Mom's Big Night

Last Friday night was my mom's retirement party. She worked at Nogales High School for 26 years, and has earned the well-deserved opportunity to spend her time however she wants to. I know she's going to enjoy her new freedom, and that she'll stay active and experience many new places and things.

A lot of people showed up to her party, many of whom who had left Nogales years ago. But they made a point of saying farewell in person, which says a lot. A number of people spoke, and they said very nice things about her. It was easy to see that she was a well-respected and loved friend and co-worker. She's an awesome lady, a great mom, and I'm proud of her. Congratulations, Mom- you deserve it.




Lay down those '50s tracks, and watch out!


Learning a few old school moves from the source.




There were some lovely parting gifts, including a weekend for two in Cambria.

On Sunday afternoon, I hung out for awhile in downtown Santa Ana. It's become an almost completely Mexican area, full of taquerias, street vendors and all kinds of Mexican businesses. It seems most of Southern California is a "Mexican area" these days, but Santa Ana is especially saturated and there's a very authentic vibe in the air. I think it's due in large part to the fact that most of the people there seem to be recent immigrants, as opposed to areas like East L.A., which has a more unsettling, Cholo/gangbanger element to it.

There is a part of downtown which is designated as the Artists Village, which provides a sharp contrast with it's galleries, studio lofts and hip eatieries like Memphis and the Gypsy Den. Downtown Santa Ana is registered in the National Register of Historical Places, and it's a great place to enjoy the architecture of many old buildings which are still in use.

Thar She Blows!

At about 11:30 am on Sunday, I heard a boom, thinking maybe it was thunder, as we had a weekend of on-again, off-again rain. A few minutes later, I heard what I thought was rain coming down. Bummed at the prospect of more rain, I opened the window shade for look, only to see a raging geyser across the street! A car had managed to jump the curb, taking out a tree, a light post, and a fire hydrant in the process. I have no idea what caused the accident, but this guy hit the jackpot, destroying three stationary objects as well as messing up his car, breaking a window of a furniture store and possibly ruining some furniture as well. It took the fire department about 40 minutes to get the hydrant to stop gushing. Nice.


(My place is in the old Victorian home on the left.)







I'm really behind in posting, so this entry will be a little disjointed. I guess the most important development is that Brenda has gone back to Mexico to sort some personal things out. We've decided to go our separate ways for now, and work on individual goals. There is no animosity, nor anyone to blame. These things happen, and I suppose they happen for a reason. We haven't ruled out future plans, but for now, I only wish her the best, and we are staying in touch on a regular basis. I'll leave it at that.

Other current happenings are fairly trivial by comparison, I guess. A regular visitor to this blog (surprisingly, there are a couple) suggested I archive my posts in an effort to reduce loading time for those viewing it. It was a good idea, so now only the five most recent posts will appear on the home page. If anyone wants to see entries from way back when, you can click on "Previous Posts" or "Archives" on the right hand side of the page. Thanks, Cory.

Also, I added a couple of photos to my "Week of Surprises" post from about 2 weeks ago. I've had to post entries from work lately, and I had left the pics on my home computer.

I think I'll end this entry by with some images from the last couple of weeks. Until next time...




I eat well when Brenda's around.




Old Town Pasadena.


Old Town Pasadena.


Una chica muy coqueta. Que pompis, ¿no?

A Quick Note

The above photo is of a crepe Brenda made for me on Valentine's Day. It was a sweet (and delicious) gesture.

There are some significant things to write about this week, but I think I'll save them for the next entry. Having to update the blog from work is inconvenient, and I'm unable to take my time and focus on what I'm writing. Not having internet service at home is really starting to annoy me, especially since it was not my choice.

I'll end this very brief entry with a Japanese proverb:

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

A Week of Surprises

This week started off with one of the lousiest Super Bowls ever. Pittsburgh beat Seattle in a forgettable contest of fairly poor football. However, I suppose getting together with friends and family for food and spirits makes up for a lousy game. After the Pro Bowl game this Sunday, the offseason begins, and so the most boring time of the sports year does as well. I'm not a big sports guy- I love the NFL, a good boxing match and not much else.

Monday started with surprise #1- a large brush fire in Anaheim Hills and East Orange, very close to my place of work. As of Thursday, there is still smoke billowing from the mountains, although I believe the fire is mostly under control. What made it interesting for those of us working at the college was that our soccer field acted as a makeshift evacuation area for large, local animals. There is an equestrian population in the neigborhoods surrounding our campus, and someone brought a horse onto college grounds for the day. The horse, "Strawberry Pete", was allowed onto the soccer field to gallop and graze at his leisure, which made for an unusual sight.

Surprise #2 happened later that same day. At about 4:45 pm, I was working away as a face appeared to veer around my cubicle wall- it was Brenda. She showed up at my office completley unannounced, to my great surprise. She had been in Querétaro, Mexico that morning, when she took it upon herself to fly to L.A., take a shuttle van to Orange and show up at my office took speak to me face-to-face! We had some questions to discuss, and she'd had it with long-distance phone calls and impersonal communication, and felt we needed to speak with one another in person. Needless to say, I was shocked, since I hadn't expect to see her for at least another 2 weeks or so. She's staying with me right now, and it's been good to reconnect, since her last visit was so short.

The last surprise came Tuesday afternoon, when I discovered my DSL line at home was unable to connect. I soon realized the the line had no dial tone either, and, long story short, due to a billing error by SBC, they canceled my service! It's all straightened out now, but unfortunately, I will be without internet service at home for 1-2 weeks. Seems they can't restore service until the last order, which was to cancel my service, is completely processed. Morons.

So, I'm writing this entry from work, which means I better finish it up. I guess there is one more suprise to mention- a letter from my landlord stating that we need to "negotiate a new lease" since the last one expired a few months ago. Great. I have a feeling he wants to raise the rent. Ironically, the place could rent for more because of all the improvements I made to it at my own expense. I hope he is going to be reasonable.

I'll end with this quote from Da Vinci; it's one of my all-time favorites. I apply it to my design work, and it applies to many other aspects of life:

Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.


Strawberry Pete grazing away on the SCC soccer field...


...and going for a nice gallop as smoke fills the sky.


SCC's new goalie.


Ash Tuesday.


The roof of my car.