Out of the Darkroom

Proud Kiva Plug

2012-01-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

I've reached a point where I have no idea how long it has been since I've posted a blog. This has gotten so bad that I didn't even check to see that I had comments awaiting action. So I apologize to Mike Garrett, who wanted advice about appearing on Jeopardy! I hope he had a great run on the show. According to the J-Archive, his episode(s) (which shot in mid-December), has (have) not yet run, so I can at least look forward to watching him compete.

And congratulations are in order for Amy Stephenson, a fellow member of the Friends of Bob Harris lending group on Kiva, who had a three-day run on Jeopardy! earlier this month. She'll be contributing some of her earnings to our worth efforts when her check shows up late this spring. Thus far, our group has loaned over $1.5 million and Bob himself has loaned over $100,000.

Bob Harris himself is on the down-hill side of finishing his book about micro-loans called The First International Bank of Bob. I highly recommend his previous books Prisoner of Trebekistan and Who Hates Whom. While I sometimes feel I've known Bob forever, we met only about four years ago. Before that I "knew" him from his many appearances on Jeopardy! as a regular contestant, a Tournament of Champions contestant and a contestant on two different special Jeopardy! championship series and from the radio commentaries he used to do for KNX radio that may have been syndicated around the country. Bob and I also both have degrees from Case Western Reserve University (his is an undergrad degree and mine is from the law school) but we were there about 10 years apart. Should he ever appear in your area to do a talk or a book signing, go. He's very, very funny.

Because of Bob, I joined Kiva and talked about it when I appeared on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in 2010. I've made 80 loans so far, all of them to women who are trying to improve their lives and the lives of their families in something in excess of 30 countries. It's a great way to remind myself that I am helping to improve the world $25 at a time with money that can then be re-loaned upon repayment. Feel free to join me.

S'mother

2011-08-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

I met Adam Chester because he's an amazing pianist who provided the accompaniment for What's My Line Live on Stage (for which I became the production photographer.) Adam's accompanied Elton John's band in rehearsals and sung with him in concert. A few years ago, Adam set up a website where he posted some of the 1300 letters he's received from his over-protective mother over the years.

I understand over-protective mothers. When I went off to college, mine handed me a 1 pound bag of sugar packets, so people wouldn't spike my breakfast cereal sugar with marijuana. I am not kidding.

Adam found a publisher (or a publisher found him) and, just in time for Mother's Day, a selection of the letters appeared in book form as S'mother. Last night, Adam and his mother Joan appeared on The George Lopez Show.

I don't give my cell phone number to my mother either.

Reruns

2011-07-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

I wasn't home last night to see it myself, but Harlan Ellison called me to tell me I was on Jeopardy! reruns. If your local station does Jeopardy! reruns on the weekend, check next week. I have no idea if they are running all five of my days of regular play or not, but if they are, I'll be on for the next four weekends. I was disappointed when I seemed to be skipped over between the runs of two other people who were on the Tournament of Champions with me, but I wasn't the only one who got skipped. I'm hoping that we'll see Col. Dave after my run. And I'm also hoping that last year's Tournament of Champions gets its two week run during the weekday Jeopardy! reruns this summer. Original episodes generally end this week or next.

The reason why we weren't home is that we decided to catch Green Lantern last night. Len had seen it already and I decided to give it a try despite the critical hashing because I liked what we saw up in San Diego. Also, I wanted a chance to see one of Len's characters up on the screen, which he did not see when he went to the 3-D screening. Sometimes, it just takes two sets of eyes, because Len did not see Walt Simonson in the Valhalla scene of Thor on his own either.

First of all, the movie is getting a bum rap. It's quite entertaining and Ryan Reynolds is charming. It's not X-men: First Class, but few superhero films are.

We saw Galius Zed in one of the early GL Corps scenes peeking out from behind Hal Jordon, so you can pick up your GL Galius Zed action figure and help pay for Casa Wein-Valada.

Musings

2011-07-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

If you want to be noticed, let Neil Gaiman post a link to your blog on Twitter or on his blog. I got 6000 hits within hours of Neil directing people to the photos I did at his appearance in L.A. last week. Then there was another bump of about 1000 hits after he reposted the link in his blog a couple of days ago.

Thank you, Neil, my friend. It's one posting that I know had an audience.

I realized today that I need to start gathering up paperwork for Comic-con. In two weeks, we'll be on the drive down to San Diego, for five days of business and a bit of fun. Invitations for evening parties and dinners have started to come in and I find myself wondering what all I will do during the days when the hall floors are just too crowded to contemplate. I tend not to get to many of the larger programs unless we've been given the special wrist bands that bypass lines that are (literally) hours long. Sometimes even those don't work. If Peter Jackson brings anything to the convention (and he promoted the hell out of Lord of the Rings before it openned), I'd like to see that (but I probably won't get in.) I'd like to see the panel for A Game of Thrones, but that's only likely to happen if George R.R. Martin can get me a guest pass. Ditto with The Big Bang Theory, where I've only been able to get in the room the year Bill Prady got me a guest pass. Last year, my girlfriend stood on line for 3 hours and couldn't get into the room. (The nice thing about TBBT is that I can always catch a taping and hang out back stage afterwards here in L.A.)

For outside entertainment, I bemoan the loss of antique shops within walking distance of the hotels. Most of them disappeared when the baseball stadium and new hotels were built. It is still possible to drive to Ocean Beach or Solano Beach for their antique malls, but the antique-store lined streets in most other areas have been lost to the power of e-Bay. I miss the thrill of the hunt and immediacy of the kill that e-Bay lacks.

The week could be a good one for meals, if we weren't always constrained by time and crowds. We were in San Diego last month to see "August: Osage County" at the Old Globe Theatre and had a terrific meal at a nearby restaurant, and it was only one of several suggested to us in that area. While I might be able to go to Balboa Park during the day, an evening trip will not fit into a schedule that includes publishers' parties and other business gatherings.

How I Spent Tuesday Night

2011-06-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

It is great to be a grownup. Really. I wouldn't want to be fourteen again unless I could have a good look at what my future would be, because fourteen was just the worst year ever. But it got better. And sometimes I do wish I could let that geeky fourteen year old know just how much better it would get to be. A while ago, I either tweeted or posted to Facebook that if my fifteen-year-old self could know what my present day life was like, she'd say "way cool" (and, probably, "worth the wait.") The first person who expressed agreement with what I was saying, because he felt the same way about his own life, was my friend Neil Gaiman.

I first met and photographed Neil before he was the super-star author he has become. It was at the 1990 World Fantasy Convention in Chicago. I was in law school, but I was still actively adding photographs to the growing exhibit of professionals in the field of science fiction, fantasy and horror that's traveled farther than I have. So I took the weekend to fly to Chicago to have some time with Len Wein and to add to the photographic collection.

Len introduced me to Neil, who was building a nice career with the Sandman comic books he was writing for DC Comics. Len had been midwife to the influx of British writers at DC, starting with bringing Alan Moore in to write Swamp Thing and following that as Alan's editor on Watchmen. Neil came along a few years after, a fan of Len's from reading his run on Phantom Stranger, and one of the first stars of DC's Vertigo imprint.

In the first portrait of I made of Neil (below, in 1990), he reminded me of a young John Lennon.

Maybe it was just the accent. Love that accent.

The following year, Neil won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story with the Sandman story "A Midsummer's Night Dream." The rules for the Awards were immediately changed so that a comic book could never win again.

Over the years, we'd meet up at various conventions or signings, and keep in touch by e-mail or social media. Neil morphed into a rock god, requiring body guards and the use of aliases to stay at hotels. Around 1999, I got him to agree to be my master of ceremonies at the 2001 Nebula Awards I produced in Los Angeles, which, by coincidence, was the first one at which he was nominated for a Nebula Award. A year or two later, he won the Nebula Award for best novel for American Gods.

Which brings me to Tuesday night. Neil was in town for an appearance on the 10th Anniversary Tour for American Gods. I ordered four tickets as soon as I heard about it, which got us second row seats. I invited one of the girls from the barn, who had recently gushed about Neil's episode of Dr. Who, "The Doctor's Wife," and who had asked me to pass on to Neil how much she liked it ("best episode of Dr. Who ever!") I figured it would give me the same kind of kick I got from introducing my girlfriend's granddaughter to Stan Lee last year at Comic-con to introduce Jenni to Neil. (It did.)

For reasons unknown, the local organizers of the appearance chose to make all tickets will-call (though, thankfully, they did assign seats so it wasn't festival seating.) This is not the best arrangement when there are some 1800 seats in the theatre, and, as you can see from the photo below, most of them were filled. Ticket distribution started at 5:30, there were people buying tickets at the door, and the show started an hour late.

Besides Len, my son Michael, and Jenni, we picked up Susan Ellison, wife of Harlan, to take to the show. She and I stood in line while the others went off to get some dinner, which turned out to be a good arrangement. I saw Neil's limo pull into the parking lot just as Susan got her tickets, so we walked around the theatre and found him. He looked at us and asked "did you get your back-stage passes?" Uh, no. "They were supposed to be with your tickets." Oh. Fortunately, Neil's assistant for the evening got them for us while we stood around talking to Neil and waiting for Len, Michael, and Jenni to get back. We had a nice chat with Neil, actor/comedian Patton Oswalt, and Zelda Williams (Robin's daughter) back stage and then headed in to our seats for the show.

And we waited. And waited. Susan, who bought her ticket separately from ours, was way in the back of the orchestra. Eventually, Len went back and brought her up to our row where there were a number of empty seats.

And we waited some more. The 8 P.M. start time kicked off at about 9 P.M. The audience was grateful.

Neil and Patton chatted for a while. Neil talked about the inspiration for American Gods and alluded to things that might be in American Gods 2.

Then Zelda Williams came out.

The three of them did a dramatic reading of an early passage of the book. It was unforgettable.

Patton Oswalt and Zelda Williams reading from American Gods.

After the show, we all went back stage again. I wanted to make sure I got a photograph of Jenni with Neil (below.) Jenni told me that it was the best night of her life and that Ace would be the most spoiled horse ever because of it. Gratitude is lovely.

Wil Wheaton showed up back stage with his wife, whom I had not met previously. Wil looked at us and exclaimed "I should have known you'd be here!" He's not at all like the "Evil Wil Wheaton" from The Big Bang Theory, which is why that character is such a hoot. Wil had also been back stage at the Craig Ferguson show that Neil had taped before heading over to the Saban Theatre. I didn't think it was possible to do both shows, but that was before the time between them increased by an hour!

We got home in time to tape the segment--too late for us to actually watch that night--but here it is for you to enjoy. Ferguson is quick and amazingly well versed in things literary. He must be one of us because he knew what Cthulu was and who wrote it. The awkward pause at the end of the set is priceless.

I realize that Neil has helped build his audience by careful use of blogging and Twitter, but the evening made me think that this must have been like it was for Americans to attend an evening with Charles Dickens or Oscar Wilde. It was really quite thrilling to realize that writers still can still have an avid following and Neil has really earned it.

[American Gods is about to start production as a television series for HBO from Tom Hank's Play-tone production company. Neil's books Stardust and Coraline have already appeared on the big screen, but they make excellent reading. His Graveyard Book has won many awards and is a lovely read. Maybe, someday, the script that Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio wrote for Sandman will make it to the big screen,]

2011-06-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the high point of my niece Kristina's recent visit was a series of riding lessons at Total Equestrian Experience. As you can see from this photograph, she's got the kind of body we'd all like to have for riding. This was the only day she spent in the western saddle--other lessons were in a proper dressage saddle--but it got her quickly to the sitting trot and to the experience of a horse who decides that it is time to take off in a canter. I was busy helping someone with a camera, so I missed that little event, but she rode right through it. The horse is named Wizard and he's a nice quarterhorse.

Buck the Movie

2011-06-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I finished reading The Faraway Horses a few weeks ago and was deeply moved by Buck Brannaman's life story. He overcame an abusive father to become one of the premier practitioners of natural horsemanship, learning from the Dorrance brothers and Ray Hunt.

Buck did clinics at Pierce College before I started learning to ride here, and, unfortunately, has not been back since I bought my boy (there haven't been any clinics here at the sinfully underutilized, taxpayer-built facility for about five years--ever since the school kicked out the boarders.)

I feel fortunate that I was able to attend or watch a number of clinics here with the amazing Harry Whitney, but I would like to attend a clinic with Buck.

The next best thing is to see the wonderful documentary Buck, which opens in Los Angeles and New York tomorrow, and opens wider next week. The film won the viewers' choice award at Sundance and when you watch it, you will understand just why. It's not just about a relationship with horses, it is about all kinds of relationships.

I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the film on Tuesday night which had a Q & A with Buck after the film was over. I was very surprised that I did not recognize a single face in the audience, but it was a benefit for Homeboy Industries, so the tickets cost a bit more than your typical night at the cinema--but not all that much more for a date these days. My friend (and superior horsewoman) Melinda Snodgrass had come into town that afternoon and my newly horse-addicted niece Kristina was staying with us, so they got to come along with me.

I arranged to have Kristina take riding lessons while she was visiting. She went to Ireland a few years ago and took a few there, and I got her to the barn last year when she came to see me compete on Jeopardy!. This year, she was in California for three weeks and managed to get a lesson most of the days she was here. Being tall (around 5'8"), weighing slightly more than the average feather (perfect for the working actress she is), and, as described in a recent review, "leggy", she has a much more perfect body for riding than her doting aunt (who thinks it is a good skill for Kristina to add to her acting resume.)

Kristina immediately applied concepts from the film to her new skill. She was able to describe how the two horses she was riding in lessons mirrored or responded to what she was doing in the saddle and on the ground with them. I was very pleased. I'm sorry she probably won't be able to take any more lessons until the next time she comes out to visit, but now she knows she can mount from the ground (oh those legs), post and sit a trot, and control a horse who decides it is time to take off (even though she hasn't actually learned the canter yet.) She'd look spectacular in a dressage arena, but the one lesson in a western horse had her declare "I could sit this trot all day long." That's how I feel about Ace's trot.

Melinda decided that her Lusitano stallion Vento would really enjoy the cow work that Buck does in his clinics with more advanced riders. I'd love to watch that clinic. If I were an advanced rider, I'd put Ace into one. He has no fear, and an appropriate amount of curiosity, about cows, both from his early days in New Mexico with Melinda (who bred him) and when he was boarded at the college (which does still have an agriculture program, though most days it looks like it is being dismantled.)

In response to the Q&A, Buck said he's doing a clinic out here next year. I'm staying alert to find out when that will be, because I'd love to attend it.

If you happen to live in Los Angeles, Buck Brannaman will be in attendance at the 7: 30 P.M. showing of the film on Friday, June 17, at the Landmark Theatre in the Westside Pavillion on Pico Boulevard and at both the 7:00 P.M. and 9:30 P.M. shows on Saturday, June 18 at the Arclight Theatre in Hollywood (which has reserved seating.)

If you don't live in L.A., you can check out this link for other places the film is playing. Do not miss it.

A Pet Peeve

2011-04-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

I think I have become an old fogie. Over the past couple of days, I've become increasingly irritated with much younger individuals, for whom I am a customer, calling me by my first name or by faux endearments like "sweetie" or "honey." I'm more pissed off than I was when Kurt Stoutenberg decided to call me "Toots" one day in high school. (Tootsie was an archaic phrase even then.)

My contemporary friends, like Audrey Price or Gloria Benson, and I do call each other things like that. They are real endearments between old friends. And I sometimes use the term when talking to much younger people who are part of my life.

But the stranger behind the cash register who is younger than my son and the girl delivering food to my table at Daphne's today don't know me from a dish towel. The problem with saying anything to them directly is they've got control over my food. And I've heard stories...

As for the other problem, it is compounded when the person on the other end of the line is clearly outsourced. I refuse to believe that it is impossible to find minimum wage workers in the U.S. to take care of customer service lines. I've got a kid in the spare bedroom who'd be good at it and he speaks English without a thick accent from an unidentified place in the Far East. Keep those jobs, and the tax revenue here. At least if you could hire illegal aliens to do it in the U.S., it would improve our tax base.

The other night I took on PayPal who has decided I need to be "verified" after using their services for probably over 10 years and almost $10,000 worth of purchases. If I don't get "verified" before I spend another $500, I will no longer be able to use my PayPal account. Getting "verified" means I give them a bank account number and they deposit money into the account to make sure I am real. Right.

As if I want to give anyone that kind of access to my checking or savings accounts when every week some bank seems to have had their accounts compromised. Several years ago, someone got access to my checking account information, had checks printed, wrote a check to cash, and then wiped out my account. The money was returned (although one credit card company refused to reverse the fee for the check that bounced when my account was closed because they did an electronic transfer rather than cash the effin' check I had sent them and told my bank was still outstanding) by the bank almost immediately, but it was not fun for me. And I couldn't get the police to do anything and the bank refused to give me information about whose account "my" check had been deposited to to go after those people.

So back to the other night. The first person I talked to took my information and punctuated every sentence with my first name. We had a lousy connection, which was echoing back to me, and that made it even more difficult to parse the conversation through the young man's accent. But it was quite clear that he had no explanation as to why someone whose account has never presented a problem should have to give up other account information. My alternative was to open a PayPal credit account. I do not need another credit card.

I finally had enough and demanded to speak to his supervisor, but not before telling him that I was not satisfied with his performance and I particularly did not like being called by my first name by a stranger who was half a world away. He informed me, Christine, that such was the policy of his company, Christine. In other words, I guess, his script required him to refer to me repeatedly by my first name. No exceptions.

His supervisor, when he finally got around to picking up the line, was no better except that he did refer to me as "Ms. Valada," when I informed him that I was not happy about him calling me by my first name. He could not offer a viable work around on the PayPal verification issue. I finally said that I needed PayPal less than they needed me as a customer, so I would simply stop using PayPal when I hit that $10,000 purchasing limit. Bye-bye.

I am still not comfortable calling the parents of friends by their first names, even if the parents might be closer to my age. I'm rather uncomfortable--and always have been--when my contemporaries or older tell my son to call them by their first names. I think there is still room for a little bit of formality and deference in the world. And I have earned it.

Let the Good Times Roll--Someplace Else

2011-03-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. I've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I used to want to go, but spending Halloween there about 15 years ago cured me of the idea of going back for the city's biggest party. Our friend George R.R. Martin once floated the idea to Len that he should join George's krew, but thank goodness that went nowhere.

I'm perfectly happy to honor the holiday by making appropriate food at home, but I hate crowds, particularly inebriated crowds. We won't be going to West Hollywood tonight, either, but I am planning on making a batch of beignets.

Yes, It Does Snow in Southern California

2011-03-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here in Southern California, we've had some strange weather. Last week, there was actually snow and slush on the ground in Burbank when we went to see Cavalia under the big white tent. Today, the winds were knocking over 18-wheelers on some of the highways. Yesterday it was in the 70s. Don't like the weather? Wait 10 minutes. I am hoping that the weather stays dry for the next couple of weeks (although today is not promising.) We've got things to do that require good weather and I don't want Ace to miss another horse show on Sunday because it gets rained out.

It looks like we've sold the old (rebuilt) house. Now we are trying to get the garage emptied so we can close by the end of the month. We spent a lot of time there on Saturday, clearing space so the inspector would be able to walk through. But there's a lot more to go. We've also gotten a couple of unexpected surprises. The inspector said there was no retrofitting of a gas shut off valve when the house was rebuilt, and I was certain that had been done. Plus, he turned on the pool lamp, which did not stay lit, and we had paid for that to be repaired. Details, details. It will get done.

Going through the garage is sort of like having Christmas in March--or going on an archeological dig. I found a box and unwrapped one of the contents. It turned out to be a miniature prop from Raiders of the Lost Ark Len had been given by actor Billy Mumy many years ago. We thought it had been lost in the fire, but it had been packed away a few years before that by my sister when she helped with party prep one year.

I found two brass spigots in the shape of Mickey Mouse, which had never been taken out of the bag that came home from Disneyland the first month Len worked for The Mouse in 1989. They had fallen on the floor and been covered with grass seed from a bag that was eaten open. We're planning to replace the outside hose bibs with them.

I just picked up three more boxes that my sister packed up and will open them at our house tonight. Some of the stuff might be ripe for donation to the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue yard sale coming up, and some might be put up for sale on E-bay.

Yesterday, I took the time to go to the Pasadena City College swap meet. I've been wanting to go for months and I knew I couldn't go next month, so, when I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, I headed out early.

PCC doesn't set up as early as the famous Rose Bowl swap meet, but it also doesn't have an outrageous entry fee. I like free. When I arrived around 8, many of the dealers where busy unpacking their wares. The swap meet is held on the eastern edge of the school, in two parking lots and on several levels of a parking structure. If I'm by myself, I can do the whole thing in little more than three hours. I do it mostly for the walk.

My mental wish list generally includes jewelry with a horse motif, pieces of Nambe or the china and silver I collect, and cookbooks. Yesterday, I was also looking for a gaming table with an inlaid chess board (to display my Lord of the Rings pieces) and an Irish clay pipe, which Len needed for a prop for his improv class. Pipe-1, table-0. Len was thrilled I found the pipe and asked where I got it. I told him I mugged a leprechaun.

I also managed to find a signed sterling silver horse in a trot pose, a Pegasus, and a faux red cameo of horses pulling a chariot with a woman (or goddess) driving. I'm hoping it will clean up a bit.

RIP Lois Lane

2011-02-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

Joanne Siegel died today at the age of 93. She was married to the late Jerome Siegel, the co-creator of Superman with Joe Shuster. Joanne was the model for Lois Lane.

I met Joanne at a memorial service for Jerry Siegel in 1996. Jerry died only a few weeks before my article in the Los Angeles Lawyer magazine about the rights of comic book creators appeared. I had so wanted to talk to both Jerry and Joe when I wrote the first incarnation of the article while I was a law student and had come to the realization that the two men were fast approaching an opportunity to relitigate their rights to the Superman character. Unfortunately, that was in 1992 and Joe died about then and I had no convenient way to contact the Siegels. I was also concerned about the question of rights when the property was co-created and there was no spouse or children to claim the reversion for one of those co-creators (Joe.)

After my article appeared, I heard from Joanne's son-in-law and met him at at Beverly Hills Bar Association lunch one day. I also got a call from Joe's nephew, but a nephew does not have the same rights that a spouse or a child has under the reversion of rights which can accrue to a copyrighted property created under the Copyright Act of 1909.

I admired Joanne for going forward with action to reclaim her rights to Superman after Jerry died and the reversion period kicked in. I admire her even more for putting up with more than a decade of litigation which has yet to be resolved. I am sure her daughter will continue the fight.

