Professional (late night love)

Okay, Sweet Baby - that is fantastic work! Totally professional. Wow, I am very impressed with the whole look of that commercial, and once again you have demonstrated good flow of camerawork, specifically camera movement and the way it correlates to the rhythm of the editing.

You are already turning in professional work. All you need now is the right connections.

Has that commercial been aired, and if so, in Italy? More countries? Just wondering. Because if it has been aired, then connections should follow. I had seen the same model in your still shots, but I didn't know you had done a video as well, but anyhow, huge congratulations. Again, it is gonna lead to more work. I guess you didn't post it until now because maybe you were still editing it, or they asked you to wait, or something like that. But many good things are happening!

I am just getting home, so I'm gonna relax for a few, then do the usual. But I will be around, except for walk, til 9:45.

I Love You and am super proud of you!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

12:40am : Sorry about the super late post once again. I just wanted to see the last of the Van Halen concert on Kimmel. They cut the last song off before it got going, but I guess they ran out of time. I am pumped to see them on this tour, and I will get me a Hollywood Bowl ticket when they go on sale this Saturday.

Once again, many kudos and congrats on your commercial. It is great that you are showing versatility also, from fashion, to music vids, to environmental documentary with "Prairie Burns".

Keep thinking about your next project, not just the ones that clients will hire you for, but also what you want to produce as an artist. It never hurts to form concepts in your mind, and to think big, as to what you would do if given the opportunity.

Intent is the key, as always.

I Love You and will see you in the morn.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Van Halen on Jimmy Kimmel (had fun)

Hi, my Darling,

I'm at Pearl's, feeding critters and such. Just wanted to say and let you know that I am gonna go down to Hollywood at 6:30, to check out the Van Halen/Jimmy Kimmel event. I can't really say I am gonna go "see" it, because though I had a free ticket, the deadline to check-in was 3:30, so I can't use my ticket. I'm really just going down there for something to do, lol. I should get to the subway by 7pm, and then the Hollywood & Highland complex is just ten minutes from there. That's the famous intersection you see at the Oscars, and Jimmy Kimmel tapes across the street. Van Halen will be playing on Hollywood Boulevard, so my best chance is probably just to hear them rather than see them. So, I am gonna meet Grimsley down there. They say Van Halen will start "at dusk", so probably about 7:15 or 7:30. It's supposed to be over at 8:15, so I will be back at my car at the subway station in North Hollywood no later than 9pm. I may go straight back to Pearl's from there, or run home real quick, but in any case I'll be back just like any other evening, at the usual time.

I hope your week is off to a good start! Right now I will be here till 6:30 as always. Be sure to watch Jimmy Kimmel tonight (and tomorrow night too) if you wanna see Van Halen.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back at the usual)

12:30am : Happy Super Late Night! Sorry about the lateness, but I wanted to watch VH on Kimmel. I tell ya, that David Lee Roth is a character. He started out as a character way back in 1976, and he's become even more of one as the four decades have passed. If you saw the show, you saw that he had a band-aid on his nose. That's because when they first came out, and he was spinning that mic stand, he bashed himself with it and his nose was bleeding, so they had to stop the song ("Panama") while he put the band-aid on. Then they restarted the whole thing. It was kind of cool for the fans, though, because while Roth was fixing his nose, the band did a little jam, and Van Halen is primarily a song oriented band, so that's the first time I think I've ever heard Eddie improvise for that long.

Me and Grimsley were off to the left of the stage, on the sidewalk in front of the Kodak Theater. We couldn't see, because there was a fence with green tarping that blocked the view, but because we were close to the stage, we got the sound right off the amps, and it was very loud and incredible. Nobody plays guitar like Edward Van Halen. He's just amazing, and I think he's playing better than ever these days. What a sound. They played 7 songs for a total of about 40 minutes, so it was a nice little mini-concert.

It's really a trip for me to think that I've been seeing these guys for almost 40 years. My first Van Halen concert was New Year's Eve 1976, when they opened for Sparks at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. They didn't even have a record out yet, but they were known in L.A. Eddie was a pimply faced 21 year old at that show, and now he's 60. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sweet Baby - time is a trip.

It goes by, and yet it doesn't seem to go by in the amount that it actually does - and on top of all that, it seems to accumulate in some strange way, to bunch up.

I dunno. It's all really weird, which is why I love it so much. :)

But it was fun to be on Hollywood Boulevard tonight, and to hear Van Halen, nice and loud, for 40 minutes.

Then I got on the subway and came back home. I hope your day was a good one, and I will see you in the morning. I Love You, Elizabeth.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Singin' In The Sun (sweet dreams)

Good Evening, my Darling,

I'm just now home from Pearl's. We had a big practice today - just as I had thought. After the church service, we rehearsed for 90 minutes, because we are gonna sing four songs on Good Friday and then three more on Easter Sunday. Most of them are from that cantata "Out Of The Shadows" by John Purifoy that we've been practicing on and off for a couple months now. Some songs are fairly easy, others have a lot of counterpoint, and when that happens, the tenor section always gets the hardest notes (hardest to remember, anyway, since they don't run along the main melody line).

But it's a lot of fun, and we sang really well today, the pastor even said so himself.  :)

I saw your post a few minutes ago at Pearl's, and it's a perfect picture - a perfect symbol - for you and me and everything we talk about. And it's perfect also because I love trees and I Love You.  :):)

I hope you had a nice day and are now enjoying your evening. I am gonna relax for a little bit, then watch an X-Files episode, then go for my walk. 'Twas another unseasonably hot one here in the land of The Single Season, i.e Permanent Summer.

I will be back later to write more, and right now I'll be around til about 8:30, then walk. I Love You.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

11:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I saw your post earlier in the evening, and I take it that maybe you were at the studio? If so, I hope you had a good time. That is so cool that you know Paul, and thus have ready access to the place. Even if you aren't always recording, it's a great place to hang out and learn stuff. Anyway, I hope you had a nice evening. :)

All is quiet here, and fingers crossed for it to stay that way. This should be a good week, because we are gearing up for Easter, and then after Friday I have six days off, though I will be singing on Friday night and on Easter. Six days to recharge my batteries will be good, though.

Man, it's hard to believe it's almost April already. With my work cycle, everything seems 24/7, and time goes by really fast.

Sleep well and have sweet dreams and I will see you in the morn. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)

Saturday Night Love + Movie (film preservation)

Hi, Sweet Baby,

Happy Saturday Evening. I am home, gonna watch a movie before my walk : "Black Widow", a film noir I got from the library. It stars Gene Tierney, one of my favorite actresses, and it's one that I haven't seen. I hope you had a good day. The Badgers won their game against Arizona, just like I predicted, so I imagine there is some celebrating going on around town. When I first made out my bracket, I picked them to be a Final Four team, based on last year's success, and they have lived up to it.

I don't know who they play next, but if they win one more, they're in the Final.

Well, I will start my movie now, so I will still have time for my walk, too. Enjoy your Saturday night, and I will see you in a bit, when I get back to Pearl's.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I'm just checking in to wish you sweet dreams, and hoping the gang here will sleep the whole night through so that I won't be toast in church tomorrow. We've got Easter week coming up, and a lot of singing. Our director should be back, so I am expecting a big practice session tomorrow. As long as Pearl and The Kobester remain asleep until morn, all will be well. Right now, all is quiet, not a creature is stirring, not even a dog or a Black Kitty, so that is good.

The movie was good, though the actress I like - Gene Tierney - had just a small part. Van Heflin and Ginger Rogers were the main stars, and once the story got going, it was pretty good. It's packaged as a "noir", but it isn't really. It can't be, because it's in color, but the color is Color By Deluxe, and it comes from that period in the 1950s and early 60s when Deluxe color was the best color in movie history, in my opinion. Not as lurid as Technicolor, but more natural, with a pastel touch.

I don't know if you saw my comment in my brother's post about a man named Roger Mayer, who passed away the other day, but Mr. Mayer was the CEO of the Metrocolor Laboratory at MGM Studios when I worked there. He had been there for many years before that, and he was my Dad's boss when Dad was the General Manager of the lab starting in 1970. In the L.A. Times obituary, when they talked about Mr. Mayer being responsible for generating the whole film preservation movement, I am proud to say that I was present for that - it began in earnest while I was working at Metrocolor, and I was privleged to have worked in those old film vaults where the movies of yore were being stored. Many reels of old nitrate film were indeed rotting away, and many old movies were lost due to the heat inside the storage area. But at that time, the idea to preserve the large remainder of these movies was underway, thanks to guys like Roger Mayer. MGM had the biggest film library in the world, with over 5000 movies in storage.

Once upon a time, the only way you could see a movie - besides in the theater - was later on, on television. But with the idea of preserving films came the idea of releasing them to the public; hence the era of VHS in the early 1980s, and then DVDs about 20 years later.

Now, by preserving films, and making new print negatives, old films could be turned into VHS cassettes and later, DVDs. Then came companies like Criterion and Kino that were dedicated to complete restoration of old, classic films.

And now, film preservation is established on the same level as the preservation of great paintings in art galleries. Cinema is the Great Art Form of the 20th century, and the preservation of it's great works ensures that these films will be seen in pristine, or at the very least, good condition in the centuries to come.

