Can you read me?

Enetalemry, t wre heIhat's am back.

I enerolld at an oil ptinaing cassl for altdus this flal at the counimmty clegole in my city. My iructnstor is a lyad who not very lgon ago gruaadted from an art sochol. Her aoapprch to tehinacg is like waht I have known in sochol borefe. Like in my freanehd dwirang cslas in aitecrchture we steartd from the elentaemry - pcenil drawing of simple objects. With my 3B lade in my lead hdoler (meanichcal pnecil) I dwre the vase with a little bit of arehenppsion. It's enbe years ago since I did a dinrawg of this kind with my theacer lonokig from hibend me. I got the sphae, sdhaes, shoadws and peectrspive right, eexcpt that I heav been ginog into orem dietals, like ptinutg in some of the retioflecns. The tcheaer said that the rectifleon won't be terhe if I csloe one eye. I did, and voila! trhee's no rctiefleon. The sthor time I veha been in this cslas I have leneard a lot aealrdy.

I had wtaned so much to laren how to pinat in ilo, and so back in mid-90s I lenroled at an adlut sclas, an nextsione of the High Scholo Distirct...

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Halloween Already?

Pastel on 10' x 7' black cloth

This is an old pastel drawing I did for Halloween about 3 years ago. I got the idea of using pastel after I had participated in the Street Art Festival some years ago. Not being able to use my driveway for the painting, I dug up the black bed sheet from my linen closet and drew the scene. What to draw would not come to me until the 11th hour (call it cramming). Working on it off and on, it would take me about 3 days to finish it. When I have finalized the drawing, I would spray it with hairspray to keep it from coming off, or to keep it from getting smudged. It would take about 2 cans of hairspray. Then I would tack it on the wall outside by my front door.

The first one I did was of a different scenery. This one above was my 3rd. The artwork would stay for a day more after Halloween. Then I take it off and toss it in my washing machine. Put some detergent, turn the water on and away it goes...my work down the drain.

Oh, well, I had fun doing it.

Blue skies

Except for a few scattered clouds, it was a clear day today. The smoke that billowed beyond the hill vanished a few hours after it appeared. I breathe a sigh of relief when it was clear to me that the fire was finally contained. The one on the other side of the valley was contained after 2 days. Thanks to the hard work of the fire fighters, they did their best to save residents and their homes. A few structures were razed to the ground, though.

Having said that, I'd like to thank the following who expressed their concerns and prayed for my safety and my family's, as well.

• Vicki, nakakatakot nga.
• Connie, it's scary.
  
• Photo Cache, Angel Island, too?
  
• Dennis Villegas, yes, we're that close.
  
• Ann, yes, it's been a year this month.
  
• Nona, sana nga di na maulit.
  
• Nance, my friend, we're okay.
  
• Lady Cess, we were spared.
  
• Nini, my friend, we're okay. Thanks for the special visit.
  
• Blogger friends I might have missed.
  
• Friends who emailed.
  

We are still on fire red alert. The tinder dry brush could ignite instantaneously with a flick of a cigarette butt. Hopefully, before another fire flares up, this season will be over.

Wildfire season once again

As I was having breakfast yesterday morning, a report of a fire came on TV. I went upstairs and looked out from my balcony and this is what I saw, smoke coming from over the hill. It scared me. That fire could easily come this way, as there was gusty wind fanning it. I would guess that it was about 20 miles from my place.

It was the same month last year when there was wildfire all over Southern California. One came so close, about half a block away from my home, that we packed some of our belongings. My neighbors did the same. We all watched as the fire started to spread on the hill. Luckily a helicopter came and doused it, and that saved our homes. But there were some unfortunate ones whose homes were razed to the ground. (Click here for story.)

There were other fires blazing yesterday. This one pictured above was about 20 to 23 miles from my home. Some homes were burned to the ground. Residents had to evacuate, and as of last night the fire was still raging. There were more than 1000 fire crew battling the conflagration.

These fires could jump from one area to the other as the wind flies embers and it could easily ignite dry brush. We get very little rain here so that our hills turn brown during summer; turning brush tinder dry. Some fires are started by careless campers; others are ignited by sparks from cars; by children playing with matches; and some by arsonists.

Having experienced a close call last year makes me jittery when I see smoke billowing from the distance.

YouTube and my burrito

My post is on YouTube. No, I'm not singing. I could not sing; and could not carry a tune. I love to listen to music; to dance to music, and that's about it. What is on YouTube is an excerpt of my post on Burrito and Goose Bumps. It turned out Jobernz stumbled upon it, lifted an excerpt and posted it on YouTube. He linked my blog to his post and in returned some of his viewers visit my blog. Whoa!!! Great.

Thanks, Jobernz.

Eyes were made for seeing...

...and beauty is its reason for being.

To view her and others, walk this way------here.

Or ...

...click here.

And the award goes to...

...me.

This award was virtually handed to me by one of my best net and blogger buddies. She's none other than Nance. She and I have been friends online for more than a decade almost, and we have met in person already. We have a lot in common. We both like to paint...our lips and fingernails. We write gobbledygooks; we blog; laugh, eat, drink and are married...to our own dudes.

Thanks, dudette.

Now, who to hand this to? To all my blogger friends. Come and get it!!!!