Comic book companies cheated young creators like Jerry and Joe (while wiser men with better advisers managed to negotiate better contracts) and continued to lie and cheat creators until the 1980s when they really couldn't get away with it any more. By then, people talked to each other and young creators had access to organizations which made them a little more savvy about their rights and business practices. Paul Levitz at DC made a concerted effort to improve contracts, creators' rights and royalties, and even reached back to improve the participation of creators of older properties.

Nevertheless, there are a few very valuable properties created under the 1909 Act that will be subject to reversions and the Siegel cases combined with Joe Simon's efforts to reclaim Captain America will help those creators--or their widows or children--get a fairer shake for the remainder of the copyright term. I hope Marvel/Disney is ready for that, because Marvel never made any effort to atone for its greedy ways.

Santa Anita Morning

2011-02-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

Today was the presentation of the first Secretariat Vox Populi Award given to Zenyatta's owners. Not surprisingly, the promise of getting Penny Chenery's autograph beat out spending the morning working at the old house. I got up and headed over to Santa Anita Racetrack this morning, beating my friends Erin and Kay by more than half an hour, even though I got off the freeway at the wrong exit. I got there before the gates opened, so I spent the time in line, talking to a nice man who gave me a ticket for free admission to the park.

When the gates finally opened, I headed over to the line for purchasing the poster of Secretariat and Zenyatta. I was well ahead of where Kay, Erin, and Erin's sister Maureen were able to join it. We decided that one of them could come and join me without too much trouble, but three would be a problem. Kay came up to me and I greeted her with "so you found the restroom?" Nobody made any objections, so I had someone to talk to for the hour we had to wait.

Eventually, Penny Chenery and Team Zenyatta arrived to applause. The line weaved around the barriers and I was lucky enough to get a few good photographs. I'm glad I decided to use the SLR rather than the point and shoot.

Zenyatta's owner Jerry Moss, jockey Mike Smith, and trainer John Shirreffs.

Scretariat's owner, Penny Chenery, with Zenyatta owner Ann Moss. Note Ann's "Z" pin.

Jockey Mike Smith signing the lithograph portrait of Zenyatta.

Penny Chenery got out of a golf cart and walked to the signing tent. Someone said "isn't that great that she's walking." I said "she's 87 or 88, she isn't dead." When I saw the movie Secretariat, I pointed her out to Len in the Belmont Stakes shot. I have no idea how I knew what she would look like almost 40 years after I saw her in the winner's circle on TV, but there was no mistaking her.

Dottie Shirreffs writes the entries for Zenyatta's on-line diary, which I enjoy reading.

The very beautiful Ann Moss.

Jerry Moss.

Kay watches John Shirreffs autograph the poster of Secretariat and Zenyatta.

Kay picks up her posters. We were lucky to be able to buy two each, so Erin and Maureen could have copies. They were in position to be able to buy them, but the autographing would have ended before they got to the tent.

I decided not to stay until the sixth race for the actual ceremony, figuring I'll be able to catch it on line somewhere and have a better view of it that way. But I had to stop at the gift store before I left--Santa Anita has a great gift shop.

I noticed copies of Secretariat's Meadow and then I realized someone was signing books--Penny Chenery's daughter Kate. I was suddenly very happy that I hadn't ordered the book from Amazon.

Kate Chenery Tweedy signed my copy of Secretariat's Meadow. She described herself to another customer as "I'm Penny's rebellious hippie daughter Kate." It must be funny to think of yourself as immortalized that way on film, but she definitely had a sense of humor about it. Another customer pulled out a photograph of his horse--a descendant of Big Red. Kate said they're encouraging people to send photographs of Secretariat's progeny for a website. That will be worth checking out.

I also picked up a tee-shirt like the ones that the gift store staff were wearing:

I like the reverse as well:

Secretariat and Zenyatta are definitely racing royalty. Watching them run is something I will never forget. My poster is now ready for hanging.

Choices

2011-02-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

All over the country, people are planning what to eat on Sunday afternoon while the Superbowl is on. I've given some thought to it, and will expound on Into the Kitchen, but I'm more concerned about what to do tomorrow.

Equine Affaire is this weekend at the Los Angeles County Fairplex. It started yesterday and runs until Sunday. I haven't missed it in years. It's a great place to go shopping, and if I time it right, I can also hit the enormous Broken Horn Saddlery on my way out there.

But....

Penny Chenery will be at Santa Anita Racetrack tomorrow to present Jerry and Ann Moss with the Inaugural Secretariat Vox Populi Award for Zenyatta's amazing effect on the popularity of horse racing during the past year. Zenyatta's already in Kentucky awaiting her first breeding to Bernardini, so I've read she'll be there on camera. There's a gorgeous poster of portraits of Big Red and Zenyatta that will be sold, and Ms. Chenery and the Mosses will be signing prior to the ceremony. I am so tempted to go, even though I hate crowds. Besides, Santa Anita has a great gift shop where I've purchased some fun jewelry in the past.

Unfortunately...

What I really need to do is go back and finish the last load of boxes to empty the old house, so that will no longer be hanging around my neck like a millstone. I want to be finished with that annoyance, so I can enjoy the new house.

Decisions, decisions.

Putting Christmas Away

2011-01-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

I got most of the decorations off the live (but now quite dead and dry) tree in the living room last night. As I suspected, I missed some and saw a Batman hanging this morning. I'll have Len do the last check after he gets one of the Wolverines and the tree topper down. I was too lazy to get out a step-stool out last night, and I was getting annoyed with being stabbed by needles to take them down myself. All of the lights are down and I'll have to test them before I put them away. No use keeping things that no longer work and at least one of the complex strands was not working on the tree.

Added to ornaments that need replacing is the NASA lunar excursion module--that little go-cart with an astronaut. The dish antenna broke off last night. I have a spare of the Eagle, but not the go-cart. I'll also be searching E-bay for a new Worf and a new Yoda, thanks to Riley. The blown-glass Dark Knight I dropped and shattered last night already had a duplicate (hooray.) Tonight I'll sit at the kitchen table and put things back into their boxes for the next 10 months. It is a time-consuming process to put Christmas away.

Does anyone know where I might be able to find the things that go into the top of a glass ornament which has a metal loop and collar. I have no idea what they are called, but we have a number of glass bulbs from Len's days with Disney that have lost those parts over the years. Not sure how that happens, mind you. And these are kind of large, so my plan to replace them with pieces from plain ornaments didn't work.

The horse tree has not yet been undressed. I'm still trying to purchase a Zenyatta ornament, but nobody has them and word is they won't be restocked until the fall. At least they'll be back in production so I don't have to spend $80 to buy one. My friends and I are planning to go to Santa Anita Race Track in early February for the ceremony where Penny Chenery, owner of Secretriat, will be giving the Mosses a new award because of the way Zenyatta had a positive effect on thoroughbred racing. She's been a personality directly out of the Secretariat handbook, so it is appropriate she gets the first one. Hooray for the Queen.

The Last Day of Christmas

2011-01-13T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm coming off a nasty cold which threatened the success of our 12th Night/housewarming party. The good news is that it did not succeed, but only because some lovely people came into the kitchen and pitched in to get all my food and drink out and keep the wine glasses clean for more guests.

We had just under 100 people, which would have split the seams of the old house. Fortunately, there was no appreciable wind that night, so people seemed quite happy to go and stand out on the patio to talk. It was a bit too cool for those of us recovering from colds, but other people were fine with it.

As in past years, I took amusement from watching people react to meeting someone they never in their lives thought they would encounter. Particularly folks who had a dawning realization that the tiny white-haired woman they were hustling around my kitchen had been a teen-aged folk prodigy. Or when the TV exec who was a huge Jeopardy! fan discovered that I had been on the show six times and that there were two other Tournament of Champions competitors in the house--and she had never met anyone who had been on the show before. Yes, we throw those kinds of parties.

The puppies managed to escape from Michael's room a couple of times, but we headed off any attempts to get out the front door. Dexter did a quick retreat when he stuck his nose out and our friend Ed, veteran of a K-9 detail in the service, let him know this was not acceptable. Dex even shut the door behind himself, which the babies did not do voluntarily.

I can't say I have partied to almost 3 a.m. anytime recently, but that's when the doors shut and Len and I stumbled off to sleep. If only we didn't get a wrong number ringing at 10 a.m. on Sunday. I'm almost finished with the pots and pans, but what I don't get, my cleaning lady will handle tomorrow.

I'll be taking down the three trees this weekend, and will try to store the ornaments so next year it will be easier to find those for the "specialty" trees. I've got lots of boxes, color coded for the holidays. Putting things away requires nothing but time.

Racing Stripes

2011-01-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

Ginger has a love-hate relationship with the dogs next door. Sometimes, she'll go out and commune with Bella, whose cage is right up against our fence, with no drama. Other times, it's a bark-fest, with Ginger getting the last word in because poor Bella wears an anti-bark collar.

Unfortunately, the chain-link fence is old and Ginger does try to go through it. This has resulted in some nasty wounds, and what looks like permanent scarring. I think I should probably suggest that she do ads for the car company or insurance company with similar logos.

It doesn't appear to have any effect on her abilities to smell. Last night, as we got ready for bed, she got a whiff of something in the air. It was one of those times when we really wanted her to be able to tell us what was up. Her nostrils flaired and she did slow arching searches of the air. I guess she was trying to figure out vectors. We have no idea what had her on alert, but she finally curled up without explaining it to us. Since the house didn't burn down around us, we can rule out fire.

Off to a New Year

2011-01-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful holiday, which did not include emergency visits to doctors for either Len or me this year. No broken bones, no organ failure. We plan to keep that the case for the rest of the year, despite the nasty cold Len caught.

I had 12 days off from work, which did not include riding Ace or caroling with the horses or getting much work done on the old house, all due to rain. Yesterday, we starting having trouble with our driveway gate. When I finally got the thing to close, I kept my car in the driveway so we'd be able to let the dogs out back It would be most annoying to chase them down the street.

This year, I decorated what I called the Chanukah bush, a white, artificial stick tree, with blue ornaments. It went up a couple of weeks before we went off and bought our real Christmas tree, aka "Geek Tree" (above.) That's the tree that's got ornaments related to true fan-boy geekdom: Star Trek, Star Wars, comic books, and various science fiction and fantasy works. We have the added delight of ornaments of characters created by my husband (Wolverine and Storm) and this year the Hallmark comic book ornament of Hulk #181 even has his name in it. (If you double-click the photo, it should enlarge to give you a better idea of the decorations.) I miss having high ceilings so I could have a 9 or 10 foot tree, but I love having more space.

In the after-Christmas sales, I purchased several more artificial trees, so now there is a tree with horses in my office (I'm desperately seeking a Zenyatta ornament, but would prefer to not pay a fortune) and a tree with some of our sentimental favorites is decorating our bedroom. It has many Disney ornaments, particularly from Beauty and the Beast, and things which we received for our wedding and anniversary, which is December 25. I found a lovely "First Year in Our New Home" ornament to hang on it. It made Len a little weepy.

That's the horse tree, above. Finding a way to secure the tree-topper was challenging. I like it, but it doesn't really work well. I picked up a number of the Breyer Thoroughbred ornament series over the past few years, and they survived the fire. I've picked up a few other Breyers, including the porcelain Arabian that looks like Ace, and some of the "Painted Ponies" ornaments. The stuffie on the bottom with the song book sings "We Three Kings" as "Neigh, neigh, neighayay...." You get the idea.

On Christmas Day, we celebrated the holiday and our anniversary with our friends Karen Bodner and Michael Olecki, as we have for most of the past 15 years. Karen and Michael O. (to distinguish him from my son Michael B-V) come over, we make brunch, we eat, and then we open presents. For the first time ever, we weren't frantically cleaning up to make space for everyone. And everyone could hang out in the kitchen for excellent conversation while bacon and eggs were made to go with the goodies Karen brought along.

Here's Michael O. making mimosas to go along with the sticky-buns Karen baked. She also brought the shrimp, lox, and poached salmon on the table.

Len's favorite part of brunch is bacon, which he probably should not be eating.

Looking at the back yard reminds me of getting letters from my pen-pal in Australia and being amazed at the idea that Christmas could include swimming and a green landscape. It was too cold for anyone except Ginger to consider getting wet (she did, causing Michael O. to dub her our "mermaid"), but it was shirt-sleeve weather. The rest of my family was getting snowed in back east. I think I've grown to like the idea of Santa arriving via surf board. I certainly do not miss driving in snow.

After our first anniversary, I declared I would never work that hard on my anniversary again and we would be going out for dinner the next year. For most of the years we've done this, we've had dinner out, usually with a movie before we eat. Often it has been "Jewish Christmas" which means going out for Chinese food. As opening presents crept later into the day (this year, brunch wasn't over until almost 2), finding a restaurant operating late got harder.

Last year, I decided if we didn't do a turkey, cooking Christmas dinner wouldn't be that complicated or take that much effort. Besides, Karen enjoys cooking as much as I do (she's a recovering lawyer who went to baking school in the past couple of years.) Last year, I did mussels followed by baked salmon. This year, I suggested lobster, which takes almost no time at all. It was fabulous, although keep lobster alive for 24 hours--Gelson's was closed on December 25--was interesting. Especially since the refrigerator in the kitchen died for the FIFTH time since we moved to the new house.

Unfortunately, Len won't let us do lobster again next year. He doesn't like food that looks like itself, even if he isn't the one wrestling with it. He thought he could deal with it, but he couldn't. Sigh.

Since the house was our big present to ourselves this year, we tended to give each other books and DVDs.

Here's my son Michael opening one of his gifts. The dogs got us a new video game system, replacing the blu-ray player that's not worked well. I don't know how the dogs got hold of a credit card, but they used it wisely. I'm not sure why they didn't let Ace in on the gift.

Riley, who turned 11 months on Christmas, kept trying to eat the tree. Except for chewing up the Hallmark Yoda, which fell on the floor, he didn't take down any ornaments. Ginger and Dexter just left things alone. Good dogs. (Ginger's on the chair and Riley's sleeping on the floor, probably because he couldn't find a human to curl up with.)

We're a few days away from our big holiday party and we are just ecstatic to have enough room for the folks who've accepted. One year in the old house, it rained and folks were squeezed in like sardines. Not this year. I've got a room for folks who want to play board games and one for those who'd like to play video games. Plus there will be lots of room for food on the kitchen table and counters and plenty of room for drinks on the patio (covered, in case there is rain.) The timing has worked out so several friends from other parts of the country will be able to attend, making things extra special.

Since I'm planning on a year that will be better than last year was, I wish the same to you as well. Have a happy and prosperous new year.

Fierce!

2010-12-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

The puppies go to war at least once a day. When they get too far out of line, Dexter steps in and drags one of them off by the scruff of the neck. Riley's on the left and Ginger's on the right.

We've been somewhat concerned about what happens when we bring a tree into the house. Dexter (Best Dog Ever, below) won't care. He's been through two Christmases with us and has never touched a thing. This will be baby's first Christmas for both puppies, though.

I set up what I affectionately call a Chanukah bush a few weeks ago. It's a white stick tree that I decorate with cobalt blue ornaments. Ginger and Riley have both been over to sniff at it, and I've seen Riley poke his nose at a couple of the blue balls, but they've done nothing to worry about--so far. Riley likes to eat paper, and he chews on boxes, so it may be more problematic when the real tree goes up this week and there are presents underneath it.

It's the Holidays

2010-12-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

November was busy. The Fix-up Show. The Human Target Season 2 premier. The new puppy. Thanksgiving.

New puppy. Did I mention the new puppy?

His name is Riley. He turned 10 months old on Thanksgiving, making him just a few weeks older than Ginger. He's a purebred Golden Retriever, being the dog of choice at this house, and we rehomed him from a family in Camarillo. He's a sweetheart, but definitely a puppy in the mode of Ginger. The two have bonded, making Dexter roll his eyes in frustration with their antics. Dexter remains the most perfect dog who ever lived.

Drew Carey was the celebrity guest on the second installment of "The Fix-up Show." He's a comics fan. He came to the episode of "What's My Line" when Len was a guest (rather than a panelist) and came over to introduce himself at the end of the show. Then he took us out for dinner.

I didn't have a camera ready that night, but I did this time. Here are Drew and Len after the show.

Thanksgiving usually means a much bigger number than 11 at my table, but by the time we sat down, my expected 15 was down to that. We moved the living room furniture into the front room (in the background), where it all fit quite nicely, and we pulled the dining room table out to its 14' length. Everyone had plenty of room and Harlan Ellison missed out on a terrific meal.

The food I'll write about over on my food blog.

Now it is time to get ready for Christmas, although we do light a mennorah for Chanukah. I've decorated my white, pre-lit stick tree with cobalt blue ornaments, making it a lovely Chanukah bush. So far, the puppies are leaving it alone. I have no idea what they will do when we get our cut tree up and loaded down with geek ornaments in a couple of weeks, but I'm hoping for the best. The puppies are doing a real number on the landscaping in the back yard. I may have plenty of places to plant tomatoes next year by the time they finish excavating their dens out among the trees and bushes.

The Fix-up Show

2010-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I got involved in doing still photographs for a live, on-stage version of What's My Line, a show about which I had fond memories. Most of them involved visits from my New York City cousins and watching the show at the Breezeway Motor Court at the edge of my home town. But every so often, when the show was re-run on The Game Show Network, I'd catch an episode I remembered well.

The stage version was a lot of fun. My husband, Len Wein, was one of the recurring panelists, and we met a lot of fun folks through the course of the run. When it moved to New York for a short run, my sister lent a hand to the show and even directed two or three performances when regular director Jim Newman had to leave town.

Host J. Keith Van Straaten is back in L.A. with a new stage game show called The Fix-up Show. He tried it out in New York for a while and now it is settled into the Acme Theatre on La Brea on Wednesday nights at 8 for the next month (excepting the night before Thanksgiving.) I'm doing photographs again (except next week, when Len & I will be off to a party for the premier of the second season of Human Target).
The purpose of the show is to set people up on dates, but the potential daters don't get to directly interview each other. In last week's show, a young woman was being set up with one of three potential young men. The panelists consisted of two people well acquainted with the young woman and celebrity panelist Walter Koenig (below.) Hilarity ensued, particularly over a question about bacon ice cream.

J. Keith has uploaded a selection of my photographs here. This week's celebrity guest is everybody's favorite native of Cleveland, Drew Carey. It should be a great show, and seats are available.

And think about having dinner before or after at Amalfi Restaurant, which shares the building. I've had some really good meals there over the years.

How to Embarrass Your Horse

2010-11-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

From kind of pretty...

To not so bad...

To OMG....

And what were you thinking?

It wasn't even Halloween. It was draft weekend at the Los Angeles County Fair. The poor paint's eye says "get...me...out...of...here."

Secretariat

2010-10-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

I was a year out of college when Big Red won the Triple Crown. I remember watching the Belmont race in my Aunt Babe's basement on Long Island with family members. It was amazing. He was amazing. The money shot that ran all over the world of his jockey looking backwards to see where the hell the other horses were in a 31 length blow out said it all.

We went to a screening of Disney's version of the Secretariat story last night. As many have suggested, the film might better be called "Penny," because the movie is mostly about this extraordinary woman's role in creating one of the finest equine athletes of all time. Penny Chenery took over the operation of her father's thoroughbred breeding farm in 1968, made the decision to breed two of their mares to Bold Ruler (one of the changes you'll see in the film to heighten tensions in the film was changing the timing of when she took over the farm shows the decision was her father's and puts her into a coin-flip that was actually his), and produced both Riva Ridge (not even mentioned in the film) and Secretariat.

I really enjoyed the film, because it does a real good job of showing how difficult things could be for a smart woman back in the late 1960s. Penny had a degree from Smith and attended Columbia University's business school, but gave up her own aspirations for marriage and family until her father became ill. She clearly had the training and the background to run the farm, but she gets a lot of "nice girl" pats on the head before people realize that she's a steel magnolia.

The screening audience had a huge range of attendees, from small children to octogenarians, and lots of horse people.

Watching the film, it became clear to me that Zenyatta has the same kind of effect that a Secretariat or Seabiscuit had on the public. I firmly believe that these horses are/were self-aware. They know/knew what they were doing, know/knew what the fuss was about, and are/were having a great time putting on a show.

I went to both of Zenyatta's "Farewell Appearances" late last year, so I've seen her in the flesh, but I couldn't bring myself to watch her actually race. Her style would give me a heart attack in person. I wait until the races are put on-line to watch her go from the back of the pack and destroy the souls of horses who think they are going to win. Here on the West Coast we've been treated to the kind of disdain that happened with Seabiscuit back during the Depression--because she is a California horse, somehow Zenyatta's 19-0 record isn't really much to talk about according to the East Coast racing writers. Are they crazy? Or are they just snobs?

I recommend going to see Secretariat and then having a good time finding actual footage of his Triple Crown wins on-line. Then I'd suggest watching footage of Zenyatta (the video shot from Mike Smith's helmet during training is amazing) and see what she does in the Breeders' Cup in November. She's brought Secretariat level excitement back to racing.

Watching Horses Beats Watching Television

2010-09-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't had time to write much lately, I thought I'd share a link to a story about a pony I read this morning. I laughed until I cried.

Moving--Again

2010-08-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember that we had no intention of moving back into our house after we had a fire in 2009. Unfortunately, health matters brought a screeching halt to our attempts to find a house to purchase (and the one on which we made an offer fell into a black hole of pre-foreclosure hell.) So, in March, we moved back into the rebuilt and somewhat reconfigured place Len's owned since before we met. Lucky for us, my winnings on Jeopardy! and a royalty check for Lucius Fox's appearance in The Dark Knight meant we didn't have to put our place up for sale to have the down-payment for a bigger home--a real luxury these days.

Trying to find the right house for both of us took a bit of time, and closing on it has taken longer than we expected. Escrow closed on August 20, but we discovered the previous occupants had left a mess behind. The clean-up crew has worked tirelessly, the painter moved in for a week, the electrician had plenty to fix, and, without folks breathing down our necks to move into our house, we could take a relaxed and organized approach toward getting our stuff to the new place. On Thursday, the movers will take our furniture to the new location. This is the back yard :

It's about four miles from where we currently live, and it's more than twice the square footage in both house and land. It isn't big enough or zoned for Ace to live in the back yard, but I will also be several miles closer to him.

I'll finally have a big, eat-in kitchen with lots of counter space, a prep sink in the center island and a Viking cook-top with a grill. The house has three fireplaces, a pool house with a 3/4 bath, a summer kitchen with built-in grill, refrigerator and sink (and disposal!) The house has two enormous bathrooms with glass showers and separate whirlpool bath tubs, plus a small powder room off the laundry room. There are four bedrooms, a large living room, something described as a formal dining room (but too small for what I'd consider a formal dining room table), a family room, and what must have been another small bedroom that's been converted to an enormous walk-in closet. We're going to make the attached garage our library/workroom. And, oh yeah, there's a wine cellar.

