Book suggestion!

Here is another Book selection, this time from the wise 'ol son Tyler....Rebirthing: Freedom from your Past, by Deike Begg

Let's do something NOW!

Here is a letter my wonderful friend Pashyo wrote to me, I am passing it on.... Hi, I had to tell you about the energy bill Congress is about to pass. Most of it is great gets us more solar and wind energy and even gets us more fuel efficient cars. But there is one line in there, that was added at the last minute, that gives up to $50 BILLION dollars to the Nuclear industry.Enough money to launch a whole new generation of nuclear plants. If you thought we had beat back nuclear power in the 70's, you're not alone. A bunch of musicians who fought nukes back then have picked up their instruments again. Check out this site....http://www.pol.moveon.org/nukefree Nukes present a real security threat and an environmental threat. We've got to get Congress to strip this money, before they pass the energy bill.! SO PASS THIS ON !

Malibu Fire '07

This is morning Oct. 23rd 2007 taken at sunrise from Point Dume in Malibu. Fire is raging across southern Cal.....terrible! We woke up to hurricane force winds, some say as high as 108 mph on Sunday the 22nd. I walk down the driveway to check things out, what trees have gone down etc. The driveway looks like a world war has just happened. The trees above me bend at right angles, I duck, and cover my head as leaves and limbs are falling. Just then a large crack, barely heard over the wind, and I see the transformer out in the front go off, sparks everywhere. The 40 foot pine tree falls on all of our wires and the transformer has started a fire in the trees. Todd my neighbor is on the street and yells , "I saw it, I have it on video, Call the Fire Dept." I can see the flames lit up inside the trees, and run back to the house to call. The Fire Dept. is stretched beyond belief....they take 40 minutes to respond, meanwhile the pine tree falling has extinguished the flames. The problem now is there are live electrical wires hanging in dry leaves....yikes, this is serious. Before the tree had taken out our power we do see on TV the terrible fire in Malibu about a 5 min. drive from us. It's at my daughters in laws house, her husband has gone to his parents to see what he can do....the roads are still open. There is no TV, do you understand how terrible it is to not be able to know what and where it is burning. Thank God, Britt has TV, she calls, or I call every 5 minutes. I finally at this moment realize , yes, I do NEED a cel phone, it is a reality now that we have no power I have no connection to Britt to see the TV. She brings me her cel phone, both driveways are covered by electrical, and utility wires dangling precariously overhead, or on the ground. There was nothing I could do so I went in and layed down for a moment, something tells me to get up....I go in the front to see 6-7 people with rakes, shovels, brooms, fire extiguishers putting out another fire in the trees. Thank goodness for the fanatical horse ladies across the street, they are there freaking about their horses trying to move them to a safe location. I realize I am lost without the TV, I cannot see what is going on, this is nerve racking. It's so damn hot! That night was bitch sleeping.

My crazy office

This is my silly office, can't you hear the music blasting in the background?

Snaggies in Malibu

Here is my buddy, raggedy snaggies, he is so funny. Every night we do they chew on my hand game, I put my fingers in his mouth and he pretends like he's attacking me, it's just so funny. He gets a little worked up when we do this, especially if one of his stuffed animals is near.

The girls go to NEW YORK!

The 4 girls are goin'to New York! We will be there for 3 days then we're driving to Rhode Island. Fun, well we will see.... Mystic Conneticut is on the way so of course we have to stop for Pizza....Mystic Pizza! I'll have to keep notes on the funny adventures we are going to have. It should be a blast.

These are paintings that went to New York!

Just thought I'd add some of the paintings that went to New York to the opening of Andrew Lloyd Weber's broadway show...."Bombay Dreams"

Went to New York!

" I am utterly and miserably unqualified for life without my double shot grande non-fat caramel macchiato....sigh "

Went to New York!

Went to New York!

From the East/West series...Do you remember this line from an Eddie Murphy movie?

Chinamen's Hat

Driving up to the North Shore

Here is a giant chunk of my heart !

My son Tyler.....he and I are a lot alike although he looks like his dad he has my joie de vie! He makes me laugh so much, and is a wise old soul. I just love him so much!

My 2 girls

Here are the 2 special girls in my life, woops the 3rd Charlie baby wasn't around when this pic was shot. I love these 2 faces with everything in my soul.....they are my heart! My daughter Britt, and her daughter Cooper on Waikiki Sept/2006

Here's my swef!

Here is Swef, my hubby! We were visiting family on the north shore of Oahu. Isn't this just a great spot? It's just outside Haleiwa.

Coopers tush, so cute on Waikiki!

I had to postpone my trip!

