Boo!

Mother Nature

Hurricane Sandy devastates the east coast.

Motorcycles

When I was seven I was obsessed with motorcycles.  Not sure what sparked it, but on Sunday drives to NY I longingly stared out the backseat window coveting every bike we passed.  That Christmas, my parents stuffed my stocking with a plastic toy model.  I was outraged they didn't take me seriously.  I wanted a real motorcycle.  As quickly as it came,  my fixation faded, never to resurface again.  I was reminded of this random obsession as I found myself on the back of a Harley.   I remembered that little girl and knew she would have been ecstatic riding winding canyon roads on an unseasonably warm October day.  When we crested a peak, the cavernous valley filled one side, and the expansive Pacific ocean the other.  Breathtakingly beautiful.

Masquerade Ball

-->

Thousands decked in outrageous costumes flocked to the legendary Park Plaza hotel for KCRW's annual Masquerade Ball.  Five different ballrooms, a dozen DJs and bands, acrobatic entertainers and a back patio lined with food trucks made this an outrageously fun party.  Inspired costumes expertly executed were a reminder this is indeed Hollywood, a community where many people are paid for their creativity.

October

I Heart Reading

What music is to the spirit, reading is to the mind.

Reading challenges, empowers, bewitches, enriches.

We perceive little black marks

 on white paper or a PC screen

and they move us to tears,

open up our lives to new insights 

and understandings,

inspire us, organize our existences

and connect us with all creation.

Steven Roger Fischer

Leap

IF I WERE DYING MY LAST WORDS WOULD BE:

HAVE FAITH AND PURSUE THE UNKNOWN END.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Hospice

My friend MP is by her father's side as he begins hospice tonight. Such a beautiful, bittersweet time. Sending her and her family love and strength as they go on this incredible journey together.

Cabin Fever

AM Homes

I'm a big AM Homes fan, so when I saw she was having a reading at the local independent booksellers I lept.  Her new novel MAY WE BE FORGIVEN is ambitious, witty, and compelling.  Unfortunately my weekend plans may be curtailed due to a nasty cold, fortunately I have this novel to keep me company.

Leaves

It's been decades since I've witnessed the splendor of fall.  Growing up on the east coast, it was my favorite season, a time for fair isle sweaters and football games.  I embraced the chill in the air, in denial that it would lead to the bleak days of winter.  But after twenty years in California, the fall's vibrancy has become a memory.  Thankfully, my recent trip to Kentucky was timed perfectly to bask in the season's colors.  We walked in the woods every chance we got, awed by nature.

Ruins

On the banks of the Kentucky River, camouflaged by leaves and tree trunks, is a stone building that was once The Wild Turkey distillery.  This is moonshine territory, and it is hauntingly beautiful and tranquil. 

Community Center Festival

Stick's father is a musician and has been playing in various bands for most of his life. Fortuitously, his blue grass band was performing this weekend at a community center fundraiser, a stone's throw from Churchill Downs. I'm experiencing Kentucky from the best possible vantage point, that of a local. Loving every moment, and very aware of my Yankee roots.