Category Archives: A Couple of Things…

A Couple of Things…

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city-tech-xmas-2014

1. Every year in the Transportation Division the Supervisors (Rick Gallegos & Jeff Hereford – 4th & 5th from left) treat the Techs to a Christmas breakfast to show their appreciation for their hard work during the year at City Hall.  This year every one opted for beers & wings instead of eggs & ham.  I like their way of thinking…and so appreciate they include me in this annual tradition.

2. I am acutely aware how the news media puts fear into people’s lives.  They want to keep us scared!  Case in point, did you see these headlines in the past couple of weeks?  “Chocolate Companies Warn Of Looming Global Shortage” or “The World Is Running Out of Chocolate — Is it Time to Panic?” or “Global Chocolate Shortage Possible as World’s Largest Manufacturer Voices Concern”

Freakin’ Bastards!  They really know how to cause a panic!

Molly the cat on stairs

3. A newly encountered, unforeseen obstacle keeping Sammy from getting up on the bed.  Molly can be such a grump. Just sayin’ Syd!

That being said, I read an article called “9 Signs Your Cat Actually Loves You.”  Turns out, Molly may be a grumpy girl, but she does love me…if I’m to believe this article.  Number 9 is my favorite:

#9 Eye contact with a kitty kiss—if you’re lucky

Cats only tend to make eye contact with those they know well and have developed trust for – so if you catch your kitty giving you the eye, don’t be worried. When your kitty locks eyes with you, casting a slow blink once eyes are met, this is their version of a kiss. Be a sweetie and give them a slow blink in return.

Molly actually gives kisses…though she may be trying to suck the life out of me.  I’m not completely sold she isn’t pure evil.

4. So my left knee is in a constant state of pain.  Trust me, I’m not looking for sympathy.  What worries me the most is my ability to keep active. But good news!  I have found an alternate form of exercise, swimming!  So much easier on the knees.

The date is set for surgery (barring any hitches) which will be on Friday, December 12.  So grateful I don’t have to wait until next month.

5. My cooking is coming along.  I grilled my first steak on the stove, threw together homemade cranberries for Thanksgiving dinner, and I made from scratch split pea soup.  I have to admit, I’m a pretty good cook!  Who knew!  My tip to others who are timid in the kitchen? Use simple recipes.

_stones-lips

6. Bobby Keys passed away this week.  I don’t think I’ve felt the loss of someone I never really knew existed before I read about them.  He is the saxophonist whose work can be heard on those 70’s Rolling Stones records…the ones I grew up listening to and to this day still love.

7. I saw a story online about a metal band in Europe where the bass player suffered at ruptured testicle while performing recently in England. The musician, Otto Schimmelpenninck (Yeah, we’ll talk about that name another day), posted on Facebook about his injury warning, “Spoiler alert: you might want to read this another time if you were planning on having sex within the hour or so.”
At least he still has a sense of humor. He went into details about having been hit from behind by one of those streamer cannons. He was in a lot of pain, but made it through the show to discover back stage his scrotum was the size of a grapefruit and at the hospital they removed more than 500 ml of blood. They’ve been able to save his left ball for now.

I can’t help but think that THIS may compare to childbirth.

Too far?  Too soon?

At least with childbirth you know the pain will go away after you endure what feels like you’re being ripped apart. And, you get a baby like Sydney Rose to help you forget the torture.

8. I love that somebody posed the question, “What makes Snopes so credible?  Who is Snopes’ Snopes?”

9. I may be entirely too unyielding when it comes to being served french fries that are not hot; however, I’m willing to live with that.  I hate cold fries!  You’ve been warned.

10. Another great post in the form of meme:

“The Officer said, “You drinking?”
I said, “You buying?”
We laughed and laughed!
I need bail money.

11. Headline story this week:  “Raccoon attacks football player after ‘selfie gone wrong'”

Now if you know me, you know I’m no fan of raccoons, but he killed the critter with a wrench after it bit him.  I call foul play.  Not cool.  The vermin was just minding its own business and felt threatened when he got too close to it.  tsk tsk.

12.  From my favorite quotes file, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Mahatma Gandhi

We could be in trouble.

Thanks for your time. 🙂

A Couple of Things…

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Syd at school

1.  Thanksgiving is the only meal where I’m typically full before dinner is finally served. Throwback Thursday pix of Syd Rose.  Ain’t she cute?? I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!  I’ll miss Syd Rose and I’m counting the days to when I get to see her at Christmas.

