MOOD: holidayish Let’s mark the final harvest and dying of summer. We’ll set a place for the dead and divine from apples, nuts and the direction of crows’ flight. I’ll try to make kornigou. No no- I’m not inviting you over for some Wiccan tomfoolery. There will be no Charmed marathon, no Magick the Gathering; … Continue reading Samhain/Halloween Party
Monday Night, this Hallows Eve: I’m having a Halloween Party at my place. Come by early if you want to see the kids in the building. Marvin Mutumbo is going as a Power Ranger, Arissa is going as Cinderella and there will probably be a few surprises although Power Rangers are the number one choice … Continue reading Halloween on Halloween
MOOD: comme çi comme ça MUSIC: Moose – The Only Man in Town The Halloween party went surprisingly well. I was Robert Smith and, as such, got into character by drinking rather too much wine… among other things. I remember most of it, although there are conversations I had with people who I don’t remember … Continue reading Halloween Party
MOOD: anxious MUSIC: Duke Ellington – East St. Louis Toodle-oo This morning I dreamt that a pair of short, purple, spandex trousers with black paisleys came in the mail that had belonged to Prince at one time. It was a Christmas fucking miracle!!!! Today, after a two-hour shift, a city inspector told us we don’t … Continue reading Halloween
Happy Twin Peaks Day! It was on this date, 24 February, back in 1989 that FBI Agent Dale Cooper first rolled into Twin Peaks, a fictional Washington town located “”five miles south of the Canadian border, and twelve miles west of the [Idaho] state line.” The time was 11:30 am. Twin Peaks, of course, is … Continue reading Happy Twin Peaks Day
Happy December, Happy Holidays, and Happy War on Christmas! I’m sure, by now, you’ve heard of the supposed War on Christmas. It’s one of the biggest bugbears of so-called Conservatives. I say, “so-called” because the first people to declare War on Christmas were the Puritans who banned Christmas in the Massachusetts Colony in 1659 and … Continue reading Happy Holidays — The War on Christmas Edition
Today is the birthday of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. It is celebrated, in some places, as Johnny Appleseed Day. Other locales celebrated it on 11 March. I’m not sure how the March date was chosen. It’s exactly one week before Johnny Appleseed died — which seems like an odd thing the celebrate … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Cider Scene on Johnny Appleseed Day
In April, when many transit agencies were free in recognition of Earth Day, I rode Metrolink to and from four of Southern California‘s county seats. I called it The Great Metrolink Four Counties Ride. It was my first time really exploring San Bernardino and Riverside. Downtown San Bernardino was concerning — although I would love … Continue reading Homes Fit For Heroes — Visiting Riverside’s Mission Inn
Last year, on 18 August, I published a piece celebrating San Fernando Valley Day. You see, in the US (and nowhere else, really), people write dates month/day/year. I know, it makes no sense. Chalk another one up for American Exceptionalism. 818 is the area code that closely responds to the San Fernando Valley (although it … Continue reading Happy 626, or, San Gabriel Valley Day!
INTRODUCTION For this chapter of California Fool’s Gold, I explored the city of Whittier. Whittier is a city in Southeast Los Angeles (County), separated from the San Gabriel Valley to the north by the Puente Hills and sharing a border with Orange County to the southeast. As of the 2020 Census, it had a population … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Whittier
Eric Brightwell 