If you know anyone who'd like to buy a cozy, completely renovated mid-century ranch house with a pool in Woodland Hills, California, walking distance to two Orange Line stops, one house away from the bike-path, a few blocks from Pierce College, and occupied for the past 24 years by famous comic book writer (and Wolverine and Swamp Thing creator) Len Wein, it will be on the market in a matter of weeks.

Patricia Neal, RIP

2010-08-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just saw a news report that acress Patricia Neal has died. She starred in my favorite science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still. I'm talking about the 1951 original, not the 2008 abomination. Big explosions do not make a better story, and the director who thought he was honoring Robert Wise was delusional. I recently watched, for the first time, her film A Face in the Crowd. It was simply amazing. Her turn as Olivia Walton struck me as closer to the reality of what a Depression-era mother with seven children would look like than that of Michael Lerned (or Maureen O'Hara in Spencer's Mountain, which preceded them both.)

I was pretty young when it happened, but I remember reading about the accident which almost killed her son. I also remember reading about the stroke she had before she was 40 and her recovery. She was pretty remarkable.

For a very brief time, a friend of ours dated her vivacious daughter, Tessa Dahl. We had dinner together once. As she and I sat talking, the pieces started falling together, and I realized who this Tessa sitting next to me was. There were 10 or 12 of us at the table, and Tessa was stunned to learn that all of us considered The Day the Earth Stood Still to be one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. She had never seen it. I hope that she subsequently took the time to watch it. It holds up really well, and her mother is perfect in it.
****
I was rather glad to see that Keith Olbermann brought up Patricia Neal on his Monday broadcast and mentioned both The Day the Earth Stood Still (describing her as "the only rational character") and A Face in the Crowd. I've long recognized Keith's geekdom, and, of course, he continually (and rightly) compares the irrational Glen Beck to Andy Griffith's character in A Face in the Crowd, whom Patricia Neal discovers and then uncovers.

Miss Trouble Strikes Again

2010-08-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Trouble earned herself a trip to the emergency room last night. For the second time, she got into something that made her face swell. The first time, it was just her eye. This time, eyes, neck, jaw. She looked more like a pit bull than a golden retriever. I figured it was better to get her to a vet than to risk a middle of the night crisis, so off we went.

54 pounds of puppy is a lot of strength, and trying to manipulate her while opening and closing doors and filling out paperwork is a trick. At one point, the vet tech suggested rattle snake--unlikely, but not impossible--but they couldn't find fang marks to match. I figure it was a spider or one of the bugs she likes to catch got her instead. Two hours, with steriods and benedryl by IV, later, we headed home. She looked a bit better, but by this morning she looked herself.

Dexter is a perfect dog, but Ginger is a scamp.

Another Comic-Con Survived

2010-07-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Another year, another San Diego Comic-Con International survived. Michael and I headed down on Wednesday morning after dropping Len off at Cedars-Sinai for dialysis. That way, I could have a few extra hours with my dear friend Gloria Benson, who was bringing her granddaughter Seven to Comic-Con, the first trip for either of them. Len came down with a couple of friends, but traffic delayed his arrival until almost 7:30, by which time I had picked up Gloria and Seven at their hotel, had lunch, checked into our hotel, picked up all of our badges, and started swimming in the sea of humanity at the preview opening of the convention.

This year, we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was our 10th choice, but at least it was walking distance from the convention. Those are the "sails" at the top of the SDCC. As you can see from the photo we were a few stories above a party area, but the one you can't see was the noisy one. There was always music playing--I got a kick out of the check-in desk asking what my choices of music were, and when we got to the room, classic rock was playing. I knew I was home when I stepped off the elevator and there was a huge photo of the Beatles in Miami in 1964--a photo a knew well from my Beatles trading cards of that era.

As it did last year, SyFy took over the cafe in the Hard Rock, and the decor and menu reflected that.
Here's my son, Michael, waiting for breakfast.

On Thursday, Len was on the panel that followed the showing of a documentary about the 75 year history of DC Comics. It will be released on November 11. It was informative and touching. The clips of Julie Schwartz made us all cry. We miss Julie, who was the editor of Superman for many years and brought on what is called the Silver Age of Comics by reviving The Flash. I knew Julie before I ever met Len.

Friday was the Warner Bros. & DC Comics Party. Gloria and Seven stood in line for three hours that morning and failed to get into The Big Bang Theory panel because the True Blood fans had taken over the 6500-seat room first thing in the morning and stayed until that panel at 5:30 at night. Nobody told the people in line that the room wasn't being cleared and that they would never get in. The Bare Naked Ladies played and Wil Wheaton moderated TBBT panel, so I was really sorry that I didn't get in, either. I figured it wasn't really fair to ask Bill Prady to get me in two years in a row (and Bill was sad I didn't ask.)

Fortunately for me, Bare Naked Ladies, who wrote and perform TBBT theme also played the much smaller WB party, introduced by Chuck Lorre. BNL were not bare, naked, or ladies.

Jim Parsons and Wil Wheaton had a bit of a chat at the party. I can't seem to upload the video with Johnny and Simon swaying to the band, though.

As they did last year, members of the costumer's guild took some of the different over-sized WB swag bags and turned them into fashion statements from the 1940s.

I particularly like the hat in this photograph. I missed photographing the zoot suit.

Mark Valley was at the party, but we missed talking to him.

Here he is talking to the sheriff on Eureka (and checking his cell phone.)

We did catch Chi McBride, who calls me "Mrs. Len" when he sees me. He's utterly charming and inclined to kiss me on the wrist. I think he's cuddly.

Seven expressed her desire to meet Stan Lee, and I was able to accommodate her wish when Stan walked right in front of me at the preview. Unfortunately, we couldn't get cameras out to record her reaction, which included Gloria admonishing her to "breathe, breathe."

I was also able to introduce her to the amazing Sergio Aragones, and, on Saturday, even stopped Sergio to photograph them together. He and Gloria spoke in Spanish and he cooed over Seven.
At the Quick Draw Panel, Sergio was one of six artists who performed. The top half of the drawing of Sergio was done by another Mad Magazine artist.

The image was covered at the belt and Sergio drew the bottom half without knowing it was a drawing of himself. Hilarity ensued.

The other two drawings below were done by Sergio to incorporate the caption "Sit on it." I think he did six drawings on that round all together. All different.

Sergio's impression of the BP oil spill.

Sergio's thoughts on the Arizona anti-immigration law.

Len participated in the Quick Draw by guessing words or phrases the artists drew. He really has a good time doing it.

Later on Saturday, we split up so he could sign with the Human Target cast and do the press feeding frenzy and I could go to a private cocktail party at the Hilton.

Before I left Gloria and Seven in the Human Target autograph line, I photographed Len with the new producer (who created Chuck) and the new producer with Mark Valley and Chi McBride.

I got back in time to catch the Human Target panel, but I almost didn't get into the room. We did an end-run around security, and after, we got a photograph of Len with Jackie Earle Haley.

The Hard Rock had an 11 a.m. check out, so I spent the morning taking care of that. Len had the annual Pro v. Fan trivia contest that afternoon, and then we did dinner with Paul Levitz before the dead dog party and the drive home. Wisely, I took Monday off from work, and even though I couldn't sleep all day, it was nice to catch a few extra hours of shut-eye.

And it is a mere 51 weeks before we do the whole thing again.

Ginger Update

2010-07-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

She's fine, but we had a scare with New Puppy, who turns 5 months old today. We took her in to be spayed two weeks ago. The rescue group made us promise to get it done before she turned five months old. We took her to their vet, because the spay was part of the adoption fee. We were told they nicked her urethra which required the removal of one of her kidneys. She had a huge incision and looked so helpless when we went in to see her. Everyone was upset, rightly so.

It has slowed her down almost not at all. A few days of pain pills, 10 days of antibiotics, and, except for the staples that come out tomorrow, you'd never know anything was wrong. I've gotten attached to seeing her run around in my tee-shirts (a really good alternative to the Cone of Shame which was suggested by the vet), but I'm sure she'll be happy not to wear it any longer.

We were so happy that there was no change to her delightful personality, and she's happily getting into all kinds of mischief. I had intended to start her in a puppy obedience class, but that will have to wait until the Fall since the summer session has already started. She will get to go to the dog park with her big brother, and I'm sure that when my friend Lira house-sits next week, she will get some obedience training.

A Gift from Janis Ian

2010-06-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail the other day that would have thrilled my sixteen-year-old self.

Last year, my friend Janis Ian agreed to be my toastmistress for the Nebula Awards ceremony I produced for the Science Fiction Writers of America. While I would never have asked her to perform music for free, Janis soon asked if it would be o.k. for her to sing at the event. Duh!

Janis didn't just sing. She wrote new lyrics for her hit At Seventeen for the evening, entitling it Welcome Home. Like At Seventeen, it hit the mark. Big Bang Theory co-creator Chuck Lorre, no stranger to musical composition himself, was sitting next to me and was blown away. Many of the attendees were referenced, as were many old friends no longer with us. There were many tears in the corners of eyes that night.

The e-mail Janis sent the other day included the file for the song she wrote with her good wishes to spread it wide (but asking that appropriate credit be given.) She's now made it available for us to put it online. Here's a link to Welcome Home, that goes through my friend Kristine Kathryn Rusch's website, since I don't know how to get it here any other way. (And if you pass it on, please credit Music © Mine Music Ltd./EMI Japan Publishing/Lyric © Rude Girl Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by Permission.)

If you like the song, please consider going to Janis' website and make a contribution to The Pearl Foundation. Her charity is named for her mother and it funds scholarships for older women who want to return to school. It's a cause I can believe in, since A.A.U.W. gave me money to go to law school as an older student.

Adventures of New Puppy

2010-05-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

Friday was Ginger's visit to the vet, who pronounced her perfect in every way. No kennel cough in evidence. A weight gain of seven pounds. Time for an adventure!

On Saturday, I took Ginger up to the barn to meet her really big brother, Ace. She was appropriately apprehensive, unlike Dexter who thought the horses should respond to barking and play-bows by, well, playing. Ginger had a rough and tumble time with Gayle's Aussie shepherd, Eli, even though she was on a lead. After Ace finished his lesson, she got a chance to get a little bit closer.

Willie, a Haflinger, was less intimidating, so she got even closer.

I would call it a successful visit to the barn and she even got a lesson in walking on the leash from Gayle.

On Sunday, she had us in hysterics and reminded us of a poem we once heard Tim Curry read at the L.A. Public Library. The poem is from an anthology called Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs. This four line poem is called "Birch" and it is by Karen Shepherd. Every dog owner I know understands this poem.

Are you going to eat that?
Are you going to eat that?
Are you going to eat that?
I'll eat that!

Our friend Lisa, subject of this display of dog cuteness, does volunteer work for a pet adoption charity, so she was not all bothered by having Ginger hover near by looking for a hand-out.

The New Addition

2010-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Is there anything as adorable as a Golden Retriever puppy? I doubt it. This cute little face belongs to Ginger, the new baby in our lives. We got her a week ago from the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue. She was born on February 14, and she's the first puppy we've owned since we got our late, beloved Muffin as a six-week-old back in 1995.
Ginger was an owner turn-in to the organization and all I can say is, their loss, our gain. She's a bouncing bundle of energy and curiosity, is crate-trained, and already knows "sit" and "down," although "stay" is going to be a tough concept. She's a true retriever, constantly bringing sticks, leaves, and clumps of dirt into the house and stealing shoes, potholders, and pretty much anything not nailed down outside. She likes to play in her water bowl, and, given the chance, will turn it over to dump it and then carry it around. But most of all, she likes to rough-house with her new big brother, Dexter.

Dex will be five next week. We got him from SCGRR almost two years ago (in September) and since Muffin died in November of 2009 and Sheba died in our house fire last spring, he's been the only dog in our pack and he just loves to play. Muff and Sheba were 14 when we got him, so they weren't terribly interested in puppy play (although Goldens don't every really grow up), but Sheba let him know who was boss and he complied.

Now he's got a puppy to run and wrestle with, to play tug of war with, and to set a good example for. And, I think he already realizes, the girl is going to rule the roost when she's older. Even now, he lets her hoard the toys--I watched her take something away from him and then sit on it and two other toys so he couldn't have them. Thought I would die laughing.

Last night, after Dex spent some time pinning her down by sitting on her, Ginger started bouncing up onto one of the chairs and leaping into the air to land wrapped around Dexter's neck, then she'd slide off and do it all over again. I suppose I should have been concerned that she'd go flying into the 73" TV screen, but that didn't happen. The two of them go rolling across the floor in a big ball of fur and bear teeth at each other, but Dex is an amazing gentle giant and very good big brother to the little imp.

More than once, we've found them exhausted with their noses a few inches apart. It is absolutely precious. The late Chris Reeve once described something as "almost as much fun as a room full of Golden Retriever puppies." I know exactly what he meant.

Jeopardy! 2010 Tournament of Champions, Continued

2010-05-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

I had no idea that Jeopardy! promoted the players of the Tournament of Champions this extensively. Did study the Fortune 500 list, but it didn't come up in my game. The New York Times Science tie-in did.

Jeopardy! 2010 Tournament of Champions, Continued

2010-05-13T12:43:00.001-07:00

This ad ran in today's New York Times. I figured I might make mention in the paper when my famous spousal unit passes away. I'm happy that I won't have to wait that long--and that I got there on my own. If you've got the paper, it's page C4. Tune in to Jeopardy! tonight to watch me play against Justin and Joey. Check your local listings for time and channel.

Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, Continued

2010-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a photograph of the fifteen contestants you will see on the quarter-finals of the 2010 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions next week. And here is a link to a promotional video that is running on the Jeopardy! web site right now. I'm the last interviewee.

Tournaments of Champions

2010-05-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions starts running on May 10 and carries through until may 21. The first week is the quarter final rounds where three college champions and the twelve players who won the most games (down to those who won 4 games in the regular season) since the last time there was a ToC (which shot in January 2009 and ran in March 2009.)

My quarter-final game airs on Thursday, May 13, 2010. I understand that in some parts of the country, Jeopardy! is running at a different time than usual due to the sports play-offs. So check your local time and channel to watch.

I recommend watching all 10 days, because the players are just amazing competitors.

The Jeopardy! Celebrity Invitational for charity finals are running this week. I got to watch the final rounds being taped, and I really enjoyed myself. There's much less pressure sitting in the audience.

Academic Gobbledigook

2010-05-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Can anyone explain what this means:

This conference aims to critically engage contemporary spatial, social, ideological, and political transformations in a transitional world. In a process-oriented world of movement, the global north and global south now simultaneously converge and diverge in a dialectic that shapes and transforms cities, suburbs , and rural areas. This conference addresses the nature and mapping of these forces and the dynamics that propel these changes. The conference also examines and defines the myriad of different spaces that make up our contemporary world, including urban, edgeurban, de-urban, micro-urban, greenfield, and off-the-grid.

I got this in my e-mail at work, and it looks pretentious. I suspect it is someone trying to impress a department chair. Someone's tuition dollar at work, or, worse, research dollars.

Season Finale

2010-04-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last night, Len and I headed over to the Warner Bros. lot to watch the season finale to Human Target. If you didn't watch it, I hope you recorded it. It rocked.

We spent a lot of time talking to Chi McBride (who plays Winston) after the screening. He saw us coming and threw open his arms for a hug to "Mr. & Mrs. Len." He's fabulous & Len's been having a blast writing his character in the 6-issue HT miniseries he's writing (Issue #3 came out this week.) Neither Jackie Earle Hailey nor Mark Valley were there last night. We think Jackie's out promoting "Nightmare on Elm Street." Len saw Mark two weeks ago when they each were filmed for the HT Season One DVD extras.

Lee Majors and Tim Ohmudson (not sure I spelled that right) were guest stars in last night's episode, and they were also at the screening. Armand Assante, also in the episode, was not. I remember seeing Armand Assante sitting at a table with Lou Diamond Philips at Hugo's in West Hollywood 20 years ago when I was a law clerk at the Writers Guild, west. He does not look the same at all.

Tim Ohmudson is almost unrecognizable, very different from Det. Lassiter (a.k.a., "Lassie"), his regular gig on Psych. Len and I now have an invitation to visit the set of Psych if we get up to Vancouver in September. Len's been invited to be a GOH at a new convention there and our friend good friend Gillian Horvath is working on Sanctuary, so we've got several reasons to consider the trip. There's a good chance Len will go. I'll have to get my passport updated to accompany him or visit Gillian on my own. Tim said he's leaving Friday for the drive to Vancouver where they start shooting a week from Monday. I've done that drive. It's long but beautiful.

We are waiting with fingers crossed that Human Target gets picked up for a second season. If it does, Comic-Con will be a lot more fun in July.

House Hunting

2010-04-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

We looked at another house today. It's on a half-acre lot in a neighborhood where I could retire Ace to the back yard. The house has been remodeled, and it does look nice with a big open floor plan down the center, separating the master bedroom from the other three bedrooms, but it just didn't excite either one of us.

We are settling into our own house, and the problems I now have with places that are not substantially larger than ours include:

I don't want to give up having a pantry (we both love this new feature) so any new place is going to need to have a walk-in pantry.

I like the laundry/storage room we've got(the place we saw today has a closet for stacking washer & dryer, but no place for the other stuff you need for laundry.)

I don't want to give up the sparkling refurbished pool with the ducks.

I'm getting attached to the cute little office/guestroom with a DOOR that I'm decorating in a little-horse-crazy-girl motif.

I don't want to have to pack again, and we've still got over 500 boxes at the place in Glendale which took our stuff after the fire. (Thank goodness my sister was here to help me unpack 100 boxes for the kitchen and 6 wardrobe/linen boxes last week. I don't know what I'm going to do about the rest.)

The house we made an offer on in December, which sits in pre-foreclosure hell with a seller and an agent who both appear to be wacko, had the space we needed both inside and out. Five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, soaring ceilings in the living room (and room for my dining room table that seats 16), a fire place, a media room which would be good for our 73" tv, an eat-in kitchen, a covered patio, a two-car garage, a view of the valley, and a huge back yard for Dexter. And less than the maximum amount of mortgage for which we've been pre-approved.

Sadly, I don't think it's going to happen. Nothing I've seen since has made me go yaha-at least nothing in my price range. (There's a fabulous place below the Boulevard in Tarzana that takes my breath away, but we'd need another big Lucius Fox check in our hands for that to happen--and we're not expecting one until the next Bat-film.) But, we've got a place for now and as long as interest rates or house prices don't start rising like rockets, we'll probably find something.

Happy Birthday, Ace

2010-03-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today is my Arabian Prince's 13th birthday. It is the 11th birthday of his baby sister, Phaedra, who still lives in New Mexico and is (as far as I know) a brood mare. I'd buy her if I could.

Ace was born on a night with a visible comet. Combined with the shape of his star, his registration name was chosen: Auspicious Comet. My son once asked me if anyone uses the word "auspicious" and now makes a note of it every time he hears it on the radio or television (the answer is, obviously, yes.)

I got a phone call from Melinda soon after he was born, and she often updated me about his antics after that. I met him in the flesh when he was a good-sized yearling and he attempted to take a piece out of my shoulder when Melinda and I stood nearby ignoring him. That was the last time he tried doing something like that. Melinda slugged him so fast, he looked like he saw stars. We made fast friends after that.

I hadn't started taking riding lessons in 1997, but by the time I saw Ace in 2001, Melinda and I had been joking that I would eventually own the Prince. Especially after Melinda got the bay filly she'd been trying to breed for 20 years--Ace's full sister--it was an on-going discussion. Even though he was young, and Arabs are advanced horses, not beginner horses, I had fallen in love and he became my 50th birthday present to myself. I do not regret this.

I haven't been able to spend much time with him for the past three months, but that will soon change. He's been doing amazingly well under Ashley's riding and I hope we'll be showing him again really soon. Now that his Schleese has been properly fitted, he's floating across the arena. And he's still having a lot of fun jumping.

His new digs agree with him: he sticks his nose out of the feed window and watches everyone go by. I hear him call when I drive into the ranch. He's got lots of turnout buddies and he loves trimming the pepper trees near the arena. There's even a bit of grass to be trimmed and he's happy to oblige. He's returned to his fastidious house keeping: urine goes outside, poop along only one wall inside so he can curl up in a clean corner.

I'll take apples, carrots and his favorite cookies with peppermint candies on top when I see him tomorrow. Eventually, there will be a new western saddle in his life. Arabs are so damned hard to fit and his once-perfect 7-D is no longer a fit in the shoulders. Anyone seen a used Vincent saddle made for an Arab anywhere?

Oscar Fail

2010-03-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

I finished watching the Oscar (TM) ceremony last night, probably because I've got a streak of masochism but mostly because I could finish unpacking the kitchen and use it as background noise.

Normally, I think the writers of the Oscars are pretty sharp people, and I've even met a few of the listed writers about whose intelligence I have no doubt. So I've got to ask, what was it with the dumb statements about how horror is the most popular film genre (I doubt that's true in terms of box office where science fiction and fantasy dominate the top ten list) and how it gets no respect because it's been more than 30 years since (I think they cited) The Exorcist got two nominations or won two Oscars.

Excuse me. Anyone ever hear of The Silence of the Lambs? It's one of those rare films that took the big five awards at the Oscars: best film, screenplay, director, actor and actress. That's plenty of respect, guys. And don't try to argue that it is a crime film because there were several clips used in the horror montage.

Did those children from the Twilight films (with its fans who think that The Wolfman rips off their highly derivative source material) ad lib?

Improvements in Small Steps

2010-03-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

I am back to 10-fingered typing. The arm still feels like lead, but at least I'm able to keep up with my thoughts and not look at my fingers. I feel like I'm pounding on an old manual typewriter, though, in terms of the finger strength I don't have.

Since I last posted, I've been out of the cast and into a brace. Surgery was avoided. I figure I'm probably another month from getting back on Ace--getting on isn't the problem, but I do need the left arm to get off and I haven't started physical therapy yet. I'm allowed to start weaning myself from the brace by taking it off to sleep, which I've now done for two nights. It makes it easier to jump in the shower in the morning, which does make me happy.

During the day, I'm not willing to give it up because I'm emptying boxes. We finished moving out of the rental house on Sunday night. Instead of going to our traditional Oscar-watching party, I stayed at the house and packed up Len's office. His mistake. I was able to throw away a lot of his junk and junk food (not the marzipan, dear, it's in that rolling bag in your office) while he was at our house with friends. When the Oscars were over, everyone showed up with cars and carted the rest of the boxes back to our house. I did a final cleaning, and I think we left the house in really good shape. Me, not so much.

