A RETURN TO THE O.C.
THE WARM CALIFORNIA SUN... |
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You're looking at my fancy new surfer styled shoes I picked up on
vacation, along with the rug of a fancy OC Hotel - I think it was named
the Mirage or something, I got yelled at for not knowing the name of it
while there, I'm sure angry emails are being pointed my way as you read
this.
FAMILY
It's good to report the entire family seems to be in fine shape.
Despite some nerves about me pulling out a camera at the most
opportune of times (dinner seemed to strike a real nerve), and
misplaced fears about folks seeing their images appear on this
little webpage, all as good.
As seen above, my clothes shopping for the year as taken care of
- two pairs of non-painted jeans, along with new Dickies, gloves,
some shirts and two pairs of shoes made my life all sparkly and
normal again. Of course, I also picked up a new hoody -
eschewing my traditional navy blue for a slightly more teal version
- I labeled it 'California Navy'. I should be in marketing,
I'm a genius.
Besides hanging out at the house and on the beaches, fighting
over the last Rice Krispie square, we got some shopping done, saw
the sites, and of course, spent a magical day as a family at
Disneyland. Check out those stories
here after perusing the rest of the OC trip. |
Christmas trees in California are a bit different.
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One of the many self portraits my family constantly laughed at. |
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click on a picture for a
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THE WOMAN WHO YELLED AT HER KIDS TO TALK TO THE MACHINE
A peaceful walk along the Dana Point pier was interrupted by this woman
furiously dialing into her phone. She was with her two children,
who were young (7? 8?), and more interested into watching their
reflections in the water and climbing on the handrails than Mother's
business.And Mother's business at that moment in the warm sun
overlooking the Pacific was to feverishly return phone calls and leave
messages of holiday cheer. Everyone knows just how stressful the
holidays are, calling long lost friends, relatives and neighbors and
wishing them the best and all.
As I walked past this lady, she started screaming at her children -
who were simply being children - as she was making another phone call.
It was clear she got a voice mail, and she politely left a positive and
upbeat message of joy, and then proceeded to forcibly yell, "Kids, talk
to the machine and tell Uncle (whatever) Merry Christmas." the
kids were still playing, and hadn't straightened out yet, so she yelled
again, "Talk to the machine!"
The children did, the woman was satisfied, and I kept heading towards
the ocean, still hating cell phones and thinking just how pointless this
story will be when it appears on my website. |
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MY FAVORITE
SHOPPER IN THE WORLD
I love grocery shopping. It's some of the best people
watching in the world, even better than sitting in dirty bars all
day. Not only do you get to see how people shop (casually,
with lists, hurried, clueless), but you get an intimate peek into
their lives (cat food, frozen dinners, organic marshmallows) and can
make gross stereotypes and judgments about everyone in mere seconds!
Everyone wins!Out one day buying some of the necessary goods to
keep my Mom's kitchen well stocked, I got lost in the crowd as
my Mom wandered off looking for some cheese. I headed around
this little Orange County grocer, filled with rich folks buying
expensive food. Some people get pretty dressed up to shop
there, or else they just always look that way.
Either way, the man pictured on the right was the star of the
day. He looked like a combination of
Luis
Guzman from Boogie Nights and George's father from Seinfeld..
He carried his small gait in a long leather jacket and gold chains,
rings and a giant gold watch. He seemed to know everyone at
the store, whether they knew him or not. I was too nervous to
sneak up on him to get a better shot, so I had to settle for the one
on the right. Oh, and I did find my mom again. She was
buying some 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter'. |
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