Coming Up For Air

I have to make this fast.... I don't know how long I have.

The swirling miasma of philosophy will reclaim me soon and have me examining my free will, if animals have souls and whether Star Trek has the same subjective value as Einstein.

So I gotta make this fast.

Two more weeks of philosphy and I am done!  Halfway through Communications, but that doesn't tie me up so much.  Hopefully I will be back to blogging more often.  I know how dreary your lives have been without me.
I hope you are all ready with your checkbooks because at the moment I am 1 point off the highest grade in my philo class and an easy A in the other one.  Someone(s) are going to owe me a LOT of Good Grade Rewards!

I am not sure how ethical it is to tell you about speeches in my Com class but there have been some doozies! 
One girl was talking about childhood obesity but kept saying that kids are "Obeast". 
One guy was trying to explain quantum physics:  in 5-7 minutes. 
Meanwhile we have to sit there for hour after hour trying to stay awake and pretend to be interested.  It is torture.
My favorite so far, however, was a lady who was speaking about cancer and the Alltimers disease.  One of her statistics had to do with the fact that "Mostly only the mens get the prostate cancer"  This was a revelation to me.  I am embarrassed to admit this but, I have never even had my prostate checked!!  Lucky for me I go in to see a new doc this week and I will be sure to have her check.
So school has kept me very busy.

Tonight Lauren and her BFF went off to the Prom Dance thing at her school in Pasadena.
I am sending along a picture.  It is very cool.  They both looked so pretty.  I hope they are having fun.
My own prom was one of those horrible teenage memories that is laughable 30 years later.  Looking back on it I think the guy I had been 'going with' but who had decided to 'take a break' felt guilty so we decided to go to the Prom.  I doubt he asked me.  This is a re-ocurring theme in my romantic life.  My husband never actually asked him to marry me.  The last guy I went out with kept telling me that he wasnt attracted to me but I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer romantically it would seem.  I know you find that hard to believe.
Anyhow... back to the Prom.  I sewed my own dress.  He wore a suit.  He would not get a tux.   The night was horrible because he acted like he didn't want to be there.  The pictures we had done were so bad that he buried them in his backyard. 
Which reminds me of something else--- this is going to sound odd but today on the phone my ex husband and I were chatting about this wedding we were in.  Ironically it was the guy I went to the Prom with (true story-- right Wayne?)  So for this wedding the girls wore long dresses with three tiers of ruffles on the skirts.  Long muttonleg sleeves (tight on the forearm, puffy above the elbow) covered up to the tip of our chins with lace.  Mine was pink!  Styles have sure changed!
Well kiddos it is almost 8:00pm and I have to get in bed because I am an old fart.
What have you all been up to during my hiatus?  Leave me some comments!!!!!

Catty Pedi

It is almost Easter Sunday!
This year we are getting all the cats' nails done!

For Easter Sunday this year I am getting mani-pedis for all my cats.  Look at the lovely selections they will have!!  I want them to match their Easter Dresses!

Wedding Chapel Marquee

Thank goodness the wedding chapel posted a good one last week. 

 Because I did not get a picture of my sister in the mall with her pants split out--

which would have made an awesome blog.

So we have a scoreboard:  

The Final Score

Kimberly:1    Danny:1   

Forever!!

Once again I am stumped on what this means.    Any ideas??

And The Adventure Comes To An End

I awoke Saturday morning at 6:00am.  That really sucked!  Could not go back to sleep and so I went down to the library with a cup of tea and read my philosphy book.  Here is what it looked like: Kaksd fjwi ssi w4cnso soeitals. And so I got all snuggled up and dozed and thought about life etc.....
A side note:  I was treated to jungle sounds all night and morning and remembered I had heard of such a thing  as this quote:
Parrots
Pasadena has a large, non-indigenous population of naturalized parrots. According to the "Parrot Project of Los Angeles", the parrots are of at least five species.Residents have come to enjoy the birds as part of their unique city's culture, and like other SoCal residents they have become "local icons" to the citizens there.Many theories surround the mystery of how the parrots landed in Pasadena and claimed the area as their own. A widely accepted story is that they were part of the stock that were set free for their survival from the large pet emporium at Simpson's Garden Town on East Colorado Boulevard, which burned down in 1959


