Thursday, July 31, 2008

Something to Look Forward To

L has said that if my cancer metastasizes--if I get "the mets"--we can get a dog. (He said this in response to a question, not as an offering. He claims we're both allergic to dogs.) And yesterday I heard on the radio about a woman with Stage 4 ovarian cancer who was helped in her end-of-life anxiety by psilocybin, which you may recognize as the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms"--which, by the way, the Future Farmers of America in my high school were said to have grown and harvested and ingested. I've never tried mushrooms and don't intend to.

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my last chemo treatment. I kept thinking yesterday that it was still the 29th, so that today would be the anniversary. So in a way I missed it.

Click here and scroll down for excellent photos of dachshund puppies. (Of course, all puppies are cute, even Rottweilers and pit bulls.) I am convinced I will be reincarnated as a brown (technically, "red") dachshund. (More on this here.)

To adopt a dachshund, check in with Almost Home.

For beautiful beagle puppies, click here. This is not an endorsement of the kennels.
READ MORE - Something to Look Forward To

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Cancer in the News

Cancer has been big in the news in the last fortnight or so. There was the report about breast self-exams in Russia and China. Based on their study of two populations of factory workers, researchers found that self-exams didn't help women survive breast cancer. You can find a very good look at the study here. The message (or "take home message," as people are saying now) is that you shouldn't stop examining your breasts. As Socrates said, an unexamined breast is worth examining. Or something like that.

Then from the U of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute comes a warning about cell phones. Don't put 'em directly on your ear. Get a headset or go wireless. They could cause brain tumors. They might not, but you should play it safe.

And the New York Times told us about a kitchen with a radioactive counter. Granite. I feel vindicated. The realtor describe my condo as having a "1990s kitchen and bathrooms--need updating." Need updating? Not really, unless you're allergic to tile. And it seems lots of people are--they need kitchens and bathrooms with granite and slate and quartz. The sellers of our new house remodeled their kitchen and bathrooms before putting the house on the market. For some unknown reason, they put in dark, dark slate on the floors of the bathrooms and on the lower half of the bathroom walls. Why would someone do that? They put in stainless steel refrigerator, stove and dishwasher, and dark blue/black granite countertops. What if they're radioactive? What if they emit radon? Should we get a technician to come out with a Geiger counter?

What will be the next new thing that we need? And will it imperil us?
READ MORE - Cancer in the News

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

County Board does what the city of Newport wouldn't do

Earlier this year councilman Keith Curry brought a motion to the city council to place a measure on the November ballot that would require voter approval of future pension promises made to city employees. The highly unionized city fought it tooth and nail, and the motion never had a chance to be voted on. How a measure that simply would allow the people to have a say in how their tax dollars are spent could have upset so many people is beyond me, but the conservative city of Newport Beach said no to fiscal responsibility, and yes to continuing to cater to the public employee unions.

As of today, the county Supervisors have proven that they apparently advocate a true "power to the people" philosophy more than our own council. The voter referendum we pushed for in Newport will be on the ballot, only this time as a county measure. Expect the battle to be a nasty one, but in the end, the voters will do what has to be done, and what San Francisco and San Diego of all places have done with huge success: Not allow a small group of politicians afraid of unions to indenture our kids and grandkids with promises that can not be responsibly kept. Power to the people, indeed. Kudos, County Supervisors. Now, let's get this passed.

More comments will come on what happened in Newport Beach earlier this year, and exactly who spoke out in favor of what position.
READ MORE - County Board does what the city of Newport wouldn't do

Monday, July 28, 2008

Lawsuit Over?

So back in January, the residents (as the Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach, Inc.) decided to effectively sue themselves (actually the City of Newport Beach) for $250 million dollars (please use your best Austin Powers affect).

Well, Friday, they dropped the lawsuit.

While I was wrangling cats (actually, my toddler children), I thought long and hard about this and what I thought about it.

So I read and re-read the OC Register article and the Daily Pilot article in an effort to form an opinion.

First, according to Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff, the City of Newport Beach spent $100,000 of the taxpayers dollars to defend it (meaning $100,000 more will have to be borrowed to build stuff the City may or may not need)

But on the other hand, the Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach spent probably 4 times that (if what I've heard is correct) getting to where we are today.

So Half a Million bucks was spent...and where are we today?

Is the City of Newport Beach and it's residents better off because of it?

I'm not too sure...

The City is trying to settle it's own little spat with Sober Living by the Sea, using closed rehab homes as part of it's "Before Settlement" bed count.

So the bed count probably isn't dropping much...

In fact, if one can find a Silver Lining in the Sober Living by the Sea/City of Newport Beach "arrangement" it's that Sober Living by the Sea will be forced to spread it's bed count into other parts of the City.

What does this mean?

Read this carefully...


The City of Newport Beach is making Sober Living by the Sea take beds from the Balboa Peninsula/War Zone and put one of their Rehab Homes NEXT TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NO LONGER WILL THIS BE A NIMBY ISSUE.

Welcome to our fight Corona Del Mar, Newport Coast, Santa Ana Heights, Balboa Island, and to all the other "Villages" in Newport Beach.

So Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach is going to essentially re-boot it's message and tackle the City without Lawyers and Lawsuits.

and the City of Newport Beach will be helping their cause by distributing Sober Living by the Sea's beds to previously unaffected areas of the City.

But it'll only be close to 50 beds.

So congratulations Corona Del Mar residents...

Congratulations Newport Coast residents...

Welcome to the Club.

The Club of the Institutionalized Neighborhoods.

The Club of having 12 "Handicapped" (according to the ADA) people living next door to you and your children.

...and now we'll see the Nimby mentality gone.

Don't believe me?

Next time you see your Councilmember, ask him/her if this is possible?

And when he/she responds that they won't allow it to happen in their District, ask him/her how they can stop this juggernaut to happen, after all...it's allowed to be anywhere with "Reasonable Accommodation" thanks to the Federal and State Government.

More to follow...I'm sure...
READ MORE - Lawsuit Over?

Friday, July 25, 2008

Cigar Smoker With Bruce Herschensohn

The best kind of fundraisers?

THE FREE ONES!!!!

WITH FREE CIGARS!!!

So if you don't feel like going to the Newport Beach City Council meeting on August 12, go to the Balboa Bay Club and meet Bruce Herschensohn

Tuesday, 8/12/08
5:30 PM
Special Event

Committee To Re-Elect Tom Fuentes Trustee, South Orange County Community College District

Where: Duke's Place, Balboa Bay Club

Please join Tom Fuentes on the patio at Duke's Place, Balboa Bay Club on Tuesday evening, August 12th, at 5:30pm for a Campaign Kick-Off Smoker with guest Bruce Herschensohn. Admission is free to this informal summertime Smoker on the bay. Complimentary cigar and a no-host bar for guests. Attire is casual for the evening's gathering of friends. Bruce Herschensohn has a marvelous new book out, called Above Empyrean. There will
be copies available for $20. Bruce will be happy to personally autograph the book for you. RSVP to kathy@tavpro.com.

