few words to each other, even when their food arrived they barely spoke a word to each other!

I turned to my friend and said:"If they are so involved with their cell phones now, when they are young and in love, can you imagine what they are going to be like 20 years from now, when the mystery of love has faded and they are all too familiar with each other? Most women don't bitch about being neglected until two years after marriage. But the norm of ignoring one another has already been set! What is the bridge that brings these two lovely people together? Sex? And after sex, do they pick up their Smart Phones and text about it?

Has this new technology taken away the art of true communication?

"Winter is coming"

2011-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Anyone who is a fan of "The Game of Thrones" will get that jest. Summer is just a few days away from ending and with it begins my favorite season of the year, Autumn! I love Fall, the period of harvest and weather change, shorter days and cooler nights. Indian Summer with it's hot afternoons and it cold evenings But most of all, I love the brilliant colors of the season. Even in California we have some trees that leaves change color of bright orange, deep red and dark browns.

I find myself harvesting memories of my departed, beloved mother and the beautiful road trips we would take up the coast, as soon as the long Labor Day weekend had passed.

Now I must also, harvest ideas for my new life alone and harvest the dreams of my past and plan seeds of a new future. I once heard on the Rosie O'Donnell Show, that sometimes we should treat our lives like a school year, give ourselves a goal and give ourself the time a school year takes to reach that goal.

So, I enter a new school year for my life and put into action becoming the woman my dearly departed parents would be proud of!

Greeting from the edge

2011-03-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought all the dust of disorder has began to settle down and I can move on with my life, another monkey wrench of fate has been thrown into the works and my life falls into a vortex of confusion. After our last storm system, I noticed that my roof was showing signs of leaks! Rats! So for the pass few weeks contractors have been by giving me their song and dance and giving me quotes on the estimated cost on installing a new roof. Price quote went from OMG to WTF! The big end construction companies quoted over ten grand!!!! Do they think, I'm made out of money! And I live in a very humble, one story, three bedroom house! What are the cost for the big, two story mansions in Southern California? I feel emotionally exhausted from listening to these contractor give me their facts and figures as if I'm been interviewed by a vampire! This is not the time to give up drinking!

Don't know how I'm going to come up with the cash but I do have a CD that is due to mature. Damn, this house has become a money pit! But, I really shouldn't complain. When I see the images from Japan, i grateful I have a roof over my head, even if it has leaks! It's not just the earthquake but damn; the destruction of that tsunami! My heart went out to they.

This Sunday my friend Steve and I went to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles and there was a group of kids collecting for the earthquake relief and of course Steve and I just had to make a donation. But really, I can't image what those poor people are going through; even with those nightmare photo; those people lost everything!

So who am I to complain over paying for the replacement for a roof!My prayer are with you in Japan!

Mourning becomes Electra

2011-03-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for months-due to the fact that since my mother's death I feel adrift in a sea of grief, What drives me wild, is that in this culture people want to expedite sorrow. I've been told to lift up my chin and get on with on with my life! Really? My mother was my touch stone, the one person I feel who truy love me, for who I am nit who they think I am! She shared all my secrets and my dreams and now she is gone and I have no one to share these things with! I loss my closeness friend and dear companion! For the pass seven years I was her care giver and now I'm also out of a job and it's not easy finding a new job with a seven year gap in your resume. But I don't mind! It was the best seven years of my life, they were golden and I love that fact that I care take care of the woman who took care of me! We made great memories! Now; I'm alone and lost!

Mother's Little Helper

2010-05-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Post Mother's Day thoughts. A few weeks ago the TV program 20/20 did a spot on mothers who abuse alcohol and as usual with TV they highlighted only the dramatic details of devil fire water but didn't really deal with the issues of why these women turn to alcohol to help them cope with the stresses of motherhood. The media, in this post Woman's Lib Era, seems to want to put the glam into motherhood and almost want to canonize famous women who embrace motherhood by not only having their own but adopting children from every third world nation on the planet but never seem to adopt a child from their own homeland. What the media doesn't tell or show is the fact that these women, being rich and famous, have "HELP"! They have nannies and servants to deal with the demands of child care, so they can continue their own brilliant careers. But the average woman must wing this job alone. And raising children is a JOB! A job that is 24/7! And it can be alienating and frustrating and so demanding that a woman can get so lost with meeting the demands of her children, she forgets to take care of her own needs, I use to work with children,. While in college I was a teacher's aide and I loved working with the children but damn; it was the most exhausting work I ever done. I would be so joyful, that after work I could go home, relax, read, study and enjoy alone time, but the mother's of these kids have no evening down-time! All the women on the program, were married and they all seem to suffer from an emotionally detached relationship with their husbands. Little wonder they drink! One needs to be praised and petted for doing a good job but what praises do mother's get? One holiday a year? I recall the big news story of a young woman, who when asked why she left her husband and small child to run off with another married man, she stated that she felt no one would really miss her. My heart broke for her, for you could see, she truly felt that she had no feelings of self-worth within her own family, We all need to feel important! That the work we do in our family does have value and that we our loved! I admire women such as Bohemian Mom, who cope with the stress of single-motherhood, with art and poetry, Art and poetry is hard to do when one minds is on bills and everyday living. So, what is this all about, Hug your mother and thank her everyday! Mothers of the world I lift my glass of champagne to you!

"Put the blame on Mame..."

2010-04-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ever since Eve talked Adam into taking a bite out of that silly apple, women have been blamed for everything that goes wrong with the the world. Now there is an iranian cleric, Hojatolesiam Kazen Sedighi, who has made the insane declaration, that the cause for all this current world-wide earthquakes is due women dressing immodesty and there for leading men astray from the moral codes of Islam? Say what? What does immodesty have to do with a natural disaster? What :The Gods most be crazy"? Besides, if women dressing sexy keep your men's minds off of making car bombs, then ladies, let's lower that neck line and shorten our hem lines!

Food:glorious food.....

2010-04-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

One thing I notice while walking among the Collective at PIH (hospital), is the poor eating habits of the staff. You would think, that after seeing the ill effects of a fast-food diet, that Health-Care professionals would be anal, about the kind of food they eat. But while there, I noticed a lot of the nursing staff would walk into work carrying MacDonalds bag, with a cup of coffee in their hands. Often I would go to tho hospital coffee cafe- called Jazzman and watch the doctors and medical staff order sweeten coffees and sweet, bake goods. I got a fresh fruit cup of strawberries and blueberries and was shock that the fruit had no flavor!!The coffee cafe did offer hot tea as well as fresh fruit, lived on hot tea and pears during my mother's stay. Once I stopped at the Marie Calendars' pie cafe across the street and recognized one of the ER doctors, he was eating with a fellow doctor, they were eating big ass cheese burgers and downed it was a whole pot of coffee, then they stepped to smoke a CIGARETTE; then drank another pot of coffee! I hope he doesn't do surgery, pumped up with all that coffee! For the whole in the Collective, the doctors are lean, whereas the nurses and aides run a little heavy set. Then I believe the nurses and nurses aide eat more out of stress. The doctors are so detached and not emotionally invested with the patients, they come in for a few minutes, do their "Ya-da-ya-da-ya-da" and dash off into the halls of the labyrinth of the hospital get on with theirs; but the nurses and nurse-aides are hands on with the patients and they have to deal with the stress of patient care. Little wonder nurses and nurse-aide find comfort in fast-food and show a little booty spread. I have nothing but love and respect for nurses and nurses-aide, a feeling I do not share for doctors! Doctors just supervise one's health-care but truly- I advise your own health-care! Google your doctor, google the drugs and the side-effects of each drug. I know doctors get a little testy when you confront them with intelligent questions or concerns but then if they are not willing to listen to you then you should get another doctor. That is why I sing the praises of Dr. Abbid Shah and Dr. Sarvesh J. Patikh, I know I can be a pain in the ass with questions but they showed me respect for my annoying inquisition of health concern for my mother.I know men find verbally aggressive women it be very unattractive but I'm more concerned about my mother's health and can care less what a young male doctor thinks of me! Besides, I have no interest in sparking a MD's interest! I'm more into artistic-edgy men!

Resistance is futile

2010-04-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

This has been an odd few weeks, surreal actually: for I've been spending it at my mother's bedside at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier. I only take a few hours break to go home to shower and collect our mail and such. Spending so much time within the walls of a large hospital reminds me of what life in a spacecraft must be like, for I feel like I'm walking in the hive among the collective and like all hives not all drones are creative equal. They are even color coded! The Brahmins are the doctors, walking through the labyrinth of hallways in their white lab coats. And what a variety of doctors did I see! During her last visit, my mother had one doctor, Dr. Abbid Shah, due to the fact she had only one, most excellent doctor to review and supervise the details of her health-care, I was well informed and felt great comfort in the consistency of having only one doctor. But during this last stay, I feel like I'm in an episode of "Doctor Who" not knowing what doctor is going to step out of the TRADIS! It's most confusing and I have to be anal about keeping details notes and Googling like a woman possessed each doctor, processor and, medication handed out to her. So many news faces wearing white lab coats has become a haze in my head ,only one Dc. Parikh, remains in my head. One reason, I saw him more than once and like Dr. Shah, he was very kind, open to questions and gave me precise,information, But like all hives, it's not the aristocracy of doctors that keep the hive running smoothly but the worker drones that one's life depends on! Check the color codes Rns/Lvns Ocean Blue or as they also called it in the booklet (Royal Blue) (Queen Bees of the drones I guess), Nurse Attendants,/Unit Clerks- Unit Registration Clerk/lab Clerks - Wine (or as they say burgundy) Orderlies/ Transportation Attendants -black - Cardiology - Caribbean Blue (greenish Blue),Radiology-Navy Blue- Physical Therapy -Midnight Blue (dark Blue -Respiratory Services - Ciel Blue (light Blue) - Environmental Services (I guess they mean janitor) Evergreen (Light green). Interesting don't you think? My mum had wonderful nurses taking care of her! Really PIH, is an mazing hospital. But one thing I begining to think is an Urban Myth is where are all those handsome doctors you see on TV? All are were rather, well average, not Doctor McDreamy! Not dreamy at all, as a matter of fact doctors dress rather like nerds! I mean , who wears a neck tie anymore? Also, for this all brave new world of woman's lib there was only a very tiny handful of women doctors! All I could tell it's still a man's world in the collective! But what can one do? Go with the flow I guess, resistance is futile!

Story without pictures

2010-04-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yoga Gal is one unhappy camper! For over five years I been attending the Yoga Journal Conference in Boston because I love Boston and in the past I got a great room at the Boston Sheraton on Dalton Street but this year I got a rat hole of a room with the view of a concrete wall! I usually got a great room with a breathtaking view of lake Charles ! Now I can understand if I was new and booked in the last minute but I booked five months in advance for crying out loud! FU Sheraton org you give bad customer service! My room is so bad I can't get good can't get good reception on the clock radio! Thus will be my last stay at a Sheraton! And I go to a lot of Conferences not to mention Comic Cons and World Cons!

No one expects a Spanish Inquisition!

