Today we had Peter Kempson’s requiem mass at St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood. He planned the whole thing with Father Davies after receiving his terminal diagnosis, and Peter told me that he was pleased with the readings and hymns that he had picked. He was right; it was quite lovely. I served as one of…
Category: Los Angeles
A Few Facts about My Favorite Fruit: Watermelon
Watermelon is my favorite fruit. In fact, I just consumed about a fourth of a watermelon a few minutes ago and I am currently staring at its rind. I am also very tired today after a long round trip to Ojai and Santa Barbara. I thought sharing a few facts on watermelons might be edifying…
An Unexpected Ending
The other day, I was headed out to Pasadena to see Sarah, Gregorio and baby Luna. Ray was already there so I was driving our old but trusty Jaguar, vintage 2003. I love this car. We bought it secondhand in 2006, and besides having low mileage, we were even able to talk to the mechanic…
James Brown’s New Bio-Pic: Head on Out and See It.
This evening we went to see the James Brown bio-pic, Get On Up, starring Chadwick Boseman as James Brown. It must be said that despite James Brown’s checkered past, I have always been a huge fan of his music. I grew up in the 50’s, ‘60’s and ‘70’s and he truly is the Godfather of…
Six Degress of Separation from West Africa’s Ebola Epidemic
My daughter Sarah told me today that many of her medical school friends in Fort Worth worked with Dr. Kent Brantly, the doctor who has been infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia and who has just arrived at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Sarah did not work with him personally because she chose to do…
A Little Overnight Visitor
We are having an overnight visitor today: grandbaby Luna. Her mom has an overnight shift at the hospital and her dad is headed off on an archaeological dig to Baja. Auntie Rachael is here for the night, too, but we get to have Luna upstairs with us. What heaven to have this girl with us….
Baby Luna’s Visit Today
Watching Perry Mason, after seeing one episode of the Twilight Zone and three episodes of Louie CK. This is tv night in our house, holed up in our bedroom with the air conditioning on. This is after a day of having a visit with baby Luna and daughter Rachael. Here are a couple of pictures…
Breaking Out of the Rut
Tonight I am feeling proud of myself. I did something that I usually count on Ray to do: hook up the receiver that came today to replace the old one from Direct TV. Normally, Mr. Mechanical goes in and sorts through all the wires from all our various media equipment, which includes not just a…
Saving Money: A Nice Surprise
Today I spent most of the day figuring out how to save money on my phone, cable and Internet bills. Boring, yes? Important, also yes. These companies are delighted when you just pay their bills without asking for any new promotions that might save money. They are not so eager for you to suggest there…
Good-bye to My Friend, Peter.
My friend, Peter Kempson, died from cancer early this morning at 1:06 am. This was two months after his terminal diagnosis. His partner, Jan, said that Peter was not in pain and that he passed away quietly. Jan also said that Peter was lucid up until his death. I will miss my friend, though I am glad…
20 Minutes a Day 