My Looking Glass

Netflix Headquarters

Not my photo, but rather one I found on Flickr. I thought it was interesting. I wonder if this is where they house all the DVDs or if they are somewhere else?

posted by LA @ 10:00 PM 7 comments

Phoebe Blue Eyes

This is Phoebe, possibly the cutest cat ever. She has the prettiest blue eyes and an attitude that comes with knowledge of her beauty. She's also very, very sassy and knows how to flirt. She found herself in a shelter after her owners died which is where our paths crossed. That was four years ago, and it took awhile to draw her personality out, but it's been my pleasure to spoil her silly.

When she first arrived to Chez LA, Alfie took it upon himself to bully her and make her feel as unwelcome as possible. She was very intimidated by him at first, but now she teases him and even initiates play between the two of them. Of my three cats, though, Phoebe is the most unpredictable. She'll love you up one minute and then reach out and grab you with her teeth the next. She's also my smartest cat. I've seen her and Alfie compete for a toy. She will cleverly hide the toy and feign innocence until he's given up his hunt. When he's safely disinterested and out of the room, she'll pull the toy out and toss it about delightedly, celebrating both the joy of play and the sweet victory of a successful ruse.

posted by LA @ 2:04 PM 8 comments

The Holy Grail

Mother of God, I've found the holy grail, and here it is:



For those of you too young to know, that's Helen Reddy who introduces Fleetwood Mac. And there are no words to tell you how much I love Lindsey Buckingham. Always have, always will. I think he and Stevie were still together in this which means this is really old.

posted by LA @ 9:33 PM 0 comments

Balancing out the Cynicism

You've seen this, right?

posted by LA @ 2:54 PM 1 comments

Trader Joe's, I Wish I Knew How to Quit You!

A break-up Letter to Trader Joe's. OMG, totally!

I am on record as saying that, if I were on a jury of someone who shot up a Trader Joe's, I would acquit. I haven't had the balls to break-up with TJ's yet, but sometimes I feel exactly the same as the the writer of this.

posted by LA @ 2:41 PM 4 comments

Adding Links on your Blogger/Blogspot Template

I started to write something very boring and tedious which I just wiped out because I found that Blogger/Blogspot already has a great page that explains how to edit your links right here. It's much easier than what I was trying to explain! Joy, Pix, and Bird - go there and try it. Jane and NV - Your templates don't have links on them, so short of telling you to either change templates or add the code in yourself to the existing template, I don't know how to help you. Sorry guys. Anyway, I hope it works out for everyone.

If not, here's a hot picture of Jake having zero chemistry with Fishsticks to enjoy. That he clearly has no warm feelings for that cold trout fills my heart with happiness. God, he looks like he is just barely tolerating her. I think I've seen that same expression before on Chris Martin's face. I think the other guy is the director of Proof, the film they did together.

posted by LA @ 12:16 PM 6 comments

Me Singing

You can see the rest here, but here's some of the tomfoolery that goes on at these gigs (see previous post). Taken with a cheap throwaway camera three years ago on my 40th birthday. God, my hair started out so cool that night, but my hair is very curly and as the night wore on and the heat and moisture built up in that club, you can see my bangs curling up. I use better products now to keep that shit from happening. ARRGGHH!

posted by LA @ 11:14 AM 13 comments

Say what?

Every year around this time, my brother's old college band gets together to play in L.A. Every year, I am their guest chick singer, and this year is no exception. I usually sing No Doubt or Pat Benatar, or the perennial standby favorite, "I Will Survive."

I had dinner with the siblings tonight, and during the meal, my brother turned to me and said, "Oh by the way, you're doing a new song this year." You'll never believe what it is.



Oh, hell yeah! And you know damn well I'm going to learn at least one verse in German.