Our house looks quite nice inside, but it is no larger than before. What's particularly nice is that the front third of the house is open. The kitchen finally has a logical lay-out and a pantry. The cabinets look very nice. I got it cleared up enough to make dinner last night. Pictures will be forthcoming. Biggest complaints: there's never enough counter space and the contractor didn't listen when I said the sink was to be a single tub large sink. He put in a double sink where one side is larger and deeper than the other, but not large enough for a turkey roaster to be put for soaking. I waited 15 years to get that sink in our renovated kitchen and I had the use of it for less than two years. Someday when I get to build my real dream kitchen, I'll have one.

There is now a breakfast counter. It is not exactly what I had in mind and it also means there's no place to put my round table when it comes back from storage. I knew there would not be room for my great-grandmother's Hoosier kitchen base, and that's a shame because every built-in counter in the house is too high for me. I guess the new normal height for a woman is 5'8". My friend Gillian, who is around 6' tall, would be very happy in it. My Hoosier kitchen has a work space that is probably 7-9" lower than my new counters--much easier for chopping & rolling out pie dough.

Photos will be forthcoming. Maybe even of the mallard couple who decided that our pool was their private playground after the fire. When Dexter saw them through the bedroom window on Saturday morning, he was very clear that he knew exactly what his purpose in life was. It was hysterical.

Let Freedom Ring

2010-02-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Melinda Snodgrass transcribed the words of Judge William Young who presided at the trial of Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid. This is what our justice system is about and it is what religious fanatics--no matter where they are--hate most about our way of life. Look at those individuals in this country screaming that the justice system can't possibly work when the Constitution is followed and you will find religious zealots looking to bring on Armageddon. Read what Judge Young says and be glad that some people remember who and what we are:

We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before.

There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist.

You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist.

To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not treat with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You're a big fellow. But you're not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense Trooper Santiago had it right when first you were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were and he said you're no big deal.

You're no big deal...

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea.

It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's seek that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their, their representation of you before other judges. We care about it. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.

Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here, in this courtroom, and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.

The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom. You know it always will.

Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.

Update

2010-02-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

My arm is still in a cast, but I may be lucky enough to avoid surgery. On Thursday, this cast is coming off so the surgeon can see a better x-ray. I'm terrified that things will hurt when I try to move the elbow. I want to be able to take a shower and wash my hair without a whole production going on.

Moving the horses got delayed for a month. Ride-on's new facilities weren't ready because of the rain,so we're still at the old place, which is up for sale. If I could convince Len to move to Chatsworth, I'd consider buying it.

The place we made an offer on is in limbo because it turns out the seller's agent has contacted neither the first nor the second mortgage holder to work out a deal and the seller may decide to take the house off the market. I don't claim to know much about real property, but I know a little about contracts, and that smells to high heaven. Unfortunately, we haven't seen anything that works as well for us. So far. At least now we've got a letter saying we've been approved for a loan, so we can jump on something we like. If we find something.

Our old house is moving toward completion. We're meeting with a landscape person on Thursday so we can get the outside tidied up. It looks nice, but it is just too small.

Equine Affaire is this weekend in Pomona. I'm not sure I am going to get out to it because I need someone to drive me. Ashley, who has been riding Ace, is going to compete in the extreme cowboy challenge on her Welsh pony. I'd love to see it.

Speaking of Ace, he is royally pissed at me. I got up to the ranch to pay board last Saturday and he wouldn't come over to see me. When Ashley rode him over, he turned his head away. I wanted to cry. His saddle came back from Schleese, but it is shifting side-to-side. The fitter may be able to come out on Sunday, but Ashley can't be there to ride him and I can't climb into the saddle either. It will be interesting.

The Human Target

2010-01-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

While Len and I feel we are slowly moving human targets these day, "The Human Target" is actually a television series which premiers on Sunday night at 8 p.m. (7 Central) on your local Fox (not Fox News) channel. I've seen the pilot, and it is great fun with terrific casting. I may be prejudiced, but the critics and test audiences agree.

The Len Wein (with artist Carmine Infantino) character debuted in DC Comics back in 1972--it was Len's very first new character creation--and had a 7-episode TV series almost 20 years ago starring Rick Springfield with great production design by comic book artist great Michael Kaluta. (I remember we had a party the night it premiered, and the sewer backed up. Was that a night to remember.)

The new series stars Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and Jackie Earle Haley. We had a great time when we met them at Comic-con last summer (Len's between Jackie and Mark in the photo above), and Len's 6-part comic book mini-series which ties into the show starts coming out at the beginning of February. While we, the walking wounded, thought we'd throw a viewing party, we've been invited to the official cast and crew party on Sunday evening. I'm thinking about bringing along a Sharpie, getting the cast to autograph my cast, and auctioning it for the Hero Initiative (which benefits older comics creators) when it comes off. It seems appropriate, or at least a fun idea.

Please do tune in. It will help pay for a new house if it succeeds. The second episode runs on Wednesday following American Idol, and its regular spot will precede American Idol on Wednesday.

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes. My doctor decided to wait another two weeks before making a decision about surgery. While I'd rather not have surgery, if it will speed up the process of getting better, I'll deal with it. It's rough having both of us function at less than full capacity at the same time.

Falling

2010-01-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

I'm still here, but not quite whole.

The old year ended and the new one began badly. I have a cast from the middle of my upper left arm to my fingers. On the Monday after Christmas, I tripped on a sprinkler head and went face first into an asphalt driveway. I tried to keep my arm safe, but it didn't work--the ulna broke close to the elbow and the radius cracked there. The x-ray technician said it probably would not have broken but for the metal in my arm from when I broke the ulna 8 years ago.

It was ugly when I tried to get up, but I realized I was in trouble right away, so I sent my niece to get wood and Ace's leg-wraps and we made a splint and headed home. The girls kept asking "Don't you want an ambulance? Don't you want to go to the hospital?" Been there, done that. No thanks if I can avoid it. We managed to figure out the name of the surgeon who took care of me last time, and Len and I headed to his office/clinic where I was x-rayed and put into a cast. On Monday, we'll see if I'm going to avoid surgery. Keep your fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, as we got the house ready for what was supposed to be our holiday party last weekend, Len had a bit of a scare that saw a four-night stay at Cedars Sinai. We were lucky that friends were at the house, since I can't drive very well with the cast, and that we were able to bypass most of the people in the Cedars wait room to get into the ER. The treatment stopped the acute problem, but our personal doctor came in and outlined a series of things which would need to be done before Len got released, so he was admitted. He looked great and sounded chipper throughout, you'd never know anything was wrong except for the huge bandage on his neck.

We are grateful for friends who dug through the ruins of our house and who have provided transportation services over the past week. We've got a good support system. Special thanks to Bob, Becky, Kerry, Bob, Lisa Jane, Karen, Chase, and the much appreciated Dr. Michael for helping us through this round of trouble.

So my 11 days off from work wasn't quite as much fun or as productive as I planned. My horse won't remember me when next I see him. We are moving everybody to a new barn at the end of the month, and I feel I will be unable to help. And I do miss my pretty boy right now. I'm glad I got his Christmas cookies to him before this happened.

Where Has the Year Gone?

2009-12-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the last day of work before the holidays. I'll be off until January 4. I love being able to use only two days of vacation to get 11 straight days off. If the furloughs had gone through, we would have been off for three weeks. I'm a little sorry that didn't happen, but I realize it would have been an economic hardship for a lot of people around here.

We picked out our tree on Saturday and it stands unadorned in the dining area of the rental. We tried the living room, but it was just a little too tall and scraped the ceiling. Because of the way renovations were done to the house, part of the dining area has a very low ceiling and part of it is higher than any place else in the house except for a peculiar aspect of the master bedroom bath where there's about a 4' x 4' cathedral height area. I figured we couldn't really open presents in the bathroom, no matter how big it is (the size of a bedroom, actually.)

Our Hallmark ornaments were living with a friend since the fire, so I picked them up a couple of weeks ago along with my Lenox Holiday china. On Sunday, my son and I headed over to our house to get the rest of the decorations and lights from the garage. I'm sure I'll get the tree decorated by Friday.

The house rebuild continues along. We've picked out tile, carpet, counter tops and cabinet doors for the kitchen. The drywall has gone up, so there are rooms again and not just bones. The first picture of the house shows the view from the kitchen through to the living room. The mantle above the fireplace was put in after the 1994 earthquake and it was pretty much the only internal wall left standing after everything was stripped out after the fire. The windows and door to the right of that, which look out onto our eastern yard used to be a pair of French doors. Now it will be a single door with windows on either side, which you can see a little better in the second photograph.

No more floor to ceiling windows anywhere in the house, which is just fine with me and the fire marshal. Also a concession to the fire marshal is a solid sheer wall to protect against the shaking we got in the 1994 earthquake. That's the solid wall on the right of the picture. It has been moved to take over space that was a narrow extension of the garage which was pretty much worthless to us for storage. It jutted out from the front of the house and did little more than collect a lot of leaves from the tree or serve as a vantage for cats who would climb up there and look into the windows which extended in a huge triangle from side to side in the front of the house from about the 8' wall level. We'll have less light streaming into the living room this way, but we've gained about 3' of length to the living room.

The third photograph of the house looks back toward the kitchen area and you can see the open front door on the left and the door out to my kitchen garden. There's a lot of change going on here. There used to be a wall blocking most of this view. When we did work on the kitchen three years ago, we added a pass-through window, added a range with a big oven near where the window is (in addition to the wall oven that used to be just to the right of where the door is going to the garden), and had pull-out shelves in the bottom cabinets under the sink. In the new version of the kitchen, the sink will be under that window, the range with oven will be perpendicular and to this side of where the sink will go, the placement for the refrigerator is blocked by the wall on the right (behind which on the far side will be a pantry and on the near side with be a closet with the washer and dryer), and jutting out from that same wall will be a base cabinet with counter top to serve as a lunch counter and work space. The chairs will tuck in facing toward the kitchen. It is so much more open. And there will be a lot more storage space in the kitchen because of it.

For comparison, you might want to take a look at the blogs I wrote in 2007 when we were renovating the kitchen--something that never quite got finished. Here's a link to what the view from the kitchen through to the living room used to be before/during the make-over. That wall will be gone, replaced partially by a base-counter about 4' long. If you look to the upper right of the picture, you can see the windows that used to be in the upper part of the front wall above the door area. Here's the old back of the kitchen area where the refrigerator will now be in about the center of the wall surrounded by cabinets. The wall oven on the left is gone and the washer and dryer will be moved to their closet in the hall toward the bedrooms. And this lovely area of clutter will soon be the pantry. We only used the laundry sink to empty the washer's water and that will now have proper plumbing. I think things will be much easier to organize and put away with a proper pantry.

In the fourth photograph of the house is the space that used to be my office. It has had quite a bit of rearranging. When we tore up the carpet, we saw the artifacts of a wall that did make the room a fourth bedroom. When Len bought the place, those walls had been removed and the room was open to the hallway and used as a den or dining room. We used it as both at different times, but mostly it was my office. I used filing cabinets to take the place of a wall. It was crowded, but it was mine.

The room had a large closet along the left side of this picture which is no longer there. We took that, and what had been the linen closet in the hall and rearranged the support walls t enlarge the master bedroom's bath. I told Len that I would no longer live in a house where I did not have a separate vanity and storage area in the bathroom from his. While I think the bathroom in the rental is larger than necessary, I do appreciate the two sinks and vanities and I can draw a line down the center to keep his crap from invading my side. It is heavenly. The bath in our house will not be any deeper than it was, but it will be much wider, and we've shifted location and orientation of everything in it to make it a nicer space than it was.

Now the office has a closet (right) and a window-seat (left) for storage, and it still has a nice big window to look out on the side yard. I imagine some little girl sitting on the window seat with a favorite book taking her off to some imaginary land. That's what I'd do there.

We are told the house will be done in February. We'll see.

Schleese Comes to Chatsworth

2009-12-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

It's really cold in L.A. Not cold as many of you would recognize, but cold for L.A. It happens every once in a while. There's snow on the far mountains and I had to scrape my car windows yesterday morning.

We're between promised rain storm right now and I've got fingers and everything else crossed that the next one holds off until Friday afternoon. I finally got an appointment to get my dressage saddle adjusted and Jochen Schleese himself is going to accompany the local fitter. I have no idea how much it will cost--I have a rough idea it's around the cost of tuning up my car. I keep telling myself I'm a four-time Jeopardy! champion, so I can actually afford it. Too bad the money doesn't get here for another three months.

I bought the saddle when I had an unexpected windfall from a personal injury case I had referred to another lawyer four years ago. It was quite a luxury to have a saddle custom made and it felt just grand. The last time I rode in it was two years ago when I lost my seat and really slammed my hip on the ground--I never had the wind knocked out of me before and it was frightening. Ace hasn't been able to wear it for a while, because his body has changed shape (for the better) but he's asymmetrical in the withers/shoulders (I know, most horses are) and he lost enough weight that it just doesn't fit right. He's entitled to a saddle that fits, and Ashley, who does ride him in an English saddle, should be able to use his saddle on him, not her pony's saddle.

The fitting consists of static and dynamic phases. If it rains, we won't be able to do the dynamic part this time around. The local fitter can come back, but Jochen won't be here, and I'd like the saddle maker to oversee it all. I'm not likely to haul Ace out to Pomona for Equine Affaire in February.

I'll try to take pictures.

What? No More 900-0?

2009-12-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

By the time I arrived to attend New College at Hofstra University in 1969, Hofstra was well passed any reputation it had for beating Bill Cosby's Temple University football team 900-0. But it was not unusual that the only time people had ever heard of Hofstra (a name my mother can still not pronounce correctly) was because Bill Cosby told this story.

I did actually once meet a Hofstra graduate who had been on those winning football teams, but he was a number of years older than I and I'm not sure I believed him. I remember attending one football game on an autumn evening, but that was before I started dating Bob Mackreth and had better things to do on Friday nights.

Hofstra was, I think, the first college to have astro-turf on its football field. This may have had something to do with it being the summer home of the New York Jets in those days. Broadway Joe was around and we may have gotten a brief look at him before the team left for its season (in the days before football preceded Labor Day.) Astro-turf, as any photographer can tell you, is dangerous stuff. Most of us would rather photograph dirt and grass stains than the blood that sliding on astro-turf is likely to produce.

The university has had a significant basketball team in recent time, but the article I read today said that football seems to face the same indifference from the community and lack of success it did when I attended. The school plans to reallocate the $4.5 million the program costs to other areas. This sounds like a good idea.

When I think about Hofstra, I think about its theatre department, which is outstanding. Actors such as Madeline Kahn, Susan Sullivan, Lainie Kazan, Christopher Walken, Mike Starr, Robert Davi, and Peter Friedman have come out of its program. Davi used to sing opera on the Unispan because of the acoustics and Peter Friedman was the star of the department when I was there. Francis Ford Coppola was an undergraduate. Throw in music and the communications department, and you'll find lots of folks floating around Hollywood. Ray Romano wore a Hofstra sweatshirt on "Everybody Loves Raymond" because show-runner Phil Rosenthal went to Hofstra. Scott Ross, one of the founders of Digital Domain, was my first-year classmate at New College--I got my B.A. in the planned three years, he took a little longer, but obviously he didn't suffer for it. I've seen the name of my college buddy, the charming Arturo Porazzi, in many a Playbill as stage manager, confirmation that his theatre tech major paid off. There are others I wonder about, but with family in that business, I certainly know how difficult it is to succeed.

So, my suggestion would be to tell the university to put its money where its success is: theatre and communications (and maybe some to its very successful law school.) I realize that there are alumni who will be irritated that football is gone, but I've always thought that college sports draws money away from academic pursuits and if they are so important for developing professional talent, pro sports owners should be picking up the tab. More people benefit from a run of Richard III (and Hofstra runs the oldest college Shakespeare festival in the country every spring) than from a football game.

Official Len Wein Day

2009-12-02T09:38:00.000-08:00

It has been a year of extreme highs and lows. We've got another high this week: Saturday is Official Len Wein Day in Los Angeles County. We think it has something to do with the creation of Wolverine and the Hero Initiative.

Len is doing a signing event for the Hero Initiative, a charity which was founded to help the older creators of comic books. A just published a book of 100 covers by different artists for Wolverine stories hits shops today and, on Saturday, Len and a number of the artists will sign from 7-10 PM at Collector's Paradise Comics & Gallery, 7131 Winnetka Avenue (just south of Sherman Way) in Winnetka, California (in the western part of the San Fernando Valley) to benefit the charity.

If you live in LA, take the 101 Freeway to the Winnetka Avenue exit and head north about 2 miles. It's on the west side of the street. You could probably take the Orange Line to the Winnetka stop and walk about a mile north, but I think the 243 bus takes that route.

I'm planning on being there to take a few pictures. Feel free to drop by.

The Lull before the Holidays

2009-11-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Some of life is calming down a welcome bit. I'm starting prep for Thanksgiving, which includes counting dishes and glassware and hoping I've got enough for the folks who will be attending. I think we'll have a smaller group than last year, since my good china and dining room table are still at the warehouse. I don't even think anything's been done to fix the table yet.

Ace was originally scheduled to do a show yesterday and then do the Arab show over Thanksgiving weekend. Yesterday didn't happen and I think we're going to pass on the Arab show. Ashley's been sick and I haven't bought my membership in the other organization besides AHA that I need to join.

Ace has taken to jumping like a duck takes to water. He's a very happy camper when Ashley gets to take him over things. Just as long as he doesn't decide I need to learn how to jump, we'll be fine.

Did you all watch Zenyatta blow away the boys at the Breeders Cup Classic on Saturday? I happened to remember it was going on and found it on TV about half an hour before post time. What a horse! Ever since Barbaro, I'm rather terrified to watch Thoroughbred racing, but the girls (Rachel Alexandra's the other one) have been quite special this year. I hope Zenyatta's owners retire her. She's definitely earned it. But I bet she's the kind of horse who would rather have that job to do. I do find myself wondering how to get Ron Weschler to get us on a tour that will let us meet her. He knows so many people in racing, but it would be easier if she was at home at Santa Anita and not Hollywood Park.

My friend Kay Reindl was at the race on Saturday and was close by the gate when one of the horses refused to load. It was scary on TV and it was even worse in person. Kay let some joker know how dangerous it was when he stood near her laughing about it. I was amazed that the jockey stuck around on board for so long. It was a good thing that neither the horse nor anyone else got hurt.

Jeopardy! Blog

2009-11-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

My blog about my appearance on Jeopardy! is up on the Jeopardy! web site. The part which leads up to the games is accurate. The part about the actual games and who I played is not accurate. I had to write the blog within two weeks of my appearance, which was several weeks before the shows ran. I'm sorry to everyone whose name and game I got wrong. It was all a blur, and if I didn't watch the games on TV, I really wouldn't know what happened. I'm still not sure how I won Game 3. Note that I thought the crew was from NBC and doing a Dateline story, when it was from ABC for Nightline!

What a Week It Has Been

2009-11-02T15:51:00.000-08:00

By now, you've probably heard that I am a four-time Jeopardy! champion. Some of you might also have seen me on the Nightline segment that ran on Friday night. If you didn't, and want to, here's a link to that bit of reporting.

Nightline spent the day I shot my five episodes of the game doing the story on the show. At the end of my fifth game, I was asked if I'd be willing to be interviewed, and, of course, I was. I'm looking at it as an added bonus of a good run on the show.

My tally hasn't been added to the Hall of Fame for $50,000+ players and my blog about my experience isn't up on the Jeopardy! site yet either. If you are interested in seeing the game boards I played, you can check them out at J-Archive, a really useful site run by fans of the show.

When my blog does go up, you will discover I am an unreliable narrator. The deadline for the blog was two weeks after I shot my episodes, so I had only my fuzzy brain for reference. I refer to my worthy opponents by wrong names, because I couldn't recall who played in which segment. I hereby apologize to each and every one of them. They were all lovely people and very smart.

I want to thank everyone who has wished me well during this experience. I've gotten lovely e-mail from total strangers and notes from folks with whom I now have the Jeopardy! experience in common. The notes are much appreciated.

So now I'm anxious to learn how Chris Rodriguez did on his next appearance, which won't run until November 16. I was glad for Chris that he got more than his long cross-country-by-train trip out of his appearance, and I hope to god he sprung for a sleeper car on his way back to Massachusetts. The cheap seats are not fun on a long-distance train ride, but a sleeper car is relaxing, as I experienced on my trip to New Mexico just a year ago.

Jeopardy, Part 2

2009-10-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm heading home to watch tonight's Jeopardy with another group of friends. Wherever you are, I hope you'll tune in to see what happens on my second appearance.

Jeopardy Promo

2009-10-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to Jeopardy's "Home Town Howdees" with me making funny faces. Tune in and tell me what you think!

What Is Monday Night?

2009-10-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

The answer is its the night when Christine Valada make an appearance on Jeopardy! I'll be a contestant on Monday, October 26. As soon as the Jeopardy! website puts up the "Hometown Howdees," I'll put up a link. Check your local listings for time and channel.

Family Reunion

2009-10-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Growing up, there were always cousins around. My father's immediate family lived 60 miles away and most of my mother's family lived on Long Island but always found reasons to visit the Catskills. There were 21 first cousins on my Dad's side (he was the middle of 5 children) and 19 on my mother's side (she was the oldest of 6 children.) On my mother's side it was actually the full second cousins who were closer to my age, and they came up a lot because my mother was very close to a number of her first cousins who looked to my grandfather as the patriarch of his part of the family. We all did a lot of traveling by car for weekends on "the Island" or day trips to Daddy's brothers and sisters.

I think we were closest to Dad's brother Jack's family. They're the ones I recall spending a lot of time with in the summer, when Jack's two daughters would spend part of the summer with us, or we'd go to Binghamton for picnics and trips to the small amusement parks there.

This weekend, I went to Arizona for the wedding of one of Uncle Jack's grand children. Jason is the son of my cousin Tony, and we met for the first time as I was walking down the resort steps to find the place where the ceremony had taken place. Jason found me on-line when he first moved out to Phoenix around 7 or 8 years ago. We've kept in sporadic touch since, and a few months ago he wrote to let me know he was getting married and wanted me to come to the wedding.

It was the first time I had seen Tony or his older brother Jimmy in more years than I care to contemplate. I know they were both at Tony's wedding, which took place when I was still in high school, and they probably were also at their sister Marie's wedding, but I can't remember if either of them attended my first wedding or those of my sister or brothers. When you're young, that 5-8 year age difference is a lot bigger than it is when you have children of your own.

