Saga

The ambulances, fire trucks and police cars arrived early in the morning. I know because the wailing sirens woke me up. One of my neighbors who was in poor health and unhappy with his plight in life bit the big one and met his tragic end. He may have been cranky old geezer but I’ll miss his chicken voice, sardonic humor and outlandish stories. Oh well, he’ll be remembered.

Did you ever have a day when things turned out very different from what your expectations were? Well today was that day for me. Neither good nor bad ,just that life threw me an unexpected curve ball, but I was still at bat.

Just came from a memorial service call in a house jam packed with lovely decent and earthy people who shared heart warming stories. I felt kinda bad that I was dressed so down but for some reason I thought there would only be handful of visitors on the last day of services. Wrong again.

I kept quiet, sat on the couch and didn't move around but a few people came up to me to say hello and ask how I was. Nice. Anyway, funerals and Shiva calls still make me feel queazy. I paid my respects said goodbye and went home.
One of the women looked and sounded very familiar. As I drove home I believe I knew her about 20 years ago. I must say it made me feel odd and old.

Earlier that day I was in Santa Monica looking at an apartment which looked great from the outside, etc. But it was a teeny tiny single in the historic BPOE building on Main and Pier. It was as old as myself. The place was clean and cool and perfect if I were 20 years old, naive and 100 lbs. lighter.

Yes, I was disappointed. If it were only a little bit bigger than my kitchen. The big “if.” However the up side is that the building is truly historic with hardwood floors and huge hallways; and I took a tour of it while its still standing. But it just wouldn't work out for me. Oh well. That decision was made.
An M-Triber called me and mentioned her neighbor has a quiet single apartment next door to her that's now available. Evidently, her former tenant just passed away. Hmmm. She doesn't know the details but her neighbor will call me this week to set up an appointment for me to view the apartment.

I went to dinner on Main street and sat next to a down and out actor at my favorite pub whom you would know if you saw him. It was a sad sight but a common tale.
 After more than a year of procrastinating I have suddenly this morning encountered three new apartments available for me to view. One of which I'm off to see this afternoon on main street near my tribe in Venice.

Its no bargain but a great location, two blocks from the beach and across the street from my tribe. Its in an old but well keep historic building in the heart of artsy fartsy yuppie hipster ville. Walking distance to everything.
Although I haven't yet seen it I'm a bit anxious as the manager told me that I'm number one on the list and there has been a bevy of calls from just a mere posting on the building wall. And, have to make a decision immediately. Yikes. No not that.
 Yes, I'm still in the studying for the USPS test and job in ? (secret), but as Yogi Berra says, "it ain't over 'till its over." Love that guy. I'm not waiting anymore. I need to move forward. I’ll go wherever the wind takes me.

Shifting gears again, the other more important item is the medical test results which were enlightening. I had a good clean bill of health. However the surgeon suggested I keep a large bottle of spirits of ammonia nearby after I receive her invoice.

She was happy with my good medical condition and her discovery. I'm glad one of us was.  Its great growing old isn't it? However, I may now be on the road to recovery within as little as 14 days  on a rigorous drug  treatment and restricted acid producing diet: no coffee, tea, tomatoes or alcoholic beverages. And only in moderation thereafter. Oh well. My new life begins again.

I trust this was not TMI. You know the old saying, if you ask an old person how they're feeling they'll actually tell you. Ha. So it goes.
Continuing my saga, I have applied to be a continuous education teacher at Santa Monica college since higher education credentials are not required. Just life experience and some subject matter knowledge. Teaching will be based on enrollment of classes only. It's a long shot. Who knows. The director didn't seem pleased with my more than casual attire and grooming.

And finally (thanks for hanging in there) I spoke with cousin Ann in Boulder. Everyone there is fine and doing exceptionally well. But one interesting story is that her W & L who have transitioned from rags to riches in less than ten years, invested in new house construction.

They bought an old property near a neat historic park location which is an extremely upscale neighborhood at the base of the famous Flatirons - gateway to the Rocky Mountains. They renovated the existing structure and built a magnificent house barley from scratch, which is their business today - mostly plumbing but construct

ion and reconstruction as well. It's a beautiful place. Whoever purchases it will be fortunate.
And I looked at a trailer...another story when I feel like talking trailer trash.

