Tagged: weather

Jun 10

It all be come undone

What do you get when you cross severe solar activity storms with an ever increasing global reliance on satellite based technology?

KABOOM.

Yeah.

You heard me.

Our puny little brains will implode with panic over disrupted cell service, broadband hell, and even things like basic transportation (relying on GPS) will be disrupted – because a lot of gadgets nowadays require cooperative satellites; something you don’t get when the sun starts spitting solar flares like Uncle Bean spits sunflower seeds.

So, you know, dust off the CB radio and Brace. Yourself.  Because Apparently, our sun is getting it’s cosmic groove on in readiment for massive bad weather – ie – solar flares.

Maybe Nic Cage was right...

Reminds me of this little film here to my left… a creepy end of the world scenario for sure.  Poor Nicolas Cage has a son who’s plugged into some crazy ass memory from 50 years ago predicting the end of things, and he’s burdened with the realization… well, I don’t want to spoil things for you, but it’s got a little something to do with the sun freaking the eff out.  It’s a really good movie, and it has one of those endings you don’t usually see in a major blockbuster film.

I’ve got to say, what with all the volcanos and super hurricanes and spewing oil everywhere, this new sun storm development just adds another element of quease to the whole Mayan calendar conspiracy…  And hey, I gotta say, if the world is coming to an end in 2012, I want a seat next to this guy:

Jon knows the secret location of the 2012 arks... wanna take a ride?

But, in all seriousness, you might want to hold off on that new iPhone until they come out with the solar-proof version – iPhone 7000g, don’t let the signal mess with your apps!

1
comments

Posted in The Daily Drool

Apr 25

Backyard Snow Show

Here are a few pics… I know, all that hype and then there’s only a handful?!  WTF?  Well, it didn’t really snow that much, and the panorama is a combination of several shots out my parents backyard, so….

Outside my window… Those red berries make it look like Christmas!

The backyard… this was primo snowball making snow- really soft and wet.  Made everything really pretty, even if it is April.

You’re probably going to want to click on this so you can see it better.  It’s quite a view!  And there’s the snow that refuses to melt in the morning sun… on the peaks of the mountains.

And, umm, I’m afraid that’s it!  I took a ton of pics up at Potato Patch yesterday though- once I’ve caught up on the things I NEED to do, I’ll upload those pics and share some with you.

Happy Sunday everybody :)

0
comments

Posted in Photography

Apr 24

You're damned if you do…

Alright, time for another Volcano post… because now the blame game begins.

Look, I’m all about pro-active discussion “What did we do right?  What could we have done better?”  But inevitably, whenever a disaster strikes, what happens is that everyone starts blaming everyone else and nothing productive comes of it.

In this AP article:

Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson (A true capitalist) has labeled as unnecessary the Europe-wide ban on flights prompted by concerns the volcanic ash could cause problems with airliner engines.

“A blanket ban of the whole of Europe was not the right decision,” Branson said. “Planes have to put up with sandstorms in Africa, the engines are designed to put up with a lot more than existed.”

I imagine, had they NOT instituted a Europe-wide band and had there been any problems, Mr. Branson would still be pointing those angry fingers but with very different words.

Because people are the masters of “Blame”-  we love to shell it out and hate to have it shelled out upon us.

Think about it… when’s the last time you found yourself the guilty party?  Did you accept the blame or shirk it?  Try to justify it with some long-winded rationalization?  Do you ever find yourself issuing an “Well, I’m sorry, but-”

Why is it so hard to stand in front of a catastrophe and accept responsibility?

Why is equally difficult to stand before something terrible, something beyond human blame, and not have someone to burn at the stake?

Because we are obsessed with and terrified by power- the power we have, the power we want, and the power that eludes us.

The world will continue turning, that volcano will continue burning, and the airliners will try to wring as much money out of this as they possibly can.  The EU will stand behind their decision to close the skies (and they SHOULD), and weary travelers the world over will pay the price as the bickering and blaming goes on and on and on…

0
comments

Posted in Essays, The Daily Drool

Apr 22

Food Baby, Food Coma, whatever, I'm eating A LOT (and other randomness)