Tony sounds just like his dad and our uncle Tony. My dad's inflections were a bit different. Jason has a nose that reminds me of his grandfather and his aunt. I also got to meet Tony's beautiful daughter Stefany, her husband, and their three kids. Stefany looks a lot like her mother, who passed away from cancer 10 years ago (which I didn't know until recently.) I also spent time at the wedding with two of Tony's brothers-in-law, who were also kids at Tony and Ceil's wedding so many years ago. I guess we must have met or at least seen each other at that party.

The wedding took place at the Wild Horse Pass Spa and Resort in Chandler, Arizona, somewhere to the west of Phoenix. It was lovely. It's on the Pima-Maricopa reservation, has that unmistakable south-west adobe architecture, and I'd definitely consider going back again for a weekend.

Although it was a small wedding, there was a definite family feel to it. Gracie the flower-girl, Stefany's younger daughter, fell asleep at the reception and cushions were found so she could sleep while the party continued. It reminded me of Uncle Tony's wedding and pushing chairs together so my brother Bert could sleep while the festivities continued.

Tony and Jimmy reminisced about my father taking them deer hunting. I remember watching Yankee games and Bobby Kennedy's funeral at their house. The Yankees game on Saturday night was a big deal to the Valada family--Stefany's husband had his Blackberry out to follow things throughout the reception. The Yanks are a family religion in which my cousin Jimmy refused to participate. He's a Giants fan. Heresy.

I also met one of Jason's cousins from his mother's side of the family. He works for the Phoenix Suns. We exchanged information, so I expect we'll meet up when the Suns play out here. He used to play pro ball himself in Europe, so we discussed the beauty and food of Italy. Nice young man named Stefan.

Tony retired from teaching social studies and lives near Stafany in Florida. I hope that I'll see more of him if he decides to visit Jason in Phoenix. It was an easy flight of just over an hour, and definitely worth the trouble to go see such nice relatives. Eventually, I hope to actually meet Stacy, the bride. There was no reception line, so I never actually met her. I did meet her mother, but not her father. Funny how those things can get lost with all of the excitement.

Jason did let me know that Crate & Barrel had delivered my present, so even if they are as bad as I was about thank-you notes, I know the gift arrived. Or at least one of the two items did, and they were supposed to be shipped together.

My legs still hurt from dancing a little bit on Saturday night. Wearing heels is pretty uncomfortable when your usual foot wear is Nike or Ariat.

My relatives all left the hotel very early on Sunday morning. Jason and Stacy were flying to Cancun for their honeymoon and Tony flew back to Florida with Stefany and her family. I didn't get to see them again after I left the reception on Saturday night, unfortunately. I did spend some more time talking with Tony's brothers and sisters-in-law on Sunday morning as I waited for my ride to the equestrian center on the grounds and they had coffee before heading out to a day trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. I hope they had a wonderful time.

My shuttle to the horses was a bit late because it also returned the riders from the 7 a.m. ride to the hotel. The driver was Roger, a Pima tribe member, who would also be my trail-ride guide. It turned out I was the only rider for what I thought was a group ride. I guess no one else wanted to be up that early or risk being out in the heat--it hit around 100 on Saturday.

The reservation is huge, and we rode for 90 minutes. I was on a pinto named Desperado. I did express doubt about a horse with that name, but he was fine after he did the usual thing of trying to tell me that he was going to go home right when we got started. We got over that right away and he was a good horse the rest of the trip.

Roger rode a dark brown mustangy looking horse named Jack. Jack was a bit skittish--caution due to the fact he'd been bitten by a rattle snake in the past. This was a good thing, because half-way through the ride, Jack spun when he saw/heard a rattlesnake on the path. Roger called for me to get my horse out of there as well. I never actually saw the snake, but I sure heard it. Desperado never panicked when Jack spun in front of us or otherwise acted nervously. He also just handled breaking through the dirt around gopher holes like it was nothing at all. Good horse, that Desperado.

We saw some lizards and heard the snake, but we didn't see any of the 1500 head of wild horses that live out there. Roger told me about hitting a mountain lion with his car recently, and gave me lots of stories about the Pima and Maricopa tribes. He's Pima, because his mother is Pima, but he's also learned much about his father's tribe, the Maricopa. He's a tribal singer, which is why he says he's almost 48 and not married. It takes a lot of effort to learn the songs. Just fascinating.

I had a mid-afternoon pick-up to go back to the airport, so after I got back to the hotel, I had breakfast, cleaned up, packed up, checked out and hung around the lobby relaxing. It was too hot to sit outside by the pool, as far as I was concerned.

The drive back to Phoenix and the airport went quickly. I did see a great blue heron in the small river on our way off the reservation. But no wild horses. Next time, maybe. I went to the Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa and the only wild horses I saw were on the tee shirt I bought.

Autumn Arrives

2009-10-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

I seem to have found a few days of respite. I finished a blog that will be posted elsewhere (and I'll do a link when it finally gets put up), provided the accountant with information for our taxes (which we'll file after Len adds money to his retirement fund later today), and I'm ready to take an overnight trip to Phoenix to the wedding of my first-cousin-once-removed (whom I look forward to meeting.) I hear the weather will be warmer than it is here in L.A. right now.

The rain started on Monday night as I drove home from talking about copyright to the Women's Artistic Network in Camarillo. It came down much harder yesterday and I had trouble sleeping because of the noise on the plastic awning outside our bedroom window. I hope that the roofers covered things at our house, because I would hate to lose to the rain the rest of the comic books in the garage that the thieves didn't get.

There will be no riding today. Gayle said she's cutting trenches and Ace is irritated that she's not feeding him every time she walks in and out of the gate. I hear that the Santa Cruz area got 10" of rain, scary for the areas where there was fire earlier this year. My friend Erin can't get to her horses again because of mud-slide fears in the L.A. burn areas. Roads have been closed, but we haven't had quite the levels of rain the north has, at least not yet.

We do need the rain. I hope it brings the roses at my house back from near dead. I went into my garden and looked at dead grape vines and tomato plants and herbs and wanted to cry. I had finished planting the garden, putting several hundred dollars into it, the night before the fire. What a shame.

Dodging a Bullet

2009-10-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Tamiflu seems to have taken care of whatever was bothering me on Friday. I managed to get out to the flea market on Sunday and found a lovely tri-cornered Nambe bowl for a good price. My friends, whose first visit to the flea market it was, found books and character jelly glasses. We went to tea at the Scarlet Tea Room for lunch. They had mojitos, I was the designated driver.

Len had a good trip to Columbus and met my girlfriend's grand-daughter. He's in New York with my sister where they've caught two musicals so far, but don't ask me what they were. One captured a bunch of Tony awards last time out and the other was in previews. Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig will be Thursday night. Not in a musical, unless you count the singing of someone's cell phone as captured in the very illegal video up on YouTube.

Ace was pronounced in excellent shape by the vet when he came out to do fall shots on Saturday. I showed Dr. Perdue the packet of material I got from Cornell University, which is doing a study of horses. It came with a 10' tape-measure, detailed instructions about what measurements to take, a form for the measurements, and a sheet to attach mane and tail hairs to collect hair-bulbs for DNA analysis. I'll be happy to post the contact information if anyone else would like to have their horses included in the study.

Where's the Chicken Soup When You Need It?

2009-10-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

I think I may be coming down with the flu. I woke up with a punk stomach and I was chilled and then I got warm. I've got aching in my skull and joints, itchy eyes, and a funny taste in my mouth. I have broken down and taken the Tamiflu we've been hording. I needed to be at work today to check out something that has turned into a bit of a mess. The correction has been made, but there was a timed release of an e-mail which I cannot reverse myself. I'm hoping the boss can recall it and send out the corrected e-mail with the proper link without too much trouble when he finally comes back later today. I've left him voice mail and I may go home if I don't feel better real soon. Fortunately, I am not coughing or sneezing--yet. I worry about spreading anything.

Len's off to Columbus, New York, and Baltimore. Two conventions book-ending meetings at DC Comics, and, most importantly, a night at the theatre with my sister as the guest of the lovely Hugh Jackman. I wish I could jump in a plane to be in New York on Thursday night, but I've got tickets to see August: Osage County here on Friday night and the city-wide King Trivia tournament finals on Saturday afternoon. Much as I would like to see Hugh and meet Daniel Craig (yes, they are invited back stage), I'm delighted my sister gets to meet them in my place. I've got my fingers crossed that she's going to earn her waivers today to finally get her SAG card, and it would be a great way for her to celebrate.

Assuming I'm not coming down with the cooties, I'm planning to treat the Sunday Super Supper Club to an recipe from Marcella Hazen that I love, but Len wouldn't like (he's very limited in the kinds of fish he will try.) Fortunately, it really doesn't take all that long to prepare, because I'm planning on going to the Pasadena City College Swap Meet with Susan and Kathryn on Sunday morning. I figure if I do my shopping and prep of Saturday, I'll be fine.

The Arabian Prince hasn't seen much of me lately. Between the heat and my week, I finally got a chance to stop by yesterday. He's having a great time jumping. As long as he doesn't do it with me, that's fine. I've got the premium for the big Arab show at the Equestrian Center over Thanksgiving weekend, and we're trying to figure out which classes he'll enjoy doing. I'm willing to let Ashley jump him if she wants to. I'd like to get my Schlesse adjusted for him ahead of time, because it's a beautiful and under-used saddle. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a Schlesse clinic near by for quite a while, and I haven't been able to ferry him to one.

Another Busy Day

2009-09-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

I planned to go shopping for some silk shirts, finish inputting tax info, and make dinner for the Sunday Super Supper Squad because The Amazing Race starts tonight with, get this, two Harlem Globe Trotters on board as contestants. How's that for stunt-casting? Now, I've got to fit in a visit from Tim Prindle, my terrific farrier, who will be leaving for two weeks back east on Thursday and it's time for Ace's toes to be done. Too little time, too much to do. So why am I procrastinating at the keyboard? Probably because it was over 110 yesterday and will be another scorcher today.

The Hurrieder I Go, the Behinder I Get

2009-09-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

It seems a little silly to pop in and say I'm sorry I've been too busy to post. But I just haven't had enough time to finish writing about my trip to New York or cover what else has been going on. One big time-sink I can't even address just yet.

Repairs on the house continue at a snail's pace. We can see improvement on the roof and reframing on the inside, but we're told it will be February until it is ready. I'm guessing we'll be at the rental for the better part of a year, unless I can convince Len to buy while the market is in our favor and then sell the old place when houses are on the upswing. It's not like I couldn't carry that mortgage on my own right now, and it would make a good rental property.

I'm doing a quick in and out of town in a few weeks to go to the wedding of a first cousin once removed. I've never met him, but he found me through the Internet a number of years ago. I'm looking forward to meeting him and seeing his father and uncle for the first time in a zillion years. I'm also hoping to squeeze in time for a ride at the Wild Horse Resort where the wedding is taking place. It looks lovely out there.

Len's had his plate full with follow-up meetings from Comic Con and the several projects he's deeply into. Plus, he's getting a tremendous lot of press because of the X-men Origins: Wolverine movie release. He's on a 15 minute short having a conversation with Stan Lee, which is one of the extras on the disks. Many of the reviews are calling it the best thing about the release. He spent Monday morning with Lauren Shuler Donner and Gavin Hood doing a press junket at a Beverly Hills hotel where he did 35 on-camera interviews in four-and-a-half hours. When his adrenalin dropped, he really crashed. He's not used to being up at 6, and it was a good thing they sent a car for him.

Len gets to go to conventions in Columbus and Baltimore the first two weekends in October, with a five day layover in between in New York, where he hopes to catch the play starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. He also gets to see my sister and my nieces, for which I am most envious. I'm trying to remember what else I saw at Zabar's that he can bring back to me, since my sister's apartment is nearby.

While he's gone, I will finally get to see "August: Osage County." My lovely niece Kristina turned down the opportunity to do the national tour as an understudy, so we aren't enjoying her company for the six weeks the show is in town. She managed to go on 20 times on Broadway, and played three different roles, but she wants to be paid to act instead of being paid to not act. I can understand, but I wish she was here.

We've got fires raging in Southern California again. My friend Erin is not allowed to go to her horses right now, because after they were moved back to their stables (which were saved from the Station Fire), the road has been closed to all except residends. The cops aren't letting people who have other legitimate reasons to be there in, even though names have been provided. There's no indication when this will change. This is likely to damage the business of the boarding facilities and the trainers.

The latest big fire is to the west in the Filmore-Moorpark area. It's major horse territory and they are being evacuated to the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The news said the last big fire out there was in 2002, but there was a pretty big one in Moorpark more recently than that, because my friend Lira had to evacuate her big mare to Pierce. I could see the black cloud over the north-west ridge of the valley this morning. At the moment, I have no reason to worry about it getting near Ace.

Speaking of Ace, we're probably going to enter him in the big Arabian show at the Equestrian Center over Thanksgiving weekend. Ashley wants to ride him and we'll put him in any category she thinks he can do. She's started taking him over jumps and the stinker clearly loves it. As long as he doesn't do it with me on his back, I'm fine with it. He's been getting out on trail a lot more lately, which is good for his brain. I just wish the Schleese saddle fitting folks would do a fitting session near by. His saddle needs some serious adjustment and it would be nice if Ashley could ride in it at the show.

We managed to get to the Los Angeles County Fair on Saturday, where it was Saddlebred show day (pretty but prissy) and I learned that mustangs are "dissidents of the horses brought by the Spaniards to North America." You'd think someone in the BLM took enough English to know the meaning of "dissident" is not the same as "descendant." Spell-check strikes again.

I used the fair to start rebuilding my pearl collection at the Kobe Pearls booth. Len and I each chose 4 oysters to open and I now have a pendant with three large gold-cream pearls. I only got one black this time, so I'll save that until next year. Choosing oysters for pearls has been a long-standing tradition with us and I got one or two a year every year we went to the fair. My collection disappeared in the fire, because they were in an open music box on my dresser (they melt or burn.) My black pearl ring was in a drawer, and that survived. My black pearl drop necklace is a bit damaged, but that piece I still have. I was lucky enough to be wearing my black-pearl earrings. I had several pendant pieces made over the years, but I found none of them in the debris.

The last of the recent time-sinks has been a city-wide team trivia competition that takes place in bars around the city. Our group started late, so we've been doing two nights a week to get enough points to qualify for the final and a prize of $1000. The final is on October 10, and we did qualify. We came in third last night, but we had one three or four nights in a row between that bar and the other one we've gone to regularly. Unfortunately, neither my husband or J. Keith van Straaten will be in town for the night of the final, which will make things a little tougher. But then I remind myself that Jim Newman and his friend Don and I pulled several of those wins off without additional help. I think we can have six members on our team for the final.

Now, if I can just get the damned 2008 tax material ready for the accountant.

Meeting Pen Pals

2009-08-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Internet has brought back some of the skills of written communication that disappeared when people decided the telephone was the best method of communication. I think about pamphleteers and how they must have found each other in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. And what it must have been like when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met each other for the first time, after knowing each other only by the words they wrote. They didn't even have photographs in those days.

One of the fun things I was able to fit in on this trip was arranging to have breakfast with Victoria Cummings of Teachings of the Horse. I've been following her blog ever since it showed up in the list of notable & recommended blogs soon after I started writing mine. I find it insightful and I enjoy her pictures of her two mares and her farm. When she heard I was coming East, Victoria contacted me about getting together and I was really pleased to oblige.

Victoria is as delightful in person as she is on the screen. It turns out we have people in common outside the parameters of the blogosphere because she's worked in Hollywood and lived in California. The world is a very small place.

There wasn't time for more than breakfast. It was Victoria's mother's 95th birthday, and I had to get my car back to the rental office and get into New York. I appreciate the time that Victoria carved out from her busy day to enjoy some poached eggs at the dairy coffee shop and I managed to get back to Enterprise without incurring any charges for overtime.

I'm sorry that Arlene of Grey Horse Matters was out of town during my brief window of opportunity in the North East. She too had extended an invitation to get together, but she had to be out of town. I was hoping to meet Sami, her Arabian rescue, and Sami's mama as well. Perhaps next time.

New York, August 15

2009-08-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

The reunion has been fun. Actually, it has been perfect.

My friend Gloria (on the right, above), with whom I reconnected because of this blog, managed to get here. She flew directly from Madrid, where she was on business, to JFK, where her brother picked her up and drove her home. She got in about 4:30 this morning and I think that she’s lucky that the time differences worked in her favor coming here.

She looks just great, and we’ve had a fine time catching up. She left mid-way through 8th grade and moved to a small town about 60-90 minutes away. When you don’t drive, that’s just as bad as going to the far side of the moon. I saw her only once after that. I invited her to a party the summer after we both graduated and she came. I am so glad we have reconnected. Her granddaughter is into manga and anime, and is planning to be at the convention where Len’s a guest next month. Gloria is going to instruct her to be sure and go up to Len and introduce herself.

My other best friend, Valerie (center, above), from those days was here with her (relatively) new husband. He’s a little on the quiet side, but that may just be because plus-ones are at a disadvantage at a reunion, unless they went to the same school.

Even with nametags and pictures, it is a little hard to recognize people or remember exactly who they were. Sometimes, there’s the moment when you see a 17 year old face peeking out of middle age and sometimes (like people say about me) it’s because you see their parent’s face.

It’s been fun, but frustrating to be unable to check e-mail or post. When I get back to my world, these posts will be going up one after the other, and now I’ve actually got pictures to go with them. Folks suggested I drive around looking for unsecured wi-fi, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Things can wait until I get to Danbury tomorrow or New York on Monday.

There’s one more gathering to attend: breakfast tomorrow. I’ll leave after that. It’s about a 3 hour drive to Connecticut, so I’ll get there plenty of time before dark. I might even stop to buy a swim-suit—Audrey and Michael have an indoor pool. That’s not necessarily an advantage this time of year, but I will always remember being there in the heated pool in January, with a fire in the fireplace, the lights off and the snow coming down outside. It was bliss.

New York, August 14

2009-08-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

What does “no till seeding” mean? Or “no till corn?” Is this a step beyond organic or vegan of which I am unaware.

I passed a field with those signs on my way back from a pilgrimage to Equissentials in Oneonta. There I dropped off a pair of riding britches for “recycling” (they put the deerskin seat on new britches), another pair for exchange (they were much smaller than the other pair I bought at the same time), and gave into my desire for a pair of the full-seat western jodhpurs. Those I bought off the rack. The others will be custom made.

The day is Kodachrome perfect and it makes me wish I actually had some. But then, where would I get it processed? It’s almost time for me to pull out my camera and use it. The afternoon light will soon pick up the warmth I prefer. I think I’m going to drop my car off at my mother’s house and walk for a while. It’s nice to see side walks and there are so many antique shops around. Unlike California, rents are cheap.

I find myself wondering how many of the people I’m walking past might be among those who show up at tonight’s first event of the reunion. It is scary, not knowing what people will look like. A little more frightening to realize I don’t remember their voices either. My father’s voice is vivid in my memory, and he’s been gone 31 years. I’ve seen some of these classmates more recently than that. The only one I can pull up from the data base belongs to Rodney Welch, who teaches and does research at the University of Wisconsin. I sat next to him in school for 13 years, so I should remember what it sounds like.

Yesterday, my friend Gloria called just as my nice and I were seated in a very noisy restaurant in New York. She identified herself, but it was drowned out by the din, so I had to ask for it again. I would never have recognized her by her voice, which sounded a bit like one of my aunts. She called because there is a very small possibility she might make it up from Puerto Rico for the party this weekend. My fingers are definitely crossed.

New York, August 13, Evening

2009-08-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

I am in some other when.

As I drove up Route 17 to attend my high school reunion, I found myself drawn to things I hadn’t thought about in ages:

There was the house that Gary Catella, another friend of his, and I went to, looking for help after Gary’s car broke down on the way home for Christmas vacation in, I think, 1969. Driving to get us meant my parents were late for Dad’s office Christmas party. Boy was he pissed. Turned out, someone had put sugar in the gas tank of Gary’s car. He spent the three weeks of vacation rebuilding the vehicle.

There was the exit to Liberty I got about 500 yards past when my aunt’s Volkswagon Beetle stopped working. The engine seized up when all the oil leaked out. My uncle told me that it was using “a little oil,” which is a different warning than the one I needed. On old Volkswagons, the oil warning light came on after all the oil was gone. The message it gave was “too late, you idiot.” I had borrowed the car to go home for a weekend in my last year in college when my mother was having some vision problems. Once again, Dad had to come and get me. The other thing I remember vividly about that trip was I was wearing suede-cloth hot pants. My legs were better in those days, but it was not a good choice for being stranded along Route 17 unless I wanted a whole lot of trouble. I didn’t. In the days long before cell phones, it took a while for rescue when I thought it prudent to reject several offers of “rides for help.” Eventually, I walked the 500 yards back to the exit and called AAA and my father.

There was the Roscoe Diner, a land mark for anyone who ever had a friend going to college in Upstate New York. It was THE watering hole, an hour from the nearest college city of any size and the last stop before getting on the highway to head back to New York and Long Island. It looked bigger than I remembered it, but I’ll bet the owners are still Greek and there’s a Greek salad on the menu. Today, I just stopped in the parking lot for a catnap before the final 20 miles of my trip. On Sunday I may stop in to see what swag is available.

I drove past one of New York City’s water sources, a reservoir that was built before I started school. It was very full. I’ve seen years where the water was so low you could see the remains of some of the towns that were flooded over. There are two of these reservoirs within 10 miles of my home town, in opposite directions. Daddy used to take us fishing there. I haven’t been fishing since I became old enough to need a license. My brothers now take their kids fishing in the same places when they go to visit my mother.

I pulled off the overview on the mountain going into town, expecting to take a picture of the valley below. The trees are all grown so tall that there is no longer a view. I noticed that the other view hill seems to have the same problem, and that road is a lot more treacherous. So much for a picture of the town, I guess..

When I got to town, I did a drive around before heading to my mother’s house. The first home my parents owned looked quite nice (above). It’s been repainted and it is nicely maintained. There’s now a terraced retaining wall in front where I just remember a grass hill we would roll down—and the day my 2 year old brother stripped off all of his clothes so he could get sprayed by the hose Daddy was using to clean the car. I remember Dad chasing my brother who immediately realized that standing naked was probably not a good idea.

Tomorrow, I will take the time to walk down town and visit some of the many antique/junk shops that have taken over what used to be a Newberry’s, Five and Dime, a jewelery store, and the Western Auto. What was my grandfather’s jewelry and barber shop (and was later his liquor shop) is empty, with a for-lease sign on it. For many years it was an extension of the clothing store on the corner. That too is empty.

