I met these two coyotes at Pierce Bros. Valhalla in North Hollywood this week when I was on a Find A Grave photo request mission:
It's not unusal to see coyotes in cemeteries like Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, because, well, they come down from the hills. But at Valhalla, in the city-fied portion of town between a residential neighborhood and the Bob Hope Airport? Quite a surprise!
I tried not to think of the squirrels and cats that also roam this property and instead focused on the beauty of this pair as they tried to beat the heat under a shade tree, dashing off to another section, stopping to lap up leftover water from the sprinkling system, after they posed for a few photos.
Where has the summer gone? Can't quite believe it's 8/8/08 already. Have accomplished so much from my personal to-do list in the past few months, with miles to go before Labor Day. My eyes are often bigger than my stomach when it come to taking on creative projects, but the process of each one has been so much fun that I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm a girl who just can't say no, and keep rolling, even if it means a bit less sleep now and then. I'd much rather have too much that I want to do than be bored!
With coffee mug in hand, it's back to my goals list. Three articles, four interview requests, a trip to the post office and Target, and online traffic school (due 8/21) on the agenda today. TGIF, everyone! Make it a good one! :)
Jackpot loves bows. Loves! Like it's an addiction. Money is wasted buying him any toys from Petsmart. A buck on a bag of bows at the 99 Cent Only Store is a far better investment each month.
Jackpot with a sample from his vast collection
He carries them around, chews on them, sleeps with them. All sizes and colors. He hides them under the bed and leaves them in every room. Silver lining: the apartment looks very festive in an odd sort of way.
Today I was cleaning my bedroom and pulled my gift wrapping supplies out from under the bed. He quickly discovered The Stash. It was like the equivalent of a teenager finding the liquor cabinet unlocked.
"Is this for ME?!?"
"Which to choose, which to choose...."
He took two and went under the bed with them. I'm sure I won't see him now for many hours. Life is good.
Ever wonder what happened to the "Grand Hotel" ledger signed by a mind-boggling array of MGM stars attending the film's premiere in 1932?
Paul Bern and Jean ("I can't write with gloves") Harlow 'register' at the "Grand Hotel" premiere, under the watchful eye of master of ceremonies, Conrad Nagel.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court declared Wednesday that executions are too severe a punishment for raping children, despite the "years of long anguish" for victims, in a ruling that restricts the death penalty to murder and crimes against the state.
No problem, because if anyone raped a child I loved, I'd kill them myself.
I'd like to thank Gary Sweeney (The Midnight Palace) for inviting me to be a guest tonight on his Blog Talk Radio program, The Stroke of Midnight. The topic is one that is near and dear to my heart: telling the truth in biographies.
The goal was to discuss classic Hollywood biographies and books that have been written about the history of film - many of which are wonderfully-researched and well-written, while others seem to have been created strictly for financial gain by slandering a famous personality who can no longer defend themselves.
It was wonderful to have had the opportunity to offer my point of view as an author who has taken over a decade to research Franchot's life story in order to get the facts as straight as possible.
Other guests tonight included:
Classic Images book reviewer Laura Wagner Alan Rode, author of "Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy" and director of The Film Noir Foundation Barbara Washburn, author of the historically researched biographical novel about Carole Lombard, Chasing Carole.
I'm very excited to have accomplished today something that's been on my to-do list forever and a day!
Artist Victor Mascaro (Celluloid Legends in Color!) has contributed samples of his work to The Platinum Page since it first went online over ten years ago. His work back then was amazing, and he keeps getting better and better at it with experience and new technology. Look! See what I mean?
We often see such work all over the net, but never get to know the artists who are responsible. Victor and I have only corresponded via email over the years, and so this week I got him on the horn from his New York home to gab in real time about all kinds of things, especially his Harlow work. What fun!
I not only found him to be a complete inspiration as far as following your creative heart goes, I also gathered enough information from him to do a proper blog piece, something I've been thinking about doing for ages.
First, someone posted this video of their cats talking to each other on You Tube. It's completely precious!
Lots of people commented, wondering what they were saying to each other. Later, someone else BRILLIANTLY posted a response video that contains a translation of their conversation. Hilarious!
Today's post is brought to you by the adage "Never get into a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent."
My latest email to MySpace re: Findagrave.com is not a phishing link:
This has nothing to do with a play list. I wrote a blog post about a dead person with a link to their memorial website which is not a phishing site, but it was classified by MySpace as a phishing site. If we can't post links to our blogs, then why are there two types of link messages: good or bad link? I'm simply asking that MySpace look at Findagrave.com and see that it's not a phishing site and allow the link. It shouldn't be this complicated!
I think that was pretty clear. Correct me if I'm wrong, please, because this is the response I got this morning - comments in red are mine, unsent, because at this point I really don't think it will do any good:
Hello,
The content you uploaded (it was a link, not an upload) was blocked because the copyright filter identified your upload as containing audio content (in a text link?) owned by XXX, and XXX has demanded that its content not be uploaded to MySpace.
To restore your uploading privileges, (I don't have uploading privileges issues, I have a link question that has yet to be addressed) please complete the copyright education (see the notice in your inbox for the link). (No such thing in my inbox.)
If you have or can get XXX's permission to upload this content, we would be happy to assist you in uploading it to your profile. (My question is about my blog.) We would need a professional email from XXX stating that you are allowed to upload the content in question to your MySpace profile. (I would need a professional email from your boss stating why you still have your job when you're so bad at it before I continue this correspondence.)
