Shots from the Lip

 One baseball game a year at Dodger Stadium works for me at this stage of my life.........it'll be hot and it'll be an experience at the cashless ball park.  Will I write about it tomorrow?   Will I be in the mood to do so?   Good question! Hostage is a five episode show on Netflix.  I started watching and binge watched 3-1/2 of the 5 episodes last night.   And for reading:  I should be finished with Vera, or Faith either tonight or tomorrow......I am also reading TS Eliot poetry for my lit class.....I hate it.......

This is what I posted on Linkedin a few minutes ago........let's see what reaction I get........... I am woke and I proudly support DEI 😊 ! .....and its O.K. if you do not believe as I do because I also believe in democracy, freedom of thought and freedom of speech!!! By the way, if you have not yet read a free 10% download of Good-Bye and Thank-You! go ahead, get your copy and enjoy my critically acclaimed political memoir that has already been banned in both China and Hong Kong.....  

 One week after the first suction/scrape session with Dr Ashley Kita, ENT with UCLAHealth, the wax remaining was sufficiently Debroxed over the past week to be all removed......No excuses now - I can hear!! ?  And I set myself up within the ENT system for an annual visit to 1131 Wilshire, next, 27 Aug 26. I have November primary care and cardiology appointments at 2020 Santa Monica Blvd in November and I have to schedule opthomology  by phone to set up a long, overdue medical meeting. .....and in 23/24 C weather, I walked 4,000+ steps home to write this.  Today I will hopefully catch up on a whole lot of stuff I had wanted to do during the week but had to put off......

 I did not sleep well, last night......and yet, I felt refreshed, getting up this morning and going for my 'usual' morning walk:  south on 23d Street to Broadway, west on Broadway to 20th, north on 20th to Wilshire, east to 23d but stopping off, first at Whole Food (or, in half the cases, Trader Joes) and then down south on 23d, returning home......~2,350 steps to start the day. The sun was out early and it was a delightful way to begin.......with a walk to the Gateway Hotel around 10:30am to coordinate reservations for both Joanna and TianTian coming here in October.  That mid-morning walk is what living here is all about:  it was absolutely delightful taking walks today - 4 degrees (C) than Van Nuys in the mornings......5-7 degree differentials in the afternoon.  It'll be 35 in Van Nuys, today, but 26-27 here in Santa Monica.....hey, we might even get through this year without once having to use the air conditioner! Tomorrow morning I go to 1131 Wilshire andUC...

Once upon a time the US was involved in an overseas conflagration where citizens protested - protested rather loudly, vehemently that 'my country, right or wrong' was no longer acceptable - that there were those of us (of course I am included!) who were more interested in what was right than that which our country was doing that was not right. I burned my draft card......I was right up front, participating in demonstrations where the flag was burned.  No big deal! So it is now a crime to burn the flag?  Hey - burn all the flags you can if that is the only way to protest - no big deal! What is a big deal to me is the US Constitution.  And those in power who are currently trying to tear down the principles and beliefs upon which we were taught?  The deserve to be put in their place - where are the protesters now?   It is truly time to save the country! 

 In a combination of financial/estate/reality/life/what0have-you planning, we are purchasing a condominium unit in the large complex diagonally across the street, south of us.  We purchased our home from afar in 2022.  We bid low - real low - when we purchased our home.  Katherine saw the apartment for sale was owned by an owner living in Kentucky with no desire to return to California.  We bid low again.....real low......the last time an apartment at this complex sold so low was in 2016. We await the condo HOA by-laws to review and see if there are any restrictions of which we were unaware.......but we truly do not anticipate any obstacles to prevent closing on or around my birthday in a few weeks weeks........ And next week:  school begins again!!!

 This picture of our taco truck, four blocks from home, is not related in any way, shape, and form to ear wax.  It is here because we are going to try to get to this taken-for-granted gem of a food wagon every Monday.....and want to show this even though it is now Thursday. Ever since I can remember, my right ear has been a 'victim' of producing far too much ear wax, clogging things up.  While living in Asia, I'd go every couple of years to Bumrungrad where 'industrial strength' suction got the wax out.  At UCLAHealth, primary care tried a weak flowing water stream flowing from what appeared to be a dental tool.  It looked like a joke.....it didn't do a damned thing and I neglected the right ear for over half a year. Yesterday, after writing my new primary care physician at UCLA, went to 2020 Santa Monica Blvd where I spoke to the front desk at Dr Fujimoto's office.  They suggested calling the ENT exchange which asked me if I could get to 1131 Wilshire with...

