A birdie having a lovely snack....this piece of fruit is really yummy...And this dear fella and his friends know it and I am so glad I have something like this in my garden so that these sweet birds have a fresh sweet meal....and as you can see, this fruit has been devoured...!
I love that you can see that little bit of fruit right there on his beak...like I said, this fruit is yummy...!And taking a little bit of a rest before going on to the next piece of fruit...Or maybe he was done and just thinking about what a great meal he had! Personally, I think he was just resting here in this next picture, before continuing on to eat some more....
Here is another little creature...you have seen him before, but not this picture....What a great great beauty he is...His colorful body is so vivid...
And look at that eye....! Fantastic! He is a little over an inch long, and those antenii are very very long....How delicate his legs are....I love the design of his body, don't you?I love these next two pictures....The plant is a Senecio, and the white puffs are what is left after the plant has flowered so profusely...talk about delicate....
Each of these little delicate puffs is a potential plant....A wind can blow them to the ground and wherever they land, they root. Truly.
They get blown to the ground so easily and there are so many of them that they root and grow without you doing one thing. And they root anywhere there is soil, wether on the ground or in a pot. See the two small little green things in this next picture?
Those are the baby Senecio's which, as the spring moves on, you will see more and more of these little things growing out of the soil all over the place. So much so, that you really have to pull them out as you would with weeds....But, indeed, they are not weeds! And if you don't pull them out this is how they look as they start to get bigger.
They are rather spindly with just a bit of those lovely leaves on top And then, as time goes on, they can become do become a gorgeous tall plant with many arms and with these extremely lush leaves everywhere....
I love this picture above of that beautiful Senecio with the Bougenvilla in front of it...And here below is a close up of one of the arms...It is smooth to the touch and very very strong....
I love the little round white scars on it. There is something about putting your hand around this sturdy arm that feels really secure and great! I cannot explain it, but I can feel it as I write this. Wonderful!.....Here below, another view of this beautiful plant....
This is one of my very favorite plants in my garden. It was one of the first plants I discovered that I had never seen before----this was 21 years ago---and something about it...something about the whole plant spoke to me. I LOVE everything about it....everything!
What else? Oh yes....a few more 'flower' beauty's....at different stages of life....
On the wane...but still very very beautiful....
And here below are three pictures of one really beautiful flower as it was waning....each picture in this series of three, is two days after the one before it...and to me---each stage is beautiful.....
And here below, two days later....
And then below....two days after that.....
All fascinating and all beautiful in my view.....!
NOTE: This was a rather long post and I will probably leave it up a bit longer than usual....I had no idea I was going to cover so many things of nature when I began this post....but I enjoyed putting it together, very very much....
More To Come.....
Shephard has sent me 5 interview questions and wow, they are great, but they are also hard.....well, some of them are hard, at least for me they are...but they are all really wonderfully interesting and quite thought provoking and so.....I am going to give it my best bestest shot! (Some of these questions are so thought provoking, that they could become an entire post all by themselves.....lol!)
So here goes....
1. Tell us your favorite memory from your favorite city.
Having written extensively about our fabulous day spent in The Cotswolds, (I know, it's not a city...but, that's what I would have written about had I not done six posts about it already....). I was thinking about some other memorable places I have been, and an outstanding memory attached to each of those places....And the first thing that came to mind was....
The South Of France...yes, again I know, not a city. But this was a favorite trip of mine and there were many many "favorite" memory's connected to this trip. I guess the one that would have to be at the top of this 'memory list would be sitting outside at a restaurant in Cannes having a lovely delicious dinner in this beautiful city by the sea. It was a lovely balmy summer evening. The food was delicious and the breeze was warm and delightful. I can still remember exactly what I was wearing...it was something I had bought earlier that week in Juan Les Pains! What made this evening particularly memorable was that it was the night that they landed on the moon for the first time. Sitting and watching the moon, knowing these men were almost there, was exciting and surreal. It was an amazing thing to behold....this full moon....
