NonEssentials

Corinne Shor wrote & starred in this one-woman show about a young lady who fell in love with Paris and the French language so much so that she changed her name from Kate to Sophie and returned to the US with a very pronounced French accent. The Pacific Resident Theatre is a very small venue with 2 stages. This was on the smaller one, and I attended the show with my good friend, Vivi. Ms. Shor is a vibrant force of nature. She was delightful, funny, smart, and vulnerable throughout. The stage setting was minimalist -- just a table with stools stored underneath, a chair, couch, and chest. There were items of clothing hung on the wall. Working with these few items, the actor took us to her apartment in Minnesota, her family's business (a chandelier store), and a waterfall at the end of a hike. The audience had to use their imaginations, of course, but Ms. Shor sold us with her use of props and her well-written story, which centered around the devastating loss of her beloved ...

Personally, 2018 was a great year. My sweet little grandson was born in March, a niece in June, and a nephew in October. Those milestones alone made the year a banner one. I had the good fortune to meet new friends who I believe will be lifelong ones. I went places, saw things, drove in and around Los Angeles, and found new recipes that appease both my taste buds and my aversion to meats. Huntington Library and Gardens Craft and Folk Art Museum Descanso Gardens Museum of Natural History Rancho Los Alamitos  (Maxine, Vivi, and Glenda) To welcome in the new year, I went with a couple of friends to the Lake Shrine Self-Realization ashram where we meditated and chanted while 2018 left & 2019 arrived. It was a peaceful, quiet way for a community to come together as one in unity and peace. For sure, it was the best way to spend New Year's Eve. Lake Shrine There was much to celebrate in 2018, and a lot more to look forward to in 2019. Wishing everyo...

The Broad , a wonderful art museum in DTLA, is free. Before yesterday, I've been only twice since I've lived in California, both times with others. It's nice to be with friends or family but I think it short-changes one from fully exploring a museum or for that matter any space where beauty & creativity are present. So yesterday I went out on my own, using my newly-acquired Senior Metro Pass which allows me to ride the bus or train for only $.35 each way. I am unfamiliar with the downtown area, but thanks to Google Maps, I could easily figure out which way to walk once I left the train station. Guess in which direction I had to go? Answer: UP and UP! The short walk (about 5-6 blocks) included about 4 which took me waaay up a steep hill that has "hill" in its name, Bunker Hill. Nothing could have informed me how out-of-shape I was more than the fact that I needed to stop twice in that trek. Whew! There is a funicular (yes) that traverses Bunker Hill. It was f...

This is weird. I haven't blogged in ages (clearly evident), but a friend who read my latest email about my travels in and around LA suggested that I do something more with my writing. She suggested that I blog or journal or publish my travel writings. I am opting to do the former for now. It's been too long. I need to write to keep my brain active, so I shall cut & paste the email I sent to my friends about my latest solo excursion. A little background: I sent an email to my group of 9 other friends to see if anyone wanted to go to the California Museum of Art. I found free tickets on Goldstar and although it was located in Thousand Oaks, long car trips never bothered me. My friends were courteous but succinct -- I was on my own because...it's Thousand Oaks and too boring to be worth the trip. Here is my take: I went out to Thousand Oaks, searching for this museum. I didn't see much of the city because GMaps showed my destination was right off an exit. I drove, s...

Yes, that's right. I said it. Aging is fun. Here's how I've come to this conclusion: Looks don't matter as much. As a woman, there's less pressure to be skinny, wear makeup, work out. Of course there's the compelling case to working out for one's overall health, but even when you do so at this age, you don't have to wear the latest, clingy-est outfits to the gym. Oversized t-shirts and sweatpants are dandy and even optimal. You don't like it? Then look away. (Not that you need any prompting to do so.) Forgetfulness is forgiven. Well, you still can't overlook things like your kid's birthday or Christmas, but if you forget to defrost your dinner ingredients, you can forgive yourself and order pizza with no remorse. After all, your memory is fading, so bring on the calzones! Watching TV shows and movies is more of an adventure. I used to get miffed when my mother inserted questions like, "Why are they chasing that guy?" o...

