Good Evening, my Darling,
I am at home, back from church and choir practice. I slept pretty good at Pearl's, considering the unfamiliar setting and different bed. One good thing: I don't have to drive over in the morning. I wake up and I'm there. So now, my apartment is more like my "hang-out pad", a place to chill for a couple hours here and there, lol. It's raining today - an extremely rare occurrence! - and I know we need it (desperately in fact) but I'm so used to it not raining that I hope it stops soon, lol.
I'll be here for about an hour or so, then I've gotta go do all the shopping I didn't do yesterday because I was at the PowWow. I hope you had a great day and are enjoying your evening! I will check in again when I get back to Pearl's at 4:30.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5:05pm : Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby. I'm at Pearl's. The rain finally stopped, so I think I can get my walk in later. Yipee! I just wanted to wish you Sweet Dreams. I will write more at 11:30.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Saturday, November 29, 2014
At The PowWow (Sweet Dreams) (at Pearl's)
Good Evening, my Darling,
I have been over at CSUN for the last couple hours, watching the annual PowWow. Many different tribes are represented, lots of dancing, songs and drums, it's pretty awesome. I watched them make what they call The Grand Entrance, which is where all the representatives from the different tribes parade into the dance area in full costume. The colors and design patterns of the clothes are really something to see. The headdresses. I didn't bring my camera because last year the MC asked me not to take pictures, which I was doing during one of the dances. But this year, all kinds of people were snapping away, so go figure. :) The news was there, too, so I'll check out Channel 7 at 4 to see what they show.
I am back on the job at 4:30, and this will of course be my first night at Pearl's. But, I'll be home from 6:45 til 9:45, then back at Pearl's by 10pm. Right now, I will do a few dishes, have a snack, and then maybe walk back over to the PowWow for a little while, cause it's just across the CSUN parking lot from my apt., just north of the Oviatt. It's five minutes away.
I hope you had a great day, and I liked your posts from this morning. Beautiful pictures, and the earrings too! That style would look great on you of course. :)
I will check in again when I get to Pearl's. It'll take me a couple minutes to get situated, feed The Boy and hook up Chromebook 2, so it might be around 5pm (late I know), but I will check in regardless.
Cause I Love You, my Angel. See you in a bit.......
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5:05pm : Hi, my Angel. I'm back at Pearl's, getting situated. Gotta bring stuff, little by little, that I'll need, like my books, maybe an acoustic guitar, my blaster (so I can listen to CDs on headphones). Not too much stuff, just essentials for night. Like I say, it's really just the same as before, only I sleep here instead of at my apt. But I'll be back and forth each day, just like I've always been.
I'm glad you had a nice birthday. :) Now we will head into the Christmas Season, and it will be a wonderful holiday time.
For now, I send you Sweet Dreams, and I will write again around 11:30pm just like I always do!
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:50pm : Good Morning, Sweet Baby! I am writing from Pearl's. The last time I was here at night was in October 2010, about six months after I started. Can't remember the reason I slept over that time, but it was something minor, but anyway, that was the time when I first met the Black Kitty, when she was a kitten and The Kobester chased her up a tree. I had to get her down, and it took all afternoon with a ladder, and I wound up writing a Myspace blog about it. The Kitty wasn't much bigger than a hand back then. But anyway, it was the last time I was here, writing at night.
The only thing that's a little difficult about being in a different place at night, for me anyway, is trying to fall asleep. One great thing about my apartment, tiny though it is, is that I can usually fall asleep within minutes. Not sure that will happen tonight, and it may take a few nights, but I'll get used to it.
I see from one of your birthday comments that you are going to Ireland. That is gonna rule! Man, that's one of my first destinations when I finally do some travelling, the Emerald Isle. So much history there, and mystery. So green and beautiful, and old. I hope you get to see a castle!
Tomorrow morning will be church and choir from 9:30 til 1pm. A lot has changed in the past few weeks, lol. But I am having fun learning the Christmas songs. I will try to check in before we go to church, but if I can't, I'll see you at around 1:30pm tomorrow. Once I get the hang of this dual residence thing, it'll be smooth sailing.
I Love You, Elizabeth, and I will see you tomorrow. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I have been over at CSUN for the last couple hours, watching the annual PowWow. Many different tribes are represented, lots of dancing, songs and drums, it's pretty awesome. I watched them make what they call The Grand Entrance, which is where all the representatives from the different tribes parade into the dance area in full costume. The colors and design patterns of the clothes are really something to see. The headdresses. I didn't bring my camera because last year the MC asked me not to take pictures, which I was doing during one of the dances. But this year, all kinds of people were snapping away, so go figure. :) The news was there, too, so I'll check out Channel 7 at 4 to see what they show.
I am back on the job at 4:30, and this will of course be my first night at Pearl's. But, I'll be home from 6:45 til 9:45, then back at Pearl's by 10pm. Right now, I will do a few dishes, have a snack, and then maybe walk back over to the PowWow for a little while, cause it's just across the CSUN parking lot from my apt., just north of the Oviatt. It's five minutes away.
I hope you had a great day, and I liked your posts from this morning. Beautiful pictures, and the earrings too! That style would look great on you of course. :)
I will check in again when I get to Pearl's. It'll take me a couple minutes to get situated, feed The Boy and hook up Chromebook 2, so it might be around 5pm (late I know), but I will check in regardless.
Cause I Love You, my Angel. See you in a bit.......
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5:05pm : Hi, my Angel. I'm back at Pearl's, getting situated. Gotta bring stuff, little by little, that I'll need, like my books, maybe an acoustic guitar, my blaster (so I can listen to CDs on headphones). Not too much stuff, just essentials for night. Like I say, it's really just the same as before, only I sleep here instead of at my apt. But I'll be back and forth each day, just like I've always been.
I'm glad you had a nice birthday. :) Now we will head into the Christmas Season, and it will be a wonderful holiday time.
For now, I send you Sweet Dreams, and I will write again around 11:30pm just like I always do!
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:50pm : Good Morning, Sweet Baby! I am writing from Pearl's. The last time I was here at night was in October 2010, about six months after I started. Can't remember the reason I slept over that time, but it was something minor, but anyway, that was the time when I first met the Black Kitty, when she was a kitten and The Kobester chased her up a tree. I had to get her down, and it took all afternoon with a ladder, and I wound up writing a Myspace blog about it. The Kitty wasn't much bigger than a hand back then. But anyway, it was the last time I was here, writing at night.
The only thing that's a little difficult about being in a different place at night, for me anyway, is trying to fall asleep. One great thing about my apartment, tiny though it is, is that I can usually fall asleep within minutes. Not sure that will happen tonight, and it may take a few nights, but I'll get used to it.
I see from one of your birthday comments that you are going to Ireland. That is gonna rule! Man, that's one of my first destinations when I finally do some travelling, the Emerald Isle. So much history there, and mystery. So green and beautiful, and old. I hope you get to see a castle!
Tomorrow morning will be church and choir from 9:30 til 1pm. A lot has changed in the past few weeks, lol. But I am having fun learning the Christmas songs. I will try to check in before we go to church, but if I can't, I'll see you at around 1:30pm tomorrow. Once I get the hang of this dual residence thing, it'll be smooth sailing.
I Love You, Elizabeth, and I will see you tomorrow. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 28, 2014
I Love You On Friday Night :):) (Sweet Dreams) (road trip?)
Good Evening, my Baby,
I hope you are enjoying your Friday evening. Is there Black Friday in Italy, lol? I am almost certain the answer must be no, but just in case there is, I hope it is not too hectic. :) I slept in and feel well-rested, and just went for a nice walk down to the Oviatt and back, to get warmed up for the day and back on track, since I didn't have a walk yesterday. I don't usually engage in major Black Fridayism, but sometimes I do go over to Best Buy in the afternoon, just to check the dvd bins for good deals. If I go today, it will probably be around 2:30 or 3pm, and I will once again walk. It's nice to stay out of one's car when possible, and it's only a mile and a half to Best Buy.
Well, the new arrangements for Pearl's will start tomorrow night, and we're just gonna ease into it. Pearl's daughter Helen says that I can go home at 6:30 as usual, and then come back at 10pm to stay the night. That's not so bad, and I can still have a chance that way to go for my walk, or watch a movie. I can still go to the Thursday night movie at CSUN. So, I'll kinda be back and forth all day from Pearl's house to mine, but it's already pretty much like that anyway, so all is good. Helen says it will take about a month or so for the insurance claim to go through - to see if Pearl is covered for a night person - so I will be doing it for the near future, and maybe I will wind up being the permanent night person after that, too. We'll see. But for right now, one step at a time, which is always the best way of doing things in any situation.
I will check back in around 4-4:30 for late night Sweet Dreams. Enjoy the rest of your evening!
I Love You, Sweet Baby! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:25pm : Happy Late Night. I'm just hanging out, reading and listening to music. I never did walk out to Best Buy, but I did do half my daily miles on a CSUN walk. It is beautiful day outside, and the campus was empty and quiet. Instead of shopping in person, I figured I can just browse online to see if there is anything I really want, and right now I can't think of anything. I hope the remainder of your evening was nice, and I send you Sweet Dreams for when you do go to sleep. It's a slow day here, nobody around, so I'll probably watch a movie or maybe some college football if there's a game on TV.
I'll be back at the usual time tonight, my Angel. I Love You.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:05am : Good Morning, my Baby. I am thinking you might be on a road trip with your school, or otherwise travelling/camping, etc. Tonight will be my last night of sleeping here in my apt. for at least a few weeks, so I am just figuring everything I will want to bring with me to re-create the home atmosphere. Most definitely a radio, so I can listen to KUSC at night. My guitar. Some books, dvds. Aww heck, I'll probably just figure it out night-by-night. And, our communication will be exactly the same, same times of day too. By the time I get back to Pearl's each night at 10pm, she will be either already asleep or close to it, so it will be easy to get my routine down. Everything is gonna be good.
I will be awake until about 1:30 to 2am tonight, cause I get the one last sleep-in, and then tomorrow I go back to Pearl's at 4:30, so I am still off until then. Post if you get a chance.......
I Love You, Elizabeth! See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you are enjoying your Friday evening. Is there Black Friday in Italy, lol? I am almost certain the answer must be no, but just in case there is, I hope it is not too hectic. :) I slept in and feel well-rested, and just went for a nice walk down to the Oviatt and back, to get warmed up for the day and back on track, since I didn't have a walk yesterday. I don't usually engage in major Black Fridayism, but sometimes I do go over to Best Buy in the afternoon, just to check the dvd bins for good deals. If I go today, it will probably be around 2:30 or 3pm, and I will once again walk. It's nice to stay out of one's car when possible, and it's only a mile and a half to Best Buy.
Well, the new arrangements for Pearl's will start tomorrow night, and we're just gonna ease into it. Pearl's daughter Helen says that I can go home at 6:30 as usual, and then come back at 10pm to stay the night. That's not so bad, and I can still have a chance that way to go for my walk, or watch a movie. I can still go to the Thursday night movie at CSUN. So, I'll kinda be back and forth all day from Pearl's house to mine, but it's already pretty much like that anyway, so all is good. Helen says it will take about a month or so for the insurance claim to go through - to see if Pearl is covered for a night person - so I will be doing it for the near future, and maybe I will wind up being the permanent night person after that, too. We'll see. But for right now, one step at a time, which is always the best way of doing things in any situation.
I will check back in around 4-4:30 for late night Sweet Dreams. Enjoy the rest of your evening!
I Love You, Sweet Baby! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:25pm : Happy Late Night. I'm just hanging out, reading and listening to music. I never did walk out to Best Buy, but I did do half my daily miles on a CSUN walk. It is beautiful day outside, and the campus was empty and quiet. Instead of shopping in person, I figured I can just browse online to see if there is anything I really want, and right now I can't think of anything. I hope the remainder of your evening was nice, and I send you Sweet Dreams for when you do go to sleep. It's a slow day here, nobody around, so I'll probably watch a movie or maybe some college football if there's a game on TV.
I'll be back at the usual time tonight, my Angel. I Love You.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:05am : Good Morning, my Baby. I am thinking you might be on a road trip with your school, or otherwise travelling/camping, etc. Tonight will be my last night of sleeping here in my apt. for at least a few weeks, so I am just figuring everything I will want to bring with me to re-create the home atmosphere. Most definitely a radio, so I can listen to KUSC at night. My guitar. Some books, dvds. Aww heck, I'll probably just figure it out night-by-night. And, our communication will be exactly the same, same times of day too. By the time I get back to Pearl's each night at 10pm, she will be either already asleep or close to it, so it will be easy to get my routine down. Everything is gonna be good.
I will be awake until about 1:30 to 2am tonight, cause I get the one last sleep-in, and then tomorrow I go back to Pearl's at 4:30, so I am still off until then. Post if you get a chance.......
I Love You, Elizabeth! See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Thankful For You (Sweet Dreams for a Great Day) (late night love)
Good Evening, Birthday Girl,
I hope you've been having a great day. I am just starting to get rolling here, but I've got plenty of time before I have to be at Pearl's at 1pm. I will be the Master Of Pies, bringing not just the Dutch Apple and Coconut Creme I picked up at Marie Callender's, but also a pumpkin pie I got yesterday afternoon at the Delicious Bakery down the street. That's actually the name of the place, and they live up to their name. :)
My brother-in-law Nico (Vickie's husband) will be bringing his homemade Habanero Chili Salsa, which he makes every year to see who is more macho when it comes to eating hot stuff. It usually winds up in a tie, lol. We will have a nice time, with good food, and then later we will take Kobi for a walk. Hopefully he will try to steal a bone out of the trash bag like he did last year. :) I love that doggie.
The guys, especially my nephew Ali, will wind up watching some football, and me being one of the guys, I'll watch some too.
I should be home around 5:30 and I'll check in then, even though I know it'll be late there. Right now, I'll be here til about 12:30.
Mostly I'll be thinking about you, my Angel. Today is your day. I am so thankful for you.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(see you in a little while)
6:15pm : Hi, my Darling. I got home a little later than I thought. I know it's the middle of the night but I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday one last time, cause it's still the 27th here, and I wanted also to send you Sweet Dreams. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at Pearl's. I am super full, so I'll just relax for a bit and maybe even take a nap. But I'll go for my walk later and also write again at the usual time.
This is a great day, I think. I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:05am : Good Morning, Beautiful Lady. Wow, I couldn't believe it, but when I woke up from my nap it was almost 9pm! I fell asleep, lol. I suppose that's the traditional thing to do, though, after a Thanksgiving meal. Then Grimsley called and we talked for a while, so I never did go for my walk. I guess I can miss it for one day. I always cut myself a little slack at this time of year, haha, if I eat too much, or too much of stuff I shouldn't eat (like lots of pie!), or if I miss a walk here or there. So no biggie. Then I'll get right back to it starting tomorrow.
Well, my Sweet Baby, it looks like there is gonna be a change in my work schedule. Apparently, Pearl fell down the other night while her daughter was there, so she wants to have somebody with Pearl at night from now on. She is gonna see if Pearl's insurance will cover a nighttime person, just someone to be there while Pearl is sleeping, etc. If the insurance covers it, then there will be two of us - me in the daytime as usual, and the new person at night. But if the insurance doesn't cover it.........well, I volunteered to try and do the whole thing myself. It probably won't wind up being that extreme, with me 24/7 at Pearl's, because even if the insurance doesn't cover a second person, there will be ways to work things out, and I could always get my sister to sub for me if I wanted to go to a concert or something.
Anyway, I didn't want to jump the gun, but it's still my job, so I did volunteer for the whole thing, but I said "let's just take it one day at a time and see what happens". So, starting Saturday night, I will be sleeping over at Pearl's. Her daughter seems to think the insurance will cover a night person, so it might only be a few nights, or maybe a week or two for me at night, until they find someone. But no matter what happens, not much will change because I'll still have my Chromebook over there, and I'll still write and post like I always do, at the same times like always. And, I'll still go for my walks and do all the things I do. It's just that I might be based out of Pearl's house for a while. We'll know more when we see what the insurance covers. For now, one day at a time is always the best way to look at the situation, and any situation really. The bottom line is that I think some supremely good things are gonna happen for you and me in the coming year, so get ready!
I am still full from Thanksgiving dinner, but I'll probably have a snack before I go to sleep. Maybe another piece of pie! :) My goodness, Ad..............
I hope you had a wonderful birthday and Thanksgiving, Elizabeth. I will be up til about 2am, and then I will see you in the morning.
I Love You So Much. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you've been having a great day. I am just starting to get rolling here, but I've got plenty of time before I have to be at Pearl's at 1pm. I will be the Master Of Pies, bringing not just the Dutch Apple and Coconut Creme I picked up at Marie Callender's, but also a pumpkin pie I got yesterday afternoon at the Delicious Bakery down the street. That's actually the name of the place, and they live up to their name. :)
My brother-in-law Nico (Vickie's husband) will be bringing his homemade Habanero Chili Salsa, which he makes every year to see who is more macho when it comes to eating hot stuff. It usually winds up in a tie, lol. We will have a nice time, with good food, and then later we will take Kobi for a walk. Hopefully he will try to steal a bone out of the trash bag like he did last year. :) I love that doggie.
The guys, especially my nephew Ali, will wind up watching some football, and me being one of the guys, I'll watch some too.
I should be home around 5:30 and I'll check in then, even though I know it'll be late there. Right now, I'll be here til about 12:30.
Mostly I'll be thinking about you, my Angel. Today is your day. I am so thankful for you.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(see you in a little while)
6:15pm : Hi, my Darling. I got home a little later than I thought. I know it's the middle of the night but I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday one last time, cause it's still the 27th here, and I wanted also to send you Sweet Dreams. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at Pearl's. I am super full, so I'll just relax for a bit and maybe even take a nap. But I'll go for my walk later and also write again at the usual time.
This is a great day, I think. I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:05am : Good Morning, Beautiful Lady. Wow, I couldn't believe it, but when I woke up from my nap it was almost 9pm! I fell asleep, lol. I suppose that's the traditional thing to do, though, after a Thanksgiving meal. Then Grimsley called and we talked for a while, so I never did go for my walk. I guess I can miss it for one day. I always cut myself a little slack at this time of year, haha, if I eat too much, or too much of stuff I shouldn't eat (like lots of pie!), or if I miss a walk here or there. So no biggie. Then I'll get right back to it starting tomorrow.
Well, my Sweet Baby, it looks like there is gonna be a change in my work schedule. Apparently, Pearl fell down the other night while her daughter was there, so she wants to have somebody with Pearl at night from now on. She is gonna see if Pearl's insurance will cover a nighttime person, just someone to be there while Pearl is sleeping, etc. If the insurance covers it, then there will be two of us - me in the daytime as usual, and the new person at night. But if the insurance doesn't cover it.........well, I volunteered to try and do the whole thing myself. It probably won't wind up being that extreme, with me 24/7 at Pearl's, because even if the insurance doesn't cover a second person, there will be ways to work things out, and I could always get my sister to sub for me if I wanted to go to a concert or something.