Just like the Mona Lisa and classical music.

I was only at Metrocolor for three years, but I am proud to have worked there, and to have been on the MGM studio lot. It seems like another lifetime, but it will always be with me.

I Love You, Elizabeth. I will see you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Request By Accident (snowdrops) (sweet dreams)

Hi my Darling,

I am at home, just hanging out because it is another hot one. Just now I was looking at your website, and was mousing over some of the info, "ask prices", etc, and when I moused over "ask phone number" I must have held the mouse too long or something, because it automatically clicked it. I tried to undo it, but there was no way to unclick it. So, I didn't want you to think I was requesting your phone number, just to let you know.

Anyway, I hope you are having a good day. I got a couple of free tickets to the Van Halen concert on Monday. They are gonna be on the Jimmy Kimmel show on Monday and Tuesday nights, and they are gonna close down Hollywood Boulevard for the show. The trouble is, it starts early and you have to present your ticket no later than 5pm, so I don't think I'll be able to go. Fingers crossed anyway.

I will be here until 4:15, and then usual schedule after that. Enjoy your Friday!

I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

7:25pm : Happy Evening, my Baby. I am home once again. I like your photo of the Snowdrops, and in fact I like those flowers every time you photograph them. I agree with your Mom, it's all in the details of the photo. It's nice to see that she notices those things, too, because it's those little details that make a photo. I see you guys still have snow on the ground? I thought your temperatures had warmed up, but maybe it got cold again. I know Winter is a die-hard season up there. At any rate, I am glad you are taking and posting photos. :)

I love the extended kitty, too. That's a Cat Thing, for sure, a new way to get petted even more. "There's more of me now - keep petting"!

Yeah, I know I'm a goofy individual. I am gonna go on my walk at about 8pm, back about 8:45.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Midnight : Just checking in to wish you Sweet Dreams. All is quiet here in Reseda. Wisconsin has made it to the Elite Eight, but UCLA lost to Gonzaga, so I'll be rooting for UW from here on out. They should be able to take Arizona to make it to the Final Four, at least. That's all I know for tonight. Hope you had a nice evening.

I Love You, Elizabeth.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Love From Home (Happening)

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

I am home following Pearl's hair appointment. Another hot one out there, so I'll just stay inside til it's time to go back. I liked your post this morn, and was glad to see you back. The deer is cute, and I also wonder - because of the "two days" comment in the text by the photog - if you yourself were out trying to photograph wildlife - deer perhaps, or anything in your area? Or maybe the deer was an answer to my bunny rabbit. In any case, I am super glad to see you back, and I hope you are having the chance to take pictures, too. Of any kind! :)

I am feeling pretty good, got to sleep the whole night through once again. Tonight is movie night, and we'll be seeing Ozu's "Tokyo Twilight". It's one I know nothing about, so I'm gonna let it surprise me. Except for the movie, I'll be around on the usual schedule, and right now until 4:15pm.

I Love You, enjoy your afternoon!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)

Midnight : Happy Late Night, my Darling. The movie was another long one, so it took me a while to get back to Pearl's and get situated. Had some homemade vegetarian chili for a snack. "Tokyo Twilight" was really good, but very dark and melodramatic, continuing Ozu's shift from the more genteel family dramas of his classic period. Dark, dark subject matter in this one, though I don't wanna give anything away because one day, you will see all the Ozu films. :)

I saw your pictures earlier, and they are excellent. They look like photos in a fashion magazine, and so your natural ability at photographing people, beginning with all the photos you've taken of your friends, has now advanced to photographing models and presenting them at their best angle and lighting. Great work!

So that was a video for a fashion designer? I had initially thought it was gonna be a music vid, because there was a band who had posted something to that effect right around the same time, but the setting was horse stables and now I see that it goes along with the clothing line. It will again lead to more work, so that's awesome too. Elizabeth, all you've gotta do is just keep doing what you're doing. There will be periods of less work, or more work, but the key thing to remember and not let go of, is this :

Are you ready for the key thing? Here it is : there is no turning back now. No matter what happens, your artistry is now your life. That is because you are already doing it, as we have discussed many times before. Don't expect things to happen all at once, but do expect them to keep happening. 

This is What You Do. And the great thing is, you can expand on it in any direction. Don't worry about how much you are earning at the moment, because all of that will come. Just focus on your art, in all it's expressions (music too), and think about what you would like to do if you have the chance.

But the most important thing of all is that You Are Already Doing It, already moving forward, so : This Is It.

It's already happening.

Way to go, Sweet Baby! I Love You and will see you in the morn. Until then, sweet dreams.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Love From Home, Wednesday Afternoon (late night love & sweet dreams)

Hi Sweet Baby,

Happy Afternoon. I'm just getting home from Pearl's. Nothing much to report from yesterday, but today I may go on a hike. Not sure yet, because it's kind of windy, but I'll see what it's like around 2pm or so. It's hot, too. We're already up over 90, we did our Spring in January and February and now we're straight to Summer.

I hope all is well with you, and that you are having a nice day. I have gotten to catch up on my sleep the last couple of days, so I feel pretty good. I'll be here til about 2pm, maybe longer if I don't go on a hike, but at least til 2.

Enjoy your afternoon. Hope you are doing something fun!

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:55pm : Hi, Nice Lady. Just wanted to check in and wish you sweet dreams, see how you are doing. I guess you are busy the last couple of days. I had a nice hike this afternoon, went almost all the way to the top of the ridge that leads to Mission Point, from the O'Melveney Park Trail. That's the long way to get there, 3.5 miles. When I went last Summer, I took a trail that is more direct, and about half that length, but sometime this year I will take the O'Melveney Trail to get there. Today was a test run.

Plus, I saw the Easter Bunny, too. :)

A good day, all in all. I hope yours was, too.

I Love You and am thinking about you. Hope all is well.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Monday Love (The Three Of You : Self, Spirit, Soul)

Good Afternoon, Sweet Baby,

I am home. Got a bit of a late start today because of the sleep schedule being off. This morning, after breakfast and morning chores I went back to sleep for a couple hours in the spare bedroom at Pearl's, but here I am now, and hopefully we can get the normal sleeping pattern back this week.

Hey, Sweet Baby : guess what? I Love You!

Was that your guess? If so, you guessed correctly!

I see your posts from this morn, and I like those photos by Kareva Margo. I know you like that style of what I will call fantasy photography, and this gal is very good. I took note of what she says about overly colorful photos, and of course you know I agree - but I agree in a different context. What I don't like so much is when a photographer takes, say. a sunset photo, and then tweaks it so it's ultra-purple and orange, and the ocean water is overly sparkling blue, and for me, it is those kind of oversaturated nature photos (of sunsets or otherwise) that I don't care for. But in this case, with the fantasy photos, it works quite well. I don't know if she achieves her result with photoshop or on the set, but the photos are supposed to portray a fantasy, so the coloring works.

Cool video, too, by the French group. Now that's a great natural lighting effect!

Well, things are picking up again. I've been on a few hikes (probably more than at this time last year, actually), and I've also begun the dreaded workouts.......the year is kicking into gear.

I hope you are having a great day, maybe thinking of new projects you can do. Boy, one of these days if we brainstorm together, we can come up with all kinds of great ideas.

Usual schedule for me today, though this evening Grimsley is coming over after I get home at 6:30. He wants to watch "One Hour Photo" with Robin Williams because he was a big fan and has never seen it. Other than that, I am around most of the day and night. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

11:50pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. All is quiet except for KUSC on the kitchen radio. I'm listening to the last few minutes of Jim Svejda's show. Pearl and The Kobester are asleep, and hopefully they will sleep through til morning. Grim came by earlier,  at my place, and we did watch "One Hour Photo". A really great performance by Robin Williams, and you can kind of see some of himself in it. Not the crazy stalker part, but the sadness. It's ironic that in all his best acting parts in dramatic movies, that's what came through.

Also, though, what you notice is just how good a thriller that movie is. There was a period there, maybe from the late 80s to the early 2000s, when a lot of good thrillers were made. What is notable about a film like "One Hour Photo", or the classic "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle", is that they are spare. Every shot counts, every scene means something, the editing is timed at the perfect rhythm for the tension or release of tension in each scene. Remember rhythm when you edit your videos. Not that you haven't already, but when you watch movies, of any kind, notice the rhythm of the editing.

It's good sometimes to just jot ideas down, even if you don't have a fully formed project in mind, or even if you aren't "there yet", so to speak. Let's say you aren't quite yet a full-on movie director; okay, you are just getting started. But you can still think about, and write down (or just file away in your head) ideas for scenes or a flow of images. You have already done the latter with your "Summer Snow" video from last year, or your other video reel on Vimeo, from 2012-13.

Go deep if you want to, and create scenes of pure imagery from your subconscious (what you are thinking or dreaming), or from your heart (what you are feeling). Let things bubble up to the surface. You do not always have to create from the conscious level. That's what imagery is all about.

Allow what is below the surface to speak to you, and it will add to your creativity. But, be sure to keep up with it. Jot things down, as I say. Keep a pad of paper handy. Phrases, small bits of ideas.

These are the things that, if chosen and allowed to blossom, can provide you with personal and original creative material, to help you stand out from the crowd.