And for JoyD and Jane/Gen who love food posts, I don't have pictures, but here's what we had for dinner tonight. First off, le cuisine etait francais. We ate here, at La Creperie. The appetizer was:

CREPE VENDOME
Crispy, savory crepes filled with melted Brie cheese, slices of apples, caramelized onions, green peppers and chicken with mango and lime chutney.

Next up, main dish, I enjoyed my:

POULET MONEGASQUE
Chicken breast, artichoke, tomatoes in a basil garlic and cherry wine sauce.

Finally for dessert, we split and totally devoured:

HOT FEELING
Cinnamon, sugar and butter

Dessert sounds simple, but it was delicious. Cinnamon is one of my favorite flavors; I think it's totally divine.

posted by LA @ 11:24 PM 6 comments

Color Quiz

I took the color quiz courtesy of Pixie's link. (Thanks!) I think memes are fun, but I also try to space them out.



LA's Existing Situation

Sensuous. Inclined to luxuriate in things which give gratification to the senses, but rejects anything tasteless, vulgar, or coarse.


LA's Stress Sources

Feels that life has far more to offer and that there are still important things to be achieved--that life must be experienced to the fullest. As a result, she pursues her objectives with a fierce intensity that will not let go of things. Becomes deeply involved and runs the risk of being unable to view things with sufficient objectivity, or calmly enough; is therefore in danger of becoming agitated and of exhausting her nervous energy. Cannot leave things alone and feels she can only be at peace when she has finally reached her goal.


LA's Restrained Characteristics

Feels cut off and unhappy because of the difficulty in achieving the essential degree of cooperation and harmony which she desires.

Circumstances are restrictive and hampering, forcing her to forgo all joys and pleasures for the time being.

Clings to her belief that her hopes and ideas are realistic, but needs encouragement and reassurance. Applies very exacting standards to her choice of a partner and wants guarantees against loss or disappointment.


LA's Desired Objective

Seeks the determination and elasticity of will necessary to establish herself and to make herself independent despite the difficulties of her situation. Wants to overcome opposition and achieve recognition.


LA's Actual Problem

Afraid that she may be prevented from achieving the things she wants and therefore demands that others should recognize her right to them.

LA took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Seeks the determination and elasticity of will nec..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

posted by LA @ 11:20 PM 7 comments

Alfie

 Momma's boy! 

posted by LA @ 9:09 PM 11 comments

Not to be outdone...

 Not to be outdone by Cleo's unlikely display of affection yesterday, Alfie got into the act today by staying right by my side. Here he is momentarily distracted by a bird flying past the window behind me. Otherwise, he spent the day sitting at my desk, staring at me or working his way into my lap as I attempted to work. 

posted by LA @ 9:04 PM 1 comments

Turns out, I'm not an angel at all!

You're a goddess! Forget angels, it's all about you.

Angels serve god, right? So why not be a

goddess? Hold on there, girl, and easy with

the fame. A Goddess is absolutely the most

beautiful, powerful, and magic being alive

there is, but they can tend to be quite

obnoxious. Some goddesses go a little too far

with their power, and turn greedy and

shallow. Good ones are pure and full of life,

and if on earth, flowers sprout at their

steps. Others decided to live in a palace in

heaven with such beauty never known. They

are very kind and good leaders, but can tend

to be a little lazy, jealous, greedy, and

obnoxious.


What Kind of ANGEL are you? (For Girls only) This Quiz has amazingly Beautiful Pictures!
brought to you by Quizilla

(For the record, I'd love to be able to edit that graphic to say "you're a goddess" instead of "your a goddess." I also corrected the misspellings in the above paragraph. I guess I am obnoxious!)

posted by LA @ 11:15 PM 3 comments

Eye Candy

 Anyone want to guess who this is before I reveal his identity? Hint: He has famous parents, his mother even more so than his father. 

