bum ba-bum bum

meeeeeee (hope you sang that, to the tune of the tums tv commercial of old...) i've just not wanted to write for some time... but this morning i realized it's that i haven't wanted to get on my computer because then... i have to... pay... ...
BILLS.
with this realization clear, i leaped up, turned on the ancient laptop, got it done. relief!!!
don't know why i procrastinate so at times. mebbe cause i don't have other bad habits, other than occasional descent into considerable depression & self-pity (& binge eating)... i rip articles from the NYer mag with plan to read them later. there was one on procrastination i kept for some months. but of course, i never read it. (badump-bump!)
geez, it's been a month since i wrote. i had my sobriety bd: 20 YEARS! didn't go to the international drunks convention in atlanta (HOTlanta, as dan m called it). got beautiful flowers from friends, pearls from james, cards, cakes, sobriety chip. my bd was a big huge happy wow. :)

Photo by Kaykay Jagger: me on really nice Roland, James w/new guitar.

mama recently had a 50 years reunion of her bakersfield college choir, the little choir that toured & sang all over europe, becoming the first americans ever to win wales's prestigious eisteddfod festival. at the college, i got to see their informal "concert" (they'd had just one practice) & with the first notes, dad, me, & the man to my right burst into tears. the sound of all of these reunited septuagenarians was that beautiful, that moving. we were watching something special & unique, all these talented once-20-somethings reconvened as 70-somethings, voices & hearts still so filled w/soul & conviction. choir director joe huzsti, who with his wife melinda have been huge life-long mentors to mama, talked about what this choir always has meant to him, tho he's since traveled the world many times, winning  many awards with other, more prestigious choirs, teaching musicians who've gone on to greatness. "they have a special something," he said (i paraphrase), delivering song so sincerely & w/a commitment that makes young musicians sound comparatively plastic. i thought of james. i thought of me. we're certainly not classically-trained maestros, but we are hard-working, hard-loving, hard-stomping & dedicated musical preservationists. the greatest compliment i ever got, i think, was from david nigel lloyd, who called me a "working-man's musician."
mr huszti was on the nose: no matter the musical genre, a few off notes, some clams, if sung or otherwise performed with unabashed, undiluted heart & soul, beam a life force that leaps from stage into the heart of the audience. such a performance can't help but move, being human, humane, transcending rather than "perfect"!
i'm so grateful i got to be there, as well as to help at the after-party at mom & dad's house! what nice folks! what talent! what testament to the power of music & hard work & love!
james has been having a wonderful time lately at his shows, both w/the newly-invigorated band & with me. he says so, & i can tell it's true. i'm so pleased for him!
we've gone out of town left & right. traveling, gigs, visiting family. friends have visited. we've played many music shows together, good, middling, great, fantastic! gotten magical feedback. i've worked at the library. still like it, still disconcerted to be doing one task at a time. i can get immersed in putting the books in order, tho. arranging all the deweys on all the books' spines is calming yet exciting, lulling, tranquilizing yet invigorating, like counting my footfalls when i run. that's the other thing! i've gotten to do some really cool jog-runs! and lotsa fun yardwork! even got some tomatoes growing, tho some butthead varmint's been eating them. and we've had a great time in the morns watching the birds, squirrels, & chipmunks chirping & hopping & munching & splashing at the birdbath/feeder area we set up under the window amongst some trees. the quail have birthed a new branch of the covey, so there's at least 20 of them running around here now, cooing so cutely, fatly, sweetly.
saw a coyote in the arroyo & for the 1st time since i watched one eat my cat in 2011, i didn't wish i could shoot it with a bb gun. as james has said, he's just trying to make a living. other than a deer, bunnies & hares are the only other animals i think i've seen... oh! and the biggest horny toad ever! i guess all the creatures have come down out of the forest to Civilization in search of water...
that's this wkend's biggest news: a huge storm washed in on tails of gulf hurricane. rain was beating the house like the band & i was sitting w/peeweenie (his name when he's being a turd) when i heard a great rushing swooping roar. i ran to the window & what a sight! storm runoff from higher climes had plummeted down the ever-dry, parched arroyo, creating a shooshing restless riverlet, a swifting running muddy creek! i got on galoshes & ran down there to chronicle the event... it smelled wonderful, like colorado used to (sure it still does, but i don't go there no mo) like wet pines, sage, earth.