Listen to your inner voice, and even more, your subconscious stream of thoughts, because in this way you will form a direct connection to your Creative Spirit. This is all the stuff we have talked about over the years, meaning mainly that the You down here on Earth is just the human projection of the Major You of your Soul. And then your Spirit is the interface between both. Your Spirit can leave your body at night, during dreams of astral projection, but unless you are a practiced Yogi in India or otherwise adept at meditation, it is difficult to achieve the same results during the day.

Unless you can become attuned to the stream-of-subconscious thought that runs through your mind during your waking hours. 

That is your Spirit, or at least a mechanism of your Spirit, at work during the daytime. Perhaps your Spirit can only fly away (i.e. operate freely) while you are sleeping. While you are awake, it interfaces by running a stream-of-consciousness in your mind. You see, your subconscious doesn't quite know what it means to be a human being, and that is because it is coming from your operational Spirit.

So, you have this Three Way Communication happening, between You, Your Spirit, and Your Soul, with the aetheric Spirit acting as the interface between the other two. Above it all is God, of course, and we are all continually conscious of God, even when we don't realise it.

It is your job as an artist to become aware of these connections within yourself, and to pay close attention to their interactions. These will be the communication tools that you will use to set your artistic goals apart from the crowd. So, reach inward, and reach deep, and get a handle on what you really see, what you really feel. Not in everyday terms, but in terms of pure imagery.

Then you can work outward from there, and turn these glimpses into ideas, scenes for videos or movies, or still photographs, or poems, or what-have-you.

That's all I know for tonight, my Baby. I hope you had a good day. Fingers crossed for sleep the whole night through, and I will see you in the morning.

I Love You, Elizabeth!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)  Sweet Dreams.......

We Could Be (sweet dreams, hopeful sleep)

Hey, Sweet Baby!,

That's us! We're engaged! Or at least we could be. We oughta get engaged. What do you think?  :):) Well, we can think about it a little bit, but we could be engaged-to-be-engaged while we think about it.

I am back at Pearl's. Nothin' fancy today, just typical Sunday. The singing was good, but we didn't practice afterwards because our director is still absent. Next week will be a biggie practice, though, because we've got Good Friday and Easter services coming right up.

I hope you had a great day. I am back on work schedule hours, so I'm here til 6:30, then.......well, you know.

I Love You and will be back in a bit.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

12:35am : Hi, my Darling. Happy Late Night. Pearl was up very late watching TV, so it took me a while to get situated, but now all is quiet. Except for the mockingbird, that is. I wanna get back to writing more, and I will, but it's been a difficult adjustment because Pearl has very erratic sleeping hours. Anyhow, I hope you had a good weekend, and maybe you got to do something fun also.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for a good week, with normal sleep. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Saturday Evening Post (haha - get it?) (sweet dreams)

Hi Sweet Baby!,

Happy Saturday Evening. I am at home, haven't done much today except go to the produce store and went for half my walk. Slept in til 10:30 (my goodness!). I don't realise how tired I am until I get a chance to unwind, lol. But I always recuperate pretty quickly. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday. I got my new Bill Nelson CD in the mail ("Quiet Bells"), so I will listen to that later. Maybe watch a movie, but not much else. It's only a single day off, so it's more about rest. Gotta be ready to sing in choir tomorrow morn. But, as I said, my next work period is only two weeks, and then I will have six days off.

I just wanted to say hi, see how you are doing. I will write more later on at the usual time.

I Love You! Happy that Spring is here and hoping you have nice weather.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

12:20am : I'm just checking in to wish you sweet dreams, which you may already be in the middle of. Boy, I was glad for a day off, and I feel pretty rested now. I'll be back in choir tomorrow morn, and I will see you after practice, sometime around 1:30 pm.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Happy Spring + Double/Double (Hi from home) (sweet dreams & sleep ins)

Hey Sweet Baby,

Good afternoon and Happy Spring! It's been a busy morning, doing some cleaning around the house and then taking the Kobester to Le Groomer in Canoga Park. Now I have some free time because it usually takes 2 to 3 hours before he is done. Sorry I didn't post last night, but the movie got out super late and I didn't have much to report anyway. "Early Spring" was good, but more of a melodrama than Ozu's other films, more of a potboiler than philosohical.

Anyhow, yesterday, today, and the next couple days are an interesting transition, astrologically speaking. Yesterday and part of today are the last days of the Sun in Pisces, and the Moon has also been in Pisces on the same days. So it was Super Dreamy Time. It was also the last days of Winter. Today is the transition, and right now the Sun may have entered Aries, and soon the Moon will follow and stay in Aries for a couple days, and it will also be the first day of Spring. So we went from a Double Pisces to a Double Aries, from Ultra Dreamy to Ultra Action, and from Winter to Spring, all in the same two or three day period. Pretty cool, I say. I always follow what sign the Moon is in, cause it kinda gives you a hint of the day's vibe. It's a beautiful Spring day here, and I hope it is for you too.

I love your posts, and the Sweet Baby picture! Also, the picture your friend Tina took is really good. I like the way the "falling" greens in the reflection serve as a backdrop to the green of the tree growing from the log. Really good!

It's 2pm now, I should be here until 3pm or so. Le Groomer will probably call by then, and I'll go pick up the 'Ster. Then I'll drop him off and run to the store, then back to Pearl's til 6:30. Then I'm off til Sunday morning.

Enjoy the rest of your afternoon. I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

7:35pm : Hi, my Baby. Just wanted to say that I'm home. Got two sleep-ins coming, yay! Well, one full sleep-in and one sorta sleep in (Sunday before choir), but it's still all good. It's Friday night, so you may be with friends or at the studio or something, but I just wanted to check in and say I Love You.

I'll probably go for my walk in a bit, then maybe watch a movie. I can get wild and stay up semi-late. Oh boy!

I'll be back later at approximately the usual time.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

12:10am : Happy Late Night, my Darling. Man, it's weird being at my apartment. We're almost in April, and I think I've been here less than 5 nights. I almost didn't know what to do : hmmm, should I read? Watch a movie? Go for my walk? Play guitar? Browse Amazon?

I ended up doing a little bit of everything. One good thing: I did a half workout on my walk, stopping at the CSUN outdoor exercise yard like I used to do regularly last year. Then I stopped when it got cold (L.A Cold, anyway) in November, and when you hate working out like I do, once you stop it's a good reason to stay stopped, haha. But the Drill Sergeant in me has been yelling at me to get started again, because you've gotta stay in shape, so I did stop and I did a half of what I'd normally do. Now I will work up to a full workout - which is still short, mind you - but I found last year that it gets the job done.

I was also reading one of my books, "Where Did The Towers Go" by Dr. Judy Wood, about 9/11. Man, it's really weird the way those buildings pretty much turned to dust as they fell, and left little debris relative to their immense size. Dr. Wood was a professor of mechanical engineering at Clemson (which I probably mentioned before), and she examines why this phenomenon occured.

At any rate, this is one of those books that should be read aloud on national TV.

I hope your weekend is off to a good start, and - re: your post earlier this eve - I remember when you found a four leaf clover a couple of years ago. Pretty good memory, eh? :) You posted a picture of it, too. So now that it's Spring, it's time to go in search of another one.

For now, I will wish you Sweet Dreams, and I will stay up a little while longer myself, and then I will sleep, and sleep in!

I Love You, Elizabeth, and I will see you in the morn.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Thursday Afternoon Love

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

I just wanted to check in and say hi. I'm at Pearl's. That is an excellent shot of Paul onstage at the club, and it's classic the way you have the club sign lit up against the black background. It's like those old b&w shots from the jazz era, where the musician is spotlit, and you might see a trail of cigarette smoke wafting upwards. Glad you are using black and white, too! It will always be my mode of choice, though I like color too. But for expression, give me black and white every time. Keep shooting, you are taking excellent pictures.

Tonight is movie night, and we will be seeing Ozu's "Early Spring". We've already seen "Late Spring" and "Early Summer", lol, and his titles can get confusing if you mix up the seasons or the "Late" and "Early"s. It's another long one, 2 1/2 hours, so I should be back to Pearl's by 10:30 or so. I hope you are enjoying your day. We are gonna take the Kobedoggie out on a quick walk up and down the street since he didn't get out this morn. Then I will be back til 6:30.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Hike & "Horse" (the possibilities of cinema)

Good Evening, my Darling,

I am home, and hurray! - I just finished "The Turin Horse"! I don't know if you saw my Facebook post a couple hours ago, but if you did you'll understand, lol. Turns out there was only five more minutes left. I'm not sure if I liked "The Turin Horse" or not, but I guess I am glad I saw it. I certainly didn't hate it, it's just that it's a real exercise in endurance. Still, everyone who likes art films should see it once, I think.

Once and only once!  :)

Now I have to walk down to Northridge Libe to return it as it is due today and I wanna avoid late fees. The Libe is open til 8pm, so I'll leave in a minute, but the trip will give me enough mileage for today as I did wind up going to Santa Susana this morn, where I hiked to the top of Devil's Slide and back. I discovered I've still got it. That hike is a piece of cake now.

So, if I leave by 7:15, I'll be back here by 7:45, 8 at the latest. I might take a minute to see if they've got any other movies I want to see. I hope you had a nice day.

