Downtown Desert Nights

So.... warm evenings outside, hanging out downtown with live music & street vendors... and someone actually had the audacity to ask me the other day if I was homesick. Sorry..... NOT!

Every Thursday night the streets of downtown Palm Springs are closed off & hundreds of vendors and musicians fill the area and people pack in from miles around and hang out & shop & groove and just be human. It is a good thing. Tim & I rode our bikes downtown last night and walked among the throngs (carrying our bike seats) and made our way all the way to the other end of town for our celebratory beer (see photo above, thanks to our tattooed waitress!).


Tim found his "beef jerky heaven" vendor --- lotsa HOT jerky for my little 'rock man'! I was in my own special heavenly place, too, because, not only were there multiple jewellry + handbags + soaps + incense + 'you-name-it' hippie artists everywhere.... there were MANY falafel vendors!! Must fill up on my falafel quota before Canada beckons us back. I'll miss it sooooooooo much!! I could buy presents for everyone I know & become queen-of-the-world (thank gawd all our budgeted money is spent....). We also sat & listened to a great duo of guitar & flute on the street & bought their CD. Their website is kinda new-agey-fruit-tutti but they were surreal & gorgeous and awesome people to listen and talk to. Later, after we rode home, we hung out in Shaggy & drank our "two buck chuck" while listening to their CD.

Also finally bought "Guns, Germs & Steel" by Jared Diamond and hopefully will begin reading again. Just really haven't been doing much of anything lately except the ol' Battery Recharge (such a good metaphor!)... I did start reading the book today but fell asleep after a few pages. Seems my body finds sleep & relaxation much more important than trying to learn the history of the past 13000 years (even tho' it won the Pullitzer Prize and all......)

Anyway, pictures at left and below are of the El Paseo area of Palm Desert --- open at night (of course). My brother explained that night time is a reprieve from the abusive hot of the summer days here. During blistering July and August, people hibernate inside air conditioned havens during the day & then venture outside to the cool spaces at night. Already feels like that to us Canadians, tho (even in December......)
Exceptionally lovely for the nocturnal among us.....

Anyway --- lotsa new pix from these two evenings at my photo page. Check 'em out if you get a chance.... ciao!

When in Rome... Consume!

Well... tonight was 'Consume like a Californian' night for all of us. The evening started off royally with a way more-than-massive look right up Harry Potter's nostrils at the Desert Imax Theater. Official reaction to watching the newest "Goblet of Fire" installment of those wily wizards on such a towering screen was: "Wow"! and also "Holy crowly freeoly"!! Unfortunately, I am now completely ruined for the rest of my life as I can never again watch a movie EXCEPT on an Imax screen. Honestly, I will hunt for these Imax theatres everywhere I go for the rest of my life. I mean, forget those nature documentaries they used to show at the ol' Imax ---> Hollywood film + Imax screen = wonderful. I could go on & on but, suffice to say, that part of the consumption evening was well worth the megabucks that it cost!

We then took a stroll through the town of Cathedral City past this gorgeous mosaic fountain called The Fountain of Youth. It was the most mysterious water sculpture park I've ever been to because, just as it hits the ground, the water just kinda... well... disappears. Actually, the entire ground surface surrounding the fountain is made out of chopped-up, recycled tires so that (I guess) the water just flows down thru the tire-pebble-thingies & goes away somewhere. It was weird but wonderful but we sorta still got wet from all the mist.....

One sure thing we've noticed about the downtowns around here is how much artwork & landscaping & just general beauty there is. We were actually hanging around this sculpture park at night & there were little lights everywhere --- like, every single branch of every tree had strings of lights wrapped carefully from trunk to tip. Didn't bring my camera, tho', so I've just stolen these pix from some other sites....

