Cultural Anthropology Final

After database marketing conferencing in Las Vegas and using none of my time wisely since Sunday, John and I came home last night. I had an ambitious plan: eat dinner, finish my self assessment (by midnight), and really study for the final. We landed at John Wayne airport at 8:30pm so I had at most 3 hours to accomplish the first 2 items. First: dinner.

John said he was starving, I on the other hand was not hungry but had a craving for the most evil thing on earth nachos. Closest Mexican food chain: Rubios. I got a nachos grande with chicken John had the burrito supreme. Between the carbo load, the beans, the cheese, and the guacamole I am sleepy but I press on. We get home at about 10pm and I immediately retire upstairs to the "office" to get cracking.

Would you know I submitted my self assessment for work at 11:59pm! Cutting it a little close -- it was due on the 12th and by God I was going to deliver it on the 12th even if it was a stroke away from the 13th!

Next task: study for anthropology. Topics for final are: world systems, region and magic, globalization and colonialism, and politico-economic organization. The best way to study on short notice is to rewrite your notes in sound bites at least in my case. I did that till 1am and tried to read more and finally gave up the fight by succumbing to eyelid cinema somewhere around 2am.

By the way, last Saturday, for extra credit, we had to turn in 10 five option questions with a maximum of 2 true or false questions in the mix.

Fast forward to this morning. Alarm rings at 7am and I jump out of bed as I normally do. I put the alarm on because there was no way I was going to wake up unassisted this morning! If I were to try my normal method of rise and shine I will be rushing to class at the last minute to see the prof close the door and walk away. Well, washed my face threw on some jeans and a sweater kissed John good morning and rush out the door.

The other thing to keep in mind is since I could not take the class with my group on Tuesday because I was out of town for the conference I asked if I could take it with his 8am class at a different campus I have never been to. So, I am bleary eyed, no decaf drinks, new campus, and a final on my mind.

With some pre-planning last night I have a map of the campus, I take Maude (the GPS), and my determination and we find the campus and building and room with few issues. Final starts at 8am or really 8:05am for quorum gathering and we are off to the races. I try hard to be the last person to leave by checking the answers I stumbled on and checking my whole test. I was the 3rd to last to leave -- I tell him it was a pleasure and shake Dr. Davidson's hand and at 8:50pm. I am calling John who is on the way to the airport to fly to New Orleans to make a presentation at a conference. He is stunned it is over so quickly.

With questions about imitative religion, mana (the impersonal force that exists everywhere, shamans, the evil of world systems, revitalization movement, cults, liberalism and neo liberalism, white man's burden, etc there is only so much you can check your test. I have done my part now it is time for the grading machine to do its part!

Here is a testament that I was in Orange Coast College this morning.

Next challenge: hand in a 3rd of a movie (30 pages) for screen writing class tonight!!!

Cultural Anthropology Test 3 (I am so hosed!)

It has been a while but with flying all over the place and trying to get my s*** together in class i have not had time to write. Now for updates.

Sorry I have taken to using some foul language lately because my days have been hectic with huge question marks trailing them when it is time for bed.

Well, two weeks ago on Tuesday it was about 4 pm and I thought I should get in some studying because with this every other week thing I may be having a test in Cultural Anthropology and not know it. I studied fiercely for about an hour and a half and got bored and convinced myself Dr. Davidson would not give a test but there was still this nagging feeling.

Class is at 6:35pm so I got myself gussied up and went to class. Gussied up is loosely used here because my hair is in serious need of some work. Anyhow, I went on to class and guess what he gave a test! He gave a test! I could not believe it! This is the second time that has happened. The first test took me by surprise but that was entirely my fault. The second test I knew I was going to be away for and I knew I could take it during the next class on top of that it was delayed a week because we had not covered enough material. Good for me.

The 3rd test actually walked up and backhanded me. I am not one of those who takes a test in 30 minutes. I take my time, go through once answer what I can and mark the ones that are confusing keeping mental note that other questions might help me, then go over the test once more to make sure I am confident of my first answer (I may not be the best contestant for that Regis game show that asks "is that your final answer?" Hell no!) Then I fill in the answers that were undone on my first pass and do a third pass. If you understand where I am going you can also understand that GMAT was not my favorite exam -- less than a minute per question! I was in makeshift hell!

I was the last to leave. It was the prof and I about 50 minutes later with a good 5 to 7 minutes after the last person left. And, to top it off I was not happy with my studying. To be fair it saved me because if I had not studied I would really be toast. Dr. Davidson was pacing the front of the room reading a book and I could tell he was ready for me to be done with it. When I was satisfied I handed it in and bid him a good night.

I slowly walked to my car, opened it up and sat in it and started going over my answers and the material in my mind and in my notes. I was lucky if I was going to make a C this time. I remember being upset about making a 75 on the first test -- it has been a looooong time since I made a C on anything! The next test I fared better -- I made an 85. Yay! I could shore up that C. The 3rd one though, would surely bring my whole grade down to a C.

Now you are probably wondering if I am taking the class for a grade. The stupid thing is I am not. It is a credit/no credit class which was my only option because I could not audit the thing. In that case, why am I so obsessed about making more than a C in a class where I will not be receiving a grade? Well, it is a matter of pride and I am mad at myself for not being able to study. I counted all the questions I thought I did not get and the possible halo effect (because some of the questions are linked) and I was nearly ill. What a nightmare! I stopped counting started up the car, drove to Ralph's to buy groceries, and proceeded to tear up my kitchen with my annoyance.

As an aside, I totally have this "like water for chocolate" thing going when it comes to cooking sometimes. I am happy I cook, I am angry I cook, I am in love I cook, and when I am in hate I cook. I was somewhere in between annoyance and anger. When John came home at 11pm, about 2 hours after I got home, there was a spread waiting for him. He loved it while I was picking at my food thinking about flunking the test, aka getting a D.

