louise on the left (coast)

Courtesy of the uber talented, patient and multifaceted, Em Sinick.

I'm a huge Hopper fan. Always was. I had the dubious distinction once of actually telling him this in an elevator in Century City, along with the quirky fact that he and I actually shared the same landlady, once. I told him where we were living and who my landlady (and geriatric GF) was and how she still wore this crazy wig (backwards). But, most of all I told him how polite she said Hopper was about taking her for rides up and down Appian Way on the back of his bike.   This was one cool landlady.  She was so great I'm digressing from a Hopper story to tell you how cool this landlady was. She turned down Marilyn Monroe to live in her carriage house (which my BF and I were at the time holed up in) because my landlady knew she'd be "bad news." (Anyhow, we were talking about Hopper, even though this is my Hopper moment.) Hopper's response? "Holy shit, is she still ALIVE?" "Yep," I concurred warmly.   (I w

This will be my quickest blog post, ever. Everything you've learned in life in just five words. Oldest daughter: Photoshop can fix almost everything Vampires are just really sparkly I will always be great When Hair Gets Greasy Wash Deodorant Really Does Dry White Arm Farts Are Really Funny Youngest daughter: Never Give Up In Life Me: Live Give Love Laugh Peace Always choose love over snark.

Pressure. Overwork. Test scores. Stress related illness. Lack of sleep. Suicide rates. -- Just what do we consider "successful" children to be, anyway? Time for people to comprehend all that is lost when don't make our children and their emotional health a top priority in our society. Looking forward to seeing more than just the trailer to this timely film. Here's what the film's website,  ReelLinkFilms ,  says about the documentary: "Director Vicki Abeles turns the personal political by igniting a national conversation in this groundbreaking documentary about the pressures American schoolchildren and their teachers face moving into the 21st century What started as a private family matter widened into a cogent examination of systemic pressures faced by youth and teachers today an increased focused on test scores, a shrinking global economy and increasingly unrealistic expectations of parents, universities, school districts and soci

If you are a dog-lover, then you will "get" this video,  even if it means patiently waiting till the end it for it's message. Okay, I was so busy today that I was convinced I had no time for blogging. Then I saw this clip online and I suddenly knew I had to post something about it right away.  It's so close to our own experience with "Buddy" that I just had to write about it. The truth is, what happens in the above clip is almost exactly what happened to me in my own life about three years ago. The Tale of How We Got Buddy. One day, while dropping my kids off at school I noticed a dog rushing frantically through busy traffic. He was shivering, and kind of limping and I had no idea who's dog he was.  Or if he was sick or injured, or what this animal's story was.  I was just driving by.  I had kids to drop off.  This was not the day I planned. It was about 5 minutes before the elementary school bell was going to ring, and if you h

God, I love Fisher.   Watch her rip with delight and abandon into the one and only George Lucas at the AFI Life Acheivement Awards.

If you've ever made a copy of something, guess what?  That means someone else can read that now. Taxes.  Bills.   Anything. This should totally freak out my mom who won't even go on facebook, but it will make my Nigerian scam artist BF really happy. Watch CBS News Videos Online

Okay, so I know I haven't been into my usual blogging mojo lately, which has been bothering me too, but, hey, life is messy and the reality is, you just can't blog all the time. Some people do. They call it Twitter. (No offense to the Wil Wheatons of the universe, you know we love you.) but, anyway -- C'est pas Moi tous les temp. (Translated that means, "I get lazy, too.") Anyway, while driving around yesterday listening to KCRW I happened upon a live broadcast with a new band called Minus The Bear . Yeah, so? Well, right, "so." Sometimes, as much as I adore KCRW, those late morning live sessions can occasionally get pretty, pretty monochromatic...and become a great time to fill up the gas tank, but, then they played " My Time " from their new album, "Omni" and, let's just say -- something about it grabbed me. They were also a great live interview, too. Which, believe me isn't always the case. They're co

Okay, it doesn't get cuter than this. Sorry, but it just doesn't.

Just more proof that love, is love, is love, is love -- Conservationist Damian Aspinall searched for a gorilla named Kwibi he bonded with five years ago during a program to re-introduce animals back into the wild. My question is, how could this guy EVER go back home, again???

Yesterday I posted a link to let you know that Jeremy Irons is " mad as hell" and he's not going brush his teeth until we feed the homeless . And so, in a roundabout follow up to this I thought I'd post a somewhat related story: Apparently during a recent run of "Waiting for Godot," Ian McKellen was relaxing outside the theater when a good samaritan mistook him for one of the homeless. Clearly Sir Ian and Mr. Irons could use being cast as "clean people" someday soon. Photos: Ian McKellen Mistaken for a Homeless Man | WorstPreviews.com

Hang on, a sec. I have an apology to make, to a nyone who ever tried to tell me I'd like Bjork, but I refused to listen. They were right.  I was a jerk.   She's inspired and otherworldly and I adore her. I am listening now.  And, she's fantastic. Is she a little bit crazy? Uh, yeah, maybe. Probably. But, frankly, so am I. So, no wonder I get her. Why did I let that swan costume keep me from discovering her? I have so much time to make up for. Isn't that the best, though? Knowing there's so much left to discover? Follow up: I keep playing this video for my daughters and tell them that this is freedom. To just express yourself in whatever way you want to and not care if people get it, or not. To just share the feeling inside whatever way feels most suited to that feeling - and it won't matter a damn if people understand, because if it's from the heart and making sense to you it will translate to any language there is. They&#

Look, I love Jeremy Irons.   Love him. Always have. I love all his tortured soul roles. Hell, I used to be a card-carrying Jeremy Irons freak. You know the type: Saw Brideshead Revisited ,     The French Lieutenant's Woman , and   Dead Ringers   possibly twelve times. Each . Hey, I still own a CD him in a recording of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, which blows me away every time I hear it.  Irons is passionate and fabulous, so naturally I was interested to see what he was all fired up about up these days -- Well, it turns out he's fucking mad as hell!   Great! -- I get that. Me, too! He's right -- Hunger does stink. But, so does smoker's teeth.

Uh, no.  Not this year. Kid, there's dancing.  And there's dancing. And if the daddies are getting ready to stuff dollars in your garter belt, then that's the wrong kind of dancing. When it's time to go to college, talk to me then.

I'm seeing more of this brewing, festering hate lately, and I just can't get my brain around it all. The pick up trucks on the freeway with their proud "teabagger" stickers. Occasional social gatherings where I over here mutterences like, "the next time it'll be Mitt's turn." or some other bizarre garbage.  I mean, I live in Orange County, so occasionally even when I try to help it, this does occur. But, the truth is, I just don't get the beef.   Ever heard of Medicare?  That's government healthcare which alot of them wouldn't be willing to give up.  Why is logic such a stretch for these people? Check out this video below where this guy goes bat-shit ballistic over his apparent resistance to "socialism." What is most scary is that people seem hellbent on hate, regardless of what that means.  Some people just want a huge drama and hate-fest whether or not it's logical. The hate addiction is what scares me the most