One weekend: many good friends

I had an unusually social weekend where I got to spend time with a lot of wonderful friends on separate occasions. Two of the friends I've known since I was in junior high school. Spending time with close friends and good people just does wonders for me.

Good animals are nice, too. This is one of my new friends - my mom's cat Cooper.

Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke + Adventures

On Friday night, I met up with a friend I met nine years ago while traveling in South America. I'd never been to the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax and I'd been wanting to go for a long time. So, I was happy to finally experience it - it's fun, casual - a very friendly environment. It feels like you are in a friend's personal movie room. It's not "nice" or fancy, but funky.

http://www.cinefamily.org/

The film we saw was Princess Mononoke. One of my favorite films is by the same guy - Miyazaki. It's called Spirited Away. However whereas Spirited Away is magical and has wondrous odd characters, Princess Mononoke is much darker and heavier.

We were such an international group! My friend Peter, who is from Germany, but lived in Buenos Aires for many years and is fluent in Spanish, English, and enough Mandarin to spend all day speaking only in Mandarin was there. His Mandarin teacher, who is from Beijing and whom he met and studied under in Beijing, was there. His fiance joined us - from the US, but she and Peter met couch surfing in Argentina. A Brazilian guy none of us had met before, but who was a friend of a friend, from couch surfing, joined us. 

Meeting the woman from Beijing and the guy from Brazil reminded me how much I love traveling and especially meeting new people. They're like a breath of fresh air. I'm not sure I'd want to have complete strangers in my home, staying on my couch (that is what couch surfing is), but I love the concept - basically if you sign up on the website and make a profile, you can stay with someone or host someone by offering a couch when someone is in your city. It's a way for people from different countries/states to get to know different people and about different cultures. I'm glad it exists. As the guy from Brazil said - some people are crazy, most are nice, and you realize that most people in the world are good. He ended with the quote "A stranger is just someone who hasn't become a friend yet."

Noteworthy - I was the only one who used a car to get there. Peter and his Mandarin teacher showed up on a tandem bicycle. His fiance also biked over. And the Brazilian guy came by bus. 

Cleaning + a quick trip to the beach

Yesterday my roommate and I tackled the recycling. Below is our now empty recycling bin.

 Imagine it full with six extra full bags of plastics, bottles, paper, etc surrounding it. What a mess! Unfortunately, our apartment building doesn't provide recycling bins or services. So, every month (or so) one of us has to haul all the recycling materials to the recycling center. When it gets really full, nobody wants to do it. But as a team, my roommate and I did it. I also cleaned the bathroom and she did the living room. What a difference!

Afterwards, I went with her to a friend's BBQ in Long Beach. The drive was long and it was extremely windy, and we could only stay about two hours, but it was just wonderful. Good people, good food, AND the beach? That's really all I need.

Even the police woman who drove by to tell us that BBQing on the beach was not permitted was nice. She said it was okay this time, but in the future not to do it.

Again, it's those simple things that make life lovely.

A walk to the bookstore

This entry does not appear that exciting, but I think that's the point. Little things can mean a lot.

So, to set the scene - I've been sick for what seems like a ridiculous amount of time. Being sick = no exercise + no socializing = bored + lonely.

Enter last Friday. I feel low. I decide, at minimum, I can take a walk. So, walk I did. I walked about 2 miles to a bookstore. A little fresh air does wonders. The simple act of walking and being outside in fresh air changed my mood entirely. A good thing. Then, there's being in a bookstore. I love bookstores!!! Once inside, I spent a lot of time looking at these amazingly illustrated books about sea-life, anatomy and physiology. These books are for children/young adults, but the illustrations are gorgeous and I don't need much more than simple explanations about how cells fight disease to be astounded.

I took this picture to send to my friend who is studying to be a PA (Physician's Assistant) just to tell her now neat I think it is that she is learning all about anatomy, physiology, etc.

I also spent a lot of time reading this book, for obvious reasons: I just don't know much about the Bible. 

.

However, I would be embarrassed to read this book in public. So instead, I bought the less conspicuous and less embarrassing book:

It's fascinating. I would like to know not only the exact words of the bible, but the historical context of the peoples who wrote the bible and lived in biblical times.

I learned that 1) the original scripts that became the bible were in Hebrew and Assyrian, then translated to Greek 2) the time period over which the Bible was written was about 1000 to 1500 years, 3) while the Christian bible contains the Old Testament and the New Testament, for Jewish people, there is no New Testament - their bible consists of the same books in what Christians call the Old Testament, 4) our alphabet came from the Phoenicians, who lived in what is now Lebanon. Ancient Hebrew had no vowels, only consonants, and the Greeks are credited with creating the vowel system. 5) there are many versions of the bible including King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), etc...

I know people don't like to discuss religion, but I think the simple sub-topic of bible versions should be safe, right? So, is there a version that YOU recommend? 

The Heiress

I don't usually go to plays and musicals, but in the past week, I've gone to two. This weekend I saw "The Heiress" at the Pasadena Playhouse. It was wonderfully done and centers around a well-off doctor in the mid-nineteenth century and his practical yet cold perception of his kind yet awkward daughter.

I think the reason I enjoy plays, music, and literature is that you can explore the deep dramas of life and relationships without having to personally experience the painful moments yourself. I usually walk away feeling I've experienced or understood something very profound.

Is there a play or book that taught you something about life? Which was it?

Get more information here on buying tickets here...
http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/box-office/mainstage/the-heiress.html

Read a review here...
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-theater-review-the-heiress-at-the-pasadena-playhouse-20120430,0,6604596.story?track=rss

The tiniest of hope

When days begin with someone parked behind me like this…

followed by a car break in (not mine)… it's much easier to see all the difficulties and tribulations in life, and much harder to remain positive. However, the very purpose of this blog is to remember there is ALWAYS something positive out there in the world. 

And so, on my hike today, I found this beautiful cactus flower..

 And engraved in the cacti (which may not be very kind to the cacti), are the names of people proclaiming their love to the world.

How sweet, simple, innocent, and touching. Imagine back to a time when you adored someone so much or they adored you so much that they wanted to carve your name or initials somewhere public for all the world to know, a place to record that moment permanently. 

In the sixth or seventh grade, someone asked me out. I said yes. We were too shy and awkward to speak to one another, but I ironed his initials onto a shirt, not even a t-shirt, but a blouse! We maybe held hands once, then we "broke up". 

Do you remember writing your love's initials in the sand or carving them in a tree trunk or in a school desk? How old were you and where did you do so?

Follies

I took my mom to see the musical Follies for Mother's Day. Aside from the fact that I got us balcony seats (5 rows back) and she is extremely scared of heights, it was a wonderful experience. (I did ask her before I bought the tickets if the balcony was okay, and she said yes, but if we go to another show, I'll definitely get seats on the ground floor).

The musical centers on two older couples looking back on their lives and the choices they've made. Everyone is dealing with aging and a marriage that doesn't match the hopes they'd once had for their partner. It deals with these very real topics and also manages to entertain and make us laugh.

I'm grateful for my mother for countless reasons and one special thing I'm happy we're able to share together is going to plays and musicals.

http://www.centertheatregroup.org/tickets/productiondetail.aspx?id=15461