2.  I’m a big huge proponent of buying local and supporting small business owners.  I’m also a fan of receiving gift certificates (not necessarily buying them).  That being said, I had 4-5 gift certificates for Star Bucks I’ve been working my way through the past week or so.  I stick to the Venti Roasted Brew Blonde, nothing fancy.  I typically brew my own coffee at home and if I run out or I’m running late, I’ll grab a cup of Joe at the local doughnut shop (small business owner) around the corner.  I kind of feel guilty going in there!

3. I overhead a germaphobe talking about how disgusting the habit of spreading germs via birthday cake really is.  Think about it, there’s a dozen or so candles and the person is blowing their germs via hot breath and spittle out over a lovely cake which is then sliced up and handed out to unsuspecting friends and family and then we’re suppose to eat that?  Perhaps we need a new tradition while singing “Happy Birthday”. Next time I’m going to look into one of those handheld fans…not that any of my family or friends have any germs or anything. 😉

4. A few weeks ago on a hot Autumn day, I was in the Vons parking lot near my home when two guys were standing next to their car debating what to do with the small dog they had with them.  They agreed they couldn’t take him in the store, so to my surprise, they started to walk away leaving the dog in the car with the windows rolled up.  I told the closest idiot to me, calmly and matter-of-factly, and with no hint of a question, “You’re not going to leave that dog in the car.” He looked at me guiltily and said, “Yeah, I guess not.” I didn’t use any invalidation and I would like to think he realized I was the voice of his conscious.  I sincerely hope that poor pup is still alive.

5. I miss Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Ventura City Hall

6.  I love that some of us at City Hall have a sense of humor.  This was found hanging upstairs outside one of the popular conference rooms.  The signage describing the artwork is priceless.

7. I had the MRI.  They take twenty minutes and you’re suppose to remain at rest.  I think I would have been more relaxed if the MRI technician hadn’t said just as he was leaving the room, “Alright.  Don’t move!”  Great! That was all I could think of for twenty minutes…holding perfectly still yet wanting to move, stretch, and just wiggle about! The only thing worse than the torture of actually holding still, was the threat that I would have to start all over.  Yeah, I remained virtually lifeless.

8.I witnessed something that was about the most sexy thing I’ve ever seen a man do.  Ready for it?  I saw a man pick up his friend’s baby and he comfortably held it and spoke to it and just gave the baby love and affection. OMG!!  Crazy or what? To be fair, I feel the same way when I see a man treat animals with love and compassion.

hot sauce

9. I’ve always been a fan of Aerosmith.  I saw them a few times in concert in the Seventies so I was looking forward to reading Joe Perry’s autobiography called, “Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith.”  I was really enjoying it and it came as a surprise to me how much my memory sucks sometimes when I remembered I actually interviewed Perry for Buzzine Magazine when he came out with his own brand of barbecue sauce around 2002.  He was a nice guy! No degrees of separation!

10. I’m on a quest to improve my cooking skills.  I tend to get irritated and give up when I read a recipe which uses some ingredient I’ve never heard of or some equipment that I’ll never use again, or some skill I’ve never mastered.  So I had the bright idea to start with REALLY simple recipes (there’s actually a website for clueless cooks like me), and I mastered my first poached eggs.  Bam!

11. I figured out that “Comfort Food” is code for “fattening”.

12. From my favorite quotes file:  “For I don’t care too much for money, for money can’t buy me love.” The Beatles

Thanks for your time!

Yeah, I’ve decided to end my blogs with a different sign off.  I was signing off with “Thanks for listening”, but are readers actually listening?

Dictionary.com gives these definitions: LISTEN verb (used without object)
1. to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; give ear.
2. to pay attention; heed; obey (often followed by to): Children don’t always listen to their parents.
3. to wait attentively for a sound (usually followed by for): to listen for sounds of their return.
4. Informal. to convey a particular impression to the hearer; sound: The new recording doesn’t listen as well as the old one.

I guess definition #2 is close, but I’m going with “Thanks for your time.” 🙂

A Couple of Things…

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Samantha Boom Boom Baumgardner

1. Look who is using her new steps!!! You can teach an old dog new tricks…with the help of bacon.  Now I can sleep through the night and Sammy can get up on the bed whenever she wants.  I had to place a towel on them so she could get some traction, otherwise she slipped when she jumped.  Thanks to all those who sent me information on steps for dogs, and a big shout out to Sergio for dropping off these steps, I owe you a burrito!

