little free libraries, angie & missy

the nice local librarian, sue, lets me take box after box of discards from the library donations. these are books the library cannot add to its collection or even sell due to condition or type. (coloring books are never accepted, for instance.) i then get to sort through, adding most to the free little library out front of the house, the rest to school. and some stay with my bibliophile family members bc the variety of books is amazing!! i'm astounded over & over & over & over at the vastness of titles & subjects.
the other day penny was barking her head off outside. i investigated & saw a man trying to look at books in our free little library. most of the tomes within had been ruined by the christmas snow storm; the worst i already had chucked; the remaining, tho still damaged, were readable. i grabbed penny to bring her in so the man could peruse the books.
"it's ok," he said, "she's a good guard dog."
 a few minutes after, i happened to glance out the window. the guy was taking ARMLOADS of books to his car! i later told sue & she said, "oh gosh, i hope he wasn't using them for firewood." (many folks up here really struggle; the weather's harsh in winter, there are few jobs, & if a person's w/o wheels, the steep, steep roads make a hike to the store arduous.) i didn't think that sad thought was the case bc the books still were damp, therefore not flammable -- at least immediately. and he wouldn't be able to resell them due to their condition.
i concluded this guy was a REAL READER &, maybe like i am, grabs whatever he sees that loved ones might enjoy.
i'm so pleased to be the conduit allowing books to stay in kern county rather than going into the dump!
now if only james or i actually could get access to the REAL dump...
(not a hoarder, not a hoarder, not a hoarder, not a hoarder)
yesterday james went to his gig & i drove mom & dad to a wedding out in the mojave desert at the exotic feline conservation center (http://www.cathouse-fcc.org/). the bride has been sister angie's best friend since age 7, a shy but cheerful sprite in love w/cats & rave culture. missy's been volunteering at the place for year & years, meeting her husband there. this place is so very worth the visit! astounding to walk a cement path & view sleek, lithe, gorgeous, lolling, pacing creatures such as lynx, tiger, jaguar, cougar... wow!!
the ring bearer was a serval on leash. the groom wore traditional tux, the bride 6-inch monster platforms, a sparkly mini dress, & bright pink hair in bunny-ear tails. best of all was when my sister got up: she was the minister!! i burst into tears. the ceremony, which she wrote, was funny, silly, warm-hearted & wise. i remembered angie & missy, tiny girls, playing barbies on the steps outside our 1st real house on hollins street in the early 70s. here they were! wonderful.
afterward, we drove along desert roads, abandoned sun-& wind-wrecked buildings all around & a rhyolite mine on the hills in the distance, & had family luncheon at a mexican restaurant to celebrate mary fafa's birthday. it was a wonderful day & only would've been better if james had been there.
this morning i drank coffee, had pb&j, & got to read about 30 pgs of a fun 1897 title from the library discards. the pursuit of the house boat by john kendrick bangs features a bunch of dead famous folks, shades in hades, in search of their ship, stolen by capt kidd. this victorian satire --  hamlet bickers with noah, shylock with samson, etc -- struck me as the granddaddy of mad magazine: absurd, silly, irreverent commentary on society. leading the mystery is sherlock holmes, who in 1897 temporarily  was dead, killed off by arthur conan doyle in "the adventure of the final problem." sir acd was burned out on writing holmes installments, but approved of & enjoyed his character's appearance in his friend bangs's parody.
a penultimate note: a quick search disclosed that assembling disparate characters, real & imaginary, is known as "bangsian fantasy."

blablablablablablablablablablabla

dumped all last yr's pix online finally & found these from last
springwhen we had a really nice time in baton rouge & new orleans