Last week I go to class and first thing he does is hand out the tests. I am memorable f you understand without me spelling it out so he gave me my test first. I was scared to look because looking imprints on your brain forever. You know, like those CSI/Bones shows where the first thing the show is a severed head or a mutilated corpse that you really wished you had not seen. Too late! Anyway, I peeked. I saw 60% my heart fell. How do you climb up from a 60? I looked again to be sure. Remember my habit of going over questions 2 and 3 times? I squinted at the grade, you would have thought I was astigmatic or had sunlight in my face. It was 80%, 80%! OMG, I just made it! 80%! I could have jumped up for joy. I was squirming in my seat I was so happy!

He said most people in the class were towards the lower end! How is that possible? He would have to have a bit of a curve. He said his class in OCC was even worse. Goodness! I was just happy I had a grade I was proud of so now that I have a working B going on I just need to figure out how to ace the final!

Screen Writing Class & Kubuki Restuarant

John and I are taking a screen writing class at the local community college -- Goldenwest Community College. I have practically missed the past 3 weeks of class because of my schedule. The instructor could not make one because he had the shingles -- I feel so bad for him. Anyway, I was able to attend last week's class and guess what he told us to write a 4-scene sequence. I am totally screwed. It seems everyone else has some script floating around in their amazing writing heads but i have none. None!! I don't know what I am going to do! It is due this Thursday 11/8 and as you know with every looming deadline comes brain stagnation. I can't think of a single idea!

To digress for a second, to top my class misery for the week, I had to take a make up test that I was not prepared for in the Cultural Anthropology class I take on Tuesday! I know I am taking the class a credit/no credit but i have a reputation to maintain. It is really beginning to look like I will fail this class. I can't believe it! I took the first test without studying, and before you ask me why I did not study, consider that I fly to SF every other week for work. Anyway, I got a C! A C! I was mightily upset. In my new reincarnated self I am a solid A student. Hah! But I have to admit getting a C without cracking a book was not bad and I figured out some of the answers from some of the questions. Still upsetting though. I will be lucky to make a C this time.

Back to 4-scene mania. I have to write 4 scenes. I am so hosed.

The best thing about going to the class is the Kabuki restaurant is just 2 minute drive away in the Bella Terra mall and we could eat some really good sushi through our frustrations! We wanted to continue our self prescribed therapy by picking up a movie at the cinema but there was nothing worth watching.

BTW, in class we watched A Requiem for a Dream. It was so not what I wanted to subject myself to. A lot of drug use. He asked us to write a one pager on one of the addicts. Humph! Two home works for one class due this week! I am so very hosed!

OMG Its Halloween and we have no !@#$%! Candy!!!

Despite the cuss word it is good though. We have lived here for 3 years and no one has ever ever stopped by for Halloween Trick or Treating. So, when John asked me if we needed candy for the day I said "No" with much confidence and like the geek that I am I stated the statistical probability of them stopping by as a big fat Zero as we have had not action since we have been here. Anyway, if you took a lot at my front yard it is Halloween personified -- there is no way the kids would chance coming through my gate with all those leaves I have to sweep away!

Well, guess what happened 15 minutes ago? Three lovely T-or-T'ers dressed in princess outfits and some lovely 1920's fare rang the doorbell twice. In my stupidity I had the fleeting thought it was the UPS man. Don't laugh, he sometimes comes around 6pm (even though I am pretty certain neither one of us has been feeding amazon.com any money lately)!

Just my luck I was wearing queen regalia this evening by way of African boubou -- at least I looked graceful sweeping down the stairs. I looked through the glass. Children! I open the door and 3 voices sing "trick or treat!" I sing back at them but my mind is reeling now I have to find candy! I excuse myself leaving the door open and rush to the kitchen.

I open the pantry door. Ahh chocolate -- but i can't give them my beloved Cadbury's! I just about broke my back bringing it over from England. But the little one is so cute I will give her some. Ooh ooh! A package of See's candy! jackpot! Need to open and make sure it is still good -- it is! Then a little package of kisses! Thanks God we don't eat all of our candy!

I make it back to the door like a queen bearing gifts. Cadbury's for the little one, See's candy for the middle girl (who wanted to dig in right away), and kisses for the oldest girl. There was some debate between the oldest 2 on how to divvy up the loot with the little one asking for a share of everything. How cute.

Once it was all settle, they sang "Happy Halloween!!" to me which I reciprocated in kind. Everyone was happy and they were off to the next unsuspecting adult.

Sign of relief! I guess next time I will actually buy candy for the occasion or maybe take everyone else's hint and leave the porch light off but what would be the fun in that?

French 75 Restaurant

Well, I am recuperating from being in San Francisco last week on the heels of being in England the week before. Needless to say I have done nothing remotely domestic this weekend other than look at the pile of newspapers in the living room and think to myself "I really ought to throw those away" and not lifting a finger to do that.

Our adventure for the weekends was going to French 75 in the Fashion Island mall. Last night, I cooked and I did not have the heart to repeat the splendid performance tonight so we went out. After much bickering about where to go we ended up at French 75. I was a little skeptical because the review I read on CitySearch.com was not very flattering.

French 75 is a chain of French restaurants mainly located in malls. Once you are in the door you forget you are in a mall because the lighting is romantic and dim. What I will rave about is the food. To keep our costs down, we wend for the summer 5-7pm menu which is $29 for 3 courses. We both started out with the Shrimp Casoulette. It was heavenly. Shrimp in a creamy mustard sauce. It was hard to stop eating and sopping up the sauce with the really warm french bread that was served.

Next, I had the flat iron steak with french fries and John had the rotisserie chicken with fries as well. Though I asked for my steak well done it came out a little pink -- I ate it anyway. It came smothered in a peppercorn sauce (the French and their sauces!) which was very good the other option was the bearnaise sauce which I don't like. I can't stand eggs benedict -- bearnaise hollandaise very similar and not me.

