Good Morning, my Darling,
Had a few extra errands this morn, but I am home now for the afternoon until 4:15. I hope your school week is off to a good start. I Love You! :):)
10:50pm : Just the usual, reading, going for my walk. I was listening to the guys from GIS, the Ghost Investigators Society, on the Art Bell show. They were playing back tapes of EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), which are pretty far out. These guys mentioned a radio device for sale on Amazon called an SB7 Spirit Box, which scans the radio band for white noise, which is how EVP is transmitted. Those boxes are only 70 bucks, but...........it's the kind of thing I will leave to others. I have an interest in this sort of thing, but from a sideline perspective. I'm not one to mess with seances or Ouija boards and the like.
I am guessing you've got a lot of schoolwork. Tomorrow, I am gonna take Grimsley to see the Hart Ranch while Pearl is at Golden Agers, between 11am and 2pm. But I will be around in the morn for a little bit, and then in the later afternoon from about 2:45pm.
I Love You. :):)
Monday, October 7, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Sunday Stuff (Hair)
Happy Sunday, my Darling,
I'm home from all the Sunday Stuff. Took Kobi to CSUN early, cause it's another hot one today. I hope you are having a nice weekend. I saw your post about Europe. When are you going? Maybe during Winter Break? Spring Break doesn't seem long enough for an overseas trip, and Summer is a year away. So I will guess Winter Break. Well, it will be an awesome trip!
I am gonna hang out at the apartment until 4:15, so I'll be around for a couple hours, then back at 6:45 as always. I Love You! :):)
2:55pm : Hey Blondie! :) There's another post about hair, lol. Are you still thinking of cutting it? The way I see it, you would look great either way. Your hair is gorgeous as it is, but with your face you could cut it in all kinds of styles. I only mention it because you've had a few posts about hair. :) As you can see from my photos of just a few years ago, my hair was very short for a few years. I did like that it was easy to deal with; just a few drops of shampoo, a quick rinse, and all done! But after a couple years, I realised "this is not me". The last time I'd had hair that short was probably about 5th grade, haha. So in 2009, I started letting it grow again. In the picture of me standing in front of the painted sheet, from 1989, that is about the longest my hair ever got. It was close to that long all through the 1980s and up until about 1997. In the early 80s it was styled more because that was the era of Big Hair, lol. Now, I'd like to grow it real long again, but the quality of my hair has changed. For one thing, it's a lot curlier or maybe just wavier than it used to be, so when it grows, it tends to bunch up and grow outward. Also, my hair is drier than it used to be so it breaks easier. So I am finding a kind of happy medium with happy, medium length hair!
Still gotta decide when to start coloring it, though. I guess I can wait a while. Despite a picture or two where it looked really grey, that was because the sun was shining in it. In regular light, it's still mostly dark.
But as soon as that grey starts taking over, it's toast.
Your hair, though, is gorgeous as is, and as I said before, would be gorgeous in many different styles.
That is your L.A. friend in the picture, correct? She is standing next to a chain-link fence that looks like it is bordering a hillside. I wonder where that is? The side she is standing on is concrete, so it could be somebody's back yard, maybe in the Hollywood Hills. Well, just a guess.
(back in a bit) :):)
11:20pm : Just checking in to say goodnight. Tomorrow we will start another good week. :)
I Love You. :):)
I'm home from all the Sunday Stuff. Took Kobi to CSUN early, cause it's another hot one today. I hope you are having a nice weekend. I saw your post about Europe. When are you going? Maybe during Winter Break? Spring Break doesn't seem long enough for an overseas trip, and Summer is a year away. So I will guess Winter Break. Well, it will be an awesome trip!
I am gonna hang out at the apartment until 4:15, so I'll be around for a couple hours, then back at 6:45 as always. I Love You! :):)
2:55pm : Hey Blondie! :) There's another post about hair, lol. Are you still thinking of cutting it? The way I see it, you would look great either way. Your hair is gorgeous as it is, but with your face you could cut it in all kinds of styles. I only mention it because you've had a few posts about hair. :) As you can see from my photos of just a few years ago, my hair was very short for a few years. I did like that it was easy to deal with; just a few drops of shampoo, a quick rinse, and all done! But after a couple years, I realised "this is not me". The last time I'd had hair that short was probably about 5th grade, haha. So in 2009, I started letting it grow again. In the picture of me standing in front of the painted sheet, from 1989, that is about the longest my hair ever got. It was close to that long all through the 1980s and up until about 1997. In the early 80s it was styled more because that was the era of Big Hair, lol. Now, I'd like to grow it real long again, but the quality of my hair has changed. For one thing, it's a lot curlier or maybe just wavier than it used to be, so when it grows, it tends to bunch up and grow outward. Also, my hair is drier than it used to be so it breaks easier. So I am finding a kind of happy medium with happy, medium length hair!
Still gotta decide when to start coloring it, though. I guess I can wait a while. Despite a picture or two where it looked really grey, that was because the sun was shining in it. In regular light, it's still mostly dark.
But as soon as that grey starts taking over, it's toast.
Your hair, though, is gorgeous as is, and as I said before, would be gorgeous in many different styles.
That is your L.A. friend in the picture, correct? She is standing next to a chain-link fence that looks like it is bordering a hillside. I wonder where that is? The side she is standing on is concrete, so it could be somebody's back yard, maybe in the Hollywood Hills. Well, just a guess.
(back in a bit) :):)
11:20pm : Just checking in to say goodnight. Tomorrow we will start another good week. :)
I Love You. :):)
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Our Garden (I'm Home) (Polytopes)
Good Morning, my Angel,
That is a very beautiful painting by Monet. Wouldn't it be amazing to visit the exact spot now, and other Monet locations, to see if they are still intact? Oh, how I would love to be in such a garden with you, an Artist's Garden. And we shall be. Just remember that "thought creates reality" as they say. Or you can call it Intention. Our reality is an Artistic one, and we are already living it by what we think and do. And though we are already doing it together, the day is coming when we will be together as well. We are creating that reality.
Very nice pictures you took of your friend, as well. You are the "go to" photographer for your friends, and they know you will always make them look good. In these pictures today, I like the use of the red-tinged leaves to frame her face. That is a great touch.
My sister is finally coming over, for the first time since Pearl's birthday back in August. So, I am gonna meet her for shopping at 11:30. I will probably be back here for at least an hour before I head to Pearl's, so I should be back in the 2:30 to 3pm range. It is a day of good thoughts and artistic moods, and we can feel it.
I know you can, because I am feeling it with you as I type.
It is so wonderful to share these things with you. You are my Artist and I Love You!
.....and I will see you in just a little while. :):)
6:50pm : I'm home, Sweet Lady. I see the picture you posted, and it looks like those girls are at The Grove, which is a popular shopping area in West L.A., just south of Hollywood, kinda near Beverly Hills. It's in a part of town that is called The Fairfax District, named after Fairfax Avenue, an old L.A. street. The Grove opened about ten years ago, right next to the Farmer's Market, which was a big shopping destination in the 60s and 70s. Farmer's Market was all food, and The Grove is everything; restaurants, movie theaters, shops. Both Farmer's Market and The Grove are outdoors. I have never been to The Grove, so I will have to check it out.
