Shots from the Lip

Tuesdays and Wednesdays for classes seem to work best for me......and as much as I would like to continue in Margaret Ross's class, it is the wrong day at the wrong time......Thus, time to drop the class today...... On the other hand, Stephanie Donon will have a 3 hour - live - drawing/watercolor class in Room 207 during the Winterim 6 week class.  While I am not sure I want a class, I would like an opportunity to do 3 hours a week work on my journal hybrid that I am working out along with how I draw, where, when, etc......and 3 hours on a Thursday morning during the winter season sort of appeals to me.  

 We do a 9:15am bank call meeting in about 16 minutes from now.  We fit into a category that - we believe - enables us to take advantage of a legitimate tax loophole.  That loophole has been around for ages and I only had an opportunity to use it for a client once over 60 years.  I will - I believe - be able to use it again....for us.....this year.......keep posted as I will not reveal it all until verified beyond repute through filing a tax return for 2025 early in 2026....... And that short piece is all I will write about today........a good way to start this week!

 Did we even have an autumn here in Santa Monica?????  We had some great summer weather but there was no transition and things went cold in one fell swoop. I went out late today - Maybe I should have stayed in bed!  I had 3 long sleeve bike shirts, under which I had both a short sleeve and long sleeve T shirt.....over which I had my short sleeve Dead bike shirt........and it was still fucking cold out.  At least I got my opportunity for solitude this morning as no one was out.  I did about an hour and I hope I can get a full weekend of riding next weekend. I'm going to draw, sketch and water color today and I will also read.....Will I do anything else?  Who knows!  It is 10:47am. I printed out two news articles.  I'll read them and then get serious about accomplishing my attainable goals for today....... A great big palm tree on 20th Street, Santa Monica.......this is one to draw and paint!

Want to read the entire, 6+ page front page LA Times article?  Go to the LA Times and download it......below is an AI summary - I hate AI and this is a really flimsy summary but such is life.  Anyhow,  An ex-wife tried to destroy me but along the way, she got me on the front page of a major US newspaper and  I was wise enough at the time to make sure that 'everyone' in China saw it!! And miracle of miracle after 32 years:   we are here to laugh about it! The document reports on the resignations of two California probate referees who were working out of state, raising concerns about their job performance. ​ Resignation of Probate Referees Michael R. Steed and Laurence E. Lipsher resigned after inquiries about their ability to perform estate appraisals while residing in Maryland and China, respectively. ​ Both referees had been politically connected, with Steed being a former Democratic National Committee director and Lipsher having ties to severa...

 I took both a flu and a covid shot at CVS on Monday, this past week.  I had a reaction on Tuesday and that more or less screwed up my entire week.  Earlier that Monday I sat through my first Valeda session that started with eye testing - each eye both 'clearly' and with dots covering that previously clear line of sight - followed by 4 series of light treatment (2 each with each eye open and 2 with each eye closed...30 sec....90 sec....30 sec....90 sec). That's it - but each is recorded in detail and reported back to the German developers and they build their data base.   So.....what do I think after 3 sessions with 6 more scheduled over the next two weeks that will complete the first of three treatments that will be scheduled this year?  Surprisingly, I actually do see the smaller letters in the eye tests a bit more clearly now than at the start of the week........and I am obviously encouraged by that! What else this week?  While I am more or less in ...

There are two types of ads on televised US sporting events that stand out - at least to me:  the betting ads encouraging one to gamble..........all I personally can see as a future result is a bettng scandal similar to the college basketball scandals of the early 1950s - yes, I do remember them.....and it will happen again, mark my words! And then there are prescription remedies for obscure ailments that, until a couple of weeks ago, my cynicism masked any other emotions I might have had.  I have genetically inherited macular degeneration......dry......intermediate......both eyes. Yesterday, Thursday the 16th, after conclusion of tests to define the degree of macular degeneration thus far, it was determined that I am not yet 'ready' for treatment as specific 'medical moments' have not happened - yet. BUT......... The FDA approved  in March, a German developed, non-invasive, infrared treatment series that was incepted in Germany in 2019.  It is new.  The ads are ...