Mt Pinos rocks (photo by Harriet H) from hike w/H

here comes the rain again! a cool heavy steady mountain shower! the rumble & flash of thunder & lightning! so invigorating! so scary! so beautiful! so overwhelming!
life! ah, life! we have it! :D

it's a beautiful-evening ramble...

yesterday i learned that dear bobalu, front porch bob of long beach, ca, passed away. it was a really sad day, but touchingly comforting, also, to see all the love pouring out on social media in memory of bobalu. he saved james's life one time, & just for that reason alone, i love the man. but he just was a very likeable guy, & my gut ached all afternoon as i waited for james to wake so i could tell him. it was a somber eve once i did, but for the right reasons: mourning the loss of a good man. today when i got home from work, james told me pink arguello & co, all the musicians, will install a plaque at the new front porch, housed now at long beach's golden sails club on sunday afternoons, in bobalu's honor. he would've appreciated that.
just had a nice jog in the evening hills, slow but very nice, breezy, after warm nap with husband with soft wind blowing in through lazy golden curtains, before which was relaxing delicious late lunch in cool spacious dark mexican restaurant with smiling waitress, before which was work. i like my library job a lot. "it's so civilized," i tell everyone. that is my overriding opinion: no hoop jumping, no cat herding, no lion taming, like when i was a public school teacher. i can enjoy the children who come in, smile with them, joke gently with them, pull out books for them, appreciate them. no blasted stifling standardized lessons, no disciplining, no confrontations, no dog & pony shows. i also can have fun with students kid & adult in my library language mini-classes (volunteer). i love putting things in order, so shelf reading is quite pleasing. i catch errors; i'm a detail person, so it's a skill i can add. i realize my brain still works. so happy for that. sometimes in the past years (since "retiring") i worry i have impending early senility. i realize now it's cause, even w/times of diligent reading & attempts at self-edification, i've not been taxing my coconut enough. work has changed that, fortunately: i have to think, even cogitate. even better than my own edification are the other employees, & especially my boss, all kindly & polite. i like everyone quite a lot. lovely music plays all day long at soothing low volume. the library is clean & quiet. everything is organized. i can add to the order. we have moments to just talk. yes, it truly is incredible to be in the library after a long career in public schools, where every second (except my last three years, when i performed the librarian part of my teacher-librarian position) was push, push, push, the tempo crammed, stressful, anxiety-provoking, tho with moments wonderful in-between, those being exclusively teaching moments & student moments.
the other portion of my "work," music, has been pleasing. most recently, james had another "comeback" show at another venue in long beach. (he's so well-known & admired there, a self-described "minor cult hero," that every single venue where he has a fan base has advertised his first gig there after his near-death scare months back as his "comeback," & scores & scores come out to wish him well, cheer him on, revel in his performance.)
 anthony contreras has taken the guitar playing slot in the blues express; he's played with all kinds of people, chiefly, in my book, candye kane, but i'd never heard him til the other night, & i just loved his clean guitar tone, his lack of "rock" licks, his devotion to tradition, humble demeanor, & youthful energy. "i like the older stuff," he told me, "like the 40s & boogie-woogie." "me, too!!" i said, nearly jumping up & down with enthusiasm. anthony knows the "right" lines & chords for my ear, as does my dear friend manuel (big manny),  as well as how to ratchet the excitement up, like matt samia does, more & more & more til you think the whole place might explode. like matt, anthony, too, has a plethora of inventive melodies; you can tell he's got music & melodic sense coming out his toes. like james, he's a visceral gutsy traditionalist with a  sense of humor permeating his playing. the band bounced & swung all night & my handsome husband, the best band leader living, looked so happy. it was quite a party!
ok, well my muscles are warm & stretched, my mexican-food-filled stomach jostled into better comfort, my head, that cunning idiot, calm. time to shower off the jog-sweat. then i hope we will have a "deadwood" marathon, or i will read magazines.
ah, the breeze... after a life in the summer hell & smog of bakingfield, to live here now & feel the cooling breezes on my skin never fails to move me -- so crisp, so lovely, so inspiring, so aaahhhhh --  my throat catches; i realize my mortality; i am more alive in the moment, caressed by these mountain  breezes.
what a great life. yours, too, i hope.

