louise on the left (coast)

Here it is nearing the sad anniversary of Katrina and yet, I hear there's another new hurricane headed toward Louisiana. In any event, I've been thinking about our collective need for angels. Especially now. For reasons both deeply personal as well as global. I've been trying to define for myself what I think being an "angel" means, exactly. I've dug out Tony Kushner's script for Angels in America as well as put Jane Sibery 's timely, haunting song Calling All Angels into my cd player. (By the way, if you would like to hear more from this musician, I highly recommend her astonishing CD, Bound By The Beauty ) It appears that someone's done a nice job creating a video of it for YouTube, so if you've missed hearing this about a decade ago, you can hear it here. After all -- It's clear that right now there's practically nobody who is not in dire need of calling all angels .

Okay, so. Lots of blogging to catch up on: For instance, I just have to share with you a wonderful evening we enjoyed recently. We attended a screening of Roman Holiday -- at the Huntington Beach Pier. Yep, on the corner of PCH and Main Street, Huntington Beach, CA. (You did read that right.) It was part of a wonderful event (hosted by TripAdvisor.com ) which involved the very cool idea of installing an inflatable movie screen under the stars to watch the classic film Roman Holiday, outdoors . Brilliant. I believe it was all part of a TripAdvisor.com-concept to drum up interest in a contest to win a trip to Rome which, I have to say, sure worked for us. (Oh, please pull our names out of your hat!) Anyhow, the entire evening was everything you would want it to be and more. Stars, ocean breezes, yummy food from Savannah and best of all sharing a classic black and white film staring the one and only Audrey and Gregory with my girls for the very first time. So, how cool is ...

Just returned home from picking up the kids at school to following email from husband. ------------------------------------- I think your phone called by accident a while ago "You know, you have a Mercedes and its attached to a blinker. You should use it. Dork." Does that sound familiar? P ---------------------------------------- Yes. Sadly, it does. This is because our kids require us to car pool past Leisure World every day and, I'm sorry, but retirees drive like it's 1943 and they're still on the golf course. But, I will try to curb my elder-road rage, tomorrow.

Okay, so some of you, know I seem to have been keeping a running commentary about certain television shows: Such as " I Can't Believe I'm Still Single ," Eric Schaeffer 's latest creative venture which is, apparently, a documentary about the author's cross-country book signing of his memoir" I Can't Believe I'm Still Single ." Below is a link to his Showtime promo, which, as usual, has more action in it than the rest of his series put together. Look, I've been tough on him in the past, so I'm going to really try to be fair now. But, the show is boring . Sorry, but it's true. It's emotional landscape is like stumbling through Ikea. I keep waiting for it not to be quite so dull, I keep waiting to be surpised, but nada. Seriously, even all the potty talk (literally) in world can't seem to save this show from a slippery-slope of it's beige, touchy-feely, mono-blather. I even felt guilty about dissing him on the IMDB ...

For some reason, "Sk8ter Bunny" was left on my computer keyboard. My kids tell me this is "Bunny man." (Or, "Nick Jonas: Bunny Man.") I don't get it. Uhm, apparently the white things under the "wool bunny suit" are leggings made from paper and tape. Is this my punishment for letting them watch "Project Runway?"

So, I won't go into all the things that made today so uniquely un-fun, but I will tell you that I freakin' found two dead birds in my backyard, one of which t he county just confirmed died from West Nile Virus. Say what?! As if that's not gross enough, but, hello? I found another little dead guy this weekend which I put in a cardboard box for the vector mafia to pick up only to discover: Like all good organized crime (fighters) they do NOT work weekends. So, I did what any good citizen should do: I posted this on the local news website in the area. Click on link to find out what you can do if you find a string of young, dead birds in your backyard. I don't meant to complain, but as if my family doesn't have enough weird health issues to stress about, but West Nile Virus in my backyard, too? Wow. I'm serious, today ended up being just plain a whole bunch of "badly timed personal news." Recent Bad News: Un-fun personal issue #1...