2010-04-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or gotten lost on the freeway of the world wide web: just the fact that my mother's health has been very fragile lately. She is so weak lately and I fear I will have to rush her back to the ER of Whittier Presbyterian Inter community Hospital, a place that makes me feel like I'm walking through the third level of Dante's Hell. Don't get me wrong the staff there is truly wonderful, Doctor Abbid Shah is a superb doctor, who not only possesses medical expertise but compassion as well. All the medical staff there are lovely people! Once in a while, when I meet my friend Linda at Marie Calendars,(in California there always seems to be a Marie Calendars across the street of a hospital) I see some of the nurses there, enjoying a much needed after work libation and I feel compelled to buy them a drink to show my gratitude for their hard and good work. No: it's not the staff of PIH's ER that given me the creeps while at the ER, it's just that one must wait for hours at the ER and I feel I'm sitting at the mouth of Hell! It's a depressing and cold place, I can't see how any sane person can bare working there! Also, whenever I"m there, I'm the one who has to answer the same question after question, makes me feel I'm facing the Spanish Inquisition! Things are looking better for my mom, she is still very weak but feeling better! Please; pray for her!

Location, location, location

2010-03-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

If anyone was wondering where I took the photos of the elephant seals it was on my way up to Big Sur: it was about two above Hearst Castel, Every year during late Fall the elephant seal go to the local beach and have their pups. The photos are of the pups , the male elephant seals were too busy acting macho and boxing each other in the ocean. And they are huge! They don't call them elephant seals for nothing!
It was raining the day I took the photos but the seals didn't mind the rain. Well, I guess when you spend so much time in the ocean a little rain does bother you.

Ain"t Misbhavin all by myself,,,

2010-02-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

"They say that bear have love affairs:
And even camels,
We're men and mammals-let's misbehave!" Cole Porter

May you all a happy Valentine's Day and misbehave with the one you love!

Go on the wild side-this is the Year of the Tiger! Happy New Year too! ROAR!

Love makes the world go round

2010-02-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

May you all enjoy a happy St. Valentine's Day, may love warm you throughout the year!
Sunday will also be Chinese New Year! This year will be the Year of The Tiger! Rather like the sound of that! May you all have a happy new year.

I dreamed a dream of time gone by....

2010-01-27T21:59:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago, I had a major crash on a yoga teacher. I was so smitten by him I took every class he taught. Each evening after seeing him, I would have an evening of very, colorful and vivid dreams. These dreams always had bright, colorful and exotic, beautiful flowers in it. It was a delightful and painful heaven I was in. The poor yoga teacher, didn't return my feelings. Since then, no other man, has ever captured my emotions or imagination.
There have been other men in my life but not one ever stirred such powerful nocturnal images.
Since last Friday, when I passed the handsome Doctor Abbid Shah in the hallway, I've been dreaming of my ex-boyfriends! Talk about your nightmares! Seeing the good doctor, only made me aware, how numb I've have grown below the waist! It's been ages since I felt any stir of desire! !I can care less if I NEVER have sex again!
Why is that?
My mother fragile health is always on my mind. Must confess, in the past, if a handsome doctor, with a sexy English accent walked into a room i was in, I would be smitten with curiosity! But now,: all I feel is concern over health matter. Have I grown immune to handsome men?
I see handsome men, everyday in the yoga studio, the plus of yoga in West Hollywood. Yesterday, a dropped dead gorgeous, blond male actor stood next to me in class and all I could think. He needs to work on his alignment. Hell, I felt nothing!
Then if you had been involved with the men, I had in my past, you too would be immune to desire!

Comments from the peanut gallery

2010-01-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

When I wrote on my Face Book page that I thought if anyone should be crowned as the "King Of Goths" it should be Stephen King, an ardent fan wrote on my wall, asking me if I ever had read the Sandman books. I wrote back that I had and that I greatly love them! Then I wrote back to him. had he ever read, "The Stand"! The the young man response was, well, he would rather hang out with Neil Gaiman than with Stephen King. At first, I was rather confused with this declaration. I would love to be able to spend an evening with Stephen King discussing things that make our skin crawl over a glass of wine but I would also enjoy eating sushi and drinking sake with Neil Gaiman, discussing the power of myth. But then, I realized that one thing that makes Mr. Gaiman so bloody interesting is not just his amazing talent but the amazingly talented people he has as friends. From his very talented P.A. The fabulous Lorraine, to his web wizard Dan Guy,Cat Mihos, the beautiful goddess Malena Teves and the musical Olga Nunes and let's not forget his bride to be, the amazing Amanda Palmer! If you ever have a chance to see her perform, you must go! She is more a performance artist and not in the cheesy over the top way of Lady GaGa! It would appear to be a friend of this gifted writer, you must be gifted too! Yes, I would love to hang out with that group as well, but my talents fade compared to theirs!

Hat full of rain

2010-01-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

Talk about your bad rain karma; all week it has been pouring down rain, this afternoon the sun actually came out and I thought, "Glory be!", I can go out and run a few errands. I needed to pick up the mail at my post office box, as well as stop by the local hospital to pick up a prescription for mom. The sun was shinning with all it might but as soon as I parked my car in the hospital parking lot, the rain came down in buckets. And not just a straight down pour but the wind was blowing it right into my face. So when I walked into the hospital, my makeup was washed off, my hair fuzzed out and I looked like the proverbial drown rat! "Find" I though,"I have no one to impressed" No sooner did that thought cross my mind than the handsome doctor, that was so kind to my mother in the ER, Dr. Abbid Shah, walked by me. Isn't it ironic? Not that I have any romantic designs on the good doctor, it's just that running into handsome men always makes me appearance aware. It's the same feeling I get whenever an A-List actor comes into my yoga class, somehow I regret not putting on any makeup. However, handsome doctors are like A-List Actors, so involved in their own reality that they are unaware of others around them. The good doctor didn't even see me:; no doubt he had better things on his mind, such as saving a life! One creepy thing I did noticed while picking my mother's prescription and walking through the hospital, was that the hospital lobbies were packed with people! It was unreal! I never seen so many people in the waiting areas! Is this due to the rain? People in California just don't know how to drive in the rain and the freeways look like a war zone from the flashing red lights of auto crashes. Or maybe this flue business is really as dangerous as the press say. I'm clueless; just notice that there was a lot of traffic in the hospital today! Heaven help us! At least the rain is starting to let up, tonight is beautiful and rain free. However: I must confess, I love falling asleep with the sounds of rain outdoors and thunder storms just fill me with a rush of lush! It's that inner Goth Goddess in me, I guess. This week, has been the ONLY week, I longed to have a man in my bed! Love has left such a bitter taste in my mouth, I don't care If I NEVER fall in love again. So, I pacified those amorous feelings brought on by the rain, by re-reading Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights".

The King is dead: long live the king!

2010-01-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

I just read a profile on Neil Gaiman, in "The New Yorker" magazine, calling him, "The King of the Goths"! Excuse me:: who died and crowned him king?

Now; don't get me wrong! I believe Neil Gaiman is an AMAZING talent! His novel "America Gods" converted me to Horror/Fantasy Fiction. Before I read that book, the only work of Fantasy fiction I read were the three Lord of the Rings; and that was when I was in college and dating a handsome, tormented artist ,who's dream was to illustrate a graphic novel version of the series. (Can you imagine the volumes of those books!) It wasn't until I read Mr. Gaiman's dark tale of Shadow and his encounters with displaced Old World Gods, that I started to become a fanatic fan of dark tales of the macabre. His short stories are full of twisted wit and dark humor.

However: he's far from being the "king" of the sinister genre! There are far too many writers that are not only his equal but surpassed him. Christopher Moore novels are brilliant with wit , his first novel ,"Practical Demonkeeping" is a must for fans of Horror fiction! And other names, such as Joe Hil (Heart Shape Box & 20th Century Ghosts)l, Charlaine Harris (novels that the wonderful show "True Blood"),just come come to mind:hell, not to mention Stephen King! If any Horror/Fiction writer should be crown with such a title it should be Stephen King!

To be fair on the so called Dream King Gaiman, he does have an enormous number of devoted fans. (I confess, I'm one of those fans!) I also I noticed that the New Yorker writer who pen the profile was female and Mr. Gaiman can be as charming as the devil himself. And even though he's greying. his face is starting to shows the sagging signs of age and he is beginning to have a older man's gut (Amanda take your man to yoga class) he still can be said to be an attractive, handsome, mature man! So maybe, he charm himself into that crown?

The king is dead: long live the king! But remember Mr. Gaiman:"Heavy hangs the head that wear the crown".

I'll build a staircase to paradise...

2010-01-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

One good thing about illness is that it gives one the free time to read those books you have piling up by one's bedside. You know that pile of books that are your most read one of these days? A few days ago I saw a current film version of the classic H.G.Wells "The Time Machine". It was one of those film version that made me wonder if the writers, producers and director had bothered to even read the novel?It was so off the mark the only thing they got correct it seem to be the title! Instead of making the Eloi the small, fair and androgynous people they were in the look they made they dark skin, native looking people who could have the physical force to kick the ass of the Morlocks.

I wrote in my FaceBook wall how being so ill made me feel like I was a Morlock , living in the dark and not being able to take the sunlight. When I wrote and ask did anyone know who the Morlocks were my friend who claimed to not only read SF Fiction but write it as well stated they were clueless to the reference! Excuse me; now can you claim to love Science Fiction and not have read H.G. Welles? That like stating you were an English Lit major and never had read Shakespeare! Only two people knew what I was talking about : one an old friend who does read SF and the other a friend who son loves computer games and they're charcters in a game.

However, bad the film was, it did inspire me pick up the book and read it again! It's a wonderful novel!

Hope Floats

2009-12-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve we are told to look back and reflect on the past year and to dream of what we want ahead but the future seems to be a CD caught in a loop, Has anyone noticed that gas prices are raising AGAIN! I voted last year for a man who has his image posted on bummer stickers with the words "HOPE" written on it but what I should had voted for was change. We are still in two wars, the jobless rate is still climbing, good American's are losing their homes, while the banks are up to their same old dirty tricks and national health care?I'll believe it when it happens WTF! They say that hope floats but I can't help but feel we good Americans are sailing on the Titanic and there are just not enough life boats for us all! In the Titanic only the rich got on the life boats! WTF!

You got to shop around

2009-11-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

My mother's illness inspired me to be more aggressive in looking to find health care. Last month my Cobra coverage ran out and so I logged in to Blue Shield to see about buying my own heath care. It makes me want to pack my nags and move to Canada, where they have national heath care! The best package was found by contacting Blue Shield directly but I couldn't help but feeling like I was buying auto insurance, buying a product you pray you never have to use!
Here is another rub. This year my Internal Medicine doctor retired! Rats! He was a damn good doctor and I've been with him since my freshman year of college. I feel like I lost a best friend! For he knew more details in my life than my family and friends!
Now I have to shop around for another doctor and what a nightmare for how do you go about finding a good doctor. My mother has a wonderful doctor, Doctor Sy Oang! He was wonderful during my mother's follow up from the hospital. But he is very popular and I don't think he's able to handle more clients. The hospital assigned my mother with an excellent cardiologist, Dr. Aditya Ambegaonkar but I don't need a heart doctor. Due to my mother's stay at PIH I was greatly impressed with her Internal MD Abbid Shah but I don't know if he has his own practice and wouldn't go to him anyway. He's very young and handsome and i just wouldn't feel comfortable allowing this attractive man to see me in a state of undress , under those unflattering lights of an examining room , looking at me warts and all. (I don't have warts but you get the idea.) It's just such a roll of the dice finding a truly good doctor to put your life in their hands, Don't know what I'm going to do to find one but at least I have bought health care!

