Stix on the Beach: Tales From The Happiest Hooker!

Slow Morning

It's one of those days when the morning has extended into the afternoon. The most urgent thing to get done by nightfall is to defrost the Trader Joe's Beefless ground beef for vegetarian tacos tonight. But dinner seems hours and hours away when I haven't even had my second cup of coffee yet. Kali is laying under the Christmas tree, Marissa is wishing she was at work, and I'm wondering why with the three of us in the same room, we haven't managed to finish decorating yet. Maybe it's because we're all one fallen eyelid away from falling asleep. I had holiday music playing on Pandora earlier, but I've turned if off. It's quiet in the neighborhood right now and sometimes that's the best soundtrack to accompany an overcast afternoon.

I just noticed the tree lights are shining brighter — caused by a combination of the day growing later and cloudier.  Kali appears to be mediating in front of the cannabis, er, vanilla cookie scented candle and Marissa has wandered off to take a nap. I've started the dishwasher with all my coffee mugs inside, so it will be awhile for that second cup. In the meantime, I'm sorting through tree ornaments, looking for ones that go with our new color scheme. We have an artificial flocked tree this year, in part of not wanting to carry a real heavy one up nearly three flight of stairs and mostly because Marissa read to me The Fir Tree by Hans Christen Andersen. By the way, Wal-Mart has much more realistic-looking trees than Target and at much better prices!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dinner's cooked. Coffee's brewing. Marissa's still curled up asleep. Kali's back under the tree. And I am getting comfortable on the couch to do some crocheting. There's really not much more to do .... until tomorrow morning.

Don't make me cut a stitch!

I'm down with my Boyes, but Susan Bates is my Homegirl.

Each time I