Tonight our family gathered in Pasadena at the Levitt Pavilion to hear the Chambers Brothers and to have a visit with my brother Sam, who is visiting from Tennessee. This was a picnic in the park and Rachael and Ariel, Liz, Sarah, Gregorio, Luna and Nico joined Ray, Sam and me. (Ron had a prior commitment.)…
Ray’s Insides – Our Garage
Ray and I have been cleaning our garage today. This is not a small task since we physically handle so many antiques and collectibles when dealing with estates. Still, this space is so cool and unique I wanted to share some pictures of it. This is classic Ray Beaty with tons of stuff hung on…
My Day’s Work
Today was one of those days where I first met with my writing friend, Michael, and we worked for two hours on our individual works-in-progress, then I headed outside to organize junk for a few hours before returning inside to work with students on various important projects in their lives. One was a Senior Class speech…
A Gift from a Kindred Spirit (and Kin)
I came home from Ojai today to find that I had an unexpected package in the mail. I saw the return address was a hearing clinic in Austin so I immediately knew that this was from my cousin-in-law, Elaine, the wife of my first cousin, Lee. Hmmm, I thought, is Elaine sending me something else…
Lost Post about Grilling
I just lost my entire blog post when WordPress crashed. Darn it! Let it suffice to say that I grilled up some tasty chicken thighs tonight here in Ojai. I know that is not interesting but my now lost post described all about the grill Ray reclaimed by sanding off all the rust and repainting….
Overnight Visitors
We had two little visitors last night and tonight we are up in Ojai. We will be here for a couple of days working. Luna and Nico were a pleasure as always. Poor little Nico has four teeth breaking through at the same time so he was a champ considering his low grade fever and…
Movie Night: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
We gathered this evening for a movie night with daughters, Liz and Rachael; Liz’s boyfriend, Ron; his father, Rick; and a family friend, Karson. First, everyone came here for a quick pick-up supper of turkey sandwiches and chips before heading to the Ahrya Fine Arts movie theater in Beverly Hills for the big screen showing….
Striving for a Better Life: The Story Of One of My Students
I am working with one young man, Fong, who is a Vietnamese American whose parents stowed away in a cargo ship to escape the brutal Communist regime in Vietnam in the late 1980’s. They were granted political asylum in the U.S. and are citizens. Fong is a UCLA graduate and is applying to medical school….
College Essay Central
This has been a heavy college essay day. I had three students for two hours each and three students (triplets) for an hour and a half meeting with their parents at Mel’s Diner. (They are from Florida and have been visiting colleges in CA). Lots of good discussion and writing going on, I must say….
A Gift in the Mail Today
Today when my husband was checking the mail he said, “Looks like you actually got a piece of personal mail. How often does that happen these days?” I took the small envelope from him and recognized the sender’s name, Nancilynn, one of my Story Circle Network Circle-6 writing sisters. How nice, I thought, for Nancilynn…
20 Minutes a Day 