Anyway, I didn't want to jump the gun, but it's still my job, so I did volunteer for the whole thing, but I said "let's just take it one day at a time and see what happens". So, starting Saturday night, I will be sleeping over at Pearl's. Her daughter seems to think the insurance will cover a night person, so it might only be a few nights, or maybe a week or two for me at night, until they find someone. But no matter what happens, not much will change because I'll still have my Chromebook over there, and I'll still write and post like I always do, at the same times like always. And, I'll still go for my walks and do all the things I do. It's just that I might be based out of Pearl's house for a while. We'll know more when we see what the insurance covers. For now, one day at a time is always the best way to look at the situation, and any situation really. The bottom line is that I think some supremely good things are gonna happen for you and me in the coming year, so get ready!
I am still full from Thanksgiving dinner, but I'll probably have a snack before I go to sleep. Maybe another piece of pie! :) My goodness, Ad..............
I hope you had a wonderful birthday and Thanksgiving, Elizabeth. I will be up til about 2am, and then I will see you in the morning.
I Love You So Much. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Being You (a good thing indeed) (Happy Birthday To My Baby!) (Special)
Good Evening, my Darling,
Happy Day Before Your Birthday! I hope you are having a great day, and maybe have plans to celebrate tomorrow, both in Italy and maybe via Skype or phone calls to home. But I know it'll be a great day in any event, and you get Thanksgiving, too. :)
I woke up about 10am. Now I'm just hanging around. Gotta go pick up a couple pies at Marie Callender's in a little while. Me and Vickie ordered 'em last Saturday, and tomorrow I'll take them to Pearl's, where we have celebrated Thanksgiving for the last 20 years or so. Our families go back 61 years, as you know. They just got some unfortunate news over at the house. I don't know if I mentioned it, but last week I noticed a bug problem in the kitchen, coming from the ceiling. All this stuff was falling on the counter, so they called Terminix, and the guy came out today and discovered that not only are there termites in the ceiling, but there is also a family of possums living in the attic. Oy!
So, they are gonna have to tent the house and do the whole shebang. Pearl's daughter scheduled it for next month, when she will be here again, so that she can take Pearl and Kobi to a motel for three days while the house is being tented and fogged. The bummer is that it's gonna happen on December 22, so they might be in a motel all the way up to Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. I have volunteered to help any way I can, but the whole thing is a real drag. What can you do, though? Termites are bad news, and if you don't catch 'em quick, your house can sustain major damage. So, we'll take it a step at a time, and get through it.
Then into the New Year with flying colors! :)
I'll be here til about 2pm or so, then I'll head out to pick up the pies. I'll write more when I get back at Sweet Dreams Time..........when it'll officially be your birthday. It almost is now.......
I Love You, Elizabeth! Thanks for Being You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
3pm (Midnight in Florence) : Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby! You've gotta get your full 24 hours worth, so here's to the start of your special day. It is a birthday you will always remember, and I am grateful to be able to share it with you. I am so glad you're in the world.
I will post a Happy Birthday on FB, too, but I'll post it in the middle of other birthday wishes so it doesn't stand out too much, and I'll keep it simple. But your main birthday wish is right here, and I send it with a lot of love and so much gratitude for you and the happiness you bring to my life. I Triple-Love You, Elizabeth, today and every day. So, stay up a while and enjoy the first hours of your day, then have Sweet Dreams, and when you wake up, your birthday will be in full swing!
I already picked up the pies, so I'll be here for a little bit, and then I'm gonna walk down to Northridge Libe before it closes, to look for movies.
Triple-Love and Happy Birthday, my Angel. See you in a bit.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:30am : Happy Birthday again, Elizabeth, and Happy Thanksgiving as well. A great double holiday, if you ask me. I hope you are gonna do something special today, and I know you will have a blast. Make sure and take lots of pictures, so that in the years to come, you can remember your birthday in Italy. I trust also, that maybe your school will be having some kind of Thanksgiving celebration. I sure am thinking about you, so be sure to include me at the party, and the dinner, if only by proxy. :)
Man......I've known you since you were 19, and now you're 22. My goodness. :)
I will be going over to Pearl's tomorrow at 1pm, to have the traditional celebration. My sister Vickie and her family will be there, and it will be fun. I will check in before I leave - in the meantime, have a great day, and enjoy Your Day, and also I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving for you and your family, even at a distance, you are together.
I'll be awake til about 2am, and after that I'll see you in the morning.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Day Before Your Birthday! I hope you are having a great day, and maybe have plans to celebrate tomorrow, both in Italy and maybe via Skype or phone calls to home. But I know it'll be a great day in any event, and you get Thanksgiving, too. :)
I woke up about 10am. Now I'm just hanging around. Gotta go pick up a couple pies at Marie Callender's in a little while. Me and Vickie ordered 'em last Saturday, and tomorrow I'll take them to Pearl's, where we have celebrated Thanksgiving for the last 20 years or so. Our families go back 61 years, as you know. They just got some unfortunate news over at the house. I don't know if I mentioned it, but last week I noticed a bug problem in the kitchen, coming from the ceiling. All this stuff was falling on the counter, so they called Terminix, and the guy came out today and discovered that not only are there termites in the ceiling, but there is also a family of possums living in the attic. Oy!
So, they are gonna have to tent the house and do the whole shebang. Pearl's daughter scheduled it for next month, when she will be here again, so that she can take Pearl and Kobi to a motel for three days while the house is being tented and fogged. The bummer is that it's gonna happen on December 22, so they might be in a motel all the way up to Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. I have volunteered to help any way I can, but the whole thing is a real drag. What can you do, though? Termites are bad news, and if you don't catch 'em quick, your house can sustain major damage. So, we'll take it a step at a time, and get through it.
Then into the New Year with flying colors! :)
I'll be here til about 2pm or so, then I'll head out to pick up the pies. I'll write more when I get back at Sweet Dreams Time..........when it'll officially be your birthday. It almost is now.......
I Love You, Elizabeth! Thanks for Being You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
3pm (Midnight in Florence) : Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby! You've gotta get your full 24 hours worth, so here's to the start of your special day. It is a birthday you will always remember, and I am grateful to be able to share it with you. I am so glad you're in the world.
I will post a Happy Birthday on FB, too, but I'll post it in the middle of other birthday wishes so it doesn't stand out too much, and I'll keep it simple. But your main birthday wish is right here, and I send it with a lot of love and so much gratitude for you and the happiness you bring to my life. I Triple-Love You, Elizabeth, today and every day. So, stay up a while and enjoy the first hours of your day, then have Sweet Dreams, and when you wake up, your birthday will be in full swing!
I already picked up the pies, so I'll be here for a little bit, and then I'm gonna walk down to Northridge Libe before it closes, to look for movies.
Triple-Love and Happy Birthday, my Angel. See you in a bit.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:30am : Happy Birthday again, Elizabeth, and Happy Thanksgiving as well. A great double holiday, if you ask me. I hope you are gonna do something special today, and I know you will have a blast. Make sure and take lots of pictures, so that in the years to come, you can remember your birthday in Italy. I trust also, that maybe your school will be having some kind of Thanksgiving celebration. I sure am thinking about you, so be sure to include me at the party, and the dinner, if only by proxy. :)
Man......I've known you since you were 19, and now you're 22. My goodness. :)
I will be going over to Pearl's tomorrow at 1pm, to have the traditional celebration. My sister Vickie and her family will be there, and it will be fun. I will check in before I leave - in the meantime, have a great day, and enjoy Your Day, and also I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving for you and your family, even at a distance, you are together.
I'll be awake til about 2am, and after that I'll see you in the morning.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Happier Thoughts (xoxoxoxoxo)
Hey, my Girl,
Happy Late Night. I hope all is well, even if you think I'm a right wing jerk, lol. I'm definitely not right wing, and I hope I'm not a jerk, but my views are my views and I try to look at situations straight on, and not let anything influence me, either from the right or the left. Anyhow, I hope all is well and that you had a good day, despite what is going on. I saw your post about your friend's painting, which I guess is a self portrait. Your comment on that post, coming as it did just a few minutes after I posted my Ferguson blog, was at first confusing to me. You said something like, "At first, I thought you were joking", and, at first, I did not know if you were referring to me and my Ferguson blog. But then I thought, "she can't be referring to me, because it's obvious I am not joking". So then your friend commented back, and I see that your comment was meant in regards to his painting in some way. So all is well, I assume.
Anyhow, I am just chilling. That blog took me an hour and a half to write, and now you can see why I don't "do" politics or the news anymore, haha. I just have to stay away from it.
So, I will segue back into my usual pursuits, and get back into the frame of mind that suits me best, and for now I will wish you Sweet Dreams and restful sleep, and I will see you when you wake up. I'll be back at the usual time, later tonight. For now I'll be hanging out, just in case you are still up, and I'll be here til about 5:30 or so. Then I am gonna go for part of my walk. :)
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
1am : Good Morning, my Darling. I am up late, not much happening, just spent the evening reading and listening to music. I hope you have a great day - the day before a birthday is always part of the fun, the anticipation and all. I will be awake til about 2am, then up about 9:30 or 10pm. See you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Late Night. I hope all is well, even if you think I'm a right wing jerk, lol. I'm definitely not right wing, and I hope I'm not a jerk, but my views are my views and I try to look at situations straight on, and not let anything influence me, either from the right or the left. Anyhow, I hope all is well and that you had a good day, despite what is going on. I saw your post about your friend's painting, which I guess is a self portrait. Your comment on that post, coming as it did just a few minutes after I posted my Ferguson blog, was at first confusing to me. You said something like, "At first, I thought you were joking", and, at first, I did not know if you were referring to me and my Ferguson blog. But then I thought, "she can't be referring to me, because it's obvious I am not joking". So then your friend commented back, and I see that your comment was meant in regards to his painting in some way. So all is well, I assume.
Anyhow, I am just chilling. That blog took me an hour and a half to write, and now you can see why I don't "do" politics or the news anymore, haha. I just have to stay away from it.
So, I will segue back into my usual pursuits, and get back into the frame of mind that suits me best, and for now I will wish you Sweet Dreams and restful sleep, and I will see you when you wake up. I'll be back at the usual time, later tonight. For now I'll be hanging out, just in case you are still up, and I'll be here til about 5:30 or so. Then I am gonna go for part of my walk. :)
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
1am : Good Morning, my Darling. I am up late, not much happening, just spent the evening reading and listening to music. I hope you have a great day - the day before a birthday is always part of the fun, the anticipation and all. I will be awake til about 2am, then up about 9:30 or 10pm. See you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
On Ferguson (edit)
Edit at 2pm : some typos have been corrected and clarifications made.
Good Evening, Nice Lady,
I am still just waking up, having really slept in this morning, but I see your posts on FB and I can see that you are following the news coverage of Ferguson. It's upsetting any way you look at it, no matter what a person's views are, a very polarising and troubling situation.
As you know, I don't comment much on the news, and I have my reasons for not doing so. I've stated them before, and they largely have to do with the fact that the news cycle is something that is neverending, and one can find oneself sucked into it's energies, and a person can find their life negatively influenced in this way. This is an extreme simplification, of course, but I know you understand what I mean. To go into a dissertation about the complicated factors involved in an emotional entanglement with the news of the world would take me all day, and so I trust you know what I mean.
However, as I also always hasten to point out, I do indeed follow the news, and more closely than you might think. I just don't comment on it because it is not my focus. I've had to disentangle myself with the news and politics over the years because I am a very opinionated person, and when I was younger oftentimes I would spend great amounts of time stating my opinions and arguing/defending my positions on things. I used to describe myself, literally, as "as far Left as you can get". In those days I saw things in a clear cut way, in black and white (no pun intended). Everything was clear to me, and so were my opinions. Things were "one way" or "another", and to me there was no real middle ground.
But as the years went by, and I discovered myself in all kinds of situations in life - and also observing all kinds of situations - I noticed, to my surprise actually, that my views were beginning to modify, to develop an acknowledgement of nuances and grey areas in the judgements I formed. I was always quick with an opinion, but I suppose it was in my mid-to-late 30s when I began thinking and reconsidering my views on things, and in many cases witholding my opinions unless asked about them. Previously, I would state them unsolicited to anyone who would listen.
I am just telling you the way I was, and none of this preamble has any bearing on you whatsoever. You may be highly opinionated yourself, as might be expected of someone so thoughtful. We both know that very often, some of the very most highly opinionated people are also some of the most unthoughtful, unintelligent people around - dummies with ill considered "opinions" - but we also both know this is definitely not the case with you. Or me. So, you might be highly opinionated yourself, though you don't usually show it, but when you do, from what I have seen, it almost always has to do with compassionate matters involving people or animals. You are a very caring person, and you feel strongly about the things you care about. I think that is awesome; a wonderful characteristic indicative of a beautiful spirit, your spirit.
All of which is to say that it is no surprise you have thoughts about the Ferguson situation, and by posting them on FB, you may want to know what I think. After all, this is the way we communicate, and you don't normally make political posts. Ferguson isn't strictly political, though it falls generally into that spectrum. I usually respond to your FB posts as part of my daily blogs; that is a main part of our communication, and so I will respond to your posts from this morning, though I probably would not have commented on Ferguson otherwise, for reasons stated at the beginning of this blog.
You may not like what I have to say about the situation. All I ask is that you read carefully, listen to what I am saying, and know that I am only commenting about the available information. I wasn't there, so all I have to go by is what I've seen in the media, on the Internet and on TV.
Obviously, I am sorry the young man got killed. As a quick aside, I was once very much a pacifist, back in my extreme left days. I was 1000% against the death penalty, obviously against police brutality, and I still am and always will be against that. Few things in the world bother me as much as a bad cop, and we had a case right here in Southern California a year or so ago, in which a schizophrenic homeless man named Kelly Thomas (a probable thief) was provoked into reacting, during his arrest, by a monster cop, who then proceeded to beat him to death. It was a horrific case, and all caught on videotape, unlike the Ferguson case. Everybody could clearly see what happened to Kelly Thomas, including the jury, and yet the cop walked away. He was found not guilty. There were no riots, just outrage, great sadness, and a strong will to continue to seek justice. As to my former pacifism, I am no longer clear cut in my philosophy, and there are situations in which, if I were a younger man and called, I would indeed sign up to fight, such as against the ISIS monsters in the Middle East. And though I am still generally against the death penalty - and have voted against it - I have to admit that there are situations - horrific cases - where I certainly would shed no tear for the executed criminal monster. Some people are genuinely evil. So my former pacifism, while largely intact, has been modified. For while I despise violence, I realise that there are unfortunate times when it must be instituted as a response to an initial act of violence. What should the world have done about Hitler, for instance? The younger me would have said "don't let him rise to power in the first place". But the older me has learned that so many factors were involved, and it wasn't simple and clear cut. The fact was that he did rise to power, and so he had to be stopped, with a major use of force.
But getting back to Ferguson, as it compares to the Kelly Thomas case I described, I am not saying, re: Kelly Thomas, that "there were no riots because the people affected were mostly white". That is an opinion that, if stated, could be interpreted as racist or biased if stated in print, and not explained or clarified, and such a statement requires much explanation and clarification. There are always reasons people react the way they do, in any given situation, and those reasons have to do with causes both anthropological and social, and they are myriad. For instance, there are situations - as you yourself have pointed out on FB today - in which white people do indeed riot or destroy property - such as after a football victory, and one can only wonder at the ridiculous motivations for that reaction. I don't like to be on a high horse, but let's face it : there are a lot of stupid and violent people in the world, both black, white and also brown, yellow and any other skin color you can find. The news media lives off of these people. Let's also thank goodness that the majority of the world's people are nonviolent folks who just want to live in peace. I could talk or write for hours just on this aspect alone, but again, it is not my focus.
I am responding today specifically about the Michael Brown case, and I am responding based on the available information. I am making no assumptions, in other words.
We can see, on videotape, that this young man was, on that day at least, involved in a robbery in which he violently intimidated a much smaller store owner. That is clear, and not in dispute. Therefore, it's not a stretch to believe that he did indeed reach into the officer's car, and as the prosecutor pointed out last night, this is supported not only by the testimony of several witnesses (many of them black themselves), but also by the physical evidence, such as blood inside the police car and also bullet marks.
This young man apparently responded to the officer's pulling over to detain him, by blocking the officer's attempt to open his car door, and then reaching into his open window to accost him and perhaps take his gun. The evidence supports this, from what I can tell.
Well, that is about the most surefire way I can think of to get yourself killed by a police officer.
Reaching inside his car and grabbing him, striking him? Perhaps going for his gun? That is a fucking crazy thing to do. Straight fucking crazy. You are practically asking to get killed when you do that. So this kid, who had just committed a robbery in which he used his size to intimidate a store owner, tried something similar on a police officer, first by blocking his attempt to exit his car, then by reaching into it and accosting him. Not hard to believe, given the video evidence from the store, and the witness testimony.
The kid was apparently shot in the thumb in this altercation. Perhaps he was shot elsewhere on his body, too. There were two shots fired from inside the car. He then ran away. The police officer then gave chase. We expect police officers to be almost robotic in their emotions, to "just do what they are trained to do", but we also have to remember that they have nervous systems like anyone else, and you can be sure the officer's adrenaline was pumping at full tilt when he went in pursuit of Michael Brown.
Here is where the case becomes tricky, because at that point, an officer - no matter how badly rattled by the encounter - should proceed to make an arrest, in this case of young Michael Brown, who was not a martyr, not an angel, but a straight-up thug and criminal. Yes, I don't like police brutality, but I also don't like thugs, gangstas and criminals, and it is pretty clear - to me, anyway - that this young man was not a nice guy. Ideally, an officer should never react on his emotions, but fear is an emotion, as is shock, and you can be certain that the officer was both shocked and in fear based on what had just happened in his car. The whole thing happened very fast, in 90 seconds.
Still, in an ideal situation, an officer should be expected to make an arrest of a criminal who has assaulted him and has then run away. An ideal situation would have been for Officer Wilson to make that arrest. Then nobody would have even been talking about Michael Brown. He would have been just one more criminal deservedly sitting in jail.
But that's not what happened, and here, I only have the prosecutor's words of last night to go by. That prosecutor described witness testimony and physical evidence. One of the first witnesses the public heard from was the young man who was accompanying Michael Brown that day. He gave an account that indicated his friend was basically executed, for no real reason, by Officer Wilson. I'm sure you can find a video of his statement somewhere on the Internet. He was standing with his lawyer when he said it, and he sounded coached. In my opinion, it was likely one of the testimonies that were later discredited by the physical evidence, as indicated by the prosecutor. That kid's statement painted his friend Brown as an innocent and the officer as a straight up executioner, and didn't even mention the store robbery. There were many such false testimonies presented by the news media, who helped to work this situation up into the storm it has become.
