Comic Con!!

Saturday, we got up early to drive to San Diego.  Luck was upon us, as we didn't run into too much traffic and made good time.  We parked at the hotel, and hopped on the shuttle to the San Diego Convention Center.  Our badges were for Sunday only, so we could only do outside stuffs on Saturday.  We walked and walked and walked.  It was hot and we were tired so we ended up back at the hotel early, where the Mae (we have a tendency to put "the" in front of names in my family) (also, Mary is called Mae sometimes) promptly fell asleep.  In fact, all of us were asleep by 10pm.

Sunday, we hit the road at 7am in order to get to the Hall H line bright and early.  Clearly, however, not early enough.  Some folks were in line at 5:00am.  The Hall H line was the longest line I've ever seen, or stood in.  Christina and I were interested in the Fringe Panel at 10am.  Mary wanted the Merlin panel at 10:30am, and the Dr. Who panel at 12:30, but we convinced her to get in line with us and sit through Fringe.  Good thing, too, as we missed Fringe altogether. Christina went for breakfast.  Mary and I sat through the Supernatural panel for Dr. Who.  Breaking News! I think I love Dr. Who and I've never even seen it.  Maybe I just love Matt Smith.  Anyway, I've Netflixed all the past episodes (recent past, not 60's past).

We walked the exhibit hall floor for a bit, Mary bought a Firefly t-shirt, and then we waited in line (short one) for a Harry Potter panel. Then, off to home, tired but happy.  

Happy girl waiting for Harry Potter panel

Now, my girl is back home already.  I missed her as soon as she went up the escalator.  Thanks for coming to Comic Con with me, Mary.  I love you to pieces.

Too Soon!!!

So, my niece Mary came to see me.  Well, okay, she came to see Comic Con, but since I was her adult supervision, she was forced to spend time with me, too.  Nah, she wasn't forced. We had a blast together. 

Before she came, I kept debating going right from the airport to the beach, since it's so close, or going to the beach another day. I consulted the 5-day forecast, which said that Thursday would be the hottest day last week, so I said, "Beach on Thursday."  Oh, also before she came, I may have made these statements to her: "LA is super sunny. It doesn't rain in July. It gets chilly at night."  Guess which of those was a lie?  Trick question--they were all lies last week.  Thursday was cold and gray. It rained! And she never ended up needing the jacket I made her bring.  However, I was correct about needing sunscreen and reminding her to put it on every day.  So, there's that. 

Happy girl at LAX

Mary arrived on Wednesday, which turned out to be the hottest day, and we walked Hollywood Blvd, then went to the 99cents store (she thought I was kidding when I said we were going there).  After that, we were kind of beat, so we just stayed in for the night. I was going to suggest a trip to the Red Box, but nerdy girl, spying my DVD collection,  shyly asked, "Um, can we watch Firefly?"  Of course!!!  And thus, I have made her a Firefly fan.  Also, she pretty much memorized that annoying theme song on the first episode and kept singing it to me.  

Thursday, well, you know.  We went to the beach after all, and I tried to convince her and myself that the marine layer would burn off.  However, after 30 minutes I couldn't deny the fact that it was 65 degrees and windy, and my poor little girl's teeth were chattering.  We did have a lovely moment in which she read me a story from The Tales of Beedle the Bard.  After we came home and showered, we headed over to Burbank for dinner and a movie.  We saw Brave and cried.  It's so good.

at the beach

Remember back in, oh, 2009 or something when I talked about starting a tour service for time-strapped tourists?  Friday proved that I really should look into that.  We had things to do. She wanted to visit the Getty because a woman in Illinois told her about it, and we needed to find a fruit guy so she could taste fruta like her sister did on her visit to LA.  I wanted to talk her someplace nice for lunch.  Mission accepted.  Since we hadn't seen a fruit man yet (really, LA?), I took her to the one place I know I'll always find a fruit man--across the street from my office.  Fruit procured, we headed to the Central Library so I could show her MY favorite place.  

Mary at the library

Library done, we headed to the Getty Museum, where we admired the still-gray view, the Klimt exhibit, and the earliest known example of photo bombing. 

