extreme heat in San Diego, are we all going to melt away here?

only a few words
since my computer is on one
of the warmest spots of this little home
i'll let the images talk



since Friday, we, here in San Diego,
been having this extreme heat wave

the whole summer has been on the cool side
some hot days, but with cooler evenings, etc.
but as August finishes, comes along the hottest month
for Southern California, September


these are the monsters of Sun
who are keeping us down and hot

today is the last day of August and
it's so damn hot!!!



here poor Herr Gato
trying to take a nap and cooling off by some ice pacs
i left for them on the floor
i have a very small portable air conditioner
which i've been leaving on at the Mega-Cool setting
supposedly it cools off the room to a 64°F temperature
well, even with it blasting off
the temperature inside my house reaches up to a 86°F
about 30°C... i feel so bad for the gatos
trying to keep them cool, but i am afraid
we all have a headache and feel like wasted pieces
of hot rub...



here a copy/pasted section of our
**Special Weather Statement**
Statement as of 6:01 PM PDT on August 29, 2009

... Continued very warm through next week...

The dome of high pressure over the southwest responsible for our hot
weather the past few days will drift east and weaken slightly
through Monday. However... while temperatures will be a few degrees
lower... it will still be very warm with highs well above average for
this time of year.

Greatest cooling effects through Monday will be in the coastal zones
from a shallow marine layer where highs will range from the upper
70s at the beaches to the low 90s a few miles inland.

Farther inland... away from the cooling effects of the marine
layer... it will remain very warm. Inland valley highs will range
from 95 to 105... the lower deserts from 108 to 113 degrees... and the
upper deserts from 95 to 105. Mountain highs will range from 85 at
6000 feet to near 100 in the foothills.

Looking ahead to next week... the heat wave will continue through at
least next Thursday as the upper high rebuilds over the southwest.
Cooler weather is forecast over the Labor Day weekend as a trough of
low pressure moves across California.

Prevent heat exhaustion and heatstroke by avoiding strenuous
activities during the hottest part of the day. Wear light-colored
and loose-fitting clothing and drink plenty of water. Never leave
people or pets in enclosed automobiles... even for a short time.

The Kennedys

the death of Edward Kennedy



brings back the memory of this
legendary family
if you are interested in American politics
or, like me, are just fascinated by world history
watch this chapter of PBS's American Experience
on The Kennedys
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/



rather interesting & a hopeful yet tragic part of our history
[a complete version online, watch]

Friday night at Ibiza West Studios, Saturday back from Orange Country on the train

the Pacific Ocean thru the train window

a good weekend starter
drove to Garden Grove, Orange County
to meet the DJs friends
and other music aficionados
beers, salsa & chips, great conversations!
music, of course
hand-selected, played & recorded
ala DJ from OC & San Diego styles
my little set was...

Set August 21/09

• Lali Puna – 50 faces of
• Kraftwerk – Spacelab
• Barry White – Love’s Theme
• Medeski, Martin and Wood – Uninvisible
• From EBTG’s Back to Mine/The Ananda Project – Cascades of Colour
• Kruderremixes’ Bebel Gilberto-Tanto Tempo
• Georgia – A hundred birds
• Lali Puna – Toca Discos
• David Bowie – I am a D.J.
• The Velvet Underground – Lady Godiva’s Operation
• Brian Eno – St. Elmo’s Fire

Saturday morning, thanks to Amtrak trains
traveled from Santa Anna Ca to San Diego
and this through-train-window view of
the Pacific Ocean for almost two hours
that the trip took
California is bankrupt, but still beautiful
living here...

tv & kitchen piece

TV watching


kitchen piece

i haven't photographed much lately
lack of time and/or
the automatic focus of my dslr broke
{not that i use it all the time, yet is a bit
challenging/strange/frustrating
to work with a known broken apparatus
specially one loves so much...}
so...
uninspiring scenes
and another hundred lame excuses
i hide under my procrastinating sleeve
not to post photographs as often
as before

but the truth is...
42? well, not really
the truth is that i set for myself
higher standards, the latest photos i have on 23
are of stunning sunsets, or skies
and they are stunning not because of my photos
but because they were, regardless of who photographed
so now i feel sort of bad to post silly photos
also the standards of the site have become so high!
almost every photograph is a piece of art
& i feel silly to post less than very good photos...
so, the material i have these days, is from indoor photos
from my dirty kitchen, or my swollen feet
or of cats asleep, and home messes

i haven't been to walk on the beach or the park
or anywhere too interesting for that matter
so i just don't post, until tonight when i thought
enough!!! after all i started posting randomly
unimportant and not very stunning pictures
and i had so much fun with it!
nobody commented on them, so maybe i had more
freedom to post anything no matter
how stupid, blurry, or with low quality it was

so tonight here, not on 23, sadly
and 'cause i don't have 4 photos in a row
as i've been posting always on 23
always at least 4 photos at the time
since the beginning of my posting there
in late 2005
(a bit, or a lot of an obsessive rule
i have NO plans to change...)
therefore gladly here in this ranting
stupidity chronographed
one bad moody picture
or two, from my home scenes
uncompromisingly bad
unresistingly blurry
bad-lighted orange
here we go...
as posted above
{with a very Nike attitude
of just do it...}

ah!! the pleasure, of not having to please no-one!
specially/mainly one-self...

