Shots from the Lip

Five Sundays a year I am off to DTLA for a day at the opera.  Los Angeles Opera was incepted in 1986.  I flew down from San Francisco for Tristan Und Isolde, conducted by Placido Domingo.  Now, 39 years later - and for the second straight season - I am a season ticket holder for presentations by an opera company that is broke. So broke that they started the year with great musical theatre - West Side Story.  Only everything started late because they had to do a sound check - microphones and speakers.....amplification of the human voice.  That ain't opera for a show that composer Leonard Bernstein categorically stated was not an opera. The place was full - unlike 'normal' times........I understand, they do have to raise money - but not from me if they eliminate the wonders of pure voice without any assistance....... 

 I was going to start this one a few days ago......never got to it..... Then I was super busy - only here it is a couple of days later and I have absolutely no idea what I was super busy about. And then I woke up yesterday as the world was circling around.  Praise be the pills I have from a year ago when I wound up in St Johns Hospital with a whole lot more wrong than the world going in circles. Anyway, we already know from experience that my immune system is suspect and that goes along with my screwed up gastro system, not to mention the low pulse rate that seems to be dropping - a bit - again........ But wait - getting older means much more bad news as longevity presents a problem the body never anticipated - living past the time that things wear out.  And that means my 'recognizing' that my eyesight ain't what it once was plus not being satisfied with a 6 January appointment with UCLA for my eyes meant following Katherine to a St John's eye practice where, on Rosh Ha...

 I am not sure when.......but I think it must have been in 1968 or 1969 that I got my Asahi Pentax 35mm single-lens reflex camera.  I used that camera for 40 years, replacing it with a Leica X, my first Leica.   I 'dabbled' at photography as a hobby that I could career-change dream about.  I actually was paid for some stuff I did but I realized that I could never earn enough through photography to support a family.  The second bathroom of the first house I ever owned was converted to a darkroom - the second darkroom I ever had.  I developed black and white film and enlarged prints from negatives.  I loved it.  And then child # 2 came along......bye bye darkroom. And yet.....that camera was in my Guangzhou office on the last day I was in Guangzhou.  It was loaded with film - the only film camera I had left.  Is it still in Guangzhou?  Along with assorted photographic equipment?  Along with an antique Rollei-flex?  ...

Come Saturday morning I'm biking the beach by myself Then doing coffee at Sam's In time for breakfast at home Starting the day with a poem at least a poem of sorts .....an excuse to delay the walk to Ralph's Ah well, procrastination ends......!? .....and that's enough for  to write on Saturday morning at 10:08a, - time to go to Ralphs for sashimi grade tuna

I've got a Thursday evening routine!  Sweet Dreams! I started on the Med/Surg floor.  Last week I 'incepted' Sweet Dreams on the ortho floor but had to improvise as they were running really low.  Last night I was asked to do Sweet Dreams on Med/Surg as they still had the handouts asked for (chap stick the most prominent!)......nothing to report other than I enjoy talking with those who want to talk.....and I do get to practice some of my one liners....... 

 A long time ago I was a fixture of Hollywood - hey, my first office on my own as a CPA was in the Taft Building at Hollywood and Vine!  Later I moved over to 6430 Sunset Blvd - Sunset and Cahuenga.  A couple of times each week, I'd be over to Musso & Frank on Hollywood Blvd for their flannel cakes - the M&F version of a pancake.  These were different - they were thicker.  The only 'rival' to their uniqueness was at Dupars when they had a restaurant at Laurel Canyon and Ventura Blvd in Studio City. I got 13 birthday greetings yesterday.  one of them - only one of them - was local - Irv Reifman.  Two more were friends living in the US.  The other 10?  All outside of the US.   I was looking forward to retirement in Thailand.  Alas, Katherine hated the place, hated the culture, hated the people......such is life..........I had contemporaries in my age range.....I had a support network. I am back in the US and although I ha...

 We are supposed to be at the bank at 12:30pm today for wire transfer based upon paperwork that should have been received from Cyprus Escrow early last week.  In 2 hours, if we have not received that info, I will cancel today's meeting............I wrote that in an early email this morning.....let's see what happens.......