bliggidybloobedybooooblablablagggghgggghhghgg

 i don't know if my vllaaaaaaahhhhg will upload here (supposed to be above) & i forgot how to compress it, so here is a link to another vid from last month:

thanks for being so nice, all. all yall.
Posted by JamesandJenny Page on Tuesday, June 16, 2015

neither of us are any longer rolling in the bucks, but we're more grateful & fortunate than ever -- at least i am, & he says he is! for instance, yesterday i explored castaic (intending to jog, but it was too friggin hot!) & happened by the roadside (dry as a bone, post-apocalyptic movie road right above the interstate on the old road!) upon an abandoned travel trailer out of mad max as well as some old decking & cement foundation pieces. we'll make something out of it all -- fun to think about! back home, i found on netflix another anthony bourdain travel/food show (james doesn't care for him, but i do, tho he's too cynical to be our friend -- we both love the dorky turtle, andrew zimmern, on bizarre foods, tho; "that's one tough mother**ker!" laughs james). from the thrift shop, i scored a box of pretty tiles, some etched glass fan blades, books for james, & for me a great new read that reminds me of john irving: rambling, funny, shocking, sexy, humane.

"that man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest," wrote thoreau. let's all remember together! kill  the corporate zombie system! death to consumerist suffocation! stay sick, turn blue, to quote the great philosopher lux interior.... bye for now.

squirrel!

1. squirrels & chipmunks recently have been ever-present, scampering fatly, adorably around like cartoon cuties (the little vermin...). obviously down here to find sustenance, they leap straight up to snatch the fat yellow flowers from the elderberry bush, james noted, which they then devour with great fervor.
2. yesterday while clearing brush off the side slope (i.e., raking it madly into the arroyo so it can't catch & ignite our property if there's a forest fire), i was relieved to hear  "our"  quail again,  endearingly rustling & chirping away from the tree behind me. we've been wondering where they went, if hungry predators had gotten them, since all the animals seem to be off their marks, mebbe due to drought conditions. our covey of california quail live. woohoo!
3. a weed i've been pulling up indisciminately, i found out yesterday at the ridge route museum, actually is a medicinal plant called indian tea. cool! it's a nice little museum, another thing that makes me like living here.
4. today all properties must be cleared, & ours, after much back-breaking work, is. :)
5. i realized lately at one of james's gigs one of my delights in life is to stand with back to wall in dark club (preferably with non-alcoholic beverage in hand) watching the action. it's a silky, secrety, fly-on-the-wall, safe & fun, intro-extrovert feeling. i got to make an amend that eve, too, so that was a real bonus.
6.  our duo finally has legs, tho not yet sea legs (more practice), but you can find our page & upcoming gigs at www.facebook.com/whiteboyandjenny ... it's a splendid feeling to work this thing alongside one another... we don't have to teach each other any style elements, like how to "do it right," what to play/not play, what to say/not say, how to sing it, what fits & what doesn't: we have the same musical heroes, references & understandings, plus we are scrappy stompers of song in love who onstage give no quarter! and we want to share the passion & fun with everybody... so catch one of our shows, if you can!
7. what have you discovered, learned or been reading lately? i don't wanna write anymore, so here's a vlaaaaahg.

bloopbloopbloopbloopbloop

still don't feel like writing except to say this life is the best i've ever gotten to have (& no peewees were injured in the making of this video). mo later. be cheery, deary.

no blablablablabla! happy june!!!!!

how are you? i just haven't felt like writing lately... all is swell! :D we are busy with life. here are some pix. this upcoming week we start our duo gigs... i will write more later, mebbe... life is goooood, to quote geoffrey holder (r.i.p.), the un-cola genie of commercials of old (as well as renaissance man & recurring figure in james's dreams!)...

bwahahahahahaha!!! coughsputterchoke rettttccchhhh!!!

bro mike & darling darlene visited from smellay, a warm & nice but too-short visit. little darlene, a pretty, very sharp, eccentric 7 year old who reads aloud much better than many middle-schoolers, snapped this pic of us. the funniest comment, from fb pal james w: "great. now I have captain & tennille songs running thru my head."
ah, hellish wag, ah scurrilous wit! bye for now...