UPDATE: PixieGaf guessed who this was on the first shot. This is Carlo Ponti, Jr., Sophia Loren's son. Nice!

posted by LA @ 10:40 PM 9 comments

One More of Cleo

 Here she is, trying to transcribe a medical report. Seriously, what she was doing in this picture was reaching out and tapping my hand as I typed, which is her way of saying "pet me." 

posted by LA @ 10:30 PM 2 comments

Cleo on the Job

 Cleo doesn't give me too much love, but maybe because I was away for five days, she decided to come sit next to me for awhile as I worked. She was in a good mood, so I took some shots of her. She's a pretty girl, my Cleo. 

posted by LA @ 4:52 PM 5 comments

Cleo Helping Me Work

  I love the way her tail is hanging off the "bread board pull-out" on my desk. Don't you just wanna give it a playful little tug?

posted by LA @ 4:51 PM 3 comments

Yarn Orgy Weekend

I'm back from my weekend at Stitches in Northern California. I was delighted to see that the Silicon Valley is really quite beautiful, and I can say I understand the draw. The show was at the convention center in Santa Clara, and this is some of the yarn in our booth before we sold all but 48 skeins of it. A close-up follows.

A group of 20 of us had an excellent fusion dinner on Santana Row at a restaurant/bar called Straits. I could totally get into living there, too. I had no idea there was any culture at all in San Jose. Even though it's purely new and hipster, at least they're trying.

So this was one of those trips where you eat, drink, shop, and knit. I won't bore you with details, but if anyone reading this knows what Noro Silk Garden is, they'll be amazed to know I got a bag of ten skeins for $60. I got Nicky Epstein's new book , too. She's a doll, by the way. I had a nice chat with her at our booth one morning before the show opened. She let me try on a new design of hers (a poncho) that's coming out in the UK version of Knitter's magazine. It's beautiful; look for it.

By the last night, the cold I was nursing sprung into full bloom, and I actually went down to the little shop in the hotel and bought some 10-dollar NyQuil. You know it's bad when you pay street prices for over-the-counter cold medicine. It did the trick, and I slept well and felt well enough to hang out back in the showroom all day the last day.

These two shots are long exposures taken first during our descent and then getting ready to land at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. We sold so much yarn that we were able to break down and get out of there early and get home at 9:00 instead of 10:30 pm. I confess, my favorite part of any trip is coming home. And to top off this homecoming, there was a note that a package had arrived and was in the refrigerator. I opened it to find a friend had sent me cookies and milk for my birthday. Seriously click on that and scoll down to see what I'm talking about. It was the perfect snack before going to bed!

But the fact remains that, even though today is my annual solar return, I need to rest tonight more than I need to party. So I called my family to postpone our evening out to celebrate, and now I'm going to pop some street-grade NyQuil, have some milk and cookies, and call it a weekend.

And for those of you who don't know, one of my favorite writers committed suicide one year ago tonight. His widow offers us this gift today by which to remember him. RIP, HST.

posted by LA @ 6:32 PM 6 comments

Best In Show

How cute is Rufus? I love Bull Terriers, and I'm glad to see this happy guy win the big prize!

And how cute is it that he kisses his trainer?

Okay, this will definitely be my last post until the weekend is over. Everyone have a good one!

posted by LA @ 7:52 AM 17 comments

Humuhumunukunuku apua'a taken at the Waikiki Aquarium

Getflix - Look what I found on Flickr! I think this fishy is so beautiful! It looks really big, like maybe the size of a an adult woman's hand. Are they really that large?

posted by LA @ 10:26 PM 8 comments

Stitches

I leave Wednesday for a 5-day trip that is essentially a yarn orgy. There's a big retail trade show called Stitches West (there are Stitches East and Stitches Midwest events as well). It's being held in the heart of the Silicon Valley, so who knows, maybe I'll see Steve Jobs wandering around, ipod headset in his ears, fingering the alpaca and cashmere. What you see pictured is two of the eight shelves I have filled with my yarn supply. I realize that to some people, it would appear that I have a small yarn store in the making, but I intend to enhance my stash while I'm on this bounty hunt. I get back Sunday night, and then Monday is my birthday. I'm not sure if any of the other knitting freaks I'm traveling with will have their laptops with them (I don't have one myself), so I may not be able to blog nor read Dlisted for nearly five days. Sometimes we have to suffer for our art.

posted by LA @ 9:59 PM 7 comments

Broke Ass Cantina

I can't be 100 percent certain, but this might be a Brokeback Mountain parody.