 Have you ever spent six days with two intelligent, worldly, young (close to a third my age) kids doing everything imaginable while eating our way across Los Angeles County in a long overdue 're-bonding' get together as our family looks to the future?  No, I never did this before and never ever anticipated something like this until quite recently.  Never heard of doing something like this, either.  But I am an old fart who cares. I care enough to also know that our gardener is scheduled for this Saturday at the same time as NoKings will rally in Santa Monica, I need to be there........such is life.  My rally days - at least for now - have to be postponed. I am typing this on my Fire as I watch PBS News on the laptop in my Santa Monica 9.5' x 9.5' mancave at the end of a day after,a day of rest!!!

 I sat in back, I got motion sickness......it ruined what would have been a perfect day after breakfast with Tim and Doug joining us at Fromins........ah well.....today is another day.....off to Les Mis

 Yesterday was a day in full - with 14781 steps before it was completed. Mahler's 2d symphony, a 90+ minute piece with full chorus and two vocalists, is rarely performed and this was the first time for me......it also completed my having been to performances of all of Mahler's symphonies - another cycle!!  But prior to that, we went to IHOP for breakfast........and after, went to Philippe's for late lunch. TianTian went to a concert in Pasadena last night.  After a 2-1/2 hour nap because of jetlag, Joanna and I did Santa Monica - we walked the pier, the beach, the Palisades, the Promenade.......The janitor at the Emeritus Building let us in and turned on the lights of the lecture hall I attend two mornings a week  to give Joanna a better idea of what it is like for me to go back to school as an old fart.   Nice day - really nice day!!!

Late yesterday afternoon, Joanna wrote - her plane was delayed for 5-1/2 hours.  As her return flignt was tied in with TianTian's return to LAX, her reservation remained unchanged and as a result, I now have the opportunity to sign into the Thursday Emeritus class that I have missed more than I've attended thus far this semester......and this will give me a chance to bring my stuff to the hotel prior to going to the airport. The temperature has gone down - 14 C outside which is a bit too cold for my comfort but were I to take a jacket, that would be an unnecessary item once it is past 9am in the morning....such is life..... Regardless, it is time to catch up on some email that would not have even been considered until mid-next week..so here goes.....have a great day as I do some catch up!

Yesterday was forced rest - I stayed on the living room couch a good portion of the day and took a shower before 3pm and watched a football game on my tablet, in bed........ I still have back pain - will rest as much as feasible today through Thursday when the 'get together' begins..... 

I felt it coming on yeserday......I applied the Japanese roller-ball medicine;  I have a patch on my back - what can I say - it sucks....... I have a back-log of pictures - many taken with my cute, little Kodak that easily transfers pictures from the camera to my computer.....my ideal would be to get those pictures transferred to my Fire tablet.  Alas, I cannot quite figure out how to do it.......one of these days....... I'm reading Hemmingway right now for my literature class.  Two short stories (Francis Macomber and Snows of Kilamanjero) and The Old Man and the Sea.  I read the latter before - decades ago....and in my mind I visualize Spencer Tracy as the old man.  Tracy was the old man in the movie.....I remember that........ After 12% of Spoon River Anthology, the 1915 mythical rural village and it inhabitants poetically described.  For $.49 I got my money's worth!!    I am also continuing with Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here - a descrip...

 Cat Ballou came out mid-1965.  I remember seeing it way back when.  This morning it was the movie of the week for our History of Comedy class.  There were 7 of us at the Emeritus Bldg on 2d Street, Santa Monica, for the hybrid class......~50 taking the class on Zoom.  Given the option of going to a live lecture hall with a smaller group of attendees and staying at home and doing the class by computer, I'll go to the live class whenever feasible. What was nice was leaving home earlier, this morning and walking directly to Ocean Avenue and the park setting on the palisade overlooking the beach and ocean.......there is a definite tranquility sitting and looking out before class..........I started life overlooking the Atlantic.  Now, in my so-called twilight years, I am overlooking the Pacific..............