Sunday, January 31, 2010

Desert Getaway in Three Parts. Part One: The Salton Sea and Salvation Mountain

First stop was the Salton Sea.


Then we headed into Niland to see Salvation Mountain. And it was very grand. We got to visit with Leonard the creator for a short bit. The recent rains caused some damage he and his helpers were working on.





Rain damage

That's Ash and Theron walking up to the top


And now they're at the top



I think there are a couple of us at the top, here, too


Part 2: Ace Hotel, Palm Springs

We splurged and stayed a night at the fabulous Ace Hotel. We had a room with a patio - perfect for the Oli dog.

There are two salt water pools, which believe me, spoil you completely. You'll be dread to go into chlorine ever again. They also have coed wet and dry saunas.

You can't believe how comfortable the beds are.

The rooms have record players. We had one record in the room, Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria. We played it.

There were also very comfy robes and a walking stick with a wrap.

This picture was taken about 5 seconds after we got in the room and Theron made himself comfortable.


Dogs are allowed pool side but not IN the pool. Well, Oli couldn't stand it. Before we could stop him he had done two laps. We're not really rule breakers, plus we hope to go back someday, so we took some pictures and escorted him back to the room.


That was one happy dog using his webbed toes for what they were made for. Oli's nickname is The Trompler, and you haven't been trompled till the Trompler gets you in the pool. On land, 70 lbs of muscle take a running leap and hold you down with black and white paws. In water you watch in terror and excitement as the Trompler aims his black nose at you like a torpedo.

The food in the restaurant was superb! And it was someone's birthday so the lovely hostess sang Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart. If you ever go, say it's your birthday - this will make you so happy.


It was a mini vacation worth every single penny.

Part 3: On the Way Home






Saturday, January 23, 2010

Ode to My Bed On a Rainy, Cold Day

Of earthly layers
Cotton, down, wool, and black dog
A fort, safe and sound

Friday, January 22, 2010

It Never Rains in California, but Girl, Don't they Warn You? It Pours, Man, It Pours

This is our hood! Snow!! It has been raining mercilessly all week to the point that hundreds of homes up the hill from us were evacuated for fear of mudslides from the recent burn areas. Ash has been away this week so I had shorter days to pick up Theron and I have to admit, it has been nice.

Some rainy day pleasures - knitting
Just as my desire to knit something had ripened I got a package of wool in the mail from Iceland. I forgot I ordered it!!

Sourdough flat bread that Ceci and her mom made for everyone at work. It looks like it was cooked on a stone in a rustic Mediterranean village. I toasted mine with blue cheese.

Streaming videos on Netflix. I watched two seasons of Weeds and started a scary British crime drama called Wire in the Blood. EEEeeeeiiiiii - then I try to sleep at night while the wind and rain whip at the windows.

Thursday school was CANCELLED. I couldn't BELIEVE it. Theron was beside himself. But we made the best of it. I decided to be nice and took him to see the Chipmunks - The Squeakual. I've been trying to avoid this. We talked Mike into taking him but then he got busy. One day our friend Carmel asked how her little friend was doing cause she missed him and I told her she could take him to the Squeakual if she wanted and we would give her money. She immediately said yes.
"Really?" I said "Do you want to think about it?"
Carmel: "Oh. Let me sober up and we'll talk about it again".

So anyway, I took him and as much as I like to keep things nice I have to say that was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I wasn't expecting a tight story line, but it was like one of those chain stories where someone starts and people keep adding to it. And it was just stupid and confounding.

It begins with the Chipmunks in concert in Paris. They are a worldwide sensation. We know this because the concert is being watched on a flat screen television by Eskimos, - in their igloo. Complete with a blue-eyed husky.

Then they come back to the States and are required to go to school for the first time(the Chipmunks, not the Eskimos). They are enrolled in high school, mid year. Really? How old are these Chipmunks supposed to be?

There were jokes clearly aimed at adults. For instance, Alvin is playing football and tells an opposing team member that he's going to grind him up like an acorn and enjoy him "with some fava beans and a nice Chianti", and he does the thing with his lips. I thought,that's funny IS THIS OVER YET?

I guess there were lessons to be learned, such as fat chipmunks will naturally fall in love with other fat chipmunks, geek chipmunks with other geeks, and the beautiful with the handsome. But maybe that's true.

It wasn't all bad because come on, what's cuter than chipmunks in dresses singing "if you like it than you should'a put a ring on it"? I just think the movie would have been ever so much more successful (and enjoyable for a GROWN UP) if it had been a live concert movie thingy. In 3-D.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Happy New Year

Birdyhead has been on hiatus because of holiday fatigue and then Ash was out of town all of last week. That meant that Theron and I were in survival mode and nothing happened that didn't absolutely have to happen.
One night I decided to go ahead and have a couple glasses of wine. It lowered my resistance and I ended up on a PTA committee.
"Okay, as long as my husband doesn't find out".
"You're telling me", she said.

I also agreed to be on a professional committee, since I was on a roll. I think I learned to say YES from our head of publicity who asks me to do stuff once in a while. The first time she did I said no, no, no, no, no. By the time it was over not only did I say Yes, but I was thanking her for the opportunity. She's good. Actually, she asked me to do something this last week, too, and I said YES, because it's just faster that way and life's too short to avoid people who know where to find you anyway.

Theron and the dog and the fish all had regular meals. Theron had to set me straight on a few things. Like, yes, he did want a cheese sandwich but he wanted the bread to be WHITE. WHITE as a PIECE OF PAPER. We're worried about him eating enough, so, oh, all right. Oli certainly didn't get enough walks though because if it gets too close to dusk Theron won't go out because of the vampires.

The day Ashley came home I broke the gate and the slide-out shelf under the sink. The next morning I ruined his coffee by shorting out the circuit trying to use the microwave at the same time. So he has about a week worth of disasters to catch up with and boy is he happy to be home!