2. A torn Meniscus is the likely culprit for the pain I’ve been experiencing in my right knee. I get an MRI on Monday.  Also on a side note, Rolling Oaks Radiology has evening appointments.  How cool is that?  I don’t have to take time away from work for the MRI. My Nissan dealership on the other hand, two hours for an oil change.  Really??  They threw in a tire rotation (without asking), so I guess I still came out ahead, but it was frustrating.

2. I had a random woman commit on how much she really liked my gray hair.  I honestly didn’t know how to respond.  I’d like to think her intent was not to introvert me, but geez! By the way, I do my best to research words or phrases when I write; case in point, should I have used grey over gray?  Turns out, “gray” is only used in the United States, but “grey” is used everywhere else English is spoken. No worries about the gray, I’m feeling pretty good about myself again after finally figuring out how to change the time on my car’s clock.

3. I don’t understand how a place called “Anytime Fitness” has hours posted on their doors.

4. Have you seen that Facebook app where you can find out which holiday matches your personality?  I’m going out on a limb here and I’m guessing mine would be April Fool’s Day.

5.  All you should do is to continue to help, even when the “forces” of bad behavior dictate that you should stop.  Improving conditions for self, and your community are amongst the worthiest of endeavors in this life.

6. Did I ever mention I received my divorce documents on Christmas Eve 2004? (see previous #4)

7. I typically find that when someone says, “To make a long story short”, it’s already too late.  Sometimes I tell them as much. 😉

8. Have you tried that “seasonal” ice cream at Baskin Robbins?  It’s called “First Class Camouflage” in honor of Veteran’s Day and the flavors are – wait for it – chocolate, salty caramel and vanilla cake flavor.   They had me at salty caramel…until I actually tried it.  It just tasted like chocolate to me. I’ll stick to my Pralines and Cream.

9. While driving home recently, I spoke to a young man who was standing at the end of the 101 off ramp near my neighborhood.  He had a sign saying he was hungry.  I pulled up next to him and politely asked him why he didn’t get a job.  And he looked at me and said without any sort of apology, yet politely, “Honestly? I’m not hungry.  I’m a drug addict.”  I thanked him for not bullshitting me then I asked what drug and he said it was Heroin.  I told him when I younger and I use to do drugs the rule was always, “NEVER DO HEROIN.”  He said, “I know, I know!.” In any case, we made a connection, had a laugh, and I wished him luck on gaining sobriety.  He said, “Thank you.” I meant it.

10. I love Acronyms and I tend to use them mostly on Facebook and obviously when I text.  That being said, it defeats the purpose when you have to explain them, so here now a short tutorial.  I use these often:

  • LOL: Laughing Out Loud
  • FYI: For Your Information
  • OMG: Oh My God
  • SMH: Shaking My Head
  • TBT: Throw Back Thursday
  • BYOB or BYOW: Bring Your Own Beer or Bring Your Own Wine

These are new ones I’m considering:

  • TBH: To Be Honest
  • HMU: Hit Me Up
  • TL;DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read

or

  • TL;DL Too Long; Didn’t Listen (regarding a voicemail, which happens more than I care to admit)
  • ELI5: Explain Like I’m 5 (years old)
  • IANAD: I Am Not A Doctor (to be prefaced with “Dammit!”
  • MTFBWY: May the Force Be With You

11. There is an actual website called FlipText.org where you can enter text and they will “flip”it for you.  You can then insert it on Facebook or in a text message.  Like this: ¿sıɥʇ sı ssǝןʇuıod ʍoɥ

12. From my Favorite Quotes File, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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cruise_vet
on the ocean

1.  I took my dad on one of those three-hour cruises out to the Anacapa Islands and we had a blast taking photos and seeing all the pelicans, sea lions and dolphins.  No whales, but we found something even cooler.  My dad met a gentleman on the boat who is 96 years old, has been married for 77 years (his wife was with him), and he actually served under Patton.  What an honor shaking his hand just days before Veteran’s Day.

All in all a great day out on the ocean!

2. I just finished reading a book where the man’s wife dies, and later in the story it was revealed she was really alive. I hate fiction with story lines like that.  It makes it hard enough to let go of someone you love who has died, and this just feeds that false sense of hope that it all could be a terrible mistake.