this is a good-nite post. i've tried all day to work on school planning, but it ain't happened. therefore i will just do a little yoga after this, then hit the sack early to get up in the a.m. & work. the weather's been cooperating lately so it shouldn't be too arduous, getting up & getting to work. in fact, it's been dang beautiful here, like a song, a gentle song, a dream, like this morning i get up with my coffee & look out the screen at the shadowed snow-dappled mountain across the way & all these fat little quail chirping & digging & squawking & jigging on the driveway & i think, i don't remember EVER looking outside & feeling such peace, not ONCE, when i lived in bakersfield... dad does it all the time, but i was not awake back then, not really alive in many ways...
life changes if we live! if we live!
i've not participated for yars, but it's still weird there's no longer an art fein presents elvis's birthday bash. those things dwindled to smallish, & last yr i actually did get to perform, tho i guess art thought i'd cancelled & gaped when i showed up. one song went well, one tanked (i assumed the house band'd play it just like elvis did, so that's the way i larned it, but that wudden how it came out). sigh; que lastima. i guess since ronnie mack moved to bakersfield, art's got no partner to put together the show. and so it goes. all things come to an end. the earth, the continents, the oceans, the elvis show, you, me. requiescat en pace.
i was thinkin bout this because the other day i got a facebook msg sent to me from JAMES, my husband, & that is something that's never, ever happened in the 7 yrs we've had a facebook page. and it said, "jenny! i met you 10 years ago tonight! I love you! james." this certainly is proof Things Has Changed Round Here. i was over the moon -- just that little note! he thought of me; he's considerate; he's just as kooky, creative, tough, foul-mouthed, big-hearted, & sweet as ever, but now... responsible & thoughtful, too? my short life is amazing.
we did meet at the elvis show, jan 8 2010, so i always gotta thank art fein for having it, tho james says we woulda met anyways. i've detailed The Story of How We Met on here many times, so i won't go into it again... we were watching rick steves the other night, shows about normandy & scotland & the ireland one was too depressing, with all the warring murals & extremist people shown, & i thought, am i really sitting here with whiteboy james watching RICK STEVES?!?! we were enjoying it, too, tho i realized rick steves might be such a smilingly engaging nebbishy dude cause he's half in the bag mosta the time: all episodes featured a lot of drankin. then i've been reading a book mama lent me, a funny funny thing by peter mayle about eating in france, which after skipping the chapters about wine, eating pigs (nono for me) & frogs (nono for james), was a quick enjoyment, & i brings this up bc drinking to many folks enhances life, but for me, it's death. and my life with james has gotten good, better, best since he put the plug in the jug close to 6 months ago... and  he said not to make a big deal about it
but i will say this: i'm just so very grateful & proud of him. in near-25 years, i've seen so, so many people who stop, then start drinking again, or disappear, up & die, or don't drink & are such  know-it-alls or jerks you just wish they would drink so maybe they would chill out a little, & james, at least for today, is a humble positive example of the sober life. who woulda thought.
who woulda thought.
i mean... who woulda thought.
and watching rick steves, an episode on northern italy, i thought about "the haircut," the one i got in pisa decades ago bc bettie page was on the cover of rolling stone & i didn't know it but it had started a hairdo rage, & the stories that go with that, & the compliments i still get for "the haircut," even tho it's now gray, especially from black women, maybe cause my damn hair's so straight, & i hope i get to go to pisa with james, & normandy, & brittany, & scotland, & paris, & all the places we want to go because now we can, at least today. yes, right now i am so darn grateful tho who knows what tomorrow will bring... i hope good, but i'm not god, so quien sabe.
well, goodnight. but first, oh, how's this for a fine one? “Nearly every night before I go to bed I ask myself, "Have I vibrated in tune with the Infinite today, or have I failed?” (don marquis)

happy new year!!!

we had the most low-key ny eve ever, tucked in bed with animals. i found a countdown on youtube one  minute before midnight, counted down, then kissed sleeping james on the forehead before turning out the lights, leaving the tv on low as it streamed the fireworks extravaganza from london.
eight years ago last night, i slipped out of a gig with karling's band (after our set, of course, & missing phil alvin, who popped up unannounced, but i didn't care, which told me things were REALLY shifting for me!!!!) & met up with james, and then it was on, at least for those days, as it had been in late september, that 1st time we met up, but then we were off again since both of us were mired in bad relationships. those didn't last, but we have.
it was crazy times back then, but not now, not now, & i'm grateful.
to get away from snow, & on heels of christmas family travel (to bakersfield, to orange co), last week we went to the beach with dog girl (well, we took her) & went out one night to see his friend john marx play at a beautiful, beautiful place, grapes & hops, which i'd spotted earlier while walking old main street (a wine bar! but oh, how lovely it was, & they served non-alcoholic beverages & delicious stuff to eat), & the whole entire trip was so happy. here are some pictures from hotel room & a few of james, in one just sitting there yet so iconic at grapes & hops, in the next goofing around with hotel towel & fluff from dog toy that penny had murdered.

and now it's 2020, so let's drink a cup of kindness for this new year burst to life.

