Still Vacationing in Sunny PS

Yesterday, Mom and I went to the Tolerance Center to see the movie "Trumbo." It is an excellent movie with Dalton Trumbo played by Bryan Cranston and cast members CK Lewis and John Goodman. 

We must have our young people see this movie! It describes the black listing of Trumbo and many other hollywood screen writers and professionals.

Trumbo wrote the screenplay for Roman Holiday and Spartacus, movies that I remember fondly, but more important is the fight that Trumbo continued after he was released from jail after being found guilty of contempt of Congress. He recognized that not only was he suffering with no way to work nor support his family, but so were many of his Hollywood screen writer friends.

I had no idea that Hedda Hopper, John Wayne and Richard Nixon were so involved in railroading communists onto the black list and into jail. The "bad guys" who were in line with McCarthy's witch hunt really thought they were being good Americans, but it was not (and is not) illegal to be a communist. In the meantime, the communists' big transgressions were advocating for the lower paid workers and calling for a minimum wage.

The movie was an eye opener for me -- I had no idea that actor Kirk Douglas was a hero in that he was the first to put Trumbo's name on a script when he was still officially black listed.

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I love the mountains here. And they all look different from different angles.

O.k., so this is not a mountain, but the light really is amazing, isn't it?

It was really windy yesterday and last night. The wind was making sand eddys on the street. Here, they actually plow the sand into the gutters on long roads such as Dinah Shore. It made me wonder if a street sweeper goes by sucking the sand into it and blowing it out of a tube back onto the desert. I'm always amused to see snow fences about 20 feet from the road -- they are there to hold back the drifting desert sand.

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Mom dropped off her mail ballot at City Hall. (One year the Post Office lost a whole truck of ballots so she wanted to be sure hers was received.)

On the lawn of City Hall

Speaking of big horn rams: they have found 5 dead lambs in a month on a golf course. It's apparently some kind of upper respiratory disease that the lambs are passing around to each other. The Bighorns have been classified as endangered and they keep wandering onto golf courses. A local news reporter said, 'Building a fence would help to keep them off the golf course.' That, apparently, is cost prohibitive. Personally, I think 124 golf courses is Palm Springs is way too much. But then, I don't golf.

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For those of you who can access ShowTime movies, you must watch "Confirmation!" (No exclamation point.)  It's the story of the confirmation of Clarence Thomas and how Anita Hill came to tell her story. It's not only gripping, but we saw it before the Trumbo story so this was my first dose of politicos I'd like to tar and feather.

I did not remember that Joe Biden was Chair of the Confirmation Committee.  What a wimp. I would use a feline appellation, but that would do a disservice to that raunchy word.

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Mom and I went to the Agua Caliente casino last night. I lost all of my money and Mom won $100!

Today we're off to do some shopping and then maybe the Tom Hanks movie when it's a cheaper matinee. Yahoo!

The Other Day and Today

The Other Day.

The other day (who can remember which one? I'm on vacation!), Mom and I went to lunch in downtown Palm Springs. It was still fairly warm. Hence, the misters were going full blast on the patios.

This mist is the fuzzy part over the umbrellas. This is totally foreign to people from Massachusetts. We're used to just sweating and it would never occur to us to be on the patio in the 90's. Notice how neatly groomed the palm trees are? If they had been left unclipped, one could have been whacked in the face with a tendril. No thank you.

Today.

"Damn, it's cold!" Yes, that was my 6:30 a.m. wake up time. 

I have been leaving the window open in my bedroom. By 7:30 a.m., it was up to 63 F. (A week ago, it was 96 degrees.) I have been delighted with the 10 to 15 degrees cooler than normal temperatures, but I just bought lighter summer pj's! I think someone ought to remind me that I bring cool weather in the spring.

Sunrise Villas has stopped heating "Mom's" pool. Hers is one of the three that are heated year round. In the past, when the temperature climbed, the heater would switch off. Now they have decided to shut it off in May. The water is o.k. for me (considering that the heated pool in Amherst is still colder than the one here!), but the natives are furious. They can only go into the outdoor hot tub, which seemed REALLY hot to me the first night. Although it did feel good yesterday after the pool which was brisk. (The temperature has been falling daily.)

Yesterday.