But the physical evidence apparently corroborated, beyond a reasonable doubt, the testimonies of others, including several black citizens, who weren't publicized by the news media, who testified to the grand jury that Michael Brown stopped running, turned around, and then charged at the police officer. At this point, he may only have been shot in the thumb, and so would have been more or less at full strength to make such a charge.
In that situation, the officer has a split second to make a decision. It would be nice if Michael Brown had submitted to arrest for the robbery he committed, but he didn't. First he accosted the officer in his police car, and then, after initially fleeing, he turned and ran at the officer. Many witnesses testified to this (including black ones, which takes the "race card" out of play), and it is corroborated by the physical evidence. We also have videotape evidence from the store Brown robbed, which proves he was not shy about using his size to intimidate.
You don't accost a police officer in his car if you don't want to get killed, and you don't charge at a police officer if you don't want to get killed. It's that simple. Michael Brown should have submitted to arrest, but he didn't. It doesn't matter if Darren Wilson fired one shot to kill him, or if he emptied his weapon. He had already been subject to almost having that weapon taken from him, and finally he was being charged at by a very large young man. So he used deadly force, which as a police officer he is trained to do in certain situations.
It would have been great if there had been enough officers on the scene to subdue Michael Brown. But there weren't. The was only Officer Wilson. And what Michael Brown did - his own actions - got him killed.
Pure and simple.
If you don't want to get killed, for starters, don't rob a fucking store. He's lucky the owner didn't pull a gun on him. He could have been killed right in the store.
And if you don't want to get killed, do not assault a police officer. That is as crazy as it gets.
You know, I post a lot of videos, in my nightly songs, of black musical artists singing songs I grew up with and love. After The Beatles, The Supremes are the first group I can remember hearing. I love that music so much, and as a kid, I loved the black culture of the 1960s. It was so artistic, so creative and expressive, and the artists themselves were so talented. The music was melodic, exciting, soulful and beautiful, and it expressed the full range of human emotion, as all great art forms do. I loved the look of that era, The Age Of Aquarius as they called it, with groups like The Fifth Dimension and Sly And The Family Stone, with uplifting songs about "beautiful balloons" and "everyday people". Their clothing too, inspired by 60s fashion but with perhaps an African twist, was stylish and exotic. So many songs and groups did I love from that era, in the black culture.
Even the protest movement was educated and thoughtful, if aggressive. Right here at CSUN, the black students of America were on the vanguard of positive change. Back then, the school was called San Fernando Valley State College, and when I was in elementary school, right next to campus, there were many times in 1968 and 1969, when we had to be taken home on buses, due to student protests next door at the College. One time, the black students occupied the faculty building, where the office of the college president was located. They staged a sit-in there, which lasted a couple days, until their grievances were heard. As a result, they achieved positive change, which included a full black studies department, and a black student union. And they did this without ever pulling a gun on anyone. Black leaders then, too, were men of giant character and education, like Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy.
What a great time it was for black America, and white America, too, because we all were the richer for the contributions of that wonderful culture.
But then something happened along the road of progress. Martin Luther King was killed, yes, but it was much bigger than that.
What happened was that black culture was replaced by nigga culture. That's their word, not mine. Let's call it gangsta culture in order to be more polite.
Yep, "beautiful balloons" were replaced by "bling-bling". "Sexy ladies" became "bitches and hos". Hoop earrings and beautiful afro hairdos were replaced by tattoos and butt-pants.
Instead of the KKK and racist rednecks calling them "niggers", the new black youth began calling each other that name. You didn't just hear it in their rap "songs", but right here on the CSUN campus, where once more cultured language emanated.
What a grand fucking shame it all has been, this God-awful, rotten-to-the-core gangsta culture. It has pervaded all walks of American life, and has been exported to the world now, really. You can see white dumbells in Europe now, throwing gang signs, getting tattoos and wearing sideways baseball caps. And listening to that soul destroying "music" with it's shameful lyrics. That this poisonous culture has endured for so long as a pop phenomenon - twenty five years now - is mindblowing to me. It's also profoundly sad, and a mystery.
Don't people want something better?
How long is it gonna continue? For another 25 years? 50? 100? Will our great-great grandchildren be laughing rat-a-tat-tat, mindlessly, like Beavis and Butthead, using a limited vocabulary made up mostly of slang curse words, and listening to the overamplified bass-bottom of rotten hip hop music while they twerk their booties?
Please God no! Please God, make it stop. Help us to make this rotten pop culture - this gangsta culture - stop poisoning us, before it's too late.
It poisoned Michael Brown, and his parents didn't have the effectiveness, and perhaps the wherewithall, to prevent it. Maybe they didn't try to.
Now he's dead.
What a shame.
//////////
So, that's my take, Elizabeth. You may agree or disagree, in part(s), or as a whole, but I thought I'd state my take on the issue, and there you have it.
I'll write more later. I Love You and You Rule, and let's thank God for all the good people of all colors and for all the good things in this world.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Good Evening, Nice Lady,
I am still just waking up, having really slept in this morning, but I see your posts on FB and I can see that you are following the news coverage of Ferguson. It's upsetting any way you look at it, no matter what a person's views are, a very polarising and troubling situation.
As you know, I don't comment much on the news, and I have my reasons for not doing so. I've stated them before, and they largely have to do with the fact that the news cycle is something that is neverending, and one can find oneself sucked into it's energies, and a person can find their life negatively influenced in this way. This is an extreme simplification, of course, but I know you understand what I mean. To go into a dissertation about the complicated factors involved in an emotional entanglement with the news of the world would take me all day, and so I trust you know what I mean.
However, as I also always hasten to point out, I do indeed follow the news, and more closely than you might think. I just don't comment on it because it is not my focus. I've had to disentangle myself with the news and politics over the years because I am a very opinionated person, and when I was younger oftentimes I would spend great amounts of time stating my opinions and arguing/defending my positions on things. I used to describe myself, literally, as "as far Left as you can get". In those days I saw things in a clear cut way, in black and white (no pun intended). Everything was clear to me, and so were my opinions. Things were "one way" or "another", and to me there was no real middle ground.
But as the years went by, and I discovered myself in all kinds of situations in life - and also observing all kinds of situations - I noticed, to my surprise actually, that my views were beginning to modify, to develop an acknowledgement of nuances and grey areas in the judgements I formed. I was always quick with an opinion, but I suppose it was in my mid-to-late 30s when I began thinking and reconsidering my views on things, and in many cases witholding my opinions unless asked about them. Previously, I would state them unsolicited to anyone who would listen.
I am just telling you the way I was, and none of this preamble has any bearing on you whatsoever. You may be highly opinionated yourself, as might be expected of someone so thoughtful. We both know that very often, some of the very most highly opinionated people are also some of the most unthoughtful, unintelligent people around - dummies with ill considered "opinions" - but we also both know this is definitely not the case with you. Or me. So, you might be highly opinionated yourself, though you don't usually show it, but when you do, from what I have seen, it almost always has to do with compassionate matters involving people or animals. You are a very caring person, and you feel strongly about the things you care about. I think that is awesome; a wonderful characteristic indicative of a beautiful spirit, your spirit.
All of which is to say that it is no surprise you have thoughts about the Ferguson situation, and by posting them on FB, you may want to know what I think. After all, this is the way we communicate, and you don't normally make political posts. Ferguson isn't strictly political, though it falls generally into that spectrum. I usually respond to your FB posts as part of my daily blogs; that is a main part of our communication, and so I will respond to your posts from this morning, though I probably would not have commented on Ferguson otherwise, for reasons stated at the beginning of this blog.
You may not like what I have to say about the situation. All I ask is that you read carefully, listen to what I am saying, and know that I am only commenting about the available information. I wasn't there, so all I have to go by is what I've seen in the media, on the Internet and on TV.
Obviously, I am sorry the young man got killed. As a quick aside, I was once very much a pacifist, back in my extreme left days. I was 1000% against the death penalty, obviously against police brutality, and I still am and always will be against that. Few things in the world bother me as much as a bad cop, and we had a case right here in Southern California a year or so ago, in which a schizophrenic homeless man named Kelly Thomas (a probable thief) was provoked into reacting, during his arrest, by a monster cop, who then proceeded to beat him to death. It was a horrific case, and all caught on videotape, unlike the Ferguson case. Everybody could clearly see what happened to Kelly Thomas, including the jury, and yet the cop walked away. He was found not guilty. There were no riots, just outrage, great sadness, and a strong will to continue to seek justice. As to my former pacifism, I am no longer clear cut in my philosophy, and there are situations in which, if I were a younger man and called, I would indeed sign up to fight, such as against the ISIS monsters in the Middle East. And though I am still generally against the death penalty - and have voted against it - I have to admit that there are situations - horrific cases - where I certainly would shed no tear for the executed criminal monster. Some people are genuinely evil. So my former pacifism, while largely intact, has been modified. For while I despise violence, I realise that there are unfortunate times when it must be instituted as a response to an initial act of violence. What should the world have done about Hitler, for instance? The younger me would have said "don't let him rise to power in the first place". But the older me has learned that so many factors were involved, and it wasn't simple and clear cut. The fact was that he did rise to power, and so he had to be stopped, with a major use of force.
But getting back to Ferguson, as it compares to the Kelly Thomas case I described, I am not saying, re: Kelly Thomas, that "there were no riots because the people affected were mostly white". That is an opinion that, if stated, could be interpreted as racist or biased if stated in print, and not explained or clarified, and such a statement requires much explanation and clarification. There are always reasons people react the way they do, in any given situation, and those reasons have to do with causes both anthropological and social, and they are myriad. For instance, there are situations - as you yourself have pointed out on FB today - in which white people do indeed riot or destroy property - such as after a football victory, and one can only wonder at the ridiculous motivations for that reaction. I don't like to be on a high horse, but let's face it : there are a lot of stupid and violent people in the world, both black, white and also brown, yellow and any other skin color you can find. The news media lives off of these people. Let's also thank goodness that the majority of the world's people are nonviolent folks who just want to live in peace. I could talk or write for hours just on this aspect alone, but again, it is not my focus.
I am responding today specifically about the Michael Brown case, and I am responding based on the available information. I am making no assumptions, in other words.
We can see, on videotape, that this young man was, on that day at least, involved in a robbery in which he violently intimidated a much smaller store owner. That is clear, and not in dispute. Therefore, it's not a stretch to believe that he did indeed reach into the officer's car, and as the prosecutor pointed out last night, this is supported not only by the testimony of several witnesses (many of them black themselves), but also by the physical evidence, such as blood inside the police car and also bullet marks.
This young man apparently responded to the officer's pulling over to detain him, by blocking the officer's attempt to open his car door, and then reaching into his open window to accost him and perhaps take his gun. The evidence supports this, from what I can tell.
Well, that is about the most surefire way I can think of to get yourself killed by a police officer.
Reaching inside his car and grabbing him, striking him? Perhaps going for his gun? That is a fucking crazy thing to do. Straight fucking crazy. You are practically asking to get killed when you do that. So this kid, who had just committed a robbery in which he used his size to intimidate a store owner, tried something similar on a police officer, first by blocking his attempt to exit his car, then by reaching into it and accosting him. Not hard to believe, given the video evidence from the store, and the witness testimony.
The kid was apparently shot in the thumb in this altercation. Perhaps he was shot elsewhere on his body, too. There were two shots fired from inside the car. He then ran away. The police officer then gave chase. We expect police officers to be almost robotic in their emotions, to "just do what they are trained to do", but we also have to remember that they have nervous systems like anyone else, and you can be sure the officer's adrenaline was pumping at full tilt when he went in pursuit of Michael Brown.
Here is where the case becomes tricky, because at that point, an officer - no matter how badly rattled by the encounter - should proceed to make an arrest, in this case of young Michael Brown, who was not a martyr, not an angel, but a straight-up thug and criminal. Yes, I don't like police brutality, but I also don't like thugs, gangstas and criminals, and it is pretty clear - to me, anyway - that this young man was not a nice guy. Ideally, an officer should never react on his emotions, but fear is an emotion, as is shock, and you can be certain that the officer was both shocked and in fear based on what had just happened in his car. The whole thing happened very fast, in 90 seconds.
Still, in an ideal situation, an officer should be expected to make an arrest of a criminal who has assaulted him and has then run away. An ideal situation would have been for Officer Wilson to make that arrest. Then nobody would have even been talking about Michael Brown. He would have been just one more criminal deservedly sitting in jail.
But that's not what happened, and here, I only have the prosecutor's words of last night to go by. That prosecutor described witness testimony and physical evidence. One of the first witnesses the public heard from was the young man who was accompanying Michael Brown that day. He gave an account that indicated his friend was basically executed, for no real reason, by Officer Wilson. I'm sure you can find a video of his statement somewhere on the Internet. He was standing with his lawyer when he said it, and he sounded coached. In my opinion, it was likely one of the testimonies that were later discredited by the physical evidence, as indicated by the prosecutor. That kid's statement painted his friend Brown as an innocent and the officer as a straight up executioner, and didn't even mention the store robbery. There were many such false testimonies presented by the news media, who helped to work this situation up into the storm it has become.
But the physical evidence apparently corroborated, beyond a reasonable doubt, the testimonies of others, including several black citizens, who weren't publicized by the news media, who testified to the grand jury that Michael Brown stopped running, turned around, and then charged at the police officer. At this point, he may only have been shot in the thumb, and so would have been more or less at full strength to make such a charge.
In that situation, the officer has a split second to make a decision. It would be nice if Michael Brown had submitted to arrest for the robbery he committed, but he didn't. First he accosted the officer in his police car, and then, after initially fleeing, he turned and ran at the officer. Many witnesses testified to this (including black ones, which takes the "race card" out of play), and it is corroborated by the physical evidence. We also have videotape evidence from the store Brown robbed, which proves he was not shy about using his size to intimidate.
You don't accost a police officer in his car if you don't want to get killed, and you don't charge at a police officer if you don't want to get killed. It's that simple. Michael Brown should have submitted to arrest, but he didn't. It doesn't matter if Darren Wilson fired one shot to kill him, or if he emptied his weapon. He had already been subject to almost having that weapon taken from him, and finally he was being charged at by a very large young man. So he used deadly force, which as a police officer he is trained to do in certain situations.
It would have been great if there had been enough officers on the scene to subdue Michael Brown. But there weren't. The was only Officer Wilson. And what Michael Brown did - his own actions - got him killed.
Pure and simple.
If you don't want to get killed, for starters, don't rob a fucking store. He's lucky the owner didn't pull a gun on him. He could have been killed right in the store.
And if you don't want to get killed, do not assault a police officer. That is as crazy as it gets.
You know, I post a lot of videos, in my nightly songs, of black musical artists singing songs I grew up with and love. After The Beatles, The Supremes are the first group I can remember hearing. I love that music so much, and as a kid, I loved the black culture of the 1960s. It was so artistic, so creative and expressive, and the artists themselves were so talented. The music was melodic, exciting, soulful and beautiful, and it expressed the full range of human emotion, as all great art forms do. I loved the look of that era, The Age Of Aquarius as they called it, with groups like The Fifth Dimension and Sly And The Family Stone, with uplifting songs about "beautiful balloons" and "everyday people". Their clothing too, inspired by 60s fashion but with perhaps an African twist, was stylish and exotic. So many songs and groups did I love from that era, in the black culture.
Even the protest movement was educated and thoughtful, if aggressive. Right here at CSUN, the black students of America were on the vanguard of positive change. Back then, the school was called San Fernando Valley State College, and when I was in elementary school, right next to campus, there were many times in 1968 and 1969, when we had to be taken home on buses, due to student protests next door at the College. One time, the black students occupied the faculty building, where the office of the college president was located. They staged a sit-in there, which lasted a couple days, until their grievances were heard. As a result, they achieved positive change, which included a full black studies department, and a black student union. And they did this without ever pulling a gun on anyone. Black leaders then, too, were men of giant character and education, like Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy.
What a great time it was for black America, and white America, too, because we all were the richer for the contributions of that wonderful culture.
But then something happened along the road of progress. Martin Luther King was killed, yes, but it was much bigger than that.
What happened was that black culture was replaced by nigga culture. That's their word, not mine. Let's call it gangsta culture in order to be more polite.
Yep, "beautiful balloons" were replaced by "bling-bling". "Sexy ladies" became "bitches and hos". Hoop earrings and beautiful afro hairdos were replaced by tattoos and butt-pants.
Instead of the KKK and racist rednecks calling them "niggers", the new black youth began calling each other that name. You didn't just hear it in their rap "songs", but right here on the CSUN campus, where once more cultured language emanated.
What a grand fucking shame it all has been, this God-awful, rotten-to-the-core gangsta culture. It has pervaded all walks of American life, and has been exported to the world now, really. You can see white dumbells in Europe now, throwing gang signs, getting tattoos and wearing sideways baseball caps. And listening to that soul destroying "music" with it's shameful lyrics. That this poisonous culture has endured for so long as a pop phenomenon - twenty five years now - is mindblowing to me. It's also profoundly sad, and a mystery.
Don't people want something better?
How long is it gonna continue? For another 25 years? 50? 100? Will our great-great grandchildren be laughing rat-a-tat-tat, mindlessly, like Beavis and Butthead, using a limited vocabulary made up mostly of slang curse words, and listening to the overamplified bass-bottom of rotten hip hop music while they twerk their booties?
Please God no! Please God, make it stop. Help us to make this rotten pop culture - this gangsta culture - stop poisoning us, before it's too late.
It poisoned Michael Brown, and his parents didn't have the effectiveness, and perhaps the wherewithall, to prevent it. Maybe they didn't try to.
Now he's dead.
What a shame.
//////////
So, that's my take, Elizabeth. You may agree or disagree, in part(s), or as a whole, but I thought I'd state my take on the issue, and there you have it.
I'll write more later. I Love You and You Rule, and let's thank God for all the good people of all colors and for all the good things in this world.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 24, 2014
To The Huntington (back home with Sweet Dreams) (noblesse oblige)
Good Evening, my Darling Baby!,
I just wanted to say hi before I left to go to The Huntington. I got a pretty good sleep-in, so I feel rested. It should be fun, and I'll feel like I'm in Italy with you because it's a place of art and culture. :):)
So here I go. I will write when I get back, though it will probably be late, around 5pm perhaps.
