A Pain in the Neck Quick, without thinking too much, which do you get more often, a pain in the ass or a pain in the neck? I’m betting on the later. I will admit to having had a hemorrhoid or two in my sixty-six years and I may have pulled a glut muscle once or twice, but pains in the ass are pretty rare by my estimation. But pains in the neck are way…
Cruising on Grand I haven’t been out of the house (or at least off the property) all week. The main reason has been that I have lots of work to do, and the secondary reason is that we’re still heavily engaged in several household projects. This week it was all about the inside and outside of the garage. The outside was getting a functional makeover. That included a new cedar shed in the back for…
Heating Up It’s morning on the hilltop again and I am listening on my iPhone speaker mode to an old protege of mine (he is actually both the son of an old colleague and a guy who worked for me twenty years ago). He is a wonderful guy who has spent his career drilling down into a specialized area that sounds relatively mundane, but has been very productive for him. He is going on about…
Get Away Day In this year of broken plays, where whatever we were all planning to do, we have had to cancel, postpone or modify, Kim and I proposed to our dear friends Frank and Lydia a celebratory road trip to the Columbia Gorge. We proposed it for the second half of summer, feeling that by that time we would have this nasty Coronavirus thing, whatever it turned out to be, well under control as…
The Morning After Sitting outside, starring at our front door, are seven little critters, birds to be precise, who are wondering what’s next for me and Kim. They are a roadrunner that looks like Snoopy’s Woodstock. There is an owl who looks like Owl Jolson from Looney Tunes who likes to “Singa…..Like a moon and a June in the Springa”, There is a Hawk that looks regal, but ever so menacing as he sails across…
He Made Me Laugh He was not 2,000 years old, but only 98. He did not invent the cure for cancer or climate warming. He did not lead the nation through a devastating war. He did not make any big feature award-winning films or wright Top-40 songs. He did not run for or hold any grand public offices. He did father one of the great movie-makers and TV sitcom stars of our age in Rob…
Succulentamentality Succulence is said to be tender, juicy and tasty. But succor is about help when in distress, of military reinforcements and of giving aid especially to those who need it the most. The help it represents came from Latin, through French and into Middle English. Succulent plants are those which are engorged with water to last them for long periods of time in arid climates. They are by their very nature, drought resistant plants,…
A High-Functioning Sociopath Tonight Kim and I have been looking for something new and interesting to watch on TV. We started with an attempt to watch something on Apple TV which was not available on the menu of the Samsung Smart TV (I haven’t bothered to set up an Apple TV receiver since the Samsung generally has all the connectivity needed). In fact, I was able to go to the Internet icon and type in…
Residentially Believable I have now been a California resident since February 4th at the very latest. I arrived here in my car on December 21, but was back in NYC in January for a few weeks while we wrapped up move-related logistics and closed-out our apartment. The movers finished up on February 3rd and the apartment was empty and broom-cleaned that night as we slept in the hotel next door. I surrendered my apartment keys…
Bug Soup I have explained that this house has several lovely outdoor seating areas. There is the wonderfully sunny deck floating out over the hillsides towards the ocean. It has an “infinity” aspect to it the way infinity pools have an endless quality to them, blending the water and the sky. There is the garden patio overlooking the grotto-like hot tub set amongst the boulders and nestled into the succulents and cacti. That patio is…