I like the caption on that photo, "LA lovin' with the best". The best would include you and me, naturally. :)
If you were to visit here, we could pretty much drive in any direction and I could show you a ton of stuff, and you would discover which parts were your favorites. But it would be a blast to show you! :):)
Today was a hot one, a blast of hot air. Santa Anas are blowing. Our summer usually lasts til Halloween. I measure it by when I have to put on a sweatshirt for the first time. Once in a while we make it til Thanksgiving.
I just checked Middleton weather, and it looks like you are still enjoying pretty nice weather. You are about where we will be in a month, about upper 60s to low 70s. Maybe a little rain. Most of our rain, when we get it, comes in late January through February. Sometimes we go a few years without much rain, but then we get what they call an El Nino pattern, and it pours and pours.
But right now, both our towns are beautiful, and I bet the leaves are turning in Wisconsin, or just about to, and that must be a lovely and colorful sight. I love Fall. Maybe not quite as much as Summer, but there is something special about it, something mysterious but in a good way.
I will go for my walk in a little while and then come back and write some more, at the usual time. I'm still thinking about the concert. It was really great. The best will be when we go see them together.
(back in a little bit......)
11pm: Just chillin' again tonight, browsing various books and websites. I am always looking for avenues of study and inspiration. I bought another book as a result of Joe Farrell. It's called "Regular Polytopes", written by a Canadian math professor named Harold Coxeter. He was born about a hundred years ago. Farrell recommended his book because he said it somewhat clarifies fourth dimensional geometry. Humans can't visualise the fourth dimension, but it can be represented mathematically, or drawn two dimensionally. There are Youtube animated vids that project the rotating, "inside out" hypercube, and that is about as close as one can get to a visual idea.
About ten years ago, I bought a book called "The Road To Reality", by a guy named Roger Penrose, who is a mathematics professor at Oxford. I still have yet to finish that book, because I was thrown off by the extreme nature of the equations. I did really well in math through algebra, and then I threw in the towel, because the language of the increasingly abstract equations failed to hold my interest. I am mostly a right brainer, and so I process information all at once, rather than step by step.
But now I am doing something different, which is just to read the equations with no intention of understanding them, just to let my brain process the symbolism. If you visualise something, it is then in your system. Now, the reason I love Joe Farrell's books so much is because he has a genius for distilling the art and magic from science and invention and history. For an intuitive person like myself, he can write in such a way that "puts the fourth dimension in your brain", so that your mind sort of "develops a muscle" for it. Like when you lift weights, you develop a muscle, it pops out. And when you read Farrell - certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but my life path led me to him - you develop a muscle for alchemical, metaphysical, yet still scientific and mathematical thinking. Artistic Science, for right brainers. So now, having finished a few of his books over the Summer, I am "looking at" (rather then strictly reading) books like "Regular Polytopes" which he recommended, just to put the information into my brain.
Big fun for a Saturday night, I know. :D
But in the life path sense, for me, it really is big fun! (lol)
For me, because I am studying all of this stuff from a right brain perspective, I can utilise whatever is the end result for creative purposes, because I want to get to the point where, whatever I do creatively, I am running on mostly intuition. Intuition with a pre-programmed understanding (or attempted understanding) of the format, of what is being intuited.
Yeah, I know that on the surface it sounds like a bunch of jibberish, haha, but when you take all these different disciplines, the ones that interest me like geology, archeology, astronomy, astrology, anthropology, and all the sub-disciplines each one can be broken down into, they really form a whole, an all-encompassing study of "who, what, where, when and why".
What you learn, internally, is that intuition, when it is highly developed, and aided by the type of long term study I am describing, goes beyond any type of "instructive" (i.e. formulaic or equative) method of study in helping one to understand the point where artistic expression goes inside the Life Experience, rather than examining or depicting it from the outside.
It would be like photographing what's behind the light.
Of course, that's just an abstract concept, but you can train your brain to think that way, or at least to have that tool in it's toolbox. And it's like practicing an instrument or lifting weights. Both involve a form of memorisation. When you start to combine all your artistic disciplines with your philosophies, studies and intuitive considerations, you begin to think and focus in a new way.
You begin to think towards the fourth dimension, not in a scientific way, but in an artistic one, to try and express what it means to you. All of the information you process gets you to this artistic point.
And that's all I know for tonight.
I will see you in the morning, my Angel.
Sweet Dreams......
I Love You. :):)
That is a very beautiful painting by Monet. Wouldn't it be amazing to visit the exact spot now, and other Monet locations, to see if they are still intact? Oh, how I would love to be in such a garden with you, an Artist's Garden. And we shall be. Just remember that "thought creates reality" as they say. Or you can call it Intention. Our reality is an Artistic one, and we are already living it by what we think and do. And though we are already doing it together, the day is coming when we will be together as well. We are creating that reality.
Very nice pictures you took of your friend, as well. You are the "go to" photographer for your friends, and they know you will always make them look good. In these pictures today, I like the use of the red-tinged leaves to frame her face. That is a great touch.
My sister is finally coming over, for the first time since Pearl's birthday back in August. So, I am gonna meet her for shopping at 11:30. I will probably be back here for at least an hour before I head to Pearl's, so I should be back in the 2:30 to 3pm range. It is a day of good thoughts and artistic moods, and we can feel it.
I know you can, because I am feeling it with you as I type.
It is so wonderful to share these things with you. You are my Artist and I Love You!
.....and I will see you in just a little while. :):)
6:50pm : I'm home, Sweet Lady. I see the picture you posted, and it looks like those girls are at The Grove, which is a popular shopping area in West L.A., just south of Hollywood, kinda near Beverly Hills. It's in a part of town that is called The Fairfax District, named after Fairfax Avenue, an old L.A. street. The Grove opened about ten years ago, right next to the Farmer's Market, which was a big shopping destination in the 60s and 70s. Farmer's Market was all food, and The Grove is everything; restaurants, movie theaters, shops. Both Farmer's Market and The Grove are outdoors. I have never been to The Grove, so I will have to check it out.
I like the caption on that photo, "LA lovin' with the best". The best would include you and me, naturally. :)
If you were to visit here, we could pretty much drive in any direction and I could show you a ton of stuff, and you would discover which parts were your favorites. But it would be a blast to show you! :):)
Today was a hot one, a blast of hot air. Santa Anas are blowing. Our summer usually lasts til Halloween. I measure it by when I have to put on a sweatshirt for the first time. Once in a while we make it til Thanksgiving.
I just checked Middleton weather, and it looks like you are still enjoying pretty nice weather. You are about where we will be in a month, about upper 60s to low 70s. Maybe a little rain. Most of our rain, when we get it, comes in late January through February. Sometimes we go a few years without much rain, but then we get what they call an El Nino pattern, and it pours and pours.
But right now, both our towns are beautiful, and I bet the leaves are turning in Wisconsin, or just about to, and that must be a lovely and colorful sight. I love Fall. Maybe not quite as much as Summer, but there is something special about it, something mysterious but in a good way.
I will go for my walk in a little while and then come back and write some more, at the usual time. I'm still thinking about the concert. It was really great. The best will be when we go see them together.
(back in a little bit......)
