Still going...and going...and going...

At age 109, which he celebrated May 28th at the Food On Foot, Mr. Ronnie Fairbanks, of Hollywood, Ca, is still doing push-ups; still energetic and very alert. I was so amazed to watch him do his push-ups. Some people half his age couldn’t do what he did. He said his secret to his long life is lots of sex and lots of money. Read more of him here.

Three stars.

That's a pretty good rating for a review, better than some big budget movies of Hollywood. Cavite, a movie directed by Neill Dela Llana and Ian Gamazon, caught the eye of film critics. Check here and here.

Fish were jumping

Last Saturday, was a warm sunny day in Redondo Beach. A good day for fishing; the pier was lined with people casting their fishing rods. Mackerels--the fish of the day--were being reeled in
every minute.







A woman prying her catch of mackerel from one of her hooks.












It's only noontime and this much is what was caught by this couple. And if they keep at it till late afternoon, they would get another boxful of fish. What to do with this much fish? Have a fish party-- fried fish, grilled fish, steamed, escabeche, chowder, fish soup and/or dried fish. And after the party, one have had enough fish to last one a year.






A lone seal swimming by the pier, watching people watching. Watch out for those hooks! You might end up in someone's dining table. Eek! I've never heard of a seal being cooked or eaten (by humans). I've partaken of a grilled shark and it was good.






A red snapper at the fish store eyeing buyers eyeing it. "Don't stare at me, buddy. I'm not gonna buy you; I've had enough of fish for the day."

Photo gallery

Click on picture to view full size.

Mother and child












conjoined twins











jaws











Vegas Showgirl

Tiffany's art gallery

Tiffany lives in upstate New York with her daughter, her son and her husband. Her husband is a professional painter; he specializes in portrait painting.

Tiffany's art gallery.

Today I'm featuring the art works of my friend Tiffany. One of Tiffany's hobbies is painting--oil, pencil and color pencil. Here are some of her color pencil drawings




.

Little Instructions

From Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr., the following are my favorites.

1. Compliment three people every day.
2. Watch a sunrise at least once a year.
3. Remember other people's birthdays.
4. Have a firm handshake.
5. Look people in the eye.
6. Say "thank you" a lot.
7. Say "please" a lot.
8. Be the first to say, "Hello."
9. Live beneath your means.
10. Drive inexpensive cars, but own the best house you can afford.
11. Buy great books even if you never read them.
12. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
13. Learn three clean jokes.
14. Ask for a raise when you feel you've earned it.
15. Return all things you borrow.
16. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
17. Make new friends but cherish the old ones.
18. Keep secrets.
19. Don't postpone joy.
20. Write "thank you" notes promptly.

Economy class

On the Flight to Frankfurt
Sept. 13, 2004

Like sardines we were packed.
Air turbulence--we rolled and rocked.
Food served on trays, tiny and cute,
But, it almost made me puke!
Chicken with sauce so creamy
Made my stomach queasy.
The food inside me tumbled,
It complained and grumbled.
Oh no! I have to go!
Line is long, hold before I let go!
Finally, my time has come,
I sit and poof!--it's gone!
Only air, sigh, what a relief.
Now I can relax and breathe.
Aaah.

Welcome to the World

5/15/2006

There are 5 chicks here in the nest. This is nestled between the exterior wall of my house and the beam of my trellis in the patio. The mother somehow built it too close to the door that each time someone opens it, it scares her away. These chicks must be about a week old. In a few days I will take another picture of them, to chronicle their growth.

There was another nest on a beam of the trellis, but I think, the cat got to it before the eggs were even hatched. I saw broken eggshells, twigs and grass on the concrete slab of the patio. Another nest is hidden at the corner of the trellis and hopefully the cat won't see it.

I have no idea what kind of birds these are. They are ordinary birds; I see them in my backyard all the time. Last year about this time, there was a hummingbird who made a nest on my shell parol. It was just right in front of my kitchen window. I took lots of pictures of it, but...some of those pictures were lost when my pc was corrupted and it had to be reformatted. Darn! I couldn't get them as the files won't move...so the only way to make my pc work again was to reformat it. I have to let it go...all those pictures. Well, a lesson learned for me. I should've put them all on a cd as my husband had been telling me to do all the while.

One Warm Day in May.

The Old Mission of San Buenaventura

One warm day in May of 2005, I went to the city of Ventura, in Ventura County, California. This old mission somehow caught my eye. I sat at the bench at the bus stop and did a pencil sketch of it. I could have finished this in less time, had I been sitting farther away from the bus stop, as a bus would stop every few minutes and block my view of the mission. Anyway, I got pretty close to the likeness of the mission. Check it out here: http://www.athanasius.com/camission/ventura.htm

Bird of Paradise

White bird of paradise, in Redondo Beach.
April 29, 2006

50 miles away for spicy hot soup

Last Saturday, we, my significant other and I, drove 50 miles to Redondo Beach to have lunch at the pier. We do this on the last Saturday of each month; and at this same restaurant; we order the same fair. We have tried other places and different food, but somehow, we like this the most.
The soup (above) consists of chunks of halibut, pre-cooked shrimp, slices of tofu, daikon, mussels, mushrooms and green onions and it's flavored with powdered chili pepper, which makes it very, very hot. The first time I had this my mouth burned and it seemed heat was coming out of my ears and nostrils. It is served in the same wok it was cooked so it's piping hot. With this comes bowls of rice and kim chee. After we had our fill of the soup we would walk the pier down to the board walk and stop at an ice cream place to have a scoop of my favorite rocky road.