So this was not another symptom of my brain crazies.
I went to breakfast where I put on my very best manners and made nice with the other grown ups.  There were two different couples from San Diego and a trio from Ireland. And me from the Antelope Valley (THUD)  I did my best to make us sound amazing and facinating mostly centering around the aerospace industry so I talked F-18s with the guy. 
Then I packed up and headed for the Huntington Library where I took many lovely pictures that I will share with you later.  I did not get to see the art gallery that I wanted to because some idiot film crew was filming something.  I will have to go back!!
It was noonish.  Way too early to go home where I would be tempted to work so I commanded Gpsie and Lola to take me to the Mall (Paseo Colorado).   I decided to see Source Code at the Arclight theater which was a trip.  Upscale theater, you know!  Had an attendant in the theater to make sure everyone behaved so that was nice.  After the movie-- which further stimulated my thoughts on time travel (per se) and pre-determination etc.... I went shopping!  I went to Brighton (one of my favorite fantasy stores because I can't afford it) and Sephora where I actually bought something and felt very superior to my normal every day self. 
And that was about it.  I headed for home.
I had a lovely spring break!

Mythological Creatures

The Loch Ness Monster
Unicorns
Extra-Terrestrials
Mermaids
Bigfoot
The Abomitable Snowman
Vapires
Chupacabra

Creatures you never believed existed--- let alone would ever actually see with your own eyes.
I didn't either...... but now...... Now I know
And I have proof!

WHAT IS IT??????


I CAPTURED THE
CREATURE ON FILM!!

It is the rarely ever seen Laurenyardworkus!
Now I can die happy!

The Creature Hurt It's Leg
So We Had To Put It Down





Magpie 61: On Stage

I don’t even like wine

This glass is more of a prop really. Something to do with my hands

It fits that I have a prop since I am more of an actress on a stage

Playing the part, however badly, of the middle aged ingénue on a first date

Lipstick on the stemware- better there than my teeth I suppose

He is chatting away about something and I have an interested, engaged look on my face

I hope so anyhow

But I have no idea what he is talking about

I am busy playing the part

How will he ever know who I am?

Do I want him to know who I am?

I hope I never see him again

I hope he calls

I don’t even like wine

Note to all my minions:  I know I have been awfully serious lately and you are probably wishing I would get back to the silly stuff.  It is this philosophy class has me living up in my own head so much of the time it is hard to shift gears.  But I am in week 12 of 16 so I will be out soon enough.

Hang in there.  Join me up in my head for awhile longer.  It could be worse you know-- this week I have an eight pager due on explaining my reality.  Yikes is right!