The National Bank is still there, but I didn’t notice the full name. No doubt it is owned by some bigger banking corporation. The big surprise was the McDonalds. Mom said it’s been there a while. And I saw an ad for a Subway. I never thought that fast food franchises would ever find the town.

The town library is as beautiful as ever. Rumor has it I can get on the Internet there, which I will check out in the morning. I’ve had no luck posting anything from anywhere today. I’d feel like I’ve gone off the edge of the universe except I know I can get in my car and leave and Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow were on TV tonight. Unfortunately, I discovered my mother’s choice of “news” is the Fox channel, because when I turned on the TV, the odious Bill O’Reilly’s face and voice came on. I couldn’t wait too change the channel.

New York, August 13

2009-08-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Back in New York State after an eight year absence. It’s overcast and humid, something we aren’t used to in L.A.

The young woman I noticed at Bob Hope Airport last night came over to me at the baggage kiosk. Turns out she is Kaitlyn, my friend Zsuzsu’s daughter. She’s here with a play that opens at the NY Fringe Festival this weekend. She noticed I was wearing a jacket from the training barn Zsuzsu ran with Gayle when I moved Ace up to Ranch at the Falls. It is a small world. I’ve asked Kaitlyn to join us for dinner on Monday night. I figured she’d like to meet Kristina & Stephanie, since they are in the same line of work. Kaitlyn is behind the scenes rather than in front of them.

The bus is now making the rounds of the airport stops. There was a police vehicle blocking traffic as we started out of the Jet Blue area. We couldn’t see what the problem was.

I realized that I forgot my point and shoot digital camera. It’s got to be sitting on my desk. Annoying, but not a total loss. I’ve got the Nikon D70 with me. It’s a little bulky for taking to dinner, but it’s faster and better for just about everything.

The flight was o.k. Some minor bumps at the beginning and bigger ones at the end. The couple sitting next to me in the middle and window seat were annoying and loud. I had to get up several times during the night to let them out. I did no more than doze occasionally. I think I might have gone out during Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Nice touch, being able to watch MSNBC in the air. I spent the rest of the night listening to the iPod. I just discovered that I can adjust the balance to the kind of music I like. I’m listening to Tom Paxton singing “The Bravest” and trying not to cry. In a few minutes I’ll have my first view of the New York skyline since September 7, 2001. It will look different.

It did. It’s much shorter in the south end of Manhattan, though the news was about some hummungus steel beam which has been moved into place for the rebuilding of Ground Zero.

Stephanie met me at the bus stop and we went into a busy restaurant across from Grand Central on Park Avenue for breakfast. “Do you have reservations?” asked the manager. Reservations? For breakfast? During the week? In New York? It turned out to be the kind of place that must be used for breakfast business meetings. I was a bit disheveled and ripe from the flight, but they seated us anyway and breakfast was fine. We had about 90 more minutes to kill after we ate and we walked around the renovated Grand Central, which has a fine market—oh the cheese and spice shops were to die for—and where I was able to buy a container with four fresh figs. Mom had expressed her desire for fresh figs, which she hadn’t been able to find at home and which I could not legally bring back with me from California.

Today is my son's birthday and I think it may be the first one I've missed since the days when he spent summers with his father. I miss him and wish that I had been able to plan ahead so he could come along on this trip.

A Busy Week and Weekend

2009-08-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

When he's standing around on his best behavior (like in this picture), you'd never know what an opinionated horse Ace can be. He's very good at letting us know something is wrong, but not necessarily exactly what isn't right.

Ace has been acting strangely ever since I went to Comic Con. While a visit from the vet/chiropractor last Sunday took care of the physical offness, our lessons this week were hampered by a mental "just not here" thing.

Ashley had a great ride with him on Tuesday or Thursday, after her own huge young horse, Waldo, almost dumped her after a big spook, a huge rear, and a turn. Ace was her comfort horse and then he took care of her when she rode him in a training lesson. Me, not so much this week.

He spooked and nailed my left foot on Wednesday while I was picking his feet on Wednesday. That did no damage because it was a quick on and off. Lucky. On Friday, while I was putting his halter on, he spooked and came down on my right foot full weight. I screamed bloody murder for him to get it off. He did the "oh, I'm sorry mom what was your foot doing there" thing, but he wasn't calming down.

Gayle was going to give him a chance to move before I got on his back, but it turned into a full-fledged join-up session. He simply refused to honestly submit. We actually had to untack him because Gayle was afraid he was so worked up, he'd stumble and go down on his saddle. (I've never, ever had to worry about Ace decided to roll when he's tacked up. He just doesn't do it.) After a long workout, we got him dressed again and I did a little work on him. We aren't use to him exhibiting this much attitude.

It may be that his little buddy the new mini got a new corral which is not as close as the old one. Or maybe there was one too many nail guns or motor cycles going off on the other side of the boundry wall. Or maybe he was unhappy that the little girl who's been fussing over him all week in camp this summer didn't come this week. She's had him all cleaned for me every day when I get there and has turned the front part of his stall into a Japanese rock garden without the rocks. She draws lines in the dirt with the manure rake, I hear. Since he doesn't speak English, although he appears to understand it quite well, we're having a hard time figuring out the problem.

He was a tired horse when he went back into his stall on Friday night, but Saturday was a new day and he was in a much better mood when I got there to tack for an 8:30 ride.

It was the best ride I've had on him in weeks. I was able to trot him long and hard for most of the half hour. At first, it was unusually choppy--his warmed-up trot is the easies thing in the world to sit--but then he got going when he realized I wasn't fooling around and he needed to get his rear legs underneath himself. I was really pleased with him and myself when I was done.

Then it was off to the hairdresser in preparation for the upcoming trip home. I even decided to try a manicure and pedicure (I earned it after Friday night) for the first time. Very indulgent. A little weird, but I'd do it again. All of my nails were about the same length and for a change that didn't mean broken below the quick. I discovered when I painted my nails for New Years that I felt like I wanted to rip my nails off. The polish made them feel funny, like they were suffocating. I don't know how else to describe it. Someone else said they think polish makes their nails feel heavy. I'm glad it is not just me. I decided I'd risk a clear coat, but nothing more. So far, so good.

So my hands looked great for about two hours, until I chipped one of the nails at the bowling alley fundraiser for Horse and Pony Rescue Ranch, Inc. , the non-profit that Gayle and some of her students set up years ago to help place unwanted horses. I had a good time anyway, and was glad to get my husband and son to come out and socialize at a horse-related event. A couple of our friends joined us and we managed to bowl two games in the two hours.

I'm a lousy bowler, but even I managed two strikes and a couple of spares, along with a large number of gutter balls. This morning my right hand, arm and neck hurt from using muscles I don't normally encounter. I'm really pleased that between the folks bowling, pledges made to sponsor the bowlers, and raffle tickets, HAPRRI got about $350 towards horsekeeping expenses. If anyone is interested and has the spare cash to make a donation (and I know what that's like these days), here's a link to HAPRRI's website.

Today, I'm doing laundry and packing for my trip, because later we are off to see Julie & Julia, tomorrow night I've got team trivia, Tuesday night we're attending the taping of the first episode of the season of The Big Bang Theory, and Wednesday, I've got to see my chiropractor and Ace right after work before I go to the airport for the red-eye flight to New York. Busy, busy, busy. But so much fun.

Home Again, but Not for Long

2009-07-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

We're home again for a little while. Comicon was exhausting, as always, but we had a fine time. The reaction to the Human Target pilot was enthusiastic and I've been catching press notices about it thanks to Google Alerts. I'm hoping it will be a huge success so I can buy the house I want and hold grand parties in it while Ace grazes in the back yard in a happy retirement.

We got together with James Moran, a British writer who has worked on Dr. Who, Torchwood, and Crusoe, and his wife Jodie Kearns, an opera singer, for dinner last night. We never saw them at Comicon, and they came back to L.A. for a few days before heading back to London. Because of Twitter and Facebook, we knew they were around but it's purely by chance that you run into friends in a crowd of 150,000. Even when you plan a meeting, it's hard to find people. James and Jodie are staying in Santa Monica, so we took them out to El Cholo, an L.A. restaurant that dates back to the 1920s, which has a location close to their hotel. We introduced them to margaritas, table-side-made guacamole, and green corn tamales, which is just about my favorite combination of traditional L.A. cuisine. They were duly impressed, so I suggested they might try The Border Grill before they leave town. That restaurant is walking-distance from their hotel. It was a relaxing dinner with excellent conversation, something that can be lacking in the Comicon environment.

While it was doubtful it would happen until yesterday, I'm taking a quick trip back East to head to the western foothills of the Catskill Mountains for my high school reunion. I'd rather not say how many years, but I have great fondness for that particular year and its place in history.

As I've mentioned before, I haven't gotten on a plane since September 7, 2001, when we flew back from New York. I haven't seen the edited skyline of the city in person. I'm arriving on a red-eye, so that should be interesting.

I'm planning on taking "Talkie Tina," our Magellan GPS unit along with me. She and I don't get along very well, but it will be easier than following a map without a navigator. I'm pretty sure that my automatic pilot will turn on once I get off Long Island (where I attended college) and out of the greater New York City environs. I would be hard pressed to count the number of times I've made the trip by car between New York and Delaware County, but it has been a long stretch since the last time. I doubt there will be enough hours to do all of the things I'd like to cram in the 5 days I'll be there, but I'm going to do as many as I can. I've got my fingers crossed for some good estate sales on Saturday morning, and the county fair should at least be set up before I head back down state on Sunday (it will be open if I wait until Monday, but I'm not sure about doing that.) I hope that my small home town has an Internet cafe or wifi at the library, because I guarantee my mother isn't going to have any kind of a hook-up at home. OMG. What will I do?

Comicon 2009: Saturday

2009-07-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday promised to be a busy day, and it was. I went off to have breakfast with Ginjer Buchanan, an old friend who is an editor in New York. This was her first Comicon. She was attending because one of her authors wrote the novels upon which True Blood is based.

After spending two and a half hours catching up with gossip, she went off to author-wrangle and I stopped at Horton Plaza where I picked up a black pant-suit for an upcoming event. Now I've got to find some silk shells to wear with it. I dropped that off at the room, changed my clothes, and went off to catch Len interviewing his old friend Doug Moench, one of this year's Comicon guests. Doug told a very funny story about working with Dino di Laurentis on Red Sonja. Apparently, the producer does not read English, so all of Doug's drafts were being translated to Italian. It took Doug a while to figure out that when Dino had a meeting with him and insisted there were not to be vampires in Red Sonja. Since Doug had not written any vampires in the script, he began to wonder who was rewriting his work. Then he realized that he did have a scene with leeches, and that leeches were being somehow translated as vampires. It was very funny. And I thought humor didn't translate well.

Len finished the panel and we ran off to the Human Target events, which started with a press conference where the cast, writers, and Len were shuttled in front of a variety of TV and print reporters and asked pretty much the same questions by each of them. Then we went to the room where an audience of some 3000 people were being shown the Human Target pilot, which got a great response. Len, three of the writers, and the three stars were then called up on stage for questions for about half an hour. Then we were shuttled off to the Warner Bros. signing area on the show floor. The plus-ones got to watch from the holding area upstairs.

Here's the photograph I got of Jackie Earle Haley, Len, Mark Valley, and Chi McBride as we were waiting in the back areas of the convention center to get to the Warner Bros. signing booth.

Comicon 2009: Friday Evening

2009-07-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

The Warner Bros. Television cocktail party was held on the 4th floor terrace of the Hilton Hotel on the bay. It was a lovely evening with good food and a pretty sunset.The casts of shows like The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, and Heroes, along with writers and directors were there. There was also a good showing of folks from upcoming shows, like The Vampire Diaries and the reason we were invited, The Human Target. I met Mark Valley and Jackie Earle Haley (and Jackie's wife Amelia), chatted with Jim Parsons (above), and hung out with Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and his wife, and Brian Lowry of Variety.Len met Jackie (together, above) at the Watchmen premier. Len had written the Watchmen video game and Jackie voiced Rorschach for the game and played the role in the movie. He has a newly created character in The Human Target. He's a terrific actor whom I remember fondly from Breaking Away. He and his wife are really lovely people and we had a good time talking with them.

Tomorrow will be Len's busy day. Not only is he doing The Human Target panel and press conference, he's interviewing Doug Moench and doing the Ben 10 panel.

I'm planning to run over to the antique shops at Ocean Beach and get back to take pictures at the press conference and panel tomorrow. Things were so much easier before they built the baseball stadium down here (right next door to our hotel) and the antique shops were within walking distance of our hotel. But urban renewal and Ebay have combined to eliminate the shops, so now only a few remain in far-flung locations. Pity.

Comicon 2009: Friday

2009-07-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today's the day I actually braved the crowds and went over to the convention center to catch The Big Bang Theory panel. I did cheat a little bit by imposing on my friendship with Bill Prady to ask for guest passes, so we could have decent seats without having to sit in line for hours. I met up with Bill's assistant and got our passes and one for actress Chase Masterson.
The cast, along with co-creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady put on an hysterical panel. It was preceded by a clip reel of scenes which relate to Comicon attendees. A huge favorite is "Rock, Paper, Sissors, Lizard, Spock" which JimParsons was asked to do live. He can't. Apparently, every one of the 12 or so takes will be available on the Season 2 DVD set, due out in September.

Jim did a great job answering the question about how Sheldon would respond to being nominated for an Emmy Award (as Jim was last week) and what he'd do for an acceptance speech when he wins. Here's the response:

And now, it is time for me to walk over to the Hilton for the Warner Bros. Television reception where I'll see the folks from TBBT and meet the folks who are bringing Len's baby The Human Target to the small screen this winter.

General Musings

2009-07-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

I don't like working on my birthday. I'd rather spend the time with Ace. But we're leaving for San Diego tomorrow and I need to conserve my vacation days this year. I'm not even taking off next Monday, which I originally scheduled, because I'm still debating a last-minute trip to my high school reunion back east. The idea of a whirlwind weekend to New York State is not nearly as appealing as a 10 day visit, but I can't be back east for that long right now.

The heat makes riding unappealing. Not so much the riding as the tacking up. I was sick to my stomach after tacking Ace up for an 8:30 lesson on Saturday morning and just didn't have much energy for anything except suppling him for his lesson with Ashley after mine. It worked out alright, but I hate that feeling. When it was 110 at 4:00 yesterday, I canceled my 5:15 lesson. We're supposed to do a lesson at 8:15 tomorrow morning, so I hope it is at least tolerable then.

San Diego is always a great city to visit, but especially so when the temperatures are supposed to be 25 or more degrees cooler than Los Angeles in the summer. A couple of years ago while we were at Comicon, it was 119 degrees at Pierce and there was a horse show going on. They were really lucky that they could use the covered arena, because they had to pretty much cancel the rest of the events that couldn't take place in that shade. I was happy not to be around for it.

I'm looking forward to meeting Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley at the Human Target panel on Saturday. The Human Target is another one of Len's off-spring and it will be a mid-season entry on Fox. We enjoyed the pilot, and the changes from the original material seem to work. Rick Springfield starred in an 8-episode version of it that ran not quite 20 years ago. Can a revived Swamp Thing be far behind?

We're also planning to go to The Big Bang Theory panel on Friday, but not if I have to stand in line. Which is why it is nice to know the show runners. I'm waiting for e-mail from one of them telling us how to by-pass the crowds. Sometimes it is a really good thing to be married to a comic book god. I was sorry that TBBT didn't get nominated for an Emmy, but Jim Parsons richly deserves his nomination for playing the wonderfully quirky Sheldon and I hope he wins.

During the day, except for those times when Len is on a panel, I'm free to wander about greater San Diego. I like to avoid the crush of 150,000 comic book fans all crammed into the convention center. I usually will only do the main floor at the Wednesday evening preview, but I actually prefer it when someone slips us exhibitor passes and we can get in before the preview crowd. That's what we did last year. Because Len was an honored guest last year, I spent a lot more time at the convention than I usually do--he was on a lot more panels. Plus my friends Melinda Snodgrass and Connie Willis were at the convention and on panels and I wanted to support them as well. This year is a lot easier for me to be selfish.

A couple of years ago, when the convention coincided with my birthday, I brought my riding gear along and found a rental stable where I went out with a private tour guide for a couple of hours and we walked and trotted on several thousand acres, including a wildlife preserve, east of San Diego proper. I had a great time, my guide was a very entertaining 15 year old, but the heat was as bad as it was in L.A. I did enjoy riding the dun quarter horse, even when he did a 180 underneath me because a bicycle came zipping up behind us. Luckily, I was relaxed and well stuck to the saddle. Love those well-seasoned trail horses.

We're going to look at a house right after I'm done with work today, before Len takes me out to dinner. We may look at more than one house, because I saw a photograph of a spectacular place in one of the neighborhoods I keep checking out and it's within our feasible range. It wasn't quite where I was looking, but the inside and the patio is definitely worth the consideration. The sink even looks out a window, which is something I really like. What we definitely need is more space, and a chunk of that space needs to be open because we love to give parties.

So, for my birthday, the spousal unit gave me an iPod, which I got to take the place of my Palm Tungsten 5, which gave up its ghost right after I got my netbook last month. I managed to get the Palm information into the netbook before the Palm went to Jesus, but now I'm trying to figure out how to migrate the data to the Mac's address book to sync with the Palm. The netbook is great, and I'm taking that to San Diego rather than a full-sized notebook, but I still don't want to be carrying it around with me all day. I've only had the iPod since Saturday, but I am deeply in love with it. I bought some music, but more importantly, I bought a bunch of reference apps, a couple of trivia games, and even a version of Jeopardy to keep me amused during the trip to San Diego (Len is a lousy passenger, so I am perfectly resigned to letting him do the driving while I nap or do other things.) Tonight, I need to add some pictures of Ace to it, because people always ask about him.

Some of my friends contributed to the restoration of my Hugh Jackman and Viggo Mortensen collections by getting me Blu-ray disks of Hidalgo and Appaloosa and a DVD of Oklahoma. Rounding out the horse theme, I was given a replacement in Blu-ray of Seabiscuit. I can't wait to watch them when we get back.

When Len goes to Toronto in August, I'm going to invite the ladies over so we can watch Viggo in Alatriste, which has not been released in English. I got the Spanish release with subtitles. I've read most of the Perez-Reverte novels about Captain Alatriste (I had them all in hard back, until the fire) so I was disappointed when the film never opened here. I'm always up for a good swashbuckler and Viggo does know how to use a sword.

July Horse Show

2009-07-13T14:16:00.001-07:00

Going to a horse show as an owner, but not a rider, is a bit like going to your child's school awards show. It's an emotional experience when you find out other people think he's the best in his class, too. Once again, Ace stepped up to the plate and delivered for the team, making us all very proud of our pretty boy.
Ace looks a little sleepy (or bored) in this picture with Ashley Shrader, but maybe he was just thinking that it was about time he got the recognition he deserves. Ace's wearing the first of four blue ribbons he won at the open horse show sponsored by the Arabian Horse Association of the San Fernando Valley on Sunday in Simi Valley. Ash did a fine job of riding him in six classes and where he wasn't first, he went second and third. (In both of those classes, the win went to an Arab mare who used to be at the same barn as we were, so Ace spent time nickering at her over his back fence. She has a very nice owner who is home from college for the summer. Katie and Ashley have a long history of competing together and against each other.)

The ribbon on his bridle was for the obedience class, in which he took a second in May. Earlier that morning, he had done his first trail class--where we expected him to excel--but the results weren't given until hours later. He did win his division in trail, with no hesitation about anything. Before that class opened, and the kids were all walking the course, he did have an issue with the mail box. But he had a chance to look and smell inside and that was that. Once Ashley was on his back, it was all about the job.

He also got the blue in the open English class and the ground-poles class. Gayle and several of the other adults teased that next time we'd put him in the jumping class, but I said "no thanks." I'm not interested and I'd rather he didn't get an independent idea about it.
In addition to riding Ace, Ashley rode her own pony, Curious Curio (above, with Ace), in all of the cross-rail classes plus a different division of the trail class. She brought home a blue and placed in the others.
It was a fine day for all of the riders from Total Equestrian Experience, as the selection (not the total collection) of ribbons shows. Credit goes to Gayle Paperno, who's a great teacher.

Travel Plans

2009-07-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've just booked our rooms and got our memberships for the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose over Halloween weekend this year. It's been quite a few years since the last time we attended the convention, which is too bad, because we used to go every year. It was our favorite annual convention to attend. Although it used to be a business weekend for me, especially when I was SFWA attorney and when I was working on the portrait project, we liked it because it was relatively small (about 750 people max) and mostly professionals working in publishing fantasy and science fiction.

I met Neil Gaiman for the first time at WFC in Chicago in 1990 and Len and I decided to get married at WFC in Tucson in 1991 (not married at the convention, but on Christmas later that same year.) We spent a week in New Orleans, which included the convention, around 1995. Len missed one in Baltimore because he was sick, but I went alone and saw old friends from DC that trip. We had a great time the weekend it was in Monterey but bailed on a trip to Minneapolis because the fires that year made us uncomfortable about leaving L.A. That's the fun part about WFC and Worldcon: you get to go places you might not otherwise go. On the other hand, there is often little time to enjoy the city in which it is set. We did come to the conclusion that 8 nights is a bit much to visit New Orleans for a 4 day convention, but now we feel no reason to visit the city for Mardi Gras.

The nice thing about San Jose is we don't have to worry about catching a plane. We can take a nice drive up the 101, do a little shopping along the way, and have a car available in case anyone wants to spend a day in San Francisco. Bliss.

I'm doing the math to see if I can take time to go East in August for my high school reunion. Some folks I haven't seen in a very long time are talking about attending and it is incredibly tempting to get my doctor to prescribe enough drugs for me to get on a plane for the trip. Len's got a scheduling conflict, which means I've also got to do my own driving when I get to the East Coast. My home town is in the Catskills, not close to any airport which lands my choice of small plane (nothing smaller than a 737, thank you.) With a day job, I've actually got to count vacation days and, this year, factor in the possibility that we will be furloughed for 7 days at Christmas (which means I won't have to use vacation days to take 2 weeks off, but I will have to worry about how much money I won't be making) plus at least another 3 days at some point during the fiscal year. In case you haven't heard, California is in deep financial crisis and I work for a community college district facing huge budget cuts.

Another One Hits the Dust

2009-06-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of Michael Jackson (although I think he was an incredible dancer) but my friend Michael Whelan did the painting on the left for the Victory album and for one evening during the duration of a chocolate and champagne party the original painting hung on the wall of my photography studio in Merrifield, Virginia. The full cover is a wrap-around, so what you can't see is the rest of the star-scape that would be to the left of what is on screen. It is fairly large.