Mom and I went to the Rancho Mirage Library to hear the Desert Wind Band's concert. We got there early to ensure a parking space near the door which was a good thing because the wind had blown up and was gusting heavily. One woman had the wind blow her car door right out of her hand, smacking the car next to her.

Even though we were early, there was a line of people waiting for the doors to open which extended out a side door. The building made shade (thank goodness!). Here's the side, sort of back, parking lot (as opposed to the front).

To those of you who know the configuration of where I work, you know that we all have parking envy. This lot, Homies, is narrower, but bigger than our CVS lot.

Here are a few brief shots that I took of the inside of the library.

The Book Nook is the Friends of the Library book sale room. It does say on the bottom of this sign that covered beverages are o.k. in the Library.

I don't think you can read it, but just past the woman in red is their internet cafe. There are a half dozen computers, but then there are about 8 tables with chairs and they stock real bakery items. I'm guessing it's a concession arrangement but it was closed so I couldn't ask anyone.

 As you enter, the Children's Room is on the left.

And this is on the right, just past the main desk with a person on the right as you enter. The named room all the way in the back is a reading room; the named room on the right is a computer room.

And finally, here is the room which is in front of the inside entrance to the library, and the crowd for the concert.

The concert was wonderful! They played everything from patriotic songs and marches to selections from West Side Story and Glenn Miller. Then they ended with a salute to every branch of the military, which I had first heard at concerts in Branson, MO. (Thanks, Maria and Jack!) It's a very large band -- about 25 people. It was the first LGBT (that's how the leader said it) in the LA area in the 70's. 

The concert was free but they were accepting donations. After the performance, they gave two $1,000 scholarships to local graduating high school seniors who will begin college as music majors. They said they would have liked to fund all 11 applicants, but they could only afford two. 

Afterward, we met friends for dinner at Rick's Cuban Grill. They give you a deviled egg as a complimentary appetizer! (Have I told you the Manhattan Deli gives you pickles and sauer kraut and a pickled tomato?) I'm amazed at these places that give you free stuff. And it works, doesn't it? I'm writing about it and when you come here, you will go there!

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The TV ads here are filled with doctors who will take care of ugly veins, doctors who will do face and other body lifts and tucks, make up artists, spas ... well, you get the idea. Those ads are followed by casino ads. So I guess the idea is to win money and spend it on surgery. Not! 

I feel very ignorant about a lot of the culture here and I have to ask for explanations, but I have to admit to being blown away by two different people who asked if we all have fireplaces because it gets so cold in Massachusetts. 

I did gently remind the young blonde woman that we have central heating and a fireplace actually sucks much of the heat out up into the chimney. Her boyfriend was horrified when I said a few years ago we used to have about one week where it went down to minus 20 in the winter. We had been talking about how mild last winter was. He was horrified and said, "What does it feel like?" I told him that once it's below 30, your nose hairs crinkle and it just happens faster when it's colder. "But you can't go out in that," he exclaimed, "Or only stay out for 30 seconds."  I laughed inwardly because he was serious. I just said, "Well, we bundle up," all the while thinking what would happen if people called out from work due to the cold. You Canadians know that I am not exaggerating and, in fact, we get less of the snow and cold temperatures than you do.

My Mother, the Sadist

Many of you know that I have been following a low carbohydrate diet. What that means to me is: no sugar, no wheat, no potatoes, no rice ... you get the idea.

So I sent Mom out for pork rinds (ZERO carbs!) and she comes back with two, two I say, different kinds of cookies and Scoops (tiny corn chip bowls). I tried to yell at her, but she smiled sweetly and said, "You have your snacks and I need mine."  Sigh.

Actually, the previous paragraph is strictly tongue in cheek because while I like the idea of a cookie (or six), I don't really care to eat one.

Mom's Plant Looking at Purple Flowers

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Have I told you that my kids are the best in the world? While Mom was out getting her hair done (and buying cookies!), the doorbell rang and a delivery man handed me a package. "I think it's wine," he said as I signed. Mom opened it and we discovered that Debbie had sent her a bottle of Jack Daniels.  And Mom was encouraged to share it "if needed." And guess what? There are ZERO carbs in Jack Daniels!! I guess I know what I'll be sipping with "Billionaire" after supper tonight!