Dinner Adventure

And so I went off for dinner.
I drove around a bit in Old Town Pasadena and finally parked and walked around a bit.  There are a lot of people out on Friday nights!  Wow.... people that get out of the house.  How weird is that, right?
I decided on a restaurant.  It was busy but not a big line.  When I approached the hostess she looked around for my date/partner/internet hookup and seeing no one with me made an observation with her eyebrow:  Ut Oh.... table for..... (wait for it)....... ONE????????
Yes, thank you!  Please stop crying, it really is okay.  I have been single a very long time!
Well, we do not have a table for one open right now, would you like to be seated at the counter. 
I figure sure why not?
She seats me and that is the last I see of an employee for the next 20 minutes.  Well, I should say I saw many of them but none stopped.  Sure I could have asked but it became an experiment.  Finally I just got up and walked out.  I wonder if they even noticed?
So if you are ever in Old Town Pasadena, don't go to the italian restaurant that starts with an "F"  Ironic, no?
I shook it off and headed for my favorite place, Louise's Trattoria.  Forgive me Louise for not coming to you first.  You know how to treat a lady.  Even a..... (wait for it)  SINGLE LADY!!!!!
They were busy yet gave me a good table.  I had food in 10 minutes flat, if that.  It was wonderful. I gave him a 25% tip just to get back at the other place.  THEY could have had a 25% tip but noooooo apparently when you do the waiter math serving ONE person just isn't worth your time. Unless you work at Louise's.  Corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado.  Say GeeezLoueez sent you!
Now... about single dining.  There are things that you should know, besides the fact that you should treat the diner like an actual person who does not have rabies.
First:  We are not necessarily sad, lonely and depressed.  We might be-- but you and your spouse/date/internet hookup could be too.  Some of us like our own company. I know-- this is a radical thought.  We just like the food so we.... (wait for it) GO OUT BY OURSELVES!!!!!
Second:  We may bring a book (or a Kindle in my case) and appear to be reading.  But if you look very carefully..... IT ISN"T EVEN TURNED ON!!!!!!!  Do you know what we are doing?  We are listening to your conversations.  That is right. Sure it is kinda rude, but you are in a public place so maybe you shouldn't be discussing private matters  Now tonight I did not get that lucky.  The group behind me was discussing all the cats they have ever had.  I swear this is true. ( Don't you remember "Pretty Girl"?  She was a long hair.  No, she was a short hair.  She was a stripe and her brother had the long hair.  What was his name?  Etc... ) The table to my far left appeared to be either breaking up or wishing they were breaking up.  They looked completely miserable.  AH  They must be soul mates (insert sarcastic laugh here).  The group to my immediate right were great. Group of 5 women my age.  And they went through 2 bottles of wine while I was there.  First they talked about their absent friend who is going through a divorce and her ex is totally being a jerk and she had better get a good lawyer before he just finishes her off financially.  (Deja vu all over again) Then they talked about shoes.  There was a segue there but I don't remember how it went from one to the other. 
I then strolled back to my car and drove around until I got back to my Bed & Breakfast.
I am completely enjoying this experience.  This is a beautful old home.  I am in the smallest room, which is fine by me  I have my own bathroom an there is a little sunporch where I am sitting right now and writing at the desk.  Everything is shabby chic but not overly so.  In a little while I will snuggle down to bed and hopefully sleep until breakfast at 8:30 where everyone sits together to eat. I think there are about 5 rooms here.  I hope I can be friendly and interesting at breakfast.  I hear the chef is very good.
I do believe it is snuggle down time.
Good night everyone!

An Adventure!

Hello dear ones!
I know you have been woefully neglected, what with my 55 hour work weeks and the 2 college classes and choir and all.... but do you know what this week is?
SPRING BREAK!!!!
Woooooo Hoooooo
Sadly, by company does not offer paid spring break and I am, as you all know, indispensible there and so I wondered..... what shall I do?
I cannot take days and days off to go run amok.  Plus only one of my colleges has spring break this week (remember I am bi-collegiate) but it does mean I have a Class Free Saturday tomorrow.  The only one all semester.   So, I still have tons of homework in my other class.  And I still have tons of work work at work.
What to do?????
I shall do something radical.  I will take Saturday off to play!
I will have to go with Quality over quanity.
And so I went a googling. 
I thought about the beach-- my 'go-to'.
Then I realized it is spring and I had better go to the gardens and get my photography on.
I decided on Huntington library in San Marino because it has gardens and an art museum. 
Then I decided to spend the night down there!
And so I went a-googling again and found a website for a lovely Bed & Breakfast--- The Bissell House.  You can click on that and go to their website.
It is lovely.
It is tranquil.
It is comfy
Ahhhhhhh   I believe I shall take a little cat nap.
I will get back to you later!!
zzzzzzzzzzzz

Rain: A Magpie Tale

I remember the year I became best friends with the rain.

It was 7th grade so that would make me..... 12 years old.

It was a crappy year, 7th grade.

I was then, as I am now, the fattest girl in the class.

And the worst of the worst of terrible terrors happened that year

Dressing out for PE

And.... the unspeakable horror.... showers....

I had no escape

No champion

Until the clouds came and the rain settled in and offered respite from the pain

Rain gave me safety and comfort

I survived the terrors and the horrors of growing up

And the rain still is my friend

I know it is supposed to be dismal and melancholy

But not to me....

Magpie Tales is a blog dedicated to poets and writers with the purpose of honing their craft, sharing it with like minded bloggers and keeping their muse alive and well. For more stories inspired by this picture go to

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/