During My Sister's Recent Visit to California

My sister and I went to Beverly Hills, specifically Rodeo Drive. We walked into a jewelry store, the kind where you have to wait for them to buzz the door to let you in and out. We where the only ones in the store. The owner and sales girl offered us wine and cheese, we declined. I have never felt such desperation as I did in that store. The owner and sales girl kept taking things out of the cases and walking over to us to show us. They really really wanted us to purchase something. I actually wonder when was the last time they had a sale.

My sister and I proceed down the street and walked into a jewelry store that had the doors wide open, no buzzers on their door. I saw a ring that had a brown tear drop shaped stone in the middle with tiny pink stones all around it. The entire ring was set in rose gold. It looked more like a trinket to me. We were told that it was a brown diamond surrounded by pink diamonds as I slipped it on my finger. When we asked what the price was... we were told..... $575,000.00. My sister and I looked at each other in shock. Here is a jewelry store with the door wide open and no security guard any where in sight and this girl just whipped out a $575,000.00 ring and stuck it on my finger. Something seemed very weird. My sister asked me, "What would you think if I bought it for you?" I told her, "I would think you are seriously ill!" and we had an incredible laugh.

We have two great memories to revisit and laugh about... remember the time we felt like we were held hostage in the jewelry store? ..... remember the time I tried on a half a million dollar ring that looked like it should have a $12 price tag on it?...lol...lol...vll...lol..vll

The picture is my sister and I and it was taken at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, CA, two weeks ago.

Ciao

Greeting from Pennsylvania!

Well, we made it! We rolled into Pennsylvania around 7pm.

My sister asked me how it felt to drive out of California. If you know me... I mean really know me... then you would know I was really okay with it.

When we crossed over the state lines to Pennsylvania I felt relieved and excited. I am about to create a new chapter in my life. As I sat in the car I thought about the first day I rolled into California.... I looked around and said to myself, "I only want to live here 20 years." And so I asked myself "How long will I be here?" And I listened and what I heard was.... "As long as you want to be." Which is actually all cool, fine and dandy with me.

About 6 months ago I wondered "What will my creativity be like in Pennsylvania.?" I am not sure if I believe that you can create anywhere. I heard Eckhart Tolle say that he had to go to California to write the book "A New Earth" because of the creative energy there. I did pretty good creating in California.

What I noticed was that the last few trips I made out here to Pennsylvania... the creative neuronets in my brain were firing off the charts... One day I came up with like a thousand and one ideas. It was crazy wild!

I am going to hit the ground running. I have tons of plans and I look forward to implementing them!

The picture of of the state I now live in.

Ciao

Greetings from Morris, Illinois

I am now 1,955 miles from Los Angeles. We are in Morris, Illinois.

Today I got pulled over by a Nebraska policeman. Was I speeding? No. I had a California license plate with a blinged out license plate holder in a black car with tinted windows. Just enough to peak his curiosity. He said the reason he pulled me over was because; 1) I did not put on my turn signal 100 feet before changing lanes (who the hell does?); and 2) He said he saw me "surve" a little (which I didn't not do). It was 12:30 in the afternoon and believe me, my man would have said something had I "surved". I have experience with policemen (those stories are being saved for another day). I know that if you have your license, proof of insurance and registration ready to hand to them when they approach the car... you are less likely to get a ticket. At least I don't when I hand them what they want before asking. He asked me to get out of the car and go to his car. He asked me to get into his car. Then he started asking me 5,000 questions while his partner approached my car and started asking my man 5,000 questions. The two policemen then had a meeting behind the police car and said I was free to go and to be careful. I wasn't upset because I knew exactly why I was being pulled over. It did slow us down a bit. Along with the massive road construction going on in Nebraska and Iowa.

We traveled through 3 states today. Tomorrow we will get on the road at 6am and should be at our destination by 5pm tomorrow.

The picture is of a map of where we are.

Ciao

Greetings from Ogallala, Nebraska

I am approximately 1,250 miles away from Los Angeles.

Yesterday we drove from Utah through Colorado and into Nebraska.

Utah was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. We drove through Canyonland.

Vail, Colorado was also breathtakingly beautiful. We drove through some snow flurries. It was 39 degrees when we drove through the Einsenhower Tunnel.

I saw a full rainbow from beginning to end in Denver,Colorado. Actually saw 2 rainbows, only one was complete from beginning to end.

Gotta hit the road.

The picture is a small map of where I am right now.