Mom and I have reached detente so the JD will be shared in convivial circumstances. If she says something that ticks me off, I wait a while and compose what I'm going to say. We clear the air. If I do something that ticks Mom off, she tells me right away and I pretend to not be annoyed.  We both know what's happening, but we can live with it.

The Hummingbirds Constantly Check Out Many of these Flowers but They Don't Seem to Drink Anything Here

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Today's Lunch

Mom and I have been binge watching "Billionaire" which is a Showtime production starring Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti. (I don't get Showtime at home.) Axe (Lewis) is married to one of the blondes who used to be on Law and Order and I can't remember her name to save my life.

Anyway, I have liked both guys' work for a long time and I'm enjoying this show. Although I must admit to feigning large yawns at the beginning of season one, episode one.  Axe was explaining stock trading and shorts and margins and the whole nine yards. While it was clearly understandable, I didn't care. Mom said, "They are trying to show you how smart he is -- it will get better." Well, it really did get better because there is a lot of drama. It's also great to see a portrayal of "life styles of the rich and famous" who do things such as order a Philly cheese steak flown in from Philadelphia to NYC for lunch -- for the whole company. Or, at the spur of the moment Axe decides to take his private jet and 3 friends to Canada for a performance of Metallica.

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And, yes, the above picture is yesterday's sunrise. I was actually up before sunrise today (still on Eastern time), but I was reading FB and didn't go out for more pictures. This is shot just outside of Mom's front door. The white gate on the right is the pool. (Big grin.)

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I got to see George, the dog, yesterday. He's still big and black and furry.  He always greets you by lunging on the leash and barking in a basso profundo voice. His owner, Eric and I had a nice chat. Eric and his partner, Paul, have been really great friends and a help to Mom. Eric is quite handy, especially since he's tall and can change recessed light bulbs without a ladder!

Mom and I met a man in the pool yesterday who rode his motorcycle all the way from Washington state! It took him four days. But yesterday and the day before, we had very high winds. He got into one pass where the winds were 50 mph and he said he was very scared. In fact, he said, it felt like he was riding on the rim of the tire because the wind was pushing him so far over on the bike. He said he was blown across the two lanes on a two lane road a couple of times. He added that when he got into his place in PS, it was time for two G and T's! His wife will be joining him next week. His wife is still working and he just retired and she had no interest -- so he went to Cuba himself!

I would love to go to Cuba! He said Old Havana is like what it used to be (probably when Papa Hemingway went there). But Havana was built up around 1957 and it was after the Communist revolution so it's very dowdy.

Okay, that's all I have. It's almost 3 p.m. and I'm going out to the pool. We're going out for Chinese food with friends and I need time to wash the chlorine off. (Big grin.) Ciao!

Goooooooooooood Morning!

O.k., o.k., I'll admit it: these are 'file photos.' I did go out at 6 a.m. this morning and take a picture of the mountains at sunrise -- but I'm too lazy to get it out of the camera. And I don't think it was a particularly good shot.  The flowers at the top are a bit thinner, but that bush is still outside of Mom's house and the humming birds are happily visiting it and the purple flowers.

I understand that those back East are enjoying (?) chilly rainy weather. So I guess now is not a good time to tell you that it was 70 degrees F. at 7 a.m. and will go to the 80's in the afternoon. The weather is fan-fricking-tastic!! And the pool is great -- I have had it to myself so far. Many of the regulars have already gone home to Canada and Michigan and Minnesota ... wherever they have wanted to escape winter.

Mom and I went to see "Money Monster" yesterday. It's with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It was even better than I expected. George Clooney is one of those stock gurus on TV who has dancing girls and sound effects to punctuate his stock picks. Julia Roberts is in the control room directing the show. Very early on there is an intruder who takes the show hostage. There are twists and surprising turns and quite a bit of edge-of-the-seat suspense. I highly recommend this movie. (It is also liberally sprinkled with my favorite f word.)

After the movie, we went to the Manhattan Deli where they plied us with corned beef and brisket. I ordered the corned beef sandwich with no bread and the waitress said, "One bread?" I swear I got a half pound of corned beef on a plate. They bring you a complimentary pickle plate -- I asked for half sours. And it comes with sauer kraut and a pickled yellow tomato. (Who knew?) Mom says they used to automatically bring the pickles, but now they ask you if you want it. On our way out, a cute Mexican boy tried to entice us to buy bakery goods. They are the types of desserts that you gain weight just looking at them. They were beautiful but not for us.