I Love You and I'll be back in a little bit.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Midnight : Happy Late Night. Not a lot to add, except to wish you sweet dreams. Thinking of "Turin Horse", though, and it's extreme example of what constitutes a story in film, I do urge you to check out some of the classics of foreign and art cinema, even if these movies aren't generally your thing. I could recommend a great many films, or you could just check my FB film list, or any respectable critic such as the late Roger Ebert. I say this to you because it will open up your viewpoint on what is possible, and who knows - as you continue to work as an artist, you might eventually want to shoot a movie, perhaps on digital video.

I mean, who knows, right? Think big, I say, but also take in the Big Picture of what has been done with cinema, and the reason some of these foreign directors were able to get so far out there is because they didn't have to work within a studio system bent on box office returns. And of course you know I love Hollywood movies, too, of all kinds, from film noir to musicals, to anything you can name (except for Sandler, et. al., you know my forbidden list, lol). Hollywood wrote the book on motion pictures, but with the art films, it has often been foreign directors who have gone the "farthest out there", as far as what's possible in cinema. And what you will discover, when you watch a film like "Turin Horse", is that just about anything is possible in cinema, so long as you bring it to life from your innermost vision.

Bring it fully to life. Never "half-believe" in a vision. If you believe in it, the audience will too.

That's what got me to keep watching "Turin Horse"; it was the pure vision of a great filmmaker. I might have thought, "what was he smokin' when he made this one"?, but because it was a fully-formed vision - i.e. you know it came directly from his mind and is not contrived - I couldn't stop watching.

So, there's just a few thoughts, on film and what's possible. And it's fun to consider what can be done with a story, or simply with imagery, and with the timings and rhythms you can use to film scenes. There is so much you can do.........

I will see you in the morn. I Love You, Elizabeth.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Pinch (funny stuff!) (out of nowhere + sweet dreams)

Good Afternoon, Sweet Baby,

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Are you wearing green? You know what happens if you aren't - pinch, pinch, pinch.  :) Actually, I'm not wearing green myself, an admission I make at my own risk, and yet on purpose! Is it possible to do a long distance pinch? We'll have to try it and find out.

I am home after bringing Pearl back from Golden Agers. I see your post, of your friend Scarlet's drawing. Maybe you are drawing, too, or working on some type of art project along those lines. If so, it all fits in with What You Do. If you were gonna draw your witchsona, it would definitely be of a Good Witch, and I know you are very adept in the skills of White Witchery. Me, I am working on my remote viewing technique, as I am fascinated anew by reading this Ed Dames book. It's very hard, when working a lot, and being busy in general, to get your mind focused enough to do this sort of thing, but when you can, you get some interesting results. You can develop your psi just by exercising it everyday, just like working out any other part of your body. I imagine you have found the same to be true with the practices you are familiar with, such as the use of runes.

At any rate, it's the usual Tuesday schedule for me. I will leave a few minutes early to stop at the store. I need avocados, to which I am addicted, and also some cumin for the vegetarian chili I am gonna make later tonight. Now I'm making myself hungry, so I'd better stop........

I'll be here til 4pm, then the usual for the rest of the evening. Enjoy your day.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:15pm : Hey, my Darling. That is a riot, that picture of Hannah and the little girl who is no doubt a relative of hers. They've got a strong red hair & freckles gene in that family, lol. Also, that's a pretty picture of you from earlier in the evening, with the little girl who, I am guessing, is the daughter of your friend? A very nice picture it is.

Well, I am still getting things situated here at Pearl's, so I will be back in just a few minutes, but I wanted to check in real quick because that was such a funny pic. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)

(back in a few)

11:55pm : All is now quiet. I have to be careful doing anything with food, even opening the refrigerator, this late at night, because The Kobedog has (naturally) dog ears, and he loves food like it's going out of style. He is at the other end of the house, in Pearl's room with the door closed, but what happens if he hears me is that he starts barking because he wants to come out to the kitchen where I am. And because he is shut inside Pearl's room, he can't get out, so he just barks. That in turn wakes Pearl up, and then I've gotta coax both of 'em into going back to sleep again - not always an easy task.

So, I've learned to become Super Stealthy when making late-night rice or anything else. I make not a sound.

I hope you had a nice day. I may try to go for a quick hike tomorrow morn while Pearl is at her crafts group meeting. If I do, it will just be local, maybe Santa Susana or Cave Of Munits. I am nearing the end of this work cycle, so I will have a day off on Saturday. Then, my next work period is short - only two weeks, and then I will have a week off during Easter break. It will give me a chance to kind of get my bearings back, see what the focus looks like. Last year it was hiking and discovery, and when I think back on last year, and last summer especially, I blow my mind because all of that came out of the blue. All those trails, over 25 of them, all that hiking and going up to the top of local mountains and stuff.......finding that old, abandoned oil refinery.

That was an amazing trip, now that I look back on it, because it was relentless - I was relentless in my pursuit of new trails and locations, and I discovered a whole new world surrounding the Valley, a world of nature that I'd never really explored. So it just came out of nowhere, because I have never in my life been a hiker, but it was exceedingly awesome. Especially the super-hot hikes, when it was over 100 degrees.  :)

I don't think I can replicate the intensity of that months-long experience this year, and I probably won't try to, but my hikes will still be a regular thing. But because everything I do is weird-based, or in normal terms, you might say "discovery based" (the discovery of weird stuff), I will be looking for new ways to photograph things. Last year I discovered my sunshine ghosts. This year, I trust they will still be there, but I will also hope for some new phenomenon to present itself.

At any rate, last year was miraculous most of all because it came out of nowhere, so I am hoping something like that will happen again. It's like lightning striking twice, but you never know.....

Sweet Dreams, Sweet Baby! I Love You and will see you in the morn.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Monday Love From Home (sweet dreams & projects)

Hi, my Darling,

Happy Monday and glad to see you. I guess you were busy all weekend but I'm happy that you have so many things happening, or you seem to anyway. With this morning's post, I don't know if you are referring to one of your own projects or not, but I also know you like that style of fantasy photography. There was another English photographer whose work you were posting last year.

Anyhow, I am glad you are back! I am home and will be here til 4:15, minus part of my walk which I will go on later, maybe around 3pm or so. It's still hot here; yesterday it was up over 90 degrees, which normally I love but maybe not this early in the year, lol.

So, I will be here. Maybe I will watch a movie, I dunno yet. Pearl has slept through the night for three nights in a row now, without waking up, so that's good and hopefully it will continue. I wanna get back to my hiking and adding the little workouts back into my routine, but to do all that I've gotta have my normal energy, and it's taken some adjustment to keep my energy up since my schedule changed last November. But, I am doing it, or getting there, and you know me - I will get there! Sometimes, it just takes me a while, haha.

I Love You, Sweet Baby! Have a great day. I will be around one computer or the other most of the day.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

11:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Baby. I wanna once again congratulate you on your selection for the film fest. That could lead to some fortuitous meetings at the screenings, and some connections, so I am willing to bet you are already thinking about subject matter for another documentary or video project, and if not then I just planted the suggestion for you. :)

There's a world of stories out there, just waiting to be told.

I did wind up watching a movie this afternoon - "Foxcatcher", which was really good. The story of John duPont was all over the news back in the mid-90s, it was a big story, but because of the passage of time I had forgotten the main issue, which was good because it was more of a surprise in the film. Hard to believe it was Steve Carrell under all that makeup in the lead role. I had thought he was just a guy in dumb comedies, but he's got big time talent. Channing Tatum, too, believe it or not. Maybe now they will both get more substantial roles.

That's all I know for tonight. I know you are super busy these days. All I do is work (mostly), but hopefully as the year progresses, things will adjust and I will have more to write about. Always hoping to have real conversation with you, direct conversation, but I am not gonna harp on it anymore. If it happens, it happens.

In the meantime, I send lots of love and sweet dreams. I Love You, Elizabeth.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Sunday Love

Hi Elizabeth,

Happy Sunday. I am home early from choir. We didn't practice today because our director wasn't there. It's hot again today, so I'm gonna hang out inside for a while. Just wanted to say hi and see how you are doing. I hope you are enjoying your weekend. :)

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Saturday Store-ing

Hey, my Darling,

Happy Saturday. I'm just hangin' at home, taking a half-nap (not fully asleep, lol) and waiting around to go shopping in about a half hour. Vickie still doesn't have a car, so I am solo once again. And, guess what? This week her husband Nico (my brother-in-law) also was in a car accident, and his car was totalled also. My goodness! But thank goodness, he was also okay. Unhurt. Nico was in an intersection waiting to make a left turn, and when he did so as the light was changing from yellow to red, an oncoming car - instead of slowing for the red light - stepped on the gas and ran the red light, and ran right into Nico. He told Vickie that he thought the driver was dead, she hit him with such force. But, fortunately for her, though she was at fault, she too was okay, as were her passengers. You just can't be too safety-minded on the road these days, so always drive defensively! Give people plenty of room, and keep your eyes on everything that is happening in your vicinity.

At any rate, that's enough accidents for the time being, thankyouverymuch.

I see your post about the Film Festival, and that is great. The screening will definitely lead to more notice for you, and more good things will happen in a year that seems to be off to a great start.

