Thrifting and Hal's new blog

My brother Hal now has a blog with the Desert Sun here in the Coachella Valley. It involves thrift shopping. This is a guy who finds suits for less than 100 bucks and they are 3000 dollar suits. So he is obviously doing something right. Recently there was a couple of wet noodlistas who griped when he said he had no use for those stupid boutique "thrift" shops and did not frequent them. So he got some negative feedback about it and even though he was nice to these lamebrains, they STILL posted as if he were sacrificing his first born to Moloch or something. Sheesh. 

I am an avid thrifter and have my own pointers concerning thrifting. So here are a few of them:

1. Do not buy something because you think it might have value. It might be a knockoff of what you think it is and then you are stuck with some over priced piece of shlock. 

2. Buy something because you love it. I bought a painting I loved and then thought it might be worth something. Ok, I would sell it for a million. I only paid 10 bucks for it. I found out it is probably worth 10 bucks. I love it and would not sell it for a thousand. But a million? It's yours. 

3. Unless you are absolutely nuts about it do not buy anything that is made in China. Unless it costs a buck or less you probably can get it at the 99 cents store. Trust me. And nope, I didn't buy the made in China stuff. But I DO buy Made in the USA, Japan or occupied Japan. And England and Germany sometimes have cute things for sale. 

4. If you HAVE to have it buy it NOW. It WILL be gone tomorrow. Yes, I DO know. 

5. Will you remember it a year from now and kick yourself because you did not buy it? Or will you not remember it a week from now?

6. Is it you something that you will never be able to part with or will it end up in a yard sale? 

7. Do NOT buy it if it does not fit. The only exception is couture with a Paris label CHEAP or totally cool vintage stuff for your collection. If it says made in China it is not vintage. Trust me. 

8. If you buy books do so to READ them. And the vast majority of old books do not sell. Do you know how many gazillion "antique books" from the turn of the 19th century there are? And do you know HOW boring they are and how there is not really a market for them? Btw, almost all coffee table books are overpriced. 

Remember to check yard sales.

One last thing, if  you are out of the area, the thrift stores and yard sales in Hollywood are "da bomb." You have creative people with eclectic collections. You also have rich people who redecorate and donate to thrift stores. The best thrift stores there are the Out Of The Closets. The best one is on Sunset one block east of Vine. There is also a Goodwill on Vine one block north of Santa Monica Blvd that sometimes have goodies ( I found a vintage Vicky Tiel with a Paris label for under 10 bucks and hey, it is leopard print! ). 

One last thing, if you go to Universal Studios they have a store there which sells clothes from tv shows and movies. I saw some "Will and Grace" stuff there.Of course it is all size 0 but if you are out visiting from Nebraska and buy something from a favorite soap then that is braggin' rights back on the farm. 

Another great place for thrifting is the Coachella Valley ( Palm Springs and Indio ). I like the Revivals and Angel View on 111 in Cathedral City. And check out the estate sales and rummage sales in the area. So if you take a vacation to the Southland maybe you might find some treasures. And check out the craigslist in your area for yards sales. 

Happy thrifting!

SAC

YIKES!!!!!!!

Some time yesterday I had a problem logging onto my Webtv account. Sooo then later that day I could not get onto my mac and of course about then I was ready to tear out my sparse baby fine hair. YIKES!!!!!!!!!!! Then today I called the macman to see if he could help. He walked me through a few things and then I turned it off and turned it on again and voila! Things were back to normal I HOPE I HOPE I HOPE. 

Maybe it is daylight savings or maybe it is the digital switchover that has made things screwy ( I so need to do a I want my analog and if it ain't broke don't fix it rant but that is for another day. 

I have other things to discuss but for now...

I am back online and hopefully that will be a statement rather than an agitation of back online for a moment... 

SAC

All My Siblings Are Falling Down...

This is getting to be a habit. My brother Hal took a tumble on one of his desert hikes the other day. I called him up about it as I was a bit worried. I have taken more than a few falls myself. When I lived in Hollywood I got into "fights" with the cracked and pitted sidewalks there. Hollywood sidewalks won and my face and body lost. There were times when I had very sore hands, black eyes and even a dislocated shoulder. So falling is no fun. 

And then today I get a call from my sister Libby. She was headed home early from work due to the fact that she had taken a nasty splat in the parking lot of where she worked and needed to go home and ice up parts of her body ( never you mind where ). 

Got an email from a friend who moved to Utah from North Carolina ( and before that from Florida, the girl has moved more in the last few years than I have and that is saying something ). 

