First it was Carl’s birthday party, a memorable yearly event. The picture above is us, me and Carl, from 2010. I was looking for pictures of Carl and when I first saw this I wondered, who is that other person. Me! It’s me looking so very much younger.
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Then Ken had a New Year’s Eve party, and due to circumstances… we were Ken and four women – for a yummy dinner and games.
(self-portrait)
We went to PF Chang’s for lunch, and then we saw Wonka, and then we walked through the mall, had a sweet treat, and went home. What a nice day out for our last get-together in 2023.
Oh Kai, you handsome devil you.
Here’s messing around with my underwater camera. I just got to them because mostly it was a fail.
At the cenote.
And here is the point at which the camera quit focusing. Probably because I set it to microscope by mistake…
We had our traditional sleep-over so we can all be together in the morning after Santa comes to town, and did he ever!
Gary, Liz, Darryl, Angela, Rome, Lilly
Tishy, Daniel, Eivor, Ingalill, Brian, Jim, Tony, Nancy, Rick
It’s Tony and Lill’s Christmas Eve party Swedish Style. What Fun! First we watch Kalle Anka och hans vänner. You can click on the link to read all about it from the 2021 party.
I was sitting in the orange chair, the best seat, which everyone insisted should be mine because “you’re the oldest”. Fine, I am the oldest.
The show, and their clever Christmas Tree.
Here is the buffet for the first course, four types of herring, plus a feast of more and more. Notice the glass on the buffet – Tony was making Mezcal Negronis, another treat.
And they’ve enclosed their patio to create a spacious and delightful dining room.
The main course of prime rib and etc is on the table below, followed by dessert and Gifts. THANKS for Everything!
BTW…my headband of springy reindeer is from the same era as the cartoon.
Brian, Nancy, Tony, Bill, Eivor, Daniel, Rick, me, Jim
Here are links to all three phases of my trip with Cynthia in Mexico. Of course I’ll be ‘polishing the apple’ for days to come, but at least it’s a start at being done! You should be able to just Click.
Yucatan a beach house and touring around.
But I didn’t have to actually do anything. Rick got me a ticket and Tony and Lill picked me up so what a treat! We went out to Burbank, to the Colony Theatre to enjoy a hilarious comedy show. From their website: “the award-winning Troubies have combined the classic 1954 film, White Christmas, with the Beatles epic double record, the White Album. The result is a hippy, trippy, and-a-lil nippy – take on the beloved holiday musical extravaganza.”
For six days my suitcase and backpack sat where I dropped them when I got home Friday night. I will not burden you with a litany of my symptoms and slow recovery but I did unpack! I’m behind four days of the trip which I hope to get to Very Soon, before real life kicks in.
Lourdes, Maxine, Marsha, Marija, Alicia, Becky, Ann, Ljubica
I missed our Big Party, the social event of the season but I was just Too Sick. Good thing they took the picture even without me!
Most likely a nasty cold. It happens. Not covid so that’s good. I didn’t start feeling unwell until the day I was set to come home, so that’s awesome, I’m just behind on pictures.
I got to have a nice visit with Alex and Carol aboard Red Sky and then – Look What Merlyn Did!
And we all Loved It!
Merlyn, Hilda, Carol, Alex
And check this out, Merlyn and Hilda are now a Two-Tesla His-and-Hers family.
I had a hearing test today. I got all the words 100% but on the beep tests, some loss in the high tones. The audiologist said I could get hearing aids if I was suffering quality of life issues but it was perfectly normal “at my age”. He said I could also put it off and check again in a year. Perhaps unfortunately for my family and friends, I took the put-it-off option.
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Check it out, #1 New Release in IT Project Management.
The Architect Way: Requirements For a Universal Framework
You can click the title for direct access to the Amazon listing.
It’s AWEsome! You won’t be sorry!! You can get the Kindle version now and a print version will be ready to order in a week.
Just a little sore..at the injection site.
Have you noticed how many people you know are testing positive for covid? A lot it seems, although no one has gone to the hospital. For me I don’t want to be sick at all of course, but I Really don’t want to get long covid and what makes it happen and how to get rid of it remains a mystery.
Angela’s pictures from Halloween. First we had some dinner..
..and then the Taylor Swifts dressed up..
..and then the rest of the gang joined in.
Capri, Arya, Audrey, Amandine, Coco, Chase, Cameron, Isaias, Lilly
Rome, The Moth, and Lilly, Taylor Swift from Red.
(self-portrait)
I went with Marsha to see The Holdovers and then we had dinner with Tom. And then we did a little >< walk. I ate a left-over Halloween candy before dinner, a candy after dinner, and a candy for the ride home, begging for mercy.
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Below is the refrigerator magnet I got in Italy for Ingalill, my one and only purchase, and forgot to give it to her last Sunday. It’s been sitting in this exact place for weeks. Ingalill has a refrigerator in the house entirely covered in magnets The one in the garage is the same. And there are several large cookie sheets covered in more. It’s an impressive collection!
Super-fun Halloween pictures forthcoming.. from Angela since I didn’t take any at all!
Except Oliver!