As we sat there, we couldn't help but think about those three Astronauts and the fantastic trip they were on and how in a few hours a truly historic event was going to take place. An event that had never happened before in the history of the world. It was July, 1969.
2. If you could own 1 piece of famous artwork, what would it be and why do you love it?
Wow! This is a really tough question for me. There are very many works of art that I would love to live with....too many to list, actually. And I feel that right now I already live with some very beautiful art, so it feels almost greedy to want all these other things as well. But having said that, if I could actually have one more great piece of art, it would be a sculpture by Giacomo Manzu. He did many many beautiful and magnificent works of art....
not the least of which are the doors at the Basillica, in Rome, (The Doors Of Death)....But the piece I would want I unfortunately cannot find a picture of to show you...So, I will have to post another piece of his that is the same subject matter. It is a Cardinal. He did many of these figures....some standing and some seated. The one I would want is a seated Cardinal. As I said, it is not this one below but one somewhat similar, and it is only somewhat similar because he is seated....and since no two pieces are alike...well, what can I say. Why do I love it? I'm not sure I can put it into words. It moves me. It is a great great sculpture because it captures so much emotion....a sadness, a peaceful quality...it is extremely spiritual to me...I cannot explain it any more than that.
3. If you could create your own flower ("The Naomi"), what would it look like and what color(s)?
In a way, this was the hardest one for me, and truthfully, I'm not completely happy with my answer because in truth, I cannot give you an answer...Why, you ask? Well because, frankly I don't think any of us can improve on nature. Over and over and over nature proves to me in every way that no shape, no color, no size or design can be duplicated by a person or persons....yes, things can be and are 'manipulated' and so on and so forth....but, the original design that nature gave us cannot possibly be beat. Having said that, my "Naomi" flower would look like a "Rose"---that most beautiful and softest of flowers----and it would be in graduating shades of lavender to purple..... Is there such a rose? I don't know. (Maybe Judy knows...Judy...?) But this picture is the closest thing I could find to what is in my mind, and in truth, what is in my mind doesn't even come close to nature as shown in this picture on the right.
4. Of all the famous actors and actresses you've met, whose private personality would surprise us the most?
Oh, Lord....this one is tough, too. (lol) First of all I don't know that many big big stars...I know some famous people and many of them I met before they became 'famous'....(I also know one 'infamous' person, but I won't write about him here....)
Okay. So many of the people I know really fit that expression that Shephard uses....WYSIWYG...pronounced wizzywig...which means What You See Is What You Get. 
There is one person that some of you may remember from "The Facts Of Life", Charlotte Rae. She might be surprising because she is a very very bright intelligent woman who is extremely talented, and I would have to say, "pixilated"...! Not in the way we use that word now...but in the old fashioned original way...a very charming pixieish person with a somewhat off kilter kind of personality....You actually can see that in some of the parts that she played on Broadway and elsewhere...You don't particularly see that in "The Facts Of Life"....Actually, she seems kind of 'regular' and usual in that show. Well there is nothing about her that is 'regular' or 'usual', and yet...there is, when you come right down to it....But, like I said, she is wonderfully amazingly 'pixilated'!
5. If you could have starred in any movie, what movie/role and how would you have played it?
Oh, this one is truly impossible, Shephard! (lol) In all honesty I don't think about stuff like that...So to come up with some 'role'...Oy! The thing is, I cannot even come up with a possible part/role....it just isn't me. Sorry about that. The best I can do to is come up with a performance or two on film that I think is perfect. Perfect in every way....Could not be improved upon by me or anyone else. Two performances come to mind immediately, and though I am sure there are more....these are the two I will write about.
First....Bette Davis in "All About Eve". A perfect performance in the most perfect and best film ever made about the Broadway Theatre....ever, ever! Would I like to play that part? Well, only if I could do it exactly like Bette Davis...and may I say, who needs that? We have Bette Davis' fantastic perfect performance already. (Screenplay and Direction by Joseph Mancewitz...) Rent this film if you don't already know it and love it! It is a great great film, truly.