READ MORE - Cigar Smoker With Bruce Herschensohn

Rumor Control - Newport Beach City Council

So...I've been making the "rounds" lately...more often than previous and I've been posed an interesting question/comment/rumor

"I hear your a running for the Newport Beach City Council again."

Maybe not word for word like that, but in different variations/incarnations/email threads.

So let me make it clear to my 4 readers (and their 4 friends).

I AM NOT RUNNING FOR NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL.

First off - I'm not that egotistical (well...depending on who you speak with).

Second off - I live in the First District - There is no race in 2008 for Michael Henn's seat. Michael Henn will probably win re-election in 2010, so the earliest there would be such an opportunity would be in 2014...a year after the World will end...I mean...the World should have ended when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004...and again when they won it in 2007.

Finally - I absolutely detest Carpet Baggers (something I was infuriatingly accused of being in 2006), so there is absolutely no way I will move (again...I just moved in April) just to run in District 2. I'm arrogant and egotistical...but not THAT arrogant and egotiscal (again...depending on who you speak to)

So there...the next person who asks me will see the business end of my Beretta (I'M JOKING...please...)
READ MORE - Rumor Control - Newport Beach City Council

Thursday, July 24, 2008

On the Bus...

...the woman said, Do you think Pastoral has gift certificates?

(Pastoral is a fancy cheese store in Lakeview and downtown. We're talking aged, aged gouda that's so hard it's crystalline. And sweet. And expensive.)

The man said, The Cook County jail at this point has gift certificates.

After a time, the woman said: And there's no expiration date.
READ MORE - On the Bus...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Boone's Farm ...could grow big!

T. Boone Pickens is a Texas Oil man. He has been hawking
a plan to save America from dependence on foreign oil through
his paid "Public Service Announcements". At first blush, it
would be easy to suggest that Boone is busy pushing his plan
for Natural gas, Solar and Wind Power because he has some of
his own money in those things.

This morning Boone was interviewed on CNBC prior to his given
testimony before Congress. Boone mentioned that 38% of our
Fossil Fuel needs come from Commercial, Trains or Buses in
this country which accounts for $350 billion a year that goes
to Arab Sheiks and other oil countries. Boone is suggesting
that we move those vehicles out of Diesel and Gasoline and
put them into Natural Gas. Now one might be eager to suggest
that his reasoning is based purely on his personal engagement
with Natural Gas. We believe however that this idea is about
30 years late. It should have been done and could have been
done during the last run up in oil...back in 1978! Now that
the cost is edging toward a Trillion dollars a year...perhaps
it is time to pay attention!

Boone says that there would be positive side effects to his
plan which includes higher gas mileage for passenger cars and
a greater engagement on Solar and Wind Power. Boone says he
is making this plea because the two Presidential candidates
have yet to mention what they might do regarding our dependence
of foreign oil....and he wants to know what position they might
have on "The Plan"! "This should be a major discussion for
both candidates.." he suggests. "We can't drill our way out of
this!" he repeats often!

Now, it might be easy to simply say that T. Boone Pickens just
wants to "feather his own nest"...pick up where Enron, Ken Lay
and Jeff Skillings left off. Yet, when you look at how the
speculators yanked our chain...up to $147 dollar a barrel oil..
perhaps, common sense might be looked at as a possible option.
We wish Mr. Pickens well..it is about time that we did something
that could address our dependence on foreign oil.
READ MORE - Boone's Farm ...could grow big!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sis Boom Bah! Fighting Cancer Can Be Fun!

Cancer Bitch is trying to figure out what she thinks about a new initiative, Stand Up to Cancer, which has all the hallmarks of everything she's suspicious of in Cancerland: big names (Sarah Jessica Parker, Katie Couric, Lance Armstrong), big sports (major league baseball, making her think about "pink washing," the cleaning up of team/corporate images by association with breast cancer), a telethon (on all three networks at once! just like newscasts in totalitarian countries), a buffet of not-healthful food (hot dogs, white buns, roast beef, Caesar salad, potato chips) served on plastic (plates, with drinks from an open bar served in plastic cups). But she is getting ahead of herself. Just where were these free hot dogs and drinks, and how can I get some? you may be asking. Alas, you're too late. Cancer Bitch found herself yesterday in what is called in Houston a sky box and may be called that here, too--a restauranty room in U.S. Cellular Field, where the White Sox play, where muckety-mucks and their guests can sit in air-conditioned comfort or venture out to a patio and watch the game from chairs pretty close to the field. (Which part of the field was the box was closest to? The green part.)

Cancer Bitch was invited because she has this blog and apparently someone doing PR for Stand Up to Cancer put two and two together (or rather, cancer and Chicago and blog together in a Google search) and thought CB might like to be a "fly on the wall" before a taping of a TV segment (for the marathon) featuring Lance Armstrong. CB was inclined to pass on this but her husband said she should go, and she did, though not before getting caught in Sox traffic (She knew the event was taking place at the stadium, but thought it was going to be when there wasn't a game; maybe Armstrong was going to ride his bike around the field, a notion she got probably from having in the back of her mind the famous Velodome d'Hiver roundup on July 16, 1942, in which Jews were taken from their homes and stashed, in horrifying conditions, into the cycling stadium, then sent to concentration camps.). So she arrived late into this very large and very beige shopping-mall like stadium complex, very different from her neighborhood Wrigley Field. Cellular Field was sea after sea of parking lots (she paid $22 to park, O irony of ironies, she who has charged $20 and more to Cubs fans), and uniformed parking lot attendants with holstered guns and golf-carts, and families tail-gating--sitting in their fold-out chairs around little grills, or standing and playing corn-hole, and smoking cigarettes and drinking beer before the game. They had to provide their own, partly because there weren't a mass of bars all around the field, as in anarchic Wrigleyville. This was a Compound. With gates all around the lots, providing a barrier between the field and the nearby apartments.

CB arrived late and so was a fly on the patio looking down at the field pre-game as Armstrong and Elizabeth Edwards filmed (three times) their spiels, each shown on the big screen by the field, each taping accompanied by 20 seconds of fans' applause. Armstrong said the number of Americans dying of cancer equals the equivalent of the number killed on 9/11 every two days. Roughly one in two men and one in three women will get cancer some time, he said, statistics which Cancer Bitch doubted until she saw them verified later on the American Cancer Society web site. To illustrate the stats, he had every other fan stand up while the others sat down. Elizabeth Edwards was standing next to him, wearing a yellow t-shirt that said Survivor on it, under a bright blue (Cubs' blue) blazer. She said: People sitting to the left and to your right are your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your husband, your wife, your best friend or your child. She said this three times and still Cancer Bitch didn't fully discern her meaning; she guesses that Edwards was saying that even if you aren't struck by cancer, it will strike someone close to you.