11pm: Just chillin' again tonight, browsing various books and websites. I am always looking for avenues of study and inspiration. I bought another book as a result of Joe Farrell. It's called "Regular Polytopes", written by a Canadian math professor named Harold Coxeter. He was born about a hundred years ago. Farrell recommended his book because he said it somewhat clarifies fourth dimensional geometry. Humans can't visualise the fourth dimension, but it can be represented mathematically, or drawn two dimensionally. There are Youtube animated vids that project the rotating, "inside out" hypercube, and that is about as close as one can get to a visual idea.
About ten years ago, I bought a book called "The Road To Reality", by a guy named Roger Penrose, who is a mathematics professor at Oxford. I still have yet to finish that book, because I was thrown off by the extreme nature of the equations. I did really well in math through algebra, and then I threw in the towel, because the language of the increasingly abstract equations failed to hold my interest. I am mostly a right brainer, and so I process information all at once, rather than step by step.
But now I am doing something different, which is just to read the equations with no intention of understanding them, just to let my brain process the symbolism. If you visualise something, it is then in your system. Now, the reason I love Joe Farrell's books so much is because he has a genius for distilling the art and magic from science and invention and history. For an intuitive person like myself, he can write in such a way that "puts the fourth dimension in your brain", so that your mind sort of "develops a muscle" for it. Like when you lift weights, you develop a muscle, it pops out. And when you read Farrell - certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but my life path led me to him - you develop a muscle for alchemical, metaphysical, yet still scientific and mathematical thinking. Artistic Science, for right brainers. So now, having finished a few of his books over the Summer, I am "looking at" (rather then strictly reading) books like "Regular Polytopes" which he recommended, just to put the information into my brain.
Big fun for a Saturday night, I know. :D
But in the life path sense, for me, it really is big fun! (lol)
For me, because I am studying all of this stuff from a right brain perspective, I can utilise whatever is the end result for creative purposes, because I want to get to the point where, whatever I do creatively, I am running on mostly intuition. Intuition with a pre-programmed understanding (or attempted understanding) of the format, of what is being intuited.
Yeah, I know that on the surface it sounds like a bunch of jibberish, haha, but when you take all these different disciplines, the ones that interest me like geology, archeology, astronomy, astrology, anthropology, and all the sub-disciplines each one can be broken down into, they really form a whole, an all-encompassing study of "who, what, where, when and why".
What you learn, internally, is that intuition, when it is highly developed, and aided by the type of long term study I am describing, goes beyond any type of "instructive" (i.e. formulaic or equative) method of study in helping one to understand the point where artistic expression goes inside the Life Experience, rather than examining or depicting it from the outside.
It would be like photographing what's behind the light.
Of course, that's just an abstract concept, but you can train your brain to think that way, or at least to have that tool in it's toolbox. And it's like practicing an instrument or lifting weights. Both involve a form of memorisation. When you start to combine all your artistic disciplines with your philosophies, studies and intuitive considerations, you begin to think and focus in a new way.
You begin to think towards the fourth dimension, not in a scientific way, but in an artistic one, to try and express what it means to you. All of the information you process gets you to this artistic point.
And that's all I know for tonight.
I will see you in the morning, my Angel.
Sweet Dreams......
I Love You. :):)
Friday, October 4, 2013
It's Friday I'm In Love (second leg?) (napping & reading....yeah, my Friday night)
Good Morning, my Baby,
I am gonna be home most of the day, just resting up since I went to bed late last night, so unless I go to the store later on in the afternoon, I will probably be hanging out until 4:15. Again, that was such an excellent show last night, and I thought of you standing right next to me, and soon that is going to happen.
I hope your day is off to a good start, TGIF for you, and a great weekend coming up. Go Badgers!
I Love You and will write more before I go back to Pearl's. :):)
4pm : I'm gonna head to Pearl's in a minute. I was thinking that Alcest might do what they did last time, in 2011/2012. On that tour, they played some shows before "Les Voyages" came out, and then after it came out, they came back and did a second leg. So, if the album comes out in January, maybe they will come back in the Spring. It makes sense, especially since they are now really building a fan base here. And, Neige is a touring machine! Well, that's my hopeful thought for the afternoon. I'll be back at 6:45 as always.
Enjoy the start of your weekend, my Darling! :):)
11pm : Today was a Chill Day. Nothing major. I was sleepy, so I took a nap this eve when I got home, then my walk. It's real windy outside - we get this weather condition every Fall called the Santa Ana winds, dry and blustery. Usually it doesn't last long, thank goodness. I started a new book, "Symbol And The Symbolic" by Rene Schwaller de Lubicz. He was an Egyptologist in the esoteric rather than scientific sense. I heard about him from Joe Farrell's books. This book is short, only 68 pages, so I almost finished it. It's really interesting, about the way symbols - such as hieroglyphics - affect the brain. According to de Lubicz, they do not constitute a language, or a memorized system, in the way an alphabet works, but rather they work subliminally, provoking us below the surface of conscious understanding.
So in other words, it's right up my alley. :)
Sweet Dreams, my Darling. I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxo :):)
I am gonna be home most of the day, just resting up since I went to bed late last night, so unless I go to the store later on in the afternoon, I will probably be hanging out until 4:15. Again, that was such an excellent show last night, and I thought of you standing right next to me, and soon that is going to happen.
I hope your day is off to a good start, TGIF for you, and a great weekend coming up. Go Badgers!
I Love You and will write more before I go back to Pearl's. :):)
4pm : I'm gonna head to Pearl's in a minute. I was thinking that Alcest might do what they did last time, in 2011/2012. On that tour, they played some shows before "Les Voyages" came out, and then after it came out, they came back and did a second leg. So, if the album comes out in January, maybe they will come back in the Spring. It makes sense, especially since they are now really building a fan base here. And, Neige is a touring machine! Well, that's my hopeful thought for the afternoon. I'll be back at 6:45 as always.
Enjoy the start of your weekend, my Darling! :):)
11pm : Today was a Chill Day. Nothing major. I was sleepy, so I took a nap this eve when I got home, then my walk. It's real windy outside - we get this weather condition every Fall called the Santa Ana winds, dry and blustery. Usually it doesn't last long, thank goodness. I started a new book, "Symbol And The Symbolic" by Rene Schwaller de Lubicz. He was an Egyptologist in the esoteric rather than scientific sense. I heard about him from Joe Farrell's books. This book is short, only 68 pages, so I almost finished it. It's really interesting, about the way symbols - such as hieroglyphics - affect the brain. According to de Lubicz, they do not constitute a language, or a memorized system, in the way an alphabet works, but rather they work subliminally, provoking us below the surface of conscious understanding.
So in other words, it's right up my alley. :)
Sweet Dreams, my Darling. I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Alcest Tonight! (Heading out now) (Mega Show)
Good Morning, my Angel,
Tonight is the night, and I am looking forward to the concert, it will be great. I am sorry I can't go to the in-store, but it's impossible. Had it been a different day of the week, I might've made it, but Thursday is Hair Salon day, so.......