Ciao

Greetings from Beaver, Utah

I rolled out of California 3 years and 3 hours later than I wanted to..lol..lol

I wanted us to leave around 10ish yesterday morning, however, it just wasn't meant to be that way. The girl from the apartment complex didn't show up at 9:30 to do the walk through. She showed up at around 10:45.

I thought that my car was as big as the trailer to hold the furniture and therefore could not fix comfortably everything that I wanted to take in the car. So we filled a big box and went to the UPS store and had it shipped to Pennsylvania.

Then Bella chewed a hole in her nylon cat carrier so I had to find a Petco and get a heavy duty plastic one for the fierce kitty.

By then it was time to eat lunch so we stopped at Whole Foods. All and all, we actually began our drive out around 1:30.

The smog in San Bernardino is so unbelievably bad that I found myself holding my breath while driving. My anxiety level was high as I was wondering how many miles I would have to drive to see clean air. In case you are wondering... it's approximately 300 miles. After you pass Victorville on the I-15 North. The smog made me think of a Mad Max movie.

We drove from California, through Nevada, through Arizona and are here in Utah.

Driving was great. The speed limit was 75 miles per hour on most of our journey. We only got delayed a bit in Las Vegas as we hit it right at rush hour.

When we hit Utah we saw the most amazing rainbow. We actually saw where it began and where it ended. I told my guy, "I am taking that a sign of my new beginning."

The picture is of Beaver, Utah.

Ciao

My Last Night in Los Angeles

So last night my man said "What do you want to do your last night here?" Do you want to do something different, like go to an Ethiopian restaurant?" And I replied, "Wow, that's a great idea." Because I love Ethiopian food and haven't had it in a while.

There are a few blocks of Fairfax Blvd. in Los Angeles that is known as "Little Ethiopia". There are several Ethiopian restaurants and shops in that area. Last night we went to Messob restaurant and it was fantastic. The Ethiopian Honey Wine is unbelievably amazing.

After dinner I drove past my first apartment that I had here exactly 23 years ago.

I then showed my man where I stopped for the woman who got hit by a car.

And then I showed him where I found the dead man on Wilshire Blvd., in Santa Monica, at 3:15pm on a Thursday. BTW, he had been dead for 3 days.

I am getting ready to wrap everything up here and should be on the road in a few hours. I feel that I have ended my stay in Los Angeles very gracefully. Kinda like the way we should end our lives. Feeling that I did what I was suppose to do here and now it is time to move on and I have absolutely no regrets.

The picture is a map showing where Ethiopia is located.

Ciao

Last Day in This Apartment

The apartment is empty except for a blanket, 2 pillows, 2 cats, overnight bag and cooler.

Today I ran last minute errands getting little things we'll need for the road trip that will take us through 11 states.

So far everything has been going pretty smoothly, except maybe in the sleep department. This will change the minute I get to Pennsylvania. For that... I am sure of.

Everyone handles "goodbyes" differently. Some of my friends were eager to get together for one last breakfast, lunch or dinner together. Others have gotten wildly angry with me for leaving and hence no need to say goodbye. I actually thought that this was an age thing, because 23 years ago when I moved from New Orleans to Pennsylvania some of my friends got angry with me for leaving. Well, I will tell you... it's not an age thing. And then of course there are people who will avoid you like to plague just so they don't have to say goodbye. This has been a good lesson for me to accept people as they choose to be and not take any of it personally.

I have also tried to do some fun things that I like to do while having all of this moving stuff going on. Like reading, creating my book review videos. Trying to keep some balance in my life. I have learned that in my younger years I would have only done the moving stuff and then pissed and moaned about it the entire time. Now I evaluate what absolutely has to be done today and that is what I do and then spend the rest of the time doing what I enjoy. Then at the end of the day I feel good. I did what needed to be done and had fun.

I posted 2 book review videos this morning of the 2 books I finished on the plane back here. And then I cleaned the apartment for the walk through tomorrow morning.

I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Tomorrow morning at approximately 9:30am - 10am we will begin our journey to the east coast. 6 hours into our drive we will be in Las Vegas. Too bad we will have the cats with up... or maybe that is a good thing that we have them with us..lol...lol..lol...

The picture of of cleaning stuff..lol...lol...

Ciao

I'm Soooo Exhausted....

The last 2 days I have only gotten maybe 4 hours of sleep a night.
Since arriving back in Los Angeles on Thursday morning, my man and I have been finishing the packing of my belongings for the professional packers who arrived here this morning at 9:30. The "professional packers" are professionally packing a commercial trailer with my stuff. They have been at it for the last 6 hours. I think they may have one hour left.