Enjoy the rest of your evening. I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5:30pm : Hi, my Darling. I know it's super late, but I'm just getting home so I wanted to check in. We had a really nice time at The Huntington. They had a photographic exhibit featuring the black and white pictures of two photographers, Bruce Davidson, who photographed London in the 1960s, and a guy named Paul Caponigro, who I'd never heard of before. He took a lot of pictures of natural landscapes in Scotland and Ireland, mostly in the 1970s, and some of his shots were really fantastic. I am gonna do some Googling on both of those guys, and especially Caponigro. I wanna see what kind of camera and film he was using. The grey scales he got were fantastic.
We had lunch at the Huntington Tea Room, and we also saw his residence, a fantastic mansion that also doubles now as a gallery for his art collection, which includes the famous portraits of "Blue Boy" and "Pinky". All in all, a great day. Next time I go, you will have to go with me. :):)
I am gonna post now so you will know I'm home, and then I'll write more later, at the usual time. Probably watch a movie in between, and read, and go for my walk. And I'll be watching over you the whole time. :)
Sweet Dreams, my Angel. I Love You, Elizabeth!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:30am : Good Morning, Awesome Lady. I just posted a few pics of The Huntington, so you get an idea of what it looks like inside. Outside is all rose gardens, botanical gardens and green lawns. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, and we were actually in the Tea Room, having lunch, from 12:30 to 2pm, so a lot of time was spent just eating. The place is pretty special, though, purchased and created in the age when great fortunes were amassed, before income tax. When you go there, you think : "Thanks, Mr. Huntington". That's called Noblesse Obilge, the honorable duty of the wealthy to the masses, to share, and in that era it was largely honored. Hence, you also have places like O'Melveney Park, huge tracts of beautiful parkland or wilderness area that were once privately owned but were bequeathed to the public in the will of the owner.
The Huntington has a feel and a landscape that I think might be similar to places in Italy, like the central park in which you took your recent photo.
At any rate, it was a good day, and I hope yours was too. I am up a little later because of days off, and tomorrow I will sleep in again, with no special plans, so I will start the day slow. I'll be up for a little while and then I'll see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I just wanted to say hi before I left to go to The Huntington. I got a pretty good sleep-in, so I feel rested. It should be fun, and I'll feel like I'm in Italy with you because it's a place of art and culture. :):)
So here I go. I will write when I get back, though it will probably be late, around 5pm perhaps.
Enjoy the rest of your evening. I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5:30pm : Hi, my Darling. I know it's super late, but I'm just getting home so I wanted to check in. We had a really nice time at The Huntington. They had a photographic exhibit featuring the black and white pictures of two photographers, Bruce Davidson, who photographed London in the 1960s, and a guy named Paul Caponigro, who I'd never heard of before. He took a lot of pictures of natural landscapes in Scotland and Ireland, mostly in the 1970s, and some of his shots were really fantastic. I am gonna do some Googling on both of those guys, and especially Caponigro. I wanna see what kind of camera and film he was using. The grey scales he got were fantastic.
We had lunch at the Huntington Tea Room, and we also saw his residence, a fantastic mansion that also doubles now as a gallery for his art collection, which includes the famous portraits of "Blue Boy" and "Pinky". All in all, a great day. Next time I go, you will have to go with me. :):)
I am gonna post now so you will know I'm home, and then I'll write more later, at the usual time. Probably watch a movie in between, and read, and go for my walk. And I'll be watching over you the whole time. :)
Sweet Dreams, my Angel. I Love You, Elizabeth!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
12:30am : Good Morning, Awesome Lady. I just posted a few pics of The Huntington, so you get an idea of what it looks like inside. Outside is all rose gardens, botanical gardens and green lawns. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, and we were actually in the Tea Room, having lunch, from 12:30 to 2pm, so a lot of time was spent just eating. The place is pretty special, though, purchased and created in the age when great fortunes were amassed, before income tax. When you go there, you think : "Thanks, Mr. Huntington". That's called Noblesse Obilge, the honorable duty of the wealthy to the masses, to share, and in that era it was largely honored. Hence, you also have places like O'Melveney Park, huge tracts of beautiful parkland or wilderness area that were once privately owned but were bequeathed to the public in the will of the owner.
The Huntington has a feel and a landscape that I think might be similar to places in Italy, like the central park in which you took your recent photo.
At any rate, it was a good day, and I hope yours was too. I am up a little later because of days off, and tomorrow I will sleep in again, with no special plans, so I will start the day slow. I'll be up for a little while and then I'll see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Home (Sweet Dreams) (Perfect) (music, movies and late night love) (beyond measure)
Good Evening, my Darling,
Well, I am off till next Saturday. Got home a little bit late cause I wanted to do a little straightening at Pearl's house before I left. But now I'm home. Sang in choir again, and I'm starting to get the hang of some of my parts. It's a little difficult because my voice wants to sing bass on some lines, and then go back to tenor. I've always sang to the radio and to albums my whole life, but when you do that you're usually just singing out of your throat. Now I'm trying to sing from my diaphragm like they tell you to do, and it's a whole different thing, lol. But, it's fun to try and blend in with everybody, and I can tell when I'm doing it good.
That's a beautiful piece of music you posted this morning. Did you already know the composer? I am guessing "yes" because it is in a piano style similar to other composers you have liked, very lyrical, much like your own compositions.
Are you missing home at the holidays? I bet you are. But I am also guessing you'll be home by Christmas, is that correct? Fall semesters usually end in mid-December, right? I don't know if your school corresponds to a UW schedule or not, but probably so. I hope you are still enjoying Florence in general, and your school too, and I'm sure you are, but it's only natural to want to be home for the holidays. You will have an Italian Thanksgiving experience just this once, and it, too, will be something you will always remember, a part of your overall 2014 Art School experience. And then, you'll be back in Madison in time for Christmas. Perfect!
I am gonna do a few dishes and straighten my own pad around, and then I'll check back in, in a little while. You don't have to stay awake, but if you do by chance, I'll be back with Sweet Dreams (which are always sent regardless, day or night).
I Love You, Elizabeth. This will be a wonderful week!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5pm : How many dishes can one man have? Geez, I tell ya......sometimes I think half my life is doing dishes. :) But that's what I get for letting 'em pile up. Anyhow, my Angel, it's that time of night. I myself will be awake as you sleep, sending you Sweet Dreams, watching over you, and then I'll still be here as you wake up, when I'll write to you once again. In the meantime, maybe a movie, definitely a book, and certainly some relaxation.
Sleep well and I'll see you in a little while, at 11:30.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
5:07pm : P.S. I had to check in once again, my Baby, because that picture can be me and you. It's You The Dreamer, flying off to fantastic places in your sleep, and it's also me, way up high, watching over you. So there you have it! :):)
12:15am : Good Morning, Sweet Baby! Happy Monday. I'm a few minutes later than usual, it's the old Body Clock thing - when I know I can relax, I turn right back into a night owl. I am trying to find Youtube vids of some of the music we are singing, but with not much luck. One composer is named Gordon Young, but I can't find the song we sang, "Joseph Came Walking To Bethlehem". I think we are rehearsing 8 songs in all for a Christmas program. One is a jazzed-up contemporary version of "Silent Night" that is difficult to remember, because I'm so used to the regular version. Well, I'm having fun, anyway. :)
I watched a fun sci-fi movie a little while ago called "The Atomic Submarine". It was a B-Movie from the '50s, and a little bit cheesy, but that's what you want in a film like this, old-fashioned special effects, bathtub toy submarines and plastic model ufos. I guess it's considered a classic of it's type, because the dvd is a Criterion release, which I found at the library.
Other than that, just reading my book. I loved your post, which was right after my P.S. on this blog, earlier this eve (for me) and last night (for you). It was the post about the anniversary of the married couple, and it was very beautiful. It also made me feel very special. I am so blessed to have you, Elizabeth, and we can get married, too, just like the couple in the post. Our destiny is ours for the taking. :):)
Good things are coming for you and me, count on it!
It's my first night off, so I will be up til about 2am or so. Then an attempt at a sleep-in, not always successful on a first night, but let's see. I will be going to The Huntington Library at 11am tomorrow, and then probably back home by 4 to 5pm. Maybe closer to 4. Have a great start to your birthday week! These are great years, Elizabeth, your early 20s, and you are a Beautiful Spirit to experience them.
I Love You and will see you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
1:55am : Super late night Sweet Baby beyond all measure! :):)
Well, I am off till next Saturday. Got home a little bit late cause I wanted to do a little straightening at Pearl's house before I left. But now I'm home. Sang in choir again, and I'm starting to get the hang of some of my parts. It's a little difficult because my voice wants to sing bass on some lines, and then go back to tenor. I've always sang to the radio and to albums my whole life, but when you do that you're usually just singing out of your throat. Now I'm trying to sing from my diaphragm like they tell you to do, and it's a whole different thing, lol. But, it's fun to try and blend in with everybody, and I can tell when I'm doing it good.
That's a beautiful piece of music you posted this morning. Did you already know the composer? I am guessing "yes" because it is in a piano style similar to other composers you have liked, very lyrical, much like your own compositions.
Are you missing home at the holidays? I bet you are. But I am also guessing you'll be home by Christmas, is that correct? Fall semesters usually end in mid-December, right? I don't know if your school corresponds to a UW schedule or not, but probably so. I hope you are still enjoying Florence in general, and your school too, and I'm sure you are, but it's only natural to want to be home for the holidays. You will have an Italian Thanksgiving experience just this once, and it, too, will be something you will always remember, a part of your overall 2014 Art School experience. And then, you'll be back in Madison in time for Christmas. Perfect!
I am gonna do a few dishes and straighten my own pad around, and then I'll check back in, in a little while. You don't have to stay awake, but if you do by chance, I'll be back with Sweet Dreams (which are always sent regardless, day or night).
I Love You, Elizabeth. This will be a wonderful week!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
5pm : How many dishes can one man have? Geez, I tell ya......sometimes I think half my life is doing dishes. :) But that's what I get for letting 'em pile up. Anyhow, my Angel, it's that time of night. I myself will be awake as you sleep, sending you Sweet Dreams, watching over you, and then I'll still be here as you wake up, when I'll write to you once again. In the meantime, maybe a movie, definitely a book, and certainly some relaxation.
Sleep well and I'll see you in a little while, at 11:30.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
5:07pm : P.S. I had to check in once again, my Baby, because that picture can be me and you. It's You The Dreamer, flying off to fantastic places in your sleep, and it's also me, way up high, watching over you. So there you have it! :):)
12:15am : Good Morning, Sweet Baby! Happy Monday. I'm a few minutes later than usual, it's the old Body Clock thing - when I know I can relax, I turn right back into a night owl. I am trying to find Youtube vids of some of the music we are singing, but with not much luck. One composer is named Gordon Young, but I can't find the song we sang, "Joseph Came Walking To Bethlehem". I think we are rehearsing 8 songs in all for a Christmas program. One is a jazzed-up contemporary version of "Silent Night" that is difficult to remember, because I'm so used to the regular version. Well, I'm having fun, anyway. :)
I watched a fun sci-fi movie a little while ago called "The Atomic Submarine". It was a B-Movie from the '50s, and a little bit cheesy, but that's what you want in a film like this, old-fashioned special effects, bathtub toy submarines and plastic model ufos. I guess it's considered a classic of it's type, because the dvd is a Criterion release, which I found at the library.
Other than that, just reading my book. I loved your post, which was right after my P.S. on this blog, earlier this eve (for me) and last night (for you). It was the post about the anniversary of the married couple, and it was very beautiful. It also made me feel very special. I am so blessed to have you, Elizabeth, and we can get married, too, just like the couple in the post. Our destiny is ours for the taking. :):)
Good things are coming for you and me, count on it!
It's my first night off, so I will be up til about 2am or so. Then an attempt at a sleep-in, not always successful on a first night, but let's see. I will be going to The Huntington Library at 11am tomorrow, and then probably back home by 4 to 5pm. Maybe closer to 4. Have a great start to your birthday week! These are great years, Elizabeth, your early 20s, and you are a Beautiful Spirit to experience them.
I Love You and will see you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
1:55am : Super late night Sweet Baby beyond all measure! :):)
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Busy Saturday Afternoon + Love and Sweet Dreams (choir)
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
Super busy this afternoon, going shopping with Vickie, to the Libe, the recycling center, to Marie Callender's to order pies for Thanksgiving. Now I'm at Pearl's a little early, to do some laundry and get an early start on dinner. Pearl is watching a Liberace special on PBS, and Kobedoggie is barking over all the music. :) At 5pm, the USC/UCLA football game is gonna start, so I hope Liberace is done by then.
I hope you had a nice Saturday. I am gonna feed The Boy so he'll stop barking, so I'll post now. Tonight I will write more at the usual time, 11:30pm.
I Love You and I will see you when you wake up. Sleep well, my Beautiful Angel.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Happy Sunday Morning, my Baby. Are you getting ready to watch me sing in the church choir? Oh wait a minute........that's right. I'll be in Reseda, not Florence, and my morning will be your early evening. Well, you can get the same effect if you go into a local church or cathedral and just pretend I'm up there. It'll be like me sending you Sweet Dreams when it's afternoon here and late night there. We are on the same wavelength and in the same place, regardless of distance.
I had a quiet evening, though my friend Dave F. did come over, with his daughter, for an Orange Grove walk. Tomorrow morn, I will indeed be singing in the choir, and then rehearsing for an hour between Noon and 1pm. I think I have two or three of the songs memorised.
After 1pm, I am off til next Saturday at 4:30, although on Monday afternoon I will be accompanying Pearl and her daughter to a place called The Huntington Library, a huge estate/museum that was once owned by a railroad magnate named Henry Huntington, who was incredibly wealthy, and upon his death in 1927 bequeathed his land and art collections to the public. I've been to the Huntington before, and it's a pretty awesome place, out in San Marino, near Pasadena, which is where the Rose Bowl is located, and Caltech as well. It's where a lot of Los Angeles' "Old Money" (i.e. long established rich families) is located. They invited me for Monday, so I will be excited to go. I'll try to take some pics if photography is allowed.
But tomorrow, after 1pm, I am just gonna chill. We will have a great week ahead! For now, I'll be up til about 1am or so.
I Love You, Elizabeth. See you at Reseda Methodist tomorrow morning! :)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Super busy this afternoon, going shopping with Vickie, to the Libe, the recycling center, to Marie Callender's to order pies for Thanksgiving. Now I'm at Pearl's a little early, to do some laundry and get an early start on dinner. Pearl is watching a Liberace special on PBS, and Kobedoggie is barking over all the music. :) At 5pm, the USC/UCLA football game is gonna start, so I hope Liberace is done by then.
I hope you had a nice Saturday. I am gonna feed The Boy so he'll stop barking, so I'll post now. Tonight I will write more at the usual time, 11:30pm.
I Love You and I will see you when you wake up. Sleep well, my Beautiful Angel.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Happy Sunday Morning, my Baby. Are you getting ready to watch me sing in the church choir? Oh wait a minute........that's right. I'll be in Reseda, not Florence, and my morning will be your early evening. Well, you can get the same effect if you go into a local church or cathedral and just pretend I'm up there. It'll be like me sending you Sweet Dreams when it's afternoon here and late night there. We are on the same wavelength and in the same place, regardless of distance.
I had a quiet evening, though my friend Dave F. did come over, with his daughter, for an Orange Grove walk. Tomorrow morn, I will indeed be singing in the choir, and then rehearsing for an hour between Noon and 1pm. I think I have two or three of the songs memorised.
After 1pm, I am off til next Saturday at 4:30, although on Monday afternoon I will be accompanying Pearl and her daughter to a place called The Huntington Library, a huge estate/museum that was once owned by a railroad magnate named Henry Huntington, who was incredibly wealthy, and upon his death in 1927 bequeathed his land and art collections to the public. I've been to the Huntington before, and it's a pretty awesome place, out in San Marino, near Pasadena, which is where the Rose Bowl is located, and Caltech as well. It's where a lot of Los Angeles' "Old Money" (i.e. long established rich families) is located. They invited me for Monday, so I will be excited to go. I'll try to take some pics if photography is allowed.
But tomorrow, after 1pm, I am just gonna chill. We will have a great week ahead! For now, I'll be up til about 1am or so.
I Love You, Elizabeth. See you at Reseda Methodist tomorrow morning! :)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 21, 2014
Back From Glendale With Love (Sweet Baby) (Early Music)
Good Evening, Sweet Baby,
Sorry I'm late! I am just getting back from Glendale, which is a heck of a drive, especially on a Friday afternoon. I was out there to see my sister Sophie, and to take her shopping. Normally, I'd have gone a little earlier, but this morn I took Pearl and The Kobester to Lake Balboa. That's become our Friday Morning Thing To Do. So, lots of driving and loading people and dogs in and out of cars, but now I'm back, and I love, love, love your posts from this morning.............wife. :):)
So, my wife, I hope you had a wonderful day. It's late but not super late, and you might even still be out enjoying your Friday evening.
I am gonna relax for an hour and then head back to Pearl's. I'll post this now so you'll know I'm back.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(back at Pearl's)
4:55pm : I am back. I was looking at the Chriselle Lim picture earlier, and I couldn't tell if she was pregnant or not, so I checked her FB and she indicates she is. I thought that looked like a bump in the photo. So, that has all kinds of implications for Sweet Babyism! :):) + :)? Stay tuned and see!
Happy Late Night, my Angel. I am doing the List Of Things Ordered By The Dog, with one addition this eve. He wanted some popcorn, so I will be popping some shortly.
Right now, I send Sweet Dreams and a giant hug and kiss. Sleep well and I will see you in a few hours.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Good Morning, my Darling. Tonight I am listening to vocal chant music, probably 15th Century or earlier. I got into the David Munrow Early Music Consort because Ritchie Blackmore mentioned them about twenty years ago. I listened, and discovered I really like that sound. People might go, "Countertenor? You've gotta be kidding me"? But I really do love it, especially at this time of year. With the four voice Gothic chant music, I like how one voice sometimes holds a drone note. It gives the music a hypnotic effect, the same way a bagpipe holds a low drone note while playing over the top of it.
Two more days to go, and then I'll have six days off. How about you? Are they gonna have some kind of Thanksgiving celebration at your school? I am guessing "yes", as it is an American school, even though in Italy. I mean, I am just guessing it's an American school, but they have American students. At any rate, I hope you get to have Thanksgiving.
On your birthday..... :)
That's pretty cool, I think. To have your birthday, on Thanksgiving, in Florence, Italy, attending Art School.
A day to remember it will be.
That's all I know for tonight. I will see you in the morn, Beautiful Lady.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sorry I'm late! I am just getting back from Glendale, which is a heck of a drive, especially on a Friday afternoon. I was out there to see my sister Sophie, and to take her shopping. Normally, I'd have gone a little earlier, but this morn I took Pearl and The Kobester to Lake Balboa. That's become our Friday Morning Thing To Do. So, lots of driving and loading people and dogs in and out of cars, but now I'm back, and I love, love, love your posts from this morning.............wife. :):)
So, my wife, I hope you had a wonderful day. It's late but not super late, and you might even still be out enjoying your Friday evening.
