fun on friday - the aroma of celebrity

three on thursday

What goes up must come down Spinning wheel got to go 'round Talking 'bout your troubles it's a crying sin Ride a painted pony let the Spinning wheel spin Someone is waiting just for you Spinning wheel, Spinning true Drop all your troubles by the riverside Catch a painted pony on the spinning wheel ride

props to David Clayton Thomas

water tower wednesday

a foggy day 

in 

New York town 

flags flying 

the Empire State Building 

standing tall 

satellite dishes 

stairs 

roof tops 

and 

a

water tower!!!

toonsday - when ... and where ...

Apologies!

I posted the wrong toon

THIS 

is the new one

oy, 

see what happens 

when I don't wake up on time/over sleep

 (is it really possible to oversleep?)

hurry rush make mistakes

 sorry

monday monologue - a penny for your thoughts

I spent 

most of weekend 

schlepping an umbrella 

which 

thankfully 

I never needed 

Nevertheless

the
Green Flea 

was under populated 

as the predicted rain 

kept many vendors away  

We didnt walk
again

Toonman walked by himself 

when I was off 

beautifying™ 

Saturday  

Sunday 

I read
he watched football 

We lead such an exciting life  

Anyway 

the point 

as 

always 

made 

long-windedly 

is 

I was thinking
what can I post about

into my head
popped
the expression 

'a penny for your thoughts'

I give mine away for free

Are you still with me?

Immediately this came to mind:
Tom Otterness 

who may be my favorite sculptor evah 

populated 

a small park 

along the river 

waaaay downtown  

with some greedy bankers

and

lowly but hard workers

Officially 

I believe its called 

Nelson Rockefeller Park 

after the billionaire and late Governor of New York 

but the 

'locals' 

call it 

Penny Park

See
it all goes back
to
paying for thoughts
and
a topic/photo to share!

Thanks for visiting its always appreciated!

waiting patiently

Oh 

I was sure

 we were going to get up 

and 

go 

but

she's got 

that thing 

in her hands 

again

so 

I guess 

we're just gonna

hang here

might

 as well lay 

down

overcast

the skies

and

my heart

are 

heavy 

this day

silly 

maybe

but 

today 

at 1 p.m. EDT

the last network televised episode of 

All My Children

will air.

41 years 

of 

new episodes daily

except 

for major holidays 

when they re-ran some episode that maybe sort of or not tied into what the current storyline was  

a show 

that was once great 

it

dealt with social issues 

as well as the 

soapy absurd

but 

suffered in recent years 

due to the arrogance 

of the not so brilliant head of something or other 

at 

ABCDisney 

a man, Brian Frons, who 

decided 

perhaps as soon as he got the job 

that no one wanted to watch soaps.  

Whatever.  

I am sad 

I wont come home

after a long day dealing with reality 

to an escape 

albeit for only 45 minutes 

(without commercials, that's what the Fast Forward button is for) 

it was something 

I counted 

on to let me 

forget 

whatever 

upset 

or 

bugged me.  

Pine Valley with all its wacky citizens:

"The Great and the Least,

The Rich and The Poor,

The Weak and The Strong,

In Sickness and in Health,

In Joy and Sorrow

In Tragedy and Triumph

You are 

ALL MY CHILDREN"

thank you

Agnes Nixon

for some of the 

best 

silliest 

out there 

soapy 

characters and story lines

evah.

three on thursday

I thought 

maybe 

this guy 

needed

 to exhibit a bit more energy 

if 

he was 

going 

to get 

business away from his two competitors

 ... wait ... 

upon 

further 

investigation 

I discovered 

they're all 

hawking 

for the same 

rental/tour group 

talk about 

cornering 

the 

market

water tower wednesday

This 

could 

have worked 

for 

Three on Thursday 

looking 

east 

on 

West 32nd Street

toonsday - but who asked me ... ?