Thanks for listening and just send the bill to my old address if I have new one by the time you read this.

Bye

 

Rainy Days

I so enjoy the quiet of rainy days especially living where the sun is shining most of the year. When it rains there are fewer drivers, people and no sunny day noise to distract you from finally getting to your well needed chores.

Another blogger I enjoy reading tells about her unwanted feelings toward weather blogging. She says its boring. I find it fascinating how changing weather affects in different ways. However severe weather is another story altogether especially when it inflicts tragedy - so we'll put that on the back burner for a while.

Rainy weather used to keep me from going places. I'd whine and moan and groan about the rainy and use it as a poor excuse as to why I should stay home. My view is different today, I don't think I'll melt if I get a little wet out there.

Last night, Saturday, when the rain began to fall in a quiet drizzle I decided to attended my usual art gallery opening reception parties and was surprised at the large turnout. Maybe that's a sign of successful people. Very little stops them from doing what they intended to do and thus keep commitments to themselves and others. That's a definite sign of success. Not afraid to be a bit uncomfortable.

Even if you want to cuddle up on your couch with a good book and drink a hot tottie, if something is going on outside where you'll be with people, interesting or not, just go.

Oh its so easy to be an armchair philosopher these days offering advice to others when you sometimes feel you're drowning in a pool of rain in your own life. Sorry for the swift shift in mood and tone but there were several gallery crawler schnoorers I bumped into last night who I thought were maybe a reflection of myself. If they were, indeed, mirrors of me, it made me frightened so see my self on the artists canvas.

Especially one person I'll call Mike, to keep his identity private, has been wearing the exact same KGB black on black on black outfit since the first time we met a few years ago. I'd like to write a fictional story loosely based on his lonely but happy go lucky character like Kramer on Seinfeld. Then it suddenly dawned on me that the dozen or so rat pack art gallery and book reading crawler schnoorers were not so far removed from me. Its hard to see yourself spiritually naked with all your flaws, dreams and regrets fully exposed. Maybe that's why we fill our blow holes with wine, vodka and beer during these shows, to make us numb to the reality of life and awake to the beautiful fantasy that will soon diminish like a puff of smoke.

I'd like to think I'm a bit cool and cosmopolitan. I believe I did have my fifteen minutes of fame in 2000 before 911 changed the world. But as one of my new years resolutions of neither lying nor exaggerating the truth or accuracy, I'm neither. Having left the corporate world to seek a writer's existence was a complete shock to my complete body system in more ways than I could have imagined.

In today's caste society, people are what they do more so than their worth. The toughest question to answer these days are, "So, what do you do?" My response is "I'm a writer and photographer" Although not untruthful I've yet to earn an income in those fields. I've submitted my works of high art to local and Internet media but am still waiting for a response as my beard grows greyer each day.

Well. the light drizzle turned into a windy hard rain, a sound so enjoy hearing.

Today is a full day of chores including writing up my "blurb" for a short course in autobiography writing which I will lead. I so enjoy writing biographies of others. The interview process is quite fun. Everyone has a story to tell. Not all are interesting, but everyone wants to he heard and listened to. Autobiography writing is a good exercise to share one's life story including milestones and intimate moments. Their stories will be a legacy to their families, a catharsis for themselves and a way to have their long time friends and sometimes relatives to get to know them a little better.

I'm looking forward to teaching the class and any of you out need any bio tips, just ask.

OK enough blathering. Time to do some real writing and household chores.

Bye for now all thos who have gotten this far.

Sumter

Some people think talking about the weather is boring subject, but not to me. I find weather chatting fun, easy and interesting. Even if you're shy at a party asking, "isn't it quite warm for the winter" is a safe remark that might spark an unintentional conversation connection.

Maybe its global warming, normal weather patterns for southern California or just my hormones acting up, but the warm winter weather these last few years have been unusually unnerving to me. I like or want winter to at least be cool. Otherwise why call it winter. Maybe we can coin a new term and and call it Sumter.

Got up early so I turned on my ipod, plugged one end of the white cord into the receptacle and the other two in my ears and listened to a series of previously recorded podcasts on the topic of "Faith". It was fairly interesting but not as enlightening or inspiring as I hoped it would be. Expectations. But I was listening to the interviews in a semi dream-like state and for the most part enjoyed the "Faith".