I am gonna relax for an hour and then head back to Pearl's. I'll post this now so you'll know I'm back.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(back at Pearl's)
4:55pm : I am back. I was looking at the Chriselle Lim picture earlier, and I couldn't tell if she was pregnant or not, so I checked her FB and she indicates she is. I thought that looked like a bump in the photo. So, that has all kinds of implications for Sweet Babyism! :):) + :)? Stay tuned and see!
Happy Late Night, my Angel. I am doing the List Of Things Ordered By The Dog, with one addition this eve. He wanted some popcorn, so I will be popping some shortly.
Right now, I send Sweet Dreams and a giant hug and kiss. Sleep well and I will see you in a few hours.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Good Morning, my Darling. Tonight I am listening to vocal chant music, probably 15th Century or earlier. I got into the David Munrow Early Music Consort because Ritchie Blackmore mentioned them about twenty years ago. I listened, and discovered I really like that sound. People might go, "Countertenor? You've gotta be kidding me"? But I really do love it, especially at this time of year. With the four voice Gothic chant music, I like how one voice sometimes holds a drone note. It gives the music a hypnotic effect, the same way a bagpipe holds a low drone note while playing over the top of it.
Two more days to go, and then I'll have six days off. How about you? Are they gonna have some kind of Thanksgiving celebration at your school? I am guessing "yes", as it is an American school, even though in Italy. I mean, I am just guessing it's an American school, but they have American students. At any rate, I hope you get to have Thanksgiving.
On your birthday..... :)
That's pretty cool, I think. To have your birthday, on Thanksgiving, in Florence, Italy, attending Art School.
A day to remember it will be.
That's all I know for tonight. I will see you in the morn, Beautiful Lady.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Soft Focus Sweet Baby (Pear Juice) (Midnight to Morning Love)
Hey, Sweet Baby! That's what my KUSC Debussy post should have said a couple hours ago, "Inspiration For A Sweet Baby". I'll outdo Debussy! :):)
Anyway, Good Evening, and I hope you had a great day. I am just back from the Thursday Hair Salon Thing. I really liked the VeronikaT picture you posted earlier. Now that is a perfect example of what I've meant when I've described a Dave-style photograph. You remember, he is my late best friend, whose paintings hang in my apt., and who, while not strictly a photographer, took some great, surreal looking photos, simply by intent and by using tricks I never would have thought of, like soft-focusing his camera.
I am always looking for a feel in a pic, something that pulls me in. A picture need not be technically excellent for that to happen, but the intent has to be there. You can tell if the photographer "means it", just like you can tell if a guy playing a guitar solo "means it".
You see, I could try unfocusing my camera (if I had a manual focus), but if I was doing it just to copy what Dave did (or VeronikaT), then my lack of intent would show up in the picture. But if I did it cause I meant it, then the photo would have that pull.
It's funny, because there are a lot of shots I have in albums, some shot by Dave or my Dad, where people might go, "what's so great about that shot"? Some might even look like mistakes to some folks. But I could actually pinpoint why a certain shot grabs me. I wouldn't want to pinpoint it, because it's like explaining a joke : it ruins the mystique. But I could point out the great things about an odd looking picture. I love 'em.
I love my little cam, and I wanna use it for years to come, but I eventually wanna get a second cam that has features like manual focus. Do digital SLRs have that feature? I guess I can Google it.
Anyway, Incredibly Sweet Baby, I will be here at home til about 3:30, then I'm gonna leave a little early to do some quick shopping. Need broccoli and radishes, stuff like that. I am also looking for Black Strap Molasses. Back when I was a kid, my parents used to talk about eating "a tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses". I have no idea what the Black Strap part is all about, and I don't remember if they were made to eat it, as kids themselves, by their own parents, or if it was something they enjoyed. But I know it was supposed to be a Health Thing back in the old days, like Cod Liver Oil, which I suppose would be the equivalent of fish oil nowdays. Except back then, it didn't come in capsules - you had to swallow it by the spoonful. My Mom said it was gross. So, "yes" to the Black Strap Molasses, and a resounding "no" to the Cod Liver Oil. :)
I do these things cause they're supposed to be good for ya. No other reason, really. Except my veggies, those I love.
Tonight is Movie Night, and we will be seeing P&P's "The Battle Of The River Plate", a WW2 film about a famous naval battle. Being a huge WW2 buff, and having seen a lot of WW2 films, but not this one, I look forward to it.
Enjoy the rest of your evening, and I will send Sweet Dreams when I get to Pearl's.....
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Angel. Great timing with the Pear Juice! Too funny, though mighty tasty too, I'm sure. :) I didn't find any Black Strap Molasses at the produce market. It's one of those huge discount places, in California we have a lot of them, mostly owned by Armenians or Mexicans, so maybe they don't do molasses, I dunno. I'll try Vons, the regular supermarket, when we go shopping on Saturday. And, I'll keep you posted!
Right now, you can guess what I'm making..........that's right, Split Pea Soup! Yeah, I know I've gotta expand my repertoire, but it's really good. And, I'll soon break out the French Onion Soup, too. How's that for variety?
I gave Dog his pill, and I fed him, but soon he'll be barking at me to feed the cat, so I'd better get back to business. He's my real boss, you know.
I send you Sweet Dreams, and I will see you after the movie, at 11:30. Sleep well.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight: Good Morning, my Baby, and Happy Friday. I'm listening to Handel Keyboard Suite (Baby) 2. I really love the Baroque music era. Tonight's movie was the first one where I can't say P&P knocked it out of the park. It was good, maybe a 6.5 on a 10 scale, and it was worth seeing, but compared to their other films - many of which are masterpieces - this one didn't work on a couple of levels, most of all because the story was not paced well, the drama was not developed. Not a bad British WW2 flick, but not as good as "The Dam Busters", which I raved about earlier in the year. For P&P, go back and watch "Tales Of Hoffmann" again, and that'll make up for it. Even the greatest filmmakers can have a slight misfire.
I didn't finish my miles this eve, cause it was L.A. Cold outside (about 51 degrees, cold for us), but more than that, my legs were a little sore from hiking up Rocky Peak two days in a row. But I'll get back to it tomorrow.
Have a great day, and I will see you when I wake up. I Love You!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Anyway, Good Evening, and I hope you had a great day. I am just back from the Thursday Hair Salon Thing. I really liked the VeronikaT picture you posted earlier. Now that is a perfect example of what I've meant when I've described a Dave-style photograph. You remember, he is my late best friend, whose paintings hang in my apt., and who, while not strictly a photographer, took some great, surreal looking photos, simply by intent and by using tricks I never would have thought of, like soft-focusing his camera.
I am always looking for a feel in a pic, something that pulls me in. A picture need not be technically excellent for that to happen, but the intent has to be there. You can tell if the photographer "means it", just like you can tell if a guy playing a guitar solo "means it".
You see, I could try unfocusing my camera (if I had a manual focus), but if I was doing it just to copy what Dave did (or VeronikaT), then my lack of intent would show up in the picture. But if I did it cause I meant it, then the photo would have that pull.
It's funny, because there are a lot of shots I have in albums, some shot by Dave or my Dad, where people might go, "what's so great about that shot"? Some might even look like mistakes to some folks. But I could actually pinpoint why a certain shot grabs me. I wouldn't want to pinpoint it, because it's like explaining a joke : it ruins the mystique. But I could point out the great things about an odd looking picture. I love 'em.
I love my little cam, and I wanna use it for years to come, but I eventually wanna get a second cam that has features like manual focus. Do digital SLRs have that feature? I guess I can Google it.
Anyway, Incredibly Sweet Baby, I will be here at home til about 3:30, then I'm gonna leave a little early to do some quick shopping. Need broccoli and radishes, stuff like that. I am also looking for Black Strap Molasses. Back when I was a kid, my parents used to talk about eating "a tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses". I have no idea what the Black Strap part is all about, and I don't remember if they were made to eat it, as kids themselves, by their own parents, or if it was something they enjoyed. But I know it was supposed to be a Health Thing back in the old days, like Cod Liver Oil, which I suppose would be the equivalent of fish oil nowdays. Except back then, it didn't come in capsules - you had to swallow it by the spoonful. My Mom said it was gross. So, "yes" to the Black Strap Molasses, and a resounding "no" to the Cod Liver Oil. :)
I do these things cause they're supposed to be good for ya. No other reason, really. Except my veggies, those I love.
Tonight is Movie Night, and we will be seeing P&P's "The Battle Of The River Plate", a WW2 film about a famous naval battle. Being a huge WW2 buff, and having seen a lot of WW2 films, but not this one, I look forward to it.
Enjoy the rest of your evening, and I will send Sweet Dreams when I get to Pearl's.....
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Angel. Great timing with the Pear Juice! Too funny, though mighty tasty too, I'm sure. :) I didn't find any Black Strap Molasses at the produce market. It's one of those huge discount places, in California we have a lot of them, mostly owned by Armenians or Mexicans, so maybe they don't do molasses, I dunno. I'll try Vons, the regular supermarket, when we go shopping on Saturday. And, I'll keep you posted!
Right now, you can guess what I'm making..........that's right, Split Pea Soup! Yeah, I know I've gotta expand my repertoire, but it's really good. And, I'll soon break out the French Onion Soup, too. How's that for variety?
I gave Dog his pill, and I fed him, but soon he'll be barking at me to feed the cat, so I'd better get back to business. He's my real boss, you know.
I send you Sweet Dreams, and I will see you after the movie, at 11:30. Sleep well.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight: Good Morning, my Baby, and Happy Friday. I'm listening to Handel Keyboard Suite (Baby) 2. I really love the Baroque music era. Tonight's movie was the first one where I can't say P&P knocked it out of the park. It was good, maybe a 6.5 on a 10 scale, and it was worth seeing, but compared to their other films - many of which are masterpieces - this one didn't work on a couple of levels, most of all because the story was not paced well, the drama was not developed. Not a bad British WW2 flick, but not as good as "The Dam Busters", which I raved about earlier in the year. For P&P, go back and watch "Tales Of Hoffmann" again, and that'll make up for it. Even the greatest filmmakers can have a slight misfire.
I didn't finish my miles this eve, cause it was L.A. Cold outside (about 51 degrees, cold for us), but more than that, my legs were a little sore from hiking up Rocky Peak two days in a row. But I'll get back to it tomorrow.
Have a great day, and I will see you when I wake up. I Love You!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Rocky Peak Again (Very Cool + Late Night Love) (artistic projection)
Good Evening, my Darling,
It's a repeat of yesterday, sort of. I am back from Rocky Peak Trail once again. I figured since it is a new trail for me, I might as well get to know it, and I also wanted to check out the Hummingbird Trail, which branches off from it. I hiked the Hummingbird one time, way back in June I think, but that time I started from the Simi Valley end of the trail, and I didn't get very far because I was a beginner at the time. I went about a half mile down this time, but I could see that it goes on for several miles, so I turned around and went back to Rocky Peak Trail. This time I went a little farther than yesterday, to a point where I could actually see Rocky Peak itself. I think it's about another mile to mile and a half from where I was. I've already done Mission Peak and Oat Mountain, so when I have time I'll go all the way to the top of Rocky Peak, too.
It's a nice hike. You really feel like you are back in Indian country.
So that was all for this morning. I saw your question this morn, and I agree with a couple of the girls who commented. Just keep it simple, a long explanation is not necessary. "I have to get paid because this is what I do". You know, I am not a professional creative person, but just commenting from a personal standpoint, I think a lot of it has to do with personality and how people perceive you. If you are seen as a kind person, compassionate, perhaps, you stand a greater chance of people trying to take advantage of your nature. I'm not saying that any or all of the people who asked you to shoot for free are trying to take advantage. Maybe some or many can't really afford to have the pictures taken, and so they ask "just for the heck of it". But then there will be others who can afford it, but just wanna get something done for free.
That's why a simple, concise explanation is called for. "I can't do it for free. This is what I do for a living. I won't be able to stay in business if I don't get paid".
It's true though, about people perceiving your nature. Can you imagine a snarky, aggressive personality type getting asked to do it for free? I'll bet it doesn't happen nearly as often. Now, you can't - and should never - try to adjust your personality to deal with clients, but just keep it simple and polite and you'll be fine. Stay firm, too.
One other thing, and it's just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. You mentioned "trying to change people's minds" about the value of creative work, or something of that nature. This is just me, but speaking from experience, most people's minds cannot be changed about much of anything. Maybe if it's a very young person, like a middle teenager, who has been getting their music free all their life in the downloading era, but even then, people become set in a particular way of doing things, or in a particular way of seeing a situation or believing what they think is a right way of doing things; i.e. what is legitimate.
It's like politics. My sister asked me about a question that my nephew's class was asked by their art teacher : "Does a film have the power to change a person's political beliefs". My answer was unequivocally no. No film, no book, no song - no matter how great - has ever, in my opinion, been solely responsible for changing a person's vote. I won't go into a long explanation, except to say that in matters where the ego is involved, it is very, very hard for a person to change, because to do that is to admit to themselves that they had something figured out wrong. And it's very hard for people to say, "I was wrong" about such-and-such.
Unless they figure it out for themselves. If they figure it out for themselves, that they were wrong about something, then there is no ego damage inflicted. I'm sure you see what I am saying.
Anyway, just tell people you've got to be paid, and leave it at that. The only reason to do freebies is if it will lead directly to a big or permanent offer, like when a person works an apprenticeship in the entertainment industry. But as a self-employed artist, you have to get paid. End of speech. :)
Well, Sweet Baby, I am gonna post this and then read my Dr. Joe book until it's time to go back to Pearl's. I will check in when I get there.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Baby. Hey, I saw your post just now, and that's really cool about your friend Justin. I say "your friend", I know he wasn't always pleasant to you when you were in his band, but maybe it's all water under the bridge now. He seems like basically an alright guy. Anyway, that's exactly what I was saying a few days ago, referring to another post of his, that there are tons of opportunities in Los Angeles. And so he found one of them. That's great! Now, it's just one step of many, but if he just keeps doing it and believes in himself, he will keep making those steps. Way to go, Justin!
You, Sweet Baby, are gonna make all the right moves to get to where you want to be in your life. As we've said, you're already doing it, and your life is already on track. You are already on your journey. It's fun to be me, and to watch it happen. My own life has been a journey, that's for sure, and while at times it sure didn't feel like I was on the right track, when I look back, it could only have been the way it's been. And I wouldn't trade any of it for anything, any amount of money. Always stay on your journey!
Now I will do the list of things Kobedoggie is barking at me to do : feed him, give him his pill (in a piece of dog food), feed the Black Kitty (so he can have some cat food). Tonight I can take it easy again cause I hiked about 3 1/2 miles at Rocky Peak.
I send you Sweet Dreams and many hugs and kisses, and I will see you at 11:30 tonight.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:55pm : Good Morning, my Darling. Hey, you know, speaking of your earlier question and referring to your Cinema Paradiso post at the same time, I was watching your "Summer Snow" video again, and it's really good. See, you already have enough portfolio material, and it's not about "portfolio" anyway. It's about projecting yourself. We all project ourselves in different ways. Some folks are ultra-professional, have all the details down, some are more intuitive and just go by feel, but it's all about projecting You. I have been projecting myself all my life, but have only been conscious of it in my adult life, meaning that I've developed the ability to analyse it. I see that I have been projecting myself in mostly a psychic way, a way of thought and concentration on my place in the world, or how I relate to the world. That's how I came to see myself as a creative person : how do I relate to this human life, what is my story, what is behind the scenes? It's all very complex, lol, but the point is that I have constantly been projecting myself, via concentrated thought, for years now, and after a while, this thought energy is the rudder that keeps you on your path, and in a professional sense, it attracts people to you. I am not an outgoing person, so I project from within. It's not something you force, but rather a force you tune into, and that force carries your will outward. It probably sounds like a lot of gibberish, but it isn't. It's similar to Intent. You can also call it Knowing Who You Are. Most people don't know Who They Are, but You Do. So that's projection, in the artistic sense.
Now, that's not helpful in a professional sense, I know, but it is these subtleties that set us apart, that makes a certain artist interesting while another may be less so. Take an "expert" guitarist, for example, a Grade A Shredder. Why are most of those guys boring?
Because there is no projection of self, just a lot of learned skills.
Whereas a far less technically talented musician can pull in an audience by projecting an interesting personality.
Now, you can't fake it. You have to have an interesting personality to project one. But you have one, and that has been apparent from the get go.
I have to say that the melody you wrote for "Summer Snow" is simply beautiful, and so full of feeling. And the images match the music exactly.
So always have quiet confidence in yourself. It's what has carried me through life, and it puts the focus on You, and what you want for yourself, rather than on other people, and what they may want from you, or how they think of you.
Quiet confidence, held inside, focused, and projected outward, in thought and in action. That's will serve you well.
I Love You, Elizabeth. See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
It's a repeat of yesterday, sort of. I am back from Rocky Peak Trail once again. I figured since it is a new trail for me, I might as well get to know it, and I also wanted to check out the Hummingbird Trail, which branches off from it. I hiked the Hummingbird one time, way back in June I think, but that time I started from the Simi Valley end of the trail, and I didn't get very far because I was a beginner at the time. I went about a half mile down this time, but I could see that it goes on for several miles, so I turned around and went back to Rocky Peak Trail. This time I went a little farther than yesterday, to a point where I could actually see Rocky Peak itself. I think it's about another mile to mile and a half from where I was. I've already done Mission Peak and Oat Mountain, so when I have time I'll go all the way to the top of Rocky Peak, too.
It's a nice hike. You really feel like you are back in Indian country.
So that was all for this morning. I saw your question this morn, and I agree with a couple of the girls who commented. Just keep it simple, a long explanation is not necessary. "I have to get paid because this is what I do". You know, I am not a professional creative person, but just commenting from a personal standpoint, I think a lot of it has to do with personality and how people perceive you. If you are seen as a kind person, compassionate, perhaps, you stand a greater chance of people trying to take advantage of your nature. I'm not saying that any or all of the people who asked you to shoot for free are trying to take advantage. Maybe some or many can't really afford to have the pictures taken, and so they ask "just for the heck of it". But then there will be others who can afford it, but just wanna get something done for free.
That's why a simple, concise explanation is called for. "I can't do it for free. This is what I do for a living. I won't be able to stay in business if I don't get paid".
It's true though, about people perceiving your nature. Can you imagine a snarky, aggressive personality type getting asked to do it for free? I'll bet it doesn't happen nearly as often. Now, you can't - and should never - try to adjust your personality to deal with clients, but just keep it simple and polite and you'll be fine. Stay firm, too.