blablablablablablabla

we've been getting a lot done around the mountain house, fixing, rearranging, & building stuff. james says i'm from "the little rascals school" when it comes to assembling things. he, too, enjoys fixing & making things out of what we have sitting around the property. it looks great around here at our "winchester mystery house," better than ever! have had many lovely drives to-from bakoland since we discovered a way that goes thru farmlands & fields instead of along the interstate: country skies, sprawling crops, ranch houses & barns, james loves that stuff, too. :). peewee houdini has been getting out lately, one time out of his new "catio," but he doesn't go far. "didn't you ever get lost when you were a kid?" said james. "you're having fun, yayy! an adventure!, then go, uh oh: where am i??? you get scared!!!"... so i'm working on getting us to atlanta for the 80th international convention of the noble assn of drunks (not its name). i've gotten to go to all the others since sobering up, & dang it, we're going to go to this one!!! problem is, i kinda didn't think about how far away atlanta is. dang! but we're going! an extra lure is the georgia guidestones as well as family in kentucky... it's gonna be swell, even if i have to work for weeks to pull it off!
dad, doug & james all have pulled, injured backs right now, so at least our family main men are able to commiserate, tho they hobble in pain right now... my stupid leg muscle's still pulled, so still can't run. thought it was healed, then pulled it again while clambering up the steep slope out front doing yard work. argh! aging! drat!
well, that's it for now except i must stop procrastinating re preparing for upcoming classes i'm gonna teach... meanwhile, every time i volunteer at the thrift store, 15-20 "new" books jump in the car somehow. megalomania, pyromania, dypsomania: gimme bibliomania instead!!!! (sing doctor demento song.) hoho, heehee!!

so burrr blablabla

i had to stop drinking in 1995, & when i first started going to meetings, all i heard about was "the international" in san diego. every 5 yrs, the worldwide association of 12 stepping drunks has an international convention someplace in north america. i had missed "the international" by just two weeks!! i'd been on some of my last drunks while 100s of thousands of happy sober people were at "the international"!! it drove me nuts & thought i, i'm going to the next one or die trying!! of course, that meant i had to keep the plug in the jug...
back then, several hard-a**es & program doomsayers took one look at my young, selfish, immature newcomer butt & got my number, telling me i'd "never make it."
"oh YEAH???" i sputtered. "i'll show THEM!!" know-it-all jerks!! i would make it!!
then i got cast as glinda the good witch in a 12 step adaptation of the wizard of oz; my main lines were "the promises," which, if you don't know, are that part of "the big book" that tells you all the positive, mature, rewarding things you'll be able to do once you sober up & start to grow up. i'd drive around downtown bakersfield at night practicing my lines, steering & muttering those promises to myself, & realized i WANTED those things in my life!!
all the nice people i met, along w/the promises, the doomsayers, my immediate identification w/the big book, & the lure of upcoming international conventions helped ensure that i stayed off the sauce day by day.
i was in like flynn in bakersfield sober circles for many yrs. i loved helping others, feeling useful & purposeful, like a good person, "part of," yet outside the gossip. i had a strong role model in my 1st husband, a close-mouthed man who, like my dad, just didn't believe in telling tales. i felt good, even great, more uncrazy than ever at many times during those years... we went w/friends to the 2000 international in minneapolis as well as the 2005 in toronto. my dear friend jani & i walked around a colorful international market; we all went to the ginormous mall of the americas; i fell off the rails emotionally & missed seeing ronnie dawson at a local club; we ate thai food & delicious fish; we visited meetings in many languages & walked amongst thousands, thousands of happy sober people. in 2010 i'd just gone through a very sad divorce & went to the convention in san antonio. i saw my ex-husband there as well as throngs of bakersfield friends who'd traveled to the tx gathering in a big cheerful herd. i was in a really bad spot in life emotionally & spiritually then, but the convention was all-wonderful.
the next one's in atlanta. i'll have 20 years. did i mention the conventions always fall on my sober birthday weekend? my selfish part is pleased by this: every 5 yrs, i celebrate my bd not just with the u.s.a., but w/the sober world. i've started really getting excited about this convention, going to atlanta w james, continuing on to kentucky to again visit his loving, wonderful family there, traveling, being sober, having a chance to keep growing, getting healthier, connecting to others, helping & being helped, not just existing but feeling fully awake & alive.
can't wait!!!
to conclude, here's a section from the most important book i've ever read, pp 152-153. when 1st i heard it, at the little church meeting that was my thursday night home for 14 years, my chest swelled & i nearly cried. i grew up loving superheroes. i never wanted to become what i did, a confused, desperate, unhappy, sick in all ways girl-woman who broke her mother's heart, hurt all who loved her, in the vice of a fatal disease. these promises, not the ones i had to learn for the play, are ones that kept me coming back, & still do. there's hope for a new life to anyone who wants it. this isn't the only way, but it's the way that has worked for me.  if you, too, are inspired by what you read below, here's the link:

[Here you will] find release from care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you.

"How is that to come about?" you ask. "Where am I to find these people?"

