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.
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