Knowing Angela ( who I know from Hollywood ) she will eventually make another move from Utah. Her dad worked in exports and she has traveled all over the world. So she has got a pair of gotta move restless shoes. She works in the travel industry and in spite of the hit that it has taken from the downward economy she is the kind of worker who employees want to keep as she really knows her business. It was good to hear from her again. 

The itises are acting up. Weather is shifting again. I don't know if we will get any rain but we will get clouds and cooler temps and spasms and itises are callin' my name. I would love to put them on mute. It is the Tylenol time. I took some earlier and I am waiting for it to kick in. 

Blessings, I have been praying for a thankful heart and I am now thanking God for blessings: for a full pantry, for my new apartment and wonderful Christian neighbors including one whose 101 year old mom has a smile that could sunshine a rainy day. And Julian drove mom and we over to WinCo ( I think that is what it is called ) to do some shopping. First time since I have moved here. 

I am still exhausted but I guess it is just gonna take time to get my groove back physically. 

SAC

A Lovely Day for the most part

I took a Tylenol PM last night as I am not a morning person. I managed to get up around 10 am or so. I got a call from Margie next door. She invited me to lunch ( some KFC ) with her 101 year old mom. It was a delightful visit and her mom has the sweetest smile. Imagine being 101 years old and having lots to smile about and being in relatively good health.  

My sister Libby came up from Orange County and brought her daughter Keturah ( a high school teacher who lives in Long Beach ) for a visit. They came by with mom and we spent the day shopping. Or I should say I went shopping. The other three mainly stayed in the car. Which was fine with me. They then drove me back to Indio where I put my groceries away and we went for a 2 for 1 dinner at the Souplantation. It is hours later and I am still stuffed. Keturah and I ducked into a Bev-Mo where she grabbed some vodka and I finally found the elusive green creme de menthe and white creme de cacao for my grasshoppers. THAT won't happen for awhile as I ate so much today I am wondering if I should go on a week long fast ( no no I won't but will eat much lighter tomorrow ). Plus I did not get any evil whipping cream at Trader Joe's ( at 40% butterfat that is called EVIL ). And I was thrilled to see they had pink noyaux which they were out of but I know it is THERE so eventually I will be able make pink squirrels! 

Just for the record here are the recipes for a grasshopper and a pink squirrel:

Grasshopper: Equal parts green creme de menthe, white creme de cacao and cream. Shake in a shaker ( or blend  ) and serve over ice.  For a Pink Squirrel substitute the pink noyaux ( not sure of the spelling: noyaux or noyau or noyeaux or something like that but it is pink almond liqueur ). 

Now if I could only find some creme de rose and creme de violette ( equal parts with cream ) I would have the elusive Lillian Russell I found the recipe for in some old drink book. I saw a bottle of creme de violette in San Francisco decades ago. I never have seen a bottle of creme de rose, however. And don't these manufacturers who make mango daiquiri mixes know there are Snooty Aunt Cynthia's  out there who would LIKE a pleasant little buzz from a drink tasting of roses and violets?  You would think they would KNOW that, right? 

The other lovely thing for today was I found 15 dollars that I did not know I had lost. 

On the negative side, I got a stupid bill from the stupid cable company that REALLY has me thinking of Direct Tv in my future. It isn't enough that they charge me almost 100 bucks to set me up and my first months, but now they are billing me for over 20 dollars more for what I have yet to figure out. And for what? Less than the 70 channels they promise me, more infomericals ( tv spam ) than I want to know about, repeats on too many of the channels, etc etc etc. 

The other negative of today was reading my brother Hal's blog and finding he took a tumble down a hill ( OUCHEE ) while hiking. Luckily it sounds as if nothing was broken and he will be back to hiking tomorrow. 

SAC

fuzzy --- in more ways than one

It is mis typo's fault.. I post a url and grrrrr it has something in it wrong. so the fuzzie lizzie is fuzzy lizzie. http://sewfuzzylizzie.com/butterickyd.html. 

And then there is my fuzzy mind. I think the moving 3 times in the last year and a half  is what is creating the fuzziness.  I was thinking as soon as I moved in that I would get my life back to what it was before all the drama before moving began but that is just not happenin'. I don't know how long it is gonna take to get the happy go lucky me back. I am a bit agitated that it has not happened sooner.

 And then there is the situation with my family, the brothers who are too selfish to do anything for mom or for me. It hurts to know that even though it is sometimes painful for me to get around, my brothers could help but they don't or won't. And they are the same way with mom. Hopefully once I am really settled in here and able to get around better I will not be as frustrated and depressed. 

And then there is the depression. Ironically, it was the songwriting that brought me out of depression that then was the catalyst for my moving into Hollywood years ago. So here I am back in Indio where I have such horrible depression after my car accident ( car hits bicyclist, car one, bike zero ), the neuritis and the depression over the neuritis. 