So now I'm killing time until Mom gets home from the gym and a meeting. I washed her kitchen floor. Lets see if that gets me any points. She was complaining that she didn't think her house keeper used any detergent, just water. I used Spic and Span and it seemed to do the trick. 

Ciao for now. Time for me to make lunch! 

Early Mothers' Day Prezzie

Thanks so much to Deb and Paul!

I was out sick from work, but Cyndi very thoughtfully dropped off the flowers. I can't wait to see them open. Don't I have the most thoughtful kids? 

Toiling Tina Takes on More than She Can Munch, er, Mulch

"Oh, fuck!" I heard it distinctly as I raked soil and mulch back onto the first mound in the front yard. It was a low hissing voice. Movement caught my eye.

Yup, it was Snakey above, moving away from the rake and expressing his displeasure. He is brown with yellow stripes. The picture is deceptive with no size ratio: he's only about pencil size. Because any of you who know me, know that I have an inordinate fear of snakes. But he's so small, I figured I could out slither him.

Of course, I'm thinking, 'Is he poisonous? What if he's a baby -- where's his mother?' Not knowing the answers to any of these questions, and feeling pretty tired from my hour and a half of weeding, digging, laying landscaping cloth and putting the soil and mulch back, I quietly picked up my tools and packed it in. So my efforts, while vigorous, don't show much progress.

Before

After

Yes, it's true: the weeds LOVE my soil/mulch mixture. I've got to get some real plants that will come up by themselves. There is 3/4 of this mound left and the other whole mound to the right and behind this one. Sigh.

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Thursday's Sammy Awards were great. The cocktail hour was held at the Mead Art Gallery at Amherst College. What a wonderful setting! At one point during set up, I wandered into one room where I spotted a Monet that I had never seen. I was enthralled. I will have to go back soon. 

Lisa, Sharon and I

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Sunday

Yes, I did shopping and cooking yesterday. You're used to that. I also washed the kitchen floor, which I just dripped meat juice on. Sigh. I'm waiting for some cauliflower to cook to go with my broiled London broil. I've got another quiche and stuffed peppers in the oven. The bacon is cooked. (This is just today's stuff.) I'm set for lunches and dinners for the week.

I went to Aldis today to buy some bacon and half and half. The eggs are 69 cents a dozen!! It's a special. Eggs are almost $3.00 at Stop and Shop where I was yesterday. Glad I bought them at Aldis.

So I went to church like a good girl. I come out and there is so much bird splatter on my side window -- I really think it was a cow that flew over my car.  It was feces brown and white ... gross.

I didn't want to go to the car wash because it's raining off and on and supposed to rain all week. So I kept dousing it with a watering can. Wow.

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I just saw the best movie! It's called "The First Monday in May."  

[Guess who just burnt the cauliflower and set off the smoke detector? I should know better than to blog while cooking.]

Anyway, the movie is about the Chinese Fashion Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is a big debate as to whether fashion is art, but if you see the display pieces in this movie, there will be no question in your mind that these fashion pieces are art.

The curator of the Chinese artifacts section of the Museum worked closely with Andrew, a fashion curator whose ideas created the exhibit of fashion intermingled with Chinese art. The fashion was designers' ideas of China, not necessarily fact.

Ann Minotaur (that name can't be right, but she's a trustee of the museum and Vogue's fashion editor -- she's the one they made the movie about which was called "The Devil Wears Prada") was mainly in charge of the whole thing. She's so detail oriented that they showed her auditioning table cloths and scrutinizing the seating many times. At one point, she asked an assistant, pointing to tags up in a corner, 'And who are these?' And the assistant said, 'Those are people we hope will go away.'  Hmmm ... 

It was an amazing spectacular with Rhiannon performing, many celebrities in attendance, and a fundraiser which raised over $12 Million! They did not say if that was after expenses or before. 

And we got to see a lot of the exhibits. I wonder if they are doing another gala tomorrow.

By the way, I learned something: Kim Kardashian's ass is big enough to be named a planet.

Ta ta. It's time to eat supper and watch Mad Men. I'm getting nervous because I think I'm getting to the very end and I don't know what I'll do. I might have to read that book I started ... 