Thank you,
MySpace.com
I'm dropping my end of the rope on this one because, while a link to Findagrave is a convenience to readers I'd like to see happen, it is truly not worth the minutes of my life spent playing "Who's on First" that I'll never get back again, lol.
If I didn't know any better, I would swear that today is Friday the 13th.
Most everything I've attempted to accomplish has gone down in flames. I won't bore you with the list of disappointments and frustrations but put it this way, I even got lost going to a cemetery, my natural habitat. THAT made me cry.
I don't like to cry. So I'm swapping that routine out for a home office happy hour, hurrah! Let's hear it for being comfortably numb!
Last weekend, my friend Shantastic, introduced me to the Moscow Mule. She said it would get me through the summer. It's still officially spring, but what the heck.
According to Wikipedia, the drink "was invented in 1941 by John G. Martin of G.F. Heublein Brothers, Inc., an East Coast spirits and food distributor, and John "Jack" Morgan, President of Cock 'n' Bull Products which produced ginger beer and proprietor of the Cock 'n' Bull Tavern, a bar on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles."
I found many variations on the recipe but I like Shan's take on it:
Put ice in the cup (preferrably a Moscow Mule copper mug from the freezer) Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the ice, then toss the lime in. Add shot of Vodka Fill up remaining space with Cock 'n' Bull Ginger Beer ENJOY!
Shan said to only use CNB brand ginger beer, which I found at BevMo. Note: it's not beer, it's a soda drink. Which is why I couldn't find it in the beer section. (Thanks Team BevMo for educating me on this product.) Which is also why I had made a hazy mental note, after my first one last weekend, to buy club soda.
Know that it began with me opening a help ticket with MySpace, asking them to reclassify Findagrave.com, a site I link to often, as a non-phishing site.
Talk abuot opening a can of worms. The first response I got was a generic message explaining why my account has been suspended. WTF? It's not suspended. It included a laundry list about how and why accounts get phished.
Great, but that wasn't my question.
So I replied with a clarification.
Now I get an email saying that external links and playlists are in violation of their terms of service, and that my account may be deleted.
Nice.
I'm trying to fix what I consider a problem and they threaten to delete me? This is the way they treat users with legitimate questions?
If links are not allowed, then why do some links work and others are deemed phish? And if playlists are not allowed then why are tools made available to create them? And what do playlists have to do with my original question?
Mind-boggling.
To date, I have not gotten ONE reply that addressed how they classify links as either phish or non-phish, nor has anyone offered to even look into the Findagrave.com site specifically.
With all the CRAP and porn I find on this site, MY site is a problem?
Free social networking sites - you truly get what you pay for.
And, without answering my specificic question and threatening to delete me, they ask me to fill out a survey. Right. Here's the only thing I have to say on any type of survey:
If you wipe out all accounts that have external links, MySpace will implode. Either allow links, or don't. Just don't kill the messenger.
If I disappear from MySpace in the near future, this is the reason why.
PS - if links are not allowed, then why is there a link tool on the blog composition page? Things that make you go hmmm....
Having watched all the MSNBC tributes to Tim Russert this weekend (so glad they re-ran the interview he did with Tom Brokaw about his father-related books!) I thought I had cried my last teardrop.
Until his son appeared on the Today Show this morning.
Luke at Tim's empty chair on the set of "Meet the Press" yesterday
Luke Russert is a remarkable young man and his segment was the quintessential tribute to the man who was so unabashedly proud of being his father. When I grow up I want to be this young man.
No spoilers here. Just a strong recommendation to, if you missed it, take a moment to see the video posted here on the Today Show website.
Happy Father's Day to all the Dads here on My Space, and special thoughts and *HUGS* to those whose Dads are in Heaven.
I love Father's Day, even though Dad is no longer with us. It's still a day to remember how blessed I was, and am, to have been raised by a truly kind and caring man.
Dad was proud of all his kids, and with me I think he was most proud of my writing and that I finished college. To prove it he took a rare day off from work at the Ford plant in Livonia to take me to a Detroit News Young Journalists award lunch when I won three prizes my senior year in high school. And he left his hospital bed to attend my graduation from Michigan State University - thanks in huge part to the efforts of Mom to talk the doctors into giving him a day pass.
This is one of my favorite photos of my parents, taken by me on the patio of our family home soon after my graduation when he was having the first of, thankfully, many good days during his illness. He had a wonderful sense of humor and I can hear him laughing every time I look at it. Note the MSU Spartans hat.
After nearly 30 years of marriage, my parents still snuggled up to each other. I loved that about them.
It has been said that you look for a man like your Dear Old Dad. When Dad would sneeze, it sounded like this: "Ah-h-h-SHIT!" then he'd laugh. The first time I met Walter, he sneezed the same way. He apologized, but I thought it was a good omen.
I sure do miss Dad's physical presence, especially on days like today, but I feel him with me always and so when I think of him it's always with a smile now. I know he's with us. One day my sister was sitting on the couch with Olivia, and Dad popped into her mind. Olivia turned to her and said, "Don't worry, Mama, your Dad misses and loves you, too!" then went back to watching television.
Thanks, Dad, for being a wonderful father, and for continuing to watch over me and the family! Happy Father's Day, I love you.
You can read more about Dad on his Findagrave.com memorial page:
