Chitchat

Sky wrote:

I get a little freaky about birds. Nice to look at, listen to, but I don't want one on me or flying around me. Don't ask me why, I don't know....maybe it stems from the Hitchcock film "Birds"......I don't know. If I'm in a house and there is a bird flying around, I'll be the one dodging it!

Hmmm. Dr. Frazz wonders if it is some sort of sibling rivalry...dem birdies can FLY!!! In the SKY!

p.s. GE, cool that the bird could imitate you.

Katherine Hepburn...I really adore her.

I wouldn't think a parrot would be flying around a house. I'm not even sure I would want to pet any bird. I don't understand a bird as a pet. I know they are loved by so many, but I just don't see it.

No, Fraz, no sibling rivalry. I wouldn't even dream of ever picking up or holding a bird. They just freak me the hell out.

One of the highlights of my life, was getting the opportunity to see Katherine Hepburn in a play here. I so admired her.

I was just making a flying joke. I think lots of people are freaked out by birds up close. I get freaked out by rodents and reptiles, so I do understand.

I saw Hepburn in a play, too, maybe the same one, A Matter of Gravity.Christopher Reeve was also in it wherever I saw it (might have been Washington D.C.)

OMG! Rodents and reptiles! Now we're talking serious fear! A house where I dogsit it up against some mountains. One day I came out to a dead rat! Yikes! Thank God for the Dept. of Sanitation.

They also have these small lizards all over the place.

We won't talk about the day I saw a spider as big as my hand. When I'm there I like to stay indoors.

Interesting things where i work.

Although I have always had gay male pals, and only a couple of lesbian acquaintances, I live firmly in the heterosexual world, and am actually unknowing about anything else.

Where I work, it turns out we have a number of staff-people who are transgendered. As far as I know they all started as men and are now women. For the most part they just seem like regular (kinda dumpy...not at all fancy or done up) women.

I have often made the sorts of joke people like Madonna, Posh Spice, Marlene Dietrich, and Katharine Hepburn have made about being a gay man trapped in a woman's body...but I really think that has more to do with America being so fucking down on women who are not comfy in the more domestic roles.

I have not really talked to any of the transgendered ones, but boy do I find that intriguing.

In my mind previously they would all be like Candace from Dirty Sexy Money, not like the plain secretary in the corner (or the plain social worker..or the slightly butch but sexy and who can imagine why she did not want to stay a man community organizer).

I love this. I absolutely love having my preconceptions about things blown.

I think I mentioned that one of the security guards who has no teeth and seems like a homeless guy who finally got a job turns out to be one of the funniest, most well read, entertaining men I have ever met. He has no teeth and no interest in getting some, and that kills the romance deal for me, no matter what, but WOW, it thrills me to go to work with people who are all there to do an honest days work aimed at helping people.

No bullshit with anybody I have met there (maybe a little among the 4 highest paid executives but even there, the bullshit quotient is quite low).

Life is so full of wonders and surprises.

One night my friend and I were at karaoke. There were some guys dressed up like secretaries. They were not trying to look feminine. They looked like men dressed as women. We still talk about the guy dressed up like a secretary singing "Run to the Hils" by Iron Maiden. I guess it was at that point I also realized that you just can't lump people together.

I have also looked at people and on-sight thought they would not be intelligent and it wound up they were way smarter than I am and knew so much more. Then I felt like the dumb one!

Want to see a cool pic I took this afternoon?

Oh, goodness...beautiful, Sky. I first passed out due to my bug phobia, but as a photograph that is just way cool

Phobia are just weird, I think. I can look at the photograph and admire the beauty not only of the photograph, but of the bug itself, and nature itself, as long as I don't look at the face. So I have the face covered.

Ain't nature fucking amazing! Look at the colors and the geometric shapes on the tail! Look at the gossamer intricacy on the wings!

Amazing.

Speaking of hurricanes...anybody in the path of gustav?

I hope not. Texas geography and positions of our participants are not clear to me.

I did just hear on the news that Austin has a shelter for evacuees.

When I was a kid in Massachusetts we had a humdinger or two, as well as some amazing blizzards.

I think we'll get rain. I do not think we will have a disaster.

New Orleans... oh, dear. Again.

Well, frazz, yet another thing we have in common - bug phobia.

If the bug is beautiful, like that, I can look at a picture of it. I would totally freak out if it was flying around my head and not appreciate the beauty, so thanks Sky for getting up close to nature so I don't have to.

Thank you. I felt rather confident that it wasn't flying and I used my telephoto lens. I still had to get close to it and was hoping it wouldn't take off and fly into me. I'm not a bug fan either, especially ones that can fly! Creepy, but this was so beautiful.......in color and the wings!

I hope Gustav doesn't reel his ugly head!

And now there is Ike barreling in toward Texas.

Yikes, it really looks gigantic.

It does look HUGE! I hope they all take care!

You know what can really get you up in the morning? Huge plumes of black smoke!

I have been dogsitting in Porter Ranch and I was watching it on TV and suddeny I didn't need to watch TV. I just had to go out the front door. I took the dog and got to my mom's which is close-by, but in suburbia.

It is lapping at th bushes near another house where I would dogsit. I called yet ANOTHER lady I dogsit for nearby and she came home and got her dog. So, I was relieved to find that out.

Right now I'm just trying not to breathe. It's such a catch-22. The wind blows all the crap away and then there's a fire that puts the crap back into the sky that happens because of the wind.

UPDATE: Some houses went up in smoke. There were these people who their house was the only thing they had in the world...oy.

