The View Up Here

It's been mighty warm in these here parts for the last several weeks, but finally in the 3rd week of Septmember we're enjoying some cooler temperatures again at night. The feeling of late summer as it manifests in New York and New England isn't quite the same here, but I can still feel the earth beneath my feet settling down, giving up the last of the harvest, preparing to rest for awhile. It was two years ago this month that I came to visit L.A. for the first time and decided I needed to live here. What an amazing life! School has begun, and I find myself teaching a section of World Literature to high school sophomore girls as well as providing admin. support to the principal. I love working and teaching in a Catholic school for all the reasons you would expect, but I also have to say it has brought to the surface some of my own sensitivities that are being healed in the Light of Christ. In His great economy, nothing is wasted! I spent last weekend on retreat with ...

I took a day off from blogging yesterday. I've been dealing with what I can only imagine is a histamine reaction. I suppose I should see a Doctor about it. I've got itchy patches on my face and neck. Hrrrm. Today, I'll do a list of appreciation. Tomorrow, I'll be back with more eloquence and verbosity. Trader Joe's all-natural lotion with aloe Mystics of the Christian Tradition by Steven Fanning My fuzzy red blanket on a cool, overcast morning Lattes made at home Clean bedding minus all the cat hair Fixing my rosary with tweezers (i.e. MacGuyvering my rosary) The power of my public library card Roses Movies with Tom Hiddleston in them Burt's Bees lipbalm, aka " my lipshit "

Stonehenge, where the demons dwell... http://blog.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk/2011/01/05/stonehenge-spring-equinox-2011/ Perhaps the Vernal Equinox means more back East than it does here, but nevertheless, I feel the ground beneath me awakening, and it does my heart good. I've been quite busy of late, hence not blogging so much. I've finished the sci fi script and have almost completed the outline for my next script. I'm also excited about going to the Space: 1999 con com this September ( Alpha: 2012 ). What was to be the usual fan-run convention has become quite a to-do thanks to the reboot Space: 2099. Jace Hall of HD films will be there to talk about the new show, and many of the luminaries from the original show will be there as well. Powys Media will have a panel with the editor and writer that I've been working with on Black Doves , and we are shooting for my book to be ready in time for the con so that they can introduce me there. These days I h...

Okay, it's looking like once a week is what you get, folks. This week was quite busy. I had a job interview, but it ended up being for an office P.A. (production assistant) slot. Those jobs are typically held by recent college grads with no debt and who live in a house of 14 people so that they each only pay $250 a month in rent. And the work is grueling, with 12+ hour days (every day), $8.50 an hour, no bennies. It was good to see the inside of a production office, and I did get the connection through a rather big name in TV who I met last year, but they didn't offer it to me, anyway. But hey an interview is an interview, and I did learn a few things. The car issue has become, well, an issue. I've been carless for over a week. I borrowed a friend's car to get to the interview, and then lied through my teeth that I had a car at said interview (P.A.s do a lot of running around and errands, generally called "running"). Good thing I didn't get it, huh?...

A week from today I will be nervously re-re-re-re-re-repacking one or all of my bags, drugging my cat and myself for the long trip, and making sure everything is in order. I do have a busy week ahead of me, but I am feeling more energized than anything. I keep thinking of the palm trees and balmy temps as I sit here wearing layer upon layer, staring at the snow outside the windows. This move is so important - not just because I'm going some place warm, but because I'm at long last pursuing something instead of just running away (oh, the vagaries of youth). I am so grateful that I've been given this opportunity to move forward. I think I might have a buyer for the car (will know by noon), and I've perused online enough to feel confident that I can get something in L.A. in my price range that won't be a complete jalopy. She ain't much to look at, but she'll make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. Thanks to http://lgreport.blogspot.com/ for the p...

The last couple of days I've been wishing fervently that somehow I can bring my Spaz on the plane with me to L.A. Because I'd waited so long to try to make arrangements, the connecting flight to L.A.'s "cat-pacity" (capacity) of carry-on kitties had been reached at 2. I called twice more in case someone with a cat had canceled. Then over the weekend there was an incident that hit home for me - she has to come with me. Last night I prayed to God (which I rarely do, these days) to please make it possible for her to come with me. This morning as I was playing with her, I had a sudden, strong urge to call Delta again. So I did - and lo and behold - Delta's changed their cat-pacity from 2 to 4. So we're in! Spaz will soon be lounging in the sunshine with me, though I wonder how she'll do with the indoor/outdoor kitty to primarily indoor kitty transition. There is a fenced-in backyard where I can take her, but under my supervision, of course. I bough...