You are going to meet these new friends in your own community. Near you, alcoholics are dying helplessly like people in a sinking ship. If you live in a large place, there are hundreds. High and low, rich and poor, these are future fellows of [the program]. Among them you will make lifelong friends. You will be bound to them with new and wonderful ties, for you will escape disaster together and you will commence shoulder to shoulder your common journey. Then you will know what it means to give of yourself that others may survive and rediscover life. You will learn the full meaning of "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

It may seem incredible that these men are to become happy, respected, and useful once more. How can they rise out of such misery, bad repute and hopelessness? The practical answer is that since these things have happened among us, they can happen with you. Should you wish them above all else, and be willing to make use of our experience, we are sure they will come. The age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!

Our hope is that when this chip of a book is launched on the world tide of alcoholism, defeated drinkers will seize upon it, to follow its suggestions. Many, we are sure, will rise to their feet and march on. They will approach still other sick ones and fellowships... may spring up in each city and hamlet, havens for those who must find a way out.

it's alive!!!!

Just cleaned house for folks while James & Peewee sleep. When the surgeon cut James open, he said he exclaimed, "What the hell is THAT?" He called in his associate, then another. I know gruff life-saving Dr Heillbron Sr (nicknamed "Papa" by some at the hospital) is written to have 45 yrs' experience, his associate 42, so w all 3, over a century saving lives combined isn't out of the ballpark. They'd never seen a perforated ulcer of James's variety. He'd have died if it'd been a "normal" bleed out, & would've anyway had he not gotten to St Mary's when he did  (((shudder)))...
Below's a pic of us from last eve as we relaxed on the patio w family in the beautiful eve fragrant w jasmine... James lost 25 lbs over the course of what he calls his "event," all muscle, I think, since he's never had a roll of fat. He's started eating more like Dad, little meals about every hour, & his biceps still pop up like bowling balls, so he'll be back in fighting trim soon enough, I believe...
This a.m. Mama & I put together a "little library" to take out to the Friendship House. This is a VERY worthwhile endeavor, & m&d are doing their pt to make sure the books go where they're needed... read about how to start &/or find a little free library ... my finger is stiffening from phone-typing. We can't wait to be back on the mountain. We

are so happy for the gift of life life life.

goodbye & thanks for all the fish...

- haven't been on a "real" computer since march 5. the fateful day! the terrifying day! the day now cautiously but decisively, neatly tucked away in our pasts, not to be forgotten ever, but now put in its proper compartment, no longer our overwhelming reality!
- it's a different life now for us both & all. miracles have abounded, or fortuity, or positive coincidence; whatever it's been, i'm very very very very very very (zenith) thankful! thankful for the good universe, god, order, chance, change, st mary's medical center, beloved family & dearest friends, the indomitable james page, as well as the (we estimate) 20-or-so-thousand people who prayed for him!
- almost ready to write more on what happened... not now, tho. still makes my heart jump & respiration run raggedy!
- many know my husband almost left this earth on march 5. his band wasn't in a car wreck, he didn't get shot or shanked or any of the other rumors. his insides exploded & he was very, very, very ill, but he is an amazingly strong specimen of humanity in heart & body & so now he heals...
- ahh!! arrhythmia!! anxiety!! no more for now!
- i have missed reading aloud (nearly my favorite thing about having been a teacher) & sometimes james lets me read aloud to him & at the long beach hospital that was our home for over 2 weeks, i started hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy with him, one of his & sister angie's favorite (they & the book being weird, smart, nerdy, & silly), & now i can say with understanding: DON'T PANIC and remember... a towel can be a massively useful thing.
- please read w/amusement these quotes from HGTTG
- smiling kindly, wan, wearing one of dad's heavy robes, tender belly filled w/mama's cooking, james just walked in to say hi.
te deum laudamus........................................... fo sho.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

sitting here at my favorite picture window in the office area of our dining room... it's my favorite window in the world cause it looks out on the arroyo & mountains, always a beautiful view. the snow's been falling off & on for 3 days now, all types of it: big & sloshy; icy pellets; soft & gentle; plump flakes; dancing, steady, cascading, plummeting, frolicking, disappearing into the ground, sugaring the trees & earth, forming icy packs; & more. right now, it's falling like movie snow, blanketing the sky & land with quiet white calm. :) except for blizzards (only been thru one since moving here: yecch!! i had cabin fever after four hours!!!), i love the pretty

i am very, very, very, very, very lucky.

