Friday, April 29, 2011

Auction Days this week!

I've been so busy 'keeping the beat' that I haven't had the energy to write this week, but I wanted to let you all know that the Michaans Auction is Sunday! Its always full of great jewlery and furniture and some pretty spectacular artwork too!
I'll post pics when I can of the weird and unusual stuff that runs through on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Annex Auction!
And now that GMA has joined my list of jobs, I'll be blogging about those Auctions too- and you won't want to miss them- the first one is fancy schmansy wine, the second is great guns and knives and some Western momorabelia-the third is a great group of Smith and Wessons and other assorted weapons that have been donated to the NRA. It is going to be a wild summer- hang in there!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

What next- Easter Bunny with Fangs?

I know that some of you may already know and be aware of this info- but for those of you that this hadn't occured to- LIKE ME- this is good to keep in mind.
Of course we have Rattlesnakes in California too- lots of them in fact- but we don't have as many kinds!
Keep Easter fun!

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Keep the Beat



I've talked to so many people lately that tell me that they just want to be Happy.
Happy?
Happy!
I wondered why people think they aren't happy. Is it because they aren't happy every minute of the day, or do they just not notice the good moments that come to us and only remember the bad moments?

I love the video I am sharing today. I can watch it over and over.  This little guy plays the drums like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa...better than Peter Tork or Ringo Starr. His rythem is amazing, his skill with the sticks belies his four year old hands. 

Watch his little face-he looks bored...but his feet keep the beat and he keeps playing.
Why is he there? Where are his folks? He must be doing this for them.
He looks around, he's cool, he's four and there are a lot of people looking at him. But he keeps the beat.
He stumbles, and keeps the beat.
He makes a mistake, smiles a little to himself, recovers and keeps the beat

And then he sees something or someone - and his face lights up, he digs down and brings up something else- something good just for himself! He smiles and his little eyes twinkle. And he keeps the beat ...

If you aren't happy that is okay. You don't have to be happy. But I think that if you want to be happy then you just need to keep the beat. Keep playing and looking at the crowd. Do what you do well and if you can't do it for yourself, do it for those around you.
Keep the beat.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Smooth as buttah...

Alarm going off on time- check
Papers in order- check
Driving through traffic to BART- check
Commuting with about a million other people- check
I didn't get off the train too early. Didn't get off the train too late.
 Located North from South.
Didn't mind the bums and they didn't mind me.
Arrived to work EARLY- CHECK!

Whew- I feel like such a grown up!

They gave me the tour. Also because it is an auction house the doors are always locked so they gave me the keypad combo. Check.
Went to the back and learned my new job. Left the back area and tried to get back in. Forgot the combo. ERK!
They gave it to me again.
Had to leave the back area again, but this time I remembered the combo! Whew- those Ginko pills must be working.

I found a few mistakes that the regular guy made. Why do I always feel like every question might be some sort of a test?
Good news- didn't do anythng really stupid.
Ate lunch by myself.
Walked the mile back to BART.
Caught the right Train. Didn't get off to early or too late. Drove home from the train station in ten minutes.

BEST NEWS OF THE DAY- the company is going to move 5 MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE SOON!

Hubby was so pleased that I went back to work he bought me a new purse- with a shoulder strap that I can sling over my shoulder like a bandolero- all the girls on the train are wearing them...
Whew! I Am Tuckered!
Early to beddy and do it all again tomorrow.

Money for horses...money for horses....money for horses....

Monday, April 11, 2011

California Cowgirls Big Adventure

I begin my new job in San Francisco tomorrow. I'm taking public transport- called BART. And then I have to walk several blocks.
I'm a little nervous, truth be told.
Nervous that I won't get the right train, that I will get turned around and head out the wrong way, nervous that I won't like the job, nervous that I will!
I am going to miss my pups and my garden now that the weather is finally getting nice.
But I am going to be glad once I start getting a regular check.
I keep saying over and over- money for horses- money for horses...and other stuff too.
Say a prayer for me!
I'll check in tomorrow and let you all know how it went!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Ghost Hunting in San Francisco

This is my youngest daughter, Mimi and her friend Lil'C and of course Lil Mama.
For Mimi's 27th birthday we took her into the Big City- San Francisco- on a historic Ghost Walk.

We began our walk at the Queen Anne Hotel. It was built as a school for girls in the late 1800's. The ghost that haunts this beautiful old hotel is benevolent. She tucks people in with a blanket in one particular room. Sometimes when you take pictures in this hotel you will get 'orbs' of light or energy. This is Lil C and Lil Mama in the dining room.

Here is our Ghost Guide. This fellow was well informed and quite a showman. He told us fascinating stories of ghosts that inhabit parts of San Francisco as he ushered us through the Pacific Heights neighborhood.  In one particular spot he had a old key to one of the Mansions that would rotate when held in the palm of a hand- no matter who held it or which direction they faced. Very odd indeed!