At any rate, I will be back and forth until about 1:30 or 2pm, then home from 2 until 4:15, so I will definitely check-in during that time, before I head back to Pearl's for 4:30 shift. I will be going straight from Pearl's to the concert at 6:30. I should be parked and in the theater no later than 7:30. I read an Alcest post from Oakland, the show from two days ago, where they said they were going on at 8:40, so I suppose it will be a similar time for us in L.A. I don't know the setlist, but I am guessing they will play between 60 and 75 minutes. That would mean Anathema will come on between 10 and 10:15 and play a similar length, till about 11:30, give or take. So, I should be home no later than 12:30 my time. I know that's the middle of the night for you, but I will check-in anyway, just to say how the show went.
So, for now I am gonna take Pearl to the salon in a few minutes, then run a few errands, then pick her up about 1 or 1:30, and I'll be back home by 2pm at the latest. You Rule The Universe!
I Love You. :):)
3:55pm : Okay, my Baby, I am gonna get ready and head out in a minute. Tonight kind of brings things full circle, because I can still remember driving to the Troubadour two years ago (October 2011), and waiting in line to see Alcest. I was by myself at that show, too, and not knowing to expect, but the place was jam packed, and they were great. I was against the stage, but off to the side in front of Zero, so I couldn't hear Neige's vocals real well. But it was a great show, and I remember thinking, "There is something about this guy, this band"........
And the rest is history, and it's a story that never fails to amaze me, even while I am living every moment of it. :):)
I will try to get a better spot for tonight's show, and it should be easier because the El Rey is bigger, and the crowd will be more mild-mannered, because of the pairing with Anathema rather than Enslaved. So maybe I can get front and center in front of Neige. Wish me luck!
Here I go............I will report back as soon as I get home. I Love You! :):)
12:25am : Wow. That was a fantastic show. I love the freakin' El Rey, first of all. I've only seen a few shows there, but every time I go the sound is great. You can guess where I was - right where you would expect me to be, front and center, handshake close. It's a lot easier to get close with the nicer crowds, like Alcest or Agalloch. It was mostly 20-30 year olds, about 2/3rds guys, 1/3 girls. Not like a metal show where it's 98% guys and they're all fired up and aggro-ed out. So, I got there about 7:30 like I thought I would, but had to drive around a bit to find parking. Didn't wanna pay fifteen bucks to park in a lot, so I finally found free street parking several blocks down from Wilshire Boulevard. When I got inside, there were already a few hundred people in the theater, but most were drinking in the lobby, or by the bar, or just milling around. So, I went up to the stage like I always do, and staked my ground out right where I knew Neige would be. There was one layer of people in front of me, but that was all. Best of all, no giants to block the view (which is sometimes the case). Had to stand around a while, but that's the price you've gotta pay to be up front. Mammifer came on at 8:30. They were trippy - you saw them so you know. The guy got some good sounds out of his guitar, with the violin bow and all the electronics. He had an amp I've never seen before. I thought it said "Fayette" but I just Googled it and it's called a "Fryette". It had some great sound for what he was doing, which was a bit ear-splitting at times, but the amp could handle it. It's very specialised music - space rock - and it works for what it is, like Sunn 0))) works, if you've heard them. I will give them that they are totally pro, and are able to sustain their sound for a half hour, controlling all those effects without messing up or breaking the spell. Recently, I have seen these acts like Helen Money, Mammifer or Worm Ourobouros, that are dronelike, but all had an original approach, so I give them a lot of credit for that. I am glad to see some of these experimental bands taking chances with unusual music.
The first thing that has to be said about Alcest's set was that they did the fastest turnaround between bands that I have ever seen in 39 years of concertgoing. We are talking ten minutes. I mean, Mammifer was done, and then a curtain went down (cause it used to be a movie theater), and then you could see some activity under the curtain, and then - Bam! Alcest was on. Fastest changeover ever.
This was night and day difference from the Troubador show of 2011. That was a good show, too. But, at that one, I was way off to the side, couldn't hear the vocals so well, and that club, as I said, was made for folksingers, not hard rock bands. So the sound was passable but distorted. And it was still a good show.
But this was Big Rock Concert Sound. And really, really tight. Touring and touring and touring will do that to a band. When I saw them in 2011, they played "Elevation", a long piece, and you could tell that they had to really concentrate on it to get it just right. You know how, when a piece is difficult, you have to really focus to bring the dynamics out. But when you tour and tour and play tons of shows in two years, all of a sudden your chops are honed. Everything becomes easier. Your muscle memory takes over and you can play the living daylights out of songs that were initially more difficult. At The Troub, I watched Neige really concentrate on his hands for the chord changes he had to make. His playing is not super complex, but he does have a lot of chording that involves all four fingers, and a lot of arpeggios, and it requires some intricacy. You can tell, especially by his picking, that he had his guitar lessons when he began playing. Some of the fancier stuff he leaves to Zero, even though he could play it himself, but what you really notice is that he probably played a lot of acoustic guitar when starting out, because he has his strumming down, and his chording and phrasing. What he plays, he plays very clean. That is what makes him stand out.
Whereas at The Troub, you could tell they were concentrating harder, tonight was "with ease", just playing a smoking hot set, after a couple years of non-stop touring. The rhythm section kicks ass. Zero handles the high pitched vocals. Neige was more outgoing on stage, talking to the audience a lot more. He said, "the previous times we played Los Angeles, the crowd was so fucking quiet, so thank you for making some noise". That's because this time, more people know them, and the pairing with Anathema was better suited to thier fans. And this time, he played like a rock star, like he owned the joint.
Alcest played 75 minutes, probably the same setlist for the whole tour. You heard it, my Beautiful Angel. There were two new songs, the last one called "Deliverance" ended the show. They made a theatrical exit, one member leaving the stage at a time, Neige and Zero then alone onstage playing an atmospheric finale. Then Zero left and there was just Neige. Then he set his guitar down and walked off. This was a Rock Concert show, with stage planning, good sound, dynamic playing honed by touring, and it kicked a whole bunch of ass.
I did get to shake Neige's hand and say hello, quickly, as he walked by after their set. He seemed very friendly. I didn't bring a camera for reasons I mentioned in the Agalloch blog, but it's okay. I will go to more Alcest shows. He went past me, and I stayed to watch most of Anathema's set, which was good as well.
But I had been there mostly to see Alcest, and they straight up killed it.
You saw them, so you know that too.
I Love You, Elizabeth.
Sweet dreams (even though it's the middle of the night), and I will see you in just a few hours.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) \m/
Tonight is the night, and I am looking forward to the concert, it will be great. I am sorry I can't go to the in-store, but it's impossible. Had it been a different day of the week, I might've made it, but Thursday is Hair Salon day, so.......
At any rate, I will be back and forth until about 1:30 or 2pm, then home from 2 until 4:15, so I will definitely check-in during that time, before I head back to Pearl's for 4:30 shift. I will be going straight from Pearl's to the concert at 6:30. I should be parked and in the theater no later than 7:30. I read an Alcest post from Oakland, the show from two days ago, where they said they were going on at 8:40, so I suppose it will be a similar time for us in L.A. I don't know the setlist, but I am guessing they will play between 60 and 75 minutes. That would mean Anathema will come on between 10 and 10:15 and play a similar length, till about 11:30, give or take. So, I should be home no later than 12:30 my time. I know that's the middle of the night for you, but I will check-in anyway, just to say how the show went.