My guy has been 'Heaven Sent'. There is no way I could have gotten it all done without him. And thank God he was around to help out because no one else was. Did that sound sarcastic? I didn't mean for it it. I am about telling it like it is.

I have often said "Friendships and Insurance are the same. You don't know how good either one of them are until you need them." My "friends" said "Hey if you need help packing let me know." And I did make the calls to get the help. And what I heard was every excuse in the book. I am not angry or upset. It just is... what it is.... I have learned that life ALWAYS turns out the way it is suppose to. For some reason I was suppose to do this move on my own. For some reason the only person to "step-up-to-the-plate" has been my man.

Maybe it was meant for us to do together. I knew before we began the moving stuff that doing this with him could make or break our relationship. I was very interested to see what it would be. I am totally thrilled to find out that even when we are tried and exhausted and have aches and pains we can still laugh and joke together. We make an excellent team and I am very excited about the opportunity that I had to find that out.

On another note... I am sorry if I seemed short with friends/family within the last 48 hours. It was critical that I have every single thing packed before 9:30am today and I had a day and half to finish what I had started. I did not have the luxury of responding to emails or picking up the phone to retell the current situation over and over again. That's why I created this blog. So I would only have to tell the story once and everyone would be in the know and no one would feel left out. I know that there are a large part of my "friends" who have told me.... "I don't read blogs." And that is fine. You do what you gotta do. And I get to do what I gotta do. And taking the time to communicate what is going on, while very enjoyable to me, is also an effort to communicate. And at this time I want to personally thank each and every one of you for the time that you have taken to read it.

Well, I gotta run for now. I get to relax and regroup before hitting the road Tuesday morning after the "walk through" is done on my apartment.

The picture is of the Santa Monica pier and that is where I am headed once the professional packing guys leave.

Ciao

Finding a Place to Live in PA is Done for Now

I hit the ground running regarding looking for a place to live and it just didn't seem like the timing was right for what I had in mind.

I would see a place and tell the real estate lady "Okay, I'll take it. Make it happen." And she would come back to me with a reason why it wasn't going to happen, "Landlord says no cats. Was promised to another person. Blah, blah, blah."

The real estate lady also kept telling me, "There will be more available in Bloomsburg around July 1st." Why? Because Bloomsburg is a college town and right now the students are taking finals and will be moving the end of May, beginning of June and then more will be available.

Last night I laid in bed and thought, "Okay, I have to look at the whole picture. It isn't meant for me to move to Bloomsburg right now. Where am I suppose to move to....."

My special man here in Pennsylvania said in the beginning.,"You can move into my place." And while I thought it was sweet, I really wanted to live in Bloomsburg, not Wilkes Barre. As I laid in bed last night I realized that was the only immediate opportunity. So this morning I called and ordered my business lines to be installed in his place and I rented a storage unit right out side of Bloomsburg where my furniture will be delivered from California.

I will move here and continue to look for a place in Bloomsburg. Like I have said before.... moving to here wasn't as important as leaving California.

Tomorrow morning I will be at the airport at 5am to head back to California and finish packing up my apartment and get it loaded on the commercial trailer to head here.

The picture was taken in Pennsylvania.

Ciao

Status of House Hunting in PA

I have spent the last two days running around looking at houses and apartments for rent in and around the Bloomsburg area. I am not finding what I want and I think it is because I am feeling a bit stressed. I don't feel as if I can operate on a leisurely time line. Which is true... I can't.

At this point my main goal is to get out of California. I feel that should be my number one priority. Where I land will all work out.

There are two places that I could move to, however here's the deal on both of them: First place is in Bloomsburg on East 3rd Street. It's nice and clean. It's a 1/2 double. The owners live in the other half. The house has some good points and bad points. Good points, clean, washer and dryer in the basement. Bad points, the owners have a ton of "rules". For example, "If you hang pictures, make sure you put the nails in the wall this way. No BBQ grill of any sorts." The owners are a very sweet old couple which means that that don't have a life and may want to make my life part of their life. Hummm......... maybe I have been living in California too long. Okay, so it might take me some time to get friendly with the neighbors. They sit on their front porch like a lot (I have seen them as we drove around) and I don't really want someone watching me come and go. There is absolutely no yard at all and there is only street permit parking.