Ingalill drove us to the pier, bought lunch at Maria Sol, and then replanted my succulents. Wow.
I met Nancy for breakfast this morning on the patio at John O’Groats, it was tasty and we had fun.
Rome and I had a tasty lunch at a Mexican place we’d not been to before, and then decaf coffee treats across the street.
Then we picked up Lilly after school for an outing to the mall so Lil could spend her birthday gift certificates. That’s me having got my hair curled in a department store demonstration.
After dinner Lilly and I went to her middle school’s band concert performed in the large and packed high school auditorium. Amazingly 25% of the students at Parras Middle School participate in the music program. They have seven(!) bands, one each period and one that comes in before school. The band director, wow, what a guy, Really impressive.
They got all seven bands on and off the stage in one minute transitions. There were huge groups that filled the stage and smaller ensembles too. Seriously, impressive.
(self-portrait)
Our handsome rebar trees were in good shape.
Thanks Alex and Carol for driving up. We’ve been having an interesting few months of never being at home at the same time and this might be our last chance to get together before next year, 2024.
In a little more than two months it’ll be 2024 and then less then 4 years after that it’ll be the LA Olympics. I remember so clearly back in 2017 when LA got the Olympics, I said many times then and a boring number of times since, how much I really REALLY hope to get to see the LA Olympics in 2028 since it was SO much fun in 1984.
This has been up for a while. It’s a little interesting but I’m not so into the pink curtain.
The Featured Exhibition is William Blake: Visionary, there until mid-January. Totally worth it.
Ronald, Celina, Steve, Jan, Joanne, Paul, David, Frankie
Ronald hosted a luncheon get-together on his balcony overlooking Silver Lake which was delightful. My only regret is that I didn’t take a picture of the newly painted house in the colors of mustard and ketchup. You absolutely canNot miss this house.
Thank You to Terry and Arlene who treated me and Burt and Char for a yummy dinner and delicious wine at the ooo-la-la Café Bizou in Agoura. Happy Birthday Terry! We have known each other soo long, sooo many birthdays, and Let’s Have More!
I got to have a tour of Rome’s school today and it was a BLAST. It’s so cool to be able to see the scene in my mind. The kids and the teachers were quite adorable, all greeting me with a smile and saying nice things about Rome.
The we did some shopping. I can’t believe all the Halloween headbands, the kind I like with springy decorations, are gone. Yes, we’re getting Christmas already, with a shelf of Thanksgiving and a rack of Halloween jewelry available.
We’ve got together a couple times since I’ve been back and it’s been good. Everyone has been gone off and on all summer and it seems the break did us good because we’re all back in the swing. Maybe we’ll finish book one some day, there are five more.
Judy, me, Susan, Hilda, Victoria
Since Sharon and I haven’t been able to go walking at the track at Pepperdine because of the parking situation, we haven’t been to Reel Inn, our usual lunch after Pepperdine. So we went today for old time’s sake and it was as fun as ever it was.
Since I got back I’ve a couple of Monday lunches with the valley gang, also had a meal with friends around here, catching up, but I don’t have any pictures to remind me…
I met Darryl, Angela, and Lilly in Culver City to enjoy the Culver City Art Walk and for even more fun, to walk through Coco Republic with Angela and get acquainted with her job. Go there on Thursday or Friday and you’ll get to learn about high-end bedding from Angela!
Coco Republic, as well as their own lines, has many vendors under their huge roof, one of them being Timothy Oulton, the source of these pictures. His stuff has such a strong point of view… definitely not the vibe of the rest of Coco Republic. And yes you can buy this spaceship. They are in the old HD Buttercup building in the Helms Bakery complex. I’m not 100% sure how they are related but the HD Buttercup sign is still on the building.
While Windy and I were in Italy Lona was in Switzerland and Bali with Trevor, Beth, and Christa. We met up for lunch at an Indonesian place to share hugs and stories.
Here they are. They climbed So Many Mountains! Lona had been wanting to have a Heidi vacation forEVER and what a time they had. Good job sister, you really did it. The Bali part of the vacation is another story, a surprise gift from one of Trevor’s clients. That was something too for sure!
Darryl decorated all the pictures in the house.
We also went to see Carter in the high school production of Sweeney Todd. They were great, and they did the entire production, all three hours. The work that went into this was something indeed. The leads, of whom Carter was one, had to learn so much dialog, so many songs, wow.
Marsha and I had our first Disney Concert Hall performance of the season and it was Sooo Gooood. Dudamel was his usual shining self and his direction of Firebird was as wonderful to watch as it was to hear. Oh my goodness he loved that piece. The cello soloist for the Shostakovitch Cello Concerto No 1 was a 24 year old UK super-star.
They did a surprise piece before the intermission with 8 cellos, 7 from the orchestra and the soloist. It was AWEsome, especially because it was a surprise. “For an encore, Sheku joined seven LA Phil cellists to play the Bachianas Brasilerias Suite no. 1, II. Preludio (Modinha) by Heitor Villa-Lobos. It was scored for an “orchestra of cellos” and dedicated to cellist Pablo Casals.” I got the quote from a stageandcinema review. You can click on the link if you want to read it in full and a short bio of Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Gustavo Dudamel
And then we ate Chinese food which is working out very well as our DCH Sunday afternoon post-concert repast.