Got up quickly as my apartment was turning into a sauna as the sun beat down directly on me. Headed to NY Bagel and Peets where they were serving coffee gratis and asked for donations to a good cause. Boy they're cool. Enjoyed both the bagel and coffee while reading the paper. Although its seemed a bit quieter than usual being Christmas Eve, there were still a gaggle of people around. And more dogs. Where did they come from?

Since the library s only a stone's throw away I headed there which is where I am right now. Small quiet calm crowd. Actually quite a beautiful and peaceful place to be this morning. I just read that they're closing mid day so I'll be here for another 45 minutes. However, the down part is that I don't have anywhere else to go afterwards.

This is a common issue single people have especially during the holidays when restaurants, museums and shops are closed for families to get together to partake in the family spirit. My intention is not to get you down by seeking sympathy but just to reveal a glimpse of the life of a person suddenly alone.

As I reread this it does sound like a downer. Well, it is what it is. And, later I'll take a walk in old town Santa Monica and Venice which I much enjoy. But during the holidays there are few tourists roaming around but lots of homeless souls who are more aggressive than usual asking for handouts as they pull at the heartstrings of the well to doers shopping in the quaint and expensive boutiques along Main Street.

Enough dour. Ready to enjoy the de jour. I know. I'll head down to Rick's this afternoon. Haven't been there in a while and they have a nice friendly crowd of loners with nothing else to do but tell tall tales, not listen to anything anyone around them is saying and drink their hearts away to drown out their loneliness. Yes, that's the perfect place for me this afternoon.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Busted at the Barber Shop

So  Mrs. J busted my chops this week. beacuse I didn't publish a photo of her in my last blog; then she didn't like her new published photo; and finally she told me I was a lousy photographer who didn't know how to photograph a beautiful woman like herself.  I give up and have deep empathy for Mr. J 

It was an overall strange week. I wanted to go visit my son David and his wife back east next week as a last minute surprise trip but they'll be in Jamaica so Tami can get her hair braided. 

Oh well. My timing has been a bit off this week. I bumped into Linda leaning over a couple of hot rod bikes as she said, "you must be mad at me?" No response from me. We made small talk later as she explained how busy she was. My thoughts: no excuses. Anyway, we moved on...for the moment.

Want to take a last minute trip out of LA. Getting stale and bored. Need some fresh air , new people, words and new cultures to visit to get my head straight as we would say during the folk song days of Joan Baez. Anyone want to join me?

OK, the Ambien seems to be kicking in nicely now and suddenly  I'm slowing down fast. Rather than blathering on I'll just bid you all adieu.

But you know I'd like to add a photo. Let's see what I can find that's inappropriate.

Ciao to all

Abba

p.s. I need some technical guidance. After I import a photo it places itself at the top of the post and I am unable to adjust its position within the blog. Any help will be deeply appreciated,

Ciao Ciao

Your Bronx boy journal friend

On a roll

Greetings my friends,

OK I think I'm on a roll in my writing momentum. It simply seems that if one wants to write they should write. I've done a lot of that today with the understanding that writing in itself isn't as important as the volume, discipline and momentum of writing. I'd like to keep that roll going. Any encouragement is welcomed with open arms.

Since that's in place I will advance to step two: searching for a new place to live and write like a Gothic computer game taking it to the next level. I've overextended my welcome in my humble abode which served me well for many years. Just as I need to move on with my writing I need to move on with the next game level or stage in my life.

OK one down, seventeen to go. Not bad.

Just a wee bit more about places. I've conducted more than enough time and effort in researching a place to call my own for next years of my life. I've had a good run in Los Angeles but it's time to move on to a new spot more conducive for a writer seeking refuge and a quiet place of his own. The east coast is where my kids live so I was thinking about that. Don't know how they would feel though. I like New England (who doesn't) but as my son so wisely insures me of its cold and sometimes harsh winters to which I may not easily embrace. Good point David. That reality sends a cold shiver up and down my spine.

Thanks for listing to my rambling on today. As always it is much appreciated.

Ciao for now and best to all,
Abba