It's the day we've all been waiting for

Okay, maybe not all of us, but I certainly have been waiting for this day. What day is it? It is December 30th!!! (crowd goes wild). Oh, wait; you may need further explanation.

It is--Katie's birthday!!! (APPLAUSE) Katie who? Why only the most beautiful sister in the whole wide world, that's who. Just look at her.

Check out those big brown eyes. That mischievous smile. (Please note: several bottles of wine were consumed by the time this photo was taken) Those flaxen locks. She's da lovely.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!! I heart you very much.

How can I be getting older when I still feel 25?*

My sister's birthday is tomorrow. I had this weird realization over the holidays and I refuse to believe that we are getting older. I mean, I know I'm just a hop, skip, and a jump from 50, but I don't feel like that way. So, I was watching the plethora of bad holiday movies (Lifetime, ABC Family, Ion, etc) and they all starred women and some men my age who were big stars during our 20's. And the one thing they all had in common was these women looked old. Not just older, but old and kind of tired. Now, I know they can do a lot with make up but dang. I kept thinking, "these women are basically my age, give or take a year, and I refuse to believe that I look that old." It kind of smacked me in the face (so to speak).

My sister and I had the menopause discussion via email. It was not the "Man, remember when Mom went through the change? Let's not get that nutty" discussion. It was "I'm feeling like this...it may be that time." How am I old enough to even consider menopause? My joints are stiff in the morning. My eyesight is shot. Seriously, this morning I thought there was a bug on my alarm clock. No, it was just THE HANDS of the clock. I'm at the "wake up and put glasses on" stage, instead of the "wear them for reading" stage. Crap!

I have hope, though. I saw a "Law & Order: SVU" episode the other night with Jaclyn Smith, Morgan Fairchild, Susan Anton, and Ann Margaret. They all looked pretty good at 60+. I'm saving now for the nip/tuck.

*parts of this blog lifted from an email to my sister.

My old theatre is closed and I'm inexplicably sad about it.

I got a text from my friend, Tami, who is in Pennsyltucky for the Holidays--

"The theatre is closed. They're building a 12-plex next year."

Such a simple text, just two sentences, and yet it made my heart sink a little. I worked at the theater for 7 1/2 years (1988-1995), but really, you could say I grew up there.

The theatre opened in the late 70's as a 3-plex Music Makers theatre, which expanded to a 5-plex, and then was purchased by Loews. They took over an old nightclub location at the other end of the mall and became a 7-plex (5 at one end, 2 at the other). Loews gave way to Sony, which (due to brand recognition issues) became Sony Loews. It's latest incarnation was AMC. I began working there in January of 1988.

I was in my early 20's, going to college in spurts, and still goofy as all get-out. In the next 7 years, I became a manager and learned all about theatres operations--concessions, inventory, money management; how to thread a projector, how to build a print and tear it down, how to re-align the gears of the projector when they jumped out of frame, how to handle an ugly mob when films shredded in our ghetto projectors (which happened more often than I care to remember), and how to rig an arcade game to get free plays. I had my first bomb scare, my first porn movie (although not at the theater), my first car accident--all with people whom I loved and hated on any given day, but would defend with my life if someone else pushed them around. I met some of my best friends there (like the aforementioned Tami, with whom I moved to LA) and made some enemies too. I learned that universal truth (Ladies' rooms are ALWAYS disgusting but for some reason Men's rooms are not), and contemplated life's great mysteries (how man Sour Patch Kids can you eat before vomiting)(too many).

I left on bad terms. I was not in a good place emotionally, having ended a bad-from-the-start relationship with my boss (NOT a married man at the time, lest you think I'm that kind of girl). For a long time, I've had some not-so-fond memories of the theatre because of him. Now, I'll admit, I'm a little nostalgic. Knowing that the place, which truth be told was a dump even when I worked there, is no longer around makes me kind of sad. So many things from home have changed since I left and I've been fine, but this really kind of hits me right there...you know the place.

Goodbye Loews Stroud 7 Cinemas ( In my head, I'm saying that in the voice my ex-boyfriend used on the movie times recording, which was a great voice (very sexy), even though he was kind of--okay, REALLY --a dick to me).