holiday show!

today we have our holiday show at school! the teachers insisted we do it on the big stage, so we're gonna do it. i don't think they realize we haven't had much time at all to create & prep this show. the kids came up with all the acts (well, i nudged one that couldn't focus, so now they're doing a variation on whose line is it, anyway?). at the end, the staff is SUPPOSED to sing. james & i will do a few numbers. and i'm so happy my long-haired boys, who can be alienated from school, are going to perform. they are so talented. one, we found, can sing like johnny cash, so that's what he'll do today. the other dropped right in on high hat & ANYTHING HE CAN HIT WITH A STICK & is laying down a perfect 2-beat. this angelic boy is a supremely talented musician; he can play anything. a quartet is performing a play they wrote. when james came to watch a rehearsal the other day, i saw his face beaming w warmth as these little ones danced & sang. middle school is so interesting that way: kids are on the cusp, some still so innocent, others heading into adulthood, some unfortunately much more sophisticated than they should have to be. i am so sad about one of our girls, who was mistreated terribly by some boys. i still have high hopes for this girl, who is sharp as a tack. so many of our kids have horrible lives bc of their adult custodians. then there are others whose only offense is poverty. some parents toil bravely under such conditions. i am glad right now we are reading dickens, & that i get to be there with these little lives, watching them, supporting them, hoping to shape them. i love them so very much now, in my middle-aged years. i am grateful for this change of my heart.

yesterday's show

was so wonderful. so much talent. only one snob. that snob should know even if that snob knew big manny well, manuel would never go for someone being a snob!!! i am trying to get ready for work, but i am overwhelmed with self-consciousness due to having seen a video. my vocals sounded horrible!!! i look like a fat cow!! ok, i'm over it now. i have to go to work.

everyone was wonderful. the snob played really great guitar, schooled by manuel.

james kicked butt, as usual. ruben & raul showed up. jaime & tommy harkenrider are complete gentlemen.

ok, i just heard a school bus go by. i am going to go to work now & be a teacher & not think about screaming into a mike trying to hear because i didn't check my monitor & wearing a dress that made me look like a fool.

manuel would have loved, loved, loved the show in his honor. that's the thing to remember, not a snob & how sh*tty i looked & sounded.

i'm going to work now.

tomorrow!! sunday!!

https://www.facebook.com/whiteboyandjenny/photos/a.511826072306344/1437056106449998/?type=3&theater
updates: we'll have a raffle of little cool stuff for christmas gifts, oneself. raul medrano will be there! when i talk to raul on the phone, it's a little spooky in a nice way bc he sounds so much like manuel in inflection & just what he says, which makes sense since they were friends most of their lives. everyone is happy raul will be there! james will get to see tommy harkenrider, who played in james's band years ago! (i think most everyone played with james's band!)... actually, the so-cal & beyond american music  scene has many cross-overs, connections, & incesty [sic] parallels. i'm not sure what i mean by that except to say everyone seems to know everyone, even when the scene is nearly dead! like with manuel: at various times, he played with karling's band (with whom i played), had mike vernon playing with him (a texan guitar player i used to know), and,,,, and,,, well, i need more coffee, i think. i had many, many connections a minute ago.
...but like we go someplace & see at least one someone with whom one of us have played or one of us met, knew, friends of someone, even when we're out of state, like it's happened in new orleans, in boulder, green bay, milwaukee, paris, etc.. this sounds braggy but it IS interesting, i think... time for more coffee...
aaaaaah. better. (insert ken nordine; man, this is just swell! listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k88msPKWkKY )
...maybe it's not incestuous except where ppl who played in bands together like bros & sisses then get involved, which has happened & near-happened to me before i met james. maybe the connections are more like the three degrees of separation. that does seem to be true. many are easy these days for me bc  james has met so many famous, really bada** people, but let me see if it works, truly works:
1. the resident of the u.s. -> mike tyson -> us
...yeccccccccch.
2. barack obama -> mike tyson -> us.
...i like that one better.
3. muhammad ali ->> mike tyson -> us.
4. lady gaga -> mike tyson -> us.
... maybe if you meet mike tyson, you have indirectly met most people of the world! let's go another direction...
5. arnold schwarzenegger -> james -> me
6. elon musk -> cousin paul -> me
i think it works!

a two-pet night & joy to the world!