I found this little restaurant slash cantina slash comedy club a couple blocks from the Press Telegram building which is the (only) site in Long Beach that is going to be redeveloped into affordable lofts. I mention this because I'm honest-to-goodness keeping my eye on this project as a potential future place of residence. You see, the term "affordable" is code for "possibly within my price range, but we'll see." So if you extrapolate into the future, I may someday be a regular at the Broke Ass Cantina.

posted by LA @ 8:41 PM 11 comments

Welcome to the Dollhouse

I went drive-by shooting with a friend today. Of course, when I say "shooting," I'm using a camera, not a gun. We happened upon this little "Hansel and Gretel" house that I thought was pretty sweet. Next time, I need to park and spend a few minutes setting up. That way, I may actually manage to get a shot without a street light in the way. But it's still worth clicking to see the details of this unexpected little delight.

In the meantime, I'm listening to Stevie Nicks, the weather is good enough to have the windows open, and all is right in the world.

posted by LA @ 8:32 PM 10 comments

Jake of the Week

posted by LA @ 4:36 PM 1 comments

Neon Yellow Lapel Splat

My brother's band, SuperPlate, played Harry O's in Manhattan Beach last year. I was pretty surprised when I uploaded my pictures the next day to find this clown standing between my sister and one of our friends. No clue who he was or why he was dressed that way, but perhaps the neon yellow splat on his lapel offers some insight.

SuperPlate returns to Harry O's on March 25.

UPDATE: OMG! Someone at flickr pointed out that this guy appears to be Disco Dan personified!

posted by LA @ 10:38 PM 7 comments

Super Bowl Redux

I'm a total idiot! I didn't know that the Seahawks had moved to the NFC and are no longer division rivals of the Raiders! Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway because I won a quarter in the football pool. Obviously, you didn't need to know a damn thing to win the cash!

posted by LA @ 11:04 PM 0 comments

Super Bowl XL

I'm off to a Super Bowl party at my brother's house. I think there are going to be some major sports fans at the party as my brother is employed by one of the two major cable sports channels. As I understand it, the teams playing this year are the Steelers and Seahawks. Believe it or not, I used to follow the NFL religiously, but that was years ago. I was a fan of the Raiders which would dictate that I should hate the division rival Seahawks and want the Steelers to win. Truth is, I have no opinion and don't care. May the best team win, and I hope it's not a blowout like so many of these championship games are. I'll probably slip off to another room with my knitting to catch the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.

posted by LA @ 1:13 PM 1 comments

Detroit loft available

On Craigslist today.













$6000 - 1 BR Studio/Loft next to Ford Field SUPERBOWL

Urban 1 br studio/loft available for easy-access Superbowl rental. Literally steps from Ford Field. Airy loft-style abode with skylight and post-modern decor located right in the heart of the action. Hurry--this one's sure to go fast!!!


* yes -- cats are OK - purrr
* yes -- dogs are OK - wooof
* this is in or around Brush & Adams
* no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests


Here's the posting.

posted by LA @ 12:59 PM 1 comments

Landslide

Let's get one thing straight from the top. I'm 42 years old, and to this day, Stevie Nicks rocks my world. I'm listening to the original version of Silver Spring (not Springs) right now, and to my ears, it sounds as fresh as it did the day it was released as the B-side of Go Your Own Way. Which is why I need to say how disgusted I was yesterday when I was driving home from Trader Joe's and heard Smashing Pumpkins' version of Landslide. Billy Corgan's vocals are an abomination and should be banned from decent society everywhere.