It’s been a FABulous trip, thank you Windy for doing all you did to make it happen and for being such a delightful travel companion. Phewww, home! I should come back to me again in a week or so…
Kathleen, Elaine, Carolynn, Eileen, Cheyenne
My across-the-street neighbor Kathleen invited other neighbors over to her house for Happy Hour and Bon Voyage. That was so sweet!
I’m going to be gone (again!) for their birthdays so we had an early celebration today!
But first I went to lunch with Carter and Rome. Carter is sweet and withstood my barrage of questions with style and grace.
Then we dropped off Carter and picked up Lilly for our arts ‘n crafty outing at Color Me Mine.
Lilly’s is a strawberry cow mug with a shelf to hold the cookies in his mouth.
Rome’s is a treasure box.
Mine is a vase with all our hand prints. Rome said “like we’re five”. Yes! Only with much larger hands.
We had a plan to go to a festival where many mural artists were working on pieces at the same time. Unfortunately that date was for Hurricane Sunday so we had to cancel. We did a little walk-about today and it was fun!
You can click on this link from Long Beach Walls to see all the pieces from many years. Here are some of what we found, in the order we found them. We had an excellent walk using the Long Beach Walls maps but many of the spots seemed to be missing their murals.
That’s Marsha and Kelly from last week’s show at the Hollywood Bowl, the show I went to with Jo Ann, Alan, and Muriel. This is Marsha’s and my last tickets of the Bowl season. We’re here to see Mozart Under the Stars. It was a lovely show, not one of the wowzer shows, all the pieces call for a pretty small orchestra and for me the venue is better served with a big sound, but lovely nonetheless. And I am a big fan of Don Giovanni.
A highlight was the conductor. He’s old and specializes in Baroque music, probably not in the running for the music director position with the LA Philharmonic, but I thought he was 100% adorable and would watch him any time.
The internet calls him Nic McGegan and he’s quite the charmer. The violinist was of course excellent.
The program contained Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, Violin Concerto No 5, and Symphony No 38 Prague.
From Marsha and Tom’s front porch. We saw Barbie. At the beginning I was so optimistic, wow I thought, this is really clever and funny, and then it got less funny and more focused on making its point, but Ryan Gosling’s Ken was a kick all the way through.
An adorable Barbie and a cutie-pie Ken at the theater.
Gideon and Sam got married at the Thousand Oaks Courthouse on the 30th, an ‘elopement’ that everyone knew was happening. And then they had a delightful reception for family and friends on the 2nd. Mazel Tov dear ones! Of course, Celina made the cakes!
And the dogs!
Nice on the tables.
This and a catered BBQ lunch. Yum!
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SOME PICTURES FROM CELINA
Awwww.
Thanks to Alan and Jo Ann we had another wowza evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Me, Alan, Jo Ann, Muriel.
The program included a Jessie Montgomery piece Shift, Change, Turn, and an orchestration of the Tchaikovsky piano pieces call The Seasons, and then the big hit of the night, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
We had another guest conductor, New Zealander Gemma New (audition we assume!) and a startling virtuoso performance by the violin player Nathan Cole, the First Associate Concertmaster with the LA Phil, married to Akiko Tarumoto, the LA Phil’s Assistant Concertmaster. So First Associate Concertmaster vs Assistant Concertmaster = ‘The associate concertmaster sits next to the concertmaster and is sometimes called “second concertmaster.” The assistant sits third chair’.
The oral surgeon asked to change my followup to this morning from later in the week and I was glad to get to it because the area was still bugging. He took out the stitches, said there was some inflamation, and I should come back next week. He also gave me a prescription for 2 weeks of heavy antibiotics to have on hand in case I get a flare up in Italy.
Then I checked in at the Physical Therapy place where they have a bunch of doctors next door at the University Foot and Ankle Institute for a second opinion since my sprained ankle from 8 months ago is still bothering me too. They could see me right then and happily for me, they take medicare. I had another long set of x-rays and the doctor said everything looked good bone-wise but I did have an especially sore tendon so tomorrow I’m getting an mri. Either the tendon is split or it isn’t. I can still travel no problem, but I am very glad to know the answer before I leave.
And ANOTHER thing, statins. I’ve not had any regular medications so far, but on my last visit to the doctor they did a test for the genetic marker indicating a vulnerability to heart disease since my father died of a stroke and at the end of her life my mother had heart disease. My number was so high I rushed straight down to the pharmacy. Oh yes please, give me those satins, stat!
But on the upside, there’s a rainbow in my bathroom!
The picture is from the bathroom wall at Hoka Hoka Sushi.
Both Rome and Lilly like it when we go to the various sushi places around the South Bay. This time it was me and Rome, sharing a bunch of tasty dishes.
We also went to Michael’s and Joann’s to get supplies for making a flower clip so I could stop wearing that same hibiscus every single day. Rome figured it out so I’m not stressed anymore about losing the one clip I like. Now I have 2 and more can be forthcoming.