peewee on my left, penny on my right... that's the 1st song i remember singing along to, "joy to the world," from 3 dog night, & never did i consider the meaning of the band name til i moved here & learned what perfect bedwarmers pets can be!
and now it's snowing again! returned to frazier mountain yesterday at dusk to a winter wonderland! - to the delightful sight of snow-dappled evergreens & snow-piled mountains & the park filled w snow bunnies, hundreds of them!, their cars lining the roads everyplace, then going up the road, the sky a white mist, more people, more families, laughing, lobbing snowballs, slipping, piling it on their flatlander vehicles to preserve a snowy bit, sledding down the hillsides, what a lovely sight indeed! once home, i was happy to feel that my shower curtain insulating had worked sufficiently as well as the parabolic heater we got last week at the thrift shop, so no need to build a fire, i just climbed under the covers w the pets to finish my book & snapped this pic.
oh boy, it's really coming down now, not in big lush chunks like the other day, but in icy needles bc this afternoon it's supposed to warm into a rain which i hope will not flood "downtown".
there must be over a foot out there; the backyard's mostly buried. so glad for my snow boots & warm sweaters & coats. the holiday spirit is here! i want to make snowshoes! i want to read in bed! i want to write! i want to sing! i want to celebrate & play music! it's good to be alive in this season -- in all seasons, true, but the palpable joy of winter, the promise of christmas, they fill up my heart right now in particular.
i mean, how sweet it will be to return to school & get to continue reading to the kids "a christmas carol," one of my favorite novellas, with scrooge's miraculous change, particularly parts like this, so tantalizing, so scrumptious, so warm & lively (quoted in "charles dickens - food and drink"): It was his [Scrooge's] own room. There was no doubt about that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation… Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam…

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

james took off last night for the harp blow-off one day early, & good thing! i woke up to this:

in other great news, my funk of the other day lasted only a few hours... such an improvement over the long-lasting blues of (i hope it remains in) the past! the sun is come out now... such a beautiful thing, all the fluffy whiteness below that deep blue sky with cottony billows scudding across! well, just caught a video on facebook fort tejon chp stating they'll keep the grapevine open, so after breakfast, i will pack up girl dog & make a break for it!
happy hollydays to all! if you in smellay area tonight, go early to this to watch james destroy the stage then maybe chuck-berry- or maybe elvis-like, leave the building... https://www.facebook.com/events/2417149781858951/
here are pix from recent 5k i did w/christy z at fort tejon... and only 5 people showed up!! that night i did 5k w/sis in bakersfield, blacklight run... and 1000s showed up! in between, i did 5k w/penny in hills behind gias... and next day brought much muscle soreness but also happiness! running is a wonderful wonderful activity that humans are designed to do often!... and lastly, big manny christmas chango jam 2 is shaping up so very well. i know in my bones & heart manuel would be so very happy to know a christmas show is continuing in his name, w/a music fund set up, also in his name, for young musicians & -- thank you, jaime saenz for great idea! -- gear drive!!! more details to come on this show...

stupid coconut

i have no reason to be bummed out except sometimes my neurochemicals are busted
this, too, shall pass

chango jam 2

December 15 at the Redwood Room will be the 2nd annual Christmas "Chango" Jam in celebration of the yuletide spirit and memory of Big Manny Gonzales. The show will benefit The Big Manny Young Musicians Fund to put instruments in the hands of East LA kids and teens. Big Manny was co-leader of East LA's roots-rockers The Blazers (Rounder Records), who, after parting ways with musical partner Ruben Guaderrama, led the Big Manny Band and played around town with everyone from The Blasters to Tierra to Guaderrama, with whom he remained life-long friends. He was especially loved this time of year for his Christmas shows and now is remembered during the holidays as a sort of "Chicano Santa Claus" -- the cover of The Big Manny Christmas Album features smiling Manuel as Santa beside an open fridge, holding a Christmas toy and a Gibson. At 6'4" and 600 pounds, Manny was known by Ronnie Mack as a "gentle giant," and although he sang like an angel, his fiery rockin' guitar playing was puro Chuck Berry meets Jimi Hendrix. Last year's show featured musical friends of Manny's such as Bordertown, Joey Delgado, Ronnie Mack and Cody Bryant, Whiteboy James and more. A "chango jam," Manny once said, with typical weary humor, was when "you got 15 guys up there [on stage] all playing 'Rumble' all at once." The show promises to be a good-natured reunion of East Side Soul, roots-rock, cumbia and rockabilly artists who will gather to remember "The Big Man" and celebrate his love of Christmas. https://www.facebook.com/events/2459375944339100/

