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I guess everyone needs to post an "end-of-2007" comment. Well, plumbing problems have been the lead story. At the house, the thermal coupler went out--always on a weekend--didn't get our usual people and had to pay WAY too much. Then the septic reached its "time to be pumped" point, again on a day they charge extra... but my mother found a really good guy with a family business. Turns out his kin live in that house just up the road that used to have the two friendly dogs. We always wondered why those dogs just vanished... turns out they had dug their way out of the yard and been found dead on the property. So horribly sad. Never leave animals outside unattended. Really sad. The black one would always get excited and run back and forth when I drove by, so we always said "there's my dog!"
Also, here at the apartment the shower is now backing up, etc. Endless plumbing problems. I think the ones at the house are now fixed (many many $ later), but here at the apartment still ongoing.
It is VERY windy today, and I went over to visit the willow trees on campus. I love to watch them dance in the wind. This photo is not from today, but it's of a wind dance from earlier in the year.
My roommate's mother is here from Korea. Her father will also come over soon, and then they're all going off to Las Vegas!
I don't have any "top ten" lists for the year. Can't think of any music or film that made a big impact on me. I just keep watching Roddy McDowall in "Legend of Hell House" over and over!
Had some good visitors this past year:
Mayumi was here twice, and that was cool! We had fun both times. She's been way too generous with the Ultraman gifts (her sister too!)
It was great to see Shari this year, and TWICE no less!
Also, it was wonderful to see Sharon and to watch her perform. Great stuff! And she's sooooooooooo small!!! (Mayumi had wasted away as well. I used to be able to do that... Shari is small too.)
Meanwhile, I am getting WAY too plump and blubbery. Yikes!
Keep eating veggie! Be kind to animals, of course...
My new term is "sunlight sinister" to mean it looks all bright and bouncy, but really there is a dark side. I use the Bee Gees' "New York Mining Disaster" song to illustrate that point. (It sounds all 60s harmony pop, but it's a tragic tale!) My "subculture" designation for this next year (which I made up, and now watch it will be stolen!) is Sunshine Goth. I could never ever be one of those vampire types, as I have no interest in vampires for starters, and the whole subculture seems to attract a LOT of "large" girls. I do love Gothic architecture and horror stories, but also the sun and bright colors and psychedelic music, so to balance my "grim" view of life with the outward "lively" style, I came up with Sunshine Goth. Lopex said I could NOT have Bee Gees in a Goth lifestyle, so this was my way to pull it off! No, I will not start dressing in all black. I do wear a lot of black with other colors (except for days when I go all black and introduce myself as Johnny Cash)--green remains my main color.
Oh yeah, my other big change is to move away from PURPLE this next year.
The loss of my beloved Mr. Lyrical back in March remains so devastating and painful. I miss him so much.
Shari and I went to Malibu for the sunset. It was either the actual Solstice or the day before or after, not quite sure, but I got this postcard-like photo. That's just a rock there, not some form of marine animal!
Thanks for reading. See you in 2008 !
Woden's Day December 19, 2007. This would've been Phil Ochs' 67th birthday. Looks like it's gonna rain--as it did for nearly 24 hours Monday night to Tuesday night. Yesterday was finally my last day of work for the year, so now I need to get all the things done that have been piling up and waiting for me.
This past Saturday, Lopex, Terry, and I went up to Santa Barbara. Terry is a nice Japanese boy who I'd been studying with. He and a friend from school are gonna take Amtrack across America for the next few weeks. Hope it stays on the tracks! We went to the Mission, Sambo's (yes, an actual 50-year-old Little Black Sambo's!), the beach--where there were pelicans--and then up and down State Street, the city's main shopping area. The weather was quite good, fairly warm and very sunny. Wow! What shocked me most? All the white people. Yes, white people. Loads of them. Whole groups together. When do I ever see large numbers of white people? Young ones! Not just the handful of elderly sad ones you see in Los Angeles, but whole posses of young white people, mostly tall, slim and genuinely blonde! Wow! I reckon 75% of the people I saw that day were slim and white. Terry was really surprised and excited. That was how he had imagined all of California to be. I told him, gee, it's like the '50s up here! Quite surreal. Mind, Santa Barbara has its share of homeless people, but only one (a white lady!) actually asked us for money. Lopex says that SB police do not allow them to ask directly like that. Saw a few cool older homes as well. Of course my camera's batteries died on me. I have a serious problem with generating disruptions to the ElectroMagneticField and often kill batteries or make other equipment malfunction. You might think I'm joking, but I'm not.
Lopex was very delighted indeed for we discovered she had been a contest winner! Second place and two honorable mentions in a doll magazine for three "travel" photos she'd done of her Blythe dolls. Happy to say I was there for all three of them. You can check that out here if you'd like.
My former coworker and now good friend Susan had heart surgery yesterday. I can't explain the details well, but she had to be awake for it while the doctor sent her heart into "convulsions" or similar. Good news is he thinks he solved the problem, and she was even able to call me from her home last evening to tell me she was back! Amazing how far medical science has come.
Doctor in the House, a series of books that was then made into films, was also made into a British comedy in the early 70s. I hadn't seen it since I guess the late 70s--maybe as recently as 1981, but no later... a show I loved and missed. Found a man in Canada selling sets on Ebay--got one, and as I discovered the cable had gone out last night, put two discs in as I ate my pasta. A bit different than I remember, but still the same old great show and terrific characters. Wonderful blast from the past. Looking forward to watching more. In the days before VHS (and of course DVD!) I had feared I'd never see the show again. Wonderful treat.
Winter Solstice is coming soon. I'm not even sure of the exact time. I manage to miss these things every year, along with any rare meteor showers or other natural phenomena of note.
Decemberrrrr 7, 2007. Pearl Harbor was a set-up. FDR knew in advance. He wanted to get the USA into the war. Great link HERE. Random News: Danielle was able to come back to work, following her post-surgery recovery period. Happy to see her on campus. Sharon's tour continues--a couple more shows to go. Check out THE ROPES.
Was very happy to see her on the L.A. stop. She got to meet Mansour too! I'm fat again. My efforts to LOSE weight resulted in me gaining 2 lbs. Way to go! Still have another week (or more) to go with my two schools. We think it's cold here, but what we call cold is much milder than most places at the moment. Saw and met two of Sugarcult, a rock band from Santa Barbara, on campus just before Thanksgiving. Shout out to Shari because they are her friends. My plan to travel around SoCal every other weekend and take photos of "the rotting corpse of greater Los Angeles" seems to have been abandoned. Have eaten out a few times lately. Always costs too much and never really satisfies. Had some major rain out in the desert, so I hope to dig dig dig in my softened up holes-in-progress in the yard tomorrow, despite the 50 degree temp. Yes, I am digging to China. Hey, I know people there now!
Had a nasty run-in (or assault by?) a freakazoid Starbucks employee this past week. Stay OUT of Starbucks! The CEO donates profits to israel, too. Despite there being NO valid reason to foolishly attack Iran (and I have Iranian friends, so HANDS OFF!), the zionist-neocons are still pushing for it. Did you know that President Kennedy had wanted inspections of israel's nuclear facilities and to put an end to the Federal Reserve? Then he was killed... hmmm. There's lots of info about that on the web, but search for yourself. See how lazy I've become! Thanks for reading. Donate to no-kill shelters this holiday.