If anyone could have pulled this off, my mother could have.  See she actually worked at Rose Hills Mortuary…so you can understand how my mind would figure out how she could have pulled it off.  Even to this day…

3. One of the aspects I love about Facebook is that you can reconnect with people you haven’t seen for literally 20 years but now feel like you’re a part of their lives, even though they live no where near you, and you probably won’t be seeing them for another 20 years, if that. I can private message as if we’ve been in the middle of a conversation.  I love it!

4. From my awesome headlines file:
Fake podiatrist sucks women’s toes
Giant Anteaters kill two hunters in Brazil.

Okay, so I read up on the anteater story because, “really?”  And it turned out that there were two separate incidents! Apparently these guys have front claws that are as long as pocketknives. So you just have to get in their way.

As for the podiatrist story?  It actually ran on CNN.

5. Is calling a man “adorable” a bad thing?  Or calling him “cute”?  Does it make men feel less manly or slightly effeminate?  I wonder because there are certain men I consider that way, and others I think of as artsy, or handsome, or that they are a manly man. Love them all, don’t get me wrong, but I hesitate to say, “You are so adorable!”

Turns out there is tons of info written on this very subject if you care to Google it.  My favorite entry, “Do the ‘cute and adorable’ guys ever get laid?”  It’s a question on a forum on a bodybuilding website.  I didn’t bother to see how people answered because I already know the answer which is resoundingly a “yes!”

6. I’ll be honest, I’m on the fence when it comes to Man Buns.

Google Maps

7. This above satellite image of Ventura City Hall was brought to my attention by the crew I work with at City Hall because Google Maps had captured us during lunchtime sometime recently.  Clearly, this is a satellite photo of the guys doing their cross fit training on their side of the court, and me on the other side shooting hoops. How freakin’ funny is that? #GoingForThreePointer

Basketball court

8. I finally figured out how to Skype from my home computer.  I have one of those mini video cameras hooked up and I got the audio to work and everything!  But now, I feel like someone is always watching me even though I’m not connected.  To take care of that nagging feeling, I always make sure I have the lens covered up…just in case.

9. Have you ever walked into a bar or music venue and thought to yourself, “These are not my people!”

Halloween 2014

(Thanks for photo Maggie)   Halloween last week was okay.  I really wasn’t planning on going out but I was slightly pressured to do so, so I put my hair up in a ponytail, put on a baseball cap and wore a safety vest.  I was a construction worker!  It came in handy when it started pouring rain and I had to run across the street to avoid getting more drenched. Cars saw me a mile away!!  The photo above is so bright just from the flash, so you can imagine getting caught in someone’s headlights!

Side note:  I asked this gal to use my Canon camera to take a photo of us at The Watermark.  It took her FOREVER to figure it out and this is how it turned out!  I just laugh every time I look at it wondering just how drunk was she? Way too much head room!!

10. I had my first dirty martini on Halloween.  YUM!!

11. I read an article about which foods make you tastier to mosquitoes.  Included on the list are pickled foods, dairy products, Alcohol, Beer.  Yeah, I’m screwed.

12. From my favorite quotes file, “For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.”  – Eleanor Roosevelt

Thanks for listening

A Couple of Things…

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Maggie, Dad and Eve

1. So my father turned 80 years old this week.  That’s quite a milestone you know.  He’s 80 and still hitting on women.  What’s so funny is that NO ONE is surprised by that!

2.  Yeah, I’m so done with seeing ice water dumped on people. I am glad it helped to do something awesome, raising money and awareness for ALS, but come on already!  It really became a PR opportunity for people.  Now if we can have George or Brad in a white T, or even shirtless do this on video, I might actually pay for that.

3.  Shortly after my divorce I had a date with a man I had a crush on.  It was my first crush and only one for almost ten years after my marriage ended.  We had one date and then that was all.  I felt bad that he never asked for a second date until I spotted him in a grocery store this week.  Honestly, he was not really handsome then, but since he completely let himself go…well let’s just say it looks like I dodged a bullet, and that other expression WHICH I HATE, actually makes some sense for this occasion, “Everything happens for a reason.”

Charles Lloyd

            (Josh McNutt, Charles Lloyd, Dorothy Darr, Adam Randall and myself)
4.  I attended a screening of the documentary, “Arrows Into Infinity” about the life and career of Charles Lloyd.  Both Lloyd and the director/life partner of Lloyd, Dorothy Darr, were in attendance and did a Q&A after the screening held at Squashed Grapes.  It was a privilege to meet Lloyd and his life partner Darr.  He will be receiving the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award in 2015.