Shocking as it may seem, I have had to postpone my trip until March 08'.....I need not say more, it's just damn depressing! Changing 4 flights is just the thing I was waiting to do.

Slamm is SLAMMED!

So.....Slamma got SLAMMED and a good one! I woke up on Friday with a pain in my back and side, It was 5 am so I went to the computer to study my French for a bit. Within an hour I was pacing, crying, and barfing....not fun. Swef (hubby)got up and drove me 60 miles an hour into town, santa monica, to the emergency room, me crying, and moaning next to him. Here is the funny thing....I realized how you just do NOT give a damn when you are in pain. I didn't care where we parked, or about the parking lot attendant staring at me, or the security guard, or the nurses or for that matter even the doctor. Pain takes away any feelings of obligations, a smile, kind word, nod of acknowledgement....it leaves you open and raw...primitive, your immediate needs upmost and demanding. As I lay, and pace writhing in pain, I have one thought in mind....morophine....I NEED SOME NOW! Man o man, I see why people get addicted. This stuff is awesome. Put a stop to the agonizing within 15 seconds of it going into my IV. I paddle down the hall with the nurse to Xray, and at this point an so peaceful and morophined out, just floating along. So the problem....I have a tiny KIDNEY STONE! Are you kidding, it felt like I was giving birth to a water buffalo and it was trying to get out of my right lower back. For those of you lucky to have never had this experience.....I have had 2 kids...THIS IS WORSE THAN CHILD BIRTH! That's right! I bow down to the tiny stone! It brought the big slamma to her knees! After sleeping for 2 days, I realize I am leaving in a week, and I need to go healthy. I am feeling good, one morning I wake up and the pain is just gone. The magic kidney stone fairy must have come in the middle of the night, it's gone I feel good. I need to get back on my walking program and gear up for the miles I'll be walking. It is now...6 days until I leave!

C'est dix jours!

C'est dix jour jusqu'a ce que je vole d'a paris. Il ya a si beaucoup de faire avant que je pars. Une chose et ma valise est trop petite. Je pourrai obtenir probablement quelques sandwiches de jambon et l'interieur de chaussures de tennis de lui. J'ai la planifie de ne pas dormir pour trois heures quand je pars premierement. Alors si je dors pour sept heures je dois etre bonne! J'ai allors a attendre le vol a Nuremburg pour sept hueres. J'obtiens dans L'Allemagne ( Germany) a dix hueres.Mon soeur et son Mattias de mari me predont a l'aeroport....Alors,l'ammusement commence!

Summer is almost over !

Summer is pretty much over, there is less trash on the beach, that's how I tell. Well, o.k. and the fact that it is getting really cold in the morning when I have my coffee outside at 6am. I really could not believe Labor Day at the beach, I have never seen that many people, the highway was disgustingly blocked everywhere. I'm sure it didn't help that over the hill in the valley it was registering 117 degrees! I went to the beach the next day at my daughters beach club, and it was so nice...maybe 3 people on the whole beach. Just relaxed. It is ONLY 16 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE FOR PARIS! OH LA LA !

I just love this face!

Julia Roberts in a past life!

Vingt-quarte jours! Je suis partir

I have been reading a lot of really great books, There is a really great book on the top travelers book list called....Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's a fantastic book, that I didn't want to end. The LA Times says.." A meditation on love in it's many forms-love of food, language, humanity, God, and most meaningful for Gilbert, love of self....Gilbert's wry, unfettered account of her extraordinary journey lets even the most cynical reader dare to dream of someday finding God deep in a meditation cave in India, or, perhaps, over a transcendental slice of pizza." I love that description....I've been reading a lot of women's travel stories, theres a great series called "Travelers Tales". What strikes me most is basically how brave some of these women are. That's the one thing they are have in common, their bravery. I mean taking off for a year in India on a motorcycle, that has got to be tough.I think it's fantastic! You really have your eyes open on a trip like that. My new thing is reading travel blogs, I guess I'm living vicariously thru them, but what the hell. There's a great wesite www.travelpod.com just some great stories and experiences. You read thru them and really feel like you know the person. I have to put some richness in my descriptions when I'm writing and traveling. It just makes it yummy!

30 day COUNT DOWN!

I am in count down mode...30 days. I found a round trip ticket to Paris. Now I just have to get to Nuremburg where my sister will pick me up. I really wanted to take the train, but it doesn't leave until late in the day so I won't be able to see much. I found a half way decent ticket to Germany only thing is, I have to kill about 5 hours in the Charles De Gaulle airport, ugh! What the hell am I saying??? I'll be in Paris! It'll give me a chance to practice moi francaise, all 35 days of it. I'm sure they'll love me, even if I am asking for a cup of goat! I just love this pic, she looks so full joy!