Mother Nature needs her Zoloft

Ah, the weather today. With the sun and the rain and the thunder and lightning. Well, you were there. You know. Oh, wait, some of you weren't. I'll give you a pictorial play-by-play.

When I got to work, there was a rainbow. It was very brief.

bad photo taken with my cell phone out a dirty office window

Then the rain and some clearing and some rain and some clearing and at one point it looked like The Day After Tomorrow over downtown:

good picture courtesy of Ricardo DeAratanha, LA Times

Then the thunder and lightning came, followed by the gathering of every species in the world, one male and one female. Then, the Internet (well, Twitter) exploded with double rainbows over West Hollywood (figures).

photos courtesy of @EvanPow, @Amandadecadenet, and @levarburton respectively. Yes, THAT Amanda DeCadenet. Yes, THAT LeVar Burton. It's a reading rainbow.

Finally, there was something of an actual sunset and the sky turned a pretty orange-pink for about three minutes.

bad cell phone picture again.

special thanks to @WeHoDaily for collecting awesome photos from your Twitter followers for those of us too lazy to do so.

Way to ruin my sister's birthday, Lousy Weather

I started a project for my sister, Katie. Her birthday is December 30th, so I thought I'd send her 30 sunsets from December 1st until her birthday. I was good. I was dedicated. I drove to Venice to get her a good beach sunset. I took a photo with my cell phone while driving south on La Cienega because I couldn't get out of traffic. And then the rain started.

I have taken to sending her stock photos of sunsets in Maui, Honduras, The Bahamas...hell, I even sent a sunset from Mars. But I'm running out of creativity, folks, and the rain keeps coming. I need me a decent sunset. I might just have to turn to MS Paint.

Are you missing the lovely sunsets? Here are some of my favorites from before the deluge. The last one was technically taken after the sun had set, but the colors were so pretty I couldn't resist.

More Missed Birthdays

I don't know what is wrong with me lately, being so absent from the Internet. I haven't played Farmville or Frontierland in so long there are probably squatters on my land. And I keep forgetting birthdays. Important family birthdays, not just random folks I happen to know, although I'm sure I've missed my share of those, too. So, without further delay, a tribute to my fellow Sagittarians (we outnumber all other zodiac signs in my family, which just means my relatives live in wintry states and get bored in February and March).

First up, my nephew Michael (he's the blond on the left; his cousin, Niko, is on the right). Michael is the son of my brother Michael, but isn't a junior because they have different middle names. I love this photo. We take our goofiness seriously in my family. This adorable bundle of mischief and mayhem turned 12 years old on December 2nd. He's the youngest of my nephews (and nieces for that matter) and it's bittersweet that he's nearly a teenager. I remember when he was just a mop-topped toddler running me ragged at Roy Sr's 40th birthday party. Love you, Michael!

Next up, Jess, aka The Dark Mistress Hawthorne, aka The Roy's main squeeze. I guess she's kind of my niece, in common-law? Eh, she's family. She's also kind of camera shy, so there's no photo accompaniment. Thanks for the amazing Chex Mix! Jess is a genius in the kitchen. She made The Roy "Picard Truffles" (Earl Grey flavored, of course) which were heavenly. Anywho, The Jess (goes with The Roy, get it?) celebrated her birthday on December 6th (I think...Roy told me but sounded unsure). I had a card and everything, but I still haven't written in it or mailed it, so....um, Happy Birthday, Jess!

Lastly, we have the lovely Lisi, who turned 21 yesterday, December 17th! Twenty-one! Why are all these kids growing up? Stop making me feel old, you rotten kids. Lisi cut her hair short a few months ago and it's super cute. See? (shhh...I cropped out my sister and brother).Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl,...er, I mean, woman. I love you!


If I missed your birthday, I apologize. Know that you're in good company, though, and that I didn't mean it. Happy Birthday, Sagittarians far and wide. Archers rule!

I'm still here. I'll be fun again soon.

Lest you think I've given up, I just wanted to assure you that I am still here and well. My world has been kind of hellish and stressful, with one crisis after another and none of them really my fault but my responsibility, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I just haven't had the energy to form cognitive thought, let alone blog witty things. I plan to regroup and come back next week with a renewed vigor...or enough snark to blow a hole in the Internet. Either way, fun for you.