The big indulgence for the evening was.... Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream. "What's that?" you say.... Oh, it's such a dangerous, dangerous thing. Sam explained it pretty well when she said that it was like a Subway-for-Ice-Cream. That's pretty much it. Except, instead of choosing a type of bun at the beginning, you choose a flavour of ice cream (which they then place on a Cold Stone). Then, you pick some toppings (like fresh-made brownies or macademia nuts or any other of the zillions of calorie-laden, extremely indulgent availabilities). Then, they do this fancy shmancy ninja thing with the ice cream & additions and they mix it & chop it and twirl it up & serve it & you mortgage your house to pay for it. Simple as that. The question is... will this be the next Starbucks or Subway? Should we all invest now & laugh at the idiots later who didn't think to invest as early as us or.... will ice cream always be a seasonal, once-in-awhile type treat that never takes off the way that, say, mocha mint frappucinos have.... hmmmm.... hard to say.... Someone'll definitely make a million or two from this product before it's thru, tho. I'd still rather head back up to the coast of Oregon and spend more time and money back at the Rogue Brewery. Now THAT was a worthy indulgence.....

Beer-flavoured ice-cream.....? has anyone ever tried it ....?

Motor-Heaven: The Shaggy Update

So.......yesterday (after a kick-ass dim sum lunch) we wandered the downtown streets of San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter and popped in & out of cool shops -- in search of 'Shaggy decor'! Insanely gorgeous stores that we visited included Z Gallerie and The World Market --- their websites suck but the stores were awesome. They were like warehouse-sized 'emporiums-of-coolness'. Even Tim shopped for hours (that's the ultimate sign of a cool place!). We got tapestries & baskets & candles & tea & incense & all kindsa Shaggy-enhancing type stuff. Now I wanna live in my motorhome all the time..... (all the pix on this post are inside the new-&-hipper Shagmobile!)

Also went to Ocean Beach's outdoor street fest --- they call it a farmer's market but it's more like a groove market. All kindsa homemade food & breads & chocolates & essential oils & tons of cool jewellry and knitted hats & hippie clothes and good people everywhere. I bought two bracelets from this awesome chick & when I went to pay for them she said... "here, I'll give you a discount". But then I told her that I wanted to pay full price (which was super cheap anyway) but she just handed me back my money! People are actually pretty mellow down here. Everyday someone comes up to us & yaks about our dogs. Everyone loves Kiya because there aren't a lotta huskies down here so they all freak when they see her......

Oh yeah --- and I found a good link to the area that we're living in down here --- it's called Sunset Cliffs. It's right on the tip of a point called Point Loma & it's one of the surfing meccas of southern california. Every evening the roads are filled with people who have driven from all over to watch surfers in the setting sun. People hang out at the cliffs with their beer in paper bags and they just meet & yak & hang. All the dogs are off leash & well behaved. It's weird. I think that with the whole "yellow/orange/red alert" thing in America, that it's keeping all the conservative weirdos inside & allowing all the mellower people the space to hang together outside. At least, that's what we've noticed so far down here in San Diego. Palm Springs is different. There's just nobody outside. We're heading back to Palm Springs this afternoon to have Christmas up there. Lots of sun, tho! Palm Springs weather is still super sweet!

Virgin Bloggings

Watched "Forty Year Old Virgin" tonight (for the first time... no pun intended....), thus tonight's theme.

Been hanging around Ocean Beach lots lately. It's 'ol stompin grounds' for me around here & hasn't changed much - except that there are significantly fewer middle eastern restaurants around... no falafel here anymore & that's a huge bummer. But, there's still lots of sun and good places to buy fish tacos & cheap beer & sit outside and watch surfers.

We also got invited to attend the next Rainbow Gathering down here. There's a small gathering on a remote beach just north of here in January before the big huge one this July. Tim's sorta interested. We'll see what we're up to in July. For great photos of last year's Rainbow Campout check out this page. I actually used to work with a bunch of Rainbow folks in Berkeley when I sold jewellry on Telegraph Ave there in the early eighties. Crazy times...... I'm still trying to figure out this blogging thing so I'm not even telling anyone about it yet. Must figure out pix & links & stuff. Must recharge more battery power first tho......

Why Knot ?

In the true spirit of Rubber Sheet Topology, I'm naming these rambles as they are: knot(s). Knots are great math fiddly thingies because, sometimes they make a whole lotta sense (and, consequently, can be undone) and sometimes they're all looped up & remain entwined and forever twisted. I figure this blog will probably be some kinda knot. Will it remain twisted? I think I'll wait until more of it unwinds to decide myself.....

Anyway -- it's late and I'm exhausted. ...

"I stayed up all night trying to round off infinity"
---- Steven Wright

The Sea & Sun in Oregon.....