5.  I’d like to think that none of my friends watch “reality” TV shows like that Honey Boo Boo thing.  Seriously.

Halloween
Madeline_movie_poster

6. Speaking of scary things, this post happens to fall on Halloween 2014 so I thought I would share another one of my favorite Halloween pictures with Sydney when we’d go out trick or treating together.  She was so freakin’ cute!   This particular year we went as Madeline and Miss Clavel from the Madeline book series, and then later of course the movie starring Frances McDormand as Miss Clavel.
I love Halloween for a couple of reasons:  kids costumes are adorable but mostly because I get my fill of black licorice and candy corn for the year.

Cookbook

7.  Did you ever see that movie “Julie and Julia” about a struggling writer who starts a blog and works her way through Julia Child’s cookbook?  Seemed like a good idea, so while I was perusing through a recently acquired “Beginner’s Cook Book” from Home and Gardens (circa 1984), I thought maybe I would do the same thing!  Well, I probably wouldn’t blog on each recipe, but how great would it be to finally learn how to make my own spaghetti sauce or make pot roast and gravy?  Yes Maggie, I will cook for you.

8.  Not only do I get grossed out, but I get a little indignant when I discover a spider or mosquito bite, like I’ve been violated somehow.

vagina looking cupcakes

9.  From the “Really Bad Ideas” file comes this news story, “Mom Bakes Vagina Cookies for Second Graders, Can’t Believe Teacher Has the Nerve to Refuse Them.”   Best line from the article is when the author wrote, I think vagina-inspired art is actually quite beautiful. I still wouldn’t bake a plate of vagina cookies and bring them to my grade-schooler’s class, because I’m not bat-shit crazy.”

Too funny!!!  Here’s the story for reference:  http://www.mommyish.com/2014/09/23/mom-bakes-vagina-cookies-for-second-graders/ I found it originally on the Huffington Post.
Warning:  Clicking on photo is not for the faint of heart.

10.  I saw an MSN story with this title (I copied & pasted it):  “5 People Who Only Vowed to Eat One Food”

Not to nitpick or anything, but shouldn’t it be, “5 People Who Vowed to Eat Only One Food?”   What they’re saying is they only made one vow, which was to eat one food, as opposed to vowing to eat only one food.  You get it, right?

11.  My knee has been really giving me trouble the past month or so and as a result, I can’t exercise at lunch so I’ve been reading. I typically have a book going at any given time, but I’ve been going through more books more quickly now. Nice for mental stimulation, not so nice for my midriff.  Next step, Orthopedic surgeon and most likely an MRI.

12.  From my favorite quotes files, “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” –Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Thanks for listening.

A Couple of Things…

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Pam and Maggie
oregon_1409_002

1.  The trip to Oregon with Maggie to visit Sydney was super fun.  If Syd Rose started popping out grandbabies for me, I would seriously think about moving up there.  Meanwhile, Portland-Rocks.com could be in the works!  Just sayin’.

There was lots of outdoor hiking with Maggie, good food, cold drinks, and as much time as I could with Sydney in-between her jobs.

2. I saw a cooking website with a blog called, “15 Dinner Recipes Impossible to Mess Up.”  I feel a challenge is afoot.

3. Kobe’s first shot of the season was an airball?  Okay, in all fairness, it’s the preseason; but still, how much does that suck?

4. Did you see those advertisements how Brett Michaels was appearing at an RV Show?  Reminded me of that line in that Don Henley song, “I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.”  Just didn’t seem right.

5.  On the other end of the spectrum – on the extremely COOL end – there’s this video I saw recently of a school band rockin’ some Rage Against the Machine.  Damn I would have been in band if my school had rocked some Zep or Bowie back in the day.  Check it out:

6. Speaking of music, I wonder, “Is it better to have diminished hearing, than to not have enjoyed live music your entire life?” I pondered this after my Aunt Angie’s recent visit.  She is 86, my father is 80 and he’s going deaf.  She has perfect hearing.  My dad spent his entire life enjoying loud music, his sister hadn’t been to a live music event until this year, not since she was a teenager.  My question reminds me of that famous quoted question “Is it better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.”

Of course there’s always a good argument for wearing earplugs.