We finished off diner with a creme brulee for me and a chocolate souffle for him. Very nicely done. They split the souffle at the table and poured in some liquid chocolate then put on a dollop of cream and poured some more chocolate. Hmmm very delicious.

Even though I paced myself I was quite stuffed. All in all a very good way to end a lazy weekend.

Blown Away

by the beauty of her smile and all the
rippled soft lines
eruping like wild flowers on a clear day
Her eyes cloudless in the
Morning sun as she looks at me
Simply blown away by the ease at which
they come knocking me over with their brilliance
and slowly fading away at the last
peal of midnight as her eyes close in
dream filled sleep and
even then hints remain
Totally blown away

Been a while ...

So much has happened in the last few months that my words got jumbled. As my tongue loosened my words came out in poetry.


Love 1

I want to crawl up into your finger tips
Into the ridges of your finger prints
And touch you as you touch me.

I want to be the sigh that starts from your toes
to your heart when you gimpse my navel
for thst I want to be breath in your lungs

I want to stand in your foot steps
Being the one your are for me and seeing
For the first time through your eyes of love.


Wind

Bare in the wind and it walks down my spine
Causing the leaves to whisper in the silence
I hear it not for it flutters away as I
Try to grasp it with my hands and feet and thumbs

The trees roar and the birds are chirpless
they listen to the one who created sound and fury and silence
So too am I in awe on a sleepless night
With her beckoning to come outside and play



Grand Ma (in spirit)

Her voice comes to me in the shadows of the night
I talk to her during the day and catch myself
Reaching out I can just about touch her
Image dissipating in the swirls of mercury.
Full of memories, she continues to tell me of
Her childhood, maidenhood, womanhood.
I listen amplified by conches her singsong
Voice echoing through the space between us
Unaware of the ripples distorting her picture
And the water plumbs that make her voice undulate.
She becomes the wisp of an aroma on the wind
Sailing past in the mid-afternoon air
The shhhh of a cluster of leaves in the dawn
Falling to the damp autumn earth in homage
The barest touch of hand on my shoulder
When I am lost to the outer world and
I can just about feel her on my skin and
With a burst she is gone.

Shopping and Insomnia

Shopping was fun! Went to Macy's and they had my favorite summer sale on: Shoes! Considering how much damage I did last year I headed straight for the racks. I was more restrained this time I only got two pairs of shoes I actually snagged a Joan and David pair of closed toe pumps for about $40! Let me say it again: J&D for $40! I was feeling pretty good it was basically a 77% off sale -- first reduced 50%, then another 50%, and take off an extra 10 - 15% if you use your Macy's card. Works for me.

Next I headed to the ladies clothes. By the time I got out of there I could barely walk because I was laden with so many purchases in the end I paid about 30% of the original price on everything. I was quite pleased especially when some of the items were Ralf Lauren and Jones New York. My mom would be proud of my frugality.

Enough of the girl talk. Evening goes smoothly I laundered and packed and am ready for today. I even do the dishes because I hate coming home to a dirty kitchen -- very depressing. Someday I need to explore that feeling with a therapist -- but not today. I get into bed at 11pm and watch this new ABC Family TV show called Fallen. About Angels that have fallen from heaven and are seeking redemption from this half angel half human teenage boy (a Nephilim). Pretty compelling and totally my kind of thing is is based on a series of books by Tom Sniegowski.

Time for bed, lights out, but sleep does not come. Ahhh! I hate this! I toss for a while nod off get waken by something or was not really asleep anyway and I look at the clock and another hour has rolled by. I got hot turned on the fan slept for another half hour here and there and before I know it is 4:00 am and I give up the fight and decide I would just relax this takes me up to 4:30 am and I finally get out of bed to write this blog. What I pain -- God help whoever is on the plane next to me because I fully plan on snoring for the duration of the flight. There is something about taking off that knocks me out -- hope it works this time.

My mom is convinced that Bruce and I got our insomnia from her. It is worse when I am about to fly out the next morning. I am always reminded of that sleep aid commercial where there woman is counting away the hours as they tick by. I do feel that way. I have tried the cheap trick of taking Nyquil or Tylenol PM. They both work but you have a dreamless and truly unsatisfying snooze. All you feel you did was close your eyes and woke up 6 hours later and the worst is they both leave you with this woozy groggy cobweb hangover for most of the next 2-3 hours after you wake up. Really dislike the feeling so I stopped doing that I rather not sleep than have that feeling.

On a bright note I got up early, wrote a blog and now I get to hop in the shower, get dressed figure out my way to the airport (I don't have a chauffeur this morning as John is in Chicago). It's all good. It is 5:00am gotta go. There but for the grace of God go I. Happy week all.

August: Beginnings and Endings

I say August is the month for fresh starts and stops, beginnings and endings. It started smoothly enough because I was working at home for this week. Considering the amount I worked this week the weekend could not come fast enough.

As for other beginnings, John went to Pepperdine commencement on Saturday morning. I opted to stay in bed and try to put a dent in yet another book I started reading a few days ago. I am totally hooked on the books by Daniel Silva about this Israeli secret agent. I just finished reading The Messenger last week and started on The Secret Servant this week. John took pity on me and bought the hard cover of The Secret Servant because I was so close to the end of The messenger despite my weak protests that it cost too much.

Which reminds how we got to buying the book. I had a hankering for steak last weekend after reading the USA today article on steakhouses. I did not want us to drive to LA to eat at the highly priced Wolfgang Puck restaurant Cut, so I hunted with Internet ready finger for one close to home and lo an behold found Flemings Steakhouse tucked away in Fashion Island mall -- which 20 minutes from my house via the scenic Highway 1. Could not pass up the opportunity. The steak was lovely and everything was a la carte so we wound up spending quite a bit that I hate to say it out loud. It is a caution to everyone who reads the reviews that say it is a $$ steakhouse it is more $$$ because it is ala carte. I had the crab cakes to start, John a salad and we both got steaks and a vegetable. It was sooo much food that we had to take some home -- I guess in that case it is quantity for the money. When the waiter came by to ask us if we would like t desert all I could manage to get out was "coffee would be nice" I was so full.

