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The man sitting across from me on the train from Paris to Copenhagen was French. He was glaring at me with real hatred in his eyes and slapping my knees. “You Americans are shit.” The four other people in our train compartment were at first nervously trying to ignore my situation, except for Barbara, one of my two traveling companions. “Stop looking at him!”  It was a difficult order since he and I were knee to knee in the small compartment, and after all, he was slapping my knees. Although the French men we had met so far were by turn audacious … Continue reading European Vacation 1964

All the current talk about the Russians and V. Putin got me thinking about my First European Vacation, circa 1964.  underlined because I already wrote a story with that title and promised more to come, which, in my usual fashion, did not happen. I, and my two traveling companions, Marilyn and Barbara, found ourselves “stuck” in Copenhagen in the Absalom Hotel.  I had to put the hotel name in boldface because I can’t believe I remember the name of it.  I mention this because it reminds me of my mother’s memory. When I traveled to Italy in 1997, my mother … Continue reading The Russians

March 29, 2023 Officially not until tomorrow, but… Now that I’m almost 80, I find myself thinking of death more, imagining scenarios wherein I die, usually in a sloppy way. For example, I’m taking the trash out, stumble on the steps and crash on the concrete.  I imagine this kind of thing every day. Maybe I’m crossing the street at Hayvenhurst and Victory to go to the park, or even walking into the grocery store through the parking lot and I get hit by a car! As you know, we have oodles of maniacal drivers in the Los Angeles area.  They’re getting faster and … Continue reading On Being Eighty

A note to my many, many fans. I haven’t posted in so long that I even forgot how to use this site, but I’m here after about twenty minutes fishing around for it. I’ve got to take one of their classes. Please enjoy, and they won’t all be about Maddy. I often pick up my granddaughter, Maddy, at her school, El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills.   I go quite early so that I can have a good spot next to the curb on the road alongside the south side of the school.  I have to strategically park the … Continue reading Once again – Maddy

We never did go out much for dinner even before the pandemic, but we set a new record for staying home during and after the pandemic.  I guess there is not a time we can call “after the pandemic.”  I think it’s here for eternity. But the other night, suddenly, I had the urge to go out for Mexican food.  I was afraid Larry and I would turn to stone while binge-watching some of the worst crap imaginable. I remembered a great Mexican restaurant near the chiropractor’s office.  If my appointment was around lunchtime, I’d stop to pick  up some tacos and bring them home … Continue reading The Outing

ON MY last post (Ninety-seven Cents)I mentioned my mother’s fear that someone would ‘jump the fence, break down the door and hit her and dad over the head with a bat.” She actually related that story to my daughter, who lived with her at the time, after she got home late one night and they had left the gate unlocked for her. Actually, I think Janet is the one who jumped the fence to get in because Mom and Dad locked up their house like Fort Knox. Mom tended to overthink and exaggerate. Hi Mom. Continue reading ERROR

ATMs were new in the 1980s, but we felt we were pretty savvy in how to use them after a few scares — like the panic you felt when it first grabbed your card, or the fear that you would forget your password, or the worry about that guy that was lurking behind you in line. That last one didn’t seem the threat that it does these days. Or was it because I was younger and hadn’t yet developed the fears that an old person like me has. To think I thought my mother was crazy to worry about that … Continue reading Ninety-seven Cents

I wrote this several weeks ago, but I couldn’t decide whether to post it or not, but this morning, again, as I walked through the living room I heard the news report that there was a shooting in Brooklyn, but guess what was next: An updated picture of Rihanna — still pregnant — in a multi-colored bodysuit and a full report on how she was doing. I decided to give her the same title as I had in my Word document. If they want to give her so much news time, then I’ll follow suit with my blog. Following is … Continue reading Rihanna