my day off

spent my only day off painting.

at least there is light at the end of my tunnel of woe.

all we have to do is ron’s room and bathroom and my bathroom and we’re done!

we celebrated at the dollhouse with ultra-thick (1¼”) t-bone steaks and fresh pineapple.

i think i may have lost my cell phone. i cannot find it. i’ve tried calling it and listening for the ring in the car and all over the media center.

i’m not happy about this!

what i am happy about is: somebody uploaded a bunch of videos onto youtube of a 1980 talking heads concert recorded in rome. this was one of the tours featuring adrian belew. he looks so young and just as talented as he is today! he also seems to be getting as much camera time as david byrne.

hazards of peninsula life

after returning from the store this evening, as i drove through the country club gate, one of 5 gates allowing me access onto the area of the peninsula on which i live, i saw what appeared to be a pack of marauding dogs coming out of the fog. it was a scene from a bad horror movie come true.

it wasn’t until i got closer that i realized what i was looking at was a heard of black tail deer with several little fawns making their way through the del monte forest; probably to go graze on the grasses of one of the golf courses.

these deer are so cute! they’re much smaller than mule deer or white tail deer. the little fawns weren’t much bigger than medium sized dogs.

there are so many of them out here, and they have become so docile being around all of the homes, golfers and tourists that they are always getting hit my drivers. very sad!

all of the roads out here are narrow and circuitous. that coupled with the fog and you’ve really got to keep your eyes on the road or you’ll collect one in the grill. and that’s nothing like a quail.

just trying to drive these roads without getting lost is a challenge in itself.

when i first got here i was getting everywhere by using my gps map and following the breadcrumbs i’d left when i was running around in ron’s car. however, i’ve been leaving it at home so as not to get to reliant upon it.

3 or 4 nights ago ron and i were at the dollhouse getting susie’s computer dialed-in. since we came in separate cars, i left as soon as the ‘puter was up and running. even up on top of huckleberry hill, where the dollhouse is, the fog was incredibly thick. so, by the time i got off of the hill, it was like the proverbial pea soup.

“should i have turned right there?”

“ah. no big deal. i’ll find my way back to the beach eventually.”

“hmmm? i should have reached the beach by now?”

“ah. here’s the 17-mile drive. i’ll just take it around cypress point and home from there.”

i ended up at the complete opposite end of pebble at the carmel gate.

i gave up and followed the 17-mile drive back to the route 1 gate, which is about ¼ mile from the dollhouse and took hwy. 68 back to the country club gate and took the easy way, albeit much longer, way back.

missing the sun's goodbye

while standing in the front-backyard just now (we have two backyards) i could hear a seal barking in the not-too-distance.

the days just get more interesting here on the monterey peninsula.

i mentioned today that i would like to audition for the theater after car week is over and ron went into action! he’s ready to become my agent! i couldn’t ask for a greater proponent! this could be a rough place to try to get a principal role. i got lucky in freeport. this place is just loaded with artists and actors (clint eastwood just one of them. oh my: i just realized that i may be onstage in front of clint eastwood!). so, if i can make it here. . .

it looks like i’m now the harrison family laundry technician. i did 11 loads at the local communal washtub. somehow, i get the feeling i’m also going to be susie’s personal assistant.

my moving announcement has garnered the attention of robin; another peculiar occurrence as my life continues to make this bizarre change.

we’re still painting the media center. i feel as if i’ll be painting it for the rest of my life. the more we paint the more seems to need painting. it’s not that the house is so huge. but, the 20 foot vaulted ceilings made of rough-hewn wood is pretty tough to cover. where are those long-legged, large-breasted, doe-eyed devotees ron keeps promising me?

had dinner with ron and susie tonight at il fornaio in carmel. what a great place! it’s in an old hotel: the pine inn. the hotel was built in 1889 in the style of an elegant country inn with wood from the old tivoli opera house in san francisco. i couldn’t stop smiling all the time we were in the building. such a great vibe! ron and i were there to choose hors d’oeuvres and arrange the western automotive journalists concours d’elegance reception, of which ron is president. i thought the calamari was a little tough, but the batter was very light and tasty. the breads were very good: some kind of olive ciabatta and a very-crusty (as in crunchy) bread that tasted sourdoughish. i had the fettuccine alla bolognese made with in-house fresh pasta. oh, what a wonderful thing to have between your teeth!

as i returned to the taurus, i noticed a very familiar logo on the back of a shirt being worn by a man about 30 feet from the car. “excuse me!” i interrupted. “are you in scta?” “no!” the stranger replied! “but, i was just down there last week.” bob, and his friend erik (i think), are in town for the motorcycle races this weekend at laguna seca. well, to make a long story. . . bob wants to build an entry for bonneville (he seems enchanted with streamliners. who isn’t?) but, can’t decide on motorcycle or car. both bob and erik are going to show “the world’s fastest indian” in bob’s shop later this summer. this movie has become a religious experience for so many people who have watched it.

tony hopkins (as burt munro) and the scta logo

i keep missing the sunset by about 3 minutes. tonight, it was just a coincidence that i drove into the setting sun. but, for several nights in a row, one thing or another has kept me from reaching the beach before the orb disappears beyond the horizon. the color, however, was absolutely amazing as i drove the coastline between carmel-by-the-sea and pebble beach on the famous 17-mile drive. what a beautiful drive!

i wonder what the accumulative value is of the homes just between here and carmel? certainly in the billions! maybe in the trillions? the opulence is over-the-top!

these are my neighbors!