Back by popular demand

2009-11-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

Since my mother's bout with pneumonia, I feel like I've been derailed from the tracks of my so called life, I just can't seem to get back into my regular routine. Last Monday was the first times in weeks I actually put pen to paper and began notes for a novel I started last summer, it felt wonderful but strange. I haven't been to the West Hollywood for a month, spending most my time in Pasadena, wandering around like a zombie through my old haunts. Trying to reconnect with my old self, dreams and ambitions. Today I had to pick up stuff for home repairs at Home Depot which made me drive by Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (the Home Depot is right across the streeet from the hospital). Just seeing the place made me feel like I've been kicked in the gut. I hate that place.

What is strange, it's truly a wonderful hospital. The rooms have a feeling like a warm, modern hotel. Even the ER is rather a nice for an ER, very clean and comfortable. The medical staff not only performs with sheer professionalism but with compassion!And I'm not just talking about the nurses or staff of doctors, such as Abbid Shah M.D. and Aditya Ambegaonkar M.D. (damn is that a mouth full!) but the volunteer staff at PIH are lovely and ever so kind! Still, that place brings back such painful memories, such as my father dying there, and he didn't go gently into that final rest. I just never want to re-enter that place! I admire anyone who works at a hospital for all hospitals in my eyes have the charms of Dante's Inferno!

When I got home I just wanted to detach myself from all memories of hospitals, doctors, illness and decided to book my tickets for the San Diego Comic Con 2010! I was shocked that opening night preview was ALREADY SOLD OUT! Damn: the Comic Con is not until July and already some tickets are sold out? Not that I mind, I can care less to be among the first groups of geeks and freaks to hit the floor. Last year I felt like a salmon fighting to go up stream.

Due, to my mother's health I'm not certain I'll be able to make it to next year's Comic Con but I can always sell my tickets if I had to. But I just feel I need get in touch with something playful and fun and connect with my inner geek!

Doctor, doctor, give me some news

2009-10-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Thank you for those of you who send my mom good wishes for her recovery. She had to be hospitalized for pneumonia. She was in Whittier's Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital for five days! She was lucky that she had the same doctor assigned to her case. Last time she was in the hospital for Congestive Heart Failure II kept meaning one doctor after another. This time only had to deal with one during most of her stay. He was a wonderful doctor, always checking in on her each morning and also taking time to make an extra visit to address my issues and concerns. I know I can be a bitch on wheels and very demanding but Doctor Abbid Shah, M.D. was always considerate of my feeling and answering my questions. hey, I have only one mother! Doctor Abbid Shah,MD was always very detailed with his supervision over my mother's case, he was also as handsome as a prince from the Arabian Nights yet spoke with an English accent which was rather surprising. Poor man must have a nightmare when he and his family travel by air! I had a gal pal with the last name of Said and she was always having to go through that extra baggage check experience. He may sound like Ringo Starr but looks like a Shah but he does not look like a terrorist! But iI don't want to get onto my beef with this so called HomeLand Security. I was very pleased with how the whole staff at PIH treated my mother. The hospital is very clean and the offer great services like Free Valet parking but no matter how lovely a hospital is there is something so depressing the whole atmosphere in a hospital. I don't know how people handle working in one. I don't understand why there are so many TV shows about doctors and hospitals, for I see nothing glamourous about hospital or the people who work in one. I had a college girlfriend who's main ambition was to married a doctor, so after she graduated she moved up to the Bay Area and sure enough I got an announcement that she was engaged to a doctor. Talk about the power of the secret! Still, what a shallow dream! I don't dream of being married to an award winning writer such as Neil Gaiman, I want to BE an award winning writer like an Neil Gaiman! Be the dream don't marry the dream! Besides I think marriage and relationships can be dream killers! Does anyone watch the TV show "Madmen"? Last Sunday's show was great, it showed Betty Drader drinking wine, smoking with the intensity of Ibsen"s Hedda Gabler and dreaming of a love affair like a 1960 Madame Bovary. It showed how the frustrated house wife isn't interested in have a sexual affair (like her lustful husband Don), the show showed she wanted the adventure of a romance. If you wonder about why we had a woman's movement watch that show, for poor, cold Betty Draper is detached from her husband, children and most of all herself! Well, I guess I got off the subject again! I just want to say my mother is home and thank you all for your kind words of support!

Excuse me?

2009-10-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

Our President Obama has just won the Nobel Peace Prize! EXCUSE me! He has just escalated the war in Afghanistan! What part of peace don't they get! I support our President; I voted for him! But damn: the man isn't walking his talk! I want all our troops HOME!

Catch 22

2009-09-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

Damn: the nightmare never ends. Today my mother is weak and her breathing is labored, the home nurse says her pulse is low and we called the doctor to make an appointment. Eight thirty a.m. Wednesday morning. Asked nurse if I should take her to ER but I know if I take her to the ER it will wear her out more , waiting around for hours just to admit her! He said to monitor her so it's no sleep for me tonight! I know that the ER would be very hard on her. Feel like I'm caught between the proverbial rock and hard place!

A pretty face is like a melody

2009-09-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

I was going through the photos I took while at the World Con in Montreal and noticed this one I took at the signing wall, that gave a quick bio of each writer, (as if people at the con needed to read a bio of who Neil Gaiman was!) I remember this photo gave me a good laugh, for that man hasn't look that pretty for at least a decade! Made me wonder why they used such an old photo of the Dream King? I must admit, when I first saw the talented writer, five years ago, I was impressed by how handsome he was! He was showing signs of aging, there was white hairs in that famous jet black mane but still a damn, rock-star handsome man! I had seen him often from a distance but due to his huge fan base never bothered to go through that pain in the proverbial ass of waiting in a signing line (God Bless you DreamHaven Book Store!). So not until I went to the world con in Montreal did I notice how much that poor man has aged! And not in a good way! I was shocked to see how haggard and gaunt his face looked! He looked like a man in his mid-fifties pushing sixty than a man who is going to be 49 this year! Plus he had a bit of a gut, which was real odd for his arms were very slim and lacked muscle tone. It was so depressing! The first day I saw him walk by me, I wanted to break out in tears, for it was so sad to see once such a handsome man change so.

So why did they post this glamour shot? It reminded me those flyers I get from yoga studio, advertising a workshop and on the flyer they show a youthful, buff , sexy man and when you attend the workshop you realize that this photo was taken YEARS ago and the yoga teacher is no longer young and often a bit heavy set. Do they they think we woman are as shallow as men and are only interested in a pretty face?

Love among the ruins

2009-09-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite photo of the Dream King Neil Gaiman, for he's wearing color! Not exactly an unattractive man but far from the glamour short above. The poor man bags under his eyes had excess baggage and his complexion was so swarthy and blotchy. After seeing him I wondered what a 33 year old Amanda Palmer saw in him, but then when one is a 48 year old famous, talented and wealthy man, it's easy for a man to attract a much younger woman. Then to be fair , Mr. Gaiman can very very charming. Still, I was rather shock and depressed to see how much he had aged!

Once apond a midnight dreary

2009-09-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

The heat is triple digits hot and the foothills are a blazed, it hard to believe that it's actually Fall and soon it will be sweater weather and we will be sipping hot cider and sharing ghosts stories on a chilly Fall evening.I believe the reason I love ghost stories so, is because I find comfort in thinking there may be another reality than this, My heart has been broken too often to bring me faith in this one.

Danger, danger, don't talk to strangers...

2009-09-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

I was reading Miss Canary's blog and she was writing about being in a new town and how wonderful it is to meet new people. In this country we are so paranoid about trusting strangers. As a child I was taught the American mantra :"Danger, danger , don't talk to strangers" but that is just a great injustice to our spirit, Yes, there are BAD people OUT there! And some wicked , sick,evil people out there wishing to cause us harm but most victims of violent crimes know the person who commits the crime to them. And some mass murderers get away with their crimes because they count on strangers not coming to the aid of other strangers. So we American's keep up this emotional fence of defense around them but I believe that most people are really kind. I love to travel because it gets me out of my comfort zone and makes me go out and communicate to strangers. If you are careful and keep your awareness of your surrounding you can avoid being a victim of crime and most people just want your money. If if comes down to it SHOW them the money and run like hell. It's just money, let them have it! Still in the everyday world most people aren't out to harm you. I notice that now people are hiding behind their BlackBerry or I phone, chatting to strangers they'll never meet (sharing more details than they share with their co-workers who see them everyday!) So instead of sitting in a Starbucks or even a Sport's Bar and sharing a simple thought with a stranger we choose to remain ALONE! Put down the damn phone, look up from your laptop and connect with the human being next to you. While at the WorldCon I smiled at a woman wearing a Worldcon badge and I asked her what she did for a living. She was a writer and invited me to join her group at the bar. That evening I met a group of wonderful, fun people , (one who I still write to on Facebook , the amazingly, talented Virginia O"Dine) we dined then went out and explored the night-life in Montreal. Now, if I wasn't the type to talk to strangers or had my head buried in my BlackBerry I would had spend a lonely evening in my hotel room instead of having a good time in a super town with super people! So Talk to strangers!

A Civil Tongue

2009-09-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift while she was receiving her MTV reward was just plain rude behavior but a lot of fuss has been expressed because Taylor Swift is so young. EXCUSE ME? I don't care if Ms. Swift was a 45 year old grown woman, IT WAS RUDE BEHAVIOR! What are people saying, it's okay to be rude to adults? Yes, it was classy of Beyonce to gave up her spot light to the young Ms. Swift but where the hell was security at the MTV rewards to allow this classless jerk to jump up on stage and take her mike away? And the staff of the MTV awards should had given the young artistic the air time to speak. Why did Ms. Beyonce had to do it? Security should had taken Mr. West off the stage and escorted the man OUT of the theater and send him home and allow Ms. Taylor to give her speech! The MTV staff action were just as rude and heartless! Still, no one should act so rude to anyone, no matter their AGE!