the good, the bad, the sad, and the OK

after a little battle with myself
last Saturday, i went to the YMCA again
working it out finally, after almost a year
of living the sedentary life
only walking but highly eating, mostly seating...
but i am back to healthy me
so far, 3 days of 35 min on elliptical machines
and 1 1hr pilates class yesterday
so sore today!
that's the good!
&
the bad...
the automatic focus of my alpha 100
is broken!! oh well
guess i will have to manually focus
in the meantime i have time to fix it

another good
via Facebook i have found many of my
beloved old friends from Mexico City
the sad...
since Saturday, i haven't been able to connect
too busy at work, too busy at life to spend
any computer leisure time
and working out in the evenings gives me time
to pretty much take a shower, make dinner
chase the cats, and to zzz again
when going back to the gym
my days are full, wake up between 6.45 or 7am
make breakfast, prepare lunch
at work by 8.30 or 9am
until 5.30 or 6pm
then home to change
to the gym and home again at 7, or 7.30pm
shower, prepare dinner and/or grocery shopping
then it's 9.30 or 10... read or watch a little TV
talk on the phone with Perro or/and mother
and then by 11 off again
without turning on the computer, otherwise i can get
there for hours

weekends, exhausted from this train of life
i get lazy on Saturday mornings
and then the cleaning begins, at least 3 loads of laundry
since the cats share the space with me and i am allergic
my bed sheets and rugs must be washed and changed weekly
tons of dishes to wash since i have to cook most of my meals
'cause of the migraines...
sometimes i do have a couple of hours to walk to the Park
or catch a movie on the big screen or on DVD and read a bit more
or around town, again the grocery shopping and
preparations to survive the coming week eat most of my weekends

so it is here the sad survival of a single lazy woman on a
high-strung society... if it were for me
i'd read the whole day and eat meals in a restaurant
but i guess for that one would have to be a millionaire

i've been working/living at this pace for the last couple of years
but this year that i've been having to cook my meals
and taking care of the cats, the amount of free time is reduced

since February, when i took a long weekend to get an MRI
in Mexico and had an awful weekend then, i haven't had a single
day off, except when i have to take time off 'cause of a migraine

my next vacation will be one week on Thanksgiving
since they are closing the office, so i must accumulate vacation time
so they don't discount those days from my pay check...

last year i took a 3 week vacation to go the Grand Canyon
and i am still paying my debt of NO free time since then

but anyways, even if i complain of the lack of free time
i do enjoy my little hectic busy life
better to be busy than to be unemployed with tons of free time...
i too, been there!

ah! and to complete my business... i have enrolled
a Cascading Style Sheet class
at the Mesa Community College
only 3 units, so i won't be as hard as learning German
which was 5 units per semester

i do like the sound of life going on around
even if it leaves me little time to play with
my photos at 23, or to rant at this my blog
or to reply at Facebook

as we say in Mexico,
Hay mas tiempo que vida
there's more time than life

The Awakening, Kate Chopin

after reading I Me My's review of
Kate Chopin's The Awakening
i remembered that El Perro's father
gave me a used copy of the book
i went looking right away for my copy
which i remembered very well
mostly for it's cover...
fair enough, after all i am a designer
so colors and shapes stick to my brain
easier than plots or names


[front & back of my old used copy, rather cool!]

and i just happen to be
"in between" books
so after reading I Me My's compelling review
i am making it my next book to read

and i already have 2 favorite parts of the book
the lower back cover design
[pictured above]
and the pencil-written price of 1 dollar

quick fixes

i try to eat mostly fresh foods
something i cook or take out
but oh these modern times
many times we have to rely
in quick fixes for food



surprisingly, some of the 'healthy'
frozen food is that one for kids!
like this Elmo Whole Grain Pizza
don't taste that bad, actually it's
pretty decent, and with 19 grams
of whole grain, not so bad for a
frozen dish



as for coffee, i buy whole beans
i grind them myself every morning
yet sometimes i am in a hurry
or i crave an early evening crave
for a foamy espresso



while in Germany i discovered this
amazing instant Espresso from Nestle
i can't find it in the US! and my second
bottle is coming to a close end..
too sad
but if you live in Europe
try it! it's great
of course a 'real' espresso is the best
but this one for an instant
tastes great! but add sugar
i usually don't add sugar to my coffee
aber diese Kaffee mit Zucker ja!!
as the label reads



sehr gut!

star trek

last night i watched Star Trek
what a great movie!
it has all the elements of an old-fashioned sci-fi movie
rather human & still taking place in space
full of that possibly impossible scientific
artifacts and rationalizations
the cast & acting rather good & fresh
the enterprise reproduced in style
with a bit story confusing, sure!
as any good sci-fi story... still great!
worth watching
you'll have good old fun at the movies again


my Vulcan salute to you

i like a lot the new
mister Spock

[i loved it, and i am not a trekie]