monday monologue

Weekend walks 

(and accompanying photo ops) 

pre-empted 

by 

major restorative post Los Angeles weekend beautification™

Saturday  

By football 

Sunday 

(and Saturday to be fair honest and a be-ach) 

thus 

goes 

the weekdend 

days of our lives 

until 

whenever 

the 'season' ends 

no 

I dont really care when it is 

Yes 

I really 

dont 

care 

about 

football 

So here's what I did 

since as we all know 

its always about 

me

When I got off the bus on the Eastside early Saturday morning

there were police, police cars,
and
lots of these
wooden barracades

I hoped when my

massage at exhale
on 77th and Madison

was
done
I could get back across town

HA

Traffic 

intense 

bumper to bumper 

traffic 

(due to a parade down Fifth Avenue) 

on 

Madison 

crawled uptown 

I had missed the crosstown bus by seconds 

so 

when this normal looking woman 

suggested 

we share the cost of a cab 'crosstown 

I said sure

As the cab crept up Madison it was turned away from every major crosstown street 

until we got to 96th St 

where we were forced to go right to Park 

and 

back 

around 

to come across 97th St!

If you drive in this city you know this was just insane

Meanwhile 

my companion 

is in pain 

her back is out 

she was on the way to her doctor 

on the Westside 

when 

she 

missed the bus

every bounce, every bump
every stop, every start

made her cry out

In between 

she heckled the cab driver's lack of aggressiveness

and

filled me in on her overall deteriorating health

I was just as relieved as she

when we got to 

Columbus and 80th St 

and 

she got out 

sort of crab-walking

I was going 

to say no to her 

when she handed me half the fare

 but 

decided to save the random act of kindness for another day

The rest of the weekend pales 

in comparison 

so 

I leave you 

with this photo 

Its the peeling wrought iron window guard outside our front window

 often

when I've indulged in adult substances 

I take out the macro lens

this 

was actually taken 

with

my fairly new

 28-300mm 1:3:5-5.6 lens 

(I have no idea what those numbers mean after the mm and dont care)

camera was set on Program

because

I like that setting 

flea market finds

a little dust off 

some 

clever 

electricianing™ 

(I just made that word up: copyright!) 

you've got 

a lamp for the den 

or 

maybe 

the bedroom 

I'll let you think about it

I 

covet 

this box 

its fabulous 

alas

no where to keep it 

its not tall 

enough 

for an end table 

too tall 

for a foot stool  

Chipso, 

I never heard of this,

 which 

in itself 

is amazing 

once 

for a long time 

I 

worked 

on Mad Ave 

and 

I am old

waiting patiently

this is Sadie, 

she turned six this past week.  

she keeps 

my friends F and S 

from missing 

their 

two 

semi adult children 

one of which is graduating law school this May 

the 

other 

is a talented musician and film/video editor.

finally! los angeles recappage

After the long weekend away and return to a busy office 

I've gotten my photos together to share.  

I know you cant contain your excitement.  

Go ahead, hit the loo, get some coffee, tea. 

A comfy chair 

and 

away we go!

Security at jetBlue at JFK was insane. 

I flew out later than I usually like to travel 

but 

had upgraded to 

Even More Room on jetBlue 

which comes with the perk of 

Even More Speed 

supposedly 

this gets you on a shorter faster security check in.  

However, 

someone 

forgot 

to tell the TSA 

- wait, is it the TSA?-

 Whoever runs the airport security clearly didnt get the memo

  

There were perhaps 

two dozen people 

waiting for body 

scans 

Every suitcase, 

every one of those silly little bins 

was put in and out of the scanners at least 3 times, 

there were several

 'please step over here' 

requests 

and 

then its my turn

 I said: 

'I'd like two 8x10 and 6 wallet sized prints, please'

No reaction.

After the body scan a female TSA

(I've decided it is the TSA) 

agent asked 

'Ma'am, may I see your arm?"  

I gracefully extend my left arm, 

she looks at my watch and says thank you.
  

I think if she had just asked for the time

Once through security I had about 90 minutes before boarding.  

