el futuro es ahora!!!

waiting for signore page to awaken so we can embark upon Big Day numero uno... excited & sleepy! we've been nerding out lately watching a lot of smithsonian, pbs, & TEDtalks... the last in particular is so inspiring!! was glad to hear the more-cynical-than-i-am james say yes, he thinks TEDtalks is impacting culture positively, that it isn't just nerds who are being affected, but the greater population. i know francene my friend said this is the "age of the nerd king," so maybe considerations of more than money & materialism ARE becoming more the american zeitgeist (wait -- a zeitgeist can't "become"... i'm still kind of asleep). anyways, the best overall shows we've watched, in my opinion, are PBS's futurestates. here's a link so you can WATCH ALL OF THEM RIGHT NOW!!
these are some of the best short films i've seen in a long while. as a collection, they are overall THE best! my favorites, tho some are quite dystopian, are these: "a robot walks into a bar," "tent city," "worker drone," & the greatest one of all, "PLASTIC BAG"!!! i laughed & chuckled & felt all warm & fuzzy inside thru the whole film; if you're like me, an enormous fan of the great, over-analytical, eccentric, brave, crazy, ponderous, wonderful director herzog, you will love love love "plastic bag."
hope you enjoy the films. times to go awaken the great one now (& i don't mean gleason!!)

very excited very excited very excited very excited!!!

so much fun coming up... have to take a break from computer bc am getting too manic thinking about it all.

"whiteboy" james page photographed by jenny page (shpoush)

this week: a consolidating, positive change that also will save us moolah. after that, freedom! freedom! freedom & music! (and peewee...) don't mean to be coy or covert here, but shouldn't write about specifics til they're over &/or on so i don't jinx anything... but am so thrilled, must mention a bit that good things are afoot! yes, invigorating, pleasing, adventurous things are afoot for james & me, & we'll share that spirit w/others, to be sho!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

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panoramic view from hills NE of bakersfield on a lovely jog

it makes hiking/jogging/running even so, so much more fun, giving many exciting measurements in real time. only problem is, my speed has gone way down as i stop 984 times on each run to check my stats.  uphills are much less difficult when you can see your altitude inching upward w/each muscly heart-pounding foot strike. this is a cannonball glute-inducing method! it's lovely to feel strong, as james would attest; "we're not doing bad at all for our age!" he said.
tomorrow peewee kitty will be snipped & then maybe will garner some tiny semblance of feline sanity, if such a thing's possible. with reduced testosterone levels, he may gentle down enough that we can start him on leash training. my former bandleader & nowaday friend karling used to go everyplace with her black cat baby on leash & i thought it was just another marker of her eccentric ways... now, tho, i know when you're traveling all the time, it's just practical to make sure gato is as domesticated as is possible to domesticate a tiny tiger!!
about time to go finish the final episodes of united states of tara on netflix. toni collette in the title role is a gangly, glamorous/grotesque, labile kind of actress, & the other actors, too, are really swell, really making the show. tho the dialogue's gotten increasingly arch & artificial as the series has progressed, & i don't like collette's interpretation of a most recent "alter" (too broad, in my opinion, to be frightening), i've enjoyed gluttoning out on the show, stuffing myself into a stupor on the entire three seasons in a week. w/its unlimited access to streaming tv series, one to umpteen seasons, netflix has created a new form of binging -- just what we americans need. i guess for me better netflix than any number of other addictions far more nefarious... :)
ps - the best movies i've watched recently on netflix have been these: tomboy (2011, france); we are the best! (2013, sweden); & GLOW (2012, USA) as well as monster (2003) on youtube w/an unforgettable oscar run by charlize theron, the film goddess from south africa. i didn't watch the last one for the longest time cause i thought i'd freak out & that christina ricci would be irritating... but it's a must-watch, most definitely...

happy birthday, elvis!!

