RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Instead of just one random photo, here are a few…because I couldn’t decide which one to post! ME-TV’s Twitter account had a post about all the great snack foods of the 70’s. And THESE are my favorites. Remember them?
The song I referenced in my Saturday entry is this one…“Lullaby From Home” by Jiang Xiao-Qing. It’s stunning. Beautiful. Hypnotic. Gorgeous.
Monday the 13th – MONDAY MOBILIZATION! – Needing to go on a run to complete some errands, I started getting ready to go out mid-afternoon. Roxy was dancing around me and making moaning sounds, like she usually does when she sees me getting ready to go to church. She wanted to go where I was going. But I wasn’t going to church. We hadn’t been to church in weeks, and I had to tell her to go lie down and that I’d be back. I felt bad for her because she really looks forward to going to church with me and getting pets and love, and a few snacks every once in a while. First stop was to my mailbox to pick up my packages. I had ordered a few sampler books to send to potential publishers for my kid’s project. Once I opened the package I QC’d them (quality control) and sent them right off to their intended recipients. Then I drove to CVS to pick up a prescription and a few supplies for my 93 year old ‘adopted grandma’ Shirley. The retirement home where she lives has been locked down for over a month, and that means that poor Shirley hasn’t left the confines of her 10 by 10 room since then. No walks in the hallway. No time outside to get sunshine. No visitors. Nothing. I feel really bad. So I’m trying to keep her cheered up by bringing her books, movies, candy…anything to keep her happy. While I was at the grocery store putting my items on the checkout stand, a befuddled, scraggly gray-haired man got in line behind me. But because of the new guidelines, the store makes you stand 6 feet behind the person ahead of you. But the next person in line was standing back in the aisle with child in a cart. Because the space behind me was a through-way in the store, the lady had to stand in the aisle. He didn’t see her because he didn’t really look like he was completely aware of exactly what planet he was on. She said, “Excuse me.” Then he realized that the line was behind her. He walked past her to get behind her in line and hesitated for just a second. She screamed, “Don’t stand so close!” He yelled back, “I have to get past you to get in line!” I thought I was going to have to go kick somebody’s ass, in all honesty. She screamed back, “You have to go around and get in line. This is one way!” And he yelled back, “ENOUGH!” Then they were quiet. Sheesh. I really hope the Chinese are happy with themselves. This virus they unleashed is a real drag. I got my groceries and got the heck out of there and headed over to Shirley’s community to drop the stuff off for her. I found some great sugar-free candies, some vitamin D (since she hadn’t seen sunlight in over a month), and other random supplies. I came home and opened up my mail and put my groceries away. I had received a package of all the original artwork I commissioned for my kid’s book from the cartoonist Patrick Owsley. It was great to get the scans from him to put in the layout of the sampler book, but seeing the artwork in person is even more stunning. I put all the pieces in protective plastic sheets and stored them in a big 3-ring binder for safe keeping. I did a few auditions, and worked around the house all night. I took a short nap around midnight. When I got up I did some more auditions, did a little more work around the house, made some hot dogs on the grill and watched another episode of “Bronk” before bed. Hard to believe Jack Palance was 55 when he did this series. He was in GREAT shape!