I grabbed a sandwich and a bagel, 

one cannot have too many carbs is my theory, 

and went to wait for the boarding call.  

It was an uneventful flight.  

The flight attendant up front was called Amber and she was indeed a gem.  

Having someone pleasant and funny

 - when she announced we had to put away our electronic toys 

she started listing the brands 

paused 

and made this sort of inclusive arm gesture 

saying 

'anything the glows' - 

made the 4 hours and 45 minutes fly by.

Landing in L.A. 

I was met by my friend 'F',

the mother of my god-daughter, 

someone I hadnt seen in a 

really really long time 

so 

of course 

we spent the entire ride to lunch, 

all of lunch 

and then the rest of the afternoon 

catching up.

She and her husband 'S' have a fabulous house in 'the Valley' with a patio and pool  

If I ever in another life live in L.A. 

that is how I want to live.

Friday we decided to go to

The Getty.

I am not a museum person.  

Its not 

that 

I am uncultured 

its that it takes me back to my school days 

and 

mandatory art museum visits 

however

The Getty

is like

Versailles

the
gardens

 and

fountains

out shine
the
sculptures

 although
some
really
were
fun

I was in awe
amazing blocks of travertine
riddled
with fossils
Meier's design
made me imagine
Yul Brenner's commanding the Jews to schlep stones for the pyramids.

There was a
Walker Evans photo exhibit on Cuba.
it made me miss
The Aunt
who as a pre-teen had traveled there with her parents
and saw
Cugat at a nightclub
a story she told many times.  

I was told not to take photos of art

I dont think Art noticed

But back to The Getty .. 

we opted
not to have lunch there
 tho many do
they picnic,
they nap,

they dine in
charming patio/terrace
cafes.

We headed to Little Tokyo 

having a fabulous lunch of curry 

followed by

some shopping
at
Black Market
on Sawtelle

That evening we had dinner on the patio,
dining a fresco was a delight after all the rain back in NYC
a balmy late summer evening
with
good friends and good food
cant be beat.

Saturday we decided to take it easy.
S went running
and
we were to meet him for breakfast.

  

On the way
 the skies were bright blue
with little puffs of white clouds
so
it was very odd to hear
thunder
 really really
loud
thunder.

As we pulled into the parking lot
the skies opened up.
It poured for the hour we were there 

when it let up
we were entertained
by a meter maid tagging cars across the street

no one can say Angelinos dont have a sense of humor

S's family was in show business 

when his mother was no longer able to live alone 

she moved into the

Motion Picture and Television Fund's 

care center which has several levels of living facilities.  

Photos are not permitted indoors 

but 

I was allowed to take photos of the property

 its an amazing place.  

F is very involved as a volunteer, 

she knows everyone, 

everyone loves her. 

I can totally understand why.

 a statue of musican/actor
Buddy Rogers
greets visitors

 a very youthful
Roddy McDowell
tends a pool

this herd of topiary cattle
makes everyone smile

I welled up a bit at
Anthony Hopkins'
memorial to his
mother

When we got home
S and I spent some time floating in the pool
relaxing

That evening F and S hosted a dinner party for me.
Friends I hadnt seen in over 20 years,
I dont understand how they've aged while I have not
 - are you laughing? -
we dined indoors
the rain made the already cool
 - its the desert you know -
evening even cooler.

We ate
we drank
we talked
and
after the company left
amid a lot of laughter
we cleaned up before retiring for the night.  

Sunday I was heading home,
since it was Sept 11
there was bound to be heightened security
even longer waits to get through scanners
 F took me to the airport extra early.

There was no additional security
or
long lines
I got to spend 2+ hrs waiting to board my 5.5 hr flight home.
I hoped to watch NetFlix on my iPad
using LAX's
'free public WiFi'
except
it wasnt working.
Flight home was uneventful.
I slept most of the way thanks to my pal Xanax.
The End.

I think this might be the longest post ever ... stretch a bit you'll be fine!