Biblioteca

The Misers are fortunate to have not one, but two, library branches nearby - so nearby in fact that we could walk to them if we wanted. I don't know why we now have two branches in our neck of the woods, it wasn't always like that. When we first moved here we had to travel a few miles to get to the nearest library. But about five or six years ago they built the Edendale branch, and then just a few months ago the Silverlake branch opened. Neither of these libraries are very large, and the book collections in both are somewhat lacking, but nonetheless we have been enjoying them. I have always loved libraries as I come from a reading and a library going family. And since we can't take Bee to the park everyday now that we are officially in the middle of L.A.'s rainy season, we've been taking advantage of our local libraries. They are great for checking out DVDs for Bee, knitting books for me, novels, and CDs that we can download into our iPod. The Misers love free stuff, and we don't mind borrowing stuff instead of owning it. In fact, its better for the environment, right?

Anyway, Bee loves Dora the Explorer so those are the DVDs that we've been checking out at a furious pace. She especially loves Diego, Dora's cousin. She has told me that she loves him because he is so nice to animals and he can talk to them! He is kind of like an Hispanic Doctor Doolittle. (I guess he is her first crush, even though he is just a cartoon character.) I don't mind her watching Dora DVDs because they are educational for the most part. And since Dora is bilingual, Bee's been speaking a little bit of Spanish recently. She likes to count to ten in Spanish, and she also like to Mumba. (Hands on your hips and then wiggle your hips, wiggle your hips. Circle your hands, circle your hands. And march in place, march in place.) It seems like Dora the Explorer is quite popular these days with the preschool set. On the plane home from Seattle after Christmas, Bee wore her Dora pajamas because it was a late flight. We encountered a couple of young hipsters who were very nice to Bee, and to my surprise both of them knew who Dora was. One sang the backpack song to Bee, while the other kept saying "Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping!" Apparently they'd spent some time watching some Dora TV with their nieces at Christmas.

And even though I would rather that Bee was outside getting fresh air and sunshine, on the few days that it rains here in L.A, we don't mind her watching a DVD of Dora the Explorer, especially when it is free. The Misers love their local libraries!

Trailer Park Boys

The Miser's favorite television show right now is a little gem from Canada called "Trailer Park Boys". It is effing hilarious and strangely comforting all at once. I mean, if worse comes to worse and we lose everything we own The Misers could always move into a trailer park. It doesn't look that bad. Well, actually it kind of does but at least we'll be surrounded by colorful characters who's main goals in life are obtaining liquor and smokes. And maybe some weed. And trying to stay out of jail. I mean, how hard can that be? It's just all about embracing your inner White Trash self.

Check it out: Trailer Park Boys

Rainy Day At The Griffith Observatory

People Who Look Like Their Pets

Today as I was perusing the job ads on craigslist I came across this:

Do you love your pet? Do you live in the Greater LA area? Do you want to look like your pet? We are casting men and women of all ages to be on our reality TV show, "We'll Make You Look Like Your Pet." Please send us a video telling us why we should choose YOU to be made-over to look like your pet. Please include your name, phone number, the type of pet, and why we should select you. Send videos to: blablabla. Thanks! We look forward to hearing from you!

I'm almost tempted to apply. Exactly what kind of crazy is this?

Love Ring

Bee has a plastic yellow heart shaped ring that says "Love" on it. Sparky got it for her out of a gumball machine for 25 cents. She loves this ring. She insists on wearing it everyday, and as it is way to big she usually wears it on her thumb. Or maybe her index finger. Now the crazy thing is that because it is too big it is constantly falling off of her, and I am constantly searching on the floor or ground for it. "My ring! My ring!" She exclaims as it falls off her thumb yet again and tumbles into the apple bin at Trader Joe's. "I want my love ring!" Hang with the Bee for any length of time, and you'll find yourself repeatedly making sure that damn ring is safely on her person. That plastic ring is my little Hippie Child's most favorite possession at this very moment, and rather than finding it a little annoying, Sparky and I choose to find it sweet and endearing.

It's Back!

The Hungry Tiger was one of my most favorite food blogs a few years ago. I loved the name of the site (taken from the Oz books by L. Frank Baum) and the vegetarian recipes. But for some reason the blog suddenly and without warning disappeared to a "members only" site and I was sad. There was no way I was going to pay money to join this site, so no more Hungry Tiger for me. (I guess I must have been a sort of Miser even back then before the New Depression hit.) And then just today I was thinking about cauliflower and how The Hungry Tiger had a great recipe for preparing it, so I sat down at the keyboard and typed in the name. And lo and behold, it's back again in the Wonderful World of Free Blogs! It seems like the New Year is starting off on the right foot for a change. Happy days are finally here. Yipee skipee. All is right in the world. Anyway, check it out: The Hungry Tiger

Jewelry For The House

Last week, I picked up my most recent pieces from the kilns at Barnsdall Art Park. These tiles I made to hang on the outside of the house, sort of like jewelry for the house. I like making tiles because they are fast and easy, you can experiment with different textures, and they make good glaze testers.

I also made four matching leaf bowls. I'm getting better at throwing sets that are more or less the same size. Still, throwing is not exactly my strength at this point. It's all about practice, practice, and more practice.

These are a trio of bud vases hand built from very thin porcelain slabs. They were very fast to make and I really like the organic quality of them. But because the porcelain is so thin you have to be extra careful when handling them. I forgot how delicate they are and pierced a hole in the green one with tongs as I was glazing it.

Sentimental Fool For Christ

I've decided not to throw away all of my old stuff. Instead, I sorted through it, kept some and tossed the rest. Some of the junk I tossed included old letters that weren't even addressed to me, but to Lew Wasserman. I'm not even sure why I kept them. Perhaps in order to line my little rat's nest. Or maybe because the letters were so damn nutty. You see, back in 1988 right before Martin Scorsese's film, "The Last Temptation of Christ" was released, I was hired by a friend of friend of a friend (who was a private detective) to sort through the bundles and bags and bags and bundles of mail that Wasserman was receiving. As chairman of MCA, Inc., the parent company of Universal Studios, which produced the film, he was the target they wanted to hit. Christians by the droves were sending him hate mail due to the fact that they assumed this movie would portray their much beloved Jesus in a bad light. The bizarre thing was that the movie hadn't even been released, so they had no idea what they were even hating on. (As we've seen with all Christian protests though, logic is rarely welcome.) These poor saps were told by their holy television and AM radio mullahs to send Wasserman letters to stop this blasphemous madness before it could begin. And did they try their damnedest!

Anyway, my job was to find any letters that contained actual death threats. But there were only a few letters that were violent crazy; most of them were just plain crazy. Some people even sent money, which made the job all that much sweeter. (I was confused by their "contributions" to halt the film's release, but Sparky thought they were conditioned to "tithe" money by their favorite televangelist. For them, stuffing small bills in letters had become a reflex.) Some sent bibles, rosaries, prayer cards, etc. And now, looking through the few letters that I've kept all these years I've found a common theme: "DON'T release this film and DO accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior and then you WON'T burn in hell for all eternity."

I didn't see the movie when it was first released, probably because after reading all of the hate mail I was already so over it. But I did finally see it a few years back and I remember thinking how weird Barbara Hershey's lips looked due to the fact that they were pumped chock full of collagen; and how wow, Jesus has a thing for Mary Magdalene. That's all I really remember. It did not strike me as a particularly blasphemous movie, just one showing the Christ Man as a human being, and not a god while he was alive on planet earth. What was the big deal?

Still, it was a great little part time gig while it lasted: I could do it from the comfort of my own home, make my own hours, and it paid $15 an hour (plus the occasional "tip" from the believers.) And any Miser has got to love that! (I am sooo going to hell...)

Sentimental Fool or Pack Rat?

I'm afraid that I might be a Pack Rat. Today Bee and I spent a couple of hours going through some trunks and boxes that are stored under the house. Scary. I found letters and cards from old friends and family, and a stack of love/hate letters from an old boyfriend. I actually found a One Year Diary from 1977 with a single entry in it that says: "Saturday, January 1st. Hi Diary. Today is the very first day of 1977, and so far it has been a shitty day. I think Di and Tree are mad at me and school starts on Monday. Yuck! My New Year's resolution is to write in you every day, no matter how busy I am. Gotta go. Bye. P.S. 'Brian's Song' is on tonite." That is all that is in this diary, yet I somehow felt compelled to keep it for 33 years? What the hell? I've kept letters from people I'm not even friends with anymore, letters that I wrote yet never mailed, old birthday cards, postcards, notes, fanzines, notebooks, sketchbooks, journals, manila envelopes crammed with odds and ends, etc., etc., etc. I guess I kept all of this stuff over the years for sentimental reasons, but it's not like I ever look at any of it or even think about any of it. So why bother keeping it? I'm really torn because I just want to throw it all away, but since I've kept it for so long maybe I should just keep it for another 30 years. Yuck! Then I'll just be a little old lady with a bunch of crap from my past. I really should just throw the whole lot away. Except for the One Year Diary. I'm definitely keeping that.

Welcome Back!

Bee and I got into Los Angeles last night, and we are very happy to be home again. Although fun was had, I'm really glad the holidays are behind us. It was rainy and grey for the most part up in the PNW, so the golden sunshine here is very welcoming! We both missed it. The best part of our trip was the train ride itself - it was so relaxing, and I highly recommend to everyone to GO BY TRAIN.