Ken and I met up out here in Santa Monica for a little Happy Hour Hopping. First we stopped at Whaler, then moved on to Independence, then..
..we got to join our very long-time friends from the good ol’ days Bill and Cheryl, and their friends Jim and Sally, all four of them visiting from Kansas City, Kansas. We, Ken and I, went together to visit Bill and Cheryl many years ago. We had an excellent time and look forward to going out there again.
We had half-price Happy Hour at Fig. Expensive but fun!
And let’s add Bill and Cheryl’s grandkids because how adorable are they?! Addie and Will.
The above picture is from the Skirball website promoting the concert I attended with Rick and Jim. It was good fun! We ate dinner there from the buffet offering, Jim brought wine, and we found a comfortable place to sit. As well as its many museum offerings, the Skirball is a fine venue for free concerts, parking $20 at the door or $15 in advance.
Antibalas is a big 12 piece ensemble based in Brooklyn with a driving afro-beat, playing like one big backing percussion section. Something felt missing, so I looked them up the next day and found what was missing, this guy, Duke Amayo, the lead singer for 20 years who fairly recently left for a solo career.
Below, my picture from the concert and the missing lead singer from the internet.
I always enjoy a nice hang-out with Rick and Jim and they even did all the driving.
There were guys from the Skirball’s Noah’s Ark exhibit carrying around some of the animals.
Emilia took me on a sweet walk through the Arlington Garden in Pasadena, a community maintained space on what was Cal Trans land later donated to the city. There are so many winding paths through the 3 acres possible because the area is so densely planted.
We were all going to go to a club down the street from Richard and Emilia but one of them had to stay home with their new dog. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a picture of Otis the dog! So Emilia and I went for the walk and Richard and I went to the show.
But First, let’s have a look at Richard’s life-long hobby: MUSIC. There used to be walls of vinyl but now Richard is focusing on his CD collection.
I might have missed the hallway… that wooden chest is full too.
Here’s The Lost Parrot, a few blocks away where every Wednesday night there’s great local entertainment. I want a place like this a few blocks from MY house!
Richard and their friend Sandy who joined us for the evening.
The glass building is between 20th and 21st on Wilshire. I’m on 22nd, just off Wilshire. My oral surgeon is in that building, and you can see to the right a bit of Chipotle and Veggie Grill.
Below is a google picture of that corner and notice half the block is taken up with single story retail space, one block from my corner.
Oh goodness look at what’s coming, the photo is from the developer’s website. Yikes, right? 150 housing units, street level retail, underground parking for 205 cars, some of the parking being stacked spaces. And let’s make it worse, the same developer has two more corners on Wilshire heading west, with the same kind of structure planned. It already takes 30 minutes to get to the ‘freeway’ heading out of Santa Monica during rush hour, and already there is no street parking ever. But it takes forever to get through the Santa Monica planning department and maybe I won’t live to see the day.. but change is inevitable and so there we are.. paradise lost.
This week we all went to Rome’s restaurant for lunch. It was fun! And then Lilly and I had our traditional outing to Yogurtland. Each one of Lilly’s bracelets has a story and it was a delight to hear them all!
It’s summer vacation season so the Monday Ladies who Lunch are down to three-four-five of us in town so today we went out for a lovely meal on the patio at More Than Waffles in the Encino Town Center.
I do get it, why that scary-looking chair is in the middle of a mostly empty room. I had to have some dental work that required a crowd of assistants all gathered around. I didn’t have much anesthesia, just a ton of novocaine to get a broken tooth out and a bone graft in for an eventual implant. Interesting, the oral surgeon was talking about how his specialty is teeth at the end of their life and he sees people over 100 years old Every Day.
I would 100% recommend this office and the oral surgeon whose name I can’t remember right now, but I’ll update as soon as I find out. I got an early AM emergency fill-in appointment since this tooth was so badly cracked, in half they said, that my dentist said I should get it out asap to hold off infection. This is the waiting area for the Santa Monica Center for Oral Surgery and Dental Implants, two blocks from my house, just the way I like.
The Hollywood Bowl, always a treat.
Wow, we had a six-seater box all to ourselves although it was at the very edge of the boxes and interrupted our view of the screens.
Marsha ran into a friend, and Jo Ann, Allen, and Mavis were there too.
Marsha bought these new glasses at the gift shop. We’ve been getting the Meal Delivery recently. They set-up the table with linens, silverware, water, and it’s lovely, and the servers are attentive and sweet.
Everyone loved the Dvořák Cello Concerto in B Minor. Jo Ann and Marsha were not so hot on the Shostakovich Symphony no. 5 in D minor but I did like it despite nodding off for a few minutes during a slow part…
Anna Rakitina, might she be our new Dudamel? (Pictures from the Hollywood Bowl website.)
(self-portrait)
Olivia is growing a plant as food for the Monarch butterflies, and here’s one making itself at home. He’s a hungry hungry caterpillar! Olivia and our new tenant Candice enjoyed a lovely get-acquainted Happy Hour in the yard.
From Marija, Christopher was in town but we didn’t get a chance to meet-up. Next Time!
