Cubicle Guardian 2

A while back I posted  a photo of my cubicle guardian and all of a sudden he has a little companion; a trainee perhaps; where he came from, I have no idea; maybe my guardian is cloning himself.

The Trash Heap Returns

The trash heap makes its slow return.

I think if I recreated this in a gallery I could call it art.

Face in the stone

Today I walking thru

Manhattanʻs Upper West Side

And I was delighted to see all of the cool

architectural details

that adorn the buildings and staircases.

American gothic, for sure!

Dancing water

Part of the World of Color show at Disney's California Adventure; the colored water fascinates me.

Andy Warhol monument

Today we had such a great sky here in NYC

and I passed the newly-famous

Andy Warhol monument in Union Square.

The sky, the buildings, the monument

I had to snap a quick photo to share.

A Missed Post

I missed my daily post yesterday. I came home tired from teaching all day. And the cold rainy day just begged me to hibernate. I fell asleep early. Woke up before midnight. "You could still get that post in," I told myself then fell right back to sleep. This morning I woke up with a big smile on my face, even before I looked out and saw this beautiful day.

Later, I'm hoping to see the ocean out there. In the early afternoon the sun hits the water just right and if I'm lucky I can see a thin strip of gold on the horizon.

Open Up!

We hardly ever have days this gorgeous in L.A.  This house with big wide windows and wonderful views - Hey! Open up your curtains! Open up your shades! It's beautiful out here!

Abandoned lot

An abandoned lot

not too far from my apartment

Across the Harlem River--

where the boundary between Manhattan and the Bronx

becomes blurry.

Vet sculpture

As many times as I drive past this emergency pet center, I just noticed this beautiful wood sculpture; I thought it must be new but was told it wasn't, just new to me.

Keyboard

I had to buy a keyboard today

I'm learning a new piece of music--

a throwback to another time in my life

It was very nostalgic

And very SCARY

My fingers remembered how to play a little...

That was the scariest part of all.

Taffy

The local ice cream shop is gearing up for Easter with a barrel full of assorted salt water taffy; although I enjoy the beautiful variety of colors, the only taffy I actually like to eat is the black licorice flavored ones; on that piece of information, my husband commented "who likes black licorice? which brought on a conversation down memory lane about how my beloved grandpa Julio loved black licorice and even kept a box of black licorice flavored cough drops in a drawer in the kitchen and how I would sneak in there and open the box and take in the scent of my grandpa's cough drops. Forgot about those cough drops and my grandpa's love of black licorice until I saw that taffy; I had a very special grandpa.

What to do with old records and toys

When I was first getting to know my now good friend Wendy, she invited me over one day to help her with a project. We made dozens and dozens of these wacky decorations for her upcoming house concert. We painted flowers and designs on old 45's and LPs, then glued on goofy toys we bought from the thrift shop. We hung them from the ceiling, suspended upside down, all over her house. It was super fun and started the foundation of a super friendship. I still have about a dozen of them hanging from the ceiling and wall over my work space.

Parking lot view

Makes me happy to come out from work and still have some daylight.

Self portrait in a mirror

A self portrait taken in a mirror

A photo of my reflection

(Like a portal into an alternate universe.)

Manhattan, Upper West Side

Snails and Shells and Puppy Dog Tails

Today Donkey and I went for a walk in the amazing Debs Park. It is one of our best kept secrets here in northeast Los Angeles. At the park, walk up the road to the pond. Stand in the shade and check out the view, then keep on going. The paved road follows the crest of the hills northward and soon leaves the graffiti behind while many small hiking trails wind their way along through the trees and brush giving spectacular views of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Arroyo Seco, and downtown Los Angeles. Its my new favorite place.

After another fabulous walk, we left the park and I desperately needed something cold to drink. I found a little burger joint and went in to get a soda. Donkey waited outside. I hurriedly reached into my pocket for some crumpled dollar bills. And I laughed at myself, feeling like a little kid just coming in from playing all day on the hillside.

Ouch

I painfully had to fill my gas tank today; my pocketbook is bruised.