am a bit too bored to configure an interesting title for this post... been creating activities all day so i don't have to do responsible things. por ejemplo: angie & doug got us these universal figurines for christmas, so i posed them & made a picture. always tough to draw w/mouse since i'm a lefty & the default set-up of most everything on earth is righty, but the pic conveys the message. used to be i'd toil for hours & hours to get a graphic image just right, but am too lazy to do that now... i've always figured, probably have written here, the bride had just come to life -- she didn't know what the heck was going on -- of course, she freaked out. if she'd had a little time to wake up, think about it, looked at the big cadaverous hunk w/violent tendencies, yes, but an innocent heart, she would've gone for him. years ago i wrote a song about the bride's side of things & that's how i met james: he heard it online, liked it, got hold of me. blablabla; i've written all this here.
our kitty likes peas. and sugary things. if we gave him booze, he'd become an alky cat. it's weird & wonderful how the mouse-faced, damp, palm-sized mat of fur james brought home now is this insane, beautiful, long-limbed, fat-bellied creature, very healthy. years ago, i had a dog i loved so very, very, very much, an adorable, sweet-tempered black & tan butterball with warm brown eyes, soft, floppy ears,  & cute, loyal, comforting personality that would melt any sentient heart. my cousin shipped him from texas & when we picked him up at LAX, he was just a little boy, growing over the years into a precious moose i called "my buffalo." god, i loved that dog & still do, my gusgus -- i keep him & his dog bro roscoe in a drawer in my mind's back 40 so i don't blubber over them -- but his development & growth to me at that time didn't seem miraculous, & this feline's does. every day, the kitty grows noticeably; we are succeeding in raising something! i believe in the next few years we'll nurse other creatures to grow happily & healthily, ones that actually will grow smarter. this cat's never going to go to college. meanwhile we have time to save for a being that will.
well, as soon as james got all the gigantic logs split & chopped, the weather warmed. i don't know if we'll have more snow, but here's hoping. meanwhile, it's nice outside to go for a mountain run if i can get myself to GO. those doldrums kill winds, causing sailing vessels to lose speed, & i'm not much different! least to make headway i don't have to throw peewee the cat overboard, as sailors had to toss to their drowning deaths their animal cargo in those horse latitudes. exercising's just a matter of DOING IT, & i always always love it once i start... once i run out of things to blab on about...
today is elvis's birthday; he would've been 80. my only connection to the king's through marriage: james's uncle gave elvis his first job, when the beautiful boy was 15, at a movie theatre in memphis i should know the name of, & his page family knew the young lad from then on. tonight, brother-in-law doug's movie will premiere at the maya theatre in bakersfield. it's a documentary about human trafficking, & i hope it goes super-well for brother; i'm proud of him, doing such good works. they're gonna even submit the film to sundance! brother thinks big, as well he should, since he is helping to save the world & its innocents...
well, heck, i've read as much as i can read, napped as much as i can nap, wrote as much as i can write, & the bills still need paying & the dishes still need washing... rats!
nothing more's coming from this coconut, so this is signing off from the lovely mountain... time to get busy. :D

feliz ano nuevo!

Belated wishes for a blessed new year from stanley the gingerbread alligator... we had a ball constructing him from gingerbread house kit the gias had brought back from schaat's bakery near lone pine. Stanley was to have been a house, o c, but james had eaten a part before construction began... well, our auld lang syne was happy, & was yours, too? We were loading out of his NYE gig down south when mighty gunfire erupted at 12 midnight. He informed me ppl in LA shoot off lots of guns in celebration & had me stand under the bldg's awning for protection. Home on the mtn, all was clean & below freezing, 14.5 at its chillingest before sunrise; we brought in 2015 w glowing fireplace, crazy cat running wild (he will be eunuchized [sic  quite soon & I expect his hormone-crazed rampages will gentle down), leftover yuletide treats, electric blanket, & roku reruns... did you make a realistic resolution? Mine is to breathe easier in 15, w many I hope reminders & methods to achieve it... it is a beautiful mtn morning here, so am off for a run to town. Happy new year!!