 How much we assume from day to day.  A week ago, Katherine said good-bye to Juan Marquez, a guard who worked the afternoon shift at St John's Hospital, as she was leaving after her work session at the hospital.  She thought nothing of the fact that Juan was not at the post this week - he frequently was off, showing someone how to get to where they wanted to go at the hospital. On Sunday, the day before, Juan and his son attempted to stop a car robbery - his car - and was shot and killed. We found out about it yesterday (Tuesday).   Juan was a dear, beautiful person.  We are in shock.  We take so many things for granted......and then something happens to change life's direction...unplanned in the overall scheme of things........

 In virtually no time at all - so it feels - today is the 18th of August.  The month is more than half way gone - how'd it go so fast? My body feels the exercise I put it through cycling in Venice and Culver City as part of a Sunday on wheels in the western part of town.  It was good.  Across the street from us, Jade Rabbit has put up its signs.  We've got a new restaurant a traffic light away:  what appears to be an upscale Panda Express.  That will go along with Thongg Ake, the Thai take-away three stores east on Santa Monica Boulevard......and then, St John's Hospital cafeteria, across the street, west, with its 25% senior citizens discount.   We can eat well along the boulevard - how nice! And yet.......I will go out in about a half hour to our neighborhood taco truck for lunch and dinner for the two of us later on today.....

I rode  the entire way - round-trip!  It was fun going out early.  It was too crowded for me on the return trip.  Nonetheless, following is how the press picked this one up today......  The third CicLAvia street festival of 2025 will be held tomorrow in the Culver City and Venice areas, where 6.75 miles of streets will be closed to motorized vehicle traffic. The 61st CicLAvia is titled "Culver City Meets Venice,'' and will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday on a route that stretches along parts of Venice and Washington boulevards from just west of La Cienega Boulevard to Pacific Avenue at the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Five activity hubs will be located along the route: at the Culver City Arts District, downtown Culver City, at Washington and Sawtelle Boulevard, in Mar Vista and at Venice Beach. The hubs will have water stations and restrooms, free pedicab rides, bike parking and free basic bike repair. CicLAvia is a non-profit organization t...

 Once upon a time I would write a title like this and then proceed to start writing my form of lyrical poetry - definitely old-fashioned and woke! Now, you'll have to simply trust me when I say that I've got the blues but not the inspiration to jot down some words.....such is life. The weather at the beach truly sucked this morning - only I really did not have time to think about it as there were so many over-weight, out of shape would-be runners waddling along, aloof to the curtesies that should be extended to others on the bike paths as they 'train' for an upcoming event; getting ready not to make a fool of themselves as they get the event T shirt (the real reason they're here today, fucking up the paths!). Tomorrow is an annual event that closes streets from Venice going eastward into Culver City, creating one great big, gigantic bike path along which I plan to go tomorrow morning, eating breakfast out and hoping that unlike today, the sun will come out and it wo...

 I was home and in pajamas all day, yesterday.  I got out and did some pleasurable, slow riding along a beach with clouds above and few bikers below - weather was shitty - no rain but it felt like it. I am going to plan a post birthday weekend in October and am cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to get TianTian and Joanna in for that time.  Why not?  I'm relatively healthy and happy and at my age, I'll take advantage of this - now!!! Today?  I do have to go to UCLA Health (perhaps through website?) regarding my super-clogged right ear from which there is minimal hearing.....and the strain of too much sunlight on my eyes......a by-product from cataracts??

It is 10:30am on an overcast morning in Santa Monica.  We are both in pajamas as this will be an indoor day-all day for us.  Can we do this one day a week?  It is definitely not out of the realm of possibilities!  I was supposed to do Sweet Dreams tonight, backing up another volunteer one more time prior to doing it on my own but the other guy is not available tonight.  Thus, today was perfect for being an all day pajamas day!   I am in limbo now - awaiting some paperwork requiring my docusign signature.....and I really do not want to start anything prior to completing the document signing tasks.  After that?  some drawing, some reading, some napping......etc, etc, etc..... I took these pictures.......I drew.......I watercolored........and if you want to see my artistic endeavors, you'll have to look at later blog entries as I will post them ..... eventually.....!