After dinner, we noticed a B&N across the way. I wanted to go home John wanted to explore the bookstore. He won. At the end I won too because he bought me the book!

Now back to this weekend. While John was doing his professorial duties I got up and went to the Bella Terra Mall to get some coffee at the B&N and read some guide books to help our vacation plans. Our vacation is in two weeks and we have not yet decided where to go! Don't even get me started. I think I have already figure out the start to my travel book. "Our vacations always started out with 1 month of haggling and a mad dash two weeks before or our worst the day of GO." Our vacation is for another blog.

My move to the mall was strategic. I wanted to be there when John got off so he could meet me there and we could see the new Bourne movie opening this weekend (another beginning). It was first due to come out in July and because of competition, I guess, it moved out to August. I loved the last two so you can imagine I was not happy with the 2 week move! They have loyal fans here!

In my fashion moment of trying to select what purse to take I left my cell phone in one of the two other bags I was thinking of taking and only discovered this fact when I was at the mall. I was relegated to using the public phone at B&N to let John know where I was so he could meet me and I promised in my message I would call him again in two hours to see how he was getting on. The stuff for mere mortals! After all that, I took the purse I have been using all along and not the chic 2 smaller black purses I was eyeing -- what a nitwit. It took 3 purses for me to realize that I had a large hardback book that I did not intend to carry in my hand because I knew I would leave it somewhere. Like I said - I am dense.

Well, my ploy worked. John met me at the BT Mall we went for lunch at Kubuki my second favorite Japanese restaurant (I loved the bill) and we went to stand in the growing line for the 3:15 pm showing the Bourne Ultimatum movie. We wanted to make sure it did not sell out so we bought the tickets before lunch. I know there are some people who are balking that we stood in line for a movie but if it is a popular movie, you don't want whiplash, and you want to sit together, standing in line for a few minutes is no biggie.

The movie was great. I normally don't clap after movies but I did on this one. Some of the scenes were quite gritty and gave me the same feeling I got from watching the last James Bond movie Casino Royale. I will give no spoilers: the basis of the movie is Jason Bourne comes home to where it all started and the office bound CIA leads have no idea what hit them. the adage "This time it is personal" surely applies. The fight scenes are gritty and last for an age but they are so good and up close you almost don't want to watch. Of course there is a car chase and you think how can they do a car chase in New York? Well, watch the movie and find out. It was well worth the $10 each we paid and we actually decided to own the movie as we were walking out the cinema. We own the first one, the Bourne Identity and did not get the second one the Bourne Supremacy because she dies. Humph! Here are some reviews sites movies.com and rottentomatoes.com. Even Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 94% fresh rating -- that is as rare as chicken teeth!

After the movie came home. After spending a pleasant afternoon in air conditioning we wanted to repeat the same in our home. John mentioned a few days back that he shut off the air conditioning because it was making this strange whine -- it was fun hear him try to imitate the sound. We decided to see if it was something easy like the fuses had blown like they did last summer. John checked and fuses and they hadn't blown. I asked to hear the noise and the thing gave off this sickly whine like a hurt puppy. The repair man who took a look at it last summer had said it was not going to last for long -- I am glad it lasted for a year longer than we thought but it definitely sounded like it was down for the count (an ending). Now, I had to dig up the repair estimate our air conditioning friend gave us last summer: $1400 for furnace and new thermostat or $3900 for new unit! In such moments there is no wondering why you earn a salary but definitely a wondering why you bought a home. Between that, the damp sheet rock in the kitchen, and master bath toilet acting up, and the first installment of local property tax coming due I see $$$$. Oy! It's all well and good -- that's what you get. Oh yes, and one more thing the boiler in John's apartment in London did not pass inspection so it is time to change that too. So a whole lot of endings. In all my whining I thank God that those things did not break sooner and other things are running just fine. It is certainly glass half full. As for air conditioning that is what windows are for. :-)

Speaking of one more set of beginnings and endings, John headed to Chicago this morning for the Accounting conference -- he had no sleep and I got 3 hours. The flight was out of LAX at 6:15am we left home at about 4:30am and since there was little traffic, we made one of our best times to LAX: 33 minutes -- simply amazing. As for ending, it is the end of my week at home so I head off to SF to work on a 7:00 am flight tomorrow out of Orange County airport (much closer than LAX).

What will I do for the day? Why shopping!!!

Wicked

John and I went to see the LA showing of Wicked the musical on July 14 th -- Bastille Day -- Pepperdine University arranged to buy tickets for the folks who were interested. Simply put it was awesome. The set was intricate and beautiful and the singing was just immense.

It was an opportunity to dress up for me so I donned on one of the long skirts my Dad got for me. That was a fine idea till we got to the numerous steps to our seat. To give you an idea, our wrappers (skirts) are fitted down the hips and usually flare or have a split at the bottom. This is fine when walking on relatively level planes. Well, to get up the stairs I hiked up the skirt a little to give my hips some room to maneuver and I sort of walked sideways -- I had to laugh at myself because I must have been fun to watch. I was not happy when intermission came because it meant going down two thirds of the stairs I had just painstakingly climbed to make it back up again! I had to do it so I did not appear to be anti-social to John's colleagues.

I recognized Andrea who was one of John's colleagues on our Italy trip and we chatted for a bit. We also said a brief hello to the dean and the admin who set up the outing -- she was just lovely.

Back to Wicked My favorite favorite song was Defying Gravity. I can still hear it in my head and how she belted it out without missing a note.

