Shots from the Lip

 Hey, I miss my classes, even though it'll only be a couple of weeks off prior to the Fall semester beginning.  I like the structure and the fact that in addition to attendance, there is 'suggested' homework that is equal to approximately two hours for each hour of class.....8 hours of classes in the Fall......24 hours a week of 'structure'....that works for me. I'm going to call the Santa Monica Public Works Supervisor today.  We need 'guidance' vis a vis filling out forms for modification of tree height but not until after the TRO Court hearing scheduled for 20 August.........do I call this morning or this afternoon??? Regardless, I will go to Spectrum Internet today to determine what exactly I am paying for and what I get for this.......and whether I will keep Spectrum........... Sometime this week or next I'd like to see the new Spiderman movie........I do not have sufficient bladder control to see Odyssey - and I do not like interrupting watchin...

 I've decided upon my first AI project! About a month ago I started writing an essay - topic?  Long since forgotten.....but I did have over 2,000 words in a raw, very unfinished, central topic not really developed jumble of words. Can AI turn this one into an essay?   Will I be able to figure out how to do something?  Wait and see??? And other than that, I've already been out and done around 1,800 steps to start the day, wearing shorts in 24C weather, as I picked up a dozen copies of today's SMDP with our second of three notices published.  I have a relatively light week ahead vis a vis schedules and I will use it to get further ahead for my American Novel reading for the fall.

 I have vision impairment.  Color blindness never really impacted me but the difficulties I now encounter make it difficult at times and definitely, it results in slower reading.........and for years, the wondrous receiving of that weekly print edition of The New Yorker was something to look forward to. And it was with sadness that this year I did not renew my subscription....... And it is with happiness today that I was able to 'routinely' log into Libby, the public library app that ties me into the Santa Monica Public Library where the new edition of New Yorker became available.....and it is now on my11''x5-1/2'' split screen where, at the expansion of two fingers on the screen (scrolling down) that I can enlarge the font and read far more easily than I could in the past......and I anticipate using this site as my sight faces further impairment......

 .....27 but with the winds coming in , off the Pacific Ocean, it feels cooler than that.    While in Temple City, it sure as hell felt uncomfortably hot. We went to Bistro Na for Beijing Duck....the duck was superb....the duck soup, likewise!!  This place is indeed gourmet cooking - in the heart of China in LA - the San Gabriel Valley. Last night, Saturday night, TianTian, in for a concert tonight, and I went to the Catalina Jazz Club at 6725 Sunset Blvd where the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band was playing a 25th anniversary gig.  This band was the Grammy-winning film compuser's creation.  He died of cancer last year and this was the band's first performance subsequent to his death.   I await the day that Waymo will take me to this club - I can envision going solo a few times a year, thus expanding the scope of music I have the ability to still experience at live performance.....

 Three days into it, SMDP finally answered and while the dates had to be changed from what they had initially assigned, after a half dozen emails, we got everything straightened out and this morning was the first of three issues where the notification will be printed..... Before SMDP answering, I contacted the Santa Monica Observer, the second newspaper of general circulation where I could place notification. They are a 'shabby' alternative whose publisher called me back after SMDP answered.  They thought I'd need them and quoted me $250 for one printing.....Obviously I turned them down after happily accepting an $80 bill for three postings from SMDP........and later yesterday, the Observer dropped their offer to $189.......I did not even answer. We have Jon Berg on video again - he drove by yesterday afternoon.  WE WILL NOT DO ANYTHING WITH OUR BORDERLINE TREES UNTIL THIS MAN IS CONTAINED!

We paid a process server.  I sent the documentation to the process server this morning. Do I think that this will work?   No. Two mornings ago I called SMDP to place a notification in a local paper of general circulation regarding the 20 August Court hearing.  I never heard back. That afternoon, we went to the SMDP offices - no one was there.  Yesterday I sent the proposed notification and corroborating court documentation to SMDP as an email attachment.  Not having heard back, I called again this morning, only to leave another message on their machine.......will they call me back??   And life goes on........I got a new camera replacement from Mint for my Rollei.  I will watch and re-learn step by step over the weekend.......I like taking pictures!!