Well, I'd better get ready to go to the store. I'll be back at Pearl's at 4:30, and the usual schedule.

Enjoy your afternoon! I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Congratulations!

Good Evening, my Darling,

Happy Friday the 13th, and congrats on your film being shown at the Wisconsin Film Festival. That is fantastic! Friday the 13th is always a good day, I find, and it holds true once again. Lots of driving for me today, out to Glendale and back to take my sister Sophie shopping. T'was hot, too, over 90, and windy. Normally I love heat, but it's unseasonal this early, if anything can be said to be seasonal or unseasonal any more, lol.

I hope your day way good, and with the good news about your film, I'm sure it was. I trust all other current projects are proceeding apace, and I will be interested to see how they are coming along. I am gonna relax for a bit, then watch an X-File around 7:30, then go for my walk, and if I have any time left after that, I'll read for a little bit.

Enjoy your evening. I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Love It! (vision of Ozu & great filmmakers)

Hey Sweet Baby,

Love the picture! The whole look is very "you" and of course with the Tootsie Roll pillow. Now, if I had a Tootsie Roll pillow, I'd wake up and it would be gone in the morning, a victim of my sweet tooth. But really though, the whole picture looks great, and color coordinated. The use of the red chair to go with the red of the pillow and your red lipstick is a great touch, and as always you have a keen eye for design.  :)

Good Stuff!

I am at Pearl's, last night was a little better as she slept the whole night through, and as a result so did I. Tonight is movie night, and we will be seeing "Tokyo Story" by Ozu. It's his most famous film, and once again stars Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, he again in the "father" role, she again as daughter "Noriko", though an entirely different Noriko from the other two, each individual themselves, yet similar. "Tokyo Story" is the third film in Ozu's "Noriko Trilogy", and it explores a parent/child relationship in which the adult children have moved out and no longer have time for the parents. It's a classic, and I actually have it on dvd; I've seen it twice before. All three Noriko films are incredibly sad, but still highly recommended! :)

I will be back after the movie by 10:30 at the latest. I hope all current projects are coming along well, if my guesses have been correct that is (and even if they haven't).

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

Midnight : Happy Late Night, my Darling. Just finished making my brown rice, and now I am winding down. All is quiet, and last night the sleeping was good, so that was a blessing. The movie is every bit as great as the last time I saw it, and this is the first time I've seen it on a theater screen. Ozu's image composition in this one is particularly good; you find yourself thinking "that's an amazing shot" over and over again. But really what gets you, about all his films, is his understanding of emotion, and especially the nuances of the way people treat each other. The dynamics of family and the self as it relates (or doesn't) to membership in a family. The guy is brilliant, and I know I go on and on about him, but deservedly so.

I can hardly believe I've been attending the Thursday night Cinematheque for six years now, and we've seen a lot of great films by legendary directors, but I think we've really been on a roll with the last three : Satyajit Ray, Powell & Pressburger (P&P), and now Yasujiro Ozu. The films of all three really dig deep into the psyche and lodge there, to stay with you.

That's all I know for this evening. Study the great filmmakers - I can't recommend it enough. Even if Criterion type art house films are not your style, just try watching one or two once in a while. You will absorb what you see and it will come back to you for incorporation into your own work - composition, form, design, and motion. The latter is especially true in Ozu's films. He was noted for his attention to, and insistence on, physical details, such as the way an actress was to drink a cup of tea, or get up and leave a room. You watch, and it looks effortless, but with a master like Ozu or Satyajit Ray, there was always a reason. Every single detail of every shot was planned out.

That's called vision - making a picture the way the director sees it in his mind, and it really has a lasting effect, at least among the great ones.

Sweet Dreams, Elizabeth!

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Looks Good On All Fronts (late night love)

Hey, Awesome Lady,

I am just getting home from Pearl's. I saw your posts a little while ago, and it looks like a lot of stuff is going on. That's fantastic! I am guessing the latest is that you are either recording with Vaskula, perhaps at Megatone (re: this afternoon's post), or else the recording is finished and is being mastered. Either way, that's great! This is a good time; you are very much in demand.  :)

That's kinda what happens to an actor, when he or she gets hot - all of a sudden you see them in several films within a few months or a year's time. The main thing is to keep the ball rolling, and it seems to be doing so. Congrats on all fronts!

Well, I am gonna settle in for a few minutes, then maybe go on my walk early. It's kinda lousy outside, looking like it might rain. Fingers crossed for It Won't.

Usual schedule, here til 9:45, Pearl's at 10pm. Enjoy your evening!

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Midnight : Happy Late Night. Not much to report, but I just wanted to check in to wish you sweet dreams. I will be interested to see the results of everything you've been working on of late, so post a pic when you have a chance, and a clip of music too, when available. My job has been a tad difficult for the last few days because Pearl isn't sleeping well, so I haven't been getting much sleep either, but hopefully it will work itself out.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Tuesday Afternoon Love

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

I'm just checking in to say hi. I'm at home, hanging out until it's time to pick Pearl up from Golden Agers. I see your Vaskula post. Are you maybe working on more music with Johan? Or maybe that is what your video project is for. Well, I will figure it out.  :) A lot of good stuff is happening, though, and I see the weather is getting better, too, so all is well.

I am just starting a new book called "Tell Me What You See" by Major Ed Dames. It's all about remote viewing, a favorite subject of mine, and it's fascinating. So, I'm gonna read for another 45 minutes or so, and then go get Pearl. But I'll be around at one computer or another after that.

Enjoy your afternoon. I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Party? (too many sweets?) (sweet dreams + nightbird)

Hey, my Darling,

I just saw your post a few minutes ago. I don't know whether to say "oh boy"! or "oy", lol. I take it to mean that you ate a lot, maybe too much, and/or maybe at a party? Probably if you were working on your video, you might have had long hours and ate too many candy bars/junk food, or, you guys finished up and then had a party to celebrate, and the result was the same......

Those are my guesses, with the "result" being that you didn't feel good afterwards? I hope that's not the case, but if it is, I hope you are feeling better now. I sure know the feeling of eating too much of anything, or drinking too much of anything :), or doing too much of other types of anything, haha.

The main thing for you is too keep a check on your blood sugar. I know you already know that.
Now you know why I'm on the No-Fun Diet these days, and I even keep sugar and salt to a minimum. Now, you are 22, so you (like me when I was 22) can get away with a lot more. When I was 22, I could basically eat/drink/take anything I wanted and not suffer too many adverse effects.

But, like you as well, I always had an inner "health food nut" inside me, waiting to get out. Even back then, I was interested in nutrition, and I always ate my veggies and salads and stuff. But boy, did I ever love junk food! I even got mad that they called it that. :)

Don't be pickin' on my potato chips and Taco Bell, and Snickers! 

I can't do it any more, of course, or I'd be paying the price, but at 22 you can still have fun. Just watch your blood sugar (I know, stop nagging Ad).

Anyway, I don't even know if my guess is correct. You could mean something entirely different. But I'm probably at least on the right track, and if so, I hope you feel better today.

I am making some brown rice and veggies, a staple of the No-Fun Diet (but actually pretty delicious), so I will finish doing that and then be back in a few minutes.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Midnight : I am back. Jim Svejda has just signed off for the evening on KUSC, which I almost always have playing in the background, whether here at Pearl's or at my apartment. All their DJs are great, but Jim Svejda is my favorite.......

It's funny, because when you think of "D.Js", you don't usually think of classical music. Except on KUSC.

Earlier in the evening, while at home I listened to "Hand.Cannot.Erase.", the new one from Steven Wilson. I just got it in the mail today. It sounds fantastic after one listen, very progressive and yet very, very melodic and not too weird like some of his other solo stuff. Overall it was just a quiet Monday, except for now because that nightbird is back, and he is yakkin' up a storm. What is he, a Magpie? Nightingale? Mockingbird? He might be a Mockingbird because he is making all kinds of different sounds, and it is constant. He just goes and goes........

That's all I know for tonight, my Baby. I hope your project is coming along well, or has finished to your expectations, whichever is the case. Sweet Dreams until morning.....

I Love You, Elizabeth.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Home From Choir + Kobedogged (project?)

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

Happy Sunday. I am a bit late getting home from choir because when we got back to Pearl's, Kobi came out front when we went in the house, and I had left the car door open and he jumped inside. At that point I knew I was not getting away without a trip to CSUN.  :)

But it was good, cause he hadn't been up there since I joined the choir in November, which changed my Sunday schedule. So, I just finished taking him through the Orange Grove and past the Duck Pond. He had a blast and is now all Kobedogged out, back at home.

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. I don't have a lot of time here at home before I head back to Pearl's, so I'm just gonna relax for a bit. I will do all my walking tonight, and it will be light out til after 7pm (oh boy!). Well, Sweet Baby, that's all for the moment. I will be near one computer or another for most of the rest of today.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:50pm : Happy Late Night, my Baby. I see on FB a post you are tagged in, and it looks like you are working on a project, either photo or video. My first thought was that it was for your new band video, the one the guys commented about last week. But it looks like the location is a stable of some kind, or a stockyard? And, I see you are working with your professor from the University, so maybe it is a different project. It's great in any case! One thing is leading to another, and that will keep happening. :)
I will be interested to see what you are shooting, and best wishes for the rest of the shoot, if you are still working on it.

