I went to the doctor yesterday to get my ankle checked out. I had to go to the store’s doctor if I wanted them to pay for it, so I drove to this weird industrial area of town out in the middle of nowhere and found Concentra Medical Center. I had to fill out ten pages of paper work; my medical history, descriptions of my injury and how it felt, how I injured myself, there was even a drawing of a human where I had to circle the injured parts of my body. I turned in the forms and sat in the waiting room with all the other injured people for about an hour. Finally my name was called and I walked back to the exam room. A friendly nurse with a very thick Indian accent took my temperature and blood pressure and told me to, “Remove your pants, do not remove your underwears, and please put on these shorts.” The shorts were some plasticy blue fabric and looked like a clown would own them. I considered asking to keep them but decided against it. I put on the hilarious shorts and waited for the doctor. The room was pretty cold and the exam bed was high off the floor so my feet dangled off like a little kid’s. After about five minutes my doctor came in. His name was Dr. Nick (if you watch The Simpsons you understand why this is funny. I had to say “Hi Dr. Nick!” but I don’t think he got the reference) and like the nurse he had a very thick Indian accent. He asked me all the same questions that had been on the forms then poked and prodded my ankles and knee while mumbling things like, “Very bad” and “Discoloration here and here” like he had a tape recorder. Then he said, “Get up, show me how you walk.” I took about four steps around the exam room and he says, “Ah, you cannot. Please sit down.” He then sent me to get X-rays done on both my feet and my knee. I had never had an X-ray so that was pretty interesting. I got to see all the tiny bones in my feet. Nothing was broken and no tendons were damaged. I got to put my pants back on while I waited for the final diagnosis. The nurse came back with a pair of crutches and an air cast for my ankle. Dr. Nick came in right after her and told me I have an incredible tolerance for pain; I have a full leg sprain, I need to be sitting or laying down 90% of the time, and I would need to come back for physical therapy. The crutches are only for when I’m in severe pain, but I have to wear the air cast all the time. I am going to drive to my work in a little while to give them the paper work and buy cat food, then I have to figure out what to do while I sit around. I guess find an interesting book.

I was in a terrible mood when I woke up today. My ankle is swollen and bruised from moving a bunch of heavy cat litter and fish tank stands at work Sunday night. (The floor cleaning crew was coming, so everything movable had to be off the floor in just a few hours. For some reason they pushed a lot of that job on me. Maybe they want me to quit?) I also had to stay at work until 5 a.m. to supervise the floor crew. I spent Monday in bed unable to move my knee and ankles and hoping I would not be disabled for life, then I had to go in to work yesterday. By the end of the day my right ankle was two times the size of my left and slightly purple. I called my mom this morning to see what I should do. (she used to be a geriatric care giver and always knows what to do with minor injuries) She told me to take some pain killer, get an ankle brace and keep it elevated as much as possible. Not the answer I wanted to hear since I have to work the rest of the week, but my boss will have to deal with it, since it’s his fault in the first place. So then I was in a very bad mood and also very hungry. (Monday was my grocery store day, so I had no food in the house) I left to the pharmacy, intending to drive through some fast food place for breakfast when I remembered a little cafe I’d seen about a week ago called “The Sunshine Cafe”. I thought about it and decided to try it out. I’m so glad that I did. It’s a hole in the wall in an ancient strip mall with two churches with weird cult sounding names, a barber shop and a dry cleaning place. (the whole place looks run down and like it might crumble in the next strong wind) It was fantastic. Their sign was surrounded with little shiny disks that moved in the wind and had a huge smiling retro cartoon sun logo. As I walked inside I smelled hot coffee, eggs, toast and some sweet dessert (pie?) they were baking for the lunch crowd. The seats were slightly torn bright orange and yellow vinyl booths with matching flowers on the wire lamp shades. The crowd  was mostly couples and old men all 70 or 80 years old, aside from a biker gang of guys in their 50′s, who were enthusiastically debating which Broadway show was the best, and if Broadway was better than ballet. There was not a cell phone, fancy coffee drink or laptop computer in sight. A sweet old waitress with a perfect curly hairstyle told me I could sit any place I liked, so I picked a booth, ordered a spinach omelet, hash browns, an English muffin and coffee and listened to the old couple behind me talk about seeing The Andrews Sisters on their fourth date. I cleaned my plate (the food was delicious) and left feeling like the sun was indeed shining a little brighter.

We did it! We packed up all our stuff, rented a U-Haul, put the cats in their carriers and drove out of L.A. I had to give up my fish, but I know Eddy will take good care of them. Now I can get a bigger tank and Glofish (genetically modified Zebra Danios that are as Neon as the Vegas Strip and illegal in California) Some things are the same; my job still sucks, I still get no sleep, I still worry about everything too much and I’m still way too busy. A few things have changed; I paint again, we eat much better food when we have time to cook it, we live in a cheaper, much nicer place, and I can breath the air here without feeling like I’m inhaling everyone’s exhaust. The views of the mountains are also fantastic. I didn’t think there would be flowers here, but they are everywhere. We’ve been too busy to go to any shows or anything like that, but I have bought new dishes, a fun green dress, a floppy black sun hat, some great books and wine glasses  from the 1950′s and a new computer desk. Things are much better here, but I am still going to look for a new job. I need to stop typing for now. I am going to make William a nice dinner, (he’s been working 60 hours a week and deserves it) and need to clean up my fantastic new kitchen a little bit.