I see dead people

2009-09-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Neil Gaiman Tweeted an interview he gave to "Entertainment Weekly" voicing his opinions on this new pop-culture passion for vampires on screen, film and books. It's well worth the read, for he does point out some very insight facts on why so many people are hook on tales about the Undead.
One being that vampire fiction does address our struggles with are ideas of human sexuality and we are a culture obsessed with sex. From Madonna parading in her leather corset outfit like a latter-day whore of Babylon or the Jonas Brothers with their purity rings, we are self-absorbed with our sexuality. But this is nothing new, ever since man and woman went out and became fruitful we human creature make rules on that drive that sends us soaring. Plato wanted to band flute players for he thought that the music lead to licentious behavior. Caesar Augustus wrote laws on sexual behavior, trying to outlaw homosexuality,
Our sexual nature is a great source of study and entertainment.
Another issue Mr. Gaiman bought up was the conflict that Aides has had on our ideas of sexual practice. Whither it's HIV, S.T.D.S or Herpes , sex can be dangerous, Even Oparh had a show discussing our young people having "RainBow Parties", a game played by girls and boys where a rainbow of lipstick rings and put on a boys penis. Damn: whatever happen to "Spin the Bottle".
I an also understand why Mr. Gaiman brought up the Christian idea of Communion, where the body and blood of Christ is taken. But that is only a symbol of utr union with the divine therefore the name Communion. Our Christian forefathers realized that they were giving the pagans a new religion and pagans need the mystery of the ceremony of book, bell and candle.
What the talented writer Gaiman failed to address was the fact that these vampire stories are well written stories that are character driven. In the book of Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse romance with vampire Bill isn't an easy ride in the coffin. Bill leaves her and breaks her heart. She a work-class girl that has to deal with everyday reality of paying the bills and being drawn into her co-workers personal dramas.
I recall reading Ms. Harris first book while I was dealing with a boyfriend who was cheating on me viva the Internet. Ironically the book was his for he was a great fan of comic books, SF, Fantasy and Horror fiction. I found myself relating to the pain of the heart broken Sookie.
I haven't read the "Twilight" books but i feel that the reason for the frenzy over these books is the fact that it addresses the sexual issues of teenage girls.
Sookie is an outsider and most girls in high school feel like outsiders and here are books addressing their own true desire to be loved for the outsider they are.
But still, what is more powerful is the fact that these characters are so damn interesting. We care about Tara Thornton who in the TV show "True Blood" seems a bit more interesting than Sooki. Vampire Eric upstages vampire Bill. And Lafayette Reynolds is one of the most noble characters in the show. Actually the show "True Blood" is really all about Gay Rights then vampires. But if it's the lives of the undead or small town working class folks dealing with super-natural creatures, we stay tune, buy the books, go to the movies because we care about the characters because they remind us of the issues we are dealing with and are so damn interesting.

Holy hostile takeover

2009-09-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Holy hostile takeover Disney bought Marvel comics for 7.4 BILLION dollars!

Great that's all we need, more mind control over our children from Mighty Mouse! Like Disney needs to make MORE money!

I have a feeling they're going to do for comics ,what they did for pop music. Hanna Montana is a money machine!

Damn!

Photo taken of a cute little coffee shop and gift shoppe in Montreal.

Who will stop the pain

2009-08-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last night noticed that my mom's left forearm was red with a bloody colored bruise. It was the arm that the Home Nurse took her Blood Pressure. My mother skin is like onion skin and can't take any slight bump or pressure. She's in no pain but want the Home Nurse to look at it so another day of worry and waiting! When will things return to normal or will they ever turn back to normal?

(The photo was taken in Montreal at the Bontique De Shalla Design, there are loads of interesting shops and art galleries throughout the City of Montreal this store sales the wonderful art work by a very wonderful artist Nicolin Gublin. Her works are a beautiful pop of color.)

What do you mean I can't cook with salt!

2009-08-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

My mom's heart doctor to cook with no salt; WHAT! almost every you cook with needs a little salt. So I went to Von's supermaket and bought a lot of fresh produce and fish. Yesterday I made shrimp, rubbed with olive oil, garlic , lemon juice and seasoned with Mrs. Dash. Saute it with fresh tomatoes, chopped garlic and unsalted (sweet butter) butter and served over bow paste noodles and steamed asparagus, a one bowl wonder meals. Actually very tasty and a quick meal for the shrimp only needs a few minutes to cook. It's just the prep time. Peeling, cleaning the shrimp and cutting the veggies.

This photo was taken in Montreal at a creepy looking theater called "Maison Hantee" a purple building that was also the home of a cafe called the Angry Chef. Saw if walking back to the convention center. Thought it was a perfect site for a SF/fantasy World Convention.

Cooking with gas

2009-08-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

For anyone who send in their prayers I would like to thank you. My mother is home but the doctor didn't give me very good news I don't even dare to write down for I'm afraid if it is written it will be done. Awoke at seven a.m. and just broke down in tears. They say the strongest steal is made my going through the hottest fire but I just feel like a noodle that has been drooped in boiling water and now just limp.

Photo was taken in Montreal, front entrance of St.Patrick Church.

Calling all prayers

2009-08-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Spend two hours at urgent care, then seven hours in the hospital ER to find out my mother has Congestive Heart Failure! Good heavens! Spend another two hours waiting for the staff to put her in a room! Finally she's in a room , I'm home exhausted, ate , showered, pray now sleep. Please send my mom your prayers!

The photo is a beautiful church in Montreal , Staint Patrick's church.

Viva La France

2009-08-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

One thing I love about Montreal, it was like being in France but the people don't have the attitude. everyone was rather sweet and were more than willing to speak English . This tiny cafe was delightful and served up a tasty breakfast. The waiters were all young flirtatious and playful. When I walked in one cute young waiter shouted out :'You're alone? How can that be?" I smiled and they sat e down at table in the center of all the action. The cafe music was rather interesting, when the song "That's Amore" came up, one it was sung in French , which was odd and all the waiters sang along out loud, which was amusing. I was writing in my note book and wrote down some numbers and trash the pice of paper in my empty drinking glass, while leaving the waiter asked me if I wanted the ting piece of paper I answered no , then he smile "Could it be your phone number?" I laughed and when out to hit the convention floor with a smile on my face.

just around the corner

2009-08-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that just across the border you can be in a different world. Montreal had just a European feeling to it and I loved walking around and just looking at the city. Sipping wine at a corner cafe and listen to the natives speak french.

Anticipation

2009-08-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Spend last week at the World SF /Fantasy Con in Montreal, Canada called "Anticipation". I always wanted to see Montreal Canada and attending past con with my ex-boyfriend I knew the people attending the con would be interesting and friendly. Cons are also great in giving you discount rates for hotels, plus one of my favorite writers Neil Gaiman will be speaking there so it was a win, win, I wish Neil Gaiman felt the same respect for me that I feel for him but then I'm rather a mature fan and he can less what a woman of my age thinks of his works. Passed by him in a hallway and he looked at me as if I were persona-non-grata, sigh, Well, you can not please everyone. Still, a damn interesting speaker and his books are wonderful! However, even the brilliant talent of Neil Gaiman was upstaged by the beauty of this beautiful city! It has an old world French charm and feeling to it. Plus ,the people were so kind and friendly! The men very French and flirtatious! I couldn't believe how often I was asked out! Met some wonderful writers and publishers while at the con as well. I chose not to stay at the Delta hotel which is H.Q. for the event and can care less for staying in a hotel where the head-lining writers would be at. Big deal if you see a great writer like neil Gaiman walk through the lobby I prefer quiet. The Delta was known also as the main party hotel and after a day of attending panels and walking around the town the last thing I wanted was to be kept awake by the sound of people having a good time. Even though I was invited and went to a few parties myself. I stayed at the InterContiinental Hotel, a beautiful and comfortable hotel. The room was huge , hated leaving it to attended the con which was just across the street. Also, very different, never stayed at a hotel where a cork-screw was supplied in my room , also they supplied free condom? Excuse me? Must be a french thing. Still , I had a wonderful time walking around the town, meeting very interesting writer and publishers in the hotel's bar, ..flirting with handsome french speaking young men, attending the panels and gaining insight into what makes Neil Gaiman tick. That man is amazing, he always looked exhausted, never looked rested, huge bags under his eyes but was always kind to his fans who came up to him and asked him for a autograph or a photo opt. It seems I'm the only person that brings out the rude, dark side of his force. Sigh. Maybe, I remind him of a bitch of an ex he once had. Don't know. it is what it is and I still had a wonderful time in a beautifuk city.I will be posting more photos of that enchanting town!

We welcome you to Munchkinland...

2009-07-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

&nbs

Maybe because this was the third time I attended the ComicCon but this year wasn't that much of a thrill, over crowed and felt as if I was being pushed into a hard sell. Spend most of my time at the Hotel Del Coronado. A charming place to stay with a private beach.

The one big thrill I got was seeing the cast of "True Blood". But damn, talk about Munchkinland! Most of the cast were tiny, small people! except for the actor who plays the Viking Vampire Eric. He is truly a hottie! Very tall and handsome and I usually don't like blond men. Still, great fun hearing their remarks during a Q%&A, They film parts of the show around here in Southern California and I have seen some of the cast members walking around town. It's my favorite TV show. The books are written first person and not as sexual and a fun and thrilling page turner but the show is also well written and brilliantly acted, I look forward to each new show! And I'm not that much into vampires.

During the Comic Con I saw one of my favorite master, Fantasy writers Neil Gaiman walking around the floor with his newly, declared girlfriend Amanda Palmer. They are so well suited for each other, they reminded of that Art Major couple you see on every college campus. (Of course, a couple you see at your ten year class reunion) He in his dramatic basic black (trying so hard to look like the Bad Boy - read his Tweets and you see that he's far form a Bad Boy but one soft-hearted pussy cat in love) and she in her arty Bohemian-Thrift Store chic. Strange there is a 16 year difference between the two but she looks very mature for 33 so I didn't notice the age gap. But still, I find it ironic that if Mr. Gaiman was a woman in love and involved with a person 16 years his junior he would be lable as a "Cougar"! Still, they seem perfect for each other!

Still, the con gave me very few thrills or chills. I enjoyed more my time on Coronado Island, reading, drawing, sipping champagne on my private full ocean view veranda and walking on the beach. It was a lovely weekend with a detour.

Three little words....

2009-07-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

According to Cosmo there arer four words to keep a man from cheating,"You are so hot!". Oh, really? They say it's due to a man's fragile ego and if you think he's hot he will never cheat on you! Oh, PLEASE! What about the hot little woman who will also tell him that he's hot? My ex-cheated on me because he was a college professor and a young female student told him he was hot and the most brilant man in the world. I told him he was hot but then I wasn't an nineteen year old college girl! If a man wants to cheat he will no matter what words you use!

Look at me....