ultra double-triple FUG

james played this last night on the tv: just listen. JUST LISTEN! listen to chuck's badass interstellar solos and how he messes & messes w the hippie backup band & they hang in there. how many horrible backup bands did chuck berry have to play with, ones who didn't even know the canon of rockandroll america, "chuck berry songs"? (remember bruce springsteen in hail hail rock and roll doc, excitedly talking about the wild ride of trying to back chuck berry... a band shouldn't've ever done it unless they at least knew the keys, songs, & were smart enough to FOLLOW THE BANDLEADER!!!) james commented, about playing w sh*tty backup musicians, we've all had to do it; even chuck. look at him!, as the hippie musicians flail along, grinning like christmas, god bless em, they do it.
chuck is gigantically tough cool cool cool in this, & intense, & smooth, & monstrously awesome, & even if he was a total a**hole, like so many of the greats, man, just  LISTEN TO THAT GUITAR!! this is rockandroll. this is america. this is eccentricity, not giving in to the norm, not giving a damn, knowing oneself & displaying that to everybody, genius. chuck berry in toronto 1969
ps, again, anyone who says, at all disparagingly, or dismissively, "oh, i know that chuck berry stuff," then goes on to play it w any iota of hippie or metal... GO DIE!!!!!!

Dolemite is my name... And...

A mystery bird has been singing all day, a three tone melody of 2 beats, 1, 1: I think the notes are c, f-a flat. Keep meaning to go check it on the piano, but I'd have to get up. (addendum: checked it! it's singing a minor fifth, tho i was a half-step off on key! here's a charming site: tonality of birds) (& another: this talented woman translated avian music to fiddle! musicality of birdsong) (search "do birds sing in key?" & you will find a lot) ...I'm tap, tap, tapping away on my broken old phone tucked under covers w gently snoring James & the breeze blowing in is lulling, shadows starting to dapple mountain, aaah. Am sleepy after productive day cleaning, cooking, reading, piano, yardworking. As I swept, Penny went into a bark fit, & I looked out just in time as the object of her pique, a grown deer, leaped lissomely out of sight. Wildlife & sounds have abounded today, maybe making a last show before autumn's end...? Dunno, but it's sure lovely... There's a website I subscribe to, https://bluespianosheets.com/,  & finally after many yrs I got round to printing out a bunch of pieces, so today got to focus on Ammons' "Jump for Joy" & started wondering if he was a lefty. It's a thrilling boogie-woogie I first heard while driving listening to a new bw comp cd: had to pull over -- it was that astounding! I think it's just right for me, the left-handed pounder, to commit to memory. Wow, am I lucky!! ...Couldn't play last night, tho, bc James was too excited: "Dolemite Is My Name" finally came out on Netflix. He's been waiting for months to see it!! It was a terrific, fun film, the most entertaining in memory for me, & I'm now a convert. James has talked a lot about Dolemite/Rudy Ray Moore for yrs, but I never got it til now. James is so excited that now the world is being reintroduced to Dolemite, whose toasts James has memorized (just one of his many verbal specialties) & whose outrageousness certainly has had a large influence on the WB James persona, as well. Before we watched, my husband turned 10 yrs old, laughing, yelling, dancing, gathering all his Dolemite videos (the pic of us is a setup, of course; his ebullience was real, my annoyance not).  He came upstairs dressed as you see at top & announced, "Now I'm ready to watch it ." What a fun eve we had; the movie's well-worth your time, if you're not overly

sensitive. Finger is cramping up; time to wake the man.

happy anniversary, happy anniversary, happy anniversary, haaaaaaaappy anniversary

pictures from tommy middaugh :)

today we've been married seven years. time flies!!!!! i was old chronologically, but young physically and emotionally when i married james. he looked like a baby, even with his balding head!! "just look at us," he mused as we rested in the bedroom, gazing at our wedding photos on the walls. "we were insane!!!"
"we had no idea what we were doing," i added.
"NO idea!!" he said.
"i'm so glad," i said.
"me, too," he replied. :)
he is bringing home taco bell right now. don't you want something fancier? he asked. no; i love taco bell, plus they serve diet pepsi, my number one vice.