OBAMA WINS!!! THANK YOU AMERICA!

I VOTED. I WAITED IN LINE FOR HALF AN HOUR TO VOTE AGAINST PROP 8, FOR PROP 2, AND FOR OBAMA.

THE RESULTS ON ALL THE PROPS ARE NOT IN YET. I REALLY HOPE THINGS WILL GO WELL.  

I just got off work.  It rained some last night and this morning. I went to work at 6 am, woke up at 5 am. Took a bubble bath the night before. I have been taking photos everywhere I go. I will post some eventually.

We stayed at home for Halloween. A few people came over. I worked until 8pm. No costume carnival.

There is a terrible dissatisfaction I feel working where I work. I want to be doing something meaningful, not being a corporate slave. I am sick of only having enough time to go to work, eat, sleep, and do a few small things. I don’t even feel like I have access to the creative part of my brain when I’m constantly working.  I also really hate most of the people. Most of them are bitter and ignorant. Others just have a cloud of general anger or sadness. I know it’s somewhat because no one has any money right now; but I grew up broke and being bummed or angry at random retail employees doesn’t change the fact that you’re broke. You should instead try to keep your chin up, have hope, and try to make the world a better, nicer place for everyone. There are a few people who make the day better: the lady who wears recycled clothes, has about 20 senior rescue cats and brought me a “No On Prop 8″ sign, the little kids who want to be Vets, all the kitten rescue people, some of my co-workers, William…the rest are pretty much terrible. The way I see people treat other people and defenseless animals makes me fear for the future of the human race. I wish I could change things.

I really try to stay optimistic, but it’s hard. I would really love to paint or write, (really write, not this online bullshit) but I have no inspiration. I want to write something that highlights the ridiculous nature of humans; I hate the way we value possessions over peace, opinion and religion over basic human nature and human rights, and work over physical and mental health. I especially hate the repression of basic human instinct, but there’s a lot more wrong with us than that. It hurts me on a deep level to be part of the human race sometimes, but I guess that the sins of the world should weigh on everyone’s mind a little bit.

I have work until tuesday, then I have to VOTE!!!

I just got off work an hour ago.

I bought the Betta. He’s so friggin’ cool! He is orange and blue. I named him Halloween. Speaking of Halloween, I work 10-6pm

*freaking sweet*

I didn’t even have to ask for it off. Now William and I can go to Costume Carnival in West Hollywood. (I will post pics)

Dude…there was this Evil Old Woman today at work. She yelled in my face and made Sierra cry in anger. I wanted to kick her ass in the parking lot. She was so angry because she was trying to return something we don’t even sell…and probably because she takes too much prescription medication and can’t get laid. She was there for over an hour after I got back from lunch. There was this FABU gay Asian boy couple that started making fun of the Evil Old Woman right in front of her, saying things like, “I should slap that Bitch!” and “I’m sorry about HER!” they even came back after eating at in and out burger to make sure she was gone. They kept calling her the scandalous bitch. Other people were also great. Everybody made her look like a Jackass. We all had a good time after closing making fun of every detail about her.

I almost died a million times on the way home. I am sick of LA traffic. Other things are horrible. The economy has “imploded” according to CNN. That would explain bags of cat food going up $5 a bag in a few months and more and more people paying in change. I don’t agree with many aspects of modern politics…for example the fact that women are barely involved even though we are the majority in the U.S. and on the planet…but I really hope that Americans will care enough to not vote for Mcain/Palin. I mean…come on, the crazy post traumatic stress disorder old man is an inch from death and then we’ll have Caribou Barbi as president…do you guys know what the world would think of her? Especially all the sexist bastard nations? Holy crap. She’s a 2nd place beauty contest girl! They don’t let their women show their faces or have Clitorises! Does anyone think they could possibly respect a bimbo like that? I support powerful, wonderful women being in upper politics, but Palin just seems to like being horrible. Making rape victims buy their own rape kits and telling them they can’t have abortions if they get knocked up from the greatest psychological trauma of their lives?…you know who could say all this better…

Canada seems really nice besides the super cold winter. I can rock a turtle neck and snow boots…and what about all the other interesting countries?

Fruit Bowl, Pumpkin And Antique Vase On My Kitchen Table

I am going to get a new Betta today. I have a little tank all set up for him on my bathroom counter where I can watch him while I take a bath… *Super Relaxing*

I am going to buy him a glow-in-the-dark plant and glow-in-the-dark pebbles so he’ll be like a little night light at night. It will be hard to decide on one Betta; there are so many different colors. I will take a picture of him to post as soon as I buy him.

