Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Sunday’s bike ride was my route up to Tujunga to see the house where “E.T.” was filmed. It’s at the top of a very steep hill, which is the real point of the ride. The last time we did this route was last summer on a very hot weekend. This time it was hot, but not nearly like last year.

We started out from the park and rode up into Altadena. Then over to La Cañada. It was there that Don spaced out and ran into a jogger. The jogger was fine, but Don fell and hurt his knee. So after a quick cleanup, he headed back home. We continued on, up the hill.

In Montrose, we saw a deer trotting down the street, followed closely by a truck from L.A. County Animal Control. The deer turned off down a side street, and the truck followed it.

Heading up La Crescenta Blvd, we ground up the long hill. Then John’s chain started skipping. We had a look at it and saw that one of the pins was coming out, and the chain was about to break. So he turned back.

When we got to the top, we rode across into Tujunga, and finally up the hill to Elliott’s house. At the top, we looked at the view for a few minutes before going back down. Then it was all downhill back to Montrose and and our snack stop at Oven Fresh.

The most fun thing about Oven Fresh was always the orange juice machine. It was terribly entertaining to watch, and the juice was good. But this time, it was gone. They said that it had broken down, and that they were not going to fix or replace it. So I guess that about wraps it up for that place.

After the snack stop, we went down the long hill into Glendale, and then turned and rode Chevy Chase back up and over to La Cañada again. Then east into Pasadena, and back to the park. It was a nice ride, and we did something like 3,700 feet of climbing.

42 miles.
cycling

On Saturday night, Shari and I went over to Hollywood. The occasion was a party and book signing at Antebellum Gallery for my friend Elayne’s new book, The Piercing Bible. I’ve known Elayne for more than 20 years now, and seeing her is always a treat.

The art on display at the gallery was an odd mix of old Bettie Page bondage pictures, clown paintings, and photos of amputees. And the crowd that turned out was equally entertaining. I saw a number of people who I hadn’t seen in many years. I also got to introduce Shari to my friends Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene. That was some fun.

It was a very fun evening. And as a piece of trivia: I’ve known Elayne since 1987, but she’s never actually stuck a needle through me. The one time I had an appointment to get pierced by her, she called in sick and so Jim Ward did it instead.

Today’s bike ride was a little sightseeing trip around northeast Los Angeles. We met at Live Oak Park in Temple City and then set out to the west.

The group quickly broke up, and the ‘fast group’ consisted of me and Gene. We rode across San Marino and South Pasadena into Highland Park. We had a quick side trip to peek into Heritage Square. Then we crossed the freeway and headed up Mt. Washington to pass the Self-Realization Fellowship at the top. Then down the very steep and rough route back into Highland Park.

From there, we headed north, back into Pasadena. The actual ride route had us going back to Temple City, but Gene and I both bailed and went home. It was a nice ride.

34 miles.

Addendum: There was one bit of unpleasantness on this ride. On my way down to Live Oak Park, I was run off the road by a jerk in a minivan. I yelled at him, and he just moved over into my lane and pushed me off the road. Memo to motorists: If you’re going to drive like an asshole, don’t do it in a car with an easily-remembered vanity plate. Yes, “SQSH NUT”, I’m referring to you. And I’ll be looking for you.

cycling

This evening when I got home from work, I had an unusual situation. I had no kid, no date, and no pressing obligation to do anything in particular. So I got on my bike and went for a ride.

I rode over to the Rose Bowl. There are always a lot of people riding around there, so I figured I might find some company. And I did draft off one guy who was going about 100 miles an hour for a while, which was fun. Then, after about five times around the Bowl, I got bored and turned off. I headed up Lida St, past the Art Center College of Design, up into Glendale. Then down Chevy Chase into La Cañada. Then up Windsor Rd into Altadena, and back across on Mendocino. It was a very pleasant evening ride.

35 miles.
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When we got home from the party on Saturday night, I noticed that my boot felt a bit funny. When I had a look, I saw that the sole had cracked. Not the usual boot sector corruption that I worry about, but annoying none the less…

Today’s ride was a flat one. It’s a route I made up last year that tries to avoid most hills. We did this ride on this same weekend last year. I figured this would be a good choice, since I was up late last night, and didn’t get to ‘lights out’ until 2:00.

As it turned out, the lack of hills just made everyone go faster. So it was still a bit of a challenge. But it was fun. I added a few miles at the beginning as a warmup, and a few at the end to run a quick errand. And I was still home by 11:30. So it was a good ride.

46 miles.
cycling

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We Really, now. You should know by now that I’m just putting this fake text in here as a teaser. “OH FUCK!” But at the same time, what you’re probably imagining is very likely not far off the mark. Heh heh heh. So overall, it was a fun time.

That means it’s time for cookouts and dinner outside. And tonight was the first of the season. Lamb chops with coriander spice-rub, grilled asparagus, and couscous with kalamata olives. Yum.

On Sunday afternoon, I went over to JPL to meet up with my friends Carol and Lee, and their friend Sarah. We wandered around and looked at the various displays. And we went to Mars for the obligatory 3-D picture. It was good nerd fun.

It’s time for the fourth-grade Mission project. This is apparently something that all fourth-graders in California do. For years, I’ve been seeing the models of the various missions displayed in the hallways outside the fourth-grade classrooms. And this year it was Lucinda’s turn. Her assignment was to do a report and make a model of the Mission San Antonio de Padua. And here is the result.