we had the sweetest wedding at a chapel no longer standing
(james said that's not an omen at all, but "just vegas")

i have quit alcohol, drugs, pork... but diet pepsi is the only vice i can't kick. when i stopped drinking it, to eliminate brain fog & all the health negatives that go with diet soda consumption, i cried & cried. wth did that come from?!? ...i started drinking the crap so young, it's embedded in me, like a fat child and sweets. i guess i'll stay on the dp for now, but i hope i can stop at some point before my brain turns to total mushcakes.
anyways... i just took some online tests. they say i have everything from cerebral stroke to outer ear infection. i will choose to believe the latter bc the former is really scary!!! can't believe i'm still sick. donna told me not to tell her anymore about my health unless it's a "deathbed notification." i guess i talk too much about my health maladies.

here we are with james holding me up (1st days being sick)

the other night i was too sick to drive, but on autopilot flying home after getting groceries in "the big city" of backwardsfield, i put on THE GREAT 28 & suddenly felt well! the wellness lasted only a few minutes once home, but long enough for me to post this on facebook:
been sick three weeks
played "the great 28"
that rock and roll music
has made me feel great
burma shave

my health

bleh.
could be worse.
still not pushing up daisies.

wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

link for this video is at bottom.

haven't posted in a good long time! my work email seems to have eaten my personal. has something to do with work permissions. just overcame it; had to change password. big deal! my life is gold. am home sick today but the school's closed bc pg&e shut off power to that area, at mouth of the grapevine, a forested wind tunnel & certainly a fire hazard zone. mama said pg&e's doing these "preventative" shut-downs bc they're mad about going into bankruptcy to pay for the paradise tragedy. i don't know.
so much has been going on. my class this year is the best ever, a 5-6 combo. over summer i was trained in restorative practices & started the yr off with them, resulting in the closest, happiest, most improving class ever. corey is fantastic as principal; she is forging a much-improved school culture for all. i just knew she'd be terrific!

i've played a few gigs w/james & band tho not sure about this wkend since i'm so ill. all's so wonderful w/james these days. he says we're now "on the same team," & i already got us signed up for the international convention in detroit july 2020, where i'll hope to reach two bits of sobriety. wow! a whole life now w/o booze! thank you, higher power. it's astounding!!!
here's a terrific showcase video for james. watch amazing victor come in on guitar about 3/4 through -- wow!! i make the funniest faces on here: sour grapes pickle face when james starts "crawdad hole" w/o telling us that's what it'll be, which means i didn't get to play what i would've; & ecstacy as if high like cheech & chong after victor's chuck berry guitar solo. i see again i am the woman of 1000 faces, looking like a different person (pretty, homely, fat, thin, old, young) depending on my mood & angle. james & i are the same this way tho he's much better-looking than i am. we are shapeshifters. maybe besides monsters, comic books, mad mag, MUSIC, exercise, tiny toys, kids, animals, & some other stuff that's why we were attracted to each other so powerfully, a coupla magnets. seven years down the road, i could not be happier.
james & i had done the homeboy 5k that morn in downtown LA, his first running event. it was a hugely fun trip, tripping around chinatown, downtown, phillipe's, little jewel of new orleans, the race, visiting sherri & james jr, then long beach, san pedro, this & that,  but by the time we played, he said he was so tired he was seeing spots. still he is the greatest up there, the muhammad ali of the stage. or the mike tyson. or the james page. :)
thanks to johnny angel for this video. i know how long it takes to cut & mix something like this. he worked hard to create this video of us, & we are grateful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a0ooW75pZ4&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2Ybn6C8pGZQVfIgVrO8oPNchC1xG6cbfIH0x2pZsKG66Vv0Vrd0_bevjk

"that's what he gets for goin' out drinkin'."