The wonderful thing about Wicked is it takes the Wizard of Oz and stands it on its head. What if you just changed your perspective on the witches and their situations the story takes on a very different meaning. Glenda the good witch was delightful as a ditsy witch with generally good intentions while the Wicked witch was fun to see painted ogre or envy green. The winged monkeys, the headmistress, the soldiers, the townsfolk were all fun to watch in action. The wizard's singing was not as good, in my humble opinion, but he was a good actor.

The first half was an hour and a half long while the second half was only an hour. Though it may sound long I did not want it to end because it was sooo good! I sat at the edge of my seat for most of the show and it was not because we had bad seats (we had really great seats)!

The Ivy

We started off our Saturday morning as any other sleeping late and dreaming of nothing. Then at noon we had this brilliant idea to go to The Ivy this famous restaurant in LA. First I did the first thing when I don't want to be bothered to call I go to http://www.opentable.com/ to book a table online. Well, no listing for The Ivy so I break down and call them for lunch reservations and there is room at 3:15pm -- kinda late for lunch but we'll take it because it is The Ivy.

I printed the directions and some reviews to read to John on the way there. CitySearch.com had lots of reviews about celebrity sightings, eating on the patio, and how expensive the food is. Other reviews go on and on about how bad the wait staff is and the state of the restaurant, a veritable shack, as well as the ordinariness of the food.

We turned on Maude, our beloved GPS, just before we got there. I was quite upset at her because she gave us slightly different directions from Yahoo which made us do a left turn onto Robertson from San Vicente. Oy! It took us forever to make that turn because each turn of the light only let through 1-2 cars because of on coming traffic. We finally make it there looking at the neighborhood thank God for valet parking! There wasn't a single street parking space in sight!

We had called to say we were going to be late, 15 minutes would have been 8 if not for that left turn, it appeared to be no big deal since we still waited to be seated. We asked to sit inside and Maitre D just as he was about to lead us inside he mentioned that an outside table freed up at which we could be seated I overheard them say there was a walk off. Good for us. The patio table was being prepped and just as it was ready he started leading us in inside the restaurant. When I looked toward the table on the patio with a question in my eyes, he gave me a big fat smile and said it was no longer available because it was being prepped for a table for six. I was not miffed at all because some of the blogs tell you to expect to be bumped. Except in this case it was not for some celebrity -- too good to be true.

It was a homey 2 room shack of a restaurant but it was cozy. I got the crab cakes (yum) and John had the Caesar to start and I had the mesqite grilled Cajun shrimp and John the Swordfish for entrees. It was good American comfort food but unbelievably pricey. Since we got there at 3:30pm we were way past the lunch prices time. The bill certainly gave me cause for pause especially since there were no celebrity sightings and this is one of those times I will not be sharing the amount. This was shucked up to a i-can-say-i-went-to ... experience -- nuff said. A couple of the side dishes were interesting a mound of pureed cauliflower which tasted lime it had some blue cheese in it and some pureed squash (yuk!). There was also this lime tomatilla sauce which I tasted and quickly passed on to my don't-eat-ever-again list. I must admit that is a little harsh but I am not crazy about sauces because I believe they mask natural food flavors -- this was no exception, it was kind of horrible. I only ate the pureed cauliflower.

Between eating the lovely brown bread, a large bottle of pellegrino, linner, and coffee we were stuffed. No room for dessert which was really a pity because there were some good reviews about dessert. On another note, the waiter was an interesting bloke, he creeped me out a little because his movements were slow and deliberate and reminded me of slo mo movie. For example, when he gave us the bill it felt like he just about passed our table when he turned back and slowly placed the bill on the table. He also waited for a beat before he smiled like he had to remind himself that it was part of the waiter's hand book and even then it was a reveal of his beautiful row of teeth with upturned mouth corners rather than a smile. Hmm...made me wonder if he was the character from Phantasm.

Not much drama around except us witnessing a couple of ladies right next to us fight over the bill and try not to tear it - quite funny. Since they must have realized they looked quite comic so one of the ladies leaned over to explain to me that her friend had come to visit her from Minneapolis so it was only natural that she pay the bill. I told her I was staying out of it. They solved it amicably with some pact to which John and I were witnesses -- have no idea what the pact was.

After the wonderful meal minus the sauces stuffed to the gills, we pulled out into the LA afternoon traffic and headed for home. If you have been to LA I do not need to describe the traffic. It is rather unreal that at 5:30pm on a Saturday traffic is backed up on LA highways but it is.

Huntington Beach July 4th Parade

This is the first time I made a decision to watch the 4th of July parade ever. I was looking forward to seeing all the marching bands and interesting groups that decide to march. John mentioned a couple of days earlier people had begun to stake out their territory on the parade route -- kind of reminds me of Mardi Gras in New Orleans -- who knew the HB parade was so popular.

The morning started off slow a day off in the middle of the week is a great excuse to sleep late. The fact that the parade was happening from 10am to 12pm kind of get us going. I was so keen on seeing this parade I left the house without earrings! I may not wear make up but I will not leave the house without earrings! Well, I broke my own rule. So, me and my earringless self went out in search of the parade with John trailing a little ways behind.

The tail end of the parade route was about 4 - 5 city/country blocks away so we walked. It was overcast so it was actually pleasant. We got there at about 11am but it appears we missed some of the big marching bands which was a bummer but there was still plenty to see. There were actually lots of people out to see the parade with their kids.

Lots of people and a glimpse of the marching band with the yellow feathers

Lots of horses from miniatures ...


To stallions Cowboys -- nothing sexier than a man with a lasso. Yee haw!

Some jiggerbug or is it jitterbug? This couple danced right in front of us what a treat!


He was waiting for his lady ...

Our military and veterans:

This caterpillar backfired loud enough after it was done with the parade that it nearly sent people sprawling to the ground in cover!

Fire engines

Even ones with John's name!

Some interesting sounding bands ....


Local personalities I know very little or nothing about ...

David Crockett ...

The bus from the local college. Hmm wonder if their curriculum is more updated than the bus especially since I plan to try them out this fall ...