This is the third floor of the Queen Anne Hotel. That piece of furniture to the left is an old pulpit. This property was given by its owner in the early 1900 to the Episcopal church, and this is a remnant of that time. This is the floor that is most inhabited by the friendly woman ghost who ran the school for girls.
As I came up the stairs I hit a cold spot on between the second floor and the third floor. I let the rest of the large group of twenty souls romp on ahead of me and hung back a little. I turned to one of the girls and said, I feel it here. Of course she smiled and moved on. The Ghost Guide had given another person a special meter. Supposedly when an energy source came near it, all the lights would flash orange and green. Just moving it towards another person wouldn't make it go off. As they came up the stairs, the meter began flashing. As they moved away from the spot, toward the forth floor, the meter went dark. It didn't flash anywhere else, and it didn't flash on the way back down.

   
Lil C sat on the chair on the third floor, with nothing happening.

Lil Mama was alert, but mostly we were just in awe of the beauty of the restoration of the hotel. Furniture in the hall ways was period too, as you will see in another photo. I want to go back and stay in the hotel so I can see the rooms!

This is the second floor, taken as I came down the stairs. Everyone else was still on the forth floor. To the right, on the table is a potted plant, but in front of the plant is a weird 'thing'. It is hard to see in this photo, but if you enlarge it, there is no a reflection of it, just the reflection of the plant. Could be nuthin- or....


Outside was windy and clear and cold.The famous San Francisco fog was holding just off the coast, so the stars were out( a unique thing in SF for sure).  This is a sample of the kinds of houses and neighborhoods we were walking through. Of course it is nighttime, and there were no flashes allowed, so some of the pictures look a little blurry. These 'Painted Ladies' were very impressive and expensive. One of these houses just sold for 1.9 million dollars. Now that's hair raising!

This is the lobby of the Queen Anne. Beautiful and cozy. It was a nice and welcoming room. I could have sat in there all night!

The streets of San Francisco~

The Atherton Mansion. Weird and wonderful stories were told about this fantastic Victorian! It has a Baccarat crystal chandelier that you could see through the window from the street. See the cars? No I'm not crooked, the street is steep!

This is a kind of creepy picture. Those glowing things look like eyes, but I don't really remember anyone looking like this. That is Lil C and Mimi in the dark foreground. (((shiver)))!

Mammy Mary Ellen Pleasant was a famous woman in San Francisco. In today's money she would have amassed over a Billion dollars.
Born a slave, she was educated by one of her owners, became free, became a student of Marie Levau in New Orleans and learned about Voodoo. Coming into California as a free woman, she worked hard, bought businesses and helped fund the Civil War. She was an important woman, and the site where her house once stood has an eerie feeling about it. Six huge Eucalyptus trees still stand on the corner where her house had been ( now a Holistic Healing Center- it is California after all!) and if she doesn't like you, the story goes that she will throw the Eucalyptus seed pods at you.
She must have liked us, because as windy as it was, no seed pods fell on us, plus the wind seemed to die a little bit as her story was told.

So that is the extent of our Ghost Walk. I don't feel like we were touched by a ghost today, but we had a great time, had a lot of laughs and were all together.

And if you want to hear a ghost story- I have others to tell- just not about San Francisco.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The American Dream

I live in California.....and California is broke.
Busted...
No Bread...
So the good people of California have elected Jerry Brown to 'govern' them. He's done it once before...
Lets just say..... I'm not a fan.
Lets just say it.
JB wants to have a special election to raise taxes. He wanted it to happen in June, but the GOP won't hear of it so now he has decided to push the 'special election' back until September. Maybe he thinks someone will die or change their mind...
I'm not going to go into all the political mumbo jumbo and how I feel about it...
What I do want to address though, is today's newsworthy statement from good ol' JB about wanting to give us Californians The American Dream.
Of course he NEVER specifies what he means by that.
 The American Dream. THE AmeriCan Dream- theamERicandream... sheesh!
Maybe he means that because we are Americans we can dream? Or it is a Dream that we are Americans? Or We are Dreamy Americans...
...anyway you cut that statement it stinks.
Who is he to say what the American Dream is?
Your Dream and my Dream might be polar opposites.
Maybe I don't have a Dream.
Maybe I have my Dream already and don't want anyone to try and take it away.
Maybe I want to get my own Dream with out any bogus help from some second rate hack of a Governor.

Early in the history of America the 'Dream' was Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. It's in the Constitution (and that evidently is open for debate now nearly 200 years later).
Then the Dream was for for open land- a place to call your own. Fifty acres and a Mule ( if you were one of the lucky few).

With over 10% unemployment in California, (and that is only counting the ones that are accepting Federal or State assistance. Anyone not 'official', (and there are legions of them), don't get counted, ) maybe the Dream is simply to have steady work. That is my Dream.

So what I'd like to know is what do you think The American Dream is these days?