::: sniffs the air ::: 

posted by LA @ 8:44 PM 4 comments

I'm a bitch who stitches

It seems a major controversy is going down in the stitching community. You can see the chronology of events here. To briefly summarize, a mostly-sewing-but-also-knitting-and-other-crafts shop in New York got a thread hair up its ass and is harassing knitters who use the term "stitch and bitch" and/or its variations, claiming they own the trademark to the words.

They have forced the Yahoo Stitch n Bitch groups (over 1700 chapters!) plus others to close down and have attempted to re-create these groups under their own umbrella through their website's message boards. Understand, these SnB groups are social, not for profit, and this sewing shop has nothing to gain by shutting them down on Yahoo or by getting these groups together under their own auspices. They do, however, have a lot to lose.

Whether they "own" the words "stitch and bitch" is up for interpretation, but what is clear is that they are alientating crafters worldwide with their aggressive methods and attack (or "attach" as their marketing manager spells it) on the knitting community.

I totally agree with the comments of this blogger here.

And I mock and ridicule the shop's marketing manager who wrote this insane missive (page two). Dude, pop a Valium and chill.

Peace out.

posted by LA @ 12:20 PM 2 comments

Over

 
Couples are splitting right and left. This is another one Ted Casablanca broke several weeks back. Lance and Sheryl are done. 

posted by LA @ 11:38 PM 5 comments

Update on the Locklear-Sambora split

Damn, Richie Sambora apparently didn't know his wife was filing for divorce! Damn, Heather, that's cold! But then again, how could he not know? I knew ever since Ted Casablanca broke the story back in November. I mean, maybe he didn't know exactly which day it was going to be, but it was Camp Sambora who gave Ted the scoop before Thanksgiving, so Richie couldn't have exactly been blindsided by this.

Let's just sit and wait this one out. I think there's way more to this story than "they grew apart." But I really do feel bad for that little girl. Ava totally has her mother's eyes.

Only a freak like me would notice this, but on page 4 of the divorce petition, right beneath where it says, "CASE NAME: LOCKLEAR - SAMBORA DISSOLUTION," Heather is listed as the petitioner, and her last name is misspelled as "Locklelar." I'm sorry, it's the editor in me, but my eye just gravitates there.

posted by LA @ 1:48 PM 7 comments

Frida

I don't remember when I beaded this (2002 maybe?), but it's based on Frida Kahlo's painting entitled "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and HummingBird," 1940.

I love beading as much as I do knitting, but I love them in different ways. One is passionate love and one is peaceful love. It's hard to describe. Let me work out in my brain what the difference is, and I'll see if I can't elaborate in the future.

posted by LA @ 12:27 PM 7 comments

What Not

Here are some links to keep me you entertained. Warning: Lack of political correctness ahead.

Guilded Moose's Quick and Easy Guide to the Oscar Nominations - The author breaks it right down to the bottom line.

How Gay Will Oscar Go? - Great editorial, righteously opinionated, and probably offensive to some. The tag line to this piece is, "Handicapping who’ll win, who’ll lose, and who’ll just jerk off." You gotta love that. I especially grinned at the logic the author uses for prognosticating Reese Witherspoon as Best Actress.

List of films ordered by uses of the word "fuck." - Self explanatory. From Wikipedia, no less.

Guilded Moose's review of Nicole Narains' apartment. - Okay, this is damn funny. For those of you who don't know, Nicole Narains is the woman in the Colin Farrell sex tape. In this blog entry, the Guilded Moose, my greatest find of the week, reviews not the movie, not Farrell's technique (or lack thereof), not the camera work nor the dialogue (say "fuck" much, Colin?), but critiques Nicole's apartment! Confession time. I have to admit that I've seen the video a couple times. And to tell you the truth, I was having some of the same thoughts as Guilded Moose. Actually, I was appalled that Farrell didn't offer to pony up for a suite somewhere. Clutching at my heart is Nicole's cat desperately seeking attention from its mistress.