Then there is a place that is 15 minutes outside of the city. It is on a golf course and is also a 1/2 double. It is more modern and has central airconditioning. The thing is it looked like shit when I walked through it. The walls were a mess, there were like a ton of dead flies in it. The carpets looked a mess and needed to be streteched. The real estate lady said that the place would be all fixed up by the time I arrived June 1st. However, hears the deal... I guess I have lived in California a bit too long because I operate by believing none of what I hear and half of what I see. I told her that I just didn't feel comfortable signing a lease and agreeing to an apartment that looked like crap and hoping it would look different when I arrived. If these people really wanted to rent it they should fix it now. I couldn't take the chance of arriving to find nothing had been done and it looked a mess.

Right now I am considering having my furniture delivered to a storage unit in Bloomsburg and camping out for the month of June in Wilkes Barre at my man's place while looking for a place on the weekends in Bloomsburg. That is what makes the most sense to me right now.

The picture is of the city of Wilkes Barre, PA.

Ciao

Like Wow Another Earthquake in LA

Well, well, well... another earthquake in Los Angeles.... hummm... this makes 3 or 4 in the last couple of weeks. Not good I tell you...not good.

I am in Pennsylvania right now. Thank God I didn't feel that earthquake. I was on a plane from LA to PA. My nerves have been on edge lately due to the fact that I have a lot of things going on.

I was telling one of my friends, on Saturday, that I don't feel like myself. I feel like my tag line on my emails should be "Sporting a titanium broom and platinum pointed hat!" Yea, I have had a short fuse.

I went around with the real estate lady this afternoon and looked at 4 places to rent. I think I have found the one I want. The real estate lady set up appointments for me to see a couple of more properties tomorrow morning and so my noon tomorrow I will make a decision so that I can get that ball rolling.

The picture is an aerial shot of Los Angeles.

Ciao

Something I will miss and Something I won't miss

Sees Candy was started in 1921 here in Los Angeles. They are the manufacturer and distributor of primarly chocolate. I have been fortunate to have a store 3 blocks from my home. I can't imagine working there. I think I would be sick of chocolate at the end of my first work day.

My absolute favorite chocolate in the whole wide world is Galaxy chocolate. I have eaten chocolate everywhere, Iceland, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, London. Galaxy chocolate is made by the Mars Company. Supposedly Dove chocolate, which is also made by the Mars Company is the same chocolate in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Middle East. I have eaten Dove chocolate and I have eaten Galaxy and they don't taste the same to me... nor to other people.. as I have found on the Internet. I actually don't mind when I have a layover in London or have to change planes as I know that I will have an opportunity to stock up on some Galaxy chocolate. I use to have it shipped to me. It cost too much money in the summer months as it has to be shipped on dry ice. If I were captured and threatened to be drowned in a vat of Galaxy chocolate.. I would say "Yipppeee, bring it on!"

I was cleaning out the trunk of my car today and ran across the mandatory "earthquake kit". I will be glad to not have to carry this around anymore. My earthquake kit is similar to what you see here. A backpack filled with; bottle water, toilet paper, pad and pen, flash light, duck tape, Sterno, thermal blanket, first aid kit, power bars and radio. Thank God I have never had to use the one in the trunk of my car. The 1994 Northridge earthquake destroyed the Santa Monica Freeway, I-10 and the 118 Freeway. If the earthquake would have happened during the day (instead of 4:30am) possibly many people would not have been able to get home by car and would have had to travel by foot.

I was telling a friend of mine today that I am really looking forward to sleeping a sound deep sleep. In the last 23 years that has only occurred when I have been at my sister's home in Houston. Why? Because there is a part of me that is afraid to go into a deep peaceful sleep because if the earth starts to rumble I had better get up and get in the doorway fast. Especially after living through the 1994 Northridge Earthquake which scared me half to death. It literally took about a year and half to collect my thoughts and get back to normal. We experienced tons of aftershocks with that earthquake.

I already told you what the pictures are.

Ciao

Life in Los Angeles - Where the Sun Shines

The name Los Angeles is Spanish for The Angels. The nick name for Los Angeles is City of Angels.

I can tell you right now that there aren't "Angels" walking around here in Los Angeles. And if the angels are up high looking down, I wonder what the hell are they're thinking.

There is a video of a 72 year old man who got hit by a car earlier this week being shown on television. The news announcer said that their was outrage about the video because it shows the man getting hit by the car and then several vehicles driving around his body in the street. It also shows several people standing on the sidewalk just looking. Absolutely no one went up to the man who was lying in the middle of the street after being hit by the car. This is life in Los Angeles.