Michael, his wife, and his daughter spent more than a month in L.A. while Michael worked on the cover. Alexa, now a biology Ph.D. from Cal Tech, played with her Barbie dolls on the floor with Michael Jackson. He was, apparently, far more comfortable interacting with a child of 3 or 4 than he was with adults.

When the Jacksons went on the Victory Tour, I was still shooting for the Washington Post on a regular basis. I was sent to RFK stadium to photograph people waiting to get in to one night of the concerts, particularly the folks who were dressing like Michael--shiny gloves on one hand, jackets resembling those in the painting. I found it rather irritating that Michael Jackson took credit for "designing" the clothes on that tour, when they clearly were derived from the drawings that Michael Whelan did for this cover.

My son Michael (please keep them straight, there are so many of them in this post) had what he called a "Michael Jackson jacket." I think it is still in storage because he looked so cute in it, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. It was red, faux leather, and I did a portrait for my portfolio of him in it. I wish I had a digital copy to post.

Days after the party mentioned above, I left my son in the care of my sister and the company of his two cousins, on two years older, one 9 months younger than his almost three years at that time. I headed off to Colorado, and when I got back to Des Moines to pick him up, he was moon-walking. My little John Denver fan had turned into a Michael Jackson fan, courtesy of Kristina and Stephanie. He is one of a generation whose first musical purchase request was for a Michael Jackson recording.

It is strange how male celebrities of 70 or 50 are described as "young" when they die under these circumstances, when most of us who are women or over 40 are put in a position to avoid talking about our ages or risk losing out on work. David Caradine, who lived a few blocks from us, looked like a lot of bad miles and certainly not young. Yet there was shock that "he died so young." Michael Jackson was just plain creepy to me, and clearly had emotional and mental problems from having been a cash cow for 45 years. He never had to grow up, but he never really had a childhood, if you believe the bio-pic of the rise of the Jackson family.

MSNBC looked like the TV Guide channel last night. I missed my Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow government news fixes (Keith was on, but covering this story.) The entire area above the fold of the front page of the Los Angeles Times this morning is devoted to this story. Half of the remaining space goes to Farrah Fawcett. What's going in in Iran is limited to about four inches of text. The Supreme Court ruling on school strip-searches got about six inches of text. The Sanford story was relegated to page 20, following five more full pages of Jackson coverage. There is something not right about that kind of journalistic decision-making, but I'll bet the bean counters will be happy.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Day

2009-06-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day. I recommend that everyone go out and buy a new book so the writer will see 5-18% of the cover price sometime within the next year.

I've spent a lot of time with SF&F writers in my life, both physically and metaphorically. I started reading SF&F with Edgar Rice Burroughs and Andre Norton when I was a pre-teen, and being carried off to strange new worlds got me through the worst of high school. In college, I met my college boyfriend because of a class in science fiction (and discovered the work of Cordwainer Smith and Clifford Simak, among others, for the first time.) I started photographing SF&F authors, artists, editors, and publishers in the 1980s, and some of that work has appeared on book jackets, in magazines and newspapers, and in encyclopedic works about the genres. I met my husband while working on that project. And by the mid-1990s, I was the lawyer for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Not bad for a kid from a tiny town in upstate New York who just loved the town library.

Of the many wonderful Thanksgiving dinners we've had at our home, none was so entertaining as the year Connie Willis and her family joined us. Connie was guest of honor at the local science fiction convention that year, which is always held Thanksgiving weekend. With Connie sitting on Len's left, and Harlan Ellison sitting on my right, it was like watching a Wimbledon of words. Priceless.

So let me recommend a few writers and books:

Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog; Firewatch, Doomsday Book.
Harlan Ellison: A Boy and His Dog; Any of Harlan's collected works.
Barbara Hambly: Those Who Hunt the Night.
George R.R. Martin: Fevre Dream; Armageddon Rag; A Game of Thrones.
Melinda Snodgrass: Edge of Reason; The Circuit Trilogy; Double Solitaire.
Len Wein: Swamp Thing (his 13 stories have just been collected in one volume); Giant-sized X-men #1.
Michael Cassutt: Missing Man; Red Moon.
Cordwainer Smith: The Instrumentality of Mankind.
Arthur C. Clarke: The Sentinel; The Star; The Nine Billion Names of God.
Clifford Simak: City.
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War; 1968.
Larry Niven: Ringworld.
David Gerrold: The Man Who Folded Himself.
Jack Dann: The Memory Cathedral.
Vonda McIntyre: Dream Snake.
Robert A. Heinlein: Red Planet.
Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars.
J.K. Rowling: The Prisoner of Azkaban.
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings.
Pat Murphy: There and Back Again; The Falling Woman.
C.L. Moore: Shambleau.
Marion Zimmer Bradley: The Bloody Sun.
C.J. Cherryh: The Pride of Chanur; The Faded Sun Trilogy.
Gordon Dickson: The Dragon and the George.
H. Beam Piper: Little Fuzzy.
Octavia Butler: Kindred.
Neil Gaiman: The Graveyard Book; American Gods.
Harry Bates: Farewell to the Master.
Anne McCaffrey: The Dragonriders of Pern (the first three novels.)

This is by no means an all-encompassing list. It's what I could think of on the fly. I tried to come up with something that would definitely involve horses (other than The Lord of the Rings, of course) but I couldn't think of anything I've read. I hear that one of the Walter Farley books steps into the fantasy or science fiction arena, but I haven't read it. Horse Fantastic is a collection of short stories edited by Marty Greenberg with contributions by writers like Anne McCaffrey who actually know something about horses, but I haven't read that, either. I'm frankly surprised that Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois haven't done an anthology called Horse! because they've done a whole lot of other animals. I must suggest it to them.

Ace Goes to a Show

2009-06-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks. I've wanted to do a nice, edited clip of Ace at his first horse-show, but Windows and Picasa are determined to thwart that objective. Windows refuses to recognize the format of the clips and Picasa can't edit video. Plus, the longer clip is too long for Blogger. So I'll show the clip of him entering the ring and if I ever get to edit the two clips together, I'll post that another time. If you aren't interested, just feel free to skip the visuals.We took Ace to an all-breed schooling show sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Arabian Horse Association, which was held in Simi Valley on May 31. In the photograph above, he's on the left hanging out with his distant cousin (determined by a comparison of pedigrees) Peanut, recently acquired by the owner of the ranch where Ace boards and Total Equestrian Experience has lessons. Ace was having a fine time being fussed over by several of the young women who served as grooms that day.

Gayle's assistant Ashley, who turned 18 last week, rode him. She's been riding him in lessons and wanted to show him in flat classes because her Welsh pony, Curio, doesn't like to do flat work. Ace acted like he'd been going to shows all of his life. He was totally sensible, keeping himself under control even when other horses were going nuts nearby.

Once he was in the ring, nothing mattered more than being the center of attention. He's always loved having an audience, and he sure had one that day.

Ace came home with second place ribbons for Obedience and English Pleasure, a third place in ground poles (which we entered for the heck of it, never expecting him to place), and a forth in English Equitation. We were all very proud of him and he seemed pretty proud of himself.

A Sense of Normalcy

2009-05-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

We threw a party on Sunday to thank everyone who pitched in with post-fire help and got us settled into the rental house, which happens to be a great party house. It's got a large, built-in gas grill (somewhat larger than our own propane grill, which we did bring down from our place for safe-keeping) and enough patios to give everyone a place to hang out. There were more than 30 people who came by, which was almost everyone who dug through ashes, loaded cars, counted rags, rearranged the garage, babysat Dexter, or did anything else to help during the crisis. And, after all, what would Memorial Day Weekend be if the Wein-Valada household didn't throw a barbecue?

The big hit of the weekend was a 5-compartment plexiglass gizmo I bought for Len last year which keeps condiments chilled over a bed of ice. It's got a cover, so bugs don't get in. Several of our friends who do a lot of parties ooohed and ahhed over it. I see presents in their futures.

Our friend Gillian Horvath, who had put us up for the nights between the loss of our own bedroom and moving into the rental house, brought a "house cooling" present: a butter bell. We had cooed over the one she had when she explained what it was and what it did. She figured we hadn't had time or thought to buy one for ourselves, but she saw when she arrived that wasn't so. I got one at Le Cruset in cobalt on Saturday, which Gillian saw when she came in to the kitchen. So she suggested I pass her gift on (mathom-style--read Tolkein for the reference) and I shall. As it happens, I was gushing about the joy of room-temperature butter at dinner last week and it will be regifted to the person who helped us bring our new television to the house.

Len tried out the automatic hot-dog turner that Harlan Ellison had given him last year. Many of the barbecue implements were saved from the fire because they were stored outside in the "barzebo" or the file cabinets on the back patio at our house. It worked well until either the batteries slowed down or grease got into the works. We're hoping that the cleaning I did yesterday brought it back to life.

Last Tuesday, I went over to the packers/restorers warehouse and went through 80 boxes of stuff from my kitchen to pick out things I needed to feel settled in the rental (and so I could entertain.) Highest on that last were my 14-cup Cuisinart and my 5-quart Kitchen-Aid mixer, without which I believe no kitchen is complete. I also brought my Oster blender home. I must say this about J.J. Cherokee. They know how to clean things. I don't think the blender has looked this good since it came out of the box. They must have taken things apart to clean them, because the metal clip that holds the Kitchen-Aid bowl in place was upside down (easily fixed), but they did an incredibly thorough job.

I brought home 17 boxes, including one I hadn't intended to bring with me. We're expecting several more boxes once the contents have been cleaned, plus the two boxes with stemware that were accidentally left behind when I came home from the warehouse (containing the missing stemware.) I am so glad to have most of my stainless flatware back, because we kept running out of forks.

Because I had the blender, my friend Michael Olecki made margaritas. Except for a bottle of wine, the tequila and Grand Marnier were the only alcohols in the house (guess what I drink on those rare occasions that I do.) There were two bottles of Temequila blood orange mixer (purchased at the Hollywood Farmers Market) in the refrigerator for that very purpose. Michael said "the only thing missing from your parties is a bar, but I realize you and most of your friends don't drink." We do sometimes, but only in moderation. When I pulled out the tequila, he said "you know this is aged, right?" Yes, I told him. Who wants margaritas with crappy tequila? The margaritas were a big hit, and Michael loves to bartend. The only problem was, none of my stemware is back from the cleaners yet so we had to make do with small portions in big glasses or plastic cups. Not a dissaster by any measure, since it was all about the company.

Michael's wife Karen Bodner and I went to college together and we were both second-career lawyers in IP. She does trademarks, I do copyrights. We became friends after I met her at an interview for a summer clerkship out here in L.A., almost 20 years after we had graduated from New College at Hofstra University. She and Gillian are my two favorite people to have in the kitchen with me at Thanksgiving, because we work very well together. We have spent Christmases with Karen and Michael since about our 5th anniversary, and they are the closest thing we've got to family in Los Angeles. Karen went right to work prepping celery for snacking along with the carrots and getting the cheese out on the beautiful Nambe cheese and cracker server I bought for myself after the fire. You can tell what I consider nessesities by that and by what else I made sure I got back from the cleaners: two dozen appetizer plates which have a slot to hold a stemmed glass and the four dozen small square amuse bouche plates that can take a couple of tidbits so people can graze.

I think we'll be doing a lot of entertaining in the new house.

Monday morning was the first time I've slept late since the fire happened. I think the tequila helped.

Fire Report

2009-05-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a few pictures of the fire aftermath. Here is one of the few Breyer horses I owned, the Christmas Arabian Knight from a few years back. The cellophane window has melted onto the horse. He's a total loss. Fortunately, the ceramic chestnut Arabian they did for a Christmas ornament around the same time was in the garage and survived just fine

In the second photograph, we have the remains of several Wolverine figures. I don't know if they can be replaced. There's one Sideshow Collectibles diorama which I found disfigured and is definitely too expensive to buy again.

We had a bookcase in the hallway between the bedrooms. It had only paperbacks on it, some of them quite old and some of them worth a good deal of money to collectors. The third picture is what the upper part of the bookshelf looked like. There were 9 or 10 shelves altogether. The books on the lower part looked better, but only because the framed posters that stood in front of the shelf protected them from the flames. Most of them were fused together or water damaged. They fell to pieces in my hand when I tried to remove them. My insurance agent wanted me to list each one of the books. I can't even see what many of them were.

In a shelf that kitty-cornered this one (picture an L, where our bedroom door is near the angle of the bend, the shelf shown was on the underside of the base line of the L, then there was another bookshelf--Len's brag shelf, then my son's door was on the same side of the baseline near the serif, his bathroom was at the serif, the door to Len's office was opposite the door to Michael's room and kitty-corner shelf was to the left of Len's door) were a pretty complete set of DC and Marvel Showcases--hardback reprints of comic books. They were all in mint condition, complete with pristine jackets. Many were still shrink-wrapped, and they fused together shelf by shelf.

The fourth photograph gives you a sense of what the back of the house looked like after the fire. The plywood covers what used to be the windows to our bedroom. The roof rafters are covered with plastic, in case it rains. There were more than 30 bags filled with clothing, blankets, shoes, and books in the pile, and that didn't even come close to containing all of the debris. To the left of the area in the picture are two hugepiles of wood and roofing material and what was left of the furniture from the room. There were various other piles of clothing, books, DVDS, and belongings down the middle of the lawn.

I'm picturing a second story and/or a build-out that goes to where the gate should be on the fence in the rebuilt house. Maybe a windowseat looking out at the pool or a balcony on a scond level. We need the space, and if we aren't going to find a different house, we should make the most of the one we've got. It's in a great location, although I'd prefer one where I could have Ace in the back yard.

The pool is pretty disgusting, but a mated pair of mallards have been calling it home for several weeks. I don't think there's a nest--at least I haven't found one. I've startled them several times when I've walked into the pool area. It's amazing they can get themselves into the air at an angle of about 80 degrees.

Once I realized it had to be there somewhere, I spent a lot of time over the past month looking for my high school ring. I found it in the ash near the house on Sunday. all I saw was the plain gold of the back side of the ring, and the color appears to be redder than it once was, no doubt thanks to the heat. I'm really glad I found it because it became terribly important to me that it be found. I'm still remembering pieces of jewelery that haven't been found and probably won't be: the gold ring as wide all around this one is in front that has five ovals of different colored jade, the black pearl drop necklaces and earrings we've had made from pearls we've gotten from oysters at the county fair, a lovely rhinestone bracelet, a fused-glass horse pin, the Noble Collection horse-head pin from the Lord of the Rings collection, a moon-face ear cuff and a necklace with charms based on The Hobbit from Marty Magic. A few of the pieces that wound up as silver slag were new enough that I could order replacements, but most cannot be replaced that easily. I'm hoping the Lord of the Rings piece will show up on E-bay. I will eventually take all of the silver lumps to a jeweler and have a new piece made. I'm thinking about a phoenix (ah, yes, the symbology) or a horse jumping through a hoop of fire.

Star Trekking

2009-05-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

We went to see the new Star Trek film last night and we loved it. I went with few expectations, because I had pretty much given up the series years ago. It's a fun ride and did remind me of how I felt when I first saw it on television (in beautiful black and white at my house) 40-some years ago.

Yes, I am among the people who were fans in first-run, not the johnny-come-latelys that discovered Star Trek in syndication. I wrote letters to NBC to save the series, which did help twice. I attended the second Star Trek Convention in New York, in February 1973 at a hotel near Grand Central Station (the Commodore?) and the much bigger one the following winter at the Americana Hotel up around 57th Street. I photographed David Gerrold, writer of the ever-popular "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode at the 1973 convention and bid $75 for a hour of his time in 1974. I lost to a couple of girls who pooled their resources. My then-fiance, now ex-husband, wouldn't front me the money to up my bid.

I met and photographed Gene Roddenberry for the Stanford Daily around March of 1975. Because of a bomb threat, presumably made by someone who didn't get into the theatre for his speech, those of us in the press group were ushered into a room where we were told tales by Gene for over an hour while there was a sweep done of the venue. When Gene finally got back on stage, he told the audience of plans for resurecting the series with a Major Motion Picture. We usually refer to that as Star Trek: The Motionless Picture. Boring.

There were better films in the franchise, fortunately, but I did lose any enthusiasm for them after ST 4. I entirely missed seeing 5 and the only subsequent one I'm sure I saw in a theatre was ST: First Contact. Until last night.

Many of us have thought that Star Fleet Academy was what Paramount needed to do to bring back the television franchise. While that may or may not be in the plans, a good script, a good director, and the best genetic casting of a talented group of actors may have just rebooted the series for the big screen. I'm planning to pay to see it again, which is not what I was expecting.

My Horse Story

2009-05-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

I started this draft months ago. Life got in the way of the post.

Arlene, who writes the Gray Horse Matters blog, posted this meme which originally was sent to her on Facebook. I decided to play along for the benefit of all of the horse friends I've made through my blog. The rest of you, just talk among yourself. If anyone decides to play along, let us know.

1. How old were you when you first started riding?

Although I've been on horses a number of different times during my life, I took up riding as a serious hobby when I was 48.

2. First horse ridden:

Probably one at an amusement park when I was five. The same day I met Zippy the Chimp, who slobbered cheese on my hand (there's an 8mm movie somewhere.) The first one of the school horses I rode was probably Loblolly at Pierce College. I developed a relationship with an old guy named O.P. there before I got Ace.

3. First horse trotted on:

O.P., one of the Pierce College school horses.

4. First horse cantered on:

I'm still working on that! Actually, it's Ace. Often when it is his idea and not mine. I'm a big coward and speed still scares me.

5. First Horse fallen off of:

Ace.

6. Most recent horse fallen off of

Ace.

7. Most terrifying fall:

Not the one where I broke my arm, although that wasn't any fun. The one where the breath was knocked out of me two years ago and resulted in a bruise the size of Nebraska on my hip. Man that hurt, but not being able to breathe terrified me.

8. First horse jumped with:

That's not going to happen. Ace doesn't even like cavalletti very much.

9. First horse who ran away with you:

His name was Scooter and he belonged to my writer friend A.C. (Ann) Crispin. I thought I had gone 100 miles and he only went about three strides after he got bit by a monstrous horse fly.

10. First horse that scared the crap out of you:

My friend Lira's mare Lark, a huge Holsteiner with 24/360 PMS.

11. First horse shown :!)

Hasn't happened, since showing isn't my thing.

12. First horse to win a class with:

See 11.

13. Do you/have you taken lessons:

Several times a week, actually.

14. First horse you ever rode bareback:

Ace, on my own on day. I didn't fall off, but it was a dumb idea to do it for the first time when there was no one around and I clearly had no idea what I was doing.

15. First horse trail ridden with:

I did a trail ride back in college on Long Island and managed to stay on because I was too stupid to know I didn't know enough to be riding on a trail. I took another such ride for two hours in Yellowstone National Park a few years later. I was fine until the wrangler told us that the camera I had slung over my shoulder and under my arm was the most worthless thing I could be carrying. He was right, but in retrospect, I think riding without a helmet was even dumber.

16. Current Barn name:

Independence Ranch.

17. Do you ride English or western?:

I ride in a western saddle with an English attitude.

18. First Horse to place at a show with:

See 11.

19. Ever been to horse camp?:

No.

20. Ever been to a riding clinic?

Yes. I've been in a clinic with Harry Whitney several times. I've done Rod Bergen's bomb-proofing clinic lotts of times.

21. Ridden sidesaddle?

No.

22. First horse leased:

I skipped over the lease and went right to ownership.

23. Last Horse Leased:

See 22.

24. Highest ribbon in a show:

See 11.

25. Ever been to an 'A' rated show?:

No.

26. Ever competed in pony games/relay races?:

No.

27. Ever fallen off at a show

No, but I did at a clinic--I passed out in the saddle.

28. Do you ride Hunter/Jumpers?: 29. Have you ever barrel raced?

No.

30. Ever done pole bending?:

Not really--I don't go that fast.

31. Favorite gait:

Sitting trot on my very smooth Arab.

32. Ever cantered bareback?:

No.

33. Have you ever done dressage?:

Working on it. The horse knows more than I do.

34. Have you ever evented?:

No.

35. Have you ever mucked a stall?:

Almost every day since I bought the horse.

36. Ever been bucked off?:

Nope, none of my falls has been that interesting.

37. Ever been on a horse that reared

Yes, and stayed on.

38. Horses or ponies.

Horses.

39. Do you wear a helmet?:

All the time.

40. What's the highest you've jumped:

A ground pole.

41. Have you ever ridden at night?:

Yes.

42. Do you watch horsey television shows?:

Absolutely.

43. Have you ever been seriously hurt/injured from a fall?:

Broken arm.

44. Most falls in one lesson:

One.

45. Do you ride in an arena/ring?:

Yes.

46. Have you ever been trampled by a horse?:

No.

47. Have you ever been bitten?:

Yes. Ace was a yearling and I was visiting my friend Melinda, who bred him. We were having a conversation outside of his stall. He took exception to being ignored and took a piece of my shirt and upper arm. Ouch. Melinda smacked him so quickly, I couldn't believe how fast she reacted. He never did that again, and I decided to buy him anyway three years later.

48. Ever had your foot stepped on by a horse?:

Yes. Who hasn't?

49: Favorite riding moment:

The first time I cued Ace to the canter and we did a complete circle.

50. Most fun horse you've ridden:

Ace is a great deal of fun.

Helmets and Falls

2009-05-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

Arlene over at Grey Horse Matters wrote an excellent post on helmets that was mostly appreciated by her readers. Unfortunately, a couple of posters seem to think that (1) there's no proof helmets prevent serious injury or (2) people who wear helmets engage in more risky behavior or (3) people who insist that others wear helmets are socialists, Nazis or worse.

I definitely belong to the wear a helmet every time you ride a horse club. I'm not so good about wearing a helmet when I'm around my horse on the ground, but I do tend to wear one when I'm dealing with a horse I don't know. If I wanted perfect hair, I'd find another hobby.

Where I work, the college way of safety requires the wearing of helmets whenever someone is handling the school horses. When there was boarding, the boarding agreement originally required the wearing of helmets, but, apparently because the barn manager's wife didn't want to wear one and some cowboys insisted that they shouldn't have to wear them, the requirement for adults was lifted if they signed a waiver. That was a stupid decision made by someone who doesn't know a damned thing about horses. There was also a requirement about footwear, but that too was released (probably because the barn manager's wife liked to ride in sneakers.)

Helmet rules at shows seem to depend on who is sponsoring the show. The western competitions are very helmet unfriendly. The English stuff tends to insist on helmets. While I tend to ride in my western saddle, I always wear my helmet. If I could find a western hat with a helmet inside, I'd buy one. They are hard to come by and generally expensive.

At my barn, no one goes on a horse without a helmet. The trainer is insistent, and she's absolutely right. When kids are trained that way, they think nothing of it and will continue to wear a helmet as they grow older.

