Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Had a Bad Car Day today. We were going out to dinner at Cafe Bizou when the car just coughed and died at Walnut and Raymond in Old Town. It was stone dead. Called AAA and they sent out a tow truck. The driver brought out the portable jump-start thingy just to try. He poked the battery and noticed that the hot terminal was loose. Then the car lights came back on. I tried it, and it started right up. We came home and I tightened the terminal down.

Went riding again on the Foothill ‘moderate’ ride. We rode through South Pasadena and Highland Park to Griffith Park and a snack stop at Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake. On the way back, we stopped off to watch a race in Glendale. I made a point to go up the announcer and donate a $20 cash prime for the race we were watching. The route home went through La Canada. 43 miles.

Riders sprint for the $20 prime I donated.

Rode with the Foothill club today. We went south down through Arcadia and Temple City to the Rio Hondo bike path. We took south, coming back on San Gabriel and Del Mar through San Gabriel. We had a snack stop at Il Forniao in Old Town. For the last part, we went by the Rose Bowl and then up Arroyo to Altadena Drive. 40 miles.

We went to the Natural History Museum today so Lucinda could see the Butterfly exhibit. We also went to the Discovery Center so she could see the Insect Zoo.

Today’s ride was “La Tuna Canyon East to West”. We went down Orange Grove and then past the Rose Bowl. Then up Salvia Canyon into La Cañada. Then we went down Hospital Hill and up Honolulu Ave to La Tuna Canyon. The day was cool and overcast, and it was sprinkling rain just a little bit. We went down the far side into Sunland, and then back on Glenoaks into Glendale. We stopped for a snack at Paradise Bakery. Coming home, we took Glenoaks and Colorado back into Pasadena.

42 miles.

Lucinda’s preschool held a graduation ceremony for all the kids who are going to be going to kindergarten in the fall. It was very cute. Pictures are in her photo album.

I built a new gate for our driveway this weekend. Here we are posing with it at the end of the day.

We had dinner at “Renaissance” tonight. This is the restaurant at the Scientology Celebrity Center in Hollywood.

They don’t have a sign outside, so we just sort of wandered in and asked. There were lots of very friendly people in their faux-naval uniforms wandering about. One of them showed us the way to the restaurant. Inside, the place was nearly empty. I guess they don’t get a lot of people coming in off the street. The service was very pleasant and attentive. They didn’t try to get us to take a personality test or anything like that.

Outside the restaurant in the hotel hallway they had lots of displays about how wonderful Scientology is. And they had L.Ron Hubbard’s study preserved there, with a little velvet rope across the doorway.

The food was all right. Not bad, but not great. We’ve had better, but it was still a unique experience.

After this, we went to the Renberg Theater at the Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood to see Varla Jean Merman’s new show, “Under a Big Top”. As always, La Merm was hilariously great. We also bought her DVD video collection, and she signed it for us. We’ve seen her three times now, and she’s always great.

Lucinda won an award in a Mothers’ Day art contest sponsored by the 99 Ranch Market. She got a little trophy and a $20 gift certificate.

Lucinda won an award from the 99 Ranch Market. Afterward, we went shopping there for a bit. We were wondering what ‘feminality’ is.