Today was a double-whammy weather day: High heat index (>100), plus we were put on ozone-alertness. I was very alert to ozone. I saw it here; I saw it there; I saw, I saw it everywhere. As always when the temps exceed 90, I slogged into the bedroom, dropping clothes, bags, etc, as I walked. After putting away a few things, I began this internal dialog:  ME: You know what I'd love to throw on right now? A house dress.  INNER ME: (pause) What?  ME: Yeah, you know, one of those loose, cotton dresses -- sleeveless, underwear optional, but definitely no bra.  IM: I know what that is. Why would you..  ME: I'm hot, tired, and I need to loosen the air around my bod.  IM: Eww  ME: Really, right now, this is so appealing, only I don't own one of these. Maybe I need to hunt one down this weekend.  IM: No. You don't.  ME: What's the big deal? My comfort is important, right? In the privacy of my own home, I should be able to wear this. ...

I cannot go to sleep in silence, so I usually have talk radio on as I drift off. Most times, the cadence of the talking head becomes the white noise I need. But sometimes I actually listen to the conversations. As much as I hope for Clark Howard, Dave Ramsey happens to be the head that's talking when I go to bed. Gradually, I became aware of his philosophies. He has many, but I'll focus on just a few: 1) Get Rid of All Debt - I really like this one. As someone who wants the points my credit card awards, or the cashback my other credit card awards, I feel like I'm always a month behind. I pay off my balance in full each month, but by then of course, I have lowered my bank account and have less to spend in the current month. I do wonder what it would feel like to pay just the bills for my current living expenses. I plan to give it a go, but I won't buy Ramsay's book or go to Financial Peace University. "Where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off mortgag...

Never once did I think it was a good idea to have a rat helping out in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, even after I saw "Ratatouille", I still wasn't convinced. Fortunately, I never had to worry about that --until recently. I was taking Angel to park one weekend last month when she started going nuts in the garage. She was sniffing and scratching around boxes and getting more and more agitated. I thought she may have found a gecko -- you know those cute green lizards that sell insurance. I certainly wouldn't mind giving shelter to that little Australian-accented bugger, so I called the dog off, got into the car and didn't give it a thought...until I was in bed that night. What could have set the dog off? What if it wasn't a little lizard? So, the next night, I opened both garage doors and let Angel at it. I even gave her an assist -- at one point moving a box when she couldn't get behind it. That's when I saw it. Was it a mouse? At first, I thought...

"500 Days of Summer" looked like a cute movie. I've been fond of Joseph Gordon-Levitt since his days as the youngest of that crazy cast from "Third Rock from the Sun." I didn't know much about Zooey Deschanel except that she has a nice voice ("She and Him"). I heard good things about the movie so I decided to see it this weekend. Knowing it was already popular, I made sure to get to the theater a half hour before it started. I waited in line and went to my favorite spot -- the last row, center seat. Nerd alert: I even brought a book (and booklight) to read while waiting for the coming attractions. Sure enough, the theater got crowded, but I had an empty seat on either side of me by the time the movie started. Now, here comes my luck: the woman to my left decided to play theater usher. She noticed a couple looking around for a place to sit. She asked me, "Is anyone sitting on the other side of you?" Was I going to lie? I said no. Then -- ...