And the Shriners of course
And scouts a la Huntington Beach

The local meter maid was busy writing tickets ...

Leaving the parade in style

Sunday Crazies and Shopping

Well, The day started off a little rocky with the dream and all. I took out the trash because we had so many bags and it was high time. There is nothing like Sunday morning duties with no one around to bother you. There was one other guy who was on trash duty as well he said hello. That in itself is amazing because no one here says hello. The only guys who say hello to us are the crazy conspiracy neighbors to our right and the blonde haired couple to our left. As to what else they are capable of saying is anyone's guess.

I heard John wake up and trudge to the bathroom so I decided to go out get some coffee and on the way deposit those bags of my old clothes at goodwill. Remember those bags I talked about in April? Well they are still here.

On my way out the door I noticed that the water in the vase of flowers John bought me about a week ago was low. It was odd to have evaporated like that but I went to the kitchen to get some more water. Got back to the dining room table and realized that it wasn't evaporation at all. One of my favorite vases had this terrible crack and leaked all the water out and was sitting in an amoebic puddle on the table surface! Awwww! Now I have to clean up! Which I did and used the occasion to knock off the fine layer of dust the graced the table top.

No time to mourn the vases now I had things to do. Noticed I said vases -- the other one had a crack from way back which really made me mad.

Anyway, I loaded the 3 huge bags headed to goodwill in the car and set off. OK, I thought I knew where I was going. I drove down Adams, up Atlanta, down Garfield, and up brookhurst! I have been to this place before at least twice. Now I am angry that I did not look up the address before leaving!

I gave up went ot StarBucks for coffee and pastry breakfast and headed home with the goodwill bags still in the car. All the way home I am thinking of how much I am a dobbin.

Got home, was going to get John his coffee and head on my own to church. John caught me and got dressed in a jiff and we got there on time and heard a really good sermon. After church, home for a bit to catch our breath and headed out again because John needed new shoes and I had 20% off coupons for both Bloomies and Macy's too hard to pass up.

The Bloomies at South Coast Plaza is very new and is entirely and expensive proposition. The last time we were there we were looking at these 100 thread Egyptian cotton sheets that cost $1000. Can you imagine sleeping on sheets that cost $1000?!?!?! They would have to send me to lala land immediately or work some kind of magic to cost that much. Before we went to Bloomies we stopped at Marshalls -- wouldn't you know it John found some shoes.

We wen to Bloomies anyway and there was nothing with my name on it. Next stop Wolfgang Puck to fill up for the shopping road ahead. John has the smoked salmon pizza and I had the spicy shrimp pizza -- yum yum. The waiter took forever to serve us but I had this drink called Starburst it cost more than John's beer. It was totally worth it because it had passion fruit, orange, and mango juices with a touch of grenadine and it did feel like all the flavors came alive in your mouth. Hmmmm... I can still taste it. At the end of the meal we had coffee which the waiter said was on him and I wondered was it on him because he didn't want to be bothered redoing the bill or was he really apologizing for making us wait. Could not figure that one out. The funny part of lunch was I knock over John's empty wine glass just as the waiter was coming over and the waiter assumed it was John and mentioned it was good that I was driving! Hah!

Next stop Macy's. Well much to John's chagrin I tore up the store. I had an armful of clothes when I was done and John has become tired and headed off the bookstore. We got our little wires crossed because I was thinking Barnes and Nobel and he was thinking Borders. I was not happy about this because I had to give up my beautiful parking spot to go to where he was.

We spent a small fortune on travel books mostly, novels, and Seattle's Best coffee and decided to do our last outing for the day go see Live Free or Die Hard with Bruce Willis. John noticed my front passenger tire looked rather low so we went to gas station to fill her up. I am pretty glad he noticed because the air gauge at the garage indicated 12lbs for a tire that is supposed to have 32lbs! Boy am I glad we decided to take Jean Luc out for some exercise today!

We are back in business we head to the movie which was just the kind of action movie I love seeing. It was f-a=b-u-l-o-u-s! Before we went in, we said in the little open air amphitheatre and watched the kids play. There was this adorable little girl who kept on running around. Soo cute! She was a little blur of activity so it was hard to get a good picture of her!

Post movie it was a run to McDonalds because all respectable restaurants were closed. As we were leaving I did a great job of messing up the previously low tire by running over the curb. How much more lucky can you get?!?!

Strange Dreams

Last night was a strange dream night. I remember being in China for some reason since it is a dream it plops you where it bloody well pleases. I was with a friend just not sure which one it was you know how dreams make such details a little blurry.

Anyway, I am either in dire need of cash or I need to get away so I ask to replace someone who is selling tickets to an event out side a hotel like structure. I start selling tickets without asking the person who I relieved what to do. I sell my first couple and the folks ask me for their paper tickets and I say it is ok they can go in and let the folks at the front door know I sold them tickets. I sell a few more and I hear shouting coming from the door and the doorman yells at the top of his voice that I am selling tickets without giving tickets. Well, that alerts the police across the street and they begin walking my direction.

I panic obviously and head straight into the hotel at top speed which it turns out is a train or metro station. I try unsuccessfully to find a hiding place darting here and there with my companion. Then decide to hop a train and wind up somewhere in New York.

That is as much as I can remember.

Hmmmm....! Do you think this is one way of telling me I need to visit my mom in New York? And what's up with the China connection. Any insight is welcome.

What a way to ring in July!

An Ideal Husband

Friday was a good day. Work was slow so I gave myself a mental break and dreamed of all the places we could go with the one week we have in August before John starts teaching again. I think I am settling on Guatemala; the fare is reasonable and we have never been to central America.

John had gone to *$$ earlier to get us some lunch and was out and about which left me to daydream in peace. He called about4pm to say he was on his way home and would I like to see the showing of the play "An Ideal Husband" in which his friend Elizabeth was acting. Of course!