One of the people out on the field was Randy Marzouk, 10, of Buffalo Grove, wearing an oversized Kenarko shirt. He was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was two-and-a-half. His father was with him and his mother Michelle was outside the fancy skybox. She and her husband work with Little Heroes, which raises money to treat neuroblastoma patients at Children's Memorial and Comer Children's hospitals. She said the Stand Up group was making people aware of all the cancers. Cancer Bitch asked her if she thought the effort would help her son and she said maybe, that she wants to find out more about the group but, It's probably a good group or it wouldn't hav epeople like Lance Armstrong or Elizabeth Edwards backing them. It's not like they have a lot of spare time. Randy underwent 20 rounds of chemo, three stem cell implants, three weeks of radiation and hundreds of blood and platelet transfusions.

Soon it was time for the press conference, with Armstrong, who did not look familiar to Cancer Bitch--he reminded her of a Ken doll with pale lips--, Elizabeth Edwards, telethon producer and survivor Laura Ziskin, and on either side, two cancer doctors. The three in the middle explained that Stand Up was funding research not just to the usual suspects, but to innovative scientists, and to researchers working in dream teams across disciplines to apply their research quickly to treatment. The American Association for Cancer Research will administer the funds. Amid all the softball questions, Cancer Bitch asked (moderately articulately, and feeling like a Trotskyite at a democratic left conference; the Trots are notorious for asking long questions that are really policy statements) about research on the environment and cancer, and what about the use of plastics in stadiums? Ziskin said that all baseball stadiums were going through a "greening process," working with the Natural Resources Defense Council. She said Stand Up chose Cellular for the taping of the opener of the telethon because Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was an early backer of the program and brought Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig on board.

Cancer Bitch left before the seventh inning, during which another short program was planned, which would urge fans to text on the phones in order to donate $5 to Stand Up. (Do good without even moving from your seat! Hey vendor, another one with mustard!)

Stand Up has produced an oversized post card featuring a photo of a Cincinnati Reds star (Ken Griffey, Jr. Stands Up to Cancer. What does that mean?) and the words: We have the technology. The brilliance. What we need is you. As if the reader of the post card was water and technology and brilliance were the powder. Doesn't technology + brilliance imply that we have the cure? That it's around there somewhere, misplaced in a lab underneath a dusty beaker, hidden by government red-tape and obscured by turf battles--and all we need are citizens to roust it out? On the back of the post card: Cancer finds us in our neighborhoods and our cities. Our countrysides and our schools. But it's a disease we need to seek out and destroy. It doesn't take a Susan Sontag to see that Stand Up has taken up the language of anti-terrorism. Those with long memories may think, also, of McCarthyism, which warned us that Communism, in the form of teachers' unions, had infiltrated our schools, and in the form of liberals, poisoned our Congress and neighborhood associations. Stand Up to Cancer doesn't investigate which neighborhoods are more likely to harbor cancer, either due to neighborhood gullibility (This waste dump won't hurt you.) or environmental racism, or both, or which schools, due to lead chips or asbestos or other products of homo faber. But, to be fair, there's an op-ed on its site by Devra Davis, about cancer and toxins. Davis directs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and author of the recent Secret History of the War on Cancer.

So, Cancer Bitch, what's wrong with cancer researchers getting money? Today she had a brief appointment with a physician's assistant at Fancy Hospital. He removed the drain sticking out of the lipoma incision and she asked if he'd heard of Stand Up. He said he'd seen something on TV about it. She said it was supposed to form the "dream teams" of researchers working together. As opposed to what? he asked.

Last night CB dreamed of her friend A, whom she hasn't seen in years. A had a sweet round face, blond hair and blue eyes, a soft voice, and investigative reporting that brought down a big-city mayor. Cancer Bitch dreamed that they were interviewing Elizabeth Edwards and that A asked her about her spinal fluid, and Edwards said that it helped when people rubbed it, and there was her spinal fluid in a plastic tub, and CB felt some empathy and got a lump in her throat. And then she woke up.
READ MORE - Sis Boom Bah! Fighting Cancer Can Be Fun!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Families for Fairness

If you haven't seen it, it's there...in black and white (and I'd attach it here, but I'm computer-slow...)

It ran in the Daily Pilot Friday and Sunday if you want to see it.

Go to the Library and see their copy if you've thrown it away, or if you don't get the Daily Pilot.

All Half-Page of it.

In all of its glory.

Families for Fairness put out a Wanted ad.

Wanted - Newport Beach City Council (District 2) Candidate.
  • Must live, and be a registered voter, within District 2
  • Must have an interest in Community Issues
  • Must be well spoken and articulate.
  • Must be willing to restore trust back to the Newport Beach City Council
  • Serious Campaign Support will be provided by your concerned neighbors.
No Prior Civic Experience Necessary (or preferred).

Subtle enough?

What does this mean?

Who are those people?

It just means some people, who have lots of money, and who are from ALL parts of this wonderful City of Newport Beach, want change on the City Council.

They want a friendly (or friendlier...) voice representing them.

And no...this isn't a group of just pissed off people from the Peninsula...

...nor is it disgruntled members of Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach.

Like I said, it's Advisory Board Members are from ALL parts of the City...every District represented on the City Council.

This group wants trust, honesty and action from its City Council.

...and so far...they don't feel like they have it.

So...they want to go about it through Political Strategy and EFFECTIVE Public Relations/Promotional program.

And they are willing to open up their checkbooks to do it.

Sounds dangerous huh?

Want to find out more?

Look for the ad in Sunday's Daily Pilot. Dig out an old copy of Friday's ad.

Call the number on it.

Or send me an email at newportbeachvoices@gmail.com.

I might be able to steer you in the right direction...

As I understand it, their website will be up shortly, after the Public Relations/Promotional staff gets through with it.

...and after I approve it.
READ MORE - Families for Fairness

Thursday, July 17, 2008

"Is it safe?"

What is a CERT, you may ask! Community Emergency Response
Team! Matt Brisbois is the affable, effective Community
Preparedness Coordinator for the Newport Beach Fire Department.
Matt describes himself as a "Body Surfing Lifeguard" that got
"volunteered" for the CERT Program. Last night at the Sherman
Gardens Matt gave a great presentation..to mainly business
owners and interested citizens....all about "Disasters"! It
wasn't exactly out of the "Poseidon Adventure"...but scary
enough to get your attention.

The on-site CERT Volunteers that attended were all dedicated
and motivated. They take this stuff seriously and bring great
credibility and support to Matt and his program. Right now,
Matt is looking for 1000 good men and women who want to be
available in case of a City wide Emergency. The City of Newport
Beach finally put together a Emergency Management Plan that has
put Matt's program on the map. CERT Volunteers go through 30
hours of First Aid and Emergency Training before they are then
Certified. They get a Green Helmet, A Green Vest, A T-shirt
and more! They also have the opportunity to participate in the
Ham Radio back-up Emergency Program.