The pier is usually lined up with people fishing. There was a group, who somehow didn't catch fish, but a big 10 pounds spider crab.

Room With A View

Oil on 16" x 20" canvas.

The room is there and the view, but I've changed some things here. The existing door was an aluminum slidng door. I like wood French doors. I might as well paint something I like. The balcony railings are much closer, I spaced them farther apart to have more view of the background. The plants aren't there. I can't grow plants on the balcony, it can't survive the extreme heat; and I don't have breakfast in bed...those are props only.

Not Taking Shape.

I've started painting a still life (orchids) for a friend about 3 weeks ago. She asked me to do one for her in yellow. It's half-way done. I only did a little bit of it last week--one day of last week, and I've not touched my brush since. I don't know...it seems I'm not going anywhere with it. There is something amiss with my composition.

My friend sent me a link to the web site of Esteban Sabar Gallery. And, wow, the paintings on the site are truly amazing. These are works of painters whose life is art. For me painting is a hobby. It's only for my own pleasure and use. Although, there was a couple of paintings I sold to someone. The buyer was a technician who came to my house to work on our internet connection (dsl) He saw these two small ones and asked if he can buy them, and I was willing to part with them. I guess, I was glad someone liked my painting.

Bird of Paradise

Oil on 10" x 7" canvas.

10" x 7" piece of canvas glued on 14" x 10" illustration board.

Email

Hi !

Kumusta? Happy New Year! I meant to say that I appreciated your beautiful watercolor card and personalized writing but forgot to write about. Are you taking watercolor lesseon now? How was your Christmas?
We spent Christmas with Roger and his family at Pacifica, about 20 minutes away from S.F. It was raining all day. Then we spent New Years's Eve at home because the party we planned to go to was cancelled because of the Pacific storm. More rain... on New Year's Eve, Day and the Rose Parade. We were stuck at home and catch up with many DVD's. Did you watch the parade? Everybody were smiling the rain. They all look fake.


Regards,
Evelyne


Hi Evelyne,

Happy New Year! We are doing fine. Thanks for your pro-looking Christmas Card. I didn't have time to make a better card, a better design...it was a rush job. We had house guests--3 adults and 2 children--the first week of December. So, before they came we started preparing for their stay here (8 days). They were from Australia--Mick's cousin and her daughter and family. It was hectic preparing for them; entertaining them; driving them from one place to the other. But they helped with the clean up and cooking...just like what we do back home. So after they left Mick bugged me about making cards and I relented. My computer printer ran out of color ink and I didn't want to bother going out to buy some, so I did it all by hand.

No, I am not taking watercolor class. I do some watercolor painting here at home, and I have a few of them framed. (I took watercolor class in college.) Why bother going to Mary Lou when she doesn't teach at all. Oh, I joined the street painting in Newhall last October. There were only 3 of us, not including Mary Lou. We had fun though.

We had Christmas dinner at my son's place in NoHo; New Year's day we were at a friend's party. Yeah, it rained at the Rose Parade...lol...but I didn't bother watching it. I was still catching up on my laundry--beddings (I have to buy new ones) and towels used by our house guests.

I have not done much painting since November...I've been planning to do some this month...just plans, but I hope I'd get to do it before the month ends.

How's the painting coming along?

Later,

Rena

Update...

I should be updating this more often, but I'm so busy I can't keep up. I haven't done any painting...nothing. Argh...I'm supposed to make a doctor's appointment. Busy, busy, busy. What in Sam Hill? Pictures from our Black Sea cruise I haven't finished printing, and that was in year 2004. Oooohhh, my gosh. Focus. I need to focus. Hocus focus...lol. I haven't filled up that box I'm sending home...there's still plenty of room for other stuff.

Our house guest, Ermie, left more pictures for me to print. I did a couple already. And, oh yes, pictures that came with Christmas cards I have to put them in my album. This would be kind of like a reminder for me to do all these things. Let me see. I'll write them down here...but doctor's appointment will be last. If I can help it, I don't like going to the doctor.

Ed asked me to frame a photo of his former teacher--Bill Ryusaki and Bill's friend, the late Bruce Lee. This has been sitting in my little studio since December. It's about time I start working on these small projects to get them out of my way.

Contrails Galore

These white streaks of contrail crosses the blue sky on this early sunny morning, like white chalk lines on a blue board. It's fascinating to watch the formation as jets fly above.

Sunrise

Taken at 6:30 in the morning, on Dec. 22nd. I woke up to the beauty of the sunrise and immediately got my camera to take a shot. This was taken from the balcony of my bedroom overlooking the valley of Saint Claire.

Rush Job

I did a rush job on a few Holiday cards for friends and family. My husband bugged me about it Friday morning, so I started working on it that afternoon. I have to do all of them by hand, as my printer is out of color cartridges, and I just don't want to bother going out to buy one. I figured I would make a dozen cards with a simple design. The thought is what matters, I say. Everything was done by hand...so it's a labor of love...as they say.

I have an 18" x 24" sheet of white ingres drawing paper and I cut it up to the size that would fit a number 10 envelope; and I was able to make 20 cards from it. Each card has a different
-

message in it. The design is of mixed media. I have only a few tubes of watercolor and some acrylic paint. For green and purple I used watercolor; acrylic for red and yellow; marker for brown (tree branch); roller pen for the message. They are all set and tomorrow ready for mailing...it may be late, but better than never.