A quick shower, dress, and a touch of lipstick later I was ready to go at 5pm. I had called the Long Beach Playhouse (http://www.lbph.com/) to find out if I could buy tickets -- the lady who answered said they still had 70 seats free in a 200 seat theatre so I could just walk in and buy the tickets an not incur the $2 per ticket fee -- fine with me!

We headed to our favorite sushi restaurant Mimi's Sushi on Brookhurst where we decided to try out our new plan: only have sushi at a Japanese restaurant. By the time were were done with 6 sushi orders we were full and the bill was only $33 and that included a beer for him -- plan worked. If you have seen some of our dinner bills you would understand why this is a triumph.

We go to the theatre in plenty time even after a row over Maude, the GPS, and my being direction challenged. What can I say, I was not paying attention, Lord Briginshaw was chauffeuring I was feeling pretty good -- who cares about a small thing like directions?

Anyway we had great seats -- all the seats in the theatre had a good view of the stage. The set was very very quaint and well done -- the costumes were just fantastic. Elizabeth appeared in the first and third acts as Countess of Baildon she was great. Lady Markby and Viscount Goring stole the show but to be honest all of the actors were quite good they did a good job with the British accents (Elizabeth and Teri-- Lady Markby are both English).

I would have sworn that Viscount Goring took his direction from the Rupert Everett role in the film portrayal because I kept on getting flashbacks. In all it was a great show and the dresses were just mahvelous mahvelous!

An Ideal Husband Cast Cast Photography—Robert Craig Photography

Not the best cast picture but our friend Elizabeth is lady standing on the right.

Elizabeth Livingston Wallner (Countess of Basildon)Elizabeth was born and grew up in England. She is happy to be making her first appearance at the LBPH. She has trained with Acting Express and the Performers Academy. Her previous roles have been with the Newport Repertory Theatre and include Mother Gearth in Till Death Do Us Part, Ma Bailey in It´s A Wonderful Life, and most recently a bay lady in ER. She is also playing in the film, Outworld, written and directed by Robert Michael Conrad.

Elizabeth and John met in one of Robert Michael Conrad's acting classes and were in ER together and are both in Outworld.

Wednesday at Orange County Airport & Westin

Wednesday 6/13

On Thursday, I was having a meeting in SF with my new partners at which I was to present a proposed process to cure all ills (or a stop gap measure to lessen the hurt) -- this is the series of monthly meetings that has thrown my travel schedule awry. I have been going to SF to work almost every week for the past 2 months -- I am a little cranky about it. This time I decided to be smart and fly in the day before because there is nothing more brutal than trying to make it for a 6am flight especially when the airport with such flights is about 3/4ths of an hour away! I timed everything just right. Flight was at 7:20pm. Earlier in the day I packed 2 sets of clothes -- you never know when you might have a bad clothes meltdown especially when then those are the only things keeping your confidence in check.

The thing is on my last trip to SF I visited Ross (my favorite thing!) and Marshalls (my favorite thing!) and bought 3-5 blouses a pair of trousers (is trousers a man thing?) and a skirt that I just had to add to my collection. I am into to black and white contrast lately so all of these items were either solid white or black and white patterned in some way. I have this dream of the perfect summer outfit that is all white but I am chicken to wear all white so I am working my way up to it -- have progressed to barely off white and patterns with mostly white. Maybe when the summer is just about over I will be ready. Anyway, when I came home I came to my senses that 2 of them were overkill so they are going back sometime in the next 30 days. I took 2 of those blouses with me with the tags still on just in case I had another change of heart.

Back to the airport. At quarter to 5pm I was done with my day. Showered, dressed, and fully packed by 5:20pm with 10 minutes to spare for last minute OMGs. I even remembered to pack my inhaler which I never use and that heaven-in-a-ziplock-baggie to take care of all your personal needs (if only life were so simple!).

John was already off to school to teach so I was doing this solo so during the blur of activity to get ready I called up the airport to check on the parking status (Yuki will be so proud of me for advanced planning). All terminal parking was full except for the off airport parking which 5 minutes away from the airport and cost only $12. Ahhh, I get to have another adventure -- parking at the remote structure for the first time.

Getting to the airport was a breeze. The one thing I like about our current house is we are only 15 minutes away from SNA which is about 8 minutes of surface street time and 7 minutes of highway. It is wooonderful. Even with some traffic you have to try really hard to be late. I was so anxious to see the new parking I turned down the wrong street and started my normal exploring routine and chided myself in to sticking to the plan I had plane to catch.

Well, the operator was true to her work I was at the airport about 10 minutes later which included waiting for the bus and it was 6pm. All checked in and waiting in security line and would you know this is one thing that does not move quickly since this is not rush hour at the airport there is only on id checker and one security line open. So we wait and wait and wait to get processed. Thank goodness I built in time.

Finally, I am on the plane in my usual window seat and getting ready to snore for the rest of the flight. I get up and we are landing in Oakland and life is good. An Air BART and BART ride and a 3 block walk later I am at the Westin checking in. Already thinking about rehearsing my presentation which I reworked on the rides. I get to my room and guess what there are a couple of newspapers on the floor, used robe draped over a chair, empty golf box on the bed, used soap in the shower and used hand towel by the sink, and some leftover knickknacks on the table and TV dresser. I call up the front desk and tell them the situation and the lady asks me if I want housekeeping to be sent up! Heck no! I want a new room! Even the bed looks slept in! We all know people have used those rooms before us but we really do not need the reminder when we walk in!

I get shipped off to a new room on a higher floor which I like. I walk in and I am hit in the face with the smell of smoke --the window of the room is open so someone was trying to air out the room. I have become somewhat of a detective in my old age. Now, I am weary, annoyed, and glad that by some fluke I remembered to bring my inhaler. I called up the front desk and asked if the room was a non-smoking, an emphatic yes sailed through the headset. I complained that in my unique circumstance that was not the case and said since it was already 10pm with already one room change behind me, I was not willing to do another but was very disappointed.