All that chilly vaulting has caught up with me. I don't do well in damp, stagnant, chilly air. Woke up sometime around 4:00 a.m. drenched in fever with a banging headache. Took some Advil and went back to bed until Spaz came in to snuggle with me. This was a pleasant surprise, by the way. She hasn't been coming in to snuggle with me for the last couple weeks. Of course, the snuggling didn't commence until after she'd run across my chest a few times and knocked something off the nightstand onto the floor (couldn't tell what it was). So I'm home for the day, wrapped in a blanket. Just had my morning cuppa, but will be switching to tea. A funny thing. Whenever I'm sick, I just completely lose my taste for coffee; I only want tea. This is how I know I'm actually sick and not just grumpy. Oh - one thing I do need to share before I forget. As I was pushing papers around my desk at work the other day, I came across a form that corrected the spelling of some...

According to Spaz the Cat, I live to serve and obey and open doors for her so she can go in and out. Back and forth. Outside. Inside. Outside. Inside. Open door, close door. Open door, close door. I am like Spock without his brain, and Spaz holds the controller. "Meowwrr! Let me ouuuuutttt!" Added to the brainlessness is another day in the Vault of Limitless Boredom, where I put things in numerical order and then file them. That's all I do. All day long. But during that time, what's left of my mind wanders into my own personal story-land and the book I'm currently reading (review to come!), feeling like I'm missing out on what's happening with the characters while I'm not reading. My iPod is a saving grace (which reminds me I want to change up the playlist tonight), as are wearing sneakers and toting a travel mug of black coffee. Friday at 5:00, I'm getting my brain back as I walk out those doors for the last time. Oh, and speaking of last times,...

I thought I already posted my farewell-to-September note. And my The Last Good Day of the Year post (Gods I love that song). Today it's 60 degrees, feeling like September 26, not November 26. Thank god for global warming. The last 24 hours have been pretty damned amazing: new perspective, new moon, awesome acupuncture this morning (she needled a point at the center of my chest that did wonders), sunshine, Indian takeaway lunch (I splurged), and a walk with my beloved Spaz Kitteh (we go for walks when weather permits - no leash, just the two of us along our little route by the gully). Thanks to you lovely readers for jazzing up my mojo, breathing life into my sails, and reminding me to refill my keg with water .

This morning I arrived late to the temp job as I had an interview for another, long term temp job at a local insane asylum institute of higher learning. My entire morning routine was obliterated as I stressed over what to wear, how I'd park on campus, the fact that I didn't have bus fare, etc. Ultimately, the interview went very well, I thought, and I'm psyched at the prospect of working there for my remaining 2 months in I-town. But by the time I got to my current temp gig, I was out of sorts and just grateful that WICB has a Reggae show on Thursday mornings, followed by 2 hours of jazz in the afternoon. And since I only had part of a cup of coffee this morning, I am drinking the weak office swill because I am an addict. There, I said it. But you know what? Other than the fact that my cat is very annoyed at me for being gone all day (after weeks of freelancing from home), I'm very grateful that I have some place to be in the mornings. Getting out of the house is good...

This morning my cat, Spaz, woke me up around 4:30. We snuggled for awhile, then she took to giving herself morning ablutions. I was awake for good, so around 5:00, I got out of bed and decided to go for a pre-dawn walk. Can I just tell you how really amazing it is to watch the sun rise, and hear the birds start their morning chorus? I've never been a morning person, but in the last couple of years, I've found myself waking up around 5:00 a.m. I usually roll over and go back to sleep, but I'm thinking maybe I need to start getting up and going for a walk every morning instead of grabbing 2 more hours of admittedly poor sleep. As I walked the quiet streets of my little neighborhood, in that almost-light that precedes the sunrise, I thought about how perfect this summer has been, and then it dawned on me (heh) that we're already half-way through August. And I have no idea how that happened. "Where does the time go?" We ask ourselves this question, as if time wer...