All is quiet here, everybody (including me) is tired from the time change, but it will be a good week ahead.

Sweet Dreams and I will see you in the morning. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Saturday Night Love

Hey, my Darling,

Happy Saturday Night. I'm home from Pearl's. Lots of shopping today, but by myself since my sister doesn't have a car yet. She is still looking. Anyhow, nothing major, just the usual. Dave F. is coming over in a few minutes, so I am gonna go on a walk with him, and then I'll be back here about 8:15.

When I get back to Pearl's I'll write a little earlier than usual because of the time change. Gotta go to bed a bit earlier or I'll be toast in choir tomorrow, lol.

Hope you had a nice day. I Love You and I'll be back in just a little while.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Friday Afternoon Love (at home) (guitar sounds & camera angles)

Hi, my Darling,

Happy Friday and TGIF and all that, even though TGIF is a regular day for me, lol. But, it's a nice day, and I like your post a few minutes ago, of your friend's picture. Is that Boulder, Colorado? It sure is beautiful. Two places I have always wanted to see in the western U.S. are the Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains, so we will have to go to both.  :):)

I have been home for a while, and have just been reading and cleaning. It was really windy earlier, so I didn't wanna do anything outdoors, but the wind seems to have died down so I may venture out pretty soon. Don't know where yet, but nothing major because I've gotta head back to Pearl's in two hours. I hope you are enjoying your day. I am checking your 10 day forecast at weather.com, and it looks like the temps will be coming up a bit next week, so hopefully Spring is in the air, and lots of fun stuff with it.

I Love You, Sweet Baby! Enjoy the rest of your afternoon and I will check back in at Pearl's.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

6:45pm : I am home. It's a warm night and still windy, so I think I'll wait a while for my walk. Brian noticed the same thing about that lens that I mentioned about videotape the other day, the shallow depth of field. With that lens, it's practically nonexistent, or maybe it was just set that way for the video clip. But anyhow, that's what I was saying about the look of videotape, at least on TV and especially with soap operas. There is an artificiality to it that I never was able to put my finger on. It's like a sheen or something, a lack of grain. But it's also that shallow depth of field.......

Well, I am either gonna watch one of the movies from my Warner Gangsters collection, or an episode of Season 7 of "The X-Files", which I just started last week. Then I'll go for my walk, and I will of course be back at the usual time at Pearl's.

I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:55pm : Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby. All is quiet at Pearl's kitchen table........except for the chirping of a nightbird in the backyard. It's the warm night that has him making such a racket, and I am wondering what kind of bird it is. A nightingale, perhaps? Whoever he is, he sure is talkative.  :)

I hope you had a nice Friday. I am just looking at Youtube vids of Bobby Fuller Four, because I love that early electric guitar sound - the sound of a Fender Strat plugged into a Fender tube amp. You can't get that clean but muscular sound any more unless you have the vintage equipment, but anyway, I really like that kind of guitar playing, where you can hear the individual notes and strings. There was a sound in the mid-60s, tube amps with added echo, that sounded awesome. Then distortion pedals came in around 1967 and changed the whole ballgame, and that created a whole new bunch of cool sounds, but that Strat & Fender Tube Amp sound kinda got lost forever. Also, Strats became popular and mass produced, so the early ones sound best.

Well, enough "tech talk" for now. The sound itself can do the talking. I was also thinking of the last two Ozu films we've seen at CSUN, and even though they might not be your style, and probably not the kind of filmmaking you are used to, it might be cool for you to one day see them, just because you are a camera operator (just one aspect of your overall job description), and it would be interesting, I think, to watch how and where Ozu places his camera and how it affects a scene. He is extreme in that he does not move the camera much at all. It is generally static, which is completely at odds with techniques of modern filmmaking. And yet, it is still instructive to see where he places it, and how it participates in the storytelling. Also, he does occasionally (just a few times in a movie) use a tracking shot, or a crane shot. And when he does use a moving camera thusly, it really stands out because the film has been so still up to that point.

The camera is still, and he has his actors contribute all the motion in his motion picture. That, and he changes angle and perspective through editing. Anyway, it is instructive to see, I think. You know, a person could watch Ozu and think - "man, where's the No-Doz? I'm gonna fall asleep". But then, another person could watch and think, "You know, in a certain, quiet way, these are some of the greatest films I've ever seen". That's how I feel especially about the last two, "Late Spring" and "Early Summer", but overall about all of his films that we've seen.

Anyhow, just a few thoughts for the evening. It's super late and you are probably already asleep, so I will send Sweet Dreams and see you in the morn.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Love From Home, Ozu Tonight (film)

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

I am at home after picking Pearl up from the hair salon, which took a little longer than usual today. I just wanted to say hi. It'll be a quick turnaround because I have to head back to Pearl's in 75 minutes, so I will just read for a few and then walk down to the Oviatt and back, just to get some mileage in.

Tonight is movie night, and we are gonna see Ozu's "Early Summer". No doubt it will be another excellent film by him, so I am looking forward to it. I hope you are having a nice day. :) I will be around one computer or the other until 6:30, and then I'll be back at Pearl's by 10pm or so.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

11:50pm : Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby. I just finished making some spaghetti for my late night snack, one of my all-time favorite dishes - I could eat spaghetti anytime, anywhere.

Well, maybe not for breakfast........but maybe even then! I just love the stuff.  :)

Ozu's "Early Summer" was another family drama. He works his themes over and over, almost as if examining them from another angle. It's like he makes a film and then says, "let me make it again, but differently". Both "Early Summer" and the film we saw last week, "Late Spring" have a main character named Noriko, played by the beautiful Setsuko Hara . The "Norikos" in each film are different characters from different families, but they might as well be the same. Both films revolve around the Japanese family of the post-war era, and in both films the parents and siblings want "Noriko" to get married. In Japan, at least in that era, women were expected to marry, and under pressure to do so, even if the marriage was often arranged, but also by that time, societal conventions were changing, and Japan was being influenced by the West, where women were becoming more independent.

Ozu was really ahead of his time in exploring these topics, and he has a group of actors who work in most of his films, including the incredible Chishu Ryu, who acted in 54 (!) of Ozu's films, beginning in the silent era.

But in the films we have seen in the last two weeks, a modern viewer can see, almost 70 years later, the struggle taking place in families between tradition (defacto marriage for women), and the outside cultural influences which led some women to take a stand for independence.

The actors in these films are really fantastic, and it is interesting to note that, going back to the early decades of the motion picture, that there were great filmmakers and great actors and actresses in many, many countries - right from the get go.

It's true that many of the foreign directors from the early days were heavily influenced by Hollywood films that they saw in their own countries (Ozu and Satyajit Ray loved American movies), but still, they took the ball and ran with it.

Putting on a show, going back to the era of the amphitheater, seems to be a built in artistic urge in all cultures.

Ozu is rapidly becoming one of my all-time favorite filmmakers.

I hope you had a good day. It is super late, so I will wish you sweet dreams and see you in the morning.

I Love You, Elizabeth.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sunny Wednesday Love (heading home) (sweet dreams)

Hey, my Darling,

I'm just checking in from home to say hi and wish you a happy afternoon. I stayed at Pearl's while she was at her crafts meeting because the house needed some cleaning and the 'Ster needed a walk. He'd been cooped up during the rain, but today is sunny and warm so that is good. I may - not sure yet - go up to Aliso Canyon for a quick walk-through. Aliso, you will recall, is close by, only 2 1/2 miles away, so it's an easy trip. I'll decide by 2pm if I'm gonna go or not. But I wanna take some pictures, so......that may be the deciding factor.

I hope you are having a good day, and I will see you when I get back to Pearl's at 4:30.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

6:15pm : Hey, Sweet Baby, I am getting ready to head home in a few minutes, so I wanted to check in now because Grimsley is coming over at 7:30 to watch some show he wants me to see : "The Last Man On Earth". So, I'm gonna go for my walk right when I get home and then watch the show with him. I did go up to Aliso, but no photo opportunities presented themselves. I'm looking for really unique shots now, and I'll just keep looking til I find some good ones!

Anyhow, just wanted to say hi, and I will be back at the usual time, later tonight. Enjoy your evening.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)

11:45pm : Happy Late Night. Not a lot to report, except all is well. Grim did come over and we did watch that show, which he had taped a few nights ago. It was actually pretty good for mainstream tv, and they made the most of the concept, which is that Will Forte is the "Last Man On Earth". He's the guy who played Bruce Dern's son in "Nebraska", a talented low-key comedic actor. Grim is big on comedy and is always wanting to know if I saw the latest SNL, or Jimmy Fallon show, or other late night comedy and talk shows. I am - as you know, haha - mostly a fan of more serious fare, or weird fare - but that's only because it takes a certain kind of show or comedian to make me laugh. I grew up on classic TV from the early 60s, so "Gilligan's Island" is my idea of a good time, but I did love SNL all through the 70s, 80s and 90s, especially the line-ups from the Mike Myers/Dana Carvey era.

Anyhow, I hope you had a good day and I will see you in the morning. Sweet Dreams.......