So, for now I am gonna take Pearl to the salon in a few minutes, then run a few errands, then pick her up about 1 or 1:30, and I'll be back home by 2pm at the latest. You Rule The Universe!
I Love You. :):)
3:55pm : Okay, my Baby, I am gonna get ready and head out in a minute. Tonight kind of brings things full circle, because I can still remember driving to the Troubadour two years ago (October 2011), and waiting in line to see Alcest. I was by myself at that show, too, and not knowing to expect, but the place was jam packed, and they were great. I was against the stage, but off to the side in front of Zero, so I couldn't hear Neige's vocals real well. But it was a great show, and I remember thinking, "There is something about this guy, this band"........
And the rest is history, and it's a story that never fails to amaze me, even while I am living every moment of it. :):)
I will try to get a better spot for tonight's show, and it should be easier because the El Rey is bigger, and the crowd will be more mild-mannered, because of the pairing with Anathema rather than Enslaved. So maybe I can get front and center in front of Neige. Wish me luck!
Here I go............I will report back as soon as I get home. I Love You! :):)
12:25am : Wow. That was a fantastic show. I love the freakin' El Rey, first of all. I've only seen a few shows there, but every time I go the sound is great. You can guess where I was - right where you would expect me to be, front and center, handshake close. It's a lot easier to get close with the nicer crowds, like Alcest or Agalloch. It was mostly 20-30 year olds, about 2/3rds guys, 1/3 girls. Not like a metal show where it's 98% guys and they're all fired up and aggro-ed out. So, I got there about 7:30 like I thought I would, but had to drive around a bit to find parking. Didn't wanna pay fifteen bucks to park in a lot, so I finally found free street parking several blocks down from Wilshire Boulevard. When I got inside, there were already a few hundred people in the theater, but most were drinking in the lobby, or by the bar, or just milling around. So, I went up to the stage like I always do, and staked my ground out right where I knew Neige would be. There was one layer of people in front of me, but that was all. Best of all, no giants to block the view (which is sometimes the case). Had to stand around a while, but that's the price you've gotta pay to be up front. Mammifer came on at 8:30. They were trippy - you saw them so you know. The guy got some good sounds out of his guitar, with the violin bow and all the electronics. He had an amp I've never seen before. I thought it said "Fayette" but I just Googled it and it's called a "Fryette". It had some great sound for what he was doing, which was a bit ear-splitting at times, but the amp could handle it. It's very specialised music - space rock - and it works for what it is, like Sunn 0))) works, if you've heard them. I will give them that they are totally pro, and are able to sustain their sound for a half hour, controlling all those effects without messing up or breaking the spell. Recently, I have seen these acts like Helen Money, Mammifer or Worm Ourobouros, that are dronelike, but all had an original approach, so I give them a lot of credit for that. I am glad to see some of these experimental bands taking chances with unusual music.
The first thing that has to be said about Alcest's set was that they did the fastest turnaround between bands that I have ever seen in 39 years of concertgoing. We are talking ten minutes. I mean, Mammifer was done, and then a curtain went down (cause it used to be a movie theater), and then you could see some activity under the curtain, and then - Bam! Alcest was on. Fastest changeover ever.
This was night and day difference from the Troubador show of 2011. That was a good show, too. But, at that one, I was way off to the side, couldn't hear the vocals so well, and that club, as I said, was made for folksingers, not hard rock bands. So the sound was passable but distorted. And it was still a good show.
But this was Big Rock Concert Sound. And really, really tight. Touring and touring and touring will do that to a band. When I saw them in 2011, they played "Elevation", a long piece, and you could tell that they had to really concentrate on it to get it just right. You know how, when a piece is difficult, you have to really focus to bring the dynamics out. But when you tour and tour and play tons of shows in two years, all of a sudden your chops are honed. Everything becomes easier. Your muscle memory takes over and you can play the living daylights out of songs that were initially more difficult. At The Troub, I watched Neige really concentrate on his hands for the chord changes he had to make. His playing is not super complex, but he does have a lot of chording that involves all four fingers, and a lot of arpeggios, and it requires some intricacy. You can tell, especially by his picking, that he had his guitar lessons when he began playing. Some of the fancier stuff he leaves to Zero, even though he could play it himself, but what you really notice is that he probably played a lot of acoustic guitar when starting out, because he has his strumming down, and his chording and phrasing. What he plays, he plays very clean. That is what makes him stand out.
Whereas at The Troub, you could tell they were concentrating harder, tonight was "with ease", just playing a smoking hot set, after a couple years of non-stop touring. The rhythm section kicks ass. Zero handles the high pitched vocals. Neige was more outgoing on stage, talking to the audience a lot more. He said, "the previous times we played Los Angeles, the crowd was so fucking quiet, so thank you for making some noise". That's because this time, more people know them, and the pairing with Anathema was better suited to thier fans. And this time, he played like a rock star, like he owned the joint.
Alcest played 75 minutes, probably the same setlist for the whole tour. You heard it, my Beautiful Angel. There were two new songs, the last one called "Deliverance" ended the show. They made a theatrical exit, one member leaving the stage at a time, Neige and Zero then alone onstage playing an atmospheric finale. Then Zero left and there was just Neige. Then he set his guitar down and walked off. This was a Rock Concert show, with stage planning, good sound, dynamic playing honed by touring, and it kicked a whole bunch of ass.
I did get to shake Neige's hand and say hello, quickly, as he walked by after their set. He seemed very friendly. I didn't bring a camera for reasons I mentioned in the Agalloch blog, but it's okay. I will go to more Alcest shows. He went past me, and I stayed to watch most of Anathema's set, which was good as well.
But I had been there mostly to see Alcest, and they straight up killed it.
You saw them, so you know that too.
I Love You, Elizabeth.
Sweet dreams (even though it's the middle of the night), and I will see you in just a few hours.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) \m/
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
The Kobester Wants To Go, Too :) (Browns Canyon Road) (In Your Arms)
My Awesome and Beautiful Lady,
I just wanted to check in real quick to say Good Morning. I have the Kobester with me, he is waiting in the car. When I took Pearl to crafts just now, he wanted to come along so bad that I couldn't turn him down. So, I am gonna take him to one of the parks or trails, but I will be back here for most of the afternoon, after I pick Pearl up at 1pm. Have a great morning, I Love You!! :):)
1:20pm : I'm back. Well, I finally did it. Sort of. Driving with Kobi, I was unsure where I wanted to take him, and I decided that Stagecoach Trail and/or Garden Of The Gods would be too much for the little guy. So I thought, "where to go"? Then I decided on Browns Canyon Road. That's the road I've always wanted to drive up, because of the huge park at the top of the mountain where the old Nike Missile Base used to be. In the past, I've always been intimidated by the big "Residents Only" sign at the bottom of the hill, but I read blogs from other people saying to just ignore those signs, because the park at the top (4 miles up the road) is a city park, and therefore open to everybody. Still, until now I never wanted to chance it because I didn't wanna get pulled over, going up a very steep mountain, by some gung-ho Sheriff.
