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March 24, 2006

This and that

I noticed a trend in my latest blog titles-- hence, this and that.

Here's a couple of photos from my most recent downtown L.A. jaunt:

China Town parking structure

Heading home, just before getting onto the highway

There you have it: a little of this, a little of that.

-Lib

Posted by libbystokes at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2006

L.A. mountains and the attic bees

It is such a beautiful day! Just a few days into Spring and L.A. is living up to its reputation. Fortunately L.A. failed at one thing this morning: the Smog. When I left my apartment and turned onto Beach Boulevard, there far off in the distance beyond La Habra was a stretch of the most gorgeous snow covered mountains. Smogless mornings like this are a rarity, and so warrant much jubilation and picture-taking. I am content for a moment.

A few weeks ago we noticed outside our window a sort of small swarm of bees. Though we inquired to the manager about it, nothing was heard on the subject for a while...until today. It seems that pest control came today to check things out and concluded that based on the number of bees outside, there could be between six and ten thousand bees in the hive, as well as thirty to forty pounds of honey. Imagine that! And this is all taking place just inches above my bedroom ceiling! It's all very fascinating. Tomorrow they will be coming to blow a hole in our ceiling and blast those bees to oblivion. If they didn't have to pump the attic full of pesticides, I would ask them to save me some honeycomb, but I don't think they'll care to honor that request...

-Lib

Posted by libbystokes at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2006

Grunion Run and Ticklebacks

Last night I went with my roommate to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium to watch the Grunion Run. Grunion are a small fish that come onto the beach several days after the highest tide to lay their eggs. The event is widely anticipated by biology geeks throughout the Southern California and upper Baja regions. My roommate had to go for her biology class, so I thought it would be interesting to go along. Needless to say, we didn't end up staying long enough to see the fish actually make their trek up onto the sandy shore; it was late and we were getting cold. But we did get to watch a video on the strange bi-monthly occurance, as well as hatch some of our own tiny little Grunion eggs in a baby food jar. It was all very interesting and extrememely nerdy.

While we were waiting for the Grunion around eleven o'clock, sitting on the beach, the family in front of us starting doing something that reminded me how important traditions are and that we have more in common with each other than we might think. It sounds silly, but they were writing messages to each other on their backs with their finger, one letter at a time. This is something we did in our family before bedtime when we were little kids. I had forgotten all about it, so it put a smile on my face (especially since the family I was watching had primarily teen boys-- not a type I would expect to so publicly participate in an what I see as a motherly, tender and personal activity). It was just a strange moment; the small joy I felt in recognizing a forgotten family past time combined with the shivery anticipation of being able to watch thousands of fish mate on the beach. How very odd.

Posted by libbystokes at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

Next

God,

Hi, it's me. I've been thinking, can you please tell me what to do next? Or maybe just give me a clue? Or send someone to help? Or just point me in the right direction-- any direction! I know that I am no good at having big plans of my own-- you are much better at omniscience than I. So, if you please, I would like a future.

Thank you.

Posted by libbystokes at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)