I cleaned my house yesterday, did laundry, cooked chicken enchiladas with spicy rice and patty pan squash…I also bought a new trash can and trash bags.

I bought the fish a stick of Bamboo. Here is a picture of Rock Lobster and the Bamboo.

A woman on Reseda holding a large yellow sign with the words: PROP 8 = FREE SPEECH

I had to work on Saturday. As I drove past the Reseda/Nordhoff intersection I noticed about 10 people holding bright yellow signs. The following short phrases were printed in bold black print:

 ”Prop 8 = Less Government”

“Prop 8 = Religious Freedom”

“Prop 8 = Free Speech”

My first instinct was to throw my middle finger up at these Homophobic Bastards who can’t mind their own freaking business. Instead I pulled my car over to ask the woman with the free speech sign what she thought the sign meant. She said that 60%  of California voters had voted gay marriage down and it was overturned. She also told me that if Prop 8 passes the state constitution will be amended to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. (I already knew, I read my voter information packets) I feel like they might as well make it a law that Love only exists between a man and a woman. I know how important marriage is to some people and to deny them normal human rights is disgusting. In a day and age when people can get “married for fun” in Vegas; to tell people who are really in love that they can’t get married is sick, cruel, unethical and immoral. If Prop 8 passes it  would reinforce the idea that LGBT Americans don’t deserve the same rights as other Americans. Not only do LGBT Americans have to fight for normal civil rights, they have to fight for acceptance in everyday social situations to the point where many people feel the need to ”stay in the closet” at work, school, and even at home. I asked the woman holding the free speech sign why she personally felt so strongly about this issue. She told me that in Massachusetts, when gay marriage passed, it became required to teach gay marriage as an option in all public schools. I asked why that was such a problem, and she said that she didn’t want her grandson learning moral values at school, he needed to learn them at home. She even went as far as to say that no marriage should be taught in schools, which is impossible since marriage is a legal term. (Why would he trust his teacher more than his family anyway? Or maybe it’s because she would have to give her grandson reasons why it’s bad to be gay?) The question is this: What is she so afraid of? Does she think that her grandson will become gay because it’s taught as an option in public schools? So afraid that she would spend her Saturday morning armed with a fanny pack and sunglasses, full make up and hairstyle, in the hot sun, waving a huge yellow sign at 6 lanes of traffic in Liberal LA? I just don’t know about the world today. For more information/opinion check out my boyfriend’s blog…

I have lived in LA for over 1 year and have visited my boyfriend here for over 5 years. Every year around this time the skies fill with smoke and ash rains down.

Local news channels show constant footage of panic in the streets, affected people or animals, and of course hillsides ablaze with heroic fire fighters and aircraft doing their best to minimise damage to structures and people. (My brother fights fires in Westport, California) Last year we watched a news reporter doing a story on his own house buring behind him.

The air quality in LA is rarely nice, but the constant smoke make your eyes and lungs burn slightly. Local schools and businesses close down due to air quality. People are in  a terrible mood because everyone knows someone affected.

We have our cat carriers ready even though we are far from where the fires are currently burning. Our families call every day to make sure we are still safe. I took some photos of the smoke, but I still need to edit them.

I have today off, so I decided to make Pot Roast. It takes forever so I can never make it on days that I work. I went and bought some crusty sour dough bread and a large chunk of beef from the supermarket, chopped up some veggies, and threw it all together with some wine and spices. It’s simmering on my stove now, filling the apartment with warmth and good smells.

I also bought plums, pears, pomegranates, and a tiny pumpkin. They are on my kitchen table.

I spent all day cleaning my house, grocery shopping, cooking…anything to keep me busy. I still can’t stop thinking about my Dad. He’s sick. I’ve always felt like he’s bullet-proof. I can’t wait to see him. He’s being really strong in a scary situation. I want to write a book about him. His life has been a crazy interesting adventure so far…so many twists and turns, saving lives, fatherhood, moving around, going to rock concerts in San Francisco during the 1960′s, (he saw all the big names) his crazy jobs, his love for my mother…he’s an awesome guy.

I work at 5:30 in the morning tomorrow. There are still stars out when I drive to work. I need to fall asleep early tonight or I’ll be exhausted all day tomorrow. 

I spend a lot of time thinking of the house I’ll have someday. I want a beautiful light aqua bathroom with a huge bath tub, a kitchen with all kinds of kitchen gadgets, a garden with a bird feeder…maybe a rescued Boston terrier like this little guy. <–

REMEMBER: NEVER BUY A CAT OR DOG!!! 25% OF ALL DOGS IN SHELTERS ARE PUREBRED!!! PLEASE SAVE A LIFE!!!

It’s very important to take time to relax and reflect. I think I’ll take a bubble bath and relax. I’m going to listen to the classical radio station because of the lack of commercials. I used to paint. I think I’ll start again.