But this time I was emboldened by the presence of the Kobedog. I thought, "If anybody asks, I'll just say I'm taking my dog to the park". And it would have been the truth (even though I was also hoping to see the missile base). In years past, whenever I would drive by that location, I would always see an SUV parked at the bottom of the mountain, just in front of the "Residents Only" sign. It was always a black one, or a white one, with tinted windows, and you could tell it was the kind a security guard would be driving, or in this case sitting in, and once or twice I saw the driver's window rolled down, and you could plainly see it was a security guard sitting there. That always kept me from going up the road, too. Don't want any trouble, of course. But I'd been reading so much about the park, Antonovich Park, and it was clear that it is an L.A. City park, part of the Mountain Conservancy, so I figured, "well that's why they have a private security guard and not the police or Sheriff. It's not illegal for people to go up there. But whoever owns the big ranches on the way to the park is trying to intimidate people". Now, it did used to be illegal to go up that road, back in the 60s and 70s when the missile base was there. And as it turns out, from something I read just a few minutes ago, that those signs, all the Residents Only, Private Property and No Trespassing signs are relics from 40 years ago. Apparently, they were supposed to be taken down years ago, but never have been. So, whoever owns the big ranches pays for a private security guard to sit there in his SUV, and seemingly scare people away, just by his presence, even though the land at the top is now the public Antonovich Park. So this time, with the Kobester by my side, I said the Hell with it. I'm gonna drive up.
When I got to the start of Browns Canyon Road (about a mile from Chatsworth Park, for reference), I saw that there was no SUV parked there. "Now we're going for sure", I said to Kobi. It's super steep, the steepest of all the mountain trips I've made so far, at least for the first mile or so. You pass a residential area of McMansions that overlook the Valley. Then the road, which is ancient and in disrepair, dips down into a mountain glen, and suddenly - five minutes from the bottom (and the Valley), you are in the Boondockiest Boondocks of any of the places I've been so far. This is Nowheresville. You might as well be out in the middle of the country on a deserted two-lane road. The road winds, sometimes climbing, sometimes dipping again. Then you see a sign that says, "Warning! Road narrows to one lane. Use caution".
Oh boy!
So I slowed waaaaay down, to a crawl, and I saw that the "one lane" part was just a short bridge over a dry creek bed, maybe 100 feet in length. The asphalt was all beat up, so I crossed it real slow. No other cars in sight. About a quarter mile past the bridge, still going relatively slow, I saw an opening into the mountainside, with a closed gate-rail to keep out vehicles. But there was also a trailhead, marked with those dark green Mountain Conservancy signs, identifying the site as a public trail, listing rules and regulations. So I figured I was nearing the park. But I also noticed I still had a ways to go to get to the mountaintop, and it was supposed to be 4.5 miles up from the bottom, and I knew I hadn't driven that far yet. Also, there was nowhere to park, so I couldn't get out there. So, I kept on going. Then, about another half mile up, I came to an open chain-link gate, one that would cross the road and stop traffic if closed. Just past this gate were parked a whole bunch of trucks, just regular trucks like Fords and Chevies. By the side of the gate I saw a big yellow sign : "Private Property - No Trespassing". Aha! This is the Big Ranch you have to pass through to get to the public park at the mountaintop. They must be in a battle with the Conservancy, because the rancher keeps his signs up, and his big chain link fence, even though open, is still intimidating. He clearly doesn't like people driving through his ranch - on a public road, mind you - to get to the park. So he intimidates in every way he can, even though he is misrepresenting his rights.
As I've said before, I work as a caregiver, and am responsible for someone besides myself, and I had to pick Pearl up at 1pm, and I saw all those 4-Wheel drive trucks parked there, belonging to ranchhands probably, and I thought, "well, even though I have every right to go to that park, I am just gonna turn around for now". I figured I'd made it that far up the mountain, I'd broken the Intimidation Barrier at the bottom, by ignoring the outdated Residents Only sign down there. I'd finally driven up the legendary (in the Valley, anyway) Browns Canyon Road, and I'd made it way out into Booneyville, and even past the scary bridge and all the way to the Big Ranch. There I was stopped by more silent intimidation.
The people who've written the blogs I read, about hiking up to the park, or going on horseback, have all written as part of a group experience. Like a group of mountain trail enthusiasts, blogging to meet at the park, giving directions, etc. So all those people went as a group, which no doubt helps to offset intimidation by the rancher. I don't see how he gets away with his signs, when the park has been there for ten years now. But he's got money, and the land has probably been in his family's name for generations, and the Mountain Conservancy doesn't have the wherewithal to keep hounding him. Not that many people go up to that park, anyway, cause it's not easily accessible, or even known about really. So, the rancher keeps his signs up, even if he can't legally keep people off the road.
Me and the Kobedog turned around at the rancher's chain link and drove back down the road, slowing again at the scary, worn-out one lane bridge, and soon enough we were back down at the bottom of Browns Canyon.
There was a big, black SUV parked there, right in front of the Residents Only sign. The driver's window was rolled down; you could plainly see a security guard sitting behind the wheel. Obviously, someone saw me turn around at the chain-link gate, and called him and he parked there. Even though he has no legal right to hassle me, or anyone else. To his credit, he did not.
So, I did make it that far, and next time I will go all the way, even crossing the Ranchland because it is, after all, a public road. But when I go again, I will do what I initially said I was gonna do - I will bring another person with me. And The Kobedog, too. :)
I hope you are having a great day, my Darling. I will be home til 4:15, then back at 6:45. I Love You! :):)
10:55pm : My Beautiful Elizabeth, that picture of the kitties is just wonderful. What a nice message to end the day with.
"They are in love" - that ought to be written in stone somewhere, like an Eternal Truth. Those kitties are just like us, they are in love too, and one day soon we will be holding each other like they are. I Love You, Elizabeth.
The photo of your piano - now that's the upright from "Autre Temps", am I right? Has it always been in your room? I am guessing that the decoration you refer to is the Japanese screen, and maybe the lantern, too? One thing, you framed that picture perfectly. One other question : On "Across The Sea", did you record the water sounds at the beginning yourself, or did you overdub a sample? Just curious, because you are next to a lake, and the sounds are lapping and lake-like rather than wave-crashingly oceanic, and I hear a bird chirping, too. It melds nicely with the opening notes of the song, which is very beautiful.
I had fun today, driving up that road, The Kobedog is kinda like my mascot. He is almost 14 years old, but you'd think he was four. He rides along like "yeah, let's go do this, Ad". So we had fun, without overly chancing anything.
I discovered that the Alcest in-store is gonna be at 1pm, so I am unfortunately not going to make it. Pearl's hair appointment ends right at that time, and I wouldn't get to Hollywood until it was over. But, I should get to the show in time to see all three bands, and if Alcest comes on before Anathema, maybe Neige will come out and hang in the audience or by the merch table. That would be cool.
I like the El Rey because it's easy to get to, and there's free parking, and you get home quickly. So it will be a great show all the way around.
I am still gonna remedy the computer situation at Pearl's, so I have that four-hours-per-day connection back. Unfortunately, that Chromebook Groupon deal was all sold out, but I will find something similar, as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will keep trying to fix Pearl's computer, but it's so complicated that I doubt even Einstein could figure it out. So once I find a good deal I will get a replacement.