I'm gettin' excited!

O.K. I'm getting sooooo excited.My trip is near. I just realized that this is the first time in 11 years that I will be off work for a month! A MONTH.When I think about being in Europe and not working for a month I start drooling, I can't help it. It's a natural reflex, like when your picking your face. I'll be able to wake up when I want, eat what I want, and do and see what I want.What a friggin concept. This is simply an exercise in kindness towards myself, how fantastic is that. The ol' pat yourself on the back European voyage. I'm looking for a slower kinder world, what about you? I think most people cram everyday of their vacation with things to do and I intend to....Kick Back and float.I have been taken over by a huge force.. French... I'm obsessed. I really should have been a spy. You know how they have to travel and blend in, knowing everything about a country it's customs, language etc.I am perfect for this, I throw myself into things and beat them til they whimper and die. How do you think I got the name Slamma, I slamm things....done! My Brother in law was sent to the Monterey language school and crammed with German to eaves drop on telephone calls.....I could do that. I'm obsessed with learning French! Hey I'm a mature, chubby woman, who would think I was a spy? I could getaway with so much, contraband to Bolivia, confidential data chips to Moscow, a quiet delivery some where in Bulgaria at dawn. I'm so undercover! No one would be looking for a chubby blonde/grey ! I wouldn't be able to tell anyone what I do for a living. I'd get strange calls at 3 am and then leave the house. There would be mud, exotic mud, from somewhere in the congo on my flip flops. Why doesn't the CIA just call me, I'm perfectfor this. I know how to make a great pot of stew, can sew a micro chip into my hem and diffuse a bomb. Back to my French. C'est tres difficile! I am studying 2-3 hours in the morning and 2 hours ce soir.I accomplished a 480 page workbook in about 2 1/2 weeks. God when will I get this. My mind is not accustomed to different languages, it's an American mind.....we don't have neighbors like Europe that cross over. Well, O.K> Mexico. My neighbor said "why don't you learn Spanish, you'll be in Spain" Ugh I hate Spanish, I want to learn a romantic language....I'm from Southern Cal...I hear Spanish all the time...I'm looking for exotic spy language here! So I went on a French Forum and met a really nice french girl named Gaelle, she wants help with her English, and I definitely need help with my French. So we are corresponding. She's really smart, I can just tell, I feel dumb when I write her, even though she says my writing is good. She did say she could understand what I was saying.....I felt as though I might be asking her for glue for my pasta, socks for the frog, and was there a rat in her purse... or something brilliant like that. Well, they do say that as you get older you need to use your brain, so you don't shrivel in the mind. It really helps me Gaelle, you are too patient avec moi! I am in count down mode now...My trip is 37 days....just to say it makes me salivate...Au revoir...

My Little Friend

This is Roshni Parveen, she is 9 years old and lives in Calcutta ( Kolkata) I sponsor Roshni, and try to get her the things she needs, for school, home, and her medical and dental care. She lives with her father, her mother passed away last year, and she has 4 other siblings. They live in a one room house, all of them. Her father is a day worker and only makes $36.00 a month. Roshini's favorite color is green and she loves to draw, she sent me a picture of a dog, because I told her about Bailey ( Snaggies) Now really, just think about supporting 5 children on $ 36.00 a month, even if you live in India, it must be so impossible. I double his income so I know that helps. What if everyone in the world sponsored someone less fortunate. Wow ! That would be incredible wouldn't it. Why couldn't that happen. I waste money every month, I'm sure all of you do also. There really is no reason why people are going hungry in this day of mass communication....I don't understand. O.K. So if you want to help Roshni, that would be incredible. I really would like them to be able to move into a bigger house. What I would relly like to do is to be able to help her father start his own business, a cart, boat, etc. I don't know what but he will know. Amazing things happen if you just put it out there. I saw something the other day, a woman started a web site for a girl in Honduras for an operation, she got it! If I could raise $ 5,000 to send them that would be so AMAZING!! He would be able to live for 10 years and take care of his children on a measly 5 grand. That would enable him to start a business also, which in turn will help feed the children of course. If you would like to contribute, I would love you forever!...you can thru my Pay Pal acct. It is at www.paypal.com.....just put in my email adrs.( You might know my email adrs. already) write me first, I don't want to post it on the internet. I'll take anything you can give. Instead of stopping for a slurpy send the 2 dollars to me. I don't care what it is.! I have great hope that I will be able to help them. Come on guys.....open your hearts.....throw me a twenty....luvs to you all! Deb

I cannot believe it!