About 15 years ago I was driving home on a Thursday afternoon. I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was approximately 3:15pm. I was on Beverly Glen Blvd. heading north. I was about the 5th car in the turning lane to head west on Sunset Blvd. As I sat and waiting for the light to change I heard a thump noise and I thought to myself "Someone must have dropped something off of the back of a truck." The light changed and the cars in front of me began to go round something in the street. I thought to myself, "I was right, someone did drop something off of the back of a truck." But I was wrong. I was shocked to see a woman laying in the middle of the street and everyone was driving around her like she wasn't even there. I stopped my car right in front of her and got out of my car.

I can tell you, time stopped in my world. I had no place to go and nothing to do. I ran up to her and her eyes were open but they seem to be fixed on the curb. I began talking to her telling her that she would be okay, she wasn't alone and I was going to get help. I knew she heard me because her bottom lip started to quiver. She had blood coming from her ear and nose.

This was before I had a cell phone. The traffic heading east on Sunset Blvd. was stopped. A guy in a white convertible car told me that he had called 911 on his cell phone. I thanked him. I saw this red car stopped at the light and I have no idea how I knew he had a blanket in the back of his car. I asked him, "Can I have the blanket in the back of your car? You will never see it again." He said, "Sure." and gave me the blanket. I don't know a whole hell of a lot about first aide but I did know this woman was probably going into shock. I took the blanket and put it on her.

An ambulance did arrive and so did the police. The police were taking down my information and a man came up and said that he had seen what had happened. He said that she was crossing the street and a white pickup truck (a gardener's truck) came out of Bel Air Estates and hit her and then rolled over her and just kept going. He said he pulled out of traffic and made a u-turn and followed them. He gave the police the address of where the truck was.

I personally don't think that she survived. She looked to be in her 50's maybe early 60's.

The thing that I have thought about most of all were the minutes from the time I heard the thump, that was when she was hit... and the time she heard my voice. It must have seemed like an eternity to her. Lying there in the street just listening to car, after car, after car going past her, like she didn't even exist.

In a future post I will write about the time I found a dead man on Wilshire Blvd. at 3:15pm on a Thursday.

The picture is of a beautiful rainbow.

Ciao

Has Mercury in Retrograde Been Kicking Your Ass?

As I noted in a post from last week... anything that occurs during this Mercury in Retrograde is a "course correction".

The wild fires in Santa Barbara started the moment Mercury went Retrograde. For the people who lost their homes, while on the surface it appears sad and tragic... they will be happier in their next home.

Lots of my friends have recently, in the last few days, gotten the pink slip on their job. They weren't all that thrilled with the jobs and did have hopes and dreams of another career. This course correction has occurred so that they can seize the opportunity to really be doing the job that they have a passion for.

Relationships have blown up and ended. While matters of the heart are generally sad, chances are it wasn't the relationship you thought it would be nor the kind of relationship that you want in your life. If you try to hang on to something that has ended... be prepared for something bigger and worst to happen in your life. The Universe wants to make sure that you are on the right path. Chances are you ignored the signs last month so this month they are showing up as posters and if you don't get it... they'll be billboards in your face.

Mercury went retrograde 7 days ago... and it's already kicked ass. Hang in there we have 2 1/2 more weeks to go.

The more relaxed and flexible you are at this time... the better. Know that no matter how bad it feels this month... next month will be a lot better.

The picture is "kick ass" cute!

Ciao

Last Night's Dream

I had this dream last night that I was in a tiny capsule out in the Universe and I was sending letters back and forth to my friends. I was on my way back to earth in my dream and I was feeling anxious about getting there. In my dream I remember thinking "I can't be in this tiny capsule, I am claustrophobic."

I woke up with that same feeling and realized that I do feel like I am in a capsule and I am looking forward to my release. Over the last 30 days I have been communicating more with my friends on the east coast and really am looking forwarding to the exciting times I am about to create.

I feel as if I will arrive in Pennsylvania with a burst of energy like nothing I have ever experienced before. I know I will feel renewed and refreshed. I am looking forward to completing the many creative projects I have bouncing around in my head, that I have had to put on the back burner to take the time to get me to a different place in life.