Tonight, you and I will share our Sweet Dreams, and while I send them to you from here, in my heart I am right next to you now, in your arms and you in mine. I Love You, my Angel, so much. :):)
I just wanted to check in real quick to say Good Morning. I have the Kobester with me, he is waiting in the car. When I took Pearl to crafts just now, he wanted to come along so bad that I couldn't turn him down. So, I am gonna take him to one of the parks or trails, but I will be back here for most of the afternoon, after I pick Pearl up at 1pm. Have a great morning, I Love You!! :):)
1:20pm : I'm back. Well, I finally did it. Sort of. Driving with Kobi, I was unsure where I wanted to take him, and I decided that Stagecoach Trail and/or Garden Of The Gods would be too much for the little guy. So I thought, "where to go"? Then I decided on Browns Canyon Road. That's the road I've always wanted to drive up, because of the huge park at the top of the mountain where the old Nike Missile Base used to be. In the past, I've always been intimidated by the big "Residents Only" sign at the bottom of the hill, but I read blogs from other people saying to just ignore those signs, because the park at the top (4 miles up the road) is a city park, and therefore open to everybody. Still, until now I never wanted to chance it because I didn't wanna get pulled over, going up a very steep mountain, by some gung-ho Sheriff.
But this time I was emboldened by the presence of the Kobedog. I thought, "If anybody asks, I'll just say I'm taking my dog to the park". And it would have been the truth (even though I was also hoping to see the missile base). In years past, whenever I would drive by that location, I would always see an SUV parked at the bottom of the mountain, just in front of the "Residents Only" sign. It was always a black one, or a white one, with tinted windows, and you could tell it was the kind a security guard would be driving, or in this case sitting in, and once or twice I saw the driver's window rolled down, and you could plainly see it was a security guard sitting there. That always kept me from going up the road, too. Don't want any trouble, of course. But I'd been reading so much about the park, Antonovich Park, and it was clear that it is an L.A. City park, part of the Mountain Conservancy, so I figured, "well that's why they have a private security guard and not the police or Sheriff. It's not illegal for people to go up there. But whoever owns the big ranches on the way to the park is trying to intimidate people". Now, it did used to be illegal to go up that road, back in the 60s and 70s when the missile base was there. And as it turns out, from something I read just a few minutes ago, that those signs, all the Residents Only, Private Property and No Trespassing signs are relics from 40 years ago. Apparently, they were supposed to be taken down years ago, but never have been. So, whoever owns the big ranches pays for a private security guard to sit there in his SUV, and seemingly scare people away, just by his presence, even though the land at the top is now the public Antonovich Park. So this time, with the Kobester by my side, I said the Hell with it. I'm gonna drive up.
When I got to the start of Browns Canyon Road (about a mile from Chatsworth Park, for reference), I saw that there was no SUV parked there. "Now we're going for sure", I said to Kobi. It's super steep, the steepest of all the mountain trips I've made so far, at least for the first mile or so. You pass a residential area of McMansions that overlook the Valley. Then the road, which is ancient and in disrepair, dips down into a mountain glen, and suddenly - five minutes from the bottom (and the Valley), you are in the Boondockiest Boondocks of any of the places I've been so far. This is Nowheresville. You might as well be out in the middle of the country on a deserted two-lane road. The road winds, sometimes climbing, sometimes dipping again. Then you see a sign that says, "Warning! Road narrows to one lane. Use caution".
Oh boy!
So I slowed waaaaay down, to a crawl, and I saw that the "one lane" part was just a short bridge over a dry creek bed, maybe 100 feet in length. The asphalt was all beat up, so I crossed it real slow. No other cars in sight. About a quarter mile past the bridge, still going relatively slow, I saw an opening into the mountainside, with a closed gate-rail to keep out vehicles. But there was also a trailhead, marked with those dark green Mountain Conservancy signs, identifying the site as a public trail, listing rules and regulations. So I figured I was nearing the park. But I also noticed I still had a ways to go to get to the mountaintop, and it was supposed to be 4.5 miles up from the bottom, and I knew I hadn't driven that far yet. Also, there was nowhere to park, so I couldn't get out there. So, I kept on going. Then, about another half mile up, I came to an open chain-link gate, one that would cross the road and stop traffic if closed. Just past this gate were parked a whole bunch of trucks, just regular trucks like Fords and Chevies. By the side of the gate I saw a big yellow sign : "Private Property - No Trespassing". Aha! This is the Big Ranch you have to pass through to get to the public park at the mountaintop. They must be in a battle with the Conservancy, because the rancher keeps his signs up, and his big chain link fence, even though open, is still intimidating. He clearly doesn't like people driving through his ranch - on a public road, mind you - to get to the park. So he intimidates in every way he can, even though he is misrepresenting his rights.
As I've said before, I work as a caregiver, and am responsible for someone besides myself, and I had to pick Pearl up at 1pm, and I saw all those 4-Wheel drive trucks parked there, belonging to ranchhands probably, and I thought, "well, even though I have every right to go to that park, I am just gonna turn around for now". I figured I'd made it that far up the mountain, I'd broken the Intimidation Barrier at the bottom, by ignoring the outdated Residents Only sign down there. I'd finally driven up the legendary (in the Valley, anyway) Browns Canyon Road, and I'd made it way out into Booneyville, and even past the scary bridge and all the way to the Big Ranch. There I was stopped by more silent intimidation.
The people who've written the blogs I read, about hiking up to the park, or going on horseback, have all written as part of a group experience. Like a group of mountain trail enthusiasts, blogging to meet at the park, giving directions, etc. So all those people went as a group, which no doubt helps to offset intimidation by the rancher. I don't see how he gets away with his signs, when the park has been there for ten years now. But he's got money, and the land has probably been in his family's name for generations, and the Mountain Conservancy doesn't have the wherewithal to keep hounding him. Not that many people go up to that park, anyway, cause it's not easily accessible, or even known about really. So, the rancher keeps his signs up, even if he can't legally keep people off the road.
Me and the Kobedog turned around at the rancher's chain link and drove back down the road, slowing again at the scary, worn-out one lane bridge, and soon enough we were back down at the bottom of Browns Canyon.
There was a big, black SUV parked there, right in front of the Residents Only sign. The driver's window was rolled down; you could plainly see a security guard sitting behind the wheel. Obviously, someone saw me turn around at the chain-link gate, and called him and he parked there. Even though he has no legal right to hassle me, or anyone else. To his credit, he did not.
So, I did make it that far, and next time I will go all the way, even crossing the Ranchland because it is, after all, a public road. But when I go again, I will do what I initially said I was gonna do - I will bring another person with me. And The Kobedog, too. :)
I hope you are having a great day, my Darling. I will be home til 4:15, then back at 6:45. I Love You! :):)
10:55pm : My Beautiful Elizabeth, that picture of the kitties is just wonderful. What a nice message to end the day with.
"They are in love" - that ought to be written in stone somewhere, like an Eternal Truth. Those kitties are just like us, they are in love too, and one day soon we will be holding each other like they are. I Love You, Elizabeth.