2009-07-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

In the 1920's we had the Lost Generation, a generation of young people who had survived the First World War, they were a bit dark, exploring hedonism for they saw some of their beloved friends of youth died, they indulged in cooktails and drugs and sex and in greed and were bitten by the Great Depression and yet they survived and raised young people to face yet another world war. This genereation produce the Baby Boomers. some became Hippies exploring hedonism calling it Free Love, drugs and sex and yet they were a bit naive and sweet, preaching peace and love. This generation produce what the writer Tom Wolfe would call the Me Generation, there was a lot of sex, cocaine was the drug of choice, hedonism was draped in Hoston, Generation X was next and safe sex, drugs and greed-real-estate the fast fix for little work and quick cash was the chosen profession and still the Internet was just a dream, now there is Twitter, My Space, Face Book and hedonism rules, sex is a given. no longer ideal talk of love & peace, martinis and drugs are the chosen recreational past time, they have been bitten like their great,great, grand parents by a new market crash but the dream of earning fame with little effort or talent is their new dream the Look At Me Generation. Just how many people can we tempt into looking into our Twitter page is the real new drug of the day and even actual, talented, people like Neil Gaiman and his new girl friend Amanda Palmer are hooked on this new high. But true art comes from within those silent moments when that inner voice of truth and beauty speak to us and plus all great art comes from hard work and if you're a writer, a poet, song-bird or painter it is done alone! It's doing the damn thing that produces great art not Tweeter away shouting "Look at me, look at me, aren't I clever!" This is a new dark age. easy money, will not be that easy, the spent generation is over one must embrace safe. It will be wonderful to see what come next!

I'm talking about the man in the mirror

2009-07-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm totally pissed off! There will be a memorial service for the King of Pop at the Staple Center! Okay, fans want to mourn. I'm cool with that, but not on my dime! All the traffic control and police service will come out of the tax payer! Excuse me! We just had a raise in taxes and Public Services have been cut but the City Officials state that we can pay the small fortune it will cost to host that circus of a memorial for a dead pop-star (who's star was fading before he died)! Makes my blood boil! There wasn't such a fuss over John Lennon or Elivis death!

Oh, what a circus,oh what a show...

2009-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

News is that maybe The King of Pop last rites will be held in Neverland, say it's not so! I wanted to drive up the coast for the long 4th of July weekend but now, forget it! All, those grieve possessed maniacs fans heading out to Neverland, camping out and causing traffic jams ruin any plans for a weekend get away up north. I even heard that the'ye going to have a public viewing and lay him in state like Eva Peron!As a matter of fact since the death of the Pop Icon I feel like I'm seeing a restaging of Evita and I'm Che.
"Sing you fools, for you got it wrong,enjoy your prayers for you haven't got long, the Queen is dead the King is through, he's not coming back to you! Show business kept us all alive since November 30, 1982 but the star is gone the glamour worn thin that a pretty sad state for a State to be in..."
Monday a guy asked me what shocked me more the news of Michael Jackson death or the death of John Lennon? How can you compare the two? John Lennon was murdered, becuase he kept in touch with the real world. He was open to his fans and lived a fairly normal life for a super star. Michael kept himself locked away in his own fantasty world and was far from grounded or real. Plus, for all these fans that are weeping , playing his music, camping out where were they when his last CD came out and no one bought the damn thing?

The Kng is dead long live the king

2009-06-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

Just heard that Michael Jackson died today and surprised that people are so shocked that he died so suddenly but are you really that shocked? That man has been through a lot of painful and stressful stuff. The trials where details of his personal life put out for all the world to see, losing Neverland Ranch, selling his personal treasures, living in the shadows hiding from the public eye and not truly living a normal or healthy life style and people are shocked that he died at the age fifty? What concerns me more are his children. The Press is going to be brutal with more details of personal life and his children will have to live with these reports. Those are the true tragic victims the children of this man who lived a very strange and bizarre life!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all you big daddies out there! I hope all you who are lucky enough to have their father's living will gave them a big hug. It's not easy being a parent, they do the best they can and all parents come with emotional excess baggage.I lost my father five years ago and miss him dearly. He wasn't a perfect father,(I certainly wasn't a perfect daughter) a major control freak, but he was a loving father and he meant well and was always there when I needed him and because of his wisdom and kindness is the reason I'm free to follow my bliss. I once had a professor state that the biggest handicap we have, is the fact that we cannot pick our parents. I had a girlfriend who remarked to me once that she resisted her parents because they were not rich but I think there are some rich kids out there that also resist their parents, just because. The one true beauty I found in Neil Gaiman's wonderful children's book "Coraline" is he addresses the issue we all have as a child; wondering what it would be like to have different parents. I feel we all held at least once the fantasy of having different parents. Parents that were more playful,fun, forgiving, excepting, no borders no rules. Just different parents. The beauty of "Coraline" is the realization that she discovers she has the parents she should have and wants to have. It's a wonderful story and a most delightful film, see it! Thought about it today, father's day. For I loved my father and realized that my artistic gifts, my paintings come from him. I do believe that talent also comes from our gene pool. I miss him and pray his soul is at peace and he is happy in heaven. Happy Father's Day!

Sweet Charity

2009-06-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Everytime I shop at Vons I get asked by the cashier,"Would you like to make a donation for (blank) cancer research?". What amazes me, how many years have we been donating money for (whatever) cancer or disease and we still are no closer to a cure! What cheeses me off about most major charity organizations, is that most the money they collect go to administration cost and not to the actual research or charity. And some of these charities should as the Red Cross or the United Way pay a high salary to the heads of their charities!That's just not right!

Modern Art section Norton Simon Museum

2009-06-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

A day at the Museum

2009-06-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

I have this fantasy of having an art museum all to myself, well today it almost happen! Went to the Norton Simon in Pasadena and there was just a hand full of people there this afternoon, thanks to than over blowed, very expensive Laker parade in downtown L.A. today.

I love a parade

2009-06-16T17:34:00.001-07:00

met to write Mayor not major in bottom post but so upset I wrote faster than I could think I guess

I love a parade

2009-06-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

The State and our local Cities are crying broke and we are being taxed more, with gettting less public services but the Major of Los Angeles says that our local tax payers can afford to spend over two million dollars for a victory parade for the L.A. Lakers! Hello, what's wrong with this picture? We can't even afford to offer Summer School to our children but we can hold a two million dollar parade for a group of millionaire basketball players? Shame on you Major!

Stop the presses!

2009-06-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

I wonder if men had to put their Johnston on a cold metal press then have their malehood mashed between two flat irons if they would not demand a better invention to detect cancer? I had to go back for a mamogram for a third time because last week the tech messed up! So why should I suffer? Maybe I do have something, for I've lost ten pounds in just two weeks! Well, there's a plus. I just bless President Obama for telling the members of the medical profession that the high cost of health care has to be lowered! Don't know what to fear more, cancer or the high cost of the cure.

What dose the sadist say to the masochist

2009-06-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

There is an old joke that goes, what does a sadist say to the masochist when the masochist ask to be spank? Anwer"NO!"

Just under gone second mamogram, I just can't help but wonder what sadist thought up this machine that smashes your breast with an ice cold flat iron! Damn, can you say "OUCH"? I was in far too much pain to do so. Not worried about these bumps the doctor feels when he squeezes my breast tissue into complete numbest. Been through this drill before and landed up just calicum lumps. But I must go through the drill just in case it's the big C.

So I went got home , numb my mind with twitter-a.k.a. Self-Promotion, don't really get it but author Neil Gaiman doesn't write often in his blog these days so for a fan jokie like I to keep up with the amazing adventures of the amazing author Gaiman one most twitter-I feel so dirty. Just joking, twitter is rather silly though. But thanks to twitter saw a copy of a truly wonderful looking new book of Mr. Gaiman & his girlfriend, that talented sexy, song siren Amanda Palmer "Who Killed Amanda Palmer". Hope I spelled their names correctly, still a little dope up, ah the wonders of viccodin & vodka. Okay, I'm being a bad girl but feeling so low for I have to keep this cancer scare to myself for I don't want to worry my mother for she's in fragile health. But truly, the book looks so cool going on to Amazon and order one.

"But wait;order now and you get an extra..." wouldn't it be wonderful if you could get book offers the way they give you in infomercials?

Well, feeling rather in good spirits actually; ran into an old friend (he has fame but I don't name names of people I actually know) he wants to cast me in a play he wrote. Don't know if I want to return back to the wicked. wicked stage.But I was so flattered! It's wonderful to be wanted!

Pascal's Wager

2009-06-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I pressed a lot of buttons on my last blog, but I didn't coined the phrase "That there is no atheist in foxholes". It comes from the first World War. Still, ye non believers, I prefer living in a world where I feel connected to something greater than myself. I teach yoga and one thing about yoga is that we are more than just a physical body. We are connected to something greater that just our ego. Maybe, I'm wrong, but I rather like Pascal's Wager.

There are no atheist in foxholes

2009-06-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

There is a saying that states there are no atheist in foxholes, meaning that when facing death one clings to their faith in God. Last week my heart broke for all those poor people who lost their lives in the Air France crash! Can you imagine what went through their heads during those last few minutes of their lives? Even if the final blow lasted only minutes, minutes can seem like hours when your are in pain. Try holding your hand over an open flame and see how long you can take it. I just pray that it was fast and painless. Wouldn't want to survive the crash , only to land up shark food floating the Atlantic! Still, my prayers and love goes to them and their families.

Shanti,shanti, shanti. OM

2009-05-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

Today learned that the great yogi master Sri K. Pattabhi Jois died at the age 94. He was the founder of Ashtanga yoga and a great inspiration to millions in this world. May he reat in peace.

The earthquake wasn't so bad here. A 4.7 (not a 5.0 as reported) and not on a major fault line but underground, so it was a rolling earthquake. No damage at my homefront and minor all around.

When pigs have wings

2009-05-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

What happen to the Swine flu; that pandemic that made us manic with panic over the idea of reaping havoc throughout this planet?

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Things I shall never attain, envy, content, and sufficient champagne! Let's pop open a bottle and give a toast to our mothers and all moms in the world!

We welcome you to munchkin's land

2009-05-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

Read today, that the last surviving actor who played a Munchkin, Mickey Carroll died. Every actor dreams of acting in a film that will survive the ages and he did it in playing in the classic Wizard of Oz. So, let us all lift a glass and give a toast to the Lollipop Guild! Rest in peace!

The following is an unpaid commercial endorsement

2009-05-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail from a freind asking me how I got my copy of "Fragile Things" signed by the living legend Neil Gaiman, since he knows how I hate standing in lines. Well, true , so true. But thanks to the great bookstore Dreamhaven Bookstore in Minneapolis, Minnesota (they have a great web page) you can order a book by Neil Gaiman and get it signed! How cool is that? They're not as low priced as Amazon but at Amazon you cannot get it sign by the man, the legend, the Dream King himself Neil Gaiman! Plus, the staff are real super, nice people! The store also has a great variety of S.F. Comic Books, Horror and Fantasy fiction. I believe in supporting small bookstores! Plus, going to a Neil Gaiman signing can be a royal pain in the ass! The fans are nice, very young, (hey guys this is an event you can see some real hot, cute chicks) and in the hundreds! I'm far too mature a woman - a woman among girls, so I even if I'll attend a reading, I don't brother with the face to face contact with the living legend. Living in the town of Hollywood, you soon realize that the last thing the famous and A-list actors care about is a fan telling them how wonderful you think they are. So I just ignore them when I see them for that's what they want - to be left alone like Garbo. After all after hearing a hundred fans tell the man how great they think his writing is, why should my words hold importance to his ears? Still, I love having my signed books of his. So look up Dreamheaven Bookstore.

This is my last day beach side. Going to miss this view each evening! So as the sun slowly set in the west we bid a fond farewell....