  • Ever heard of the Vacation Diet?  The one where your brain thinks to itself “You’re on vacation, EAT UP!”  Well, I think my brain has confused being in AZ with vacation time, because I can’t stop eating.  And a lot of you are probably tinking to yourselves “Good, you’re too skinny!”  But I just want to point out that eating a Klondike bar every day after lunch is NOT good for you, haha.  But my parents house has all this yummy food that I couldn’t afford to buy… so I guess I’m going a little hog wild with it.
  • It’s snowing today again, A LOT.  None of it is sticking where we are because the ground is too warm, but I’m imagining once these giant snowy clouds depart, there will be some beautiful snow-capped mountains around us to photograph and share.  It’s so beautiful and cold outside… It feels like December!  I’m enjoying the crazy weather with oatmeal and hot tea.  I also went outside and opened my mouth to the heavens for a little snow tasting.  Tasted like Winter.
  • Cat -update:  Last night I woke up to a frightened, hissing Midnite leaping onto my head. Thank God her claws weren’t out.  She sat there by me for a good 5 minutes or so growling under her breathe at the heathen cat that had dared to poke it’s head into her room  (sigh) So much progress, then so much cat fur in my face.  Daredevil continues to act oblivious to my parent’s cats, although he does seem to really like Ceasar (the only other boy)  They speak the same language of Cat Chirp and like to fluff up and chase one another about.  It’s really fun to watch.
  • Have a sinus infection, have drugs for said infection, apparently the old sinuses aren’t too impressed with all the dry air and cotton seeds blowing about.  Maybe the late spring snowshowers will dampen the blooming mood outside and I’ll get a bit of a reprieve out of all this strange weather.
  • Got my car back!  FINALLY.
  • Finished rewrites on Twigs and Bone, feeling pretty good about it!  Looking forward to being in LA next weekend for:  Late birthday celebrations with Doc and Amber, oodles of theater, and maybe, just maybe, if I have time, a little visit to the beach…

0
comments

Posted in The Daily Drool

Apr 21

And then… it SNOWED!

I’m not kidding, it snowed today.  Looking out my parents back yard now, the mountains are capped with a light dusting of snow.  There wasn’t enough of the stuff falling here to stick, mostly it melted and then reverted to rain for a bit, then balled up crystals of ice, etc…  It was cold and windy, and totally cool.

And it all started with the gentlest of “Good Morning”s – the soft smell of rain drifting into my window on a cool morning breeze.  Perfection!

So even though it was really friggin’ cold all day, and even though I had to haul the aloe vera plant inside in the hopes that the cold air hasn’t done too much damage, I have to say “Thanks” to Mother Nature for a pretty awesome, completely unexpected, spring snow.

Deeeee-light.  :)

0
comments

Posted in The Daily Drool

Mar 21

Things I saw in the Fog

A nearly naked man changing clothes in the alley  -  I wondered if he’d consider doing the same sans fog… then I wondered why he was changing in the alley in the first place… I mean, who gets naked outside Main St?  I tried not to stare at his foggy shape in the distance as he stepped into some pants…

A man in a leather jacket walking too briskly to avoid notice- He came out of a nearly empty parking lot and didn’t look either way before crossing the street.  Something about his walk and the fog had my imagination cooking up all sorts of identites and crimes for the fella, and I tried not to stare at him either.

Two homeless men sharing a smoke over their make-shift shelter for the night.  Santa Monica has an incredible homeless population, possibly because if you’re going to be homeless, wouldn’t you want to be so in Santa Monica?  Near the beach?  With all the sun?  There is one street near the theater I’ve been spending so much time with lately, that they just love.  It’s like Hobo-Alley (I’m sure that term is out of date, but it sounds good with ‘Alley’) Sometimes I have to park there… and sometimes I have to park directly in front of one of their little “tents”… As this was one of those instance, and as you never know WHY a person is homeless, I erred on the side of caution and definitely didn’t stare at them.

Then I got in my car and bore witness to the wonders of driving in Los Angeles fog… (wow, people, really?!)… only to roll up to my lovely little apartment in my lovely little neighborhood, to remember with a sigh how much I have loved living here… the fog wrapping itself around the street lamps, turning the whole place into something out of a movie.

I might not miss the hustle and bustle of this crazy city, but I will miss the wonder of nights like this.

0
comments

Posted in The Daily Drool

Feb 11

SNOW!!! (I want it)

A couple of the cast members from Jane Doe asked me the other day, “Why Snow?  Why the North Pole?”  They were referring, of course, to the lead characters subconcious obsession with the place and all it’s parts.  I didn’t have a ready answer, but what I did manage to articulate was that there is just something so romantic about the idea of a great white canvas spread out before you… a fresh page, a clean slate…

But now that the East Coast is blizzarding and photos of snow-covered cities are plastered across my yahoo pages, I find that I am positively lusting after the stuff… perhaps some of Jane Doe’s obsessions were there simply because I love snow.