- james's response to dad's email below... james lost 20 bucks at mom & dad's house; today i received this at work:
TO: the most exalted jenny gia page
FROM: joe bertia
MSG: a terrible discovery
This morning when Ramona was looking for the Californian she heard moaning coming from the dirt strip next to the driveway. It was a dirt-covered Hamilton, and when she picked him up he faintly mumbled the word "James." After she washed his face he pleaded  sorrowfully that he had to get home to, a wallet? Do you know anything about this Hamilton?
-Dad
- we played a gig last week at glory days in seal beach. we haven't played for a good long while (me, longer even than james!) & we both got quite tired but barnstormed through since we both are stage stompers who would rather die than give up during a show... james was powerful & when he said he'd just got out of rehab, the audience laughed. still, he told the fireman joke... because nothing's gonna make james turn normal or do what people want bc he is james the original. :) i found out he cheated on break by obtaining an energy bomb, a banana from steve, who always brings a bags of nourishment & noshes on breaks (dad, who always has controlled his food intake, is so admiring of this)... i kept asking for an energy drink but had to wait til after the show, when we drove through taco bell &, tho neither of us were stoned, got munchies of which cheech & chong surely would have approved... it was a good weekend, a solid week, & this weekend's gonna be great, too. :)
- "find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of life is joy enough." -e. dickinson
- always remember the "blessed fact of sobriety." -b. wilson

county fair 2019!!!

we had a wonderful time yesterday at the antelope valley fair. 1st we went to a mall & james got a beautiful stacy adams fedora with quail feather -- he's had his eye on it for some time. meanwhile i wore my old straw yard hat, complete with rips & paint.
we got to the fair as it opened with desert sun high in the sky: warm warm warm! having grown up in bakingfield, i try never to concede that i'm hot bc then it can be all over for me. better to think cool thoughts, or "it's not that bad," or "could be worse," or be thankful when a little breeze kicks up.
i do love the desert air, even with its discomforts, due to the reward when that breeze does kick up, bathing the sweated skin: natural air conditioning! bedouins & all humans from civilization's cradle, where still it's hot today, know this. convenient things aren't very pleasurable for me, for some reason. i don't like the crowded beach, or new things, or expensive things if unnecessary, or conspicuous consumption, or keeping up with the joneses, name brands, etc. never have, never will. james is pretty much of the same mind, tho not as eccentric as i am on this matter!
anyways, we did so much in short time! this fair is close to edwards AFB & has rich aviation/space heritage, so there were replicas of space vehicles & world war planes & history room with pancho barnes & military flyboy heroes, among them the guy who played the drill sergeant in many movies, the one james really likes who apparently was a local son. 20 mule team, mojave desert rocks, geodes, quilts, artwork, vegetables & fruits, 4h goat show, petting zoo, exotic animals, colorful rides, dancing hiphop kids, fair food, happy people, families, children: you gotta love the fair.
we agreed we prefer fairs to amusement parks, which tend to be overpriced (therefore exclusive or encouraging the vulnerable to become indebted) & completely commercialized. the apex of this, of course, is disneyland, which no longer abides "walt's dream," as james has said, although it remains  house of the wonderful haunted mansion, which we really love. truly, i don't care to ever go again & think it obscene that people on budgets will spend so much hard-earned money to get the park fastpass. yesterday in the desert getting gas, we saw a disheveled woman with a fastpass bumper sticker on her broken-down car. i know disneyland is a happily-ever-after fantasy for many, but its marketing brainwashes too, too many to live way beyond their means, & i guess that's what the american dream has become & its just another example of corporate takeover of the american mind
... sigh...
the best parts of the fair for me were having shaved ice with james while people-watching; seeing the dashing mariachi troupe, their first song so beautiful & poignant, my tears flew; the exotic animals such as tortoise, bobcat, serval, binturong (or bear cat, like the rufus thomas song!)... and a young tiger, breathtakingly beautiful, supple with muscle! many of the animals already had gone home, since our trip occurred late in the fair, but still we saw goats, rabbits, llamas, & two of the most beautiful cows i've ever seen. they gave off such an aura of peace & gentleness, i realized unless they are served to me in someone's home or i am starving, i should no longer eat them.
well, back to schoolwork & housekeeping. we have such a good life these days. may yours be, as well.