One other thing, and it's just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. You mentioned "trying to change people's minds" about the value of creative work, or something of that nature. This is just me, but speaking from experience, most people's minds cannot be changed about much of anything. Maybe if it's a very young person, like a middle teenager, who has been getting their music free all their life in the downloading era, but even then, people become set in a particular way of doing things, or in a particular way of seeing a situation or believing what they think is a right way of doing things; i.e. what is legitimate.
It's like politics. My sister asked me about a question that my nephew's class was asked by their art teacher : "Does a film have the power to change a person's political beliefs". My answer was unequivocally no. No film, no book, no song - no matter how great - has ever, in my opinion, been solely responsible for changing a person's vote. I won't go into a long explanation, except to say that in matters where the ego is involved, it is very, very hard for a person to change, because to do that is to admit to themselves that they had something figured out wrong. And it's very hard for people to say, "I was wrong" about such-and-such.
Unless they figure it out for themselves. If they figure it out for themselves, that they were wrong about something, then there is no ego damage inflicted. I'm sure you see what I am saying.
Anyway, just tell people you've got to be paid, and leave it at that. The only reason to do freebies is if it will lead directly to a big or permanent offer, like when a person works an apprenticeship in the entertainment industry. But as a self-employed artist, you have to get paid. End of speech. :)
Well, Sweet Baby, I am gonna post this and then read my Dr. Joe book until it's time to go back to Pearl's. I will check in when I get there.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Baby. Hey, I saw your post just now, and that's really cool about your friend Justin. I say "your friend", I know he wasn't always pleasant to you when you were in his band, but maybe it's all water under the bridge now. He seems like basically an alright guy. Anyway, that's exactly what I was saying a few days ago, referring to another post of his, that there are tons of opportunities in Los Angeles. And so he found one of them. That's great! Now, it's just one step of many, but if he just keeps doing it and believes in himself, he will keep making those steps. Way to go, Justin!
You, Sweet Baby, are gonna make all the right moves to get to where you want to be in your life. As we've said, you're already doing it, and your life is already on track. You are already on your journey. It's fun to be me, and to watch it happen. My own life has been a journey, that's for sure, and while at times it sure didn't feel like I was on the right track, when I look back, it could only have been the way it's been. And I wouldn't trade any of it for anything, any amount of money. Always stay on your journey!
Now I will do the list of things Kobedoggie is barking at me to do : feed him, give him his pill (in a piece of dog food), feed the Black Kitty (so he can have some cat food). Tonight I can take it easy again cause I hiked about 3 1/2 miles at Rocky Peak.
I send you Sweet Dreams and many hugs and kisses, and I will see you at 11:30 tonight.
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:55pm : Good Morning, my Darling. Hey, you know, speaking of your earlier question and referring to your Cinema Paradiso post at the same time, I was watching your "Summer Snow" video again, and it's really good. See, you already have enough portfolio material, and it's not about "portfolio" anyway. It's about projecting yourself. We all project ourselves in different ways. Some folks are ultra-professional, have all the details down, some are more intuitive and just go by feel, but it's all about projecting You. I have been projecting myself all my life, but have only been conscious of it in my adult life, meaning that I've developed the ability to analyse it. I see that I have been projecting myself in mostly a psychic way, a way of thought and concentration on my place in the world, or how I relate to the world. That's how I came to see myself as a creative person : how do I relate to this human life, what is my story, what is behind the scenes? It's all very complex, lol, but the point is that I have constantly been projecting myself, via concentrated thought, for years now, and after a while, this thought energy is the rudder that keeps you on your path, and in a professional sense, it attracts people to you. I am not an outgoing person, so I project from within. It's not something you force, but rather a force you tune into, and that force carries your will outward. It probably sounds like a lot of gibberish, but it isn't. It's similar to Intent. You can also call it Knowing Who You Are. Most people don't know Who They Are, but You Do. So that's projection, in the artistic sense.
Now, that's not helpful in a professional sense, I know, but it is these subtleties that set us apart, that makes a certain artist interesting while another may be less so. Take an "expert" guitarist, for example, a Grade A Shredder. Why are most of those guys boring?
Because there is no projection of self, just a lot of learned skills.
Whereas a far less technically talented musician can pull in an audience by projecting an interesting personality.
Now, you can't fake it. You have to have an interesting personality to project one. But you have one, and that has been apparent from the get go.
I have to say that the melody you wrote for "Summer Snow" is simply beautiful, and so full of feeling. And the images match the music exactly.
So always have quiet confidence in yourself. It's what has carried me through life, and it puts the focus on You, and what you want for yourself, rather than on other people, and what they may want from you, or how they think of you.
Quiet confidence, held inside, focused, and projected outward, in thought and in action. That's will serve you well.
I Love You, Elizabeth. See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Rocky Peak Love (Sweet Dreams after a Good Day) (Leaves)
Good Evening, my Angel,
I am back home, having picked Pearl up from Golden Agers. I am excited cause I found a new trail. It's called Rocky Peak Trail, and I'd actually heard of it and even driven past it many times on my way to Simi and Corriganville, but I was always under the impression it was a rock climbing site like The Point Of All Things Stonelike (aka Stoney Point). I don't know why I thought that; maybe because it was described as a difficult "climb", but meaning the trail rather than a rock face.
At any rate, it is a trail, and it's a great one, and it's a bit steep but not all that difficult. It goes up into the Santa Susana Mountains and is located near the Garden Of The Gods. It's kinda of like hiking in Santa Susana State Historic Park, where I always go, except that this trail at Rocky Peak supposedly goes back 12 miles into the hills! That's awesome, not that I would ever go all that way, but you never know. One day maybe I'll do it, and for now, I can go back maybe 3 miles, just to see what's what.
It's not real scenic like the Santa Clarita trails. There are no coves of trees or dry creek beds or fields of dry grass. No canyons. What there is, is mountains and rocks. It's an old Indian trail that was also used by stagecoaches in the old Western days. Anyway, it's a new find, so I am happy.
I hope you had a wonderful day, and perhaps your Eric Whitacre post signifies that you did! I love you so much, Elizabeth, and these are great times we are sharing, days that we will always remember.
I am also thinking of my Mom today, November 18th was her birthday. Mom would have been 91. :)
My Momma would have liked you, I can tell you that!
Right now I will relax for a few. I'll be here til 4:15, then back to Pearl's, where I will check in bearing Sweet Dreams......
I Love You, Beautiful Lady. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:50pm : Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby. It's that time of night again, where I send you Sweet Dreams to keep you company while you sleep. I'm at Pearl's, feeding the Kobedog, giving him his pill and getting ready to make dinner, but what I am thinking about is You. :):)
I hope you had a good day at school and I'm sure that it continues to be an interesting and exciting experience. Tonight, I can take it kind of easy since I already did most of my mileage, so I will either watch a movie or read when I get home. Then a short walk later. I will be back at 11:30pm as usual.
I Love You, Elizabeth! Sleep well. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:55pm : Good Morning, my Darling. I am listening to the last few minutes of the Jim Svejda show on KUSC, and trying to keep my eyes open, lol. Earlier I was reading my Dr. Joe book, and I kept falling asleep, but then I would wake up and read another page, and find myself having to Google something like "logarithmic space" or "longitudinal wave". I can wrap my mind around the concepts he writes about, but sometimes I have to look up the specifics. But I love it! I love getting tired while studying interesting things.
Yeah, I know I'm a bit weird.
Your post about the leaf collecting lady was a coincidence, because just yesterday, on a dogwalk with Pearl and the Kobester, I picked up our first leaf of the Fall. There is a tree next door that usually drops some colorful patterned leaves, and every year, I pick a few up, the best ones, and give them to Pearl. She likes to press them in books, just like the lady in the picture. We don't get the brilliant colors of eastern trees, but what we do get is very rustic colors, beautiful in their own way.
I also love putting things in books, but what I've put, over the years, have mostly been little newspaper articles, concert reviews, local news items, anything that interests me. I love the idea of a Time Capsule, and anything can be such. It's fun to put something away and not look at it for a while, and then eventually re-discover it! And then it can bring you back to when you found it - such as a leaf - and in that way, time rebounds and the memory comes back. I find the elasticity of time to be pretty awesome. :)
Well, my brain is probably short circuiting about now, though I know I won't actually be able to fall asleep for real until 1am or so. Biorhythms rule me. I will say goodnight, then, even though I'll be up for another 45 minutes. And I'll meet you in Paris when I wake up!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(if you were to say "meet me at the Eiffel Tower" at any particular time, I'd be there......)
I am back home, having picked Pearl up from Golden Agers. I am excited cause I found a new trail. It's called Rocky Peak Trail, and I'd actually heard of it and even driven past it many times on my way to Simi and Corriganville, but I was always under the impression it was a rock climbing site like The Point Of All Things Stonelike (aka Stoney Point). I don't know why I thought that; maybe because it was described as a difficult "climb", but meaning the trail rather than a rock face.
At any rate, it is a trail, and it's a great one, and it's a bit steep but not all that difficult. It goes up into the Santa Susana Mountains and is located near the Garden Of The Gods. It's kinda of like hiking in Santa Susana State Historic Park, where I always go, except that this trail at Rocky Peak supposedly goes back 12 miles into the hills! That's awesome, not that I would ever go all that way, but you never know. One day maybe I'll do it, and for now, I can go back maybe 3 miles, just to see what's what.
It's not real scenic like the Santa Clarita trails. There are no coves of trees or dry creek beds or fields of dry grass. No canyons. What there is, is mountains and rocks. It's an old Indian trail that was also used by stagecoaches in the old Western days. Anyway, it's a new find, so I am happy.
I hope you had a wonderful day, and perhaps your Eric Whitacre post signifies that you did! I love you so much, Elizabeth, and these are great times we are sharing, days that we will always remember.
I am also thinking of my Mom today, November 18th was her birthday. Mom would have been 91. :)
My Momma would have liked you, I can tell you that!
Right now I will relax for a few. I'll be here til 4:15, then back to Pearl's, where I will check in bearing Sweet Dreams......
I Love You, Beautiful Lady. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:50pm : Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby. It's that time of night again, where I send you Sweet Dreams to keep you company while you sleep. I'm at Pearl's, feeding the Kobedog, giving him his pill and getting ready to make dinner, but what I am thinking about is You. :):)
I hope you had a good day at school and I'm sure that it continues to be an interesting and exciting experience. Tonight, I can take it kind of easy since I already did most of my mileage, so I will either watch a movie or read when I get home. Then a short walk later. I will be back at 11:30pm as usual.
I Love You, Elizabeth! Sleep well. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:55pm : Good Morning, my Darling. I am listening to the last few minutes of the Jim Svejda show on KUSC, and trying to keep my eyes open, lol. Earlier I was reading my Dr. Joe book, and I kept falling asleep, but then I would wake up and read another page, and find myself having to Google something like "logarithmic space" or "longitudinal wave". I can wrap my mind around the concepts he writes about, but sometimes I have to look up the specifics. But I love it! I love getting tired while studying interesting things.
Yeah, I know I'm a bit weird.
Your post about the leaf collecting lady was a coincidence, because just yesterday, on a dogwalk with Pearl and the Kobester, I picked up our first leaf of the Fall. There is a tree next door that usually drops some colorful patterned leaves, and every year, I pick a few up, the best ones, and give them to Pearl. She likes to press them in books, just like the lady in the picture. We don't get the brilliant colors of eastern trees, but what we do get is very rustic colors, beautiful in their own way.
I also love putting things in books, but what I've put, over the years, have mostly been little newspaper articles, concert reviews, local news items, anything that interests me. I love the idea of a Time Capsule, and anything can be such. It's fun to put something away and not look at it for a while, and then eventually re-discover it! And then it can bring you back to when you found it - such as a leaf - and in that way, time rebounds and the memory comes back. I find the elasticity of time to be pretty awesome. :)
Well, my brain is probably short circuiting about now, though I know I won't actually be able to fall asleep for real until 1am or so. Biorhythms rule me. I will say goodnight, then, even though I'll be up for another 45 minutes. And I'll meet you in Paris when I wake up!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(if you were to say "meet me at the Eiffel Tower" at any particular time, I'd be there......)
Monday, November 17, 2014
Love From Home On Monday Afternoon (Love & Barks) (Northridge/Florence Love)
Good Evening, Sweet Baby!,
I'm just getting home from Pearl's. Did a few extra things this morn, like transplanting an aloe vera plant that was outgrowing it's pot, making a bed for the Black Kitty, and cleaning up the backyard a bit. Now I can do dishes here at home, haha. Not much else happening at the moment. I am gonna redouble my search for some new trails, though, so I'll do some Googling and also pore over my AAA maps, to see what I can locate. A nice, ghostly park would be nice! I love my Daytime Ghosts. :)
My Baby, I loved the picture of the morning bike rider. Beautiful colors in that one, and a great setting. I haven't ridden a bike in a while, but you know what they say : you never forget! So that's another thing we can do together, head out on bikes, perhaps with our cameras in backpacks, and see what we can find.
I hope your week is off to a good start, and I say "yes, it is"! I will be here til 4:15 and will check back in when I get to Pearl's.
I Love You and You Rule! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I'm at Pearl's, making Split Pea soup, one of my favorites (can ya tell)? Kobedoggie is barking at me. Anytime I cook, he barks. I say to Pearl, "He's yelling at me again"! :)
I also found the Dog Bark Jingle Bells on Youtube, and I played it, and the barks coming out of the computer speaker freaked him out. So touche, Kobester!
I've gotta get out there and water the roses before it gets pitch dark, so I'll wish you Sweet Dreams for now, and send lots of love, and I will see you once again at 11:30 tonight!
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:45pm : Good Morning, my Angel. This time of year always means lots of Bach for me, so I am listening to a CD of cantatas and oratorios, very beautiful and spiritual. I did my whole walk all at once, but other than that I've just been reading my book, "Babylon's Banksters".
Tomorrow I may try a new trail, I found a couple in Simi Valley. They might be of the "parched rolling hills" variety instead of like the beautiful Santa Clarita trails, but I won't know unless I check 'em out. I could also drive to the east end of the Valley to check out Mt. Lukens. That's the highest mountain in Los Angeles city at about 5000 ft. Los Angeles County is much bigger, with 10,000 foot mountains, but I wanna try Lukens next year, so I will drive out there at some point to just check it out. It's about 20 miles away. If I went tomorrow, I'd have about an hour at the site. For me, it's all about the experience rather than just the athletic value of the hike itself. So I'm looking for good scenery, as always. It's also about being called to a certain place, and sometimes you just have to let that happen. :)
So, I wish you a wonderful morning and day, and I'm with you there in spirit, and you're here with me!
And we trade off Sweet Dreams on our different sleep schedules and share those too.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I'm just getting home from Pearl's. Did a few extra things this morn, like transplanting an aloe vera plant that was outgrowing it's pot, making a bed for the Black Kitty, and cleaning up the backyard a bit. Now I can do dishes here at home, haha. Not much else happening at the moment. I am gonna redouble my search for some new trails, though, so I'll do some Googling and also pore over my AAA maps, to see what I can locate. A nice, ghostly park would be nice! I love my Daytime Ghosts. :)
My Baby, I loved the picture of the morning bike rider. Beautiful colors in that one, and a great setting. I haven't ridden a bike in a while, but you know what they say : you never forget! So that's another thing we can do together, head out on bikes, perhaps with our cameras in backpacks, and see what we can find.
I hope your week is off to a good start, and I say "yes, it is"! I will be here til 4:15 and will check back in when I get to Pearl's.
I Love You and You Rule! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I'm at Pearl's, making Split Pea soup, one of my favorites (can ya tell)? Kobedoggie is barking at me. Anytime I cook, he barks. I say to Pearl, "He's yelling at me again"! :)
I also found the Dog Bark Jingle Bells on Youtube, and I played it, and the barks coming out of the computer speaker freaked him out. So touche, Kobester!
I've gotta get out there and water the roses before it gets pitch dark, so I'll wish you Sweet Dreams for now, and send lots of love, and I will see you once again at 11:30 tonight!
I Love You, Elizabeth! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:45pm : Good Morning, my Angel. This time of year always means lots of Bach for me, so I am listening to a CD of cantatas and oratorios, very beautiful and spiritual. I did my whole walk all at once, but other than that I've just been reading my book, "Babylon's Banksters".
Tomorrow I may try a new trail, I found a couple in Simi Valley. They might be of the "parched rolling hills" variety instead of like the beautiful Santa Clarita trails, but I won't know unless I check 'em out. I could also drive to the east end of the Valley to check out Mt. Lukens. That's the highest mountain in Los Angeles city at about 5000 ft. Los Angeles County is much bigger, with 10,000 foot mountains, but I wanna try Lukens next year, so I will drive out there at some point to just check it out. It's about 20 miles away. If I went tomorrow, I'd have about an hour at the site. For me, it's all about the experience rather than just the athletic value of the hike itself. So I'm looking for good scenery, as always. It's also about being called to a certain place, and sometimes you just have to let that happen. :)
So, I wish you a wonderful morning and day, and I'm with you there in spirit, and you're here with me!
And we trade off Sweet Dreams on our different sleep schedules and share those too.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Choir & Triple Love (Sleepy Love)
Good Evening, my Darling,
Well, I am back from Pearl's and from church. They've got me in the choir now, I couldn't refuse. I mean, I could have, but it would have required an iron will, lol. The director said, "We've gotta find you a robe", as if I was already in, and I suppose I was as of last week. Then all the other members came up and said things like, "thanks for coming to sing with us", and I couldn't very well say no at that point. So today, after a few minutes rehearsal, I was up on the stage with my robe and green collar on, singing with the choir.
Some of the parts I was able to "get" pretty quickly, but mostly I just followed along, listening to the piano and the other voices. Church hymns have a lot of rise-and-fall in the melody, and sometimes it's easy to predict what is coming up, but other times the melody has a key modulation or goes off on other tangents, and that's when you (meaning me) just lower your voice and try not to mess things up, haha.
A surprise, though : I enjoyed it, for the most part. I have always loved to sing along to every rock song while in my car (alone of course), and so I do enjoy the act of singing itself. The hard part is getting it right!
So, that will be my Sunday morning for the forseeable future. Gotta re-route the Kobester's CSUN walk.
I hope you've had a great day and................one day we can sing together. :):)
After I get a whole lot better, of course! :)
I liked the picture of the Oregon trees by Veleda Thorsson. It looks like a painting by Klimt! Very beautiful indeed. And the contraband Kitty is quite a character! I dunno if that post was inspired by one of my own posts yesterday, over at the King's X board, and in fact I don't know if you've ever even browsed over there, but sometimes I've told a tale or two about the old days, when I did things I don't do anymore, and haven't done since 1997. I was like Contraband Kitty once, but he's on his own now, haha. Now I'm singing in church! :)
Well, my Baby, I am just getting home, so I am gonna get situated, do some dishes, and then go to Trader Joe's for some salsa and other, less important stuff like bread.
