Our freeway is already open./Casey Anthony is out of jail.

“Los Angeles Commuters Brace for Carmageddon”

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Actually, it’s a bridge that’s falling this weekend and if you live in Los Angeles, you know exactly what I’m talking about. They are shutting down one of our freeways for two days this weekend and you’d think it was the end of our civilized world. Let me clarify: They are shutting down ONE freeway for TWO days. Not the whole freeway – just ten miles of it. It’s the lead story on every news broadcast, people are stockpiling food & water, the mayor held a news conference, there are signs everywhere, flashing lighted signs warning of the impending doom. “Do NOT Drive This Weekend!”

Our ancestors didn’t have freeways – they didn’t have cars. If they had a wagon and a horse, they were happy. If a road got shut down, they took another road. Get over it. Here’s the stupidest part: News reports are warning us not to drive Saturday or Sunday, then they promote huge events all over town this weekend: food festivals, a tattoo expo, computer fair, craft fair, poetry festivals, art festivals, a soccer game, and a cat show. I don’t mind staying home all weekend. I have something I need to take care of in my back yard: Squirrelmageddon.

I thought everyone might  like to see my peach tree. I’ve been pampering and fertilizing it and the peaches are just now getting ready to pick. These are white peaches, the ones that are super sweet and oh so juicy… at least that’s what I’m told. Take a closer look. You’ll see a rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, fruit-stealing squirrel. I’m so mad because now I have to pick them before they’re ripe because this rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, fruit-stealing squirrel takes them before they’re even ripe. I scared this squirrel so bad he dropped the peach and literally flew out of the tree. He bolted so fast he was airborne most of the way up the hill. “Get out and don’t come back!” I bought a plastic hawk and put it in the tree. This is no way to live.

Casey Anthony was found not guilty today of being responsible for the death of her child.

A shocking verdict, to say the least. It defies understanding.

Does this mean they will now try to find the real killer?

I cried when I heard this but I’m still not sure if it was from sadness or joy. Someone told me they were at the cemetery today and heard violin music nearby so they went to see where it was coming from. They saw a young woman, sitting on a stool at a family plot, playing the violin for her father.

We always want to get something we can use for our birthday.

Now this, I can use. It’ll be my new credit card. I can use it to buy things, like….

A new hip, a walker, a motorized scooter, one of those chairs that pushes you up to stand…. and some teeth.

Finally, a gift I can use! 🙂

We went to a concert at the Greek Theater in Hollywood last weekend that featured Sierra, War, and Tower of Power (remember “So Very Hard To Go” and “What is Hip?”) Tower of Power rocked the outdoor arena. (I hope the surrounding neighbors were fans!) It was a four hour, loud concert – outside – and around 9 p.m. it got cold! I wore three layers and was still freezing. Oh… my new pet peeve: people who stand up at a concert when everyone else is sitting. About twenty people kept getting up to entertain the rest of us with their own personal choreography. One guy, who made five trips to bring more beer (which they served in giant cups big enough to bathe a small child), danced as thought he was alone at home listening to headphones, oblivious to the other 5,000 of us forced to watch in disbelief. His moves were a bad combination of country line dancing without the line and the hokey pokey. He may not remember it but all of us do.

Yesterday, I bought a carton of ladybugs at the nursery. They’re supposed to be good for the garden and they were on sale so I decided to try it. The package said it contained 1,500 ladybugs. The top was vented so they could breathe and I could see some movement inside. You’re supposed to release them in the evening when they’re less likely to fly away. Oh right…they have wings… they can fly. But out of 1,500, if half flew away, I’d be in ladybug heaven. So last night, I slowly opened the carton to let them go, afraid they’d all make a run for it. But no. They were in one sticky mass in the bottom of the carton, not moving much, resembling a giant meatball. So I shook the carton and spread them around my garden (mostly in lumps) and then night fell.

This morning, I went out with my camera expecting to spend the whole day taking ladybug pictures as they filled the air, flying from flower to flower in my magical garden. How would I decide which ones to shoot?  It was an easy decision – I found two. What happened? Where did they go?  1,498 ladybugs gone! How do I know the one on the daisy was from the box? Maybe he flew in from next door. Hey, isn’t he missing some spots?  Never buy ladybugs on sale. They must have been seconds.