snow, & who wouldn't, if not besieged by it, as is happening in the eastern u.s. these days? snow brings cleansing, comfort, contemplation & beauty.
the wide & parched san joaquin valley's been getting rain as part of this weather pattern, & it needs it badly. so happy my dried-out, too-often dirty home area is being washed & quenched by the rains!
back where i lived from 2012-2014, they had a freak snowfall on the beach this a.m., but upon closer reading, turns out it was hail. i'm just glad i'm here now, that we're here, that life is unfolding as it is!!

the universe has been very good to us.

and how are you? i'm just swell, blabbing on a bit in the warm house looking out on the lovely snow cause i'm a little trapped today. couldn't hike in it today cause it never let up enough, but i did a few other times in the past week, always such an experience for which my heart fills w/gratitude & happiness: steps crunching, muscles warm & straining, lungs & heart pumping, breath pluming, inhaling the fragrance of wet pine & sage, enjoying the cool sting on my face, stooping to hydrate w/handfuls of the clean cold white stuff, just standing there, elevation-dizzy & dazed by the gorgeousness all around. wow! on the penultimate hike of the past week, i found a big chunk of deer skeleton for james, a bone collector, the biggest specimen i've brought home to him yet! the poor creature, no doubt coyote-killed, was reduced to meaty ribcase & spine as well as hip to hoof still encased in delicate, nubby fur: macabre, fascinating. james was delighted!
on another front, the other night we recorded 17 songs in 6 hours w/young producer nick, who got everything down w/adept speed & skill! after i laid down all my vocals, i visited my dear friend donna, just around the corner from nick's little studio, for a bit & we had one of our big, gigantic laughs & ate some delicious food she'd made for her daughter's party (& sent home for us -- yumyum!) & we watched a show about the dead sea scrolls before i returned to pick up dear james & we hit the late-late-night road for home... we goofed here & there on instruments, as would happen when going live at such a pace, but the only thing that needs work is the guitar sound:  james is confident he & nick'll get it beefed up just fine. yes, we went live, instruments 1st, then vocals; nick captured the very best piano sound i've ever gotten in a studio setting, really pumping & mighty & rich, as well as terrific vocals from james, who happens to be one of the greatest vocalists on this planet!!... we can't use all songs for a demo or to sell at shows, but we will have more than plenty once the mixing is done!
that reminds me: james's shows start back up march 14 w/a birthday show at LB's shenanigan's & i need to make a poster; he & i start up weekly in taft at the bank this thursday. music music music: we're jumping back in the mighty stream!

donna & i having one of our big snorting gasping guffaws

ooh, it's falling harder & starting to blanket the hills... what another lovely day, i pronounce unironically. i will put up posters for shows as well as more on our recordings as all shapes together... the snow's really falling now as night approaches, but the quail are bobbing & pecking around on the 2nd driveway so cutely, joined now by two new babies!, none of them deterred at all by the cold... meanwhile, peewee the genius cat jumps adorably, trying to catch snowflakes thru the picture window... wish everyone could see it, or something equally heartwarming.

hahahahahahaha... Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!

We recently turned Dad on to Ken Nordine. You must look him up, if you don't know his work. Dad, ever dignified in countenance, is now even more demented, thanks to listening to k.n. :.D
Our trip was just wonderful. Now I type rudimentarily on small device for novelty, prepping to hoof in mountain night to drunk mtg. Am stalling so don't have to finish unpacking from 3 wks of travel, scrub refrigerator of horrors, or create units for upcoming classes. I just feel good. It sure feels good to feel good.
Pic from Honeymoon 2 ... I stopped dying my hair 6 plus months ago... want to see if it will stop at luxurious salt & pepper, like Mama's, or go snowy white, like Dad's. James says he loves my gray hairs. I  love his receded hairline. So it works out getting old together!

happy valentine's day!!!

...to you, yours, ours, & my darling husband. we were reflecting on last yr at this time & feeling pretty warm & fuzzy about our life together. individually, i look back 5 years as well as last yr & feel not just grateful, but amazed by the quality of wholesome love & friendship happening these days. what an unbelievable blessing, truly!! this  is the last day of our u.s. trip (honeymoon 2 starring peewee the wonder cat) & here in this desert hotel w warm sun shining & happy cranky birds singing loudly away outside & james sleeping soundly beside me & cutey hell kitty biting my toes under motel bed blanket, i feel life couldn't be better! to you, the same (cue love boat theme...)

Add caption

vacacione

this is a great time for me, james  & peewee the travel cat. :-) here are a couple foetoes... tonight we look at the map to plot the 2nd half of our happy mighty fun adventure. :-) can't stop w the :-) :-) :-) :-)'s... :-)

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!!