I Love You, Elizabeth.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Happy Tuesday Love & Marriage (movie) (getting married)

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

I am home a little later than usual from dropping Pearl off at Golden Agers because I took the Kobester to Reseda Park for a walk around the duck pond. We saw Canada Geese, too. That's what they call 'em, not "Canadian" Geese, but Canada Geese. That's what the signs say, anyway. :) We had fun at the park, and even though it seems to be clouding over once again as I write, it was very nice to have a warm, sunny morning after several days of rain and L.A. Cold.

I love your post from a little while ago! Of course, it could have a couple of meanings, one being a straightforward "like" for the success of your friend Emily.......

But it could also have another message (hint, hint), and that one could be said to be straightforward as well, since it's a message you've posted many times before over the last couple years, and since we've actually talked about it once or twice before, especially back in 2012 and early 2013.

Yeah, we could get married. Of course we could! We can already consider ourselves spiritually married, but if you ever wanna talk about the real thing, just let me know. I know that of course there are all kinds of issues to consider, and that it's one of the biggest decisions a person can make, but in the meantime, we can pontificate a little bit about it, if you wanna.  :):)

Maybe just some general speculation and pontification later tonight, just for fun (but in all seriousness too!).

I hope you are enjoying your afternoon. It's Tuesday, so typical Golden Agers schedule. Other than that, I'm around all day at one computer or another.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

6:55pm : Good Evening, Sweet Baby. I am home, and I think I might go for my walk right away, because it's not raining at the moment, and also because I've got a movie from the Libe that's due tomorrow, another one from director Bela Tarr called "Almanac Of Fall". So I think I will give it a shot, and then I will be back later at the usual time at Pearl's. Hope you are having a nice evening!

I Love You and will be back in just a little while.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

12:05am : Happy Late Night, my Angel. Sorry I'm so late again, but I've been cooking since I got back to Pearl's. I had a package of ground turkey that I wanted to cook up so I wouldn't have to do it tomorrow, so I've been making and refrigerating turkey burgers, which I will eat up over the next few days. I also made more brown rice and veggies, which is currently my go-to late night snack. Anyhow, I'm all done cooking now, and here I am.

The Bela Tarr movie was quite a bit different from the one I saw last week. That one was "The Man From London", made in 2008, and it was excellent, the work of a top notch avant garde director. The one I saw tonight, "Almanac Of The Fall", I ordered from the Libe just because it was made by Bela Tarr. I didn't know that it was one of his first films, maybe even his first, but it showed. It was made in 1984, almost a quarter century earlier, and while some directors come right out of the gate at the top of their game (think David Lynch with "Eraserhead"), this was not one of those instances. It was, I suppose, a good film, but it was shot on videotape and thus had that "staged" look. What is it about tape that makes soap operas, for instance, look artificial? There is a sheen to a videotape image, and also a shallow depth of field. Turn on a soap opera just for the heck of it and you'll see what I mean (if they still shoot soaps on video, that is). Anyway, the movie must have been made for Hungarian TV, and it was more like a play than a film, a story of a woman who runs a boarding house, and the four extremely dysfunctional people who live with her, one being her son. Compared with the high-level filmmaking of "The Man From London", this one was clearly the work of a director still finding his feet, but I will chalk it up to my continuing filmic education.

So where were we? Oh yeah : marriage! Well, to really explore that subject, you need two people - me and you - but I can offer a few lighthearted thoughts of my own, just as a what-if. We could definitely get married, Sweet Baby, and I bring up the subject because you have posted pictures of brides and also the Emily Tebbets post in the last 48 hours. Of course, we would have to meet, and get to know each other in person (which probably wouldn't take long), but you know what I mean - all the practical stuff that would go with getting married.

On the lighthearted side, from my standpoint, we would have a serious but very easygoing marriage. Serious in the sense of vows and devotion but lighthearted in the sense of not pressuring each other or trying to "mold" the other into meeting preconceived expectations. Through all of our unique form of communication over the past few years, I think we both have established that we are not that kind of people. We are not conventional people who would "expect" a spouse to conform to certain societal conventions.

If you married me, you would be marrying a guy who will be 72 when you are 40, so that's something to keep in mind. I do try to stay in shape, though, and I have generally good health (thank the Lord). Basically, though, nothing would become a major issue, because we have talked about so much stuff already. We have even talked about a general "picture" of an evening at home, of one of us perhaps painting in the living room while another is reading or writing. It could be any art form.

But I think that neither one of us is high-maintanence, or demanding in any way. I am an Aries, and I am extremely easy going (I think), just so long as the other person is. If I were with some stereotypical "L.A. Chick", the kind that you might meet at a dating site, and she started to ask "what do you do"?, "what college did you go to"?, "how much do you make"?, "what are your career goals"?, etc., well, first of all I would never date a person like that, second of all, I don't go on dates because I have always been shy, and I am kind of a unique person, but if I actually was trapped with a high-expectation, high maintainence caricature woman like that, first I would start laughing, and then I would either show her the door or go looking for it myself.

There is a reason so many marriages don't last long anymore, and it is because of those kind of materialistic pressures that arise from the belief systems of aggroed-out modern people.

And of course you already know that I am about as far removed from being like that as I can possibly be.

So really, other than first talking to each other, and then eventually meeting and finally getting to know each other in person, our getting married would not entail too many Big Questions. Where to live would be one, but we could talk about that. The "age thing" would be another, not so much now, maybe, but down the road when you are 50 and I am 82 (yikes! - but I do stay in shape!). But we already know about money, and how it is most important for security rather than material things, which is important to know for artists. Artists can strike it rich - and may they do so, Lord - and when they do, then they can think about materialism. But until then, an artist must consider money from the standpoint of security, or as I have put it in the past, as long as you've got your bills paid, you are stylin'. You are then in control of your own destiny.

I've said much of this in the past, a couple years back. But getting married, as I speculate late this night, would overall be pretty easy I think. We would certainly have the dough to get started. And as I said back in 2012, when I was being bold : "sometimes if you just jump into something, you don't give yourself a chance to get cold feet". I think marriage is kinda like that. You know if you love somebody. And if you do, of course there are some practical issues to work out. But once you work out those issues, you can just take the plunge and jump in with both feet, and get married.

And then let love and adventure take over.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Sweet Dreams, Elizabeth. I Love You!

Happy Monday Love (evening love from home) (history & time & curiosity)

Good Morning, my Darling,

I am at home. No other appointments until 4:30, so I am just gonna get settled and see what's happening. Needless to say, I was elated to see your posts this morning. Their messages went straight to my heart. And, I see that I was right about the triangles, too, so that's really neat, not only because it explained the issue, but because of the way it came to me; it really was like a "thought message", received as I came out of sleep and with instant clarity.

So, it's a good day. Just keep doing what you are doing, with your prospect of a new band video, and with Paul (maybe you are doing a promo video for Megatone?), and with all of your photographic prospects and projects, be they for clients or just for yourself. I love the gnome house picture by the way, and your other winter picture too, of the bare trees across the snowy field. The gnome house reminded me of a post by an FB friend named Robert Salas. I don't know him, but he was involved in a very famous ufo incident at Malmstrom Air Force Base in the 1960s. Nowdays, he is a very spiritual guy, and he recently posted a pic of a small "fairie house" he built, and because I believe in those things (fairies, woodland spirits, etc), I hit the "like" button when I saw his fairie house. That's also why I like to depict trees the way I do, to try and find their "personality".

Anyway, I love the gnome house.  :)

Just keep doing what you are doing. Good things are gonna keep happening.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(happy me)

7:15pm : Hi, Sweet Baby. I just wanted to say I am home, and I love you and I also love the picture of the girl on the mountaintop, looking into the distance. I love the beautiful message in Spanish as well. It's amazing how much the landscape in Spain, at least that part of it, resembles Chatsworth here in the Valley. In fact, before I saw the comment above the photo, that it was Madrid, I even thought you had indeed found a photo taken either in or near Chatsworth, or somewhere like Mojave in Southern California where there are similar rocks. But Spain, yeah.........very similar landscape.

But most of all I loved the photo itself, and the message.

I am gonna check the sky in a minute here, and if it even looks semi-clear I am gonna go for my walk real quick. No walk yesterday and only a half-walk Saturday, because of constant rain, makes me restless and in need of some exercise, lol. So, here I go (hopefully), and I will see you later tonight at Pearl's at the usual time.

I Love You (Te Quiero)!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:55pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I am here at Pearl's kitchen table. All is quiet, Black Kitty was with me a little while ago but then she wanted out. She is still skittish in the house, so she probably went back to the shed, which is what she's used to. I am doing some Googling and visiting a website called archives.gov, because I wanna find out how to obtain my Dad's military records from WW2. I wish I would have asked him more about it when he was alive, but he only ever told anecdotes about the war, and never talked about the day-to-day experience. So, I am trying to find out anything I can about what he did, or what unit he was with and what they did. Dad was a staff sergeant in a radar battalion, which would have been part of the Signal Corps, so he wasn't in combat, but it was still World War Two, and I am a history buff, so I will try to obtain any records I can, even though they are going on 75 years old.