Ann is in Hawaii, in Oahu, not Maui, to lend a hand with her grandkids. This is Noah’s two, and Josh has three living in Washington, so Ann’s on the road often.
Big Story from the Browns – Lona, Trevor, Beth, and Christa are in Switzerland now for several weeks after which they will be in Bali for several weeks. Yes, first Switzerland and then directly to Bali. There’s a reason, friends, and I’m so happy for them!
With all this travel, including Becky who is in Scotland now, we were down to three participants for Monday lunch, and it was delicious.
For the first time in forever there were two movies out that I was happy to see, Oppenheimer with Marsha, a wonderful big movie, and Jules with Sharon, charming and sweet.
I do keep forgetting that one of the AMCs on the Promenade uses smaller screens but you get these lounge chairs that are quite awesome and make the smaller screens seem bigger.
Our mother had a best friend, Auntie Flo married to Uncle Ed. They were not our aunt or uncle but related to Mom through some distant cousin-ship that I never remember. Spud, the son of Auntie Flo and Uncle Ed is one month younger than I am, and we’ve been cousins since we were born. Michael is Spud and Kathy’s son, married to Christy (daughter Wendy couldn’t make it).
We all met up at Lona’s place for food, a walk, and a Happy Birthday to Spud.
Walking out on the jetty.
Lona’s picture – Michael, Kathy, Christy, Spud, me
Happy Birthday Spud!
I was exchanging email addresses with Christy and she sent this picture of their two sweet dogs, Clara the dachshund and Maisy the Australian Cattle Dog. Christy and Michael live in Seattle while Kathy and Spud live in Phoenix.
(internet pictures)
In honor of Muriel and a big decade birthday we decided to surprise her with a guarantee of what she really wanted, Really Good Pasta. The pizza was really delicious too! And she was surprised and delighted so YAY.
Muriel, Rae, Shep, Allen, Jo Ann
I feel like I’m home now from all those trips although I’m not entirely sure how I got here. One thing though, on Tuesday Rome and I had a nice lunch and then a wander in their town and stopped off in a new place that had been open only two days. The owner in there was lovely selling her own paintings, also crystals, jewelry, tarot cards, greeting cards, etc. She asked us if we wanted her to lay out cards for us and we said “Sure!”.
Rome got New Vision-The Bard-Water and I got Gratitude-The Butterfly-Nest. It was fun for us to work out a story that went with the cards.
On another day I was walking to where I had parked the car in Santa Monica and came up this place with an entire WALL of tarot card decks. Yikes indeed.
Bodhi, Desda, Shira, Bob, Richard, me, Chad
This was fun! I got to meet Baby Bodhi for the first time and what a charmer. We very much enjoyed walking around the restaurant together (we were in an empty section of Canter’s!) pointing at all the Lights. Lights! I’m so glad the timing worked out and I happened to be home when this beautiful family happened to be in LA.
Here’s what I did in these two days between DC and Oregon: unpack, wash clothes, repack, Steve and Celina over for dinner, Bob and Desda at Canter’s, Susan from Australia over at Lona’s, Lucas, Betsy, and Anya over for a walk-through, REI for a backpack, and what else? It seemed like there was something every hour.
So, I didn’t finish the pictures for DC until 5 days after is was all over. At one point, Marsha pointed out, I was 8 days behind and when that happens I’m not as happy with the results of my story since I Forget. But at this moment it’s Aug 2, three days into my trip with Lilly, and I’m ready to start this trip. Getting close to catching up!
This is one of wikipedia’s pictures of the flag of Bhutan.
And here’s where Bhutan is in the world.
For so long it was very difficult to visit Bhutan, hard to get a visa, expensive, etc. but now, post-covid there has been a softening in the requirements and although you’re still better off with a guide, it can happen!
Hilda, ably aided by Merlyn, is the organizer of a club in their building, The Travel Club, and every couple months someone comes to the well-appointed rec room with a travel related presentation. This lovely young man below, (his parents reside in the building) has been living in Bhutan for +/- 10 years and shared a historical perspective, many of his experiences, and briefly outlined how one goes about visiting there. If you’re interested let me know. I’ll put the contact information here as soon as I get back from DC.
Lona has been hosting a couple of cousins from Australia related through our father’s family, something like our father’s brother’s son’s daughter’s kids, something like that. I visited them when I was in Australia back in 2017.
We had a fun day – a walk up to Inspiration Point, then a picnic, then a tour of the Will Rogers house, and then some polo. All together delightful. After which the rest of them went to the Hollywood Bowl! I was going to be busy the next day and bowed out of the Bowl but Lona kept right up with the young folk.
Marsha and I have been getting boxes for a few years now and it just adds to the comfort and delight of a wonderful evening. What’s the best of the best? When the other two seats aren’t taken, which we enjoyed this very night. Get our food delivered, drink some wine, kick back, put my feet up, ahhhh.
This performance was lead by our Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic playing Ellington’s Three Black Kings and Night Creature, Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and selected songs performed with Patina Miller.
Here’s Patina Miller and Gustavo during this show, snagged from Getty Images on the internet.
The weather was perfect! Unlike our seats at the Disney Concert Hall where all the performers are easily seen, here we often end up watching the monitors where you get all the good closeups.