Last week I bought a pedometer. Not your ordinary piece of plastic -- a real, state-of-the-art (by my standards) pedometer. Here's the way it works: you set your stride and the time & date, and clip it on. Get this--the pedometer automatically resets at midnight! It also came with SOFTWARE, so you can download your data and track your progress. The pedometer even senses when you do aerobic walking/running and will measure that as well (I have to take that on faith). I was so proud and happy as I made sure to eke out 10,000 steps a day, and I was successful beyond my dreams. For 3 days. Because on Day 4, I lost it. Somewhere in my travels, it fell off my waistband. I'm beyond bummed. But, I am not about to give up. I own a treadmill. I know this because I just have to shift my view about 25 degrees from my TV to see it. It's there and I willfully ignore it. The other day, motivated by my new toy and the incredible last set of the gentlemen's Wimbledon final, I climbe...

Many years ago, young boys with beautiful voices were castrated to preserve the gorgeous timber of their voices. How could society condone that? Music was the priority -- it was all for the glory and the beauty of the music. Michael Jackson was a true, gifted talent, but unfortunately, he was a "castrato." Last night, I caught the very end of Martin Bashir's infamous interview with Jackson. Michael spoke openly about how he wouldn't be upset if his children slept in a grown man's bed. He talked about how beautiful and non-sexual this practice is. He also described how Debbie Rowe allowed him to take the infant Paris from the birthing room before the umbilical cord was removed; before the baby was cleaned up. He said the children were Debbie's "gift" to him. He was naive, needy, uninitiated, unaware of how surreal he sounded. During an Oprah interview, when she asked him whether he was a virgin, he visibly blushed. Michael Jackson was a child. Yet i...

Sarah Palin quit. She just left. It's like if you were a contractor who hired someone to work on the roof of a house and at the halfway point he said, "Hey, find another roofer. I gotta go, but don't call me a quitter, 'cause I'm not." A part of me says, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass." But another part of me says, "You really got the short end of it, Sarah. You were analyzed up, down, sideways and with about 10 different standards." And a big part of that was because she was a woman. Look at Mitt Romney. Don't you think if he were a woman, the press would have worked like mad to figure out what-the-heck kind of name "Mitt" is? Quick: how many kids does John McCain have? I know he has Megan and a kid in Iraq, but other than that, I'm at a loss, and this guy was running for president! So as I watch Keith (Olbermann) and Rachel (Maddow) castigate Palin, I have misgivings. I don't like Sarah as a leader or m...

Ever see a table full of middle aged women at a racetrack? I'm talking women who visit a racetrack once every year or two. Today I was in a party of 6 who spent a day betting on the ponies. It's like a field trip for 5 year-olds. The primary focus is on drinks, then a few more drinks, then food, then the horses. Invariably, there's someone who tries really hard to study all the statistics on the racing sheet, despite hearing comments like, "Oh, here's a horse called "Peggy's Kneecap." I know a woman named Peggy. I think I'll bet on that one." And of course, the horse -- a longshot -- wins. At this racetrack, someone comes around to the dining guests with a handheld machine to take bets. The poor woman who worked in our section eventually made wide detours around our table. Why? Because we'd spend 15 minutes getting information from her about the intricacies of the trifectas and superfectas, then make a $2.40 bet. I couldn't blame...

I have a new toy. It's a GPS system that goes right on my windshield, under my rear view mirror and my toll pass. What a high-tech windshield I have! I don't need this device much, but when I go somewhere unfamiliar, it's better than driving while sneaking glances at my Google map printouts as I navigate strange neighborhoods. So, my first real attempt to let this talking device help me was yesterday. I was going about 30 miles from home to a South Dallas courthouse. I programmed my destination and smiled as the disembodied voice told me to turn out of my development. Once I was on the highway, I knew I had to go quite a distance, so I turned on the radio. Then I heard the voice saying something to me (Was my radio too loud and she couldn't think?) I turned the music off and listened carefully. Turns out, at every intersection of roads, the device would tell me to stay on the road I was on. Problem was, I was told this 1 mile before, then 1/2 a mile before, then whe...

I don't know how I stumbled on this -- Spring Break, free time, etc. It's a long video, but you have to watch it all the way through for the unexpected moments of hilarity.