funny & fun

scuzzin tushi sent us this meme:

 i remember when i was an undergrad in one of the few interesting classes (it was quite eggheadish), the concept of "meme" was kind of hard to grasp - a discrete unit of meaning, by that pre-internet-era definition, but more than that & kind of nebulous to get. now it's big, a huge concept in popular parlance with different meaning... i suppose this is the kind of change that occurs as one gets older & older... school is going really well though challenging bc i have the school's only combo class & had to move my classroom so didn't get time to prep completely for the school yr. must remember the 5th graders are at different developmental stage than 6th as i communicate with them -- smaller, more innocent, more concrete thinkers. yes, my 5th graders are a smart bunch of little pups, & the 6th are pretty cool, too. everyone is doing well relative to their past, even the few

super-challenging students. and my friend corey is doing outstandingly well as principal: her prodigious intelligence & skill, frittered away in past, i believe by mere serious health issues, teaching, serving as our principal when our "real" one was a total bum, getting two masters' at once, & being a mother & wife (i hope you see i'm being ironic), are now synthesized toward the greater purpose of ship-shaping a little school. her immense  leadership skills have exploded in powerful bloom. i told her i'd call her patton, but that's too militaristic, but she definitely is a great one, could lead a battalion, i think, is "in the trenches." i am hopeful & happy for this year, for the children & for us all professionally.

this pic is of a chifferobe i dragged home from the neighbor's yard. it was a mess, covered with paint, glue, dirt, and masking tape & had loose drawers & hinges & other parts as well as no mirrors. i was so pleased to restore it in one feverishly obsessed day. james said it was the nicest present he'd ever gotten, & of course keeps quoting to kill a mockingbird... (btw, read the book natural born heroes by christopher mcdonnell...what a book!!! i give it 5 stars plus!!!)... we're going for pizza now, so sayonara.

he was wearing shorts

mama took these pix in the antelope valley near a pretty tho low pond filled with giant coy, geese, & iridescent turquoise & orange dragonflies. we were joking around under aging trees that afforded an amazing canopy spread. in 52 years on earth, this is the 1st time i've noticed that my brown face blushes, but here you have it! i guess james would be the one to make that happen!  he was wearing shorts on that hot day, so with quick editing his attire in these pix now looks a little like jodhpurs. i left one james knee & white sock peeking out to thrill his fans... :)
i get a few more days of vacation bc they just waxed my new classroom floor, so that's more time to work on this house & i hope read a little & maybe do some cooking (tho the ninja blender makes "fixing a meal" instantaneous!)... recently on a jog at the central coast i saw up close an adolescent gray fox & later a young mule deer right in our vacation home back yard; the other day, james was the only one brave enough to approach a wolf at the wolf sanctuary. he knelt down & coaxed, "come here, sweetheart," & the immense, majestic creature approached, dropped gigantic white paw on james's shoulder, & slurped his face as everyone stood by gasping (having been too chicken to go near the lupine, named takoda)... outside this window is squirrel, chipmunk, quail, blue jay, sparrows or finches or some kind of tiny bird, & i'm sure much, much more animal life, & the weather is blessedly cool after penny's & my hot, hilly, but beautiful run at the high school earlier.
all is well, as you can see, & may it be with you.

four days and counting!! & blazing bakingfield pix

my favorite human

these may be the last four days of vacation!!! last year the roof of the school was retiled... then at open house in june, i noticed buckets collecting leaks, but in my sometimes-airhead way, didn't think anything more... turns out the construction company did a crappy job & the SD sued them or something & over summer the roof's being redone & this time they are removing ASBESTOS!!! i asked corey if that means we're all gonna die from asbestos poisoning & she said, "probably." but that also has meant none of us have been able to get in to work at school. monday MIGHT be the day i can return... and move my classroom. arrrrgggghhhh!!! i've been blessed as a teacher all these 22 years & never've had to move til now. arrrrrgggghhhh!! oh well; it'll be best for the kids, our school, so i need to do it.
our family vacation was wonderful, though i was sick for most of it & yesterday got many blood tests to see why i'm remaining sick now 8 days later!! stupid weak immune system!!! (i read a little book while vacationing, & did you know simon AKA sabato, sam, etc rodia of my favorite folk art/architecture monument, watts tower -- book subject --, was 4'10"? a midget!!! wow!!! he also was cranky & stubborn &, when the trains moved & thousands of ppl no longer daily were viewing & noticing & talking about his work, he up & moved. ha! another crazy, selfish genius, in other words, sounds like!) in other uninteresting news... from fb...
I've had my phone for almost 5 years. The camera by this time has been reduced to nearly nothing, as you can see from the quality of these photos, but the lighting adequately reflects the heat in Bakersfield! I think it's time for me to switch over to the really nice phone I was given by James's friend Ben!... there must be five hundred pictures in the phone waiting to be uploaded, though. Talk about a golden problemo! Jny (and James)

wilting in the heat

darling james & (critical comment deleted)