Gardens at Getty Center

check out the guy in the back

Then, off to a late lunch (or early dinner) at The Newsroom.  Finally, after attempting to visit Gallery 1988 for the Arrested Development-themed art exhibit (for the second time), we went to the Griffith Observatory and caught a show at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, after admiring the night (but still hazy) view of LA.  Phew! I'm tired.  

Mary indulged me with a cheesy pose.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about Comic Con!!!

Last Night (and the night before, and the night before that)

My niece Mary is coming to town!!!!!  I'm so excited.  I love seeing LA through new eyes.  I love showing off the sites and sounds of my city.  Know what I don't like? Cleaning.  Now, I know, she's 16 and according to her Mom, used to being messy.  But I'm NOT 16, so it's a little embarrassing to have her come to my house and have my room like exactly like hers.  

Now, I've known she was coming for quite some time.  Like Christmas, maybe before.  She's coming out so we can go to Comic Con together.  You know, Comic Con, who's tickets went on sale in January or February? Yeah, so I've had plenty of warning.  But I'm a Master Procrastinator, and I didn't start any proper cleaning until last weekend when I cleaned the hell out of my kitchen.  But Wednesday seemed so far away then.  

Cut to Saturday when I suddenly realized that I have four days to really, really clean my apartment, rearrange the sun room/yarn room/guest area, and try to get the vacuum to make some kind of sucking motions.  And Laundry! And wash my car!  OMG, I'll never finish!!! And with that declaration, I didn't.  I kept willing myself to do more, but the sofa's siren call was too much.  

So, last night, I sat down and decided I'd done enough.  I piled all the yarn on one side of the room, leaving enough space for the futon to unfold, and I shall give her the option of sleeping on the sofa if she'd like.  I vacuumed as best as I could.  Then, I went to Subway for a sandwich, and 7-11 for ice cream (Drumsticks are 2/$3).  When I got home, I settled down for a night of movies. 

I'm sure Mary won't mind. 

Venus is in transit, as if traffic wasn't bad enough

Hey, Space Nerds! I hope you didn't throw away your pinhole devices from the partial eclipse a few weeks ago, because you’re going to need them tomorrow to view a once in a lifetime event.  No, really.  This event won’t happen again until December 2117—105 years from now.  What is this spectacular event? Venus (the planet, not the goddess) will pass in front of the sun!

Okay, so it’s not exciting enough to make you gasp and run for your astronomy books*, but it’s still pretty cool.  Also, it take a really, really, REALLY long time to pass, so you’ve got plenty of time to check it out. 

Here’s the details of when to look and what it will look like.  It’s basically a tiny dot on the Sun. 

Doesn't it make the sun look like a lopsided pirate? Arrgh!
photo courtesy of these guys.

So, tomorrow around 2pm, it starts up top, and by 8:45pm, it’ll be done.  Say it with me now--"Wow!"

Not as big a deal as an eclipse, but I'm kind of excited to check it out.  That's just me.

Oh LA Drivers, you continually surprise me. And yet, you don't, really.

Curb Sneakers*--we've all encountered them. They're the sneaky bastards that pull up alongside of you on the right, presumably to make a right turn. Then, when the light turns green, they floor it to cut in ahead of you.  I'm usually wary of any car on my right, even when the lane is clearly marked "right turn only." (I'm looking at you, intersection of Beverly Blvd and Wilton Place)  Depending on my mood, I'll either floor it and make sure they can't cut in front of me, or I'll hang back and let them go. 

This morning, while sitting at the light at Sunset and Gower, a woman pulled up next to me on the right. There was a horn beeping, but since I was at a red light and not doing anything beep worthy, I ignored it.  Finally, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.  I looked over and the woman to my right was waving at me.  I opened my window.  "I'm really late for work. Can I cut in front of you?" she asked.  So many responses crowded my brain looking for expression.  "Lady, we're all late for work."  "Is one car length going to make a difference?"  "You're late, so you're taking Sunset Blvd??"  "Do I look like a poky driver?" "What?? You're asking permission???"  Instead, I just waved her on.  The light turned green and she took off like a shot.