How Neil Gaiman Saved My Virtue

2009-05-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

"Hail the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past and Future, sees:
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walked among the ancient trees" - William Blake

There is a common misconception about people who enjoy reading Fantasy/Horror fiction; that fans of this genre seek only pure escapism and have not interested in exploring the issues of real hunman emotions or situations. Even the writers of this fiction are often accused of not being able to face the real issues of everyday human reality. I have even seen television episodes on those crime show genre, showing fans of vampire or comic book fiction as individuals suffering from arrested development and living in a self made fantasy world invented by the fiction that they love to read. But, I can only state, that is not the case with me or the writers I have grown to admire and love to read. There are such writers such a Joe Hill, the greatly talented Joyce Carol Oats and the brilliant Neil Gaiman, although rooted in the black, magical, sinister genre of Fantasy/Horror Fiction, have written about the intense personal pains of the human experience.

I'm spending the last leg of my Spring Break in Montecito, staying at the charming Montecito Inn. While sipping cocktails at the Four Seasons, I ran into a mutual friend of the man whose house I sat for in Malibu this Winter Season. This man also lives in Malibu, is very handsome and is very married. He was staying at the Four Seasons, alone, on a golf weekend with the "boys". I was strangely happy to see him, even though whenever we have met in past, we have locked horns or politics. I, a Liberal Democrat and he is so Right-Winged he makes Rush Limbaugh look open-minded! He loves to accuse me of drinking the CNN cool-aide. Still, seeing a familiar face was lovely and he has a very lovely face indeed! He reminds me of Jay Gatsby, blond haired, blue-eyed, tan and always neatly dressed and put together like a GQ model. His wife is also, a classic Daisy beauty, blond, fashionably thin and only wears the latest fashion. Don't believe, I've seen her wear the same outfit twice!

While sipping my Lemondrop martini, watching the sunset over the Pacific ocean, I heard this friendly male voice :"Hello, Comrade." and I looked up to see this handsome, golden man, standing over me,"Up the rebels!" I exclaimed. "So, you're now a member of the I.R.A.?" "I'm with any group that rattles cages."I answered.

He sat and joined me for a drink, I'll would sit with Rush Limbaugh if he is paying for the drinks and the drinks at the Four Seasons aren't cheap! We did not talk about politics but he told me of his golf game and I told him of my bout with poisoning and adventures in wine tasting. Here is a man, who thinks nothing of dropping $500 on a bottle of wine!

There was that usual moment of awkward silence, that happens between a man and woman, when suddenly, out of left field he made a bold declaration of intense romantic attraction to me and stated he couldn't stop thinking about me and that he wanted to explore a love affair with me. I was shell shocked. Taken, completely off guard by his proposition. However, at that moment I realized why I was so attracted to this man. It wasn't his handsome face, I see handsome men everyday at the yoga studio in West Hollywood. It was the fact that this man has always listened to me and actually respected my opinions!

I recall once hearing on a program on the Oprah radio station, a speaker making the statemnet that the greatest act of love is to listen! That is why so many people experience the feelings of transference while going to psycho therapy and why people arer so happy to write out a big check to a theapist that says nothing but just listens to them.

The man could see I was taken off guard and gave me his business card with his personal cell phone number on it and gave me his room number at the Four Seasons and stated to think it over.

I took a long walk along the beach then walked back to my own hotel room in the Montecito Inn. I open a bottle of wine trying to relax my mind. Then I decided to get my mind off this situation and decided to read. I always travel with a set of books while on my road trips. I took along a copy of Neil Gaiman's book "Fragile Things" . Mr. Gaiman is a master story teller. He possess a poetic, felicity of language. His stories have a dry, English wit of P.G. Wodehouse with a dark sinister, existenial edge of a Nikolia Gogal. Reading a short story of his is like taking a road trip with a destination unknown, for you are never quite certain how the story is going to lead or end.

I picked up the book , open it and as if an angel's finger was guiding me, I opened it to a short story titled:"How Do You Think It Feels". It's a tale about a married writer whose is having a love affair. Reading it now, after reading about his own twenty-year married break-up on his blog, gave the tale a rather creepy, autobiographical feeling to it. It is well written, rather intense and a little too sexually graphic, at one point, I felt I was reading one of those nasty letter from Penthouse Forum. Still, he writes brilliantly of the emptiness of such a relationship and after reading it I knew I didn't want to be the other woman! I had lost all desire to even be tempted. This story must not have been an easy story for Mr. Gaiman to write for it was written from the point of great, painful, emotional truth.

I'm grateful to Mr. Gaiman, where ever he is and want to thank him from sparing me from entering into such a shallow relationship. Like a noble knight of ancient yore,his words acted like a sword and saved this damsel in distressed and saved my virtue.

"

Eat, pray love....

2009-05-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm on whole foods! Got the eat part done, drove down the coast and spending the day in Ojai, it's a little humid but a lovely small town , viisted an old Mision, so I prayed. Now, LOVE?

Thanks veryone for the kind words for good health!

Put the lime in the coconut

2009-04-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

"I said Doctor - is there nothing I can take, Doctor to relief this tummy ache...?"

Doctor says, I do not have the Swine Flue but a case of acute food poisoning! Still, feel like death crawled into my guts. This is a view from my room. And speaking of guts I have to run to the bathroom and spill them out!

But the chalice from the palace has the brew which is true

2009-04-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Another great winery in Paso Robles valley, is Eagle Castel. their red zinfandel is just divine! Plus, the people are really nice.

Not doing much today though, think I may have the Swine Flue you hear so much on the news, vomiting, diarrhea, dizzy, I ache all over and yes, I have a fever! Well, how bad can it be? It's the flue! Can't drive, well, staying at this inn by the sea is far cheaper than a stay in a hospital and I have a full ocean view! Not surprise I caught this thing, been eating out every day and just because my waiters and waitress maybe a Gringo or Gringa , the people who cook my food are from South of the Border. So, sleeping a lot and drinking Gartor-aide and green tea. And water of course!

Truth about cats & Dogs

2009-04-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

This is Butler, he will let you play with his stick. He's a very friendly wine dog at Doce Robles winery in Paso Robles, California. So if you ever in the area , stop by , taste some very fine wine and play with Butler.

Bite me!

2009-04-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Wine tasting cat. One of my favorite wine stops at Paso Robles.

Silence is golden

2009-04-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a spiritual retreat in Big Sur. No cell phones, P.C.s or any tech wonders were allowed. It was glorious and peaceful as well as insightful spending every movement just with your own thoughts. At first the weather was rather hot and sunny but by Wednesday is was windy and then cold, gray and wet. But the ocean and the woods were still beautiful and enchanting to watch in.

Death & Taxes

2009-04-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well, finished and mailed off the taxes now I can die peaceful.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Nothing says Easter is here more than a big white stuff bear with a pair of rabbit ears on it. Took this photo in front of a basket gift shop on Larchmont in West Hollywood. The shop was selling way over priced Easter baskets but hey that's Hollywood for you.

Happy Easter to one and all!

Happy Good Friday

2009-04-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

One picture is worth a thousands words

2009-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

There is a little hobby shop on Mission Road in South Pasadena that shows the works of local artists. I never met the woman who created this work but it speaks volumes on her past experinces with love & marriage. Her collage reflects my greatest fear, due to suffereing so many brakes to my heart, I fear so meany mendings will leave me with such a callous heart I will be before a bitter, cold hearted woman with a collection of cats. One cat is fine for a young lady, I don't have a cat but still, I wonder if I will ever open my heart to love. This I don't feel as bitter as this artist feels towards love.

Wardrobe malfunction

2009-04-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

What's in a name? A rose by anyother name may smell as sweet but a proper name can speak volumes! I just heard there is a store called Dress Barn? Excuse me? The word barn, doesn't bring to mind high fashion! What lady would buy a dress from a store that uses the word Barn in it? Who is their traget clientele; Minnie Pearl?

Gene pool

2009-03-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

I was rather shocked and heartbroken to read in the paper that in the month of March , Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes' son Nicholas Hughes commited suicide, by hanging himself in his home in Alaska. People just don't realize how deadly an illness depression is. It's not just a simple case of get over it, it's a chemical disorder in the brain. I suffer from depression and have great compassion for those who suffer from it. Still I always wondered what knid of husband Ted Hughes was, he was a talented poet but I think rathe rhard on his women. For not only did Sylvia Plath kill herself by putting her head in the oven but so did his second wife Assia Wevill, who not only gas herself plus killed their three year old daughter as well! Damn, what a tragedy! Not certain of Ted Hughes relationship with his women, (he destroyed all the negative notes that his famous wife Sylvia wrote about their relationship) but he did chose some highly strung women. But who knows what goes on in matters of the heart and our souls. I only know that at times the darkest can grown so deep it feels impossible to ever find the light.

Did anyone miss me? My computer was down due to a virus! I took it to the Best Buys in Pasadena so that the brillant computer doctors of Geek Squad could cure the virus. It wasn't cheap, was $400! I had over 57 virus on the thing! But there was a silver lining to this headache. I started writing letters viva snail mail and found how realxing writing a letter long hand can be. When you do e-mail I sometimes faster than I think. But writing long hand, more thought comes with each stroke of my fountain pen. I can now understand why the writer Neil Gaiman, writes his works in long hand with a fountain pen. His prose has a Victorian's poetic lyric flow to it.

So ladies and gentlemen out on the world wide web, if you enjoy snail mail send me your snail mail address via my e-mail address and I'll be happy to write you. Truly. I find writing letters to be a great mental exercise.

Well, I'm back, hope someone out there on the world wide web missed me.

My lunch with Simone De Beauvoir

2009-03-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

I can't walk into a shop in Westv Hollywood that sells coffee or tea without seeing people at their laptops, working on that great American Screenplay. As I enjoyed my luncheon at Le Pain of white wine and a ham & cheese omelet, I sat among the Twittering maniacs, future screen-writers of the town , I read the book, a collection of letter of Simone De Beauvior.

Reading the newspapers these days is so bloody depressing that I'm suffering from heahaches. Even driving around the up scale neighborhoods of West Hollywood or Pasadena you see "Bank Owned" for sale signs, now I hear that FUIC insuring your cash in the bank is being over stress by so many banks going under.

Reading Ms. De Beauvoir's letters, telling the details of the nightmare of living in occupied France and getting up in the dead of night to throw on her robe and dash to the underground Metro and walking back out wondering if her apartment building had been bombed, made me realize, that things could be worst and that hard times can make us strong.

After all, this too will pass.

Let them eat cake....