I'm doing my best to move this economy...I just bought an automatic hose-reeler to go with my not-yet-realized vegetable garden. I was in the nursery yesterday buying flowers (not perennials, but annuals - see?...again another example of contributing to the economy--in 2 months I'l have to buy more plants) when I overheard a woman telling another shopper how she tried and tried to grow tomatoes, but had no luck. Damn! This isn't the first time I've heard this, yet in my garage is the making of some unique tomato plants that you hang up and they grow down. (I don't understand it either. Look for an update when I try to figure this thing out.) In my eagerness to become a farmer, I started a compost heap in the backyard, which is doing quite well. I do have one concern though: it's hard to know when your compost heap is "done," because it never is. When I took a class on composting, I saw these big bins where you use screens to separate the already-comp...

Maybe I'm showing my age, but there's one commerical on TV that just sets my teeth on edge. It's the Sprint commercial where a family is visiting the Museum of Natural History in NY. The kids are taking pictures and sending them to Grandma. One of them is texting non-stop. It's a depressing snippet of how family communications have gone down the toilet. No one talks to each other. Dad slips away to score Broadway tickets as a surprise for his wife, but I'm thinking she might be pleasantly surprised if he just flat out asked her. This black-and-white commercial demonstrates how cell phone technology has undermined the family unit. It's ironic because the intent is to show the opposite. Poor Grandma is sitting in front of a computer watching these pictures, but I can't help thinking that maybe she'd prefer to hear her grandson's voice telling her about his trip to New York. What do you think? Do you have any commercials that annoy or irritate you? ...

If you haven't done so, go out now and rent/buy John Adams, the HBO mini-series. It is very well acted and directed. The settings are fabulous. Laura Linney (Abigail) and Paul Giamatti (John) are able to communicate passion and their deep, abiding love in a time when restraint, even between a married couple, was the order of the day. So much of what happened during that tumultuous birth of our nation is reenacted to perfection. When I saw the video on sale at Amazon, I scrolled down to the reviews written by those who bought it. The first one began impressively, giving a glowing overview of what was outstanding about this video. Then came these words, "And Thomas Jefferson is hot." Really. No kidding. The comment immediately below that one reiterated that Thomas Jefferson was "hot." Thank you, Paris Hilton, for ruining almost every scene with Stephen Dillane (the actor who played Jefferson), because my inner voice would say, "Yeah, he is kinda hot." T...

I have heard from my legion of fans (all three of them) wondering why they haven't been able to read my delightful insights lately. For you three faithful friends, here goes (you asked for it, don't blame me for what follows): At the university where I work, I have become accustumed to teaching a political science class every fall semester. It's a decent gig, but it's always a core class, which means I have many, many students and many, many non-political science majors who can barely keep their heads from falling into their super-caffineated lattes. Well, last semester, nothing! I figured the political science department had progressed from the bottom of the food chain and lucked out -- there were a good number of teaching assistants who would (had to) do this work for a pittance. So, they hadn't reached my level in the hierarchy (occupied soley by me). Bummer. The other supplemental work I had was teaching a paralegal class on Contracts and Intellectual Property...

I didn't think much of it -- I have a couple of nice afghan throws if it gets too cold in my house. (Note: It's cold in my house because I am cheap and every time I hear the furnace click on, it sets my teeth on edge) Mom II tells me one day,"I got a surprise for you. I'll bring it over." I thought nothing of it. Then she handed me a plastic bag with something red in it. It was...(cue music here) The students who work in my office are hysterical that I have this in my house. Notice that all the people wearing this get-up are white, very white. And scary, very scary. And if they could wear a Snuggie all day, every day, they sure would. Me, not so much. You see, I cannot do anything when I have this on. I cannot walk in it, I cannot use my hands. The outfits the actors are wearing in this video are not Snuggies. A child the size of the one in the commercial would get lost inside of a Snuggie. I am over 5'9" tall, and if I try to walk in it, it's so long...