Enjoy the late hours of your evening, and I will write more later tonight at 11:30. But I'll be here at home for about another hour or so, til 3:30.
P.S. I just now see your Eric Whitacre post, and I Triple Love You, Elizabeth. We sang John Rutter again today, it's kind of hard. Whitacre would be extremely difficult, but fun to try!
Triple Love, more Love later! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Good Morning, my Darling. I'm a little later than usual because I watched an X-File after my walk, and then I almost fell asleep! Had to catch myself, I was nodding off. Now I am listening to Couperin, wide awake again. I also found some full choral versions of the Rutter "Christmas Lullaby" and another song called "Sing We Now Of Christmas", so I can practice at home. :) So if you pass my apartment, and you hear a male voice singing to no apparent accompaniment, that'll be me, with my headphones on, doing my homework.
After this week, I will get six days off for Thanksgiving week. That will be nice, many sleep-ins to catch up on rest, search out new trails for the New Year, and stuff like that. Also, Thanksgiving Day happens to fall on another special day..........you wouldn't happen to know what it is, would you?
If you don't, I can't tell you. Gotta keep it a secret for now. :)
Let's just say it's a day to give thanks, and for extra special reasons this time.
I Love You So Much, Elizabeth. I'll see you in the morning and we'll have a great week!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Well, I am back from Pearl's and from church. They've got me in the choir now, I couldn't refuse. I mean, I could have, but it would have required an iron will, lol. The director said, "We've gotta find you a robe", as if I was already in, and I suppose I was as of last week. Then all the other members came up and said things like, "thanks for coming to sing with us", and I couldn't very well say no at that point. So today, after a few minutes rehearsal, I was up on the stage with my robe and green collar on, singing with the choir.
Some of the parts I was able to "get" pretty quickly, but mostly I just followed along, listening to the piano and the other voices. Church hymns have a lot of rise-and-fall in the melody, and sometimes it's easy to predict what is coming up, but other times the melody has a key modulation or goes off on other tangents, and that's when you (meaning me) just lower your voice and try not to mess things up, haha.
A surprise, though : I enjoyed it, for the most part. I have always loved to sing along to every rock song while in my car (alone of course), and so I do enjoy the act of singing itself. The hard part is getting it right!
So, that will be my Sunday morning for the forseeable future. Gotta re-route the Kobester's CSUN walk.
I hope you've had a great day and................one day we can sing together. :):)
After I get a whole lot better, of course! :)
I liked the picture of the Oregon trees by Veleda Thorsson. It looks like a painting by Klimt! Very beautiful indeed. And the contraband Kitty is quite a character! I dunno if that post was inspired by one of my own posts yesterday, over at the King's X board, and in fact I don't know if you've ever even browsed over there, but sometimes I've told a tale or two about the old days, when I did things I don't do anymore, and haven't done since 1997. I was like Contraband Kitty once, but he's on his own now, haha. Now I'm singing in church! :)
Well, my Baby, I am just getting home, so I am gonna get situated, do some dishes, and then go to Trader Joe's for some salsa and other, less important stuff like bread.
Enjoy the late hours of your evening, and I will write more later tonight at 11:30. But I'll be here at home for about another hour or so, til 3:30.
P.S. I just now see your Eric Whitacre post, and I Triple Love You, Elizabeth. We sang John Rutter again today, it's kind of hard. Whitacre would be extremely difficult, but fun to try!
Triple Love, more Love later! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Good Morning, my Darling. I'm a little later than usual because I watched an X-File after my walk, and then I almost fell asleep! Had to catch myself, I was nodding off. Now I am listening to Couperin, wide awake again. I also found some full choral versions of the Rutter "Christmas Lullaby" and another song called "Sing We Now Of Christmas", so I can practice at home. :) So if you pass my apartment, and you hear a male voice singing to no apparent accompaniment, that'll be me, with my headphones on, doing my homework.
After this week, I will get six days off for Thanksgiving week. That will be nice, many sleep-ins to catch up on rest, search out new trails for the New Year, and stuff like that. Also, Thanksgiving Day happens to fall on another special day..........you wouldn't happen to know what it is, would you?
If you don't, I can't tell you. Gotta keep it a secret for now. :)
Let's just say it's a day to give thanks, and for extra special reasons this time.
I Love You So Much, Elizabeth. I'll see you in the morning and we'll have a great week!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Hotness (Sweet Dreams) (Happy Sunday)
Good Evening, Sweet Baby,
Happy Saturday! Hotness, eh? Boy oh boy.......I don't know if I rank up there with the likes of Franz "The Man" Liszt or George Gershwin, but I...........wait a minute!...........I'm about to make an assumption of hotness here. I'd better be careful, lol. :)
Seriously, though, if I'm even half as hot as Baby Face Schumann, then I can hold my head high and walk away with confidence. Hey, you know though, that some of those guys were indeed hot in real life. Liszt, in particular, drove ladies crazy like The Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Hence the movie with Roger Daltry, "Lisztomania". Chopin was no slouch, either. My goodness, those classical composers.....
Well, it is very passionate music. Think about it. :) In life, you've gotta emote, baby!
I hope you are having a wonderful day, my Angel. My sister did not come over, but I am gonna do a little shopping anyway. Not for a while, though. First I am gonna listen to some of The Opera Show while I do dishes. So I'll be here til 1pm.
P.S. Another picture of a girl between rocks, too! I love it. Machu Picchu is of course on our list...
I Love You, Elizabeth! I will check in when I get to Pearl's.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:45pm : Hi, my Darling. I am at Pearl's, doing laundry, making turkey burgers, feeding the Kobester and giving him his pill. Hey, I'm a multitasker! I hope you had a great day. I didn't do much other than my shopping, but at least my apt. is nice and neat again. Tonight, perhaps a movie.
That's all for now. I wish you Sweet Dreams and send you so much love!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(back at usual time, 11:30 tonight)
11:55pm : Good Morning, my Baby. Happy Sunday morning in Italy. It's funny, because not too long ago I stated that I could just picture the worshipers headed to church in Florence, the whole scenario, and now here I find myself headed to church in the morning. Well, now we can have a role reversal : you can picture me, instead!
Right now, I am listening to some organ music by Olivier Messiaen. Earlier, I watched a movie I found at Northridge Library, called "Dark Water". It came out about 10 years ago, and I remember hearing about it, but now after seeing it, I wonder why it didn't make a bigger splash (no pun intended). It is very well done, creepy, but also affecting, in the manner of a film like "Pan's Labyrinth".
That's all I know for tonight.
I Love You, Elizabeth. See you in the morning! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Saturday! Hotness, eh? Boy oh boy.......I don't know if I rank up there with the likes of Franz "The Man" Liszt or George Gershwin, but I...........wait a minute!...........I'm about to make an assumption of hotness here. I'd better be careful, lol. :)
Seriously, though, if I'm even half as hot as Baby Face Schumann, then I can hold my head high and walk away with confidence. Hey, you know though, that some of those guys were indeed hot in real life. Liszt, in particular, drove ladies crazy like The Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Hence the movie with Roger Daltry, "Lisztomania". Chopin was no slouch, either. My goodness, those classical composers.....
Well, it is very passionate music. Think about it. :) In life, you've gotta emote, baby!
I hope you are having a wonderful day, my Angel. My sister did not come over, but I am gonna do a little shopping anyway. Not for a while, though. First I am gonna listen to some of The Opera Show while I do dishes. So I'll be here til 1pm.
P.S. Another picture of a girl between rocks, too! I love it. Machu Picchu is of course on our list...
I Love You, Elizabeth! I will check in when I get to Pearl's.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:45pm : Hi, my Darling. I am at Pearl's, doing laundry, making turkey burgers, feeding the Kobester and giving him his pill. Hey, I'm a multitasker! I hope you had a great day. I didn't do much other than my shopping, but at least my apt. is nice and neat again. Tonight, perhaps a movie.
That's all for now. I wish you Sweet Dreams and send you so much love!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(back at usual time, 11:30 tonight)
11:55pm : Good Morning, my Baby. Happy Sunday morning in Italy. It's funny, because not too long ago I stated that I could just picture the worshipers headed to church in Florence, the whole scenario, and now here I find myself headed to church in the morning. Well, now we can have a role reversal : you can picture me, instead!
Right now, I am listening to some organ music by Olivier Messiaen. Earlier, I watched a movie I found at Northridge Library, called "Dark Water". It came out about 10 years ago, and I remember hearing about it, but now after seeing it, I wonder why it didn't make a bigger splash (no pun intended). It is very well done, creepy, but also affecting, in the manner of a film like "Pan's Labyrinth".
That's all I know for tonight.
I Love You, Elizabeth. See you in the morning! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 14, 2014
Lake Balboa Morning Love (Lots Of Late Night Love) (abstract)
Good Evening, Sweet Baby,
Happy Friday. I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I am home, just back from taking Pearl and Kobi to Lake Balboa. It was a nice morning at the park, we saw a lot of ducks, coots, gulls, and a crane. I saw your post this morning. The Jonas Brothers, eh? Is that in response to the bubblegum pop videos I've posted recently? Perhaps a comment, lol? I can think of only one other reason why you'd post a Jonas Brother, but I won't mention it because I don't wanna start a ruckus. And it's not relevant, anyway. :)
Is Andrew your cousin, or uncle, perhaps? It looks like he may be in the entertainment business, I see pictures of him with Joan Rivers, too, and it looks like he's at press functions. Maybe he's in the biz.
Anyhow, I am gonna do some dishes, straighten things up a bit, and then at 1pm I am gonna head out to see "Nightcrawler" with Jake Gyllenhaal. Grim and I both like him, and Grim saw the movie and recommended it, and I still have movie theater gift cards from last Christmas that I've never used, so I might as well use 'em. I wanna see "Interstellar", too.
So, I'll be here til 1pm, and then back when I get to Pearl's. Enjoy the rest of your evening!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:45pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I am at Pearl's, having returned from the movie. Boy, it was really dark, as in dark comedy, only it wasn't a comedy! Definitely a message movie, or a commentary. There are situations in the plot that are unrealistic, but that's not the point with this movie. Great performance by Jake, and really slick looking night photography of Los Angeles. I recommend it, but it's not for the squeamish.
I see your Eric Whitacre post, and you know those always make me feel so happy. It is not only wonderful to love you, Elizabeth, but wonderful to be loved by you, and to be in love with you.
We are two lucky people, I think. :):)
Well, I had better do some watering before it gets pitch dark outside. Then I will make dinner and feed the Black Kitty. When I came in, I saw the bigger Black Cat that lives across the street. He was on the porch, and sometimes he tries to bully our Black Kitty. I've told him, "You're not the Black Kitty! Our kitty is the Black Kitty"! Then he leaves. I will make sure he left this time.
That's all for now, my Angel, except to wish you Sweet Dreams. And who knows, this reluctant choir member may wind up singing an Eric Whitacre composition in the future.........
.......there's already one inside my heart! :):)
I Love You, Elizabeth, and I will write more at the usual time, when you wake up.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Listening to Rameau piano music. I love the Baroque sound, and the counterpoint. It's some of the first music I can remember hearing - Scarlatti, Rameau, Bach of course. It's very mathematical, and yet there is great beauty in it.
Earlier I reread the Eric Whitacre post, and I liked what he wrote about his creative process, that at a certain point in the development of a new work, he will make abstract drawings of what the music feels like, and how it corresponds to sound.
Man, that's the whole deal, right there! All the art forms are interrelated, just as all our senses work together as one. If you watch a conductor at a classical concert, he is doing more than just keeping time with his baton. He is also creating shapes in the air, and adding to the feel with his facial expressions and body language. But in composition, to draw abstract pictures is to really get into the unconscious, and to sort of "meet-and-greet" the arriving music, as it draws outward from the inspiration.
He is drawing it, spontaneously, as it arrives. That is awesome, and it's also a very natural thing to do, perhaps not taught in music school, but arrived at from within, from a personal perspective. This is what happens when you, as an Artist, are contemplative with yourself. That is why I've suggested studying your own work, your own pictures, and music, and becoming "your own biggest fan", because when you do that, you are giving yourself feedback and further insight into why you create in the first place.
Not everyone creates. You do. So study why that is. Always be curious, always wonder "why" about things. And when inspiration hits, go with it, wherever it takes you. Drawing abstract pictures while creating a vocal work in progress is not something that is taught. What happens, is that the Artist is so tuned in to himself (or herself) that deep personal knowledge, abilities and techniques from the subconscious, rise to the surface. This is how you bring out the You.
You are your own biggest influence, and that is why you become unique, as an artist. You are your own teacher, and student. This is not to say that an Artist has no outside influences, we all do, even the greatest of the great. It is just to say that the more you study yourself, and your own work, the more you will see it in it's entirety. It's like an iceberg submerged, and you want to see more than the tip. You want to see the whole thing, and so you submerge yourself, and look deep.
I Love You, Elizabeth. Have a wonderful morning, and I will see you when I wake up.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Friday. I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I am home, just back from taking Pearl and Kobi to Lake Balboa. It was a nice morning at the park, we saw a lot of ducks, coots, gulls, and a crane. I saw your post this morning. The Jonas Brothers, eh? Is that in response to the bubblegum pop videos I've posted recently? Perhaps a comment, lol? I can think of only one other reason why you'd post a Jonas Brother, but I won't mention it because I don't wanna start a ruckus. And it's not relevant, anyway. :)
Is Andrew your cousin, or uncle, perhaps? It looks like he may be in the entertainment business, I see pictures of him with Joan Rivers, too, and it looks like he's at press functions. Maybe he's in the biz.
Anyhow, I am gonna do some dishes, straighten things up a bit, and then at 1pm I am gonna head out to see "Nightcrawler" with Jake Gyllenhaal. Grim and I both like him, and Grim saw the movie and recommended it, and I still have movie theater gift cards from last Christmas that I've never used, so I might as well use 'em. I wanna see "Interstellar", too.
So, I'll be here til 1pm, and then back when I get to Pearl's. Enjoy the rest of your evening!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:45pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I am at Pearl's, having returned from the movie. Boy, it was really dark, as in dark comedy, only it wasn't a comedy! Definitely a message movie, or a commentary. There are situations in the plot that are unrealistic, but that's not the point with this movie. Great performance by Jake, and really slick looking night photography of Los Angeles. I recommend it, but it's not for the squeamish.
I see your Eric Whitacre post, and you know those always make me feel so happy. It is not only wonderful to love you, Elizabeth, but wonderful to be loved by you, and to be in love with you.
We are two lucky people, I think. :):)
Well, I had better do some watering before it gets pitch dark outside. Then I will make dinner and feed the Black Kitty. When I came in, I saw the bigger Black Cat that lives across the street. He was on the porch, and sometimes he tries to bully our Black Kitty. I've told him, "You're not the Black Kitty! Our kitty is the Black Kitty"! Then he leaves. I will make sure he left this time.
That's all for now, my Angel, except to wish you Sweet Dreams. And who knows, this reluctant choir member may wind up singing an Eric Whitacre composition in the future.........
.......there's already one inside my heart! :):)
I Love You, Elizabeth, and I will write more at the usual time, when you wake up.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Midnight : Listening to Rameau piano music. I love the Baroque sound, and the counterpoint. It's some of the first music I can remember hearing - Scarlatti, Rameau, Bach of course. It's very mathematical, and yet there is great beauty in it.
Earlier I reread the Eric Whitacre post, and I liked what he wrote about his creative process, that at a certain point in the development of a new work, he will make abstract drawings of what the music feels like, and how it corresponds to sound.
Man, that's the whole deal, right there! All the art forms are interrelated, just as all our senses work together as one. If you watch a conductor at a classical concert, he is doing more than just keeping time with his baton. He is also creating shapes in the air, and adding to the feel with his facial expressions and body language. But in composition, to draw abstract pictures is to really get into the unconscious, and to sort of "meet-and-greet" the arriving music, as it draws outward from the inspiration.
He is drawing it, spontaneously, as it arrives. That is awesome, and it's also a very natural thing to do, perhaps not taught in music school, but arrived at from within, from a personal perspective. This is what happens when you, as an Artist, are contemplative with yourself. That is why I've suggested studying your own work, your own pictures, and music, and becoming "your own biggest fan", because when you do that, you are giving yourself feedback and further insight into why you create in the first place.
Not everyone creates. You do. So study why that is. Always be curious, always wonder "why" about things. And when inspiration hits, go with it, wherever it takes you. Drawing abstract pictures while creating a vocal work in progress is not something that is taught. What happens, is that the Artist is so tuned in to himself (or herself) that deep personal knowledge, abilities and techniques from the subconscious, rise to the surface. This is how you bring out the You.
You are your own biggest influence, and that is why you become unique, as an artist. You are your own teacher, and student. This is not to say that an Artist has no outside influences, we all do, even the greatest of the great. It is just to say that the more you study yourself, and your own work, the more you will see it in it's entirety. It's like an iceberg submerged, and you want to see more than the tip. You want to see the whole thing, and so you submerge yourself, and look deep.
I Love You, Elizabeth. Have a wonderful morning, and I will see you when I wake up.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Wife (Snow?) (Sweet Dreams) (movie)
Hey, Wife!,
I love that word. Wife, wife, wife, wife. I could get used to saying that word, over and over. I'd be one of those guys who says, "My wife (this)" and "My wife (that)". Only good stuff, too, and none of that "the Old Lady says", or any of those derogatory nicknames that usually precede a complaint. Nope, for me it would be "My wife says".
My wife!
I love it, Elizabeth, and I say it because of your post just now, of the Northwoods photographer. I hope you will take a picture of me, in the snowy woods or anywhere else, and I will take one of you, too. Then you can share it and say, "My husband took this picture of me, in"........wherever we were!
Wife and Husband, two of the world's best words. :):)
I am glad to hear from you. I guess you have been busy with school. I am just doing the Thursday Hair Salon Thing, and should be getting the call any minute to go pick up Pearl. I'm at home right now. But anyhow, super glad to hear from you, and I will check in again when I get to Pearl's at 4:30.
Wife. :)
I Love You, My Wife! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
2:30pm : Hi again, my Darling. I see your other post, which also features a snowy setting, so maybe the message of your Northwoods post was about snow and winter, rather than wife, lol. I hope I didn't get to carried away, but I still say that Wife is both a great message and a great word!
I checked weather.com, and it's not snowing in Florence, so maybe you are just saying that you love the winter pictures. I do too, although we have to go up into the Angeles National Forest to arrive at such a scene, and even then, we don't get it every year. But it sure is beautiful!