NYC wakes up

This morning, I sat in a coffee shop in Hell's Kitchen

and sipped coffee

and watched the city wake up.

I could get used to that.

Be Happy

This little chalkboard slate hangs by my front door.

Every December we have a party: Christmas Game Day. It's a big deal around here. Last December I wrote on my chalkboard "HAPPY! !!GAME DAY!!"

That message stayed until about Valentines Day when I finally erased the GAME DAY!! part of the message. But I was in a hurry (and not in the greatest mood) and couldn't decide what to put in its place. So I left it.

Today I noticed it again. And instead of the grumpy mood of that day, I'm in a great mood on this day. And I realized: why do I need to be told to be happy about some specific thing or event?

"!HAPPY!!" is enough for me.

Street Lights and Mocking Birds

When I was growing up, all the street lights looked like this one. I didn't think there were any left around here.

A few years ago the city replaced all our street lights with super bright ones. The one in front of our house can make my bedroom look like midday. The same year they put the new street lights in, a mocking bird started hanging out there. I love mocking birds. They are my absolute favorite. They make me laugh every single time I hear them. But this mocking bird was hanging out between 1 and 3 am. Every night singing his heart out. We decided it was because of the street light, making the middle of the night seem like midday. We lay in bed and listened since there's no going back to sleep when a crazy mocking bird practices his repertoire outside your bedroom window. And we chuckle through the late night hours.

Found Treasure

This treasure had been unintentionally put aside years ago and sadly forgotten until my grandson emerged from one of his exploration adventures dragging it with him. Apparently, he knows valuable art when he sees it and knows it should be displayed with pride.

New seats on the subway!

We got some new seats on the subway!

See the orange and yellow seats in the top left corner?

Those are the old seats.

But see this shiny seat that is almost the same color as Eeyore?

That's the new seat!

New color. Slightly uncomfortable in the current color scheme.

And, as always, slightly uncomfortable to sit on.

Circus Cage

Old Circus Cage; located at Travvel Town in Griffith Park.

Tonight at hula class...

Tonight at hula class

the dancers danced

and the musicians made music.

And for a short while,

all seemed to be OK in the world.

L.A. Snowflakes

Looking around the house, wondering what I might stop and notice today, I glanced up and ..... Oopps. The last of the Christmas decorations. How long is too long to leave up snowflakes?

Siamese Vegies

I've never seen double squash before. But now I've got two.

Breakfast at the Inn at Sweet Water Farm

The breakfast table at one of my favorite places on the planet:

The Inn at Sweet Water Farm.

The only thing missing? You!

(I'm homesick for it already!)

Bunnies

While waiting at a red light, I glanced over to my left and saw these two bunnies enjoying the afternoon sun.

Socks Can't Make Me Smile

I wish the piles of dirty socks in the living room could make me smile the way that the fluff from Donkey's pillow can.

Inspector Penny

Inspecting the new fence for any possible escape routes, Penny was satisfied with the job and gave it a paws up.

Dance Hall

Back in the 60's I used to take ballet lessons at the local park; I remember performing in the Nutcracker, I think I was a sugar plum fairy...anyway, it saddens me to see the hall where I took those lessons in such disarray; a new gym at the park has been built but this building remains abandoned, vandalized and forgotten.. but not by all.

Power Lines

I guess I'm not supposed to like these - they are urban blight. But I love telephone poles and the wires that criss-cross past them. I love how they divide up the space. I love remembering long car rides and silently watching the power lines zip along the side of the road next to us - a slight dip, then a rise to meet the next pole - keeping time.

Writing with friends

This weekend, a small group of people

are gathering at a bed and breakfast in Massachusetts

to celebrate our friend's birthday.

I've been asked to share some writing exercises with the group

(and that ALWAYS makes me smile!)

So I've prepared a Weekend Writing Kit to share with everyone.

Let the scribbling begin!