 I think so.  I am half-way through Ray Dalio's new book - truly something both self-indulgent and prophetic based upon some comprehensive research.  I think we are headed for some rough times and quite frankly, some alternative 'diversification' from cash&marketable securities might be called for.  An apartment to invest in?  At the right price and location and with long term potential, this is something to consider............... Consider this:  a discussion on the world economy while munching on the best that 5 Guys has that isn't even on the menu! Ask for a patty melt.  That's a grilled cheese sandwich with a hamburger patty.  Get it loaded:  mustard, ketchup, pickles, relish, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms.  Great sandwich for $10.99!!! Today, though, we will go to Century City where we will bypass Din Tai Fung and go to Panda Express in the food court for orange chicken.

 Sometime between 8am and noon today, the Brody-Panel maintenance person will be here to do annual maintenance.  I was up at 7 :30am this morning and took a quick walk prior to being ready at 8am for the task at hand. It is 9:14 am and no one is here yet.  What are the chances that he/she shows up at noon when we have another appointment this morning??? Regardless,  this has been a productive morning as I have put the Amazon Fire to more use than I have previously done and I like what I have here!  In essence, I have fewer and fewer emails to respond to, daily.  These can be done with the Fire and keyboard.  I need to feel more confident pairing this with my phone so I can use it outside the house. Basically, I need to answer email and Whats App......I read my daily newspapers......I watch movies and You Tube.....I blog.......I attend Zoom classes.  AND my ebook reading apps are also here........everything I use a computer for can be done on this ...

 Sunday morning - I was out of the house by 10:30 in the morning and in a casual walk to 26 Street/Bergamot station (25 minutes) plus approximately a half hour travel to DTLA, I switched to the Red Line that goes through Hollywood towards the San Fernando Valley and noticeably saw the lower standard of maintenance for this line compared to the E Line....ah well...7 stops later we were at Hollywood and Vine and a stunning Metro station - when the pictures finally get to the computer from the phone I will subsequently include them........but the Pantages is directly opposite the station entrance and door-to-door, from home to the Pantages is 90 minutes - a 1pm matinee is feasible!!!!! Not now but at some point I will write about the Taft Building at Hollywood and Vine, across the street from the Pantages - my first office as a sole practitioner CPA! These two pictures:  Waterstone's webpage promo for Good-Bye and Thank-You! and similar for a Korean bookstore.  How nice to s...

 Good-Bye and Thank-You! was written for the US market.  Only later did I find that Americans no longer read - unless it is off their cell phone.  How did the public library of Salina, Kansas 'discover' me and publicize my book?  Damned if I know! What is more amazing to me is that the book has been picked up out of the US and is being promoted and sold - what a wonderful thing to discover - if only the royalties were correct!   Waterstone's in the UK is promoting Good-Bye and Thank-You!  I remember being in Edinburgh with Katherine and Joanna at Waterstone's.  I used Joanna's school awarded Waterstone gift coupons to purchase a book there. There is a bookstore chain in Australia that is promoting......and a leading Korean group is also involved, and a german bookstore, too!!!..........my quirky phone/computer system does not pick up pictures taken today until a few days from now so if you do not see pictures added to this blog, come back in a few...

 Let us assume that I pressed the wrong button causing an unanticipated event for a user of Kraken.  What happens next? Well, in my case, the whole system converted to the Portuguese language and would not let me change back to English.  Add to this my complete inability to load my California State ID by the computer for 2FA but subsequently being able to do this with my phone - only to find out, today, that the same company's phone and computer apps are not totally coordinated and that the directions being written to me on the computer wouldn't work on the phone.....whew! This afternoon - I think - I was finally able to conclude my interactions with Kraken.  Will I find a deposit back to the account from whence it came?   Good question! In November, 2017, Joanna and I were in Boston and went to a Dead & Company concert at the TD Garden.  That show's video is on Nugs.net which gave me 60 days trial because I purchased the 3 August San Francisco Dea...

 The temperature got as high as 30 C today.  After all those Bangkok years, 30 was not bad at all - I could have worn shorts today - but did not.  We took the 720 Metro bus from 26th St and Wilshire in Santa Monica to Peck and Wilshire in Beverly Hills. We went to Rodeo Drive - and I'd include pictures here but my quirky phone to computer system which shows up to date google photos on the phone but is 4 days behind when it comes to getting it off the computer to the blog program precludes my doing so - such is life...... We brought one of our watches for maintenance to Patek Philippe - we're still awaiting a new watch band from them........ Then to Cartier where Katherine got referrals from Cartier regarding jewelry she wants some adjustments to - we'll be off to Century City for this early next week.  And after, a pleasant stroll along Rodeo Drive, heading to Santa Monica Blvd and the #4 bus to Sawtelle for Maragume Udon lunch.  Then to Daiso and Nijia Market a...

