Good News, Bad News

The good news is that I had WAY too much fun at the Quilt Festival in Long Beach yesterday. My shoes worked out great and I bought WAY too much stuff.

The bad news is that, although I very efficiently charged and put five back-up batteries in my tote for my camera, I forgot to grab the memory card out of the dock. The first picture I wanted was the Long Beach Convention Center sign with the dozens of colorful flags behind it, then I wanted the Queen Mary that you can see from the promenade in front of the center. I was there two hours early so I had plenty of time to get the pictures but, no memory card. First thing I had to do in the hall - when it opened two hours after I got there - was walk all the way past the hundreds of vendors and the hundreds of exhibit quilts to buy a throwaway camera.

I'll post a LONG report of my experiences in this wonderful show after I (sigh) get my pictures developed and scan them. The show was spectacular. I've never been to the Houston Festival so I wouldn't know, but at lunch I was chatting with someone who had spoken to people who HAD been to Houston. She asked how this show compared with Houston and they said it was about the same, maybe a little bigger. That was a surprise.

Anyway, I pooped out at about 2:00 which was a good thing because even in those four short hours I way overspent my budget so it was a good thing I left early. (I'll share some of that here in the long report). After the show I drove the short distance to Redondo Beach for a nice visit with my son and his wife. Took them to diner at Buca di Beppo. I'd never eaten there before and it was a great time. Good atmosphere, fabulous food. Best fried calamari I've ever had as an appetizer, Pizza Margharita (spelling probably not right) with obviously homemade sauce, a pork dish with a caper and blueberry sauce to die for, a shellfish linguine also to die for if we hadn't already died from the pork and all followed up with a huge slice of chocolate cake that we all picked on (because, of course, we were all too stuffed for more than a couple of bites.)

I had dreaded the trip home. Northbound out of LA on any route on a Friday night is usually a nightmare. I think it's a sign of the times (and the expense of gas) that I didn't encounter any heavy traffic anywhere yesterday, most notably on the way home. Pacific Coast Highway on a Friday night is usually bumper-to-bumper all the way to Malibu, heavy then through to about the university exit, then just busy until I turn off just past Mugu rock for home. Last night traffic to Santa Monica was lighter than normal, from SanMo to Malibu much lighter than everyday, amazingly light for a Friday night, then eerie from Malibu to home.

I think people are just staying home.

I can't stop watching "Dancing" (www.wherethehellismatt.com). I also watched his three-part lecture (youtube), which was very interesting, especially if you like animals.

There's just something very uplifting and hopeful about this video. Indeed, the world's leaders have it all wrong.