The second performance, a performance I have mentioned before...Kim Stanley in "The Goddess". This was a small independent film that was released in 1958. I am not even sure Netflix has this...Well, all I can say is, I have never seen another performance on film as great as this one, by anyone....I think, for me this is the very greatest performance by an actress ever put on film that I know of or have seen....
It covers a woman's life from the time she is a little girl of four or so, till she is in her mid to late thirty's....It is another 'show business' film, only this time about a young girl who longs to go to Hollywood...She does go, and she becomes a big 'star' and she proceeds to disintegrate before our eyes. Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant. Would I want to play that part...Well, only if I could be as great as Kim Stanley was...and again...we already have her fantasticlly moving performance, so we don't need a lesser imitation of any kind )Incidentally, the original Screenplay was by the great Paddy Chayefsky....the brilliant one-of-a-kind writer, who gave us, among other great great films, the film "Network" and predicated in this brilliant incredible film, everything that television has become. This movie was released in 1976. Rent that, too, while you are at it.
So, there you have it. I know I am supposed to post the rules and such for this meme, but I did that already and 9 people asked me to 'interview' them, so at this point I am all questioned out (lol)...I hope you all understand....
More To Come.....
And just in case you cannot see what these checks say....
And the other BIG MONEY......
And they say that actors get paid too much....Ain't Show Business grand?
More To Come.....
1.- Soup Or Salad?
Well, much depends on my mood when it comes to Soup Or Salad....If it is cold outside and I feel the need for "comfort" food...give me a hearty yummy smooth pureed nutritious soup, or if it is hot outside, give me a cold pureed soup like and Avacado Soup or a Vichysoise....
On the other hand, there are times I feel the need for "crunch", and when I do, then give me some fresh old fashioned greens, a little bit of tomato, some Avacado slices, And those Avacado's happen to be absolutely fabulous right now here in Los Angeles, throw in a few other goodies like a bit of radish or some delicious Jicima...and I will be in hoggity heaven with this salad, especially if there is a lovely Balsamic Vinegrette Dressing to go with it....More Yum!
2.- Laptop or Proper Computer?
Okay, at this time, and ever since I got my very first computer in early 1991, it has been a 'Proper Computer'. But, in fact, I have been thinking quite seriously about a Laptop for a long time now. Mostly to give me some choice as to the positioning of my body since I spend so much time on the computer...
in other words, to not be locked into this one chair that I am sitting on right now as I type this....But, at the moment, finances do not permit me getting a Laptop. Still, I am hoping that I will be able to get me one of those Laptop Thingy's in the very near future.3.- What color is your bathroom?
I have two bathrooms...a so called Guest Bathroom, which I use a lot, and then the Master Bath, which I also use a great deal....
The Guest bathroom has a few colors which are all in a lovely subtle flowered wallpaper which covers the walls throughout the whole bathroom---All the colors are very pale pastels of beige, pale pale pink and pale pale yellow...I should really take a picture to show you....and there is is over there on the left side of this post.....
The Master Bath has a rather formal and subtle wallpaper too...with a kind of slightly matte irridescent quality to it in pale pale grays and that include this delicate leafy pattern....Another picture possibly....? Why yes! And here it is, over on the right side....opposite this paragraph.
Again, it all depends on my mood....It could be classical music...Mendelson or Brahms or Tchiakovsky, or it could be Easy Jazz....Oscar Peterson, The Three Sounds, Jimmy Smith, or my favorite singer of all time Carmen McRae, or Lena Horne....or it might be the score of a Broadway Musical...Gypsy, or Sunday In The Park With George, or Follies, or amy number of other shows. All of this music moves me and puts me in another place entirely, and by doing that, I can truly relax...Music has always been such an important part of my world...and sometimes, the only thing that will really relaxe me is sitting down at my piano and improvising....this too, takes me to a whole other state of being, and sometimes, a song might just come out of that noodling on the keyboard....5.- What Is The One Thing That Warms Your Heart The Most? A Smell? A Sound? A Taste?