Matt's three hour presentation was fast paced, thorough and
brought up several interesting issues regarding Tsunami's, the
Earthquakes and Terrorists possibilities. Talking about the
"realities of disaster in Newport Beach" opens the eyes to
issues most of us would rather not consider. Camping out for
three days without food or water, electricity or gas could be
a problem. Being there to help your neighbors is the one
important issue...which means that being prepared means having
enough First Aid supplies, Portable Radios and food to make it
...if roads are impassible!

If you don't have time to become a Certified CERT participant,
you still may want to find out when Matt is giving another of
his presentations. 949.644.3381 will get you that info. You
can talk directly to Matt to get on-board!
READ MORE - "Is it safe?"

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Telah Kembali

Pagi ini Bpk Dalim, Bpk dari kakak2 iparku telah kembali kepada yang menciptakannya, dan akan di makamkan di kampung halamannya di kota Banjar Ciamis. mohon doa dari semuanya.

Hari ini yang punya blog libur dulu.
READ MORE - Telah Kembali

Back to Fancy

I had this big lump called a lipoma on my upper arm. Lipo as in fat. It's a fatty tumor. I had it removed in the early 1990s and it grew back so that sometimes people would think I had a big muscle there. It made me self-conscious. More self-conscious than having just one breast. I can't explain it. Earlier this year at a routine appointment with the breast surgeon, she offered to take it off. I said, Wouldn't that be a waste of your talents? She said no. So I decided to go ahead with it. The guy who took it off the first time was a talented surgeon, but was quite annoying. I remember when I left his office after a follow-up appointment, he said, Now be a good girl.

We must have been about the same age. What was that supposed to mean? I may have asked him that. Or not.

Today was lipoma removal day, and because the breast surgeon was doing it, I was in the breast surgery section of Fancy. While I was waiting I read Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner's Our Cancer Year, about Pekar's lymphoma during the first Gulf War. They were also buying a house. I was reading about being in a hospital while I was in the hospital and waiting to be sedated and inside his life and my life at the same time. Many doctors and nurses and a fellow came through and my doctor marked on my arm where she was going to cut. They gave me Versed, the "twilight" anesthetic that knocks you partly out. The weird thing about it is that it erases the experience so you might have been in pain while under its influence, or even awake and aware. All I remember is being in the little pre-op room and then hearing a man telling a woman, jokingly, that he was going to sell her uterus. I mentioned this to a nurse and she said, Oh, so that's when you woke up. Did she explain that someone was getting a hysterectomy? Maybe.

They unhooked me from the IV and a nurse put a bandage over the vein and she stepped out so I could dress and I put my shorts on and suddenly there was blood everywhere. Drops of it all over the floor and bed and I couldn't find a nurse button to push so I went out in the hall, dripping more blood on the floor and a curtain, and the nurse told me to sit down and she used bedclothes to wipe the blood from me and the floor. It was quite dramatic. I felt like a character in a fairy tale dropping rose petals. She held gauze to my vein very tightly then put a bandaid on and all was well. I finished dressing and L came and got me and we took the L to our new home, where D the contractor told us that the foundation (walls made of brick) are damp. L had asked him to check them out after seeing that a portion of expose brick was flaking and powdering off. So we begin the Money Pit portion of our show.

Now I am very sleepy and tired and have an Ace bandage wrapped very tightly around my upper arm. There's a drain bulb that I have to empty twice a day. I recommend Our Cancer Year. It's agonizing and political and emotionally complex and a little bit funny.
READ MORE - Back to Fancy

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Wait

She said she hated being pregnant. When the baby was born (C-section), she didn't feel connected to it at all, no big grand all-encompassing love like you always hear about. No natural mother love emanating from her. That instinct just didn't kick in. She felt bad about it. She felt bad, period. Maybe hormones had something to do with it. This went on for months. Her husband took care of the baby. She looked for excuses to be away from the house. She was a hairdresser and she said she gave bad haircuts because she was so upset. She worked as many hours as she could. And then one night, after about eight months, the baby cried. The mother woke up and got a bottle. And her child looked at her, in recognition, like a person, and she fell in love.

Today is about a year later. The baby, she told me, is in every fiber of her being. She loves her husband but she could live without him. But her child, she said, that's another story.
READ MORE - The Wait

Aplikasi RAB dan Perumahan

Aplikasi gratis dan source code. beberapa waktu lalu pengunjung blog yang request program RAB. Dan setelah cari2 di hardist ternyata ketemu program ini.

Ada 4 modul dalam aplikasi ini, yaitu :

modul Rab : untuk menbuat perhitungan rencana anggaran biaya dari suatu proyek.

modul Pengolahan data Rumah : untuk mencatat dan mengolah data perumahan.

Modul penjualan : untuk mencatat transaksi penjualan yang terjadi.

Modul Analisa : modul untuk melakukan analisis terhadap transaksi penjualan yang terjadi baik berdasarkan waktu, tempat, tau kriteria pembeli.

Aplikasi ini masih dibuat dengan VB 6 dan database microsoft akcces. tidak terlalu sulit koq untuk yang mau mengubahnya ke sql server. Aplikasi ini bisa mengolah beberapa perumahan dan beberapa proyek sekaligus.

Untuk yang berminat dengan aplikasi ini silahkan mengunduhnya melalui link di sidebar sebelah kanan.

READ MORE - Aplikasi RAB dan Perumahan

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Rasa ini abadi

Di sini kutulis rasa rinduku
Yang kuhimpun dari setiap waktu yg kulaui tanpamu
Kurangkai Indah hanya untukmu
Walau kutau takan pernah tersampai padamu
Namun aku takkan pernah berhenti menulis

Di sini ku ulang selalu kisahku bersamamu
Takkan bosan dan takkan pernah habis
Kurangkai indah hanya untukmu
Walau kutau kau takkan pernah bisa membacanya
Namun kutau kaupun merasakannya

Dengan ini aku selalu menyapamu
Bukan pada mimpi, juga bukan pada khayalan
Karena kutau rasa ini bukan mimpi
Walau kutau kita takkan pernah bisa bersatu
Namun rasa ini akan abadi…

Baca yang lain :
Untuk sahabat

Angkuh
Satu kerinduanku
Kembali padaMu
READ MORE - Rasa ini abadi

With Every Storm is a Port

Holding on to tradition and history is sometimes very difficult.
Many times we cling to history and tradition that is less than
exemplary of what should be protected or rewarded. Many times
egos take charge of effort and wisdom. Many times choices are
made that later need to be revised, due to lack of due diligence
or concern regarding unintended consequences. Many times pure
greed, avarice or just plain simple pragmatic resolutions too
often prevail.

The Port Theater however is one of Newport Beach's interesting
stories. It came to our beach town in 1950! During the very
pinnacle of Doris Day parking - came this elegant lady with the
very red carpet and the biggest Hollywood Blockbuster movies
from the great Film Companies of the age: MGM, 20th Century Fox,
Universal International.......this was big stuff for our little
beach town of 11,000 full-time inhabitants. We had the beautiful
Lido and Balboa Theaters to create a triumvirate for truly
"Cutting Edge Entertainment".