So usually I can't see the flames from my mom's place. Just smoke. I am now seeing flames. Ashes are coming down all over the place. The traffic is crazy. I don't want to go out there again until they put this out!

Goodness, the firefighters are having to put out the fire mere feet from the houses. I probably couldn't get back to the house if I tried. DAMN. There's some palm trees on fire directly in front of a house. nobody is putting it out. I need to turn off the coverage. It's freakin' me out.

Oh, GE! Are you safe at your mother's house?

This series is very scary.

The wind was ferocious at my place in the middle of last night. My French windows we smashed open and one broke all it's glass before I was able to get there to secure them.

The winds always make me feel really sick. The do not clean the air where I live. They blow right up my nose all the crap that lives on earth.

My nose has been bleeding from all the sneezing and irritation. I am now sitting with a wet cotton handkerchief over my nose.

No wildfire danger here, but if a fire did start, the whole city would go up in thses winds.

Wow! I thought the winds were bad here! DAMN!

It's weird. Yesterday all I wanted to do was sleep. Then, this insomniac. This person who winds up going to sleep at 4 a.m. if she dares to take a 15 minute nap during the day, went to sleep EARLY. So, I think my body knew.

Now I'm back at the dogsitting house. I called the other lady I dogsit for who lives closer to the fire. She said they were at home and she didn't think where I was I was in danger. I came back here, but my shit is still packed in my car. The helicopters are still dropping water at night and I can see flames nearby. Smoke I can handle. Flames rattle me. The helicopters give me comfort and scare me all at the same time.

It does smell like somebody burned a house-sized bag of popcorn and my chest feels like someone is sitting on it. The air quality is horrible and ash is falling constantly. I just needed to do so much here at the house since I'm leaving tomorrow and the maid comes early in the morning.

The house is a 2-story, so I keep running upstairs to see if those flames are getting closer.

Can you take the dog and get the fuck out????

It is reporting that the winds will start up again tonight (I have duct taped my windows and am putting sticks in the latches that did not hold in the winds.

I am SURE the person who wants to come home to a clean house will let you make up for it after the fact when both you and dog are alive! (Or maybe this one doesn't have a dog)...in any case YOU being alive will please all human-humans rather than staying to do look at their possessions burn while simultaneously leaving a death note saying you stayed. Besides, the note will burn up, anyway.

I just saw the news and I came here to see if it was effecting you. I am so sad to see that it is

My thoughts and prayers are with you and all the people effected by this horrible fire. Keep posting if you can, but do whatever it takes to be safe!

I hope everyone remains safe and that you get out if you have to. Fire scares me.............. Be safe, please.

It is still very dry in Hollywood -- my hair is suddenly straight...

It is still windy, but not strongly here today and so far tonight.

GE, on the other hand, is much closer to the wildfires.

I did hear from her today after giving her a fairly worried call last night.

She left a message saying she is OK, but has been inhaling the very bad air.

I am not sure if the winds are coming back tonight, but until some humidity comes in the danger is still here, and more wildfires are burning in more places tonight. Large evacuations of animals (horses in particular) are happening from the ranch areas in the northern San Fernando Valley.

It does seem as if the community is more organized this time, and the L.A. Times has tons of info online with maps pinpointing evacuation centers.

Glad to hear you are doing OK. Sending lots of good thoughts your way!

I'm glad you're both okay, so far. The air must be awful.................you two stay safe and when you can drop in and leave a message that you're doing okay.

I am not near any current fires at all. The air is bad, but me and my birdies are doing fine. I have an air filter right next to their cages, plus one in my bedroom, plus I am continuing to intermittently breathe through a wet cotton mask.

I tend to be more extreme about that than most people. Nobody in my neighborhood is walking around with masks, though I think they should be!

I just heard a preview announcement for the 11 pm news saying the winds are going to kick up again, but I dunno if that is true (haven't found confirmation online).

So I am sitting here watching the Biggest Loser.

I wish my tub of lard counted as large enough for me to go on the show. I am not willing to gain more to get on it, but boy I would lose it all if I was being paid to be there and exercized a zillion hours a day.

Damn, it is hard to do it when working a full time job plus commute. Just no spare time.

I am eating pretty well, but that is not the ticket for me. Activity is.

Thanks frazz, FC and Sky! I appreciate the prayers. They worked!

Did I mention frazz leaves the BEST messages? You could be in the worst mood and frazz leaves a message and WHAMMO! You just feel like smiling.

I had to go to a new dogsitting job yesterday, but had to keep going back to the other one because they weren't returning until like 2 a.m. this morning. I stayed there until 11:30 p.m. when I stoppped hearing the helicopters/planes and the other lady I dogsit for, who lives close, said she would take care of it if things got messy again (she's a good friend of the other people and has a key to their house).

So, it was quite surreal. The flames got waaaay too close for comfort. I awoke yesterday morning and looked out the window. It was still dark and there were the flames, big as life. I have never watched the news this much. Usually, when a disaster happens, I like to turn on the news and hear what's happening, but then turn it off because after the initial reporting, they get really stupid and look for things to report. The constant coverage on the fires, however, was EXTREMELY helpful because the situation changed so much minute by minute.

The wind is quite ferocious in Porter Ranch, so when you walked outside, the wind would whisk you around and you were breathing in all that smoke. Fortunately, when the fires would stop, that same wind took all the crap away really fast. Double-edged sword.

They're still burning, but they're not near that house anymore. I'm expecting Malibu to start burning any minute now, since they have NEVER survived a fire season without some big huge mansion burning to the ground.

Anyway, thanks for the well-wishing. I'm fine and my breathing has come back to normal.