it's out!!!

You all know that my Studebaker has been in the shop for quite some time now...the thing is they haven't really been doing anything on it - except gathering parts (they've been busy with projects.) Well...today the engine finally came out! EEK! That much closer to getting to drive er'!

Happy late thanksgiving!

I was intending on creating an "I'm thankful for list" up here pre-thanksgiving...but just didn't get to it. Somewhat sad that I don't have the time for that. I feel like there's so much going on I can't do much more then think about today. Which may be good for awhile :) Today...I'm thankful that: I got some needed rest, that someone gave me a ride home from work, that I began a brand new journal, that I had a very nice Thanksgiving with my parents, that I got to appreciate the pretty lights of the LA.

Also today, an odd thing occurred as I was getting ready for work at about 4pm. I was in the bathroom and I swore that I heard horse hooves clomping down the pavement...but was somewhat confused that this would ever take place in my neighborhood. So I open the window and peek out to the street...and indeed see the tail-end of a horse. So I run around to peer out the kitchen window and there walking along are 3 mounted police men!? Crazy.
So Thanksgiving was very nice, my parents came to town for a few days. Thanksgiving day was low-key because we ate out - which doesn't meet my cooking sensibilities, but I was quite happy not to have the extra work...and dinner ended up being very nice. In the evening we played Cranium with neighborhood friends. Then the day after we gathered for a different sort of shopping. We spent much of the day prowling through some fabric stores of the fashion district - looking for just the right fabric to recover a small, antique, chair on rockers that Dad got at an auction in Montana. We found just the right combination of fabrics - including some real, blue-pearlized leather! On Saturday we explored more LA architecture by visiting the Ennis house (by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1924, Hollywood Hills) and the Gamble house (by Green and Green, 1908, Pasadena.) Very different styles and stories to tell. Unfortunately the Ennis house is in quite a state of disrepair but hopefully will be restored eventually to it's former glory.

It's unimaginable in my head to have the money to undertake such a project of making such a distinguished house. These are the castles of America. The design and craftsmanship that is an art. I was reading an article today in the magazine "Garage" (yes...I'm taking to reading car magazines...it's somewhat amusing to me!) about a shop that creates some really fast motorcycles and another about this fantastic 34' Ford custom project...it's kind of neat, because the whole hot-rodding scene is somewhat analagous to these fabulous houses that I just saw...but for those that don't have incredible amounts of money to spend (although the 34' Ford was a half-million dollar project, but still far less money then the houses.) They both combine craftsmanship, creativity, skill, ingenuity, problem solving, thinking of the best way of using what you have or else finding some way to invent something that nobody else bothered to create. Which is why I like original hot rods.

Am I repeating myself? I feel like I said this earlier. That's the sad thing about my conversations...I haven't' the slightest clue when I repeat myself...it's one good reason why I'm a horrible liar (horrible meaning unable to lie).

Oh yeah...I had a little "photo shoot" one evening...why I spend my time doing this, I don't know. But here's me and the record player...I'm not sure whether I like it or it looks like I'm lying dead??? Which...if anyone has knowledge of how to fix the electrics of an old record player, I'd love some direction. I've been immensely looking forward to playing a Bing Crosby Christmas record that I bought sometime during the summer - but last time I played a record about a month ago it smelled bad and I saw a bright orange wire through the speaker mesh...not a good thing!

Quote of the Day: "For us bringing someone to justice means they suffer the consequences of their crime or they are rewarded for their achievements. For God bringing someone to justice means they are brought back into the circle of God's embrace. That's not the opposite of mercy. Justice is to reinstate the connection of the covenant that God has established. It is to restore us in love to each other and God." Debbie Blue from Sensual Orthodoxy

on my way home...

I was just got home a little bit ago from a night of work at the restaurant. After I had just pulled off the freeway - there was a girl, obviously prostituting, at the corner. I've noticed this one other time as I was coming home from the restaurant on a Saturday night. After passing her, I decided that I wanted to circle around and scope out the situation a little more to see if there was anything/anybody else that I could see. But she was already gone. I zig-zagged around in some side streets, but found nothing.
Is it my complete idealism that makes wish I could just go up to them and hug them? I yearn for these women to feel and know true love. The world of sex work is so incredibly strange. The night, the secrets, the strangers, the power manipulations. How did that girl get on the street in her striped mini skirt? Where did she come from and who is she?
Ahhhh...Not the end of my thought on this but I'm nodding off into sleep - and I will get into bed before I spend another night propped up asleep on the couch :)

car colors!!

So...I've been trying to decide what exactly to do with the inside of my car. I knew I couldn't pull the pink/coral or white-ish color in from the outside, because 1.) I don't like white interiors and 2.) the pink/coral would be way too overwhelming (and besides I'd never be able to find one that matched). Along with that there's this grey painting on some of the dash (with a hint of mauve to it) that I want to keep. So...what to do. I had purchased what I thought were a couple of neutral materials for really cheap that I thought would do. But as the project is getting more involved I really didn't want to use - and since I'm putting in a carpet - which the natural choice would be grey and that definately wouldn't go with on of the material colors.

So I began looking for something better. I found this great barkcloth online (see 2 posts ago). I've been looking at it for a couple of weeks now, and I really like it. It's too busy to do all the seats in, so I needed to find something to go with it. And I also have a bit of glittery-vinyl (think old-school kitchen chair covers) which I wanted to do some accenting in, but I have it in gold and would need it in a dark silver/grey to use it with the new material. So today (which I ended up not working since the class got cancelled due to school testing, so I took the opportunity to have a real, whole day off to myself!!) I went down to the fashion district fabric stores (which I've actually never done in my 1+ year in LA - surprise!) I found a perfect grey-ish upholstery to go on the bottom-region of the seats and will use the barkcloth to do the seat backs. Then I was looking for the glitter-vinyl and nobody had it. I had almost resorted to ordering it from my SF store when I found an interesting metallic blue patterned vinyl. It's texturing is kinda retro-styled and the color will nicely pull in the barkcloth fabric...I think it will be really nice. So...I got deals on all that fabric, it being from the wholesale district and all - and now I'm really excited to get sewing on Saturday!!!

i love my grandma

I liked when she would hug me in the kitchen. There was always a certain smell. I liked how her bar soap smelled in the bathroom. I liked her little chuckles, which I hear in my mon every now and then. I liked the way she covered others in love.
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phil 4:13