I plan on doing a lot more traveling. Traveling and Creating are two biggies for me. My sister recently asked me "When did you know you loved traveling? Did something specific happen?" I told her it was around the age of 18 or 19 when I realized you could walk into the airport and purchase a ticket to go anywhere in the world. I felt as if I were a kid in a candy store. And from that time on I vowed, I would always have a suit case packed. And I always do. Just need to throw in the clothes for the climate and I am out the door in 5 minutes flat. This really came in super handy when, for 16 years, I had a friendship with some high rolling jet setters here in Los Angeles. They knew they could call and say "Want to go here or there?", at the last minute and my answer was ALWAYS "Yes."

I would love to be a bird. Just flying from one place to another. Home is where I am. Don't get me wrong, I know how to create a home and I love having one. And when I am here.. I am here... but when I am traveling... I am traveling. I learned how to "be where you are" from my Mom. When we were one place she would want to be another. Every time we went on vacation, at some point, she would decide we had to get home. For no particular reason, we just had to stop everything and head home. I vowed, I would never think about home when I wasn't there.

I have told my sister that if I die in another country she must promise to leave my body there. I don't believe the expense should be paid to ship me home. Just leave me where I am.

The picture is of shoes of course!

Ciao

Moving Details

Here is the tentative moving schedule. I use the word "tentative" because everything is subject to change. Shit happens! So if shit doesn't happen then my plans should play out. If shit does happen... then the plans I write here will be modified.

In 6 days (next Sunday, May 17th) I fly from CA to PA.

On Monday the 18th I meet with the real estate girl to show me places to rent in Bloomsburg, PA. That is where I want to move to. I have drove through the town several times and checked it out on the Internet. Bloomsburg has a University and that is one of the main reasons I want to move there. It is also a small town of approximately 15,000 people. I wanted a small town feel without a small town mentality.

I will be in PA for 3 days. During that 3 days I will agree to a place to rent, complete paper work, set up bank accounts, etc.

On Thursday, May 21st, my guy and I fly back to Los Angeles. We have 2 days to finish up with the packing. I will have the majority of it done.

On Friday, May 22nd, a trailer will be dropped off. I am using a company called U-Pack. My sister saw a commercial about this company and told me about it. It's pretty cool. My guy in PA also told me about companies that put your furniture on a load with a commercial haul and it doesn't cost that much. It will literally cost me half of what it would have cost me to rent a U-haul truck and drive it myself across country.

On Saturday, May 23rd, I have some professional packers showing up to professionally pack the trailer and tie everything down.

From Saturday around noon until Tuesday around noon my guy and I will be camping out in an empty apartment. Not one stick of furniture will be here. Just us, the blankets, pillows and 2 cats.

Monday, May 25th, is the Memorial Day Holiday and the weekend I arrived here 23 years ago.

Tuesday, May 26th, the apartment manager will come to do the final walk through and the trailer will be picked up. Both of these will occur before noon. As soon as these are done we hop in the car with my two cats and begin the approximately 5 day drive. It might only take us 4 days. I had the trip mapped out for 8-10 hours a day of driving. And I had it routed with the idea that I would be driving a 35 foot, loaded, uhaul truck. So a lot of steep terrain was avoided. I am going back to AAA today and have the route modified.

The trailer is scheduled to arrive in PA around Tuesday, June 2nd.

I am looking forward to all of this. I will be beginning another chapter in my life.

You know what this is a picture of...lol..lol...

Ciao

Hummm.... another 4.2 Earthquake

A 4.2 earthquake in Ojai, California a couple of hours ago. Ojai is 58 miles from Woodland Hills.

This isn't very good news. 2 earthquakes in one week over a 4 magnitude... it's something to keep your eye on.

Several weeks before the 1994 Northridge earthquake there were lots of smaller earthquakes that were in the 3 range of magnitude. These could be foreshocks to a bigger one.

You know we are waiting for "The Big One". A group of scientists and engineers, working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), released an official forecast of California earthquake probability, and the findings were frightful: They suggest a better than 99% chance of an earthquake measuring 6.7 or greater hitting the state sometime in the next 30 years, and a 46% chance of one posting a 7.5. (The Northridge quake, which claimed at least 60 victims and rang up $25 billion in damage, registered a 6.7.)

Today it's still 100 degrees in Woodland Hills. Has been for quite a few days now. The weather man says that we should cool down into the 80's in a few days.

The air quality still sucks. Santa Barbara is still burning and the smoke has made it's way here.

For those of you who don't live here... yea, the sun is shinning.

The picture is of some earthquake information.

Ciao

Mercury's in Retrograde

Mercury is in retrograde until the end of May. I have been following Mercury in retrograde for many years now. Usually it occurs 3 times a year. However, in 2009 it will occur 4 times. This is the 2nd time this year.

Usually Mercury in retrograde affects communications and electrical things. Good to have your computers backed up before hand. Double check all contracts before signing. It's usually a good time to sit back and reflect.

However, this Mercury in retrograde is going to be quite different. There will be a lot of major changes happening in our world within the next few weeks. These changes are considered "course corrections for humanity".

Changes are not an easy thing for people. Most people consider themselves creatures of habit and resist change. You were put here to evolve, learn and grow. You cannot evolve, learn and grow if you are standing in the same spot in life. I have written a book entitled "Gardening at Night" to assist people with becoming more comfortable with change. Change is not a bad thing. It's only bad when you resist change.

The key to getting the most out of this Mercury in retrograde is to really listen to your inner voice. We all have an inner voice and an outer voice. The inner voice and yearning are coming from your soul. It is the true voice and the only one that counts. I have also written a book about what happens when you don't listen to that inner voice, your souls calling. It is entitled "When the Soul Cries".

During this month we will all be faced with choices. Choices to follow our inner voice or the outer voice. Those who change their lives and follow the inner voice, their souls calling will be in a much better place next month and in the future. Those who experience the changes and are too busy listening to the outer voices, that they can't hear the inner voices, will have a very rough time. It's time to get real and time to be true.

This is super important this month. If you feel the urge to make major changes in your life this is the month to follow those urges. You need not know why, the reasons will be revealed next month.

The picture is of a color enhanced Mercury.

Ciao

BITCHOLOGY

When I stand up for
Myself and my beliefs,
They call me a
Bitch.

When I stand up for
Those I love,
They call me a
Bitch.

When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts
Or do things my own way, they call me a
Bitch.

Being a bitch
Means I won't compromise what's
In my heart.
It means I live my life
MY way.
It means I won't allow anyone to step on me.

When I refuse to
Tolerate injustice and
Speak against it, I am
Defined as a
Bitch.

The same thing happens when I take time for
Myself instead of being everyone's maid, or when
I act a little selfish.

It means I have the courage and strength to allow
Myself to be who I truly am and won't become
Anyone else's idea of what they think I
'should' be.

I am outspoken,
Opinionated and determined. I want what I want
And there is nothing wrong with that!

So try to stomp on me,
Try to douse my inner flame, try to squash
Every ounce of beauty I hold within me.
You won't succeed.

And if that makes me a bitch.
So be it.
I embrace the title and
Am proud to bear it.

B - Babe
I - In
T - Total
C - Control of
H - Herself

B-eautiful
I-ntelligent
T-alented
C-harming
H-ell of a Woman

B-eautiful
I-ndividual
T-hat
C-an
H-andle anything

Special Thanks to Kelly. I love ya!

Ciao

Today I Learned About ATP-ADP

My skin doctor, Dr. Eric Lewis, is an incredible person. He is also very interesting. One of the things that makes him so interesting is that he kinda lives 2 lives at one time.

I have always said that I live "dog years". I can get accomplished in one year what it would take the average person to do in 7 years..lol...lol...

Everyone has a story. I find that people's stories are more fascinating than any fiction you could read or watch.

Dr. Lewis' story is that he only sleeps 2 hours and 15 minutes a night. It is a genetic thing with the males in his family. After the age of 15 they only sleep 2 hours and 15 minutes. He said he goes to sleep at midnight and wakes up at 2:15am.

I started asking him questions and he told me all about ATP & ADP. Which occurs in every living thing. The special thing that occurs in the males in Dr. Lewis' family is called ATPase. Dr. Lewis said that only 1 out of every 20,000,000 families has this.

I asked him, "Do you dream?" And he said, "No." He goes into a dead sleep. He did have dreams up until the age of 15 years old. He said that he still remembers his dreams. He said that he misses dreaming but would not change things if he could. He said that he has lots of hobbies and businesses because of the need to not sleep. When you think of it, you should would have a lot of extra time on your hands.

I asked him, "So Dr. Lewis, I bet you have read a lot of books?" And he said, "No, I have never read a novel. I have dyslexia and so do the males in my family." I asked him how he got through medical school without reading and he said it was very difficult.

I found the whole ATP-ADP thing interesting. To better understand how it works someone made a youtube video (with Fruit Loops) that explains the cycle. Interesting I tell... just plain interesting....

I would not trade my "dog years" for Dr. Lewis' "light years".... I love dreaming way too much.

This is my favorite picture.

Ciao

P.S. It's 100 degrees here today, the wind is blowing and Santa Barbara is burning.