2009-02-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm getting to the point where it is getting far too painful to listen to the daily news; not a day goes by when you don't hear about another business closing down and unemployement numbers go up higher and higher! Talk about the birth of the Blues! Last Sunday I attended the Oscars ( not that I move in the company of film stars, I just know people who are Academy members and some were up for awards you don't have to be a director or an A-list actor to get an Oscar). One thing I did notice, was the fact that this year there wasn't as much bling-bling on the actresses. However, one actress from Slumdog Millonaire wore a necklace that would blind you. Ironic, that a woman from the poorest country should wear the most expensive bling-bling! Still, the fashions were outrageous and the parties were over the top, you would never know that our country is in near it's breaking point. Let's fiddle around while Rome burns! What do those actors who earn million of dollars a film care if half of America aren't working. Well, they will care when those Americans can aford the over-priced tickets for their movies! And let's face it ladies and gents most Hollywood films are awful! The last film that took my breath away, was the film version of Neil Gaiman's enchanting children's book "Coraline". Yesterday I heard that "Zales" the diamond store is going out of business, so guys who are sitting on the fence, it's a good time to buy that engagement ring for real cheep! Drinking to the madness! Brother can you spare a dime!

A rock & a hard place

2009-02-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

Well, wonder of wonders, those talking head of State Government FINALLY passed a budget! And quess what? Average Joe and Joanne will be paying taxes through the nose and getting less service for their dollar! What amazed me, but not surprised me, our Governor Schwarzenegger made certain that the Film Industry will be getting a big Tax Cut! Excuse me? Well, I guess he realizes that soon he will be out of a job because no citzen in their right mind will vote to keep him in! He may need another acting gig but has his nerve showing his face in the State again! He also made certain that big businesses in the State will get a tax cut. Yes, as always, let keep those Fat Cats well fed on our dollar! Education is taking the biggest cut; I thought we had a State Lottery to help them out but that money is being cut into to pay other State's bills, like the pay of those talking State Heads, I guess! And people, wonder why I drink!

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..

2009-02-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

I'm always amazed by people who don't study or know history. For it does indeed, repeat itself. Last week while watching the HBO show "Rome", I couldn't help but think of our state of the Union. Like our country. ancient Rome's economy was torn apart by years of Civil War, in the show Mark Anthony was telling a lead Senator that Juluis Caesar's plan to recover the economy was to start a group of Public Works programs, using and paying free Roman's instead of the Patrician's slave labor, an ancient Rome's stimulus program. Last weekend, while talking to a male friend, who works as a Financial Planner, said how upset he is with our new President for the stock market still being so low. And I said, who did he think Obama was, Harry Potter? He was going going to wave a magic wand and presto, the economy was going to be strong again? It took, EIGHT years for our economy to crash and burn! Eight years of the fat cats out-sourcing American jobs, then go crying to Congress for money because Americans can not afford to buy their foregin made products! Unions are almost gone! And CEO bicth about how Unions made employing Americans too expensive, yet they have a Golden Parachute if they lose their job! Bloody hell, what were they thinking? Americans need job; plain and simple and greed has to stop. A company can still make a profit using American labor, not as much as using Chinese prison labor but then American workers don't use lead paint to paint children's toys.

They say, history is written by the winners, but that isn't exactly true. History is written by survivors! We should listen to their words of wisdom by experience!

My funny Valentine

2009-02-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in the back of the Los Angeles Times front page section was this ad for Valentine's gifts you can buy at the 99 cent only store. Love Cuff? Red & Pink thong panties, Men of Iron Condoms, Pregnancy Test and whipped cream! How classy can a guy be to buy his Valentine a gift from the 99 cent only store? Love Cuff? Whatever happen to roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates? Oh well, with a thong in my heart...

I'm singing in the rain.....

2009-02-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

It's been raining on and off in the BU. Yesterday I had to helped a neighbor with sand bags, the price of having beach front property, my friend's house is beach front but is elevated and protected from the waves by a long stone staircase. My shoulder is sore but it was kind of fun. Afterwards we drank hot spiced lemon tea-spiked with Jim Beam and ate pigs in blankets my favorite junk food. Because of the mositure from the ocean it;s easy to grow a beautiful garden. Just took this photo ten minutes ago, last month I went to Home Depot and bought some flowers to plant (as a thank- you gift for my friend for allowing to house-sit for him) and they're doing so well! How the sun is out and so are the surfers. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--wipe out!

Don't know why , there's no sun up in the sky , stormy weather

2009-02-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

At last the rain has returned to Southern California, I hope it stays! We need rain so much out here! I'm still fighting this flu bug. I feel as weak as this current economy. This is the last few weeks of house-sitting at the BU (Malibu) and I will miss hearing the sounds of the waves each night. The Chinese believes that the sound of water can be so powerful for psyche and it's easy to believe for I feel so peaceful here.

Happy Ground Hog's Day

2009-02-01T15:31:00.000-08:00

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will another flight:
But if it be dark with clouds and rain,
Winter is gone and will not come again.

The Ground Hog saw saw it's shadow.

It's been summer weather out here in Southren California, today in the high 70's. And although the surfers love it our farmers are concern. The grape crop is suffering, so be prepared to pay more in wine, as well as our strawberry corp, be ready to spend more on strawberries. But hey, what isn't going up in cost? And more businesses are closing down. Even in chi-chi high end Malibu restaurants and local shops are concern. Yestreday, I was at a very fine resturant over looking the ocean and noticed that it was as packed as I would think it should be on a late Saturday aftrenoon and the bartender and I started chatting and he said that they were cutting back on the staff due to the lack of business. So even the spoiled & rich and famous are feeling the pinch of this economic slow down. Economic Slow down my eye! Let's call it for what it is, a DEPRESSION! Brother can you spare a dime!

Happy Ground Hog's Day!

Maybe I shall meet him Sunday, maybe Monday, maybe not...

2009-01-29T18:16:00.000-08:00

Feeling restless,so I took a long drive up the coast today, it was sunny and warm until I got up to the Big Sur area where it was rather cool but still beautiful. Still, thinking about that 106 year old Chinese woman who says she wants to start looking for a husband. Where does a 106 year old woman go to search for a husband? Face Book? Match. com? Bars? I mean what the heck? She says she will be willing to look for a younger man, 101. But still, won't a 101 year old man want a younger woman in her 90s?

What I find so depressing about this story is the fact that is there a point in our life where we no longer feel the need to find male approval and love. Hell, I really don't care if I NEVER fall in love again! I've been hurt too deeply and maybe it's just me not the male species that there something wrong with. Who knows.

All I know is the fact that whenever I fall for a man he suffers from the; "I got those ,gee I wish you love me, oh you do, well see you later blues.."

A guy pal was telling me of this eighty year old, retired surgeon client of his. The man is a widower and now is playing the internet field. He dates much younger women in their sixties (still a twenty year age gap). So back to our 106 Chinese woman will need to find a single man who is at least 118 for him to be interested in her and what are the odds of that?

Love sucks!

My advice, stay single and count your blessings!

Someday he'll come along. the man I love., and he'll be big and strong, the man I love

2009-01-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

Finally feeling better, still a little weak but much better. Decided to take a short drive and stopped by the local Starbucks on PCH for a cup of Refresh tea. California weather is so crazy, early Sunday morning it was pouring rain but by Sunday afternoon it was gloriously sunny. Today was a lovely crisp day! While sipping my tea I overheard two women talking. When one of the women remarked that last night one of her friends attemped suicide as casually as one would state , "Last night she got a new hair cut." I was rather shocked. Judging from the converstaion the "friend" attempted suicide because she was broken hearted over a man.

I was sitting so closed to them, they knew I overheard what they were talking about and being female, instead of being outraged, they asked me to join the conversation. These two women then asked me the most usual question, "Do you think a married man would ever leave his wife for his mistress?"

"No" I stated,"A married man will never leave his wife for a mistress for then he loses a mistress!" Why would you want a married man to leave his wife for you in the first place? Talk about your bad karma.

Then the women asked me: "Why are all the men I meet are married?" I wanted so to answer that question with a question:
"Why are the only men you are attracted to are married?" I meet men all the time and I'm no beauty. But I have no trouble meeting men, even in cold L.A. City of Angels.

They began talking to me about men and wanting to meet a man they can have a relationship with. I then asked them what was their idea of their ideal man.

I went wild with their answer for they were so vague. One thing I agree with the book "The Secret" it tells you to write down exactly what you want! These two women were more detailed about their Starbuck's coffee drink then they were about their ideal man.

I don't know if I'm jaded but the last thing I worry about is finding a man!

Still, last week I was taken aback when I read that a 106 year old, single, Chinese woman who has never been married, was considering looking for a HUSBAND! One hundred and six and she's looking for a man to love?

Some dreams never die!

Everybody rise, rise, RISE!!!!

2009-01-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Hats off to that talented writer Neil Gaiman; his book "The Graveyard Book" just won the Newbery Medal!

Hey, once a fan always a fan and it's an enchanting book!

Photo of my feathered friends getting sun near Zuma beach.

Down time

2009-01-24T16:03:00.000-08:00

I know I've been a M.I.A. blogger this week, not that I feel anyone missed me. Truth to tell, I've been down for the count due to having a case of the flu.

Last week I was walking along the beach, many people bring their dogs, all shapes and sizes to enjoy the beach as well. While bending down to pet the cutest dog a wave came up and pull me into the surf! Despite the fact that the weather last week was a glorious 70 degrees the water was ice cold! I felt as if I had been dropped into a glass of ice water! I walked home shaking with cold and took a hot shower but still couldn't shake off the chill. That evening I was sweating, then shaking with the chills. I was a zombie by Sunday evening. My mother hired a nurse to care for me and her (which is still chesper than spendiing one day in the hospital).

I'm back into the world of the living, just a little weak but able to read again. Been reading the notebooks of Camus and Journals of Susan Sontag and when that gets too heavy I pick up a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman. What an enchanting story teller he is! He has such wit and possess a felicity of language making everthing he writes just magical. I've read on his blog that he is currently writing a Batman story and although there is nothing wrong with the collective works of Batman , I can't help but wonder why a man with such a genius talent to create his own magical stories and characters would spend so much of his creative energy writing a story line base on characters already created by the voices of other writers? Well, I'm certain his Batman story will be a true original.

It's been raining off and on here. The rain doesn't keep the surfers off the ice cold pacific waves though. Still, beautiful and love been rocked alseep by listening to the song of the ocean. Which is what I'm going to do right.

Sweet dreams everyone!

California Dreaming

2009-01-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

I what a cold winter they're having back East and it's hard to wrap my mind how cold it actually is. Read the writer, Mr. Neil Gaiman's blog this afternoon and he wrote it's so cold where he lives that it actually hurts to breath! DAMN; that's cold!

Still house sitting in Malibu. Went out to breakfast at Paradise Cove this morning and already it was a warm 70 degrees and in the 80's in the afternoon. Miss the winter through. This weekend the beaches were packed. I prefer the beach when it's cold and gray and all to myself.

Not that I'm longing for below zero weather, just would like to be able to wear my cute sweaters instead of my sundresses.

Okay, some people would bitch in heaven. Still, we need our winter rains.

Stimulus package?

2009-01-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, now I know the gods must be crazy! I heard on the news that the porn industry is going to Congress to ask for federal funding for a bail out because during these hard times not even pornography is selling! The porn industry can't go down! So to speak; I guess. These are crazy times!

What a difference a day makes....