The photo of your piano - now that's the upright from "Autre Temps", am I right? Has it always been in your room? I am guessing that the decoration you refer to is the Japanese screen, and maybe the lantern, too? One thing, you framed that picture perfectly. One other question : On "Across The Sea", did you record the water sounds at the beginning yourself, or did you overdub a sample? Just curious, because you are next to a lake, and the sounds are lapping and lake-like rather than wave-crashingly oceanic, and I hear a bird chirping, too. It melds nicely with the opening notes of the song, which is very beautiful.
I had fun today, driving up that road, The Kobedog is kinda like my mascot. He is almost 14 years old, but you'd think he was four. He rides along like "yeah, let's go do this, Ad". So we had fun, without overly chancing anything.
I discovered that the Alcest in-store is gonna be at 1pm, so I am unfortunately not going to make it. Pearl's hair appointment ends right at that time, and I wouldn't get to Hollywood until it was over. But, I should get to the show in time to see all three bands, and if Alcest comes on before Anathema, maybe Neige will come out and hang in the audience or by the merch table. That would be cool.
I like the El Rey because it's easy to get to, and there's free parking, and you get home quickly. So it will be a great show all the way around.
I am still gonna remedy the computer situation at Pearl's, so I have that four-hours-per-day connection back. Unfortunately, that Chromebook Groupon deal was all sold out, but I will find something similar, as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will keep trying to fix Pearl's computer, but it's so complicated that I doubt even Einstein could figure it out. So once I find a good deal I will get a replacement.
Tonight, you and I will share our Sweet Dreams, and while I send them to you from here, in my heart I am right next to you now, in your arms and you in mine. I Love You, my Angel, so much. :):)
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Grand Canyon! (let's go......) (so-so pictures)
Good Morning, my Angel,
Today is Tuesday, so that means back-and-forth, to Golden Agers at 11am (as soon as I finish typing this), then up to Walgreen's to drop off my two year old film, then I may drive out to Chatsworth just to see what I can see, not enough time for a real expedition, but I can do one tomorrow. Then back to Walgreen's to pick up my pictures, then back to Golden Agers to get Pearl at 2pm. Then I'll be home for a while, from about 2:30 to 4:15.
I am sorry to hear that you got your iPod stolen. Did you mean iPad or iPod? I ask because it was in reference to your getting the new iPhone. Well, whichever it was, that really sucks, and maybe it explains your "bad day" post from Sunday? I'm just guessing. That would certainly qualify as a bad day. Man, I hate criminals.
Well, this will be a good week anyway. And I saw your post of the picture from the Grand Canyon. That is definitely on our Must See list! Have you been there? I haven't (that goes without saying, I know). But, it's only 450 miles from here, about a 7 or 8 hour drive, depending if you stop on the way. Boy, would I love to see it! Wanna come with me? :)
I'm off to Pearl's now. Back in the 2:30 range. Have a great early afternoon, I Love You! :):)
2:35pm : Aw, shucks. My film pictures are mostly a bust. I don't know if it's because the film expired in 2008, or if it's because it sat in the camera for two years, or what, but most of the 36 exposures came back looking washed out and grainy. I thought, "Maybe it's the Walgreen's One Hour Photo processing", because in the past, though they are mostly good, I have gotten back a couple rolls of iffy looking pictures where the color was off. But with this set, there are three or four good ones mixed in with all the bad ones, so I don't know what the problem is. Maybe my camera battery is old.........but then there would be a warning light, I believe. When I can get over to CSUN, I will post one or two of the good pics. I had a picture disc made, and CSUN is the only place that still has a few older model desktops that accept discs. I did go out to Garden Of The Gods for a few minutes, and also Chatsworth Park North, and I brought my Pentax with me (my beloved cam that shot so many great pix in the 90s). Now it has a roll of black and white in it, and I shot one photo at each location. When this roll is eventually developed, we will see if there is still an exposure problem. But I am thinking it had something to do with the old, outdated film, even though I know people sometimes use expired film deliberately. But my film was exposed to heat, too, so.............
Anyhow, I'm home now till 4:15, then back at 6:45. :):)
11:20pm : Not much to report this evening. I'm listening to Emperor "Prometheus", the perfect music to get ready to go to sleep by. :) Tomorrow morn, I'll take Pearl to her Crafts Group at Reseda Womens Club, and then I may go back to Stagecoach Trail to try and find this passageway called "The Devil's Slide". I'm not entirely sure yet, cause I don't know exactly where it is, and I only have a couple hours. If I don't go, I will check in right when I get home from Pearl's.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxo :):)
Today is Tuesday, so that means back-and-forth, to Golden Agers at 11am (as soon as I finish typing this), then up to Walgreen's to drop off my two year old film, then I may drive out to Chatsworth just to see what I can see, not enough time for a real expedition, but I can do one tomorrow. Then back to Walgreen's to pick up my pictures, then back to Golden Agers to get Pearl at 2pm. Then I'll be home for a while, from about 2:30 to 4:15.
I am sorry to hear that you got your iPod stolen. Did you mean iPad or iPod? I ask because it was in reference to your getting the new iPhone. Well, whichever it was, that really sucks, and maybe it explains your "bad day" post from Sunday? I'm just guessing. That would certainly qualify as a bad day. Man, I hate criminals.
Well, this will be a good week anyway. And I saw your post of the picture from the Grand Canyon. That is definitely on our Must See list! Have you been there? I haven't (that goes without saying, I know). But, it's only 450 miles from here, about a 7 or 8 hour drive, depending if you stop on the way. Boy, would I love to see it! Wanna come with me? :)
I'm off to Pearl's now. Back in the 2:30 range. Have a great early afternoon, I Love You! :):)
2:35pm : Aw, shucks. My film pictures are mostly a bust. I don't know if it's because the film expired in 2008, or if it's because it sat in the camera for two years, or what, but most of the 36 exposures came back looking washed out and grainy. I thought, "Maybe it's the Walgreen's One Hour Photo processing", because in the past, though they are mostly good, I have gotten back a couple rolls of iffy looking pictures where the color was off. But with this set, there are three or four good ones mixed in with all the bad ones, so I don't know what the problem is. Maybe my camera battery is old.........but then there would be a warning light, I believe. When I can get over to CSUN, I will post one or two of the good pics. I had a picture disc made, and CSUN is the only place that still has a few older model desktops that accept discs. I did go out to Garden Of The Gods for a few minutes, and also Chatsworth Park North, and I brought my Pentax with me (my beloved cam that shot so many great pix in the 90s). Now it has a roll of black and white in it, and I shot one photo at each location. When this roll is eventually developed, we will see if there is still an exposure problem. But I am thinking it had something to do with the old, outdated film, even though I know people sometimes use expired film deliberately. But my film was exposed to heat, too, so.............
Anyhow, I'm home now till 4:15, then back at 6:45. :):)
11:20pm : Not much to report this evening. I'm listening to Emperor "Prometheus", the perfect music to get ready to go to sleep by. :) Tomorrow morn, I'll take Pearl to her Crafts Group at Reseda Womens Club, and then I may go back to Stagecoach Trail to try and find this passageway called "The Devil's Slide". I'm not entirely sure yet, cause I don't know exactly where it is, and I only have a couple hours. If I don't go, I will check in right when I get home from Pearl's.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxo :):)
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