I am fighting for my lemonade out of lemons. At this point it is the sour lemon that is being squeezed and I am looking around for some sugar to add to it to make that lemonade. I thought, before I moved out of Hollywood, that I was at the lemonade point of building a lemonade stand to sell my lemonade from the lemons life had given me. But once again life handed me another lemon and said "Squeeze this." 

I am hoping that by this time next year that not only will I be settled into my new place ( and not moving unless something major GOOD happens such as my suddenly becoming rich and famous or even comfortable and well known ) but that I would be happy and bright, that things would be more of an even keel. There is a huge part of me that just wants to continue working on my writings and my songs and another huge part of me that says "How do I market what I have created?"  But while I have done some creating I am full of angst. Ok, it is not quite the degree of angst that I have been going through since the big move, but still, it would be nice to finally bid it adieu for good. Angst is something one endures in their adolescence. It is REALLY OLD when one is 60.  

The year is still young and I need to look and the half full glass of lemonade. And I am still old ( ok, getting older, I won't call myself OLD until I get to be 65 ). 

Libby and my niece Keturah are coming up tomorrow from Orange County and Long Beach. It will be great to see them as I have not done so since around Christmas. and Libby mentioned that they will take mom and me around to do some shopping. Wooohoooo. Nothing like having my sister come up from Orange County 50 miles or more to take mom and me shopping while my deadbeat brothers can not get off their moochy behinds to take mom and me shopping even once a month. So I need to sit down and make my little shopping wish list ( wish I could go here to go shoppng, wish I could go there to go shopping, etc ). 

Need to hobble down to the bank and see about cashing a check. The manager where I used to live ripped me off for 70 bucks for "shampooing the carpet" from my security deposit. GRRRRRR. That apartment was CLEAN when I left but hey, ripping off a poor tenant for whatever you can, what re apartment managers for, right? But I should feel lucky I got back anything. Managers are so notorious for ripping off good tenants for security deposits. Since I

am on section 8 I am going to report the situation to my worker as the manager signed off that the apartment looked good when I left. so why deduct an expense that the apartment company should be paying for? Those carpets were clean and that expense should not have been on my shoulders. 

I dread the thought of walking to the bank because my knee hurts. But it is something that I need to do. And I know the deadbeat brothers are not going to step up to the plate to do anything for me because they are "too busy." 

This month has been my month to move in, feel settled rather than transient and I do feel settled, to a certain degree. I do feel as if I am "home" rather than waiting for the next move like I felt while I was living in Cat City. Next month I am going to have to force myself to try and get more things done -- get to the Social Security office, see about signing up for an HMO so I can start seeing doctors, see if I can get out of that stupid jury duty thing,  maybe get a few more things out of storage, just try and get things to where I am can then relax a little and get back into my comfort zone.  But at this point I am not thinking about how my comfort zone is gonna happen next month or the month after that. Got too many lemons, and fuzzy skinned ones at that, which evidently are on the lemon tree of my life, that fall into my life when I least expect it. 

SAC

Hal's Blog

Repeat after me:  I WILL post the correct url to Hal's blog... write this out 50 times on a blackboard and then repeat it...

http://hikeeveryday.blogspot.com/

Surfin' the web

The bookmark fiend is at it again. Talking her cyber board she has surfed onto the google search to see what she will see. Sooo I have looked for sixties fashion, foundation garments for stout women  ( virtually impossible to find and I WANT ONE in my size as I am now aging and stout ), Marianne Faithfull ( found the lyrics of my favorite MF song: Time Takes Time from her first American album, yippie! ), Mary Quant patterns ( found my favorite one that my grandmother made me two of, Butterick 3498 found at http://sewfuzzielizzie.com/butterickyd.html so go check it out ). I stumbled on a great called laurel canyon stories that had a wonderful article on the all female group the GTOs. Bookmarked the site for the Rainbow bar and Grill that was formerly my home away from home from 1975 on. So I bookmarked some goodies and will be checkin' em out at my leisure. And adding their urls here. 

I really need to get to bed. Though I know I will be up until dawn. There is a fantasy romance calling my name. If I can ever get away from my little mac toy long enough to stick my nose in the book. 

My left knee has been major bugging me since the move from Cat City last month and is starting to not hurt as much.  And if I can ever get to bed so I do not rise when my sister Libby wakes me around 1 pm or so maybe I can get off the duff and hope a bus and go exploring the neighborhood. And hopefully get that done before it gets to be 100 plus weather. 

Oh one last thing, go visit my brother Hal's amazing blog. 

HAL'S BLOG: http://hikeeveryday.blogpotcom/