Friday, October 31, 2008

Hippie teaser




These were taken on my blackberry while Carolyn was getting ready. Obviously, I took the headshot myself. These don't do justice to all the accessories on my outfit, for example, the "CAL Labor for Carter/Mondale 76" campaign button. More later...peace out...

Happy Halloween


I am getting ready to re-enter the early 70's this evening...I'll take some pictures of the hippie Halloween party that I am going to tonight and post them via my phone. In the meantime, please enjoy this relic from a few years ago...groovy man...far out...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

October's Girlfriends Dinner


Last Saturday, we had another fun Girl Friends Dinner. This time I was the host. I served mixed green salad with walnuts, cheese, and strawberries with a very calorific poppyseed dressing and cheese toast. For the main course there was campanelle pasta with choice of regular pesto or dried tomato pesto and shaved parmesan, homemade pumpkin "lasagna" (oops, I forgot the nutmeg but it was still okay) and mixed vegetables (green & yellow beans, carrots & cranberries) in a herbed butter sauce. For dessert, there was a 2 layer carrot cake with maple nut frosting (all homemade - the cake had a secret ingredient - butternut squash!) and homemade zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Oh, there was also my standard appetizer of spinach dip in a rosemary olive oil bread "bowl" with raw veggies. And of course, lots of wine.

We celebrated Carolyn's upcoming birthday (and Kate brought lots of presents for my birthday since we didn't have a September dinner - thanks so much K!) Later we all headed to Blondies and took some cake to Phillip and celebrated his birthday. There we saw a human piƱata. I wish I had taken more pictures but I always seem to forget. If any of the other girls took some, I will post them later.

So for all of those concerned about my dinner, it was a success. (Oh, and a shout out to Simon and Marlisa who let me borrow their pan for my cake!)

Friday, October 24, 2008

Sunken Treasure?

Can you see it??


On the way to shopping, I stopped on PCH to look into the bay (I think it may be the Los Cerritos Channel?) and I found a sunken treasure...


Someone went through a lot of trouble to get this shopping cart down there. The whole area is gated off.

I wonder how many people have noticed it?

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Just vote no...and congrats!



This afternoon, there appeared to be a wedding rehearsal going on in front of the Greek church by my condo. So cute. As I rounded the corner, I couldn't believe my eyes. On the church lawn is a sign to vote NO on Prop 8!! If they know the sign is there (or better yet, put it up themselves) then a big YEAH to the church. Even though the rehearsal appeared to be a different-sex couple, it is nice to see a church stand up for equal rights.

If you are interested in Prop 8, you can read about it here. Okay, if you clicked the link then you caught me; this is how I feel about Prop 8. A nonpartisan version is here. Basically, Proposition 8 is a CALIFORNIA initiative to change the CALIFORNIA constitution so that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in CALIFORNIA and therefore eliminates the rights of same-sex couples in CALIFORNIA.

Why do I keep typing "CALIFORNIA" in all caps, you may ask? Because the only two people I know who are for Prop 8 (eliminating rights) do not live in California. The whole country seems to be concerned about this issue for us. In fact, the biggest monetary contributor to the campaign for Prop 8 is from CT. Out of the top 10 largest contributors, only 2 are from CA.


There are lots of ads here on TV, most which are misleading and have false claims. An example is if you vote "no" on prop 8 then "gay marriage" will be taught in public schools to your 7 year old. Now, I normally do not talk about politics in this blog because I have many conservative friends whose views differ wildly from mine. I respect the right of each person to have individual views and I would not want conflicting views to impede on my friendships. However I feel VERY strongly about this.

It would be one thing if marriage was only a religious freedom. From what I understand, there is still freedom of religion in the USA. (I know, I know, a little too heavy on the sarcasm Celine.) If so, each couple could have whatever type of "marriage" ceremony that they feel is right for them without involvement or concern of anyone else. However, marriage is a legal bond with legal rights that go along with it. Just ask my business law professor at LBCC; he would love to tell you all about it! Never having opted to get married myself, I don't proclaim to know a lot about the legal ramifications of marriage. But I think that it matters when you are visiting a spouse in the hospital - I think a spouse gets more privilege than a boy or girl "friend" does as they are not considered "kin". (Any doctors out there know?) Taxes, citizenship, division of property go along with marital rights. (Yes, if you can get married then you can get divorced. You would think all attorneys would be against Prop 8!)