When I was little I would play for hours in the winter-wonderland of our backyard.  I would imagine that I was crossing over into a frozen tundra from another world everytime I scrambled over the bricks stacked next to the house – a formidable wall, I’ve no idea why we had these piles of bricks! – and once I had shimmied down the other side I was no longer in Prescott, I was in a land far, far away.  The ice, the snow, the tracks in it… all were wonderful, magical events to be cherished.  I spent a considerable amount of time imagining these worlds and the characters in them, and I think back to those frozen adventures with relish.

Which is why I’m looking at these beautiful pictures of snow from the weather-parched “70 and sunny” state of Los Angeles (yes, sometimes it feels like its own country even) and I’m yearning to be over there, mittens on hands, toasty hat on head, rosy-cheeked and ready for hot cocoa by the fireplace.

There is just something about it that screams “Home” and promises fun and comfort… a completely different world than this practically artificial one I now inhabit.

So, perhaps Jane Doe longed for snow because I long to be somewhere with a full four seasons- somewhere away from palm trees and perma-sun… We do write ourselves into our stories more often than we know, after all.

1
comments

Posted in Playwriting, The Daily Drool

Jan 22

The Rain is Booming

Los Angeles does not like the wet weather- people freak out and post things on their FaceBook accounts like “I didn’t move to LA to get wet!”  Even though the other 345 days a year are like, super sunny.  But this past week it has been raining steady and I’ve been loving it.

One of the things about living in perpetual sunshine is that you loose the natural and enjoyable shifts in the seasons.  It’s January for crying out loud, it’s not supposed to be eighty degrees outside!

And I know that were I to be a bit more of an adventurer, this rain might become more of a bother.  I’ve been writing all week from the safety of my apartment where the gentle thrum of rain drops has been a soothing background from which to work.  But even with the threat of having to be out in the stormy weather, I have to say it’s nice to have some wintry weather now and then!

The biggest problem is that it makes me want to sleep waaaay late and just watch movies all day- to snuggle up to a good book and a cup of hot chocolate…  (Which I can’t do.)   Yes, rain is a comfort when you’ve got a comfortable place in which to batten down the hatches!

0
comments

Posted in The Daily Drool

Jan 21

Understanding Process

I haven’t left my house for the last three days and it wasn’t because of the rain (although it’s certainly not an enticement.)  No, the reason I haven’t left the house is because I was writing, writing, writing- and I had to get to the end of this new version of a treatment I’m working on.  I had to get to the end before I could do anything else.

And now that I made it, I’m like, looking at a crazy long list of things I need to do outside the bubble of home.

But this is how I work, it’s my routine- and I’m finally at a place where I can understand this about myself – this drive to complete things once started and to push real-life things aside whilst sorting out the imagined ones.

And I think it’s interesting- that my focus can be so overtaken with an idea and then completely immersed in the real as soon as I feel I’ve made enough progress.  It’s like unplugging or something.

So, today I’m tackling the list… Some of it is just “Drop off resumes!”  and other things read “Buy Milk!”

That rain though… it sure a lovely encouragement to “Stay home.”  It’s been a great companion these past three days of writing.

2
comments

Posted in Playwriting, The Daily Drool

Dec 28

The Chilly Willies

I’ve been complaining nigh on 11 years now about the dreariness of Los Angeles winters- it gets cooler, sometimes even downright cold, but those days are often cancelled out by days of innapropriate warmth sneaking in and mucking up the holiday clock… I mean, it’s just hard to feel like Christmas is a-coming when it’s 78 degrees outside and little squirrels are sunbathing on the rocks outside your window.

Which is why, oh reader dear, I’ve been so enjoying my little sojourn in the good ‘ol mountainous homeland.  I mean, it’s 34 degrees here today… that’s the HIGH!  Which is what it’s supposed to feel like in December.

And I know there are a lot of folks suffering through negative temperatures, insane wind-chills, and piles of snow, but I’ve got to say (as someone who gets a tad tired of LA’s perpetual disregard to the seasons) YAHOO to a bit of the chilly willies.

Granted, I’m not living in a climate that keeps the gauge so low for months on end… but I’ve got to say there is a joyfulness missing from the LA calendar- the joy of the first snowfall, the relief when the first flowers bloom and spring is once again upon you with her promise of sunshine kisses and soft rain, the bliss of hot summer days on the beach or at the pool, and the quiet rush of falling leaves in Autumn.

(sigh)

In LA it’s all one big warmish muddle.

Which is why I am enjoying my sweaters and coats and scarves and boots, my parent’s fireplace, and the snuggly comfort of hot cocoa…

I’ll return to awkward LA and it’s seasonally challenged dress-code soon enough.

0
comments

Posted in The Daily Drool

« Older Entries