marginally spoiled

do you ever have those days where you fail by half at everything? for instance you're running errands and they only have one ink cartridge, not the 2 you need. and then by the 3rd place you go, searching for some light bulbs- you tragically fail- bcs they're special lightbulbs and you get the wrong one anyway and know you have to return it, then you get weirdly rejected at radioshak and you hate them anyway- and it seems that the day was full of half successes so the whole day seems to extrapolate failure, so why bother getting stamps or doing anything else but wearily, wearily returning home parched for water and protein, to attempt the futile non-necessities of life, and you think thank god my cable is working and i have food in the fridge- and wonder... what was the point of all of it- those stupid things on the list... just to make your world aesthetically harmonious despite logic that tells you they're not important.

in nature

these colors do exist

in the backyard

more carange, this time

zeppelin,

i can't believe she blinked

Penelope's Deep Question of the Day

There's this new NC driving law they keep advertising for on TV to let you know: give pedestrians the right away and DON'T TURN ON RED if you see one coming. I'm not really sure how this is different from whatever law was in place before, or how it changes the rules of your typical common courtesy in not running people over and/or scaring the bejeezus out of them. I guess a lot of people don't have common courtesy, which is why they would have to make a law. And everyone messes up--I try not to scare people out on the streets, but I know I do, sometimes. And sometimes, it's a little fun.

If you do violate this law, the big thing is that you get 4 points on your license. Points are bad, you don't want them. But what confused me the first several times I saw the commercial--and let's keep in mind that I'm not all with it these days--is, like, how do they determine that you violated the law?

I mean, it occurs to me now that a cop would catch you in the act of blazing through a pedestrian's path, watch the pissed-off and/or terrified pedestrian flip you off, and then proceed to pull you over. But initially, they sort of made it sound like the evidence would be in the dead or injured body. Like, clearly you violated the pedestrian right-away law by turning on red, because there's a bruised, battered, and possibly dead man lying here in the street to prove it.

And for that, shouldn't you be worried about a little bit more than 4 points on your license?

The Joy of

Before I get to the real meat of the story- which is the joy of a $2 movie, no matter, no MATTER WHAT, i want to tell you about how you think you're okay with something and you've moved past the fact that not getting curtains is making you flip out so you step down from your middlemanagementhell soapbox and then something else happens and you're still flipping out. It's like your emotional button has gotten stuck on irked or accelerate to pissed off in 5seconds and it's clear to you that you're still there in hell or have only progressed to the 7th level of hell or purgatory and haven't made it out of the woods or the maze or wherever it is that you are... but you go to a movie like wallace and gromit: curse of the were-rabbit for $2 and then you try and forget and succeed bcs gromit is so damn cute and the popcorn is adequately buttered and salted and that guy behind you isn't making that much noise and you only paid $2, and why do movie houses all have to be so damn fancy, just show me the movie and let the seats be decent. so let hell burn, it'll still be there. just enjoy the damn movie. bcs you only paid $2 and it makes you feel like you're in a small town which is my whole view of LA anyway, it's just where you go and who you chose to talk to and the neon strip club across the street can be found anywhere, so why not here- why not in the 7th circle of hell- but then you remember the $2 movie and how awesome wallace and gromit look and it doesn't matter so much what was said, but that you hope and pray the $2 movies will continue, and it gives you a little hope and faith, despite the world- that maybe it's not so bad afterall.

Here's hoping it's a better day

Bill Lumbergh, betta fish, moves into his new office.

Harold? Are we on COPS?

  i will do my best to soldier on with the blog despite the horrific posture of Michael Bolton. I wanted to tell you about the Hispanic Gangsters who live across the street. But first let me tell you about the house. i used to play at this house when I was younger- when there were pot forests in the backyard, pot drying on the window sills, and magic in chocolate brownies might mean organic. This was also during the whole DARE campaign to keep kids off drugs- Mommy is this what a pot leaf looks like?

As a kid i knew that it was creepy over there- maybe because of the rank pot smell, but more specifically the whole house contained a dark vibe. Since then the original owners have moved out but have retained ownership and rent it out. Except for one couple who had a baby and were trying to get their lives back on track- there have been a series of renters related to or somehow connected to the owners- who all have the cops called to their house- THIS house. The first one that I can recall was a brother or uncle, sort a tujunga white trash vibe. He actually drew the worst heat I've seen there, as there was a police helicopter, 4 cop cars... and they hauled his ass away along with his saw-ed off shot guns and his bags of dope. Good times!

This last group of people started off innocuously enough- young couple with child. Then some response calls started coming in- you get a little worried especially when the LAPD starts coming in 2's and late in the night but not that LATE. And these are just the calls I've been coming home to see. So yesterday the K-9 unit was parked the wrong way on the street. There was 1 remaining cop car and 2 undercover units. 4 cops 1 k-9 cop and 3 girls. I've seen these girls before, they hang out in their pajamas. And they were made to sit in a car and when they got out one girl had a bag of doritos in her hand. If you were made to sit in a car while the cops searched your entire house, cars and backyard with a k-9 unit would you take a bag of doritos with you? Would that be constrewing things a little too normal aka "business as usual"...? Like I guess I'll just snack on this shit because i don't know HOW LONG their going to be??

And i guess despite all the nefarious, off the margain, criminals that seem to inhabit that den of inequity- we have as yet to be on COPS... that would be like finally showcasing my neighborhood for the pretty ghetto it is. Who said I'm not on the wrong side of the tracks. I can tell you where they are.

Meet Michael Bolton

An African Dwarf Frog purchased at Petco yesterday evening, Michael Bolton is having a rough first day at the office. I picked him because he was the acrobat of the bunch, and because the sign said "hardy." We need hardy around here after the recent Search scare. But this, people, is why I never cleaned the fish tank. I don't have good luck with the aquatic creatures. I killed sea monkeys back in '97, for pete's sake, and those aren't even technically alive.

This morning when I went to the kitchen to check on him, he seemed peachy. Several minutes later, however, he flipped onto his back and stayed there for quite some time, despite my pleading and encouragement: "Don't die on me now, Michael Bolton! Don't be dead!" But then he was fine again. I think he might like to lie on his back when he poos. Or maybe he just likes to lie on his back. But he is NOT DEAD. He's had two car trips in less than 24 hours. He's in a completely new environment. The spunk will return, it will.

DO NOT MOCK THE FROG!

oh dear.

i'm a little worried.