On the left is my beloved charm of Hello Kitty Sitting On Buddha’s Lap. I’m so fond of it I don’t use it anymore for fear of losing it. So Rome had some Hello Kitty stickers and I was going on about making the HKSBL image for my phone case. Lola was over and said, oh, I can draw that for you. Really? Cool! Look what she did, a design from her own imagination!! Thanks sweetie!!
And since I didn’t take a picture of Rome and Lola, here they are at The Broad from January 2017.
Earlier Rome, Lilly, and I had a tasty Indian lunch and then went to The Mystic Eye Botanica. Rome took this picture of me, enjoying a nice rest in The High Priestess Chair.
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And here’s Lilly at the Mystic Eye!
Frog Boy is g.o.n.e Gone! It poked me in the eye instantly and I didn’t get over it for the entire visit. Frog Boy, what happened, where are you, why are you gone?! The internet doesn’t seem to know but according to one of the people behind the information counter, he was returned to the artist and not popular with the guests. Not popular with the guests?? Popular with ME!!
They even changed the entrance hall.
Reflect-o, for the good times, and a good lunch to end a lovely day. Except for the missing Frog Boy. I’ll probably get over it.
For my birthday the kids gave me A Day! For the whole day they all worked off my entire Around The House To Do List. Wow, right?!
This guy was the size of my little finger. Bang Bang Banging against the window. I waited until morning when he was so tuckered out, swept him into a kitchen towel and shook him out in the yard. Where are his friends? I hope I never know!
He’s in the kitchen window and the window is covered with plastic film from the painters. Below is a super-distorto of the living room/dining room also covered with plastic film. It’s been very weird inside, like living in an igloo.
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The tenant that left yesterday left the place in shall we say less than ideal condition. Alex fixed the broken bathroom sink, I had to call the snake guys to clear the drains, and the housekeeper worked all day cleaning.
But on the up side Carol and I had a fun outing. We walked through the Water Garden and visited several of the galleries at Bergamot Station. The impetus for the visit was a Flower Garden exhibit at the Peter Fetterman Gallery, mounted in concert with the exhibit at LA Louver that I saw with Susie. The gallery specializes in photography and it was lovely to see what the curator did with the theme.
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At the edge of Bergamot Station. Irresistible!
The Flower Show at the LA Louver is a total charmer. I really liked almost everything in there including this flower/weed made out of painted metal and so many pieces from different styles and eras, it was great and kudos to their curator, Elizabeth East. Here are Elizabeth East’s notes on the show.
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We had a delicious lunch at Ospi around the corner, and then walked down to the Venice Canals. What a great day!
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Why did I take this picture completely covering all of my face and most of Susie’s? I do not know. We’re cute though.
This was also the day I zoom-visited with Hilda and Victoria, had the electrician out to get the lights working again, and settled with my next tenant. It felt like a very busy day and thankfully a fun, productive, and lucky one.
Windy and I were walking to lunch and passed by her neighbor with the giGANtic wind chimes. There’s a sign in the garden saying you are most welcome to ring the chimes, just be respectful of the garden. The fabulous garden wraps all around the large corner lot and includes flowers galore and a large section of raised beds for vegetables.
And here is Windy’s flower bed that wraps around her porch. A couple time a year the gardeners refresh the plants and it’s always a delight.
Michi is in Santa Barbara visiting from her home in Mexico and it’s our chance to get together for lunch with Nancy.
Then after lunch and after a lovely tea-and-cookies visit with Michi and her friend Teddy, I made my way to DTLA for a quick dinner and meet-up with Rick and his friends Lena and Joyce. Rick had invited me to join them for the opening night of Into The Woods at the Ahmanson. WOW it was Really Good! I didn’t have super-high expectations but the cast was so fantastic, every character came to life.
Lena is from St Petersburg and when I asked her about my favorite cookies in St Petersburg she said “oh they’re easy to get, and fresh too, on Fairfax” and she recommended Odessa and Kashtan. I’m putting it here to, say I hopefully, find it!
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Jan Sandys-Renton, Lill, Paul with Scott, Andrew (sitting).
More people were pouring in all day – this is but a moment in time… Thanks Tony for writing out the names.
Here I am with Sharon so glad to see that one of the big business buildings at the corner of 3rd and Wilshire is Open with a new enterprise, a big fancy chic-chic gym with half the huge space given over to a juice bar and a lounge. I hope it works. Here’s their press release: “JOHN REED, the internationally acclaimed fitness brand known for its cutting-edge facilities, dynamic classes, live DJs, endless training options and a vibrant community atmosphere, is thrilled to announce the Grand Opening of its newest location in the lively city of Santa Monica.“
It’s summer now and colonies of summer campers are positioned all along the beach.
The rose garden was in fine form.
Lilly and Chloe. We had fun and a yummy lunch from the Farmers Market vendors.
And then we did the Drive-Thru Car Wash.
Lilly and Oliver resting up from a big day. Then I got Rome from work and we went to Michael’s to browse for craft supplies. Rome bought half a basket full including Hello Kitty stickers so I’m looking forward to making another collage for my phone case. I’ll need a Buddha so I can replicate my favorite charm, Hello Kitty Sitting On Buddha’s Lap.