With the stand-by-me help of my trusted inhaler, the rest of my stay went swimmingly. Even with all the prep I practiced till about 2 am in the morning. Left messages with the project manager at said time of the night with changes and tried to nod off to sleep at about 2:30am for exactly 5 hours.

Thursday morning went great almost anti-climatic considering the preparation. I wore white pinstriped black pants with a white and black patterned blouse -- I looked good -- did not have any outfit meltdowns. Even my hair behaved -- it is in dire need to a touch up though.

Dashed off to catch the 6:38pm flight home and soon enough I was enjoying my house again.

Richfield Ohio, LA Zoo, Oceans 13

It has been a while since my last post. Life has been a little hectic. Basically traveling every week for the past 3 weeks turned me into a vegetable.

Last week I was in Richfield Ohio for Client Loyalty Training. Richfield is 30 minutes outside Cleveland. I left Wednesday 5/30 at 11 am and did not get to my hotel till about 11pm at night. Beat after a day of traveling, getting to Richfield at 11pm at night was not the best thing especially since I did not know where I was going and I turned the wrong way on Highway 21. I was well on my way to Akron before I realized I was going the wrong way.

On the upside I was driving a red Mitsubishi eclipse. I get to the Avis counter and ask for the car I rented online a sensible 4 door intermediate car. When I get there the friendly lady at the counter jokes about not having a car -- she probably sees how far my face has fallen and laughs it off. Then she asks me if I want to pay $2 more a day and get a large car. No thank you, I just want the car I rented. She then says they don't have the car I rented so for no further charge I can get an Eclipse. Who am I to say no. What I fully resent it the fact they try to get you to give them more money first then give you the car for free anyway. Humph!

When I got to the toll booth on Highway 80 the lady was admiring the car. I must admit I felt like a hot mama in a red sporty car. She was clearly appreciative of a thing of beauty. It was bloody hot in Ohio! Normally my arms are frightful sights but I did not care and took off my jacket. I was also thanking my lucky stars that I had not done this trip when my colleagues came in the dead of winter. I hear the winters are dreadful in Richfield.

There wasn't much to Ohio especially since I spent most of my time in classroom with a number of A personalities so I had to shed my timid demeanor and give back as good as I took. You all would be proud.

On the way back home I made sure I had more than ample time twice the time I needed to get to the Cleveland airport and wouldn't you know there was a smash -- I used the word smash because John uses it and I tell him the word sounds so benign for a car crash (must be an English thing. That crash which blocked 3-4 lanes of traffic, thank God no one was hurt, ate up all the extra time I had built in so I and my heart were racing to the airport. At that point everything takes so bloody long, getting to the car rental agency just about tried my patience because there were the most convoluted directions I have ever had to take -- you know, the take 2 rights then a left and drive till you see the building that has a yellow chicken on top then take another left and drive for 3 miles till you see Paul Bunyan and you are there. On top of that I had to get gas. In the end it was all fine with a little time to spare but not before playing havoc with my blood pressure. I never ever sweat, except of course during exercise, but you guessed it I was sweating by the time I got to the airport. Yuck!

Anyway, I am back at home for a few days then I am off to SF for work again Tuesday this week and back home again on Friday. So crazy!

Today we had a late breakfast at Side Street cafe and since I did not want to go home and Maude was obliging I declared we were going to the LA Zoo. Well we got there at 4 pm and the zoo was closing so much for seeing the wild life. We decided to head back home and still not in the mood to go home we went to the cinema. We decided to see Oceans 13 at 8:40pm. Unfortunately the line at Kabuki Japanese restaurant was too long so we decided to go to the guest services desk and ask them to exchange our tickets for a show an hour earlier. It worked! We watched the movie Oceans 13 and it was really funny and delightful -- highly recommended. After the show we went to Kabuki and the sushi dinner was great as well.

Movie & Huntington Dog Beach -- Saturday Excursion #2

I know what you might be thinking: they went to see Spider-Man 3. No so my friends we went to see "Hot Fuzz" and escape the heavy crowds going to see Spider Man. John thought it was incredibly funny. I thought it was somewhat funny but loud with too much shooting. Now folks who know how much I like action movies would be appalled to hear me say I thought there was too much shooting but there really was. I thought I may lose some of my hearing it was so loud. We both agreed it was a tad long. The lead actor in the movie is starring in another Brit movie call Run fatboy Run -- Lord help us!!!

To the even more fun part -- we drove and drove and drove up the coast to Seal Beach and Long Beach. We detoured into neighborhoods just for the heck of it and we happened on some really nice houses that looked like they had $1.5M+ price tags. Makes you want to dream of a larger house or winning the lottery -- we always want more don't we? We took the pictures from the car as is evidenced by the car mirror because we did not want one of those reclusive loons to set their dogs on us!

I took this picture because John said it was a showing "THX 1138" George Lucas first movie.

... finally wound up at the beach. There was a wonderful breeze coming of the aqua blue water and some white topped waves gently rolling in. Being at the beach and hearing the waves drives everything else out of your mind and you feel at peace. Such a wonderful place to forget about work. One more thing to note, we were at the famous Dog Beach! Everyone up the coast to LA and down to Laguna beach bring their dogs to this beach to frolic freely. if you like dogs here is the place to come they are everywhere. I don't care much for dogs but they fascinate me sometimes. The dog that got my attention today was the Scottish Terrier. A tiny dog with a shiny black coat and ears that shoot straight up to the sky. When I squatted to touch him he backed away from me. I would back away too from a huge stranger if I was him. It was quite funny.

We walked for a little while watching the dogs, their owners, the sand, the waves, the oil platforms in the distance and realized we are really blessed to be able to do this every weekend it we choose to.

On the way home I noticed this interesting house that looks like it has an in-built water tank. John promised to ask about the inspiration for the architecture the next time he went running and saw the owner outside watering his garden. Can't wait to hear it.