I would have to say that it is my dear cat Sweetie, (And I love the way he smells, crazy as that might seem). To feel him on my lap or legs---so relaxed, so 'at peace', puts me at peace, too....To feel and hear his purr as he lies there---a little low purr, almost imperceptible---puts me in a state of nirvana.....The feel of his soft soft fur as I slowly pet him while he lies there in this position----Well, this whole experience warms my heart like nothing else. And if I actually needed something else to add to that, it would be a beautiful piece of music, and then, I am in heaven!Thank you dear CQ for these wonderful questions....This was fun!
And here are the rules of this "Interview" Meme, should you choose to do it:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview Me".
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Note: Shephard also gave me five questions and I will be doing his shortly....I must admit that I am finding his questions quite difficult....and they are difficult because of the complexity of what he asked....they are great questions, though, and in fact the answers in some cases may be more fairly long, or not...Hopefully, this post will be forthcoming shortly....
More To Come....
So this is what I saw as I looked out at my view late Friday afternoon...This is a semi close-view of the rainbow that was half obscurred by clouds and mist.....(Do click on all these images to see them bigger.....)Here below is a view of that whole downtown area, plus some of the area to the south east of Downtown....you can just see a bit of that rainbow but the whole panorama is pretty dramatic, to me...
And like all Rainbows, it kept changing because of the constant moment-to-moment changes in the weather pattern....But here below, is a closer look at the always magical....
The whole sky on Friday was magical, as it seems to be so often when we have a rainstorm....and we finally had a bit of a rainstorm....We are still over eleven inches behind what is normal----well, normal by this time of the year, that is----and that is how little rain we have had....
It's always very very dramatic from my windows....always fascinating....and always different, from one rain to the next, and from one moment to the next, as I said, too.....
I love that being able to see as much as I can of 'the basin', as it is called, I can see where it is sunny, and where it is very cloudy and dark, too...So moving slightly west of the picture above, we have this long distance view of this huge sprawling city on this side of the hill....And then below, moving the camera further west we now are looking right at the ocean....
And moving in closer so you can actually see the ocean better, here below is that view.....
That is the ocean out there, and if you look carefully in the upper left quarter of this picture, you will see a plane that has just taken off from LAX....
And then...moving over further West...the panorama of what I see every day. And this is how that looked on Friday
And there is my favorite mountain with those wonderful favorite trees of mine, too....And below, a closer look at those wonderful trees with the very beautiful sky behind them....
And below....a few hours later...the sky had changed, once again...Of course, it had been changing all through the afternoon, but I missed many of those changes because I was busy...But here below, one of those changes that I caught with my camera.....
I just love these trees. They say so much to me...they evoke so many feelings in me...I think they are beautiful and haunting and lonely and magnificent...they are "art". They are living sculptures that sit on that hill and remind me of something ancient....something I cannot quite put my finger on...but something that has great meaning for me, everytime I see them....
This picture above was taken about 7:15pm that night....Haunting in that light....But haunting in a wonderful memorable way.....
More To Come.....
Note: I just noticed tonight that I have reached and past my 300th post...(With this post I am at 311!) Who would have thought.....? Certainly not me. Perhaps I should write up another 100 things about me...I believe I did that at 200 and quite frankly, I don't think I could possibly come up with a third hundred....! But I didn't want this milestone to pass without acknowledging it here on my blog.
Grab a cup of coffee or a cup of tea or a dish of ice cream, and settle back to watch and listen to this brilliant man talk about education and creativity. You won't be sorry, I promise you....but know, it is almost twenty minutes long....so sit back and relax and be amused and mesmerized and moved.....And if you don't have twenty minutes right now, please copy the link because this man speaks to the great importance of creativity and education, and the encouraging and nurturing of this creativity in our children.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66
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