Choosing the colors. We sanded down to the original paint. The house has been the same colors since it was built in 1922 and I want it to look exactly the same again. I wanted to do the paint job last year when the house was 100 years. But, you know, it just didn’t happen, so Happy 101st Birthday House!
One week into a two week project and I have nothing to complain about. Wow, right?!
I’ve had the same crew every day, the husband who holds the contractor’s license, his brother, and his uncle. His wife manages the office and stops by also every day to check on the progress and make sure all is well. They have another crew of relatives so they run two jobs at the same time but so far my guys have not been distracted.
Fingers Crossed it ends as well as it has begun.
Jo Ann, Alan, and I were all guests at Muriel’s, treated to a two-days-of-preparation celebrity chef style lasagna. Deeelish! And salad, and chocolate cake and strawberries for a Happy Birthday dessert. Happy Birthday to me that is!
Soooo, the next day…
I got home late Thursday after a pleasant and uneventful flight. I used the lyft/uber/taxi shuttle at LAX for the first time and it was totally fine which was wonderful, when expectations are so low, fine is wonderful. Then I slept and fussed around all day Friday, the painter came for a deposit and the exterminator put out his traps. Muriel’s party was Saturday, and DAR&L put on a festive Father’s Day/Birthday Party on Sunday, photos to follow.
Ann and Bill went with their Argentine Tango group to .. wait for it .. Argentina! They danced every dance and stayed up past 2am.
We Are Impressed!
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From Iceland, two of my friend Guðbjörg’s grandchildren. The one in white just had her confirmation.
Jo Ann and Alan, photo taken by a stranger, lookin’ good.
I don’t always take note of meals with friends when I forget a picture, so then, when did we see each other last? I forget!
I have a whole other set of pictures in the back that I’ll put in when I get back, probably in late June!
Windy and her friends. How much FUN I ask you?!
The rain brought Ann’s garden into full flower. She’s also got a farm out in her back yard. Figs! So many grapefruits, lemons, and limes. Papaya, apples, what else, I can’t think of it all right now.
Lona had never heard the LA Philharmonic and had never seen a performance at the Disney Concert Hall so we, Windy and I, treated her to both and everyone agreed it was FanTAStic. Marsha and I previously had chosen this concert and she was with us.
After 3 playoffs on Saturday, Lilly’s team, Team Redondo Red, went to the finals on Sunday, and WON! WOWEeeee!!
(That’s Lilly, in the middle with crossed legs.)
Lilly and I had a yummy outing at Din Tai Fung where Lilly ordered the menu (vegan dumplings, fried rice, peanut noodles, broccoli and garlic) and ate all of it including the peanut noodles that were a little too spicy and the fried rice that had mushrooms in it. It was fun!
Lilly’s friends were there too. They shopped until the very last minute and I had a good time too, visiting with Coco’s mom.
Midjourney AI. Yikes!
The prompt for all these AI creations was “a small pig with large wings flying over a detailed world globe in the style of …” Picasso, Bosch, Warhol, Op-Art, Matisse, Chagall, etc. etc.
Too Much Fun
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Cynthia sent these flowers above and this feast below! My Favorite Soups from Fromin’s – Sweet and Sour Cabbage, and Barley Mushroom. And check out those custard eclairs. OMG! I ate this for Days!!
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Liz and Gary came to DAR&L’s for a yummy brunch and brought these flowers. Nice!
Flowers from Angela’s garden.
and below, another one of my favorites, Lemon-Olive Oil Cake!
I’m going to need A&C to help me with these names, of the people, and of what A&C call The Big Boat. I’ll come back!
This is Red Sky, the new boat that is a dream to live aboard.
And this is the old boat, Nepenthe, that took Alex and Carol on a 10 year sailing adventure.
I went with Lilly a little early to her Lacrosse practice so we could take some pictures and it was FUN!
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I was way up on the hill when they all kicked off for their warm-up laps.
Earlier in the day Rome and Leo and I went to lunch. It was a new place for us and the server brought us first an appetizer and then an extra dessert “for you for Mother’s Day”. It was sweet!
And then we went to the cool little bookstore with the cat who has its own instagram account.
Click the link to Darryl’s New Project and read all about it!
I should also add that Darryl created the logo above with Midjourney AI which I’ve been playing with and it’s another amazing toy.
We enjoyed a breezy lunch at Claire’s, the Ladies Who Lunch restaurant at the Long Beach Museum of Art. Then we took a wander through the museum and a stroll along the bluffs. What a nice day!
Rome and Leo at PROM. They both have one more year of high school btw. D&A took the pictures.
From Thursday, I wish I had a picture of the school show, High School Musical, where Lilly was Stage Manager, in charge of all the stage crew, the cues, who does what, so many awkward props on and off in silence. It was the first of these shows I’ve seen where the stage crew got the final bow at the curtain call. I wasn’t prepared! They were indeed awesome.