Back when I get to Pearl's. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:45pm : Happy Late Night! I'm writing from Pearl's, just to wish you Sweet Dreams. I will go to the CSUN movie this evening, we are gonna see "Tales Of Hoffmann", P&P's film version of the opera. It'll undoubtedly be another home run for these guys. I have yet to see a film of theirs that wasn't. So, I will write after I get back, around the usual time of 11:30. Sleep well, my Angel.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:45pm : Good Morning, my Darling. Well, "Tales Of Hoffmann" turned out to be quite a visual spectacle, with incredibly imaginative, phantasmagorical sets, and a Technicolor print that once again ranks up there with the best I've seen. You've gotta like opera to fully enjoy the movie, because the film is set to pre-recorded music and it's essentially a filmed version of what you would see on the stage, but a camera can get more intimate, and is not stationary as is a seated audience member in a theater. P&P were really original as filmmakers, and from what I have seen, they never repeated themselves, always something different every time.
That was it for tonight, and now I am winding down with the last few minutes of the Jim Svejda show on KUSC. I'll be up for another hour, though.
I hope you have a great day, beginning with this morning. I Love You!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I love that word. Wife, wife, wife, wife. I could get used to saying that word, over and over. I'd be one of those guys who says, "My wife (this)" and "My wife (that)". Only good stuff, too, and none of that "the Old Lady says", or any of those derogatory nicknames that usually precede a complaint. Nope, for me it would be "My wife says".
My wife!
I love it, Elizabeth, and I say it because of your post just now, of the Northwoods photographer. I hope you will take a picture of me, in the snowy woods or anywhere else, and I will take one of you, too. Then you can share it and say, "My husband took this picture of me, in"........wherever we were!
Wife and Husband, two of the world's best words. :):)
I am glad to hear from you. I guess you have been busy with school. I am just doing the Thursday Hair Salon Thing, and should be getting the call any minute to go pick up Pearl. I'm at home right now. But anyhow, super glad to hear from you, and I will check in again when I get to Pearl's at 4:30.
Wife. :)
I Love You, My Wife! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
2:30pm : Hi again, my Darling. I see your other post, which also features a snowy setting, so maybe the message of your Northwoods post was about snow and winter, rather than wife, lol. I hope I didn't get to carried away, but I still say that Wife is both a great message and a great word!
I checked weather.com, and it's not snowing in Florence, so maybe you are just saying that you love the winter pictures. I do too, although we have to go up into the Angeles National Forest to arrive at such a scene, and even then, we don't get it every year. But it sure is beautiful!
Back when I get to Pearl's. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:45pm : Happy Late Night! I'm writing from Pearl's, just to wish you Sweet Dreams. I will go to the CSUN movie this evening, we are gonna see "Tales Of Hoffmann", P&P's film version of the opera. It'll undoubtedly be another home run for these guys. I have yet to see a film of theirs that wasn't. So, I will write after I get back, around the usual time of 11:30. Sleep well, my Angel.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:45pm : Good Morning, my Darling. Well, "Tales Of Hoffmann" turned out to be quite a visual spectacle, with incredibly imaginative, phantasmagorical sets, and a Technicolor print that once again ranks up there with the best I've seen. You've gotta like opera to fully enjoy the movie, because the film is set to pre-recorded music and it's essentially a filmed version of what you would see on the stage, but a camera can get more intimate, and is not stationary as is a seated audience member in a theater. P&P were really original as filmmakers, and from what I have seen, they never repeated themselves, always something different every time.
That was it for tonight, and now I am winding down with the last few minutes of the Jim Svejda show on KUSC. I'll be up for another hour, though.
I hope you have a great day, beginning with this morning. I Love You!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Trail Time Love (Split Pea)
Good Evening, my Darling,
I am still at Pearl's, but am gonna head out for a trail in a few minutes, having just dropped her off at her Women's Club meeting. I saw your post earlier this morning, after I got here. I take it you may be doing some singing, or working on music in one way or another? Just cause the girl in the picture has a microphone. :)
The text also has a nice comment, so maybe that applies too (blush). It certainly applies to you!
Still recovering from little sleep after the concert, but a nice hike should perk me up somewhat. Because I have used up all the trails in the general area, I have no particular destination, so I won't know where I'm going until I get there. I will check in later this afternoon, by the time I am back at Pearl's at 4:30, or maybe a little before.
I hope school is going well and all projects and excursions continue to be interesting and exciting.
And I am sure that they are!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(here I go, back in a while)
4:45pm : Hi, Sweet Baby. I'm here at Pearl's, feeding the Kobester (after drumming him, of course) and making split pea soup for later tonight. I wound up going back to Walker Ranch this morning while Pearl was at her meeting. I didn't take a lot of pics, but I might have gotten one or two good ones. Mostly I just enjoyed the hike, it's an easy one and the place is very special. Back home at 2:30, I took a nap. Naps rule! An hour nap can really renergize ya. :)
I hope you had a nice day. Tonight when I get home, I may watch a movie since I already did most of my mileage.
Sweet Dreams, and I hope all projects are going well!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am still at Pearl's, but am gonna head out for a trail in a few minutes, having just dropped her off at her Women's Club meeting. I saw your post earlier this morning, after I got here. I take it you may be doing some singing, or working on music in one way or another? Just cause the girl in the picture has a microphone. :)
The text also has a nice comment, so maybe that applies too (blush). It certainly applies to you!
Still recovering from little sleep after the concert, but a nice hike should perk me up somewhat. Because I have used up all the trails in the general area, I have no particular destination, so I won't know where I'm going until I get there. I will check in later this afternoon, by the time I am back at Pearl's at 4:30, or maybe a little before.
I hope school is going well and all projects and excursions continue to be interesting and exciting.
And I am sure that they are!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
(here I go, back in a while)
4:45pm : Hi, Sweet Baby. I'm here at Pearl's, feeding the Kobester (after drumming him, of course) and making split pea soup for later tonight. I wound up going back to Walker Ranch this morning while Pearl was at her meeting. I didn't take a lot of pics, but I might have gotten one or two good ones. Mostly I just enjoyed the hike, it's an easy one and the place is very special. Back home at 2:30, I took a nap. Naps rule! An hour nap can really renergize ya. :)
I hope you had a nice day. Tonight when I get home, I may watch a movie since I already did most of my mileage.
Sweet Dreams, and I hope all projects are going well!
I Love You, Elizabeth. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Chillin'
Good Evening, my Darling,
I am at home, just chilling. No hike for me today, for one thing I'm too tired, so I think I just relax and do a bit of reading, maybe watch a movie. Tomorrow is Pearl's big Women's Club meeting from 9:30am til 2pm, so I will definitely hit a trail then. I've gotta find some new ones, so maybe I'll drive a little further than usual.
Pearl didn't have Golden Agers today because of Veteran's Day. I don't have to leave to go pick her up, so I'll be here til 4:15. I hope your day has been a good one.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am at home, just chilling. No hike for me today, for one thing I'm too tired, so I think I just relax and do a bit of reading, maybe watch a movie. Tomorrow is Pearl's big Women's Club meeting from 9:30am til 2pm, so I will definitely hit a trail then. I've gotta find some new ones, so maybe I'll drive a little further than usual.
Pearl didn't have Golden Agers today because of Veteran's Day. I don't have to leave to go pick her up, so I'll be here til 4:15. I hope your day has been a good one.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 10, 2014
A Day Of Music (Judas Priest) (No One Like 'Em)
Good Evening, my Darling,
I am at home, just finished listening to the new Pink Floyd album. It's almost all instrumental, very mellow, and very beautiful. The overall sound is reminiscent of "The Division Bell", my all-time favorite album, so I am very happy.
I hope your week is off to a good start. I saw your post this morning, and the title of the Good Morning V song is "Bliss", so I figure that's got to be a good sign. You are probably busy with projects, too, or maybe visiting places with your school. :)
Tonight is of course the Judas Priest concert, so it's a day of music. I will check in again, before I head down to the concert. Gonna take the subway, as usual. Right now, I'll be home, probably til about 3pm, then I'm gonna make a couple stops before going to Pearl's.
I hope you are having a nice evening!
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:35pm : Hi, Sweet Baby, Happy Late Night! I am at Pearl's, and having just drummed The Kobedog, now I will give him his dinner. That was a very heartfelt post by your friend Justin. I take it he is coming to Los Angeles for either his music or some other craft (he mentions acting, too)? Best wishes and best of luck to him. There are so many opportunities here and he seems like a guy who is determined to make it. Once you get your foot in the door, anything can happen. So, it's not only a great post for him, but for anything else you wish it to signify! :):)
The great thing about L.A., or one of the great things, is that, as big a place as it is, it's really not an intimidating place. I know that's easy for me to say, cause I've lived here all my life, but I think it really is the city of "Have A Nice Day", and everybody - even if they are a movie star - is just an everyday Joe. I've said it before, we're all just a bunch of Angelenos. Some are living in Beverly Hills mansions, some are living in Tiny Apartments (now who could that be?), but we're all just L.A. Joes.
Well, I will drive to North Hollywood when I am done here, at 6:30, and I will meet Grimsley atthe subway station. Then we will head down to the Nokia Theater, which is next to Staples Center in Downtown L.A. And, we will see Judas Priest. I am excited, of course, and I will let you know how it went when I get back, which might be sorta late, because this time there is an opening act, and JP don't go on til 9:30. I am figuring they'll play til about 11 or 11:15. I'll be back to the Downtown subway by apprx. 11:30 - 11:45, then back to the North Hollywood station by apprx. 12:15. So I should be home by 1am, or a little before.
Sweet Dreams for now, my Angel, and I will see you in the Italian morning!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
1:15am: Good Morning, my Darling, I am back from the show. What can I say about Judas Priest? They really are the definitive metal band, and so great live. Rob Halford still hitting those high notes at age 63 is amazing, to say nothing of 67 year old Glenn Tipton still performing with the same precision and power he always has. They have a new guitar player, Richie Faulkner, who is half Tipton's age, and who wasn't even born when I first saw the band at the Starwood club in March 1979. I think I either need a lobotomy, or I got one tonight by accident, from his guitar solos.......
There is just nothing like Judas Priest live, and next time they play, you are going with me! :):)
A great day, all in all, with the new Pink Floyd and tonight's concert. I am gonna eat something and then go to bed. I might be a little toasted tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll try for a hike, but being me, I probably will.
I hope your day is off to a good start. I will be awake for another 45 minutes or so, and I will see you tomorrow morning, too.
I Love You, Elizabeth! Many great times are ahead. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am at home, just finished listening to the new Pink Floyd album. It's almost all instrumental, very mellow, and very beautiful. The overall sound is reminiscent of "The Division Bell", my all-time favorite album, so I am very happy.
I hope your week is off to a good start. I saw your post this morning, and the title of the Good Morning V song is "Bliss", so I figure that's got to be a good sign. You are probably busy with projects, too, or maybe visiting places with your school. :)
Tonight is of course the Judas Priest concert, so it's a day of music. I will check in again, before I head down to the concert. Gonna take the subway, as usual. Right now, I'll be home, probably til about 3pm, then I'm gonna make a couple stops before going to Pearl's.
I hope you are having a nice evening!
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
4:35pm : Hi, Sweet Baby, Happy Late Night! I am at Pearl's, and having just drummed The Kobedog, now I will give him his dinner. That was a very heartfelt post by your friend Justin. I take it he is coming to Los Angeles for either his music or some other craft (he mentions acting, too)? Best wishes and best of luck to him. There are so many opportunities here and he seems like a guy who is determined to make it. Once you get your foot in the door, anything can happen. So, it's not only a great post for him, but for anything else you wish it to signify! :):)
The great thing about L.A., or one of the great things, is that, as big a place as it is, it's really not an intimidating place. I know that's easy for me to say, cause I've lived here all my life, but I think it really is the city of "Have A Nice Day", and everybody - even if they are a movie star - is just an everyday Joe. I've said it before, we're all just a bunch of Angelenos. Some are living in Beverly Hills mansions, some are living in Tiny Apartments (now who could that be?), but we're all just L.A. Joes.
Well, I will drive to North Hollywood when I am done here, at 6:30, and I will meet Grimsley atthe subway station. Then we will head down to the Nokia Theater, which is next to Staples Center in Downtown L.A. And, we will see Judas Priest. I am excited, of course, and I will let you know how it went when I get back, which might be sorta late, because this time there is an opening act, and JP don't go on til 9:30. I am figuring they'll play til about 11 or 11:15. I'll be back to the Downtown subway by apprx. 11:30 - 11:45, then back to the North Hollywood station by apprx. 12:15. So I should be home by 1am, or a little before.
Sweet Dreams for now, my Angel, and I will see you in the Italian morning!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
1:15am: Good Morning, my Darling, I am back from the show. What can I say about Judas Priest? They really are the definitive metal band, and so great live. Rob Halford still hitting those high notes at age 63 is amazing, to say nothing of 67 year old Glenn Tipton still performing with the same precision and power he always has. They have a new guitar player, Richie Faulkner, who is half Tipton's age, and who wasn't even born when I first saw the band at the Starwood club in March 1979. I think I either need a lobotomy, or I got one tonight by accident, from his guitar solos.......
There is just nothing like Judas Priest live, and next time they play, you are going with me! :):)
A great day, all in all, with the new Pink Floyd and tonight's concert. I am gonna eat something and then go to bed. I might be a little toasted tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll try for a hike, but being me, I probably will.
I hope your day is off to a good start. I will be awake for another 45 minutes or so, and I will see you tomorrow morning, too.
I Love You, Elizabeth! Many great times are ahead. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Our New Tenor (Help!)
Good Evening, Sweet Baby,
Okay, Sweet Baby, I need your help here. I am just back from my first Sunday at Pearl's church. I sat with her during the pre-service choir rehearsal, helped her onto the stage, then sat in the pews for the service itself. The main choir practice is for an hour, after the church service is over, and so I helped Pearl down the stairs and back into the choir practice room.
And the first thing the choir director says to me is, "so, how would you like to sing with us"? I made a little joke in response, something like, "well, once you've heard me you'll wish you hadn't asked that question". :)
Actually, I think I have a fair voice, and used to sing harmonies in my band years back. I've been singing along to zillions of rock songs ever since I was four, and I can blend in with those pretty well, too. But I wasn't ready to be asked to sing in a church choir the very first time I showed up to assist Pearl. At first, I thought the director was just kidding, maybe saying it out of politeness, or just as light humor. But then I remembered Pearl telling me many times that the choir is hurting for members, and tenors especially. The director kept going : "What range do you sing in"?
Me: "I don't really know. Whatever comes out of my mouth, I suppose". The next thing I know, she is handing me all the sheet music for today's rehearsal, about 8 songs in all. She says, "Just sit between Pearl and Chuck, and follow along with them".
And just like that, before I had time to protest, I'd been roped in to being part of the church choir. When the rest of the members came in to the rehearsal room, she introduced me : "Let's welcome our new tenor"!
Now, she said all of this with a smile on her face, and she is a professional piano and voice teacher from USC, who obviously knows I can't just sit down and start singing and blending in with choir members who have been singing together for at least five years (the time I've seen them from working for Pearl). Also, some of the choral parts in the songs are fairly complicated. You've heard John Rutter and that type of music, I'm sure. You have probably sang Eric Whitacre's stuff which is extremely complex, choral-wise.
What I am saying, Sweet Baby, is that the music didn't sound too extremely difficult, but I just wasn't expecting to be asked such a thing. I thought I was just there to help Pearl get around the church rooms and stairs.
So help me, my Baby. What do I do now?! :)
They are all very nice people at the Reseda Methodist Church, and I've known many of them, at least to say "hi" to, for all the time I've been with Pearl. But the choir director was not joking when she asked me to join the choir - right off the bat, on my first morning! - and.......I'm skeered! (scared).
Cause I was always kinda shy. I dunno if I wanna sing in front of a church congregation.
Help me, Sweet Baby!
I hope you had an awesome Sunday. I'll be here at home til 4:15, then at Pearl's. You know the drill.
I Love You and await your far-better-singing-voice-than-I'll-ever-have advice.........
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) ......and Sweet Dreams a little later.
Okay, Sweet Baby, I need your help here. I am just back from my first Sunday at Pearl's church. I sat with her during the pre-service choir rehearsal, helped her onto the stage, then sat in the pews for the service itself. The main choir practice is for an hour, after the church service is over, and so I helped Pearl down the stairs and back into the choir practice room.
And the first thing the choir director says to me is, "so, how would you like to sing with us"? I made a little joke in response, something like, "well, once you've heard me you'll wish you hadn't asked that question". :)
Actually, I think I have a fair voice, and used to sing harmonies in my band years back. I've been singing along to zillions of rock songs ever since I was four, and I can blend in with those pretty well, too. But I wasn't ready to be asked to sing in a church choir the very first time I showed up to assist Pearl. At first, I thought the director was just kidding, maybe saying it out of politeness, or just as light humor. But then I remembered Pearl telling me many times that the choir is hurting for members, and tenors especially. The director kept going : "What range do you sing in"?
Me: "I don't really know. Whatever comes out of my mouth, I suppose". The next thing I know, she is handing me all the sheet music for today's rehearsal, about 8 songs in all. She says, "Just sit between Pearl and Chuck, and follow along with them".
And just like that, before I had time to protest, I'd been roped in to being part of the church choir. When the rest of the members came in to the rehearsal room, she introduced me : "Let's welcome our new tenor"!
Now, she said all of this with a smile on her face, and she is a professional piano and voice teacher from USC, who obviously knows I can't just sit down and start singing and blending in with choir members who have been singing together for at least five years (the time I've seen them from working for Pearl). Also, some of the choral parts in the songs are fairly complicated. You've heard John Rutter and that type of music, I'm sure. You have probably sang Eric Whitacre's stuff which is extremely complex, choral-wise.
What I am saying, Sweet Baby, is that the music didn't sound too extremely difficult, but I just wasn't expecting to be asked such a thing. I thought I was just there to help Pearl get around the church rooms and stairs.
So help me, my Baby. What do I do now?! :)
They are all very nice people at the Reseda Methodist Church, and I've known many of them, at least to say "hi" to, for all the time I've been with Pearl. But the choir director was not joking when she asked me to join the choir - right off the bat, on my first morning! - and.......I'm skeered! (scared).
Cause I was always kinda shy. I dunno if I wanna sing in front of a church congregation.
Help me, Sweet Baby!
I hope you had an awesome Sunday. I'll be here at home til 4:15, then at Pearl's. You know the drill.
I Love You and await your far-better-singing-voice-than-I'll-ever-have advice.........
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) ......and Sweet Dreams a little later.
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