I got my passport! I cannot believe it! It's been under 2 weeks. The new passports have a chip in them and a small gold logo on the front. You're suppose to be able to scan it, and pass ahead in some customs lines, that is of course if the country you are entering has this technology available. So I am ready to go, woops except I have not gotten my air ticket yet...hee heeee

Whatever...

So I was at the Bodhi Tree bookstore, just leaving I found an Indian ( India) comic book....what? Never seen this is my life. I was facinated. Got home and got an idea for some art. The western ways are slowly creeping into foreign lands, right? So I will do some art that shows western ideas that have crept into other societies. What better than India. So these comis books have these wonderful images of Gods, Goddesses, warriors etc. I did an entire series of these, and the gallery that represents my artwork loves them....they crack up! I delivered about 5-6 paintings to them. Everyone loved them. So I get a call from someone that says she is a producer in New York....yeah....She wants 7 canvases shipped back to her for the opening of Bombay Dreams by Andrew Lloyd Weber.....I can't believe it. I and everyone else is so amazed and excited. The paintings get crated, after so much work, and they are off. This is one that I did not sell, and sold on Ebay to a young woman in Washington DC, she is an attorney. So all in all it was a a very successful concept!

So this is our group...SANGOMA

So this is our group SANGOMA we are a drumming, percussion group. This day was so much fun. We were in the St. Patricks Day parade in Redondo beach...it was really big! Lots of people, bands, cars, motorcycles, etc. Don't we look hilarious? It was so much fun. We will be there again next year! The bands website......

Snaggies hoping I get my passport!

So I finally just went to the main Post Office in Malibu, and no one was there, it was too late...Yikes! The next day I went in the morning and there was a lovely Japanese woman that was the postmaster. She took all of my paperwork and sent my passport in, I have my fingers crossed, and Snaggies has his paws crossed we get it in time. I continue to study my French

They tricked me!

It's a gorgous day...I walk to the mailbox and am so excited to see something from The Untited States Department of State.......voila....MY PASSPORT! In anticipation, I rip open the envelope to find my old passport and a letter with a new form to fill out, saying my passport was too old, they could not renew it the form I filled out. THEY DID CASH THE CHECK THOUGH!!!!! So now it is 3 weeks later...will I get it...it does not look good. I really hate this kind of drama. Now if I am reading this correctly I can take it to the post office 2 minutes from my house. Why did I drive 45 min. through ugly beach traffic in the first place....cause I was told I had to by someone on the phone in their office, that's why! Merde!

Why can't they make it work?

O.K. so I'm getting excited now...My trip is seeming real to me. I'm on my way to the F.B.I. building in Westwood, Ca. to get my passport renewed. I got the pics, had to go to 2 places, because the first pics the girl didn't tell me she was going to take the picture and I looked like a fat corpse if you can picture that. For the experience I pay $7.00, I end up going to another place for $12.99 and look a little better, come to find out they charge me twice so I'm into it now for $ 32.00, o.k. I see how they play now. I've got the pics in my hot little hand and go to enter the building when a very large Federal Officer puts his beefy arm about where my nose is suppose to be. "Do you have an appointment"? No, I say quietly smiling, I bat an eyelash....nothing....there is not even a glimmer of a smile, I'm not sure he's human. This guy hates his job, you can tell by the taco sauce on his lapel. He knows it's there and knows everybody else knows it's there, and can't stand that's it's there. He's miserable. " Go to those 2 guards over there.... Get some paper work." he lumbers back into position. On my way over to the 2 guards I see a line of about 50 people and decide to get the real poop, I need to talk to them. So what I find out is that the 2 guards I'm suppose to be seeing, will tell me that I can get my passport sent to me in 4-5 weeks. They lie. Everyone in line tells me that they sent theirs in thru the mail about 10-14 weeks ago, and they still don't have their passports. They're pissed! A round little hispanic woman has words flying out of her mouth about 180 miles an hour, several people talk about storming the will call window....It's not pretty at the Federal building today. This is our Government people!!! Why is it so screwed up? I know you've all been to the DMV, you'd at least think a federal office would have their shit together....or maybe not. What am I thinking...of course not! So I end up sending my renewal in the mail, I chant over the envelope to insure a safe delivery and put it in the box. I'm also pissed off I have to pay an extra 60 bucks to expedite the thing. What are ya gunna do when your up against a behemoth ? When I get home I see on the internet that there is a huge problem, since they decided to change the passport rules and they are suffering, as is everyone else the rule change. People are missing trips. Missing weddings, funerals, vacations. State senators are fielding thousands of calls, people are mad! Oh this is just great....will I ever get mine? I've got 11 weeks before I leave. Stress is in the air. Everyone say nom yo ho renque Q !