I've heard people saying that they are not against homosexual relationships or civil unions. That they are not prejudiced. That they have "gay friends." But they are against same-sex marriage and are voting for Prop 8. So without coming out (no pun intended) and saying it, they are in fact saying that they do feel the legal rights of homosexuals should be different and less than the legal rights of heterosexuals.

Now back to the 7 year old learning about same sex marriage in school...

First of all, this is false. "Not one word in Prop 8 mentions education, and no child can be forced, against the will of their parents, to be taught anything about health and family issues at school. California law prohibits it, and the Yes on 8 campaign knows they are lying. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley has already ruled that this claim by Prop 8 proponents is “false and misleading.” The Orange County Register, traditionally one of the most conservative newspapers in the state, says this claim is false. So do lawyers for the California Department of Education." All the facts vs fiction can be found here.

Secondly, so what? Are children to be shielded from the knowledge that people of the same sex can not only love each other but be in love with each other? Is it so horrible that people love each other and want to be together? Children don't need to know any more than that. Just as children don't need to know why Mommy has a French maid outfit in her closet or a lot of other sexual things that I will leave to your imagination. With all the horrible things going on in the world today, this is what we are worried about our children learning? Really?

So again, normally I do not blog about my views on this site (and whoa, I have many!) but this is one that I feel so, so, so strongly about. A very recent poll shows that Prop 8 will probably pass. So all those marriages will be invalidated. Sorry Ellen. Sorry to some of my recently married friends.

In 2008, how can there be so much hatred and intolerance still in America?? Think about it. What if one of your rights was taken away? What if it was decided that anyone with a cleft chin, like me, could no longer get a driver's license? (Maybe not the best example for any of you that have seen my car recently!) Just as random and discriminatory.

Lastly, since I've gone all out on this post, let me leave you with this last political clip...

Thanks to all those who read this far! Please feel free to post or email me any comments.

Have you voted yet?

I am waiting until election day so I can vote in our club house. Fortunately for me, if it is too stressful I am just steps away from our hot tubs and saunas.

A few weeks ago, I called to see if I could be a pollster (okay, the official title is "pollworker" but I don't like the sound of that!) but ALL the slots in Long Beach (the 5th largest city in CA, 34th largest in the nation - in case you were wondering) were already taken. As a side note, I wasn't "volunteering" because of good will but because it pays well and I thought it might be interesting.

Since I have had some extra time this year, I have really delved into our issues, I mean, propositions. We get an official 143 page voters' guide to read. Crazy, isn't it? I don't remember getting that from the state of GA. Later, I got a supplemental guide (15 pages) and then of course, the sample ballot (65 pages) for my district which includes the LA and Long Beach props. And this is only the official, government, nonpartisan stuff. Phew!

I do know that one relative from a battle ground state
has aready put in her vote...shout out to RF!!

Monday, October 06, 2008

What do you like with your yogurt?


Strawberries, blueberries...sushi?








This restaurant just opened on 2nd Street in Naples.
I haven't had the courage to try it yet!

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Susan trains and meets the mayor


A quick shout out to Susan who is training for her upcoming breast cancer walk (there's still time to contribute to her!!!)


The mayor of Las Vegas came up to her and asked if he could have a pic... How cool is that?

Saturday, October 04, 2008

It's a beautiful day to be Living in LBC!

Friday, October 03, 2008

Water is still expensive in Long Beach


As a follow up to my original post, last night around 2:30 am I was awakened to the sound of a tidal wave. Okay, not really. It was just a sprinkler next to my unit where the cap had come off. Water was shooting up like a fountain in Las Vegas. If I had had any, I would have played a Celine Dion song from my deck to make the experience complete for the occasional late night passersby! The good news is that I called security and they were checking it out before I could put on shorts and grab my camera. The bad news is that I didn't do a good job taking a picture, security didn't seem to be concerned "as it is only water" and lastly, my HOA dues are still over $350 a month...