Tuesday the 14th – A VISIT FROM A FRIEND! – The plan was to walk over to the local GNC to get some vitamins, but when I woke up and took Roxy out, the wind was so relentless I decided against it, in the interest of not having an all-out allergy attack. So instead I went inside and started creating a large 12” by 12” version of my kid’s sampler book for my own collection. On Shutterfly you make your design based on the size of book you want – which is way the layout was designed for 8” by 8” books. But if you want to print a different size, there are all sorts of adjustments you have to make in the artwork and particularly the text and fonts. The sizing upgrade took me all afternoon. I worked around the house a little bit, and then took a nap, dreading what I had to do when I woke up. Later in the night I was determined to replace the rear surround speakers in my home theater. If you remember from last week, the speakers I had up there previously had fallen apart. Even though the problem was only cosmetic (the actual electronics still worked great) I decided that the only way I could repair them suitably was with a lot of duct tape, and they just didn’t look very nice. So I’ll relegate them to some other project where you won’t see the speaker (probably to be hidden in or behind one of my displays at some point). Whenever I have to do anything around the house that involves construction, or getting on my very tall ladder, I always remember how I used to hire my old pal Terry Crisp to do the work instead. I’m so klutzy, and he was masterful at doing virtually any job I had for him. Sadly Terry passed away a few years ago, so now I’m on my own for this sort of thing. I started by going into the garage and cutting up a bunch of empty boxes I had taking up space. I broke them down and put them in the recycling bin for the trash guy to take a little later that morning. Then I went into my living room and cleared a bunch of stuff away so I could get to the areas I needed to access to install the speakers. The wires were still hanging out of the wall, so all I had to do was fasten the brackets to the wall, put the speakers in the brackets, and attach the speaker wires. But like I said, I can be fairly klutzy sometimes. So when it comes to doing things like climbing a tall ladder with screws and a drill in my hand, I always laugh and call out, “Terry! Where are you?” It’s almost become my ritual for these sorts of projects. As I was climbing the ladder and measuring out where to put the holes for the speaker brackets, I heard a noise down in the garage. The door between my living room and my garage was open, so I kind of thought that my cat Spooky had gotten into the garage and knocked something over. But he was sound asleep in his cathouse. I looked downstairs and noticed that a small trash can had fallen off of the ledge I had it on. I know for a fact when I brought the ladder upstairs I didn’t hit anything with it (I’m always VERY careful about that) so I know I didn’t jar the trash can loose on my way up. I honestly think it was Terry letting me know he was there to keep me from doing anything stupid. I just laughed and said, “Terry. Pick up the trash.” He and I were closer than most brothers, and I miss him dearly. I got the brackets attached, installed the speaker and connected the wiring. Then came the test to see how they sounded. I put “Captain America: Civil War” in the Blu Ray player and stood on the ladder to monitor the speakers. They sounded great! Dare I say they sounded better than the previous speakers that had been there. My next project was to make face masks out of bandanas and hair ties. As I was working I noticed most of the bandanas were made in China. I looked at the package of hair ties…again…made in China. So here I was. Folding Chinese-made bandanas, tying them with Chinese-made hair ties, to help protect me from a Chinese-made virus. Of all the ironies of life. It was a gorgeous night out, so I walked Roxy for a while and let her get some exercise. I came inside and made some Buffalo Mac and watched another “Bronk” episode. I’m REALLY enjoying this show. And I think I figured out why. The Executive Producer was Bruce Geller (who also produced Mission Impossible and Mannix – two of my other favorite shows!) He really had the touch!
Wednesday the 15th – WINDY WEDNESDAY! – Again, it was much too windy to go for a walk, even though it was gloriously sunny out. So I stayed inside and worked on the computer, made some phone calls, wrote some e-mails, and made a point of checking in on people. I didn’t get anything done that I had planned on doing. But I was still glowing from all I had accomplished during the previous night’s work. Before I knew it the sun had set and it was night time again. I did my nightly auditions and grabbed a nap. I got up later to do graphics work on the computer, made some stew and a sandwich and watched another “Bronk” episode.
Thursday the 16th – A STROLL AT LAST! – It was another gorgeous day, so I packed up my iPod, my gloves and my face mask and headed out for some walking errands. I went to GNC to get some more vitamins, and luckily enough, the guy who owns the cigar store next door happened to be in the store doing inventory (even though he wasn’t allowed to be open for business). Since I’m a regular customer he let me in to pick up a few Montecristo cigars for the next warm night we get. I love to take a nice, leisurely stroll with Roxy in the middle of the night and enjoy a nice cigar when the weather is nice out. I stopped at the hardware store to pick up some light bulbs and measure a 31 gallon metal trash can for the future home of my Oscar the Grouch replica Muppet. I walked back home and put everything away, and started assembling a “sound baffle” out of foam rubber and a 2’ X 4’ piece of cardboard. I had considered spray gluing the foam to the cardboard, but if I ever wanted to use the foam for a puppet someday, I didn’t want it all sticky. So I bought some bolts, nuts and washers at the hardware store, and I’ll simply bolt the foam to the cardboard. That way I can disassemble it if any fun puppet projects pique my interest. But while the foam side was facing my microphone and chair at my computer station, the opposite side looked like a piece of cardboard. So I went down to the garage and pulled out some cool-looking, faux metallic panels that are 2’ X 2’. I attached them to the back of the baffle so it looks a little more decorative when viewed from the other side. I called Shirley and talked to her at length, and we discussed her moving to Palm Springs to live with her daughter and son-in-law until this whole virus thing blows over. I can’t stand the thought of her being held prisoner in her room another four months (which is a realistic amount of time considering her age). But since her daughter is in her 70’s, she and her husband are in lockdown as well. So they couldn’t come and get her anyway. So I’m just going to rally my friends and make it a point to check in on her on a regular basis and try to keep things fun for her. I took a nap, and then got up later to do auditions feed the pets, and do some bookkeeping, reconciliation of my bank statements, pay some bills, and reconcile the few receipts I had. I realized that I’m saving a TON of money by being locked up like this! I normally have about 40 receipts to reconcile when I do my bookkeeping, but I think I may have had about 5. I walked Roxy, and then came inside to make a tuna sandwich and some soup and watch “Bronk.”