I do remember taking trail rides in groups when I was in college or later, where helmets were not an option. These days, most string rentals require riders to wear a helmet or sign a waiver. When the string arrives from the stable in the Hollywood Hills down at the Mexican restaurant near the Equestrian Center, I always think about what kind of idiot drinks a couple of margaritas and then hops back on a horse without a helmet.

One of my instructors always says "the only person who never falls off a horse is one who never gets on a horse." I've fallen off more times than my 50-something body would prefer:

1. I slid off at the trot about 6 months after I got Ace in a well-dragged arena. Got up, dusted myself off, and determined that maybe the saddle (a very flat English saddle) was the wrong size for me and/or the horse.

2. I came off the horse to great damage when I was positioned to circle left and he caught something out of the corner of his eye, did the Arab squat and ducked out from under me to the right. I tried to stop the ground from coming up at me with my arm, because there were a number of items, including a mounting block, I was afraid I was going to hit (they'd been left there by the trainers for the handicapped riding program.) Result: broken ulna, dislocated radius, broken wrist (there's a name for it, but I can't remember what it is.) If I had tucked and rolled, I would have walked away. I was riding in a dressage saddle.

3. About a year after the broken arm, I was in a group lesson at the trot, another horse came up behind Ace and he took off at what must have been a buck, because I realized I was flying. I had enough time to think "relax, relax, relax" and came down quite limp, full bodied, like a snow angel. Got up, and got back on. The helmet definitely came into play in that one. I was riding in my western saddle, thus disproving my husband's theory that a western saddle is safer.

4. Two years later, I was in a clinic with Harry Whitney. We had a great day. All was well. We were in a group doing the last ride down the arena at a walk to a trot before finishing for the day. I was laughing and having a great time. That's the last thing I remember about being on Ace's back. Spectators said I simply slid out of the saddle and down the right side of the horse like a sack of potatoes. Apparently, I fainted in the saddle from the heat or a failure to hydrate. I definitely hit my head, because it was a while before I came out of it. The next thing I do remember was being asked my name, my horse's name, my birthday, Ace's birthday. Harry was on Ace's back, giving him a good workout, but it was clear to everyone that Ace had not a single thing to do with me coming out of the saddle. We did go to the hospital, and the decision was I might have a slight concussion but it was a good thing I was wearing my helmet. I had an MRI a few days later and all was clear. I actually went back and rode on the last day of the clinic. I was riding in my western saddle when this happened.

5. My last fall was two years ago. I was taking a lesson on a longe line and riding in my custom-built, English saddle. I lost my balance at the trot and my trainer says I just gave up trying to right myself. I flew off his back. In some ways, it was the most scary, because it knocked the wind out of me and I didn't think I would ever breathe again--longest few seconds of my life. I also gave myself such a bruise on my hip that I never thought the black and blue would go away. I hit my head when I landed, but the helmet definitely protected me there. Crushed foam, no concussion. Eventually, I was able to roll over, get up on my hands and knees, and finally sit on the mounting block. Everything hurt. The x-rays showed no broken bones, but the jolt kept me off the horse for a few weeks and I still can't bring myself to ride in my Schlesse saddle.

I do think about wearing a padded vest, even though I don't have any interest in jumping, but it gets really hot in L.A. But I would never get on my horse, or any other horse, without a helmet. I value my brain too much. Len would rather I keep Ace as a lawn ornament than as transportation, but I'm not willing to give up riding. It's a skill I might really need someday.

Again with That Hugh Jackman Guy!

2009-04-28T23:52:00.001-07:00

We're back home after a fantastic evening attending the Hollywood premier of X-men Origins: Wolverine at the famous Chinese Theatre. We got to take my son Michael and my niece Stephanie Valada-Viars with us.

The big party premier was actually last night in Tempe, Arizona, which won some sort of a competition to get it there. We weren't sure who'd be at tonight's event, but it was pretty much the entire cast (we didn't see Liev Schreiber) and, most importantly, the wonderful Hugh Jackman.

We had great seats--row 10 on the center aisle, right in front of producer Lauren Shuler Donner and right behind Kelsey Grammer. We saw Mel Gibson, Dominic Mognahan, Ryan Reynolds, Angelica Huston, among others, in the audience. Chris Claremont, who wrote the X-men book for 16 years after taking it over from Len (he had been Len's assistant) flew to L.A. on his own dime to attend the film. Chris has a lot of characters in the film and sees as little money as we do off of it. We talked to Chris before and after the film, but he had a seat way in the back in the unreserved section.

Then Hugh Jackman showed up, stopping along the way to talk to people. As Hugh came down the aisle, Len said hello. Hugh stopped to talk to us, so my niece and son got to meet him. Stephanie's not planning to wash her hand any time soon. He is definitely the sexiest man alive.

Then Hugh continued down to the front of the theatre where he acknowledged his cast and crew and then told everyone that he had someone that he needed to give special thanks to and asked Len to stand up and then explained that without Len there would be no Wolverine and he, Hugh, would have no career. Len got a loud round of applause from the audience, and then Gavin Hood, director of the film, came across the aisle to talk to him.

The film is fantastic. It is well acted and incredibly well directed. I wish we were going to see some money from it, because I think it is going to kill at the box office. As soon as it was over, Hugh ran across the aisle and scooted down to talk to Len and ask him what he thought--Hugh had been watching Len's reactions throughout the film. He was very happy that we loved it. As was Lauren Shuler Donner, who couldn't wait for our reaction.

This is the Wolverine that Len created: a mutant who fights the overwhelming urge to kill. We are absolutely thrilled with the great job the filmmakers did. It is no wonder that Rotten Tomatoes is giving the film a 100% approval rating so far.

Do stick around for the credits. There are two tags to catch.

I'll be going to see it again this weekend. See you at the movies.

Best Nebula Awards Ever--Or at Least a Tie

2009-04-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm exhausted, but I got through the Nebula Awards(R) Weekend with little more than the hitch of a Final Cut Pro file which took a Hollywood editor friend a few hours to translate into something we could actually show at the awards ceremony. Janis Ian (photo below) was a fantastic Toastmistress/Mistress of Ceremonies and Chuck Lorre gave the best testimonial ever to the Nebula Award brand during his keynote speech (punctuated by a guitar-tuning pitch pipd--hysterical.)

Len and I left for the hotel a little later than we had planned because our fire-damaged house had been broken into overnight. This followed by one day our discovery that vandals had ripped the side door off our locked garage and pawed through our stuff (after we spent a day putting the garage in order and putting new locks on it.) We checked into the hotel, checked on registration for our event, and went off to find ourselves some lunch. Then I remembered that I was supposed to get a package from Joss Whedon's assistant--a disk with Joss' speech accepting the Bradbury Award, since he's in Canada shooting a film.

"There's no package for you," says the girl behind the desk. O.K. I went to finish my lunch. After lunch, I decided I'd better check my e-mail. Sure enough, e-mail from Joss' assistant. "I called the hotel and they said the package came and you picked it up." Oh, good. A problem. A big problem.

Several hours later, after the front desk lied again at least twice and I had to call my hotel contact for our events, I got the package. I did not immediately try to play the disk because it was time for me to run off and start the cocktail party. We went on to what turned into a very late dinner because the kitchen took an hour to get food to the table after my husband and a friend of ours had appetizers.

Following that, I took the secretary of SFWA, techno-goddess and puppeteer Mary Robinette Kowal, back to the room to check out the video. Good thing. We couldn't open it. Our efforts included a late-night e-mail to Joss' assistant, who immediately called us back with suggestions. Mary took the file with her and put out an APB for someone who might be able to convert the file. I saw that early on Saturday morning and woke my friend Becky Lillienfeld, who is a film editor and whom I knew owned Final Cut Pro. Becky spent the day working on it and managed to get the file to us in working HD form (despite slow upload and download times.) Crisis averted. You can see Joss Whedon's acceptance speech here.

Janis Ian wrote a new set of lyrics to "At Seventeen" to honor as many writers and stories as she could. It was funny and touching, leaving many people with tears in their eyes. Janis might record the number and make it available on her website, which would be wonderful.

Chuck Lorre was my keynote speaker and he did not disappoint. He used a guitar tuning pipe to punctuate his story about "Cross-eyed Larry" who gave him a dog-eared copy of the Martian Chronicles when Chuck was 12. It was just perfect. I hope the editor of this year's volume of the Nebula Awards anthology decides to publish the speech.
My niece Stephanie Valada-Viars (in the photograph above with my son Michael) made a lovely awards girl. One table passed a motion that she do these duties at all further Nebula Awards Ceremonies.

Bruin TV covered the event and here's the video report

It's been seven years since I chaired my first Nebula Awards Ceremony. I'd like to do it again, but I hope I don't have to wait 7 years to do it again.

Oh, I got a thank you gift from SFWA for doing it this time: five sterling silver horses--three pendants and two pins--a nice start on rebuilding my collection.

The New House

2009-04-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

We got moved in on Friday, with a bunch of friends gathering at Gillian Horvath's to collect the stuff we brought there to the new house. The downside is that the new house smells of smoke from the old stuff, but we've got to have the old stuff with us (taxes must be finished, you know.)

I think there must be some kind of a racket going on with the rental furniture. When the stuff arrived, it had no relationship to what the woman and I discussed on the phone. Where I asked for light woods, I got dark wood--virtually black. Where I asked for a king sized bed and a full sized bed, I got two queens. Where I asked for a desk, intending it for computers, I got "writing desks" which really aren't appropriate. She told me there wasn't a catalog. She lied. The place our furniture is coming from has an on-line catalog. I would have chosen different, and cheaper, pieces than she sent me. I'm used to a 26 cubic foot refrigerator with an ice maker and a water dispenser. They sent a 19 cubic foot refrigerator with almost no freezer space--totally inadequate. It's only for a limited time and I can live with almost anything for a limited time. We did get the mattresses replaced and now I can't wait to buy our own again since the rentals are not comfortable.

I made the right decision to not rent household necessities. They charge outrageous amounts to rent dishes, linens, and those sorts of things. We're paying less to buy them than the amount that would have been wasted in rent and we need to buy them anyway. A friend has offered to throw us a "restocking shower" and I'm looking forward to that for the rest of the linens and things we need.

We still have no phone. Time Warner Cable has yet to relinquish Len's number of 22 years back to AT&T. So people calling the house are getting the usless message to try again. If I could have convinced Len to cancel our cable and Internet service with TW, I would have done so gladly. He wasn't happy about switching out the phone service, but he'll thank me someday. TW said we couldn't move our number 3 blocks south of our damaged house. AT&T had no problem and it's sending a check to thank us for "coming home to AT&T." A monopoly is a good to have for some things. Why AT&T was forced to break up is foolish in retrospect.

If I owe you a phone call or e-mail, this is why you haven't heard from me.

We got our hero dog Dexter back from my friend Suzanne on Friday evening, and he now has a house where he can look out the windows onto the world. He loves it. Michael likes having a real bed again, instead of the loft mattress, and likes the fact that Dex can join him on the bed.

I love have a window over the kitchen sink, so I can look out at the pretty flowers around the landscaped front yard while scrubbing soot off my Stangl dishes (Country Garden, which looks quite cute in the new space.)

Suzanne found the Nambe cheese and crackers server I fell in love with when I was in Santa Fe in November and brought one back to me from her quick trip there last week. I've asked for the rest of my Nambe back from the packers and I'll display it as well. I'd like to get some art up on the walls and at least one Wolverine and one Swamp Thing statue on the mantle. Then it will look like home.

We've found flatscreen HD televisions for Len's desk and our bedroom and want to get a large TV for the living room. We've seen one we like, but we've got to find someone with a truck to get it home from Costco. It's too tall for the back of my SUV. Cable and Internet arrive tomorrow.

Now, I've got to find a dress and shoes for the Nebula Awards ceremony on Saturday night. The truly impossible mission.

Fire Damage

2009-04-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

To look at the front of the house, you really wouldn't know anything was wrong. Except for the smoke-enhanced cobwebs and the growing pile of trash, it looks like a complete house. Inside, it's a different story.

There are boxes holding things we might be able to save and other boxes marked "total loss." The smoke engulfed the house, so even things which were not scorched may be lost forever. The master bedroom and its bath are totally charred and empty. What was in them was thrown out into the back and side yards and we've been digging through the piles ever since, trying to assess the loss.

Art throughout the rest of the house is also damaged to a greater or lesser extent: we pulled some boxes out of Michael's room and discovered that the container sides which were against the wall of our bedroom were scorched. The were all covered with soot and eveything smells of smoke. Paper just soaks up that smell.

While framed work generally fared better than unframed work, my signed and numbered print (#2, actually) of the Michael Whelan painting The Eagles Are Coming from a 1980s Tolkien calendar melted in its frame. Fortunately, the pencil sketch on tracing paper of Sam and Frodo done for the full-sized painting, survived although it will have to be reframed. A painted color study of Yoda which Michael did for the cover of My Jedi Journal has smoke damage but should be o.k. Ditto two Frank Frazetta drawings. Most of the framed movie posters that were in the hall, including all three of the X-men films, the two new Batman films, and the two Swamp Thing films are pretty much ruined. My poster of the first of the new Zorro films, autographed by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, may be o.k. once it is reframed. The lobby cards for Swamp Thing are pretty much ruined. There was a 16 x 20 pencil drawing of Captain America that Jack Kirby did for Len as a get well card more than 40 years ago, which is in pretty bad shape.

In my office, the framed celebrity photographs I took when I used to freelance for the Washington Post are not visible because the soot is that bad. I hope they can be cleaned or reframed, because I don't have those negatives. The half-dozen framed prints from the science fiction portrait project, which were in "floater" frames are probably not salvageable, but I do own those negatives. My Epson 2400 printer has been declared a total loss, like all of the electronics in the house, wherever they were.

The few items hanging in the living room, like the diptych Michael Whelan did of the cover of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Bloody Sun, may need reframing, but will be o.k. I'll learn to live with any smoke smell from that, thank you. The statuary and awards that were on the mantle may be too damaged to salvage.

Len's office, which had an entire wall covered with awards and sketches, is in very bad shape. His Shazam Awards, which had been sealed on wood mounts are charred, melted, and not replaceable. He had a number of portraits of himself done by people like Sergio Aragones and Frank Kelly Freas which may be ruined beyond repair. Sergio's still alive, but Kelly died a number of years ago. I'm not sure how many of Len's original scripts, which a university recently requested for their collection, will survive. We haven't had a chance to get that far into things.

On Saturday, we did a repacking of our garage in case that all has to be moved out as well. Among the papers were found were a hand-written note from Alan Moore to Len which accompanied the delivery of the first issue of Watchmen. And that's why I keep referring to things as our archeological dig.

I will eventually post a few pictures, but I've got to replace some of my computer equipment before I start downloading images.

Love Drunk

2009-04-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

In all of the trauma of the past week, I've not had an opportunity to post about "Love Drunk," the play in which my niece stars at the Abington Theatre until April 19. I just found this clip on line, which is a discussion among my niece, Kristina Valada-Viars, her co-star Austin Pendleton, and the playwrite, Romulus Linney.

She's getting fine reviews, including one I just saw calling her a relative newcomer with a long and varied career ahead of her. We are so proud. If you are in the New York area, do drop by.

Lessons from the Fire, continued.

2009-04-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

Eight, newspapers do a poor job of reporting and don't even bother with the who, what, when, where, how, and why these days. Here's a report about the fire and a picture in the Daily News. Here's a bigger version of the photograph. Wouldn't it have made a better story if the headline had read "Wolverine Creator Safe, Original Wolverine Art Destroyed in Early Morning Fire." I do appreciate them noticing the dog's loss, though. And here's a video report from the LAPD, which has a video which is not actually our house.

Nine, have a great relationship with your insurance agent. Ours was immediately responsive, came to the house as soon as he could, and got good people there, protecting us from the vultures who respond to the fire department calls in order to snag 10% of your insurance coverage as "independent appraisers." We are not anywhere near being at war with our insurance company, who did a good job after the 1994 earthquake.

Ten, realize that when a fire engulfs your bathroom and bedroom, you're going to go shopping. If you like shopping, it's a real plus. If you are indifferent, its not so great. I am particularly sorry to loose the brand new paddock boots and lacers that were in the closet in reserve. And my rarely worn cowboy boots. And my worn once black dress boots. And the clothes I thought I would wear to the Nebula Awards banquet. The only clothes I had left were the ones I was wearing to work that morning.

Things I've Learned from the Fire, Part 1

2009-04-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

On Monday, about half an hour after I got to work, I got a scary call. "There's been a small fire at your house."

"Small, what do you mean small."

"You'll have to come home to see and judge for yourself. Your husband and son are safe."

One of our dogs was not. Our beloved Sheba, scared and confused, got away from Len and ran back into the house. She died of smoke inhalation in her "safe space." We are heartbroken. All the rest is just stuff. Unfortunately, some of it was very valuable stuff. That's the downside of being collectors where value appreciates but insurance rates for those things are astronomical.

The first thing I've learned from the fire is never ignore a dog when he's trying to tell you something. Len thought the smell of smoke was outside, not inside. Dexter was wimpering, and trying to get Len to leave the house. Eventually, Len left his office and realized the problem was in our bedroom, got Michael out of bed, grabbed the dogs and called the fire department when they got outside.

Second, store store valuables in a Lane Chest. The outside is charred, the inside pristine. If the art had been in that, it would still be with us, because what wasn't charred, was water damaged.

Third, it takes a very long time for wood to actually burn. It can char, but to totally eat away at it would have taken much, much longer. My beloved six-month-old table in the living room is fine, but of the six 18" leaves in my hall closet, three are kind of charred, and there may be some water damage and scratching from the firemen throwing the out into a pile of rubbish including most of the roof of our bedroom, but I think they'll be restorable. If not, I'll be getting a new table when we move back home--someday. So if you don't have a Lane Chest, use really good wood dressers and cabinets, and keep the doors closed.

Four, if you live in an older house, with electric wall heaters you have never used in the 22 years you've owned a home, get them removed. The firemen think that some sort of a power surge went through our lines, heating the unit which we have never, ever turned on, and setting fire (I'll bet to dust first) to my laundry hamper and from there it went up. I would not have kept things close to a unit we actually used, and I think some of the news reports have given a mistaken impression of what happened.

Five, and I knew this before, good friends are worth more than all of the gold stored in New York City. On Tuesday, we had 10 friends doing an archeological dig in the debris that had been thrown our of our now stripped bedroom and bath, looking for any of our jewelery that might be intact. We've been surprised by what we have found and what hasn't shown up, when things were originally next to each other or in the same container.

Six, store all jewelery in boxes (preferably a closed jewelery box) and not on any plexiglass display--they melt. They will probably make excellent works of modern art someday, somewhere, but I've lost countless necklaces and earings. My engagement ring, an opal ring my ex-husband gave me, and a black pearl ring were all in a small cardboard ring box in my top dresser drawer. My underwear melted, but I've got my rings unharmed. We have yet to find anything we can identify as our 22" television set except a twisted, stretched piece of plastic which might have covered the screen. My horse jewelery was in display boxes on top of it. We've only found some of the pieces, in varying conditions. We are thrilled that we found the beautiful horse and malachite necklace and earing set Len had made for me last Christmas, especially that my friends found all three pieces. I know that they were in a box that must have been damaged, because we haven't found it or other pieces that were in the same cardboard box.

Seven, silver melts. But not all the time. I think I have found a heavy lump of silver which may have been my Rohirrim-inspired horse head pin from the Noble Collection of Lord of the Rings collectibles. Both pendants Len bought me in December and the one I bought in February are missing, but may be some of the smaller puddles of silver we've found. We need to borrow a metal detector. Pot metals and gold seemed to fare better, but not always. An 18 karat Italian gold ring I bought in Florence will need to be reshaped, because it bent, but it cleaned up with no effort. I have no idea where my box of cultured pearls that I've collected over the years at the county fair have wound up. Some of my pearl jewelery is just fine, so I don't know how fire affects pearls. I do recall from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that they can dissolve in wine, so if an acid formed in the room, that may be where they went.

We did have insurance. We are greatly inconvenienced, but not destitute. And we still have a sense of humor about this.

Shooting in Binghamton

2009-04-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

I happened to catch a headline on Yahoo about half an hour ago about a shooting and hostage taking in Binghamton, New York. The American Civic Association, a part of United Way which is involved with assisting immigrants, is the target.

My uncle was the urban renewal director in Binghamton in the 1960s. It's where my father grew up and his sisters and brothers lived. All of my first cousins on that side of the family grew up there and I'm pretty sure some of them are still in the area. I just hope no one is near where this is going on.

The events are taking place at 131 Front Street, about half a block from what I remember was the biggest department store in Binghamton, where my aunt ran the "foundations" department. The 60 mile drive each way from where I lived is something we did several times a month, often on Thursdays which was the night shops were open late in Binghamton.

The world is not so large a place that things in a city 3000 miles away can't affect us. When the shooting happened at Virginia Tech, one of the professors killed was the son of a science fiction writer I've photographed. I worry that in a place where I have so many contacts, things could hit closer to home.

Mea Culpa

2009-03-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

O.K. I've been remiss about blogging. It's been such a busy bunch of weeks that I didn't realize it had been 5 weeks since Ace's feet had been trimmed until I wrote a check to my farrier today. No wonder his left fore was so out of balance when the vet looked at him on Thursday. Bad Mommy.

I'll be moving Ace to my trainer's place this week. She had an opening at the location a few blocks away where she does most of her teaching. There's an 8 stall barn plus several pipe corrals. Ace is getting the newest pipe corral and we've made him a house at one end of the 12 x 24. He'll have a 12 x 12 partical enclosure (walls on 3 sides) to stay out of the wind and wet, and it will help keep his shavings from blowing away. He'll be able to watch everything, but there will be no territory wars over fences. Last week, he wound up was a very squishy swelling in his back right leg above the fetlock which I am sure was acquired kicking at the tyrannosaurus rex who recently moved in next to him.

There will also be plenty of little horse-loving girls to fuss over him while I'm not around. And he loves to be fussed over, around, and about.

I've been trying to find a tack shed. The one I have at the current barn is a plastic Suncast which is approximately 7 x 3 feet and 7 feet high on the exterior. It's just a bit too narrow, but I had no idea how expensive they were until I started shopping. I think I've found the one I'm going to buy. It's not perfect, but it will work. I'll just have to be better about stacking things and not forget that I've also got a Suncast bench seat for additional storage.

Tomorrow is Ace's birthday. He will be 12. He was just over a year old when I first saw him and it was three years later that I decided to buy him and bring him out to Los Angeles from New Mexico. I am so glad I did.