7. I saw someone poise the question, “If you could rid the world of one thing, what would that be?” Someone commented, “Cancer.”
I gave it some thought and I came up with, “Stupidity.”  I figured if we were smarter, we could find the cure or stop it in the first place.

scintillating-scotoma

8. I believe I experienced my first (and hopefully last) scintillating scotoma.  It last about 15 minutes, then it went away.  It could be described as a half circle of refracted light in my vision path, like a floating aroura borialis or light shining through a quartz crystal.   Bright jagged semi circle.  TOTALLY freaked me out!  I’ve read up on them and they usually are followed by a migraine, with or without a headache.  Who knew you could have a migraine without a headache!

9. I hate it when I arrive at an event and run into friends who say, “Oh!  I have that same shirt!”  I guess it could be worse – they could be wearing the same shirt.

evil-raccoon

10. Oh! The raccoons are back.  Yep, I woke up and laid in bed listening to odd noises around the house. So I looked out my back bedroom window, and turned on the outside light to find two humongous vermin walking across the back fence.  They froze at first and then looked up at the house with their beady evil eyes, then continued on.  They had to be at least 45 pounds each. They were huge!!  And again, I live at the beach! So weird.

11. Sometimes when I want to show off, I will work into the conversation that I once dated someone (Victor) who saw Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour in the Seventies.  But now I can say, my good friend Linda LeBrock actually met Gloria Steinem.   One degree of separation should account for something, which I guess is that I know how to pick cool friends!

12. From my favorite quotes file:  “Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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With Syd Rose

1.  For those who never read about why I started this blog (Read “About Pam”), here it is in a nutshell: “It’s therapeutic as it takes my thoughts out of my head, and frees up that much needed space for handling life.”

The photo I use on my blog is of me and my daughter, Sydney Rose, celebrating my birthday a couple of years ago. THIS is how I take on life!

2. I read a blog called “31 apologies you should make to your bartender.”  I’m sharing my two favorites, the first of which resonates totally with me, the second is just funny:

#6. I’m sorry I ordered Cabernet in a bar and then made an icky face like I expected it to be good.
#12. I’m sorry I told you my drink was too strong. Who does that?

3. I had never been a fan of the marmot, that’s not to say I didn’t like them, but I just didn’t give them much thought until I saw this video from Greenpeace.  They were doing a time lapse video at Glacier National Park when this furry guy came along and ruined it.  They weren’t too mad about it though, how could you be?  Check it out (make sure volume is up):
https://youtu.be/3O05nyS6hwQ?si=9wUHg3ur8JXnZ9Ho

Astro Pop

4. I saw a story called, “Famous products back from the dead”, one of them was the Astro pop.  I gotta get me one of them!

5. I rarely have nightmares, in fact I can’t remember the last time a bad dream woke me up, but when I do they are usually one of three recurring scenarios all stemming from real life stressful situations:

  • The DJ nightmare – where there is dead air and I’m running around trying to get the next song on, but the equipment won’t cooperate.
  • The waitress nightmare – where too many people are seated in my section for me to keep up with them.
  • And finally, the smoking nightmare – where I realize I’m smoking after having quit for over twenty years…because IT”S REALLY HARD TO QUIT and who wants to go through that again!?

6. On the other end of the spectrum, there are simple things that ALWAYS make me smile:

  • The feel of the warm sun on my shoulders when I come out of an air-conditioned building or car.
  • Hearing the trolley make its stop around the corner from my house.
  • Hitting a three-pointer.
  • Pictures of most baby animals.
  • Getting a message from my daughter.
  • Seeing my dog, Samantha “Boom Boom” Baumgardner, waiting for me when I return home.
  • Seeing dolphins in the ocean.
  • Hearing the perfect drum fill/solo.
  • Hitting all green lights.
  • Walking into a venue and seeing someone sporting the ever popular VenturaRocks.com t-shirt.
Scanned from my photo album
Scanned from my photo album

7.  Another great memory of being married was when Sydney Rose was born. Because of all the horror stories you read about how hospitals can mix up babies, Syd’s daddy never let her out of his sight while they cleaned her up and he made sure they put the proper i.d. bracelet on her.  It really was sweet.

And though I was dead tired after being in labor since 5 in the morning (I gave birth at 7:10 that evening), I couldn’t sleep.  I got up after midnight and made my way down the hallway to the nursery where they let me hold my baby.  I couldn’t stand to be apart from her.