False Alarm

As my husband was leaving for work this morning around 5:30am, he returned into the house and asked me to step outside; I groggily did as asked only to be met with the distinct odor of natural gas; the neighborhood seemed to be engulfed with the odor; my husband didn't want to take any chances so while I called the Gas Company to make a report, he woke up everyone else in the household and within minutes we were all up and gathered outside but by this time the odor wasn't prevalent any longer but he still insisted that we leave until the Gas Company checked it out and gave their clearance. When we arrived home, after an early breakfast, this notice of clearance greeted us and we were able to go on with the rest of our day reassured that all was well.

It's in the details

Metal plates like this one are embedded in the sidewalks

near Fort Washington in NYC.

I had no idea about the area's historical significance

until I saw these plates.

It's the little details that bring us to the bigger picture sometimes.

Life Drawing Frenzy

I'm afraid I have become obsessed with my life drawing class. It feels like, if I can just master this then everything in my life will fall into place. No, it feels like, if I can't master this then everyone will know that I'm a fraud. All I've accomplished in my life seems to hinge on my ability to figure out how to draw the human body. 

I left on some errands this morning and upon returning I saw this pile of frenzied work. "Hurry up and get back over here!" it called at me. "Don't be thnking that you're good enough yet!"

Double Take

Saw this kid walking and his hair made me do a double take; made me wonder what he spends more time on...hair or homework?

Man on the subway with a giant pencil

I saw this dude on the subway today

standing there with a pencil that was taller than him...

Sometimes I love this wacky city.

How to Stop the Circle of Doubt

I came home from my life drawing class last night frustrated and defeated. So defeated that I wanted to throw up my hands and give up on all my current creative pursuits; too frustrated to bother to remember my daily post. Felt like such a poser. "Whoever said I was good at this? Not me!"

Pulling myself together enough this morning to sit at my work table and make something, I sorted through the bits and pieces and came across this:

I don't know how much it really helped, but it certainly gave me a moment to get out of my head and stop the endless circle of doubt.

And then in floated my teacher's words from the first day of class: "Most of you will want to quit around the middle of the semester, some of you will disappear." Guess what? Next week is the middle of the semester. Maybe I'm not so terrible. Maybe, in fact, I'm on right on track.

I think I might make myself a name tag with this. Then, next week when I'm frustrated again (and I know I will be), I'm going to pause, read my name tag, stop the circle of doubt, and get on with it!

Humps?

Did I miss something? When did speed "bumps" turn into "humps"?

Candy counter

Today I went into a department store

And I was amazed:

THEY HAD A CANDY COUNTER!

Just like the kind they had when I was a little boy

where you could buy chocolates and snow drops and licorice bites

by the pound.

A man (a security guard?) asked me why I was taking a photo of the counter.

He said he wanted to make sure I didn't work for Macy's.

Ha!

Since when did a candy counter become TOP SECRET stuff?

Pressed Pennies

These pressed penny machines can be found throughout Disneyland as well as the hotels of Disney; I find it to be a fun and affordable souvenir especially for kids to collect. For .51 you can choose which pattern you want pressed on your penny and insert your coins and watch as the machine presses the pattern on and flattens your penny and out it drops warm and textured ready to take place in one of the vinyl collector's books you can also pick up while at Disneyland (of course).

Donkey's Pillow

Every day Donkey pulls the stuffing from his pillow. Every day it makes me smile. Every day I stuff it back in for him. And it begins again . . .

 As I was getting ready to write this post, he jumped on his pillow and started pulling out more fluff. I smiled some more.

As I finish this post, he's taking a rest. For now. I'm still smiling.

At QVC studios

The QVC logo wall at their studios

West Chester, PA

Sand Dollar

This sand dollar has been on my van dashboard for years; I can't remember why it is there or how it got there but every now and again I actually "see" it and it takes me back to a time when my son would ask to go with me at 6am to Morro Strand Beach and "hunt" for sand dollars; it was one of the few times when the two of us did something alone together and I cherished those moments. Being my son's birthday weekend and his being over seas has him on my mind and perhaps that is why the sand dollar remains on the dash board.

Beyond the Do Not Enter Sign

Venturing beyond the "Do Not Enter" sign

Terrifying

Nuclear power plant

Limerick, Pennsylvania.

My parents live between here and Three Mile Island.

Terrifying.