How's by you?

Cruise Prep April 2013

"Those were the days my friend, I thought they would never end."  But they did, apparently with my last cruise in 2016, which began in Vancouver, Canada, headed north to Alaska and then turned south and followed the western coast of the United States south and through the Panama Canal, finally making port in Fort Lauderdale.

I had booked a cruise for the next year of the Baltic Sea region that would end up crossing the Northern Atlantic Ocean and home to the United States. But some unforeseen health issues made me feel it might be better to stay closer to home. Couple that with a growing dislike of solo travel and there you have it, me stuck on land for the past three years.

Herein lies my travel problems. While I would like to travel with a friend, I don't want to bunk with a friend. I have inordinate need for private space.

I think that is growing up like an 'only child' ~ the baby of the family, siblings separated by years and years. Twenty years for one and thirteen years for the other. Yeah, definitely 'only child' material.

Most travel partners want to share. Understandable due to the extra cost of single space bookings. Very few cruise lines offer up single space bookings, and those are in limited supply. So a single cruiser ends up most of the time paying at least one and a half times the per person rate to close to twice the price.

I once had three dinner companions that were sharing the same cabin space. Three unrelated human beings! I would often think about this during slow dinner conversations.

I know I am being silly. Cruise ships are huge spaces, sometimes easily holding 6,000 plus human beings. Small cities. Why do I cling so fervently to that 300 square feet of privacy????

Santa Anita Racetrack Today

This story   caught my eye. I was just a little kid when I first went to Santa Anita. At that time it was to visit our Japanese neighbors that had been detained there during World War II. But that's another story.

After the war years I went on to teethe here. When my dad asked me if I wanted to go to the park, Santa Anita Racetrack was the park he had in mind. During racing season Dad was always easy to find and Santa Anita was less than ten miles from my home.

On one occasion I hailed a cab and managed to get a General Admission ticket and then sent an usher to my dad with a message that his little girl was there and in need of a seat in the Club House. Those were the days.

Sad to read that so many horses had to be put down due to injuries from a too wet track. As the song goes, "It never rains in California, it only pours."

Spring Is Coming...

March 20 ~ First Day of Spring

Wait for it..... it's coming!

Purple Pain, Purple Pain

Ohhhh, Spike.

"I'm snake-bit. Every time someone's driving somebody, I lose," Lee said. He was drawing a parallel between "Green Book," about the real-life Southern journey of a white man driving African-American pianist Don Shirley, and the 1989 best-picture Oscar winner "Driving Miss Daisy," about a wealthy white woman and her black chauffeur. ~ Lynn Elber, Ap Television Writer

You test us, Spike. You really do. Can't you just be happy that another Black History story was told. And maybe just some of us (yes, us white folk) learned something we didn't know before.

I thought Green Book was a touching story. A story about a man, Don Shirley, that I had never heard about before. And he was a talent wasn't he? And a story of how many blacks survived the South in those awful days via aids such as the Green Book.

Ok, I am white, sorry, it wasn't a choice, just my life story. But I didn't see the movie as being about a black man being saved by a white man.

So relax, man. Let people tell their stories and you continue to tell yours. There is room here for all of them.

Maybe this is why Americans are loving the Great British Bake-Off so much. We like stories of support. We don't always have to be hating on each other.

Yeah, do the right thing.

Kraft Singles

American As Apple Pie

There has been a recent dust up following the Super Bowl, you might even call it a 'krafty' maneuver. It seems some elderly men got caught at an Asian Spa getting a special type of massage. Eighty bucks for a one-hour hand/mouth job. Sweet!

Now I have to say up-front I am not against prostitution. It is the oldest profession known to man and many formers have risen to high level positions. What could be more American than working your way to the top?

BUT, I am against human trafficking and the abduction of young girls for purposes of sex. These crimes should receive the harshest of penalties.

It is pretty well know that there is a spike in activity before major events like the Super Bowl. What I don't know is if there is a correlation between that and arrests. I think it is easier to turn a blind eye and let the games begin.

Nothing in recent reports indicates this incident involved young underage girls or girls brought into the business against their will. This I am sure will get sorted out.

I would be nice when you see the Super Bowl Trophy hoisted on high, that the hands holding it were those of honorable men and not sticky-fingered creeps.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

House Hunting California Style

A Former Nicolas Cage Home

In San Francisco

One thing that Nicolas Cage loves to do is to buy houses. No matter how many times he has been burnt he just can't stop himself. Maybe one day he will write a book about the various homes he has owned, I know I would find it interesting.

Anyway my granddaughter decided to try out California Living. She lives on the Berkeley side of the bay but works in the city. I saw this house and thought, "Hmmmmm, maybe it is time to revive the boarding house".

Take a look at this 6 bedroom 6.5 bath Russian Hill manse. It would make a wonderful boarding house and look at the views. 

With the right financial backer I think my granddaughter could be transformed into a 2019 version of Anna Madrigal.

California Dreaming...

A Mother's Role - Encourage and be Critical

Karl Lagerfeld

“When I was 14 I wanted to smoke because my mother smoked like mad,” he was quoted as saying. “But my mother said: ‘You shouldn’t smoke. Your hands are not that beautiful, and that shows when you smoke.’ ” ~ Karl Lagerfeld

Throwback Monday

George Washington

Father of Our Country

I'm going to pretend I am still a kid again when we celebrated George's birthday with cherry pie and tales about how the Father of Our Country could not tell a lie when confronted, axe in hand, by his father,  "George, did you chop down this cherry tree?"

He could have been America's first king, but instead he chose to step down after serving two terms as President. He also escaped an assassination attempt and that would have been a whole other story.

We had two holidays in February. February 12 was Lincoln's Birthday, giving Republicans a day to hold fund raising dinners and talk politics. 

February 22 we got cherry pies and mattress sales. Then it was decided it would be nice to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and his birthday is in January. So a February day got swapped out since banks can only be closed ten days a year.

So here we are. February is Black History Month but without any holidays, just history when they get around to talking about it. Washington and Lincoln get smooshed with all the other's for President's Day. And you are not allowed an axe in the White House.

She's back...

When I checked my watch I couldn't believe that my last post was in August 2018.  A lot has happened since then while at the same time nothing much has changed. It just depends which window you look out from.

I am just trying to find the best possible way to cope and I know I am not alone. Millions of us are trying to cope. Breathing in and Breathing out is a pretty good place to start. Sharing how you feel and knowing you are not alone is important.

We have to replace the noise in our world with music. It's not an impossible thing to do but you have to be persistent.

For me writing is my music. About anything really. Just being able to share how I feel about things, from movies to recipes to how roads are paved.

I have passions. If you read my old posts it's pretty clear what they are. So I am excited to be back with what I hope will be a daily post on something. And I hope you will take time out of your day to read my blog.

Thanks.