8. I hate that expression, “Only the Good Die Young.”  In fact, I call BULLSHIT!!! After a certain age, are we all Bad???  And what age is that?

People resort to that expression because they remember Billy Joel singing it, and you may or may not know, it was actually about a young teen trying to deflower a Catholic girl: “You Catholic girls start much too late,but sooner or later it comes down to fate.I might as well be the one.” Suggesting even the good people die, so you might as well be bad.

I say we retire that expression…of course unless you’re a horny teenager. 😉

breeze

9. Sometimes I worry about writer’s block; I worry mostly because I have a deadline for my Ventura Breeze column that I write twice a month.  I have to come up with 500 words about Ventura’s music scene.  Luckily there is an abundance of music and I have enough contacts to get the inside scoop. I post them here (along with other editorials when I get a bee in my bonnet):  http://venturarocks.com/blog/category/ventura-rocks/

10. From my favorite quotes file: “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”  – Isaac Asimov

Thanks for listening!

 

 

 

A Couple of Things…

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Squashed Grapes Harvest

1. Latest adventure?  Going out with the Squashed Grapes crew to help harvest grapes in the middle of the night.  Left the Grape at 11 pm and returned the next morning at around 10:30 am.  In return I get a t-shirt that says, “Will Work for Wine”. Totally worth it!!

2. Funny vs. Snarky.  I’d like to think I can be funny without being snarky, which is to say not poking fun at the expense of someone else.

3.  I saw a Depends commercial where they are encouraging people to show off their Depends.  I guess they’re trying to take away the stigma of wearing an adult diaper.  Well good luck with that.  I guess Depends will be cool once we see George Clooney in them.

4.  For my bi-lingual friends:  There is a band here in town that I had never ventured out to see until recently.  They were into their third song when it hit me like a ton of bricks what the English translation for their band name, Sin Chonies, is. Brilliant!*

5. How true is this?

Religious Truths

6. Is it just me or are the people who refer to Ventura as “Ventucky” a little redneck themselves?   Okay, That was a little Snarky.  True, but snarky. 😉

7.  It always makes it that worse when a headline includes a dead dog.  “Three People Including One Dog Found Dead Inside Crashed Car.”

8.  Mob mentality is a real thing; and it’s scary.  Just know this, you have the ability to rise above it.  I entrust you to do so.

9.  I wonder why people post cryptic messages on FB about who is a good person, or how great some of their friends are, or how messed up some people are, or how they only have a few good friends.  The best one I saw recently was, “I got the best compliment ever!”  That’s all she wrote.  REALLY?  I Un-friended her based on principle.

Robin Williams 1951 - 2014
Robin Williams
1951 – 2014

10.  From my favorite quotes file:

“I’m sorry, if you were right, I’d agree with you.” – Robin Williams

May you Rest in Peace Sir.

Thanks for listening.
 
 

*Translation is “without underwear”

A Couple of Things…

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Me and Syd 2011

1.  I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine, but I also believe that music is the next best thing.

2. I recorded my first song courtesy of Christine Law.  SOOOO much respect to artists who do this for a living.  Grueling!!  It still needs beaucoup work, like lyrics, so don’t even ask.

3.  What does it say about society when you have to offer a reward for someone to come forward and do the right thing?

4. You know that expression, “A body in motion, stays in motion”?  It’s really true, and to be honest, I hate it; because a body lying about watching a movie and eating potato chips…with dip, and a root beer float, sounds so much more fun.

Arlo Guthrie

5.  It just occurred to me why people love Weird Al so much (See #1).  Combining wit with music is genius, which also explains why I love Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice Restaurant.” It was tradition for the longest time to play the title cut every Thanksgiving.  I miss that!

6.  The Huffington Post had a blog called “23 Reasons You Should Go Hug Your Mom.”  Just a couple I would share with Sydney Rose:

a.  For every event that you tried to resist photos, because your mom is probably the only person in your life who will take more photos of you than TMZ does celebrities. She wanted to capture every prom, little league game, and academic awards ceremony because to her you are the biggest celebrity.

b. For supporting your decisions and dreams no matter where they took you.

There were 21 other ones, but really, they didn’t so much apply.  I thought about how sad this one was:  “For every time you acted like she was embarrassing you and she had to hide how much that probably hurt her feelings,”  Because I only remember the times she showed me off to her friends thinking I was kind of cool, which is the best feeling EVER!  My daughter rocks!