Yesterday morning after a sun drenched, mild temperature bike ride along the beach, I parked my bike outside of Sam's on Montana and sipped a pleasant cup of coffee. Yesterday evening I did my second Sweet Dreams through the medical-surgical patient floor at St John's Hospital.  A few of the rooms had patients interested in talking - one of them was Joe Morgenstern who, for decades, was the Wall Street Journal movie reviewer.  We had a great evening chat!  

 It is 11:32 on the 6th day of the 8th month of 2025.  My Apple watch (Series 10) shows that it is already 25 degrees C in Santa Monica.  Of course it does not feel this warm outside - it never feels as warm as the temperature showing on the watch.  Yet it definitely is indicates a degree of warmth we simply have not felt all year, thus far. I had nothing scheduled for this morning so I took advantage of a sunny day, already, at 7am and went for a bike ride followed by coffee at a small coffee shop on the sunny side of Montana Avenue.  Later, after the ride, I went to both Whole Food and Trader Joe's, where at the latter, as I was checking avocado ripeness, a woman asked me to help her choose a ripe one......that's what happens after going shopping for produce on a regular basis!

 It is 5:30 on a balmy Santa Monica Sunday afternoon.  I was out walking again - as usual - and find that there truly is a peaceful, easy feeling, casually walking around here - at home, after 3 plus decades as world travelers and 22 months of learning to adjust (sometimes, quite painfully) to both a brand new culture and each other, now that our working past is no more. Ten years ago, the end of June, 2015, we flew, separately to San Francisco for the final Grateful Dead (configuration) with Trey Anastasio coming in for the Jerry Garcia role.  It was as memorable as it gets - while I am not sure how those five days in San Francisco impacted Katherine, I knew then that I would have fond remembrances all my life. 299,000+ joined me in Golden Gate Park in 1991 for the concert/wake in memory of Bill Graham, who died in a helicopter crash........along with the 'death' of my China veterinary pharmaceutical venture.   The thought of another three days of concerts in t...

 Sweet Dreams has started for me. There are 48 rooms on the 2d floor of St Johns Hospital.  On Thursday night, 39 of those rooms had patients. Approximately 1/3 of the patients, early evening, are sleeping or should not be 'bothered'.  Another third are receptive to a volunteer's coming in and offering eye masks (for sleeping), ear plugs, pencils&note pads, chap stick.  And the remaining third?  They would like to talk.    Thus, an evening visit to 26 rooms - I was satisfied that I did something good.......I do this again this coming Wednesday....... Last night I started watching The Pajama Game, a 1957 movie based on the hit Broadway musical.  I never saw it before.  Stanley Donen, who directed Singing in the Rain also directed The Pajama Game. I saw the play on Broadway prior to moving to California.  I enjoyed the first half of the film and will watch the second half tonight. Still undecided:  Do I subscribe to the Dead &...

A weird start to a Saturday morning.....  I will go downtown to Chase so we can wire transfer to make an investment.  Katherine will go to look at an apartment nearby that is for sale.  And at lunch time we will have a pan-fried, butter marinated NY strip steak that was 42% discounted earlier this week at Ralph's. I am wearing my new iWatch that replaces the 'destroyed' series 8 watch that I so faithfully wore on my left wrist for the past two years with a series 10, slightly larger and with a jewelry band rather than a fabric one.........next in line - a new Mac computer with a 24" screen?????

 The Wheelhouse in Venice had a 420 40% off sale.  40% off of what?  They raised their prices for this day's sale......fraud if ever there was......and that was the last I ever went to Wheelhouse. Two weeks ago, Katherine and I passed by ERBA on Sawtelle as we were going to the #7 bus to return home.  There was a sign - end of month sale - 30% off on last day of month.  Yesterday was the 31srt of July.  I went to ERBA Sawtelle.  I was told they 'replaced' that 30% off with an even better deal.  Their better deal price was $157.   The 30% off price was $95.   Obviously they could not explain to me how there new deal was a better one.  Bait and switch.....presumably, most fell for this yesterday at ERBA......that's the last time I will go there.......how sad.........