Personality Quiz - Finally, take this easy personality test. My results were spot on.

Introspective Sensitive Reflective

You come to grips more frequently and thoroughly with yourself and your environment than do most people. You detest superficiality; you'd rather be alone than have to suffer through small talk. But your relationships with your friends are very strong, which gives you the inner tranquility and harmony that you require. You do not mind being alone for extended periods of time; you rarely become bored.

posted by LA @ 6:48 PM 0 comments

Divorcing

The inner groupie in me should be thrilled about this, you know, with Richie Sambora being back on the market (New Jersey Italians have a special place in my heart); but really, I'm sad to see Heather and Richie split. Their daughter is totally gorgeous!
 

posted by LA @ 3:39 PM 2 comments

Apathy is the New Prozac

Longtime readers from my old blog may be wondering what happened to the outspoken and strident (politically and otherwise) LA. I mean, a complete fascist was just confirmed to the Supreme Court, our idiot president just spun more fictional fairy tales on television, and that imperialistic uber-bitch of daytime talk just burned another author at the stake to placate her swollen-yet-fragile ego. Typically, these types of events would inspire me to write volumes of impassioned discourse. But as you can see, I haven't addressed any of those items in recent days, focusing instead on pedestrian matters such as the Academy Awards and Jake Gyllenhaal's supreme hotness. And don't get me wrong, I am passionate about the latter. But still, you may be wondering, what gives?



No, not Prozac. I am presently antidepressant-free for the first time since shortly after 9/11 and that big dose increase after my dad died in 2003. Nope, there's nary a trace of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor floating around my synapses. My neurotransmitters are as pure as the driven snow.

Fact is, I'm just plain tired.

A family member was marveling the other day at my obsession of late with celebrity gossip in general and Jakey in particular. My response was that basically, it's all I have the energy for right now. It's meaningless and irrelevant, so it can't hurt me. Bring it on and let me drown in it. The political culture in this country has left me feeling absolutely powerless, and it really hurts me when I think too hard about all the shit I can't affect. I suppose that's a defeatist attitude, but honest-to-god, it's the best I can do right now. Things are so unbelievably fucked up that I've become numb to anything of importance, and the only curiosity I can muster up is over whether Wilmer Valderrama celebrated his birthday the other day at Level 3, Mood, or Club LAX. (It was Level 3.)

Trust me, I know this is all very, very sick. I'm one of those annoying people who never has her television on, but I'm thisclose to ordering cable so that I can watch HGTV 24/7. Decorating, knitting, and celebrity gossip will serve nicely as my insulation from the big bad world.

Speaking of knitting, something funny happened the other day. I organize a social knitting group that gets together typically on alternate Fridays. The local yarn store that I frequent has an annex a few store-fronts down with comfy sofas and chairs and music set up for people to come by, relax, knit, have a drink, and enjoy themselves. Coincidentally enough, the room is called The Annex, and so we call our meetups Annex Knitting.

At any rate, we got together last Friday afternoon, but I had to leave early to go to a hair appointment. Fast forward a couple hours later at the salon. I was sitting there in foils while my color was processing when someone opened the door and called in to say, "excuse me, is LA from knitting here?" I turned to see someone who looked vaguely familiar, and I said, "uh, yeah, that's me." Long story short, she had gone looking for me at The Annex to get some advice on a shawl she was working on that I knit last year. They told her I was getting my hair cut in Naples, so she tracked me down and found me in the third salon she tried. Pretty fucking funny. Here are some pictures of the shawl in question. I worked on it for 2-3 months last spring/summer. It was designed by one of my favorites, Jane Slicer-Smith. It's made with a wonderful soft merino wool, and I completely love it. But maybe it's not a shawl, and maybe I should call it a security blanket.

posted by LA @ 10:39 PM 2 comments