Fire Season Has Arrived!!!!

I don't know if the fire season is here early or not.

There is a wild fire burning in Santa Barbara. Currently it has burned 150 acres. Santa Barbara is 1 hour north of Woodland Hills.

The beginning of the year Australia had wild fires burning. It was the worst that they had seen in about 100 years. A friend of mine sent me some pictures with a tag line that said "Like Wow These Fires are Really Bad". My friend also lives in the San Fernando Valley, where I live. I emailed him back and said "Dude, I don't think there is anything spectacular about those pictures. We have fires here that destroy people's homes and lives every year." He emailed back that I had turned into a "Fire Jaded Chick"....lol....lol

Count down has begun to when I roll out of here. Funny, I will be leaving the exact same weekend that I arrived 23 years ago.

The picture of is a mountain on fire.

Ciao

Cooking

I have decided to cook up the food in my pantry.

My sister was here about a week ago, for a week. We ate every meal out. It was lots of fun going to my favorite places for the last time, for a while.

I was trying to open a jar and was having a difficult time. I remembered a time recently when I was cooking and had a hard time opening a jar. The phone rang and it was my special man in Pennsylvania. I told him I was having a hard time opening a jar and he asked "Why don't you just ask a neighbor to open it for you?" I replied, "Honey I live in LA."

I will write a blog post later about what it is really like to live in Los Angeles.

Right now we are talking about food, Babe! I have literally eaten at restaurants all over the world. I have eaten at the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, Stiftskeller St. Peter, in Salzburg. It has been around since 803. I have eaten at the Citrus in Los Angeles. Which is now closed but definitely the highest end restaurant in Los Angeles.

The only food that I have ever dreamed about is the food that my special man cooks. He is an intuitive cook. He trust his gut and instinct when cooking. He doesn't use recipes. He is truly a gifted cook. One of my favorites is this dish he whips up in the wok that has red onions, sweet potatoes, beats and garlic. Another of my favorites is the way he cooks portabello mushrooms.

I really think that he should own his own restaurant one day. I can see it now.... "Fine Intuitive Dining at Eugene's". The restaurant would be small and elegant. It wouldn't have any menus or set days or hours of operation. You would call when you want to come and listen to the recording which would tell you if the restaurant would be open that evening and what the menu would be. The cost would be $100 a head. You eat what's put in front of you. This would be a restaurant for those with an open mind regarding food. I personally think it would be a big hit.

It doesn't matter where the restaurant is located. If it is good, people will come. One of my favorite steak restaurants is Jacko's in Nipomo, California. Approximately 13,000 people live in Nipomo. There's really nothing to go there for except a golf course and Jacko's. People come from all over the world to eat there. My sister and I had a reservation at 6:00 and we got seated at 6:50pm. I went one time without a reservation and was told there was a 4 hour wait. I didn't wait. I have been there when I was told there was a 2 hour wait and I have waited the 2 hours. It is not uncommon to see a ton of people waiting outside of Jacko's who are waiting 2 hours to eat. Jacko's is not a fancy place. They have aluminum tables and chairs. The prices are super reasonable and the steaks are to die for.

By the way, what you do when you can't get a jar open in LA, is to go back to the store with it. I can't even tell you the amount of times I have done this. I go up to the manager and say "I want to return this. I can't open it." If the manager is a woman she will look around and usually some young guy will be around to open my jar. I then look at him and say "Thanks Dude."

The picture is of spaghetti.

Ciao

Earthquakes

Well, I definitely won't miss the earthquakes!!!!

I was sitting here getting ready to open my laptop and write a post about the swine flu and all of a sudden I heard a rumble and my cats sat up in the bed and then I noticed the room was swaying and the cats jumped off of the bed and got under the bed and the swaying continued so I decided "I had better get in the doorway, this could be a foreshock to something bigger." And before I got the doorway it stopped.

I immediately called my sister to tell her I was okay. The last thing I want is her to turn on the television and see that there was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles. It was actually in Malibu is 24 miles from Woodland Hills.

You know what? I am going to be a much happier person once I move. I plan on being so relaxed and chilled. In one year people won't even recognize the person that I will be. No more worries, that's the ticket.

Well, if you didn't notice someone "anonymous" person has used my blog to post his long ass views on the state of the world and everything in it. He posted the same shit on my last two post. Way to go Dude. Spreading his shit on other peoples blog, I wonder if he is spreading his freakin seed that easily.

The picture is of an earthquake seismograph.

Ciao