Then age takes it's toll. Edwards Cinema creates the Fashion
Island Megaplex and a list as long as your arm through the 70's
and 80's. Edwards then gets bought out by Regal....things change.
The old girl "Port Theatre" fell into a sad disarray. The carpet
turned faded and too dirty. The popcorn oil permeated the walls
and the curtains inside the theater. The once prized Loges.....
had too much sticky Coca Cola with too many burn marks from
cigarettes on the once elegant chairs..of red and oak. The fair
changed to odd ball art movies...it then closes. There was talk
.....that the once pride of Corona Del Mar would be torn down.
Replaced by some modern day mirrored high rise....supporting
another soon to be defunct Insurance Carrier.

We wrote, we cajoled, we begged....."Don't do it!" Someone
listened to the pleas. Someone said they would keep the
historic facade and still create a business building with
subterranean parking. It was all still sad...but better than
nothing. Then, as if by Divine Intervention....the word
came out. The business office idea was off the table and
"Total Restoration of the Port Theater" would be reality.

Fast forward to last week.....as the face of the Port Theater
was removed. We can look in now and see the projection booth.
The front of the building is gone....but her proud feathered
plume, announcing "The Port" with the Tri-Sail logo remains!
Thanks must go to the owner of the Port for making this historic
decision, along with the City of Newport Beach. These things
seldom happen without consensus and effort of a lot of people.
We are wishing the owner well, that the Newport Film Festival
will once again become part of the home - at the Port Theater.

We are waiting with great anticipation to see what the "full
restoration" will look like. We are grateful that a serious
attempt will be made to offer a notable regard for the history
and elegance of Newport Beach and its tradition! We cannot be
thankful enough that the Port was saved....and we look forward
to spending many evenings viewing both the new and the historic
films of Hollywood....at the New Port Theater!
READ MORE - With Every Storm is a Port

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Update Link

karena tidak ngecek link akhirnya gak ketauan kalau link untuk download tidak jalan... dan karena lama tidak buka blog akhirnya baru ketauan. dan setelah di cek ternyata di esnips.com folder untuk menyimpan filenya belum di share. mudah-mudahan kedepan tidak bermasalah lagi.

update 16 july 2008 : karena download banyak gak berhasilnya untuk yg berminat dengan source codenya tinggalkan pesan dengan aplikasi apa yang di inginkan. jangan lupa emailnya, InsyaAllah saya kirim.

Mulai 17 agustus 2008 permintaan source code aplikasi tidak lagi di layanani di blog ini, tapi telah di pindah ke alamat baru : http://meta-opinion.info
READ MORE - Update Link

Private Property Rights more important than personal preferences

That's all I have to say. My title is the article. If there was one thing the greatest city in California needs to accept, it is that they do not have the right to toss aside the rights of private property owners because they have personal preferences that conflict with these rights. It may be tempting. And there may be a great deal of self-righteous rhetoric that accompanies this opposition to private ownership. But "Greenlight", and other horrific attempts to spit in the face of private ownership need to go the way of the Gestapo from which they came. It would be tough to love this city more than I do, but I will not rest until we all learn to leave our NIMBYism at the door, and the socialist ideology that goes with it.
READ MORE - Private Property Rights more important than personal preferences

Friday, July 11, 2008

Why The Sober Living Deal Is Garbage

1 - Change In Bed Count analysis leading to decision has many
numeric misrepresentations and fabrications. (ie; The City outside
law firm states in Fall 2007 report on Rosansky's renting property
to a rehab owner "no rehab occupants were found to be residing in
rental unit." Yet now the City shows that bed count of 6 added to
the license bed count of the Shores Rehab bed count for a total of
12). Lots of other inaccuracies, ghost houses, over-counts, etc.

2 - Does not describe slippage (an increase in bed count mysteriously
occurred) that has occurred from Point of Moratorium to Ordinance
then from Ordinance to today. There’s over a 10% increase in Rehab
Bed Count during such period.

3 - City has no logical reason to settle before Public Hearings.

4 - City has not and will not acknowledge that the level of beds they
are proposing with this Agreement is only a starting point minimum
that will “creep” upward in bed count due to the following:
a - A change in Development Agreement (likely)
b - The City is unable to stop licensed “6 and Unders”
c - Public Hearing will result in less closure than City will admit
d - Invariably there will be more lawsuit fallout (Morningside)

5 - Development Agreement leaves WN\Lido\Penn with 85% of all
Rehab Beds in which area only accounts for 20% of City’s population.
Most ironic about the City's "sweetheart deal" is that BEFORE the
deal WN\Lido\Penn had 80% of all Rehabs in the City, AFTER this
spectacular "sweetheart deal" WN\Lido\Penn will (according to the
City's Changes in Bed Count Projection) have 85% of all Rehabs in
the City. Please.... make the City STOP....at this rate they're going
to negotiate WN\Lido\Penn right into having 100 % of all Rehabs !

6 - Based on industry\historic averages, the Over Concentration
remaining after the Development Agreement will START at 13x in
excess of what the WN\Lido\Penn area needs. This will "creep" to
greater excess in time.

7 - The City has begun to already violate its own mandates as per
the New Ordinance in this proposed Development Agreement and
can’t explain why. This is already seen in City's refusing to enforce
dispersal requirements for Sober Living on 39th Street as pointed
out by one angry resident at the City's presentation of the proposed
plan at Speak Up Newport on Wednesday.

8 - In the Development Agreement, the City agrees not to enforce
the New Fire Code (for Sober Living only) of which Federal Courts
have already ruled to be non-disriminatory, yet City will enforce
New Fire Code for all other rehab operators. Odd thing is though,
this New Fire Code, specifically applicable to Group Homes, if ever
enforced, would put such a burden on R-1, R1.5 and R-2 structures
to modify those structures in order to comply (ie: sprinklers, fire-
rated interior walls and ceilings, etc) that the Fire Code would force
most Rehabs to MFR structures as they have many New Fire Code
compliance measures already in place. This Over-Concentration
problem in all of Newport could be controlled in a reasonable, non-
discriminatory manner overnight, but the City is not pursuing or
talking about this though. I wonder why.

9 - City offers no assurance Development Agreement won’t be later
revised\expanded per Dave Kiff at Speak Up Newport on Wednesday.

10 - We are delaying an inevitable legal battle. Once Sober Living
gathers enough cash and political influence (influence meaning the
hiring of more ex-City Officials).."they'll be baaacck" for increases.

Lets all thank Henn, Gardner, Selich, Rosansky, Curry, Webb and
Daigle for a marvelous magic trick of a "sweetheart deal" that will
eventually make all West Newport \ Lido \ Penninsula residents
want to disappear from this area.
READ MORE - Why The Sober Living Deal Is Garbage

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Cash for Silence - Newport Beach Edition

The title of this OC Register article says it all

N.B. offered rehab opponents money for silence

Background?

The Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach (Inc.) sued the City over the Rehab Homes proliferation.