Friday the 17th – TRASH, TACOS & TIDINESS! – The maids arrived around 2:30 and left around 4. So I got in the car and headed to the hardware store to pick up the trash can I had my eye on. I reconciled the measurements with the space I have available for my upcoming Oscar the Grouch display, and it should work out well. I threw the can in the back of my Mustang and headed over to Shirley’s place to drop off 10 Blu Ray movies I picked out for her. I’m going to take her another 10 when she’s done with those. I can keep her in movies for years, though I hope this lockdown doesn’t last QUITE that long! I stopped at Taco Bell for some lunch and then went back home. I did some work and grabbed an evening nap. I got up later to feed the pets, drove to Denny’s to get some food to go, and came home to watch “Bronk.”
Saturday the 18th – AWAKENED BY A LULLABY! – All afternoon and evening I worked on the computer organizing and re-labeling some photo files in my hard drive. Later my pal Sara came over to watch a movie and get some dinner. Since it’s probably not appropriate for my normal movie night audience, we watched “Night of the Comet.” But after viewing it again I realized that, aside from a few mild scares and one gory scene, it wouldn’t be a bad selection for a future movie night; if and when I start them up again. My pal Kelli Maroney stars in this film, and the make-up was all done by my old buddy David B. Miller. He created the look for Freddy Krueger in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films, and he and I flew to New York twice back in 1989 and 1990 to film two Freddy Krueger TV commercials. He made me up as Freddy for the commercials and it was a major thrill! I had a great time watching the bonus features on the Blu Ray; something I don’t think you can get if you stream (it’s why I love having the actual tangible movie in my collection!). After Sara left I took a short nap, and then got up to feed the pets and finish my computer photo project. I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad and watched another episode of “Space 1999” from the second season. I thought the first season was rather dull, but the second season has become quite campy. It’s quite like a bad Saturday morning live-action sci-fi show from Filmation! This episode was funny, but not intentionally so. I found myself actually feeling sorry for Martin Landau and Barbara Bain because it was so bad. After it finished, and after I finished my meal, I sat there in bed in the Tranquility Zone and turned on channel 857 on DirecTV; the Soundscapes channel. The music relaxed me and I must’ve gone into deep meditation, or perhaps I nodded off to sleep. But my subconscious woke me up when I heard a beautiful song playing. I had to know what it was! I hit the INFO button on my remote and it was a song called “Lullaby from Home” by a Chinese artist named Jiang Xiao-Qing. The instrument is called the Guzheng and she was a child prodigy on the instrument. She moved to Japan and played on the soundtrack for “The Last Emperor” which won an Academy Award for music. I rushed downstairs to buy the song. It’s the first time I’ve ever been AWAKENED by a lullaby! I walked Roxy and then turned in.
Sunday the 19th – SUNDAY: SLEEP – SERENE! – Late afternoon I got up for a little while and did some work. I fed the pets and then laid down on the couch. I got up to do some more work and then went to the Puppet Room to sleep on the bed in there. The reason being, is I heard a croaking frog outside my window and wanted to nap to his music. Because there’s a wash out back of my house, he probably jumped up out of the water for a while to see if there are any potential mates. But unfortunately he didn’t sing for very long. The night before he was croaking all night but I wasn’t able to fully enjoy it because I was engrossed in my photo project on my computer. I got up later and did some auditions, and prepped for a long session on Monday in my home studio. I brought up some pieces of foam rubber and started to build a sound barricade around my recording area to make sure it’s extra quiet. I walked Roxy, made a pot pie, and watched “Bronk” before bed.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
While house hunting with the Grouch, we found a nice little “fixer-upper” that will do quite nicely. Once it gets its share of dings, dents and rust, that is!
