Earthquake!!!

I have a confession to make. My blogs are going down in number each month since I started this adventure. If any of you out there are checking, I admit I am not keeping up with blogging as well as I thought I would. This blog will have an August date but it is really all about July. You see July is my birthday month and I have been celebrating since the 20th. Sorry about that but let me bring you in on some of my adventures. On my actual birthday, I had lunch with several good friends, three who share the same birth-day. One of them invited us to his home and what a special time it was. I received several phone calls from my family and friends.....the truth is they dare NOT call. Years ago, I threw a hissy-fit demanding attention be paid to me "on my birthday" and since then, they do call religiously....some just under the wire at 11:30pm but that is ok. I got several cards and left for a planned trip two days later to LA to visit my son. What a trip....OMG!

It started off with a canceled 5am flight, followed up a day later with a car accident, and finally the day before I returned home, an EARTHQUAKE!! In between, my family made great memories and had one major meltdown. I really wonder about families who never see each other or go years in between visits. Are they happier? Do they have major confrontations when they do see each other?? Well, we did and we survived. Maybe that is better...to get together knowing things could get messy but be willing to show up, walk through the stormy moments and endure so there are no regrets about not being there and some good memories often captured in a few good pictures.

The accident occurred on Friday midday when we were in lines of freeway traffic on our way to lunch and "boom", a car rear-ended us. Fortunately, the only loss was time, no one was hurt and after an hour or so, we were on our way. At night, we saw the movie, "Step-Brothers" with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly and while I did laugh several times, it really was a crude potty humor movie for eleven year old boys. Only in this movie which was rated R, the language was also over the top vulgar so eleven year olds wouldn't be allowed in to see it. I guess they were looking for the 40 year old with an 11 year old inner child. The edge was pushed way out by showing a body part (well, two of them)caressing a drum....oh yeah.

My birthday lunch with the family was Saturday at a beautiful spot in Malibu called Moonshadow. (Later, we were told the place was made famous by Mel Gibson when he spent a night partying there and ended up arrested for DUI on the Pacific Coast Highway.) It is right on the ocean and we sat out on their deck with the waves crashing below, the temperature a perfect 75 and absolutely delicious food. That night we went to the ballpark and watched the Dodgers play and win. Again, great seats, perfect weather and mind-blowing baseball plays. Sunday was my son's day and he gathered over a hundred friends at Elysian Park for a personal best celebration. It was wonderful meeting so many people who truly love him.

On Monday, everyone headed home except me and I was treated to lunch with an old friend who works in animation out of a studio in Burbank. He is directing educational videos for children of Americans overseas. Seeing how the process takes place all within their studio is so exciting. It is all done with computers, green screens, one live very talented adult male, a fun script, great direction and a terrific musical score. Dinner that night was with friends from home who live in LA. Conversation was very interesting because this former backyard neighbor is a CGI (computer generated images) expert and has worked on several big studio films, the most recent being "Batman". He has been on a hiatus since January when he finished his six months on the biggest blockbuster movie of the year. I was learning about professions that are creative and not well known to most of us.

Tuesday was my personal day since a spa treatment at the Four Seasons had been given to me as a gift from my children. I was sleeping in, taking it easy, playing solitaire on the computer when the floor rumbled. I thought...mmm this feels like a subway train is going underneath me and then I thought, OMG, this isn't a subway, it is an EARTHQUAKE!!! First off, I was in my nightgown on the fourth floor of a hotel in Burbank. I watched the room jump and shake....the tv which was 54 inches and bolted to the cabinet began to bounce up and down and sideways. I thought it was going to fall off. My thoughts raced....do I get under the table, go stand in the doorway, and what about my lack of clothes. This went on for about 15 seconds and it stopped. My heart was racing. I tried to call my son but the lines were not working. I waited. The tv was reporting the earthquake at 5.4, then 5.8. I decided to get dressed, which I did and wait for my son to take me to the spa. The wonderful woman there, a native of California, was very casual saying, the building we were in was on rollers and we wouldn't feel anything. She was so calm and so I thought well, what a way to go!!

The trip ended with the movie, "Tell No One", from the book of the same name by the American writer, Harlan Coben, but made in France with subtitles. It is a story of a husband Dr Beck, well played by Francois Cluzet whose wife is kidnapped and murdered by strangers without any apparent motive. Eight years later, he receives an email that makes him revisit the events surrounding her death. This is a true mystery, fast-paced and very complex. The plot is difficult if not impossible to figure out so just hang on as the story unfolds. Although finished in 2006 and the recipient of several awards, it is just making its way to a screen near you. I recommend you run to see it because I am sure it won't be around very long.

And, I did have one star sighting, Rosie Perez was at the spa when I was there. In person, she is very soft spoken and quite gentle.

Wednesday, I flew back east, tired but happy I was able to have such adventures, mostly good with one exception. That exception may have been necessary to appreciate all the good moments.