low tide

Sometimes it is easy to see why people come to California from all over the world. Sometimes you can be overwhelmed by all of the possibilities of every thing that there is to see here, that you can miss the little things that makes Los Angeles great. Sometimes it is months before I see the ocean.

That is just too long.

Today I went to Malibu Lagoon to explore the tide pools at low tide. Low tide happens everyday, few days are optimal and even fewer of those are on a weekend. So take those four days and think about which of those days you would like to sit in beach traffic and that leaves one day. Today was that one day.

Exploring the tide pools is like exploring an alien planet as a giant. Sometimes you step on things and it is unavoidable.

Anemone are everywhere in packs or schools curled up like flowers until water hits them, then they open up to try to catch their prey. The tentacles are poisonous to small creatures, but not to you. If you touch them, they pull themselves into these mounds, that kind of look like donuts. It is hard to capture the colors of these animals. Crystalline greens, silvery creams, pinks, purples and colors I don't think that there are names for yet. If you click to open this photo, you can probably get a better idea of their color spectrum. These things make me wish that I had a better camera.

You have to climb further out over treacherous rocks to see the good stuff like:

Lazy Sea Stars in oranges and purples.
Which when I was young we called them Star Fish. But I guess since they are not fish so they have a new name.
(Pluto will always be a planet to me too)

ps I hate when people pick these up and carry them around

Also further out toward the ocean are this crazy things called spouts that are basically animals that filter sea water for food and then spit the water out at you. I wish that I could have gotten a photo, but they do not spit on queue.

Please do not step on the cute purple spiny urchins. It will hurt, plus you will have to go to the hospital.

We also saw Sea Hares , a couple of crabs spending sometime together that I can only explain as TV MA, plus an old friend pictured below-I guess I am not the only Minnesota transplant here.

(Great Heron)

This is one of the greatest things I have done here, but hey I am a nerd. So, if you want to get your nerd on, go explore tide pools during low tide.

It is these little things that make Los Angeles great.

What I am reading

It seems like I have been double booked with books and book clubs and side book clubs. It is a wonder I get anything done.

What I am reading:
People of the Book
Let the Great World Spin
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Down and Out in Paris and London
The Tao of Wu

I have also found a new addiction called Goodreads.com It is strange to have such an introverted hobby in such an extroverted forum.

Is your address book page for me worn away for me yet?

Yes I have moved a lot. Minneapolis and back again, Iowa, North Carolina, Los Angeles. Lyndale, Burton, Van Ness, Chicago. I can see why your address book entry for me has become threadbare.

As I am recovering from my housewarming party, I realize that I haven't blogged about my new apartment.

I have lived in some great apartments, maybe not in the best neighborhoods, but great apartments all the same. The apartment I lived in across from Paramount was great, but nothing is like the one I am living in now. My building was built in 1928 and fortunately the owners kept the 1928 charm, like milk doors and built in secretaries.

It is two floors, has hardwood floors, iron railed staircases, original stonework, an eat in kitchen, a bathroom with a shower and a separate tub.

My housewarming was a success, 40 people showed up and made our house very warm. It isn't really camera ready at the moment or I would share some pictures. You will just have to come and see it.

"through the 7 layers of the candycane forest, past the swirly girly gumdrops"

Sometimes you have to really work to get home for the holidays to really appreciate it. I have only begun to be able to talk about SNOMAGGEDON 2009. It was that horrifying.

What started out as two girls and a dog (in an Elizabethan collar) reliving their Thelma and Louise trip of 2000, turned into a white knuckle fight to the finish. I think the problem is that we got cocky. After every mile we passed that was supposed to be "near blizzard" and wasn't we exclaimed:

"The weather channel people overreact, this is nothing, these people have never been to Minnesota before."

And it wasn't bad, when it was it was windy and raining. Rain is doable, especially if you are from MN. What wasn't doable was when it turned into a skating rink outside of Story City, Iowa. Like the IADOT said it would. There were so many Semis in the ditch and understandable, they drive like maniacs, several of them tried to take us down with them.

....but you can't mess with the Decker girls. (Well one Decker and one nee Decker)

What was supposed to be a 14 hour trip turned into 21. 7 of that 21 was between Des Moines IA and Minneapolis. Any nostalgia I felt entering my former alma mater state has now been replaced by bad feelings. I'll never need to go back.

At least we made it home for the Holidays.

The one thing I learned about myself this trip was, at a certain point of being awake, say the 24 hour mark, I lose the ability to speak.

What they are wearing-los angeles civil court version

In Los Angeles business casual means jeans and a t-shirt.

The tempest

Contrary to what the news makes it seem, I have not been evacuated and I have not been swept into the sea. It has been raining for several days here.

For LA this is a bad storm, I saw parts of Burbank are flooded and the LA river is finally swelling. A tornado touched down in Seal Beach mortally wounding two people.

I heard that we might get snow today. I'll keep you posted.

Star sighting -judicial kind

I never thought the day would come that I would be snagged for jury duty. I do not have a CA drivers license, I tried not to register to vote until I had to, I have moved a lot, but alas, they found me.

I was told that serving on a jury was a privilege and that was the first thing I thought when I saw the summons in my mailbox. If you could translate expletives into words, I am sure what I said would be something like this:

"How wonderful to be able to do my duty as a citizen, what a privilege."

Serving jury duty was not the way I wanted to start my four day weekend. I sat in a room for seven hours in hopes of fulfilling my citizen destiny. And why, why do they always have to show a video? You know what I am talking about, "The Judicial System and You" my favorite part was when they interviewed previous jurors and she said:

"You know it was a great experience meeting people and spending such a large amount of time with them. In fact we still keep in touch to this day"

I never knew that serving on a jury was a form of social networking, did you?

The highlights of my day were:
Sitting in the jury assembly room with the Director/writer/actor/producer Kevin Smith
Going to MOCA on Grand and looking at their exhibit of their permanent collection, which is very photo heavy, which I like.

I am off the hook for another year, hopefully more.

bonus

Here is a bonus Nora pic in her coming home outfit:



If you notice, she takes after me in the stick up hair department. Good luck with that.

There is a blog, if you want the address please email me at eyemheer2@yahoo.com.

4 years

Today, four years ago, I packed up all that I could carry, I jumped on a plane and moved to LA. I can hardly believe it. Sometimes it feels like I have been here forever, sometimes it feels like an instant.

I still love Los Angeles, maybe even more so now. Maybe because yesterday I was able to wear a tank top and walk around in January. Sunshine does a lot to change your feelings about life. (That wasn't to make you feel jealous, it was just a truth.) I remember when I first moved out here and I would wake up when the sun was shining and I would rush to get outside because I thought the sun would go away. I felt very much like the main character in Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" I was told not to worry, that the sun doesn't go away. It doesn't, with the exception of June Gloom.

I love being able to walk down the street and hear 5 different languages, fresh produce (I am a cantaloupe convert) , the view from my office-ocean, mountains, city, I love the beaches, Pinkberry, seeing the places I used to dream about as a kid and for some reason meeting people who are from Minnesota.

There are things that I miss about Minnesota, like my family, but now some of that family is off to Ohio. (Cleveland Rocks!) A new blog in the works maybe?

I designed this new logo for my four year anniversary. I thought it was time for a change.

I promise to be more diligent about writing this year.

Nora

I was fortunate enough to be able to meet my niece before I left for LA. She was born the day I left and I was able to hold her for a couple hours before I had to leave for the airport.




There is a blog in the works and I am sure an email will go out when it is ready.