Syd-mom-face

Here is the blog:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lexi-herrick/23-reasons-you-should-go-hug-your-mom_b_5584982.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037&ir=Parents

7. When I log on at 4:30 in the morning, I wonder how many people are up late, and how many are up early.  Sometime for me, I’m just taking a break from sleeping.

8. Life is full of interesting phases, obstacles, amazing highs and frustrating lows.   It’s the human experience that makes the ride worthwhile.  How one handles adversity is a character issue.

Father Serra


9. Someone, some time ago, made a statue of Father Serra and it can be found in front of Ventura City Hall.  Then someone thought it would be a good idea to paint a picture of this statue of Father Serra and that life-sized painting is found inside City Hall.  Then I thought, hmmm, how can I make this even more removed from the actual subject?  Hence, this photo of a painting of a statue of Father Serra. I do what I can to forward the arts. 🙂

10. I love silly headlines.  Here are a couple more I’ve come across recently:
a.  What happens if your parachute fails

b.  Super rich pets who live better than you do.

11. Even as an adult, my future ex-husband use to say that I run like an upright turtle.  It made me laugh because it was so true.

12. From my favorite quotes file:  “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” –Stephen R. Covey

 

Thanks for listening.

 

A Couple of Things…

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1.  I love birthdays.  I love partying with family and friends, there’s nothing like it.  A couple thoughts about celebrating getting older:

Birthday dinner

a.  Age is a state of mind; however, one’s body isn’t always on board.

b. When people say, “You’re 29 and holding” that just means you look NOTHING like a 29 year old.

c.  I’ve gotten over the embarrassment of people singing “Happy Birthday” to me. I use to cringe, now I embrace it.

d. I rarely remember the gift, but I always remember who I was with and where we were at.  Friendship is the best gift.

e. I can’t believe what a charmed life I live.  Family, friends and this amazing community.  I feel the love. I will never take it for granted.

2.  Okay, I’m just thinking out loud here, but if a younger man flirts with an older woman, she doesn’t qualify as a “Cougar”, right?

That being said, Casey Abrams singing to me at Squashed Grapes recently was too freakin’ cool.  You might recognize him from American Idol.  He is self taught – by ear – on eleven musical instruments, the man is such a talent!  There were a handful of us hanging out after his show and when he sat down at the piano and asked what song we wanted to hear.  I said, “You know what I want to hear” to which he said, ‘I’ll play it only if you sit next to me.”

Here is a video that was taken afterhours when Casey Abrams performed “Cougartown”  July 26 here in Ventura:

3.  For my bi-lingual friends:  I love that somebody poised the question: “What if Soy milk is just regular milk introducing itself in Spanish?

4.  When you see an obviously photoshopped picture, don’t you wonder, “Who do they think they’re kidding?”

5.  As you may or may not know, I am on a quest to spot an owl in the wild.  I understand they are nocturnal, so I look at dusk and dawn and in the evening, but my night vision really sucks.  I spoke to my optometrist about it complaining that the Lasek surgery I had diminished my night vision, but sadly he said, “No, it comes with old age.”
Fucker.

Sydney in the Snow


6.  Funny anecdote from my marriage.  One weekend we decided to take Sydney Rose up to the local mountains for her first encounter with Snow.   As we drove through the winding roads, we finally got high enough to see the fluffy white stuff on our way to Mountain High ski resort.  It was at this point that Sydney started shouting, adamantly I might add, “NO NO NO!!!”  So much so that Chris stopped the car because we were so startled.  Turns out she couldn’t enunciate the “s” yet, so “Snow” became “No”!

7. On the subject of breasts, my daughter said she’s been told that more than a handful is too much. Of course, only small breasted women believe that.  HA!  I am JUST KIDDING!!! But that being said, of course men have their preferences.  I know a man who loves teeny weeny hardly-there breasts.  I never dated him of course because clearly we are not a match..

8.  Another real book title:  Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater From a Dog You Know And Love Than From a Sheep You’ll Never Meet.

Creepy?
Now I’m re-thinking those sweaters in my closet.  Is sheep hair kind of creepy too?

E.T.

9.   Do you remember seeing E.T. The Extraterrestrial for the first time?  Or Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones Temple of Doom? Independence Day?  So thrilling!

10.  From my favorite quotes file:  “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”  – Maya Angelou

Thanks for listening!