I was tripping out earlier, on my way home at 6:30, because I was thinking about my Grandma Louise (Dad's Mom). She is in a couple pictures on my Flickr, and she was born in 1885! That means that she was already 31, even when World War One started, and she passed away in 1937, before World War Two even started. I have mentioned before that we seem to have long generational turnarounds in my family. For instance, another person could have the same birth year as me, 1960, and have parents who were born in 1940 and grandparents born in 1920. That's the other extreme, when you have generational turnovers of 20 years, and in fact that's the actual period of a what we call a generation, in actual terms : 20 years. That measurement is due to the fact that in earlier times, people had children early, due to factors like living in an agricultural society (i.e. needing children to help on the farm), and a shorter life span. So you can still see families where the mother has a baby at 18, and the grandma is under 40. But my grandma died long before I was born, and so once again, I am fascinated by the time aspect of it all.

And the history. And I think imagery has a lot to do with the perceptions of how generations "were", meaning what their day-to-day life was like. When you see photos - old photos - of people from Grandma Louise's time, it looks like an entirely different world, with only hints of modernity. The clothing, hairstyles, furniture, even the physicality and facial expressions of people from that time look different.

And yet, I tell myself, it was only a little over a hundred years ago. So how different could they be? I think if you strip away all the accoutrements - clothing, technology, styles of the times - I think if you had a get-together of people from perhaps the last three or maybe even four hundred years, they would all understand each other to a certain extent. Generation-wise, four hundred years is only 20 "grandmas", so it's really not so far back. And if you are from my family of extended generational turnarounds, four hundred years is more like 10 or 12 grandmas. So it's all pretty far out, I think. I've never had any relatives, just my immediate family. Mom and Dad were both "only children". Mom was an orphan, and was adopted out of an orphanage in Cincinnati at six months old. Then she was on her own again by age 19, by which time both of her adoptive parents had passed away. But Mom had a lot of family friends who helped her get started in the world, and she had been a good student (Dean's List, National Honors Society, stuff like you achieved), and so she wound up with her radio show at WLW.

Dad had somewhat of a similar situation. He wasn't born an orphan, but he never knew his own Dad, who split before he was born. So it was just him, his Mom (Grandma Louise) and his own granny. Dad's Mom got tuberculosis in 1937, when Dad was 17, and she was a follower of Christian Science, so she believed it was up to God's will whether or not she'd get better, and she did not. So, Dad was not entirely on his own as a teenager, as Mom was - he still had his own grandmother - but he'd lost his mother when he was 17, and he never knew his Dad.

So, when I was a kid, I had no grandparents, no aunts, uncles or cousins. Just our nuclear family.

So I have a kind of dual experience of thinking of my long-gone relatives in some distant past, but also knowing that it wasn't really that long before me that they were alive.

And what's really weird is that, prior to Grandma Louise's time, most houses didn't even have electricity, or phones, certainly no TV sets, no radios, and only basic refrigeration.

So it's really a trip, that what we think of as the "modern world" only goes back a couple generations, in some cases like that of my family.

I am of course fascinated by all of this stuff. :)

One thing you can do, as you proceed and continue to develop in your artistic career, is to give thought to history, especially personal or local history, as presented in a documentary format. You don't even have to purposely set out to write or create anything in that regard, but it's fun to consider, because like me, in my search for Dad's military records, you might uncover an interesting mystery as you study or ponder your local and generational history. And some day you might find it a source for a project.

You never know, and it's always interesting to discover something that makes you curious, and which leads to more discovery and more curiosity.

That's all I know for tonight, my Baby.

It's super late, I know, so I send you Sweet Dreams in your sleep, and I will see you in the morn.

I Love You, Elizabeth!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Sunday Hello & Another Guess (at home) (Late Night Hi) (thoughts about things)

Hi Elizabeth,

I am home from choir. I just wanted to say that before we left for church this morning, maybe before 8 am actually, I saw a post from you on FB. It looked like it had just been posted, too, and since you don't usually make posts that early, I thought maybe you wanted me to see it. It's just a simple "like" post of the Quercus Land Stewardship page, and it looks like they have a cover picture of a controlled burn - maybe even one of your pictures - so maybe that is why you liked it. Also, I know for sure you are interested in the environment, so maybe that's all it meant.

But I just thought that maybe, because it came up right after I turned on the computer at Pearl's, that perhaps you wanted me to see it, and in that case maybe the "like" also meant that I was right after all, in my "esp" blog about the tattoos having to do with the t-shirt.

Anyway, I just guessing, but I thought I'd respond just in case that's what you meant. I'll be here til about 3:45pm, then I've gotta leave a little early to stop at Target before heading back to Pearl's. I hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

(back in a bit)

7:40pm : Just to say hi again. It's raining pretty good right now, so I'm just reading my book. Maybe go for my walk if the rain stops for a while. Thinking about you........

11pm : Hi again. I am at Pearl's (of course). It's still raining. The Black Kitty is inside and snoozing in the laundry room. I guess she can stay, so long as the Kobester doesn't wake up. Anyway, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds by posting a :):) song on FB just now.

I am making some brown rice for a late night snack, so I am gonna check on it and add a few things (chiles, etc.) Then I'll be back in a few minutes.  :):)

11:35pm : Aww, heck.......I didn't mean it to be such a big deal. I know that sounds ridiculous, because that initial blog probably read as pretty severe, but words on a page are interpreted without the benefit of tone of voice, and all that stuff we've talked about before.

Me and my opinions, I realise. I don't wanna go off on a tangent or even go any further on the subject, but just to briefly analyse it, it was like "boom-boom-boom", 1-2-3 : the guy had invited you to come visit him (which I just tried to ignore), and then you weren't posting much since you got back, and then there he was all of a sudden, as a "liked" post by you. It was just a button-pusher kind of thing, though I know you didn't mean it.

I don't know how to explain it. It's like my whole life is run on intuition. Call it esp or just an ability to size things up - situations and people. Whatever it is, it's the way my brain works, and of course my heart is involved, too. But it's like my mind is controlled entirely by my sixth sense......and it feels to me like it's always in sharp focus. That's probably irritating, I know.

You can trust that my heart is in the right place, though.

I am kind of a "me and you against the world" kind of guy, except I would change that to "me and you within the world", because I am not an against type of person. Not at all. I am the opposite of that. But I think that, because the "inner me" is run entirely by my psi (call it train of thought if you like), I tend to tune in on a compatible person, you in this case, and I don't tune in on all the vibes of all the people who "surround" a relationship, and in this case - our case - I will let you define in whatever way you see this relationship as of now. For me, all I know is that I love you. I have never met you, never spoken to you, and yet the feeling is still there. That's pretty amazing, and that's the power of love, and in this case, of psi.

But because I am at a distance, I am not part of your circle of friends. That's okay, and not a problem in the least, but when it comes to the Internet, it has not always been easy for me to be communicating every day, but indirectly, while others do talk to you, and some just aren't on my wavelength, so to speak.

You will see what I mean as you go along in life, and I don't mean that in a holier-than-thou, age-related way, but just in a practical way. As you go along, you will narrow (yes, even you, the super social Sag, lol) your circle, because you will come to see that many folks just aren't on the same wavelength as yourself, and others, you will discover, are just downright wasting your time.

Because I am an opposite social personality - due to my innate shyness, possibly - I have always been wary of certain people, and I really could not give you a general catagorisation, it's really just on an individual basis.

Maybe I'm too hard on people, I dunno. But, I have seen people in action, so sometimes I think maybe I'm too nice. That's what my Dad said about me. Nice as in naive. But I'm really not, and I'm really not anything that is extreme, personality-wise.

I like people fine, for the most part. It's just that I prefer to relate to just a few, and very closely. Too many people equals too many vibes, and too many scattered vibes. I do best with a small, tight family of friends, and also in a one-on-one relationship. I am more the type to spend time with just my girlfriend, than at a party with my girlfriend and a whole bunch of mutual friends and acquaintances and hangers-on.

But having said all of that, I know that everything about me is just that - just me. And I know that not everyone thinks like I do. You do, in a great many ways, which is one of the reasons why I love you and why, I think, we have always gotten along so well. Pretty much so, anyway.

But at any rate, me being me, and understanding that my opinions are just that - my own - I don't expect you to agree with me on everything or even anything in particular. I have tried, through all these blogs I've written, to give you a sense of what I think, what I know (for whatever that is worth), what I hope for and what I see in my mind's eye, and I have done so because you and I are definitely on the same wavelength, and because I have thought that is it awesome to watch, and to help (even if just a little bit) you become what you want to become in your life. That has been incredibly awesome for me to see, Elizabeth, and that too is something you will get an even greater perspective on, as you go forward in life. I am a young person in an (almost) 55 year old body, so to contribute anything to your life is a huge gift for me.

In the society we live in, to find anyone interested not only in intelligent subjects, but also in abstract thought and pushing the boundaries of philosophy, is pretty rare, and also amazing. That's why I focus on you, and on those things. And I am watching you become what you want to become in your life, so how awesome is that, for me?

Anyhow, I hope this all makes sense. I have written enough for tonight, so I will sign off for now and hopefully see you in the morning. I will be glad when the rain stops, lol, and I am gonna miss the parched look of the hillsides and trails that I visit, but I am glad that it might help California avoid water rationing this Summer...... :)

I Love You, Elizabeth. That's the bottom line, as always, more important than anything else.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)