I Need Help

God, who lives like this?

Monday Night Pottery

Here are photos of my latest pottery class output.

But first, a tale of taking a Lyft home from Burbank Rec Center.

Lyft driver: "It's chilly outside."
Me: "Weird, right? For July."
TLD: "And all that rain. And earthquakes. Maybe someone is coming."
Me: "..."
Me: "..."
Me: "Um, maybe?"

I didn't think the plate would make it through firing because it had a little crack in it, so I just tested out glazes on it. But it looks good and the crack isn't visible.

Hand built with imprints of my knuckles.

Clear and Present Danger

When TSA pulled me aside this morning, I wasn’t surprised, because I had a batter hand mixer in my carry-on.

You know, the kind of plug-in mixer with two paddles. Maybe your mom let you lick the batter off when you were a kid.

I had a story ready. I was giving it to a friend in LA. The real story is too odd, too complicated. I moved from New York to LA, but not really. I moved...but didn’t take my stuff and I saw this in my storage unit and thought maybe I could bake something with all those cherries on sale now. (If only I'd remembered to bring a cake pan.)

But when the TSA agent opened my bag, she only cared about the coffee beans I was carrying.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The offending mixer was purchased at Woolworth's on 14th Street and Avenue B in 1993.

Double the Fun

It's been a while since I discovered something new in my yard in Jersey City via my mom's wildlife motion-activated camera.

And while I was disappointed I found no new animals...I did find something unexpected.

The raccoons are teaming up now.

First Time I've Argued With A Cop INSIDE the Country

Guess who got a ticketed warning for not pushing the walk button this morning?

On a dead-end street with only an alley outlet, where construction has blocked the sidewalk access to other routes. And while I stood there yes, arguing with the motorcycle cop, another person ON HER PHONE did the same thing. Not because she was being a scofflaw (though technically she was as was I) but because who the hell stops, pushes a button, and waits at a dead-end street that gets maybe 50 cars a day total, all turning into the parking garage at the dead-end? I've seen maybe two cars on that road in the two years I've walked 2x daily across it.

"Are you in a hurry, ma'am?"

"Yes. I have 45 seconds to get to that crosswalk there to push the walk button before the next light cycle, since I can't walk on the sidewalk after that due to all the construction going on."

"Construction takes time, ma'am."

"I'm going to do this again. I'm not standing there in the sun at a road with no cars."

"Then next time you'll get a real ticket."

Oh boy. Is it worth hundreds of dollars in jaywalking tickets to refuse to cave into an incredibly stupid rule? This reminds me of the time I was willing to be jailed for refusing to bribe a security officer in Congo. FOR FIVE BUCKS I could walk onto the plane. FOR FREE, I could risk going to jail in Kinshasa of all places. Of course, this is actually legal here, just stupid. I don't do stupid well.

Bonus! Two people from the office spotted this event and called me as soon as I got to work. Ha ha...the humiliation.

Burbank. What a ridiculous place. Charmingly eccentric, yes, but also quite absurd in how it incentivizes driving over walking. Blocked-off sidewalks where the options put the walker at risk. Bicycles sharing the walk with pedestrians because the streets are dangerous. Walk signs that don't automatically change without a person pushing the disgusting button. Motorcycle police pulling over walkers. Gotta keep Burbank safe for cars, you know!

Container Garden

Here's something fun I did on Tuesday night...

...because sometimes I go through phases of trying to do something besides work all the time: I went to Los Angeles City College for a community class in container gardening.

The teacher gave us all wooden planters and some cuttings. I planted them on Wednesday and so far, it looks like the jade plant might make it. And my kale and radishes are starting to sprout.

Success!

For once, my pottery turned out all right. Well...it's too small, but other than that.

I'll keep working to make a mug big enough to carry around the amount of coffee most people like to drink (me included).

Before and After

Here's a look at the downstairs "kitchen" back when I first bought the house. I knew immediately what that was sticking out of the wall, much as I recognized the bare pipe in the middle of the bathroom ceiling (home to a future showerhead). 

And here's that same space once BBF and I sorted it out. (The gas nib was already there as well.)

Not bad, huh?

Heading East

I turned my back just long enough to pat down some dirt in my balcony garden containers, and this packet of Siberian Kale seeds tried to fly away to Siberia. 

In Flight

My friend Steve posted about his 18th wedding anniversary.

It feels like just a few years ago that I flew back from Australia to attend the reception, then Turbo bought Henry the 1990 Ford Taurus down in Torrance and we started the long drive to Manhattan.

And I can't believe how close we are to another ten years since my last round-the-world trip. The difference between 2001 and 2011 felt massive. The difference between 2011 and 2021 seems minor.

The passage of time is alarming and terrifying. Awareness that life is short does not change how I approach every day. I wish it did, but we all still have to function and get shit done, even if we're aware of our aging brains and bodies.