2009-01-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it was sunny, warm 65 / 70 degrees and beautiful but today the fog really never completely lifted over the ocean. COLD, damp and gray. Still walk along the beach, got a chill to the bones even though I was all wrapped up. Came in and made a cup of hot coco spiked with Peppermint Schnapps. Hit the spot.

By the way, I'm on a quest. I think I'm one of the few people who likes eating fruit cake! And I couldn't find it in any store! Not even in th ehigh end, over priced Bristol Farms. So decided to bake my own. Does anyone out there have a good fruit cake recipe? If so please e-mail it to me!

Happy 2009!

O Tannenbaum, o tannanebaum

2009-01-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

When I was a little girl, I thought this was pronounce "Oh cannon ball". Oh, the joys of dyslexia, still have it which is why I typed with so many typos sometimes or miss read something.

Grateful that you guys understand what I'm trying to say.

Today I took down the Christmas tree. There is always something so sad about taking down a Christmas tree and I always seems to have more boxes of Christmas stuff each year! Does my stuff mate? Well, everything all boxed up.

Still house sitting in Malibu. Today was gorgeous, sunny and cool. The water is ice cold but still the surfers are out. Last night I walked on the beach in the thick fog. It was magical for people still have their Christmas lights on so walking in the fog you could only see these bright lights that look like stars or fairies flying around you.

Happy New Year to all of you! May you all enjoy great joy and happiness.

Yes, but can you type?

2008-12-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

Reading the Wall Street Jounral can be ever so insightful. One article that made me laugh was about a survey they took and in it, wealthy married men who claimed that they also had mistresses, stated that due to the financial hard times caused by this poor economy they will be spending less on their mistresses and no longer be showering them with so much bling-bling as they use to! Times are hard indeed!

Sex always sells but in hard times it's also a hard sale.

I read in the L.A. Times that even the hookers and strip clubs in Las Vegas, a.k.a. Sin City are not getting as much business as they use to.

So ladies, maybe it's time to learn another job skill. During these hard times your face may not be your fortune.

Surfs up?

2008-12-25T16:36:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas day. Raining off and on. When the sun does shine it's intensely bright and clear. It's Christmas day and yet there are still surfers in the water. Well, surfers are a sub-culture of their own. A lovely morning of unwrapping gifts and hot coffee with mom. Now off to cook prime rib with Yorkshire pudding. Merry Christmas to all!

I got a secret

2008-12-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

I'm house sitting for a very weathy friend of mine. While he , his daughter and his latest S.O. are spending the winter season in Aspen, my mom and I are watching his beach front home in Malibu and okay you won't see any A-list actors walking down the beach you have the plus of having the beach all to yourself. It is sheer heaven! Despite the fact that it's going to rain this aftrenoon and it's freezing out here there are surfers in the ocean. They love the surf before and after it rains for the ocean swells are higher after a storm.

After Christmas shopping I stopped by Dukes, a beachside bar and restaurant in Malibu. I started to talk to the bartender , who is also, surprise , surprise an actor as well as has written a screenplay, what are the odds. In this town it would be strange if the bartendar wasn't an actor! We started talking about our dreams and about what he called late bloomers. For example, the great writer Count Leo Tolstoy was well into his forties when he started his career as a writer and what a writer he was! A friend gave me the book "The Secret" and what I got from it is that the main secret of getting what we want is knowing what we want! Most of us seem to spend our engery out of focus, not truly looking into our talents and passions therefore not knowing our true potential and power. Knowing what you truly want is the real secret of success for how can you be happy if you are wasting your energy on everything but following your dream? Besides it seems to me it not reaching success that brings joy but the journey to success. Just a thought!

Merry Christmas!

Curb your enthusiasm

2008-12-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

It's pleasing to read that there are many members of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) that are speaking up and being the voice of reason and speaking against the proposed actors strike. The writer's strike did major damage to their career's cash flow. And even though the writer's won the battle they didn't win the war.

Now with the Madoff's scandal effecting some great studio heads as Speilberg and Katzenberg of Dreamworks there will be little compassion for actors asking for more.

And while we're on this subject allow me to hand down some sound financial advice. It's simple, handle your own money! Don't hand your money to an investment manager or a financial banker, they're in business to make money on YOUR money!
So do your homework and do it yourself. Now, I say, save, save, save, shop for a bank that give you the highest interest rate (make certain they're insured) don't keep over two hundred thousand in each bank and don't roll over monthly interest but get a check. (If the government goes down we're all screwed so shop around for a bank that is insured and gives the highest rates!) Also, start writing your Senator, Congressperson, President and demand higher interest rates, this is a win, win for you and the banks. Don't use yur debit card! Use cash only! If you can't paid for your Starbucks with cash , it's time to brew your own coffee! If you use your credit card pay the whole balance each month, why should they make money off you! Also, write your Senator, Congressperson, President to increase the interest on Treasury Bills, this is also a win win for you and the country. They use your money to pay to run the country and they pay you for using your money!

Hard times are here but we the people have more power than you think, make demands of your country! Stop these greedy bastards and take control of your cash! Lower interset rates don't help the economy, saving money does. This era of spending cash on designer junk must stop! We can overcome!

As for the Writer's Guild and Actor's Guild get a life, when you get work you're well paid , okay the studios make more money but whatever job you have the Boss always make more!

It's Christmas time in the city...

2008-12-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

How do we Southern Californian's know that tis the season to be jolly?

Well, one way is the fact that the parking meters are covered to look like candy canes.

But wait; you may ask. Why are the meters covered with a yellow bag? Well, my friends, good will to men (or women) has nothing to do with it.

Some genius has thought up a great idea of making us pay at a paid station. Each parking space has a number and you have to program your space and then deposit your coins. Plus, the good old days of free parking on Sundays is gone!

So much for the Christmas spirit! Bah-humbug indeed!

Booksigning for foodies

2008-12-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

Vorman's Bookstore and the California School of Culinary Arts hosted a book signing of Chef Eric Ripert's new book "On the Line". What could be a more perfect afternoon, books, fine wine and gourmet food!

Menu: Starter -Venison Loin Carpaccio with berries & dark chocolate
Entree - Pan Roasted Monkfish Homage Gaudi with confit of peppers, patatas bravas & chorizo-albarino emulsion
Dessert - Chaocolate Bar - with marcona almonds, pimenton, port sorbet, dried blackberries & blackberry jus

Chef Eric was friendly, charming and very handsome, plus got to share a table with local chefs in the area and also they gave me some more local ghost stories I will share later. It was a lovely afternoon, a great break from holiday shopping!

Get your motor going, head out to the highway....

2008-12-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

Been down with the flue for a couple of days but able to take a drive to Zuma Beach, while stopping at a Starbucks in Malibu I saw this bike and envied the owner's road trip. How wonderful it must be to be young and free and have the freetime to take a road trip up the coast. There was a map of the 101 Coast Highway taped to his handle bars and I love the antlers on the handle bars as well. Maybe this bike belonged to Santa Claus.

Gaudeamus igitur

2008-11-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

Read recently that the P.C. police want to stop public schools from teaching and celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday for it might offend the Native Americans. Oh please! If anything the story shows the virtues and kindness of Native Americans to these strange white people dressed in black and brwon who came over to their homeland, uninvited! And the story of Thanksgiving shows how two groups of people from different worlds came together in good fellowship. Now, what harm can there be in such a tale?

I'm just getting over the exhaustion from my Thanksgiving feast with my friends. Before we all ate I asked each person to share with the group what they have to be grateful for. I heard once that being grateful shows the world that you are open as well as venerable to others and their kindness. I welled up in tears when all my guest gave me a special toast for gratitude to me for the feast. It was a wonderful feast and we all ate well and had a great time playing games afterwards. Still, exhausting, even though I got loads of help with the clean up from my friends. Some even brought extra desserts, which they didn't need to do, for I baked and cooked for an army! There were plenty of Spirits as well.

Strange thing about that, the day before the event I got a case of wine from one of my wine clubs. Couldn't come at a better time. "Wine" say Ben Franklin "is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Some of my friends also brought extra bottles of spirits as well, so we were a happy group.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season.

It's always something....

2008-11-26T21:34:00.000-08:00

The rains have come to Southern California and due to the lost of vegetation from the brush fires in the foothills now there are mud slides. Some people couldn't reach their homes last night due to the mud filling up on the roads. And now some people have mud damage in their homes. It's just one thing after another.

Today it took me two hours to get home ( a drive that usually takes thirty minutes) due to bummer bummer traffic on the freeways. It's seem like a lot of people were trying to get out of town for the long Thanksgiving weekend. A lot of people in town love to head for Vegas for the long weekend.

Somehow I feel Thanksgiving should be spend with family, friends and home cooking and not at a slot machine.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Friends to the friendless

2008-11-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

I love that "I love Lucy" episode called "Friends to the friendless". At my yoga studio there are a lot of fellow staff members and students who came out west to follow that great American dream of making it big in the film industry. This year a lot of them won't be able to go home for the holidays because they can't afford the airfare to flyt back East. So I decided that this year I would open my home to my friends and invited them over to my house for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. I always cook enough for an army even when it's just my mom and I so why not share the goodies? Mom always enjoy company and during these hard times why not reach out and spread good cheer? So I've been shopping all day. Now the real trick; how am I'm going to fit all this food in my frig? I'll think of something. I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving!

When you're a jet...

2008-11-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

It appears this hard ecomony has effected the tickets sales on Broadway and many shows are closing. "Spamalot" now starring that American Idol, Clay Aiken and "Hair Spray" will soon be closing. Not surprsied, tickets averaging $175.00 is far too high a price to pay for two hours of song and dance. And that's not not counting cab fare and dinner! "West Side Story" is going to open on Broadway soon and wonder who wants to see an old show for such high prices.

And the screen writers are miffed because they claim they're not getting download royalties as promised in the new contract. Knew that wasn't going to be easy for the studios to do. And the actors are now talking about going on strike during award season, which seems more like career suicide. Winning those awards that no one really cares about (can you name what won Best Picture last year?) are what gives actors their clout to bargain for such high salaries. Let's face it most films are mindless trash, a new drug of fantasy to keep the masses from rebelling from the conditions corporate greed put our ecomony in.

Neil Gaiman posted on his blog, a few months back, a signing he did while in Washington D.C. And there were these two, young, silly, attactive young women of voting age, giggling and stating to him that seeing him was more important to them than concerning their empty little heads with the politics that was going on around them. Now, I've greatly enjoy reading Neil Gaiman's wonderful works (his short stories are great gems of Fantasy and Magic) but it's because of "Politics" and those individuals holding political office who fight for such ideals of "Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech" that gives me the freedom to enjoy reading such works as Fantasy, Msytery, History or whatever book I please.

Writers are our treasures but we must also be interested in politics and who is elected in those seats to protect our treasures and Civil Rights.

Oh well, the Market keeps going down, the American Auto companies are asking for "we the people" to pay for their bad management (while the auto bosses fly to Washington D.C. on PRIVATE JETS!), major business chains like Circut City and Meryrn's are closing down leaving hundreds without jobs; looks like hard times are here! What can we do? Maybe we should have a revolution?