Saturday Serenade

The birds are chirping and the bees are humming -- all in chorus of a New England spring symphony. Yeah, o.k., enough of that bucolic stuff. So when I had "my guy" doing so much weeding and mulching, it didn't occur to me to put landscaping plastic down first. Duh.

The weeds just LOVE the rich soil and mulch. I know, I know, weeds are just misplaced flowers. But the darn dandelions should stay in the grass -- that's where they belong.  So after an hour and a half of labor, this is what I can show:

Yes, you can see a line where I stopped. Give me a break! I laid down plastic, scraped the mulch and soil onto the plastic, put the pulled weeds into my yellow wagon, laid down the landscaping material, and put the soil and mulch back on.  Yep, that took an hour and a half. That's one bag (2 cu. yd.) of mulch. BTW, I can no longer lift the bags because we had a thunderstorm yesterday and they are sodden.

Don't ask -- there are two more mounds which are twice as big as the above to be done. I should be done by July. I did, however, deadhead the daffs and decided to put my bird bath in the front until I can get out back. It's still too wet -- that's my excuse -- to hit the back yard. No, I didn't fill the bird bath because it had clouded up and I thought it was going to rain. It still might.

The tulips are very happy this year. I think I need more for around the tree. 

My neighbor came by and said, 'You missed a spot.' My non-verbal reply was not ladylike. It was Italian though.

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Lunch ...

It's shrimp, Miracle Noodles (fettuccini shaped) and spaghetti sauce with parmesan cheese on top.

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If you can help it, don't go to two grocery stores on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon after everyone has been outside all morning. At Whole Foods, where I made a quick decision to go after seeing the line of traffic ahead of me, I got behind an old (o.k., older) woman who just stopped and stared at the bread. Her body was facing right, her head was looking left. I couldn't get around her, so I waited (im)patiently. When she did notice that I was right behind her, she jumped as if I had stuck her with a pin.

Surviving the above, I went to Aldis. I was in a funk because I couldn't find a couple of things that I wanted when a screech penetrated my fog. And every 8 seconds, the same child screeched. I could have strangled the mother. I couldn't get out of there fast enough, but since there was only one (count 'em) cashier, it took me a while. But looking at that poor young woman slaving away -- who still had at least 20 minutes of the screeching, I thought, "Let it go."

Since I grazed at the cooked foods at Whole Foods, I don't have to cook anything until tomorrow. I'm starting to feel that bending and kneeling I did while gardening this morning. I feel like the TinMan who needs a can of oil!

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I have been binge watching "Mad Men." It's a bit depressing in spots -- especially now when they recapped the JFK assassination and ensuing murder and panic. But it is fun to see how accurate they are in wardrobe and social mores. The series does make me want whiskey and a cigarette. I sure couldn't drink at work the way they do -- I'd be asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

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Slipped into Sunday

So, yes, it is true that I'm writing this on Monday morning, but you can pretend it's still Sunday.

After doing some of my usual weekend prep, Cyndi and her mother Natalie, picked me up and we went to the Springfield Armory.

Yes, the Springfield Armory is part of the National Park Service -- who knew?  We went to hear a portrayal of Lucy Stone by Ms. Black (no, I can't remember her first name). It was wonderful! Not only is Ms. Black a wonderful actress and raconteur, but she also did a lot of research and was able to give us a clear picture of the mores of Lucy Stone's time in the 1800's. I enjoyed the presentation thoroughly.

The first myth that she dispelled was that northerners were totally against slavery. She gave me a lot of facts that contradicted what I was taught. There was also the notion of "gradual" emancipation which held that as slaves were educated, they could gradually become citizens -- with the right to vote. Still the women of any color could not vote. I had no idea how completely women were treated like chattel. 

I have a zillion pictures on my phone, having forgotten my camera, but it is so difficult to download them that you only get a couple here.

As you enter the Armory and look up, you see this is how they lowered the manufactured guns down from the machining floor (using a block and tackle).

Before this, I had thought that an armory only stored guns -- I did not know that's where they manufactured them. This armory also reconditioned guns seized from the Confederates to be reused by the Union soldiers.

Who knew that, once again, Massachusetts was a leader? I will have to study up about Shays Rebellion. All I had been taught was that it was a tax revolt, but somehow I missed the "taking up of arms." Since they now call us "Taxachusetts," I'm not quite sure how that turned out.

More later. Am off to work!