Sober Living by the Sea sued the City over the Rehab Homes ordinance.

The City of Newport Beach is trying to settle with Sober Living by the Sea.

And I guess the City of Newport Beach is trying to settle with the Concerned Citizens group.

According to the OC Register article, here are a couple of the conditions:

•City pays group $100,000, agrees to hold regular meetings where residents can air concerns about rehab homes, and dedicates at least $100,000 annually toward enforcement of every rehab home permit issued for next four years.

The first condition - they've put in lots more than the $100k to pay their attorneys and sue the City, but I suppose getting some of it back might not be too bad. Dedicating $100k towards enforcement of the rehab home permits is nice, especially since we don't have to worry about how the City will pay for it (borrow, borrow, borrow), the employee's pensions and benefits.

•Group drops lawsuit and public opposition, and supports legal settlement between city and largest operator of rehab homes.

The second condition is the doozy - Dropping the lawsuit would be the given, but dropping the public opposition? Supporting the legal settlement between the City and Sober Living by the Sea?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hold on...gotta catch my breath...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That's funny.

Now, I'm not part of that group, but I know plenty of people who are, and keeping their mouths shut over the hokey Sober Living by the Sea deal and actually publicly supporting it?

All for $100k?

I don't see any pigs flying yet...
READ MORE - Cash for Silence - Newport Beach Edition

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

A Summary

This has been a summer of birthday parties. Before the 50th birthday described below, there was a 51st for M and a 59th for B, both parties on Tuesday nights in the front yard of B and S's house. The most memorable comment was at B's, when I walked inside the house and thought I saw a friend, but realized it was her daughter. I said to the daughter, O, I thought you were your mother for a moment. She replied: I have bigger breasts than she does. I said, I was just looking at you from the back. I should have said, I have only one breast. I had to sell the other one to pay for graduate school.

This is a young woman who tries to provoke.

English has so many more words than other languages, but the French are so good at combining the words they do have. There's l'esprit d'escalier, the spirit of the staircase, which makes me think of a ghost hiding in the banister, but it means the words that you should have said that don't come to you until you're leaving, walking down the staircase.

This should not be confused with Geisterfahrer (Austrian German): one travelling the wrong way up an autobahn (literally, ghost driver).

We are all traveling the wrong way and not being as clever as we would like to be, the words arriving late if at all. Who is the saint of lost words, who will put them back into our mouths and brains when they fall instead to our feet? No one. Or никто, as they say in the Russian.
READ MORE - A Summary

Rehabigate or Progress?

Divisive issues are nothing new to Newport Beach. "Greenlight"
has been fighting excess developer abuses that included high
rises, density, big traffic generators and noise...for years.
The "High Density" has always been a big issue....that started
with Promontory Point, which took away the beautiful view of
our Newport Harbor from Pacific Coast Highway and Jamboree. Or
the Downey Savings building that blotted out and took away the
view corridor and beauty of the Upper Back Bay... and thusly
impacted our community with no view and more traffic.

We also had the John Wayne Airport issue which is a continuing
saga...and thanks to the work of the Airport Working Group that
resulted in an Airport Agreement which limited flights passed
11PM. Since then, even though the Feds wanted to change it, we
were Grandfathered on that issue! Even the expansion of John
Wayne Airport itself was a big over budget deal under then OC
Supervisor Tom Reilly. Then there were the ubiquitous "Mother-
in-law Units" on Balboa Island, or the on-going "Mansionization
of Newport Beach" everywhere, as new people came into town,
bought those dreaded tear down properties and blotted out the
sun for neighbors all around! How about "Party Houses"? How about
"The Fourth of July Riots and Revelry on the Peninsula"? It goes
on and on like that! What about the Arb Campbell Police Scandal?

The latest scourge and blighted action right here in our town?
Rehab Group Homes, Licensed CA Alcohol and Drug homes of six or
less persons? It has been a pretty big deal. It took the patience
of Jobe and the community efforts of many to get our City Fathers
to move on this issue. Senator Tom Harmon tried this and that
and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore stood up. Tough fighting Sacramento!

City Manager Homer Bludau and Asst. City Managers Dave Kiff and
Sharon Wood....got with the program and assisted our current
City Council Members to "get on with it!" Good grief, how did
Scott Baugh and Bob Burnham wind up in the mix ....on "the other
guys side"? Business!

The Rehab Group Home issue is no simple "go to dinner conversation"
here. It has both State Law and Regional implications that will
notably affect Federal Law sometime in the future. It goes like
this: Can local government require Rehab or Group Home facilities
to meet certain standards..and can they in fact restrict the number
and impact of "patients" on the community? At the end of January
2008....The City of Newport Beach passed Ordinance 2008-05 which
required the affected facilities to file for a Use Permit before
the end of May. According to the Ordinance....if any facilities
failed to apply for their permits....they would lose their:
"Use rights".

The largest Rehab provider in Newport Beach is "Sober Living by
the Sea". They currently have 156 beds with a maximum of 204
allowed by the "Settlement Agreement" which is being offered by
the City...according the Dave Kiff...Asst. City Manager. Then there
is "Morningside" which currently has 72 beds has not yet filed
for a "Use Permit" and faces closure of all their facilities.
Narconon of course, has a 49 bed tri-plex which has filed papers
....but maybe under certain restraints under the new ordinance.

So, what happens when these facilities close...for whatever reasons?
Will another provider be able to step right in and take over without
losing a step. Dave Kiff...says: "No, they would have to start the
entire process....all over again....as a new use!" One of the major
provisions of the Rehab and Group Home Ordinance is that fact that
"Parolees" must be omitted for participating in any Rehab facility.
This is a very big deal...and though you may have heard that "Sober
Living by the Sea" was challenging the Ordinance in the courts...
let's say a prayer that the suggested "Settlement Agreement" by the
City is agreed to by all sides.

There is little doubt that the Ordinance is not perfect. By the
reading of the State Law.....anyone could be considered "disabled"
if they were addicted to Ambien PM or Bayer Baby Aspirin! There are
"Big Loopholes" in who may be considered for these programs. There
is little doubt that State action to qualify these people should have
been done...many years ago.

Limiting the number and the density and impact to our community is
now the prime consideration and although, as we say, the Ordinance
is not perfect...it will certainly start to put a stop to the rising
tide of Real Estate Speculators who do not have to be State Licensed
and offer an unregulated Rehab Facility to make huge profits while
the skyrocketing Real Estate Values were rising. The Ordinance does
not however truly focus on the six or less Licensed State facilities.
Making neighbors accountable will still be an important part of the
process. How will we know....if "Parolees" are located in these type
facilities? How will we know if in the six or less Rehab Group Homes
there are prior Child Molesters or Felons? Should we have the right
to know?

Now that the Real Estate market has taken a momentary hiatus ...
those Rehab Homes are more open to Regulation. They don't want to
have to liquidate their "Cash Cows" right now! So, this Ordinance
is a great place to start - for communities throughout this country.
We doubt seriously that it will completely satisfy Bob Rush, Linda
Lorozco or so many who have given there hearts and souls to this
issue for years - but, as we say - it is a start!