From Sunday, during the same period Lilly was working on a show in the Family Theater she has been with for ages. She was LeFou in a production of Beauty and the Beast and she was fantastic. I have a lot of pictures from that show. Both shows were doing daily rehearsals for the last week and Lilly kept up during such a demanding schedule.
Not to mention actual school and school activities and team lacrosse. Yikes!
Beauty and the Beast above, and the curtain call below.
Lilly had the best comedy part in the show and got a roar of approval from the crowd.
The internet is littered with images like this one.
I’m watching the show from sooo e.a.r.l.y. because, apparently, I’m a sucker for The Royals?
The Commonwealth still represents many countries, most of them quite small and all of them colonized by the British.
That’s a hummingbird buzzing around smacking himself hard against the very high walls of the skylight well in the bathroom. The skylight has a screen and even with the long mop I couldn’t reach him considering especially that I don’t stand on ladders.
Cecilia to the rescue!
She scooted the hummingbird down the wall and got him With Her Hand. She carried him to the back door and he flew away.
Cecilia, our very own Disney Princess!
After a lovely year Anna is moving on from studio B so I took her and Olivia out for a Bon Voyage at Socalo. When you make a reservation there they calligraphy your name!
Muriel and I walked down at Palisades Park and then came home to enjoy a bagel brunch out in the back and for that reason here are a few pictures from the backyard. It’s nice there too.
We ate at the table in the middle of the lawn and I failed to take its picture but you can see a bit of the umbrella and the top of one of the chairs in the picture above.
I am very lame in the staging department, obviously, just look at that tablecloth, but this is only a diary for me to remember this crazy wet spring.
I went shopping and, oddly, I didn’t freak out. Sharon came along for moral support, a rather thankless task I should add. Did I buy anything? No. But I did eliminate plenty. It was exhausting.
Happy Birthday Ben and Bonnie! They have a birthday season too, born as they are one day and one year apart. We were having trouble finding a day when we were all free for a visit so they said “hey, we want to invite you to Ben’s birthday dinner at The Restaurant”!
The Restaurant at The Getty Center. What a t.r.e.a.t!
Nancy and I went to LA Louvre to see the Gajin Fujita show that was quite wonderful.
Then we ate lunch at a taco place that was fun but we probably won’t be going back. Along the way we walked past the wall below. I’ve got the pink ones – it’s fun to see all the colors together.
They were taking pictures of each other, I offered to take a picture of them both, and then I got one for myself too.
Check out this growing family!
Mindy’s boyfriend Chris, Mindy, Cheryl, Bill, Kim, sweet William, Ross, and marvelous Maddie in the front.
Mindy works for the State Department and in recent years has been posted first in Jordan and then in Uzbekistan but very soon she will find herself back in Kansas for a State Department supported Master’s Degree and the whole family will be together again. In 2011 I kicked around Zambia for 2+ weeks with Mindy when she had her Peace Corps position and it was AWEsome. Sadly for me I missed both Jordan and Uzbekistan. Next time!
On the way home from Morro Bay I stopped off for a hug and a walk with Nancy. A stroll along the cliffs took us to this tree packed with cormorants and their nests. You can see two nests clearly in the photo below, the chicks not quite as evident..
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Lilly and I had breakfast at the waffle place and then went on downtown to The Original Los Angeles Flower Market. There are BLOCKS of flower markets but this is the Original one and we had Fun!
Lilly was buying, with her own money, flowers for Rome’s party. Rome suggested black, white, and red to go with the Roaring ’20s theme and Lilly made four different arrangements from the three bouquets!
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And here we have LILLY’S PICTURES from The Party!
Thanks Lill!
Rome, Taylor, Mickey, Greyson, Lola, Renae, Lilly, Tedd, Leo
Lilly and I have a new project – introducing me to all the Disney Princesses! We had a slumber party at my house tonight and we watched Tangled (Rapunzel Rapunzel…). I just read she was the 10th official Disney Princess and the first to be rendered in CGI. It was fun. I do want to give kudos to the team in charge of the horse. That horse was a Force!
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But first Rome and I had a good lunch at the Thai place and then went shopping for ingredients for all the dishes Rome is going to make tomorrow for the Big Party they are having, a dress-up Roaring ’20s affair, and murder mystery, entirely conceived, designed, and built by Rome. I hope to get a picture from the party tomorrow!
This is Rome showing me their outfits, dressed all Flapper for the party, and the long dress that will be shortened is for PROM.
Unrelated, a hummingbird made it into their house. Oliver was concerned.
I want to relish the fence while I can because soon I’ll need to have it shaved down as it is once again encroaching on the sidewalk.
I got cancelled on twice(!) in three days which meant I had a chance to have some last minute meals with my sisters and that was lovely. Lunch with one on Tuesday and the other on Thursday, MNL lunch Monday, PT, and I had a session with Lona’s personal trainer, my first ever. Maybe I’ll go for it every other week?
I did go with Lona to the tailor who is going to alter her outfit for the weddings of two of her grandchildren – Charis in June and Caleb in July. Lookin’ good Lo. She’s a little concerned about it being too formal for the Hawaii wedding. After all, the father of the bride is wearing an aloha shirt as he always does to every occasion.
Ahh, wisteria above, and old lady feet below.