I noticed her zooming ahead, weaving in and out of the middle and right lanes.  I couldn't help thinking of those commercials--better to lose a minute of your life than your life in a minute. Maybe the work she was late for was something, like, heart surgeon and there was a patient waiting for her. I hope she made it all right. I'm still a little taken aback by her asking permission.  I guess manners aren't dead after all.

*Credit where credit is due:  I first heard this term from Dan Novy. I'm not sure if he coined it, but it makes me laugh and I use it liberally.  Thanks, Dan.

Whimsically Dark

Deb over at San Diego Momma challenged us to write a short story inspired by this photo, using the word "empty."  This is very first drafty and totally unedited.  Be nice to me.

This scene reminds me of Delaware Water Gap, and makes me kind of homesick.

Kerri took several deep gulping breaths and willed herself to calm down.  How long had she been sitting on the shore? Long enough for her jeans to soak through from sitting too close to the marshy edge. Long enough for the sun to raise high in the sky.  Not long enough to stop crying, however.  Her shaking hands patted her pockets for a pack of cigarettes, which she left on the coffee table of the now empty house over on Jefferson Island.  Suddenly she remembered all the other things she left on Jefferson Island--her purse, her clothes, HIS clothes, and everything else that tied her to that life.  “Fuck! I have to go back,” she thought.  She wiped the tears, which seemed to flood steadily down her cheeks, and stood. 

She walked back to the canoe, the squishy shoreline sucking at her Keds®, and climbed in. Kerri hated the double-sided oar that her husband bought late last summer after he accidentally lost one while fishing. “What’s wrong with two oars?” she thought.  “It’s not a kayak, dumb ass.”  Slowly, she made her way back to the island, thanking God it was still early enough in the season that hardly any of the summer residents were in yet.  Most of those homes were on the far side of the island anyway.  There was Mr. Myles, who was a year-round resident, but his house was set up far enough back from the shore that unless he was really watching the river, he wouldn’t notice her coming.  She decided to skirt the shore until just across from her house, just in case he was really watching the river.  This meant rowing upstream, but the river was fairly calm in this section and the rowing was not difficult.  This also meant she’d avoid passing over Charles, who by now should have hit the bottom.  “I should have weighted him.  He’s big, but even fat guys float.”  She said a silent prayer that by the time Charles surfaced, she’d be long gone. It was hard enough getting him in the canoe and then subsequently out of the canoe.  The extra weight would have been too much.

“By the shores of Gitche Gumee,” she said to no one. “by the shining Big-Sea-Water.”  She giggled to herself; in her head, she heard Bugs Bunny reciting these lines.  She searched her brain for the rest of the poem. “Daughter of the moon, Nokomis….aw, screw you, Longfellow.”  Kerri’s breathing had returned to normal.  She sighed deeply and began mentally preparing for the days ahead, the trip back to the city by Greyhound (must leave Charles’s keys behind), the new ID, the flight, and a thousand other details.  Lists were good. Lists were calming.  Soon, she began to sing, “She’s the daughter of Rosie O’Grady. A regular old-fashioned girl.”   

Burning Ring of Fire

Has anyone else been having one of those weeks?  I swear I have not been on time once all week. Nor have I left the office at a decent hour, except on Thursday when I left at 6:40 to go to the Farmer's Market for knitting.  And this week was Jeopardy's Power Players Week.  I've missed all the good match-ups. If I leave right now, I might get home in time to see Anderson Cooper play. Maybe he'll have a giggle fit again.

Yesterday, as I was driving up my street, I accidentally bumped side mirrors with a parked car.  I stopped and did the right thing--left a note. But, sheesh, what a great way to start the day.  

Anyway, I'm really just stopping in here to remind everyone in the California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and southern Utah areas to look for the Annular Eclipse on Sunday.  It's known as a "ring of fire" because of the appearance.

Los Angeles will not get the full effect as in the photo, but we should see the sun covered about 85%. Other parts of the United States will see a partial eclipse of much smaller proportions.  The maximum eclipse will occur around 6:38pm, but it starts at 5:24 and ends around 7:40.  Here's a great LA Times article telling you the best ways to view the eclipse.  

Why is this so exciting?  Well, we don't get to see many eclipses here in So Cal, particularly one with this much coverage.  Head to a higher elevation for the best view and have a great weekend.