So, to our City Staffers, Managers and City Council Members...as
well as State Senator Harmon and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.
Thanks guys!

http://www.cacities.org/index.jsp?zone=wcm&previewStory=25624

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-sober29
-2008jun29,0,7548240.story

http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/05/13/politics/dpt
-injunction051308.txt

Ordinance 2008-05 Group Home Ordinance
READ MORE - Rehabigate or Progress?

Monday, July 7, 2008

Mergers and Acquisitions

Today we bought: a push lawn mower, a Weed Hound, an outside light for the back door, and oranges and popsicles for the construction people who are starting Wednesday. (They don't seem like case-of-beer types.) The Weed Hound is a wonderful invention (or tool, outil, as it says in the directions in French.) It looks like a green pogo stick and you push it down into the middle of a dandelion or other mauvaise herbe and twist a little and when you pull up, you've got the weed, along with its root. What is more quickly satisfying than pulling weeds? I could go on and on but I think I already have.


I also had lunch with D, whom I've written about in the past. It was quite fun. It is strange to know someone well for many years, and then to be mostly out of touch for 10 or 11 years, and then to have lunch (or walk along the lake and talk, as we did recently). There are huge chunks missing in your knowledge of one another's lives. I met her daughter once and I saw her son once or twice. They are 10 and 7, regular people, and if we had been in touch I would have been Aunt Cancer Bitch and invited to their birthday parties. We would have a history.

But I was not ready to let go of resentment and twisted bitterness, not ready for that weed to be pulled from my heart. Until now.
READ MORE - Mergers and Acquisitions

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Parties

It used to be that you would go to a party and then go home with someone and if he reached for a beer in the morning or otherwise became tarnished in your mind, or if he got up early and left a note for you to lock the back door, and then he never called, you would know that it had been a one-night stand. If, on the other hand, you both got up and out at the same time and went for brunch, then you had a Relationship. And the Relationship would chug along for months, which was a long time then, but it was a fragile thing, though it could be intense and you would spin a life together in the future, in your head, and then the Relationship would fray and fray and then break.

This is why you never got so good at arguing, at talking things out, because when things got tough, one or both people would bow out. It would be painful, and memorable--both the breakup and thinking about the breakup and the Relationship itself, and sometimes you would be teary and resentful for months longer than the Relationship had lasted. And then you would go to another party.

This was in the late 70's and 80's, before AIDS was a widespread threat. This was back when you had to choose which Halloween party to go to because you'd received three (paper) invitations, and there were always costume parties where people would dress up as A Shadow of My Former Self or Free-Floating Anxiety or John the Baptist with a collar around his head that was supposed to be a plate. When you could have a birthday party and ask everyone to dress up like a lizard and they would. When it was easy to make friends, because everyone was untethered, and moving, moving, into an apartment and making curtains for it, or into a new job that was absolutely perfect or a stepping-stone to one that was, and everyone had open calendars, and there was room to meet for lunch or dinner or even breakfast at Ann Sather's on a weekday at 7:30 am. The L was faster then, with its A and B and AB stops, and you could jump on at Belmont at 8:30 and be downtown easily in 15 or 20 minutes, like the CTA signs used to advertise.

This was also a time BP, Before Prozac, a time of anxiety so heavy it didn't float, it dogged you and settled around your throat--and your not sleeping enough made daily life even more difficult and brittle. But also more energetic and bright--you would leap and jump and run on the sidewalks on the way to your destination, day or night.

And then came Prozac and half a year later, L (the person, not the train), whom you met on a bright late spring morning, not at midnight at a party of a friend of a friend's, and he and you begat the longest Relationship you'd ever had, and then a mere nine years later, marriage, and one thing led to another and now there is the House. And the Rage. And you must talk about the Rage because this is a Marriage, it is supposed to be permanent, though of course you know the statistics, and a friend tells you that marriages often break apart after the buying of a home. L calls you passive aggressive and says in the past few weeks he's seen for the first time why -- and -- said you were mean, he'd never seen it before, and you feel like a failure as a person. And you say what should we do, and he says, get through it, and then you go on a long walk with J and V, you talking to J, and L talking to V, and J says marriage counseling works for some, and you think about it, and after the walk it's like it was before, BH, before the house, and the rest of the day, too, and the next. Though L still gets frustrated with you because he says you don't help him get his house ready for sale, which is partly true, at least, but you ask his advice on buying flowers to plant--one problem had been that he'd been so parental and all-knowing and bossy when he talked about not planting yet, like he was the expert, which of course he was, having tended his garden and yard for 30 years but still, you wanted to put echinacea and cosmos there in the corner to replace the dead bushes, and more geraniums in pots on the front porch steps to show possession. To prove to yourself that This is Mine. And His. To show the neighbors that you had arrived and cared about flowers. Which also means caring about the neighborhood, because your yard is public.

And you ride bikes to a party, a 50th birthday party, where everyone is supposed to dress up like the '60s, and you both are wearing your share of denim and old buttons: Labor for Hatcher, Pigasus for President '68, Question Authority, No Nukes--some from the 70s, most from L's past. The Pigasus button you just made yourself, to refer to the pig that the Yippies nominated as an alternative to Humphrey, when they gathered in the park during the the Democratic National Convention. You put on eyeliner, top and bottom, and put foundation on your lips so they hint at the chalk-white lipstick that was so popular back then. At the party you and L are the most decorated, everyone else is wearing party clothes, with a few love beads here and there. You dance to Cream and other '60s and '70s and '80s music, and there's a DJ and a disco ball and a light that casts bright green squiggles on the wall, and there's a birthday cake and cupcakes and fondue because it's retro and delicious, and there's someone who's had a 70th birthday party (which you weren't invited to) and your friend from Boston who helped shave your head and there's someone dancing around vibrant with a sleeveless top that fits closely around her real breast and the post-mastectomy one (she had silicone implants) and it looks 100 percent natural. You'd met the guest of honor years ago at another party, about 3am, at one of N's series of 39th birthday parties. Or was it 29th? In the summer of 1968 you had no notion of Pigasus, you were at summer camp, applying your eyeliner and mascara every morning, wheezing mightily, suffering from your asthma, and finally taking steroids for it, which gave you two periods in four weeks and you didn't wear tampons then. You remember your counselor telling you that Bobby Kennedy had died. A girl died at camp that year (or the next? your photo albums from camp are in boxes already), in a car accident on her way to or from a dental appointment in the nearby Ozark town, and when the summer was over the camp closed down and was sold and renamed. In early November Nixon won and a few weeks later you had your bat mitzvah, wearing velvet and taffeta inspired by the Franco Zeffirelli film Romeo and Juliet. And you wondered what your life was going to be like, if you would always be the tall one, and if boys would ever like you, and your father would tell you and your sister that when each was 35 he would buy you a Cadillac if your husband hadn't, (though no one in your family, including yourself, ever wanted a Cadillac), and you knew that at at 35 you would be so old you'd be impossibly frumpy, though your mother was 41 and elegant, and you planned after high school to go to Paris and the Pratt Insititute in New York and be an artist, or a writer, and you'd be famous, as famous as Louisa May Alcott, as you used to say to yourself, as you consoled your wheezy, asthmatic self to sleep the first time at summer camp, your head propped up on a mass of pillows the counselor had put there to help you breathe.
READ MORE - Parties

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Days of Rage

For a few days I have been rageful.The contractor and painter came to the new house yesterday and we talked about colors. I was outraged that L thought he was entitled to an opinion. I'm so used to making all the decisions about paint (always off-white, but still) and furniture and pictures and such. L has his house in Gary but he's lived here for years, with his apportioned half the bathroom and closet, dresser and most of a desk. (See how magnanimous I am!) I could tell L thought I was being extravagant and over-compensating when I asked the contractor how much it would cost to remove the paint from the trim around three windows. All the other window trim is the natural wood. I lived in this place, my condo, for nine years without doing anything except paint, and I'm determined to get all the changes made in the new place before we move in. I've been so lackadaisical and now I'm the Mad Perfectionist. At least we both agreed that we don't need to have the steps leading to the basement stripped. The treads are painted midnight blue and that's fine with us. The basement bathroom is dark pink and we'll leave it, too.

I told him yesterday how scared I was, that I hadn't actually lived full-time with anyone for 26 years, except once, for nine months. Am I deep down afraid of being taken over? That's not it. I am just so accustomed to my space. Which also translates to time; it took years and years to train me to discuss plans for the upcoming week with him. I was so used to not being accountable to anybody.

We took a field trip to G and F's house to see the yellow walls in the dining room. We rode bikes. On the way back, we encountered P, who told us that yellow walls are WASPy, and that he has a slate gray wall, and that I shouldn't discount neutrals. I told him I don't like wall colors with brown in them, which covers a lot of neutrals. He said that I was greedy because I'm going to have two (small) bedrooms as my office. I said I was thinking about red walls, and he cautioned me about them, saying instead I should save red for furniture.

L and I have both had yellow kitchen walls in houses of our families of origin, and we are 100 percent non-WASPS (though my father used to call himself a WASH--White Anglo-Saxon Hebrew). So that kills that theory about yellow walls and WASPS. I think yellow was a favorite kitchen color in the mid-20th century.

Today I was finally calm. We went to a paint store today and agreed on: creme brulee for the foyer and living room, light yellow for the dining room and hallway to kitchen and my second office, funky fruit (pale orange) or the kitchen, fresh mint for the bedroom walls,tear drop (pale blue) for the basement, french lilac for the first office. My first office will be spare, with a desk and a futon and maybe a bookshelf. I want it to be a clean, clear space. I'm influenced by the serenity of the lavender walls of Namaskar, where I took a yoga class on Monday. My second office will have my file cabinets and bookshelves, though I'm not sure how many will fit in it. I bought a little sample bottle of orangish paint for $4 and I'll try it out on the kitchen. I'm not sure whether orange is a good idea. The kitchen is blue now, and it's too dark. The former owners liked blue. The front steps and porch are blue, which we're keeping. I felt so American in the paint store, choosing colors for a home of our own. Our home. Our colors. Our desires. Home improvement is the opiate of the bourgeoisie.
READ MORE - Days of Rage

Rest in Peace Mr. Arst

For anyone who has paid attention to Newport Beach this decade will know the name Phil Arst.

Myself, I got to sit down with him a couple times a few years ago for a chat.

And while one may not agree with everything he campaigned for, you could never argue that he didn't try and do what he thought was best for Newport Beach.

But he always took it a step further than just grumbling and complaining.

He put his money, time and efforts where his mouth was and made his mark on this City.

And he never gave up.

He never backed down.

You gotta respect that.

You gotta appreciate that.

You gotta honor that.

There aren't, and will probably never be, enough people like Phil Arst out there.

And he will be missed.

I'm honored to have met him.

Rest in Peace Mr. Arst.
READ MORE - Rest in Peace Mr. Arst

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

We Buy a House

We closed yesterday. We sat in the title company office and signed documents with their blue pens, because blue shows up better. Our lawyer, whom we had just met, advised us. She said we had to sign something saying that we would resign something. We went to the house and pulled up weeds and pulled down the ivy from the sides. We talked to our next-door neighbors, whose house is for sale and which we'd looked at twice. We met another neighbor who said that there was a block party the summer. L met a neighbor who lived about three houses down and does gardening. We found how terribly thick and unmoving the branches are that hold up ivy and weeds. I dug and dug to get at one tap root. For dinner we took the bottle of champagne our realtor C gave us and went to Tango Sur, a wildly successful restaurant around the corner from our new place, "on the Southport corridor"--a designation that sprang from the head of some realtor. L's lower back has been spasming so everything's been difficult for him. He can't sit very long and when he gets up to walk around he's still not entirely comfortable.

This morning I slept as long as I could despite disturbing dreams of getting to an appointment late and having my high school friends take me in a helicopter. I met with a client and then went to the new place, where L was meeting with our contractor J and his helper B. It still is so strange to think you can move walls and build in cabinets and add floor. We're opening up the wall between the living and dining rooms. Right now they're separated by a big doorway, and you can theoretically pull out dark pocket doors to close off the rooms from each other. We're going to take out the pocket doors. J said that he has a friend who used a door like that as a head board. I like that idea. I could use the other one as a desk but I don't know if I want one that has a pattern on it and isn't quite flat. I don't want to ravage the house. I want to respect it.

We have a head board already on the captain's bed that we were planning to sleep on. We could take off the headboard, which contains shelve inside it, but we'd lose the space. Suffer for beauty, I thought of saying, a quote of my mothers.

A friend called today from Oregon. I hadn't heard from her in years. She'd just given my name to someone at a convention and when she Googled me to get my number she saw this blog. She told me she'd had a mastectomy about 20 years before. She didn't do anything to restore the breast until she realized she was wearing bigger and bigger clothes. She decided to buy a prosthesis.

We need to decide on color for the walls. I want to visit a friend's house to see what she's done with yellow. She's out of town but we have her keys. I'm afraid of color and always admire friends who use it. But I don't want the blue that's in the new house in the kitchen and two upstairs bedrooms. Make things look too small.

How utterly bourgeois and also to be reading a book called The Emotional House. I hate the Ikea ads that say that home is the most important building. It's not. It's the polis. We are a community who must band together. And yet, home is where we get the energy to go forth each day.
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Joe Horn Cleared in Shooting

Remember this little tidbit about a fellow in Texas who shot a couple of his neighbor's burglars?

Well, a Houston Grand Jury cleared him of any crimes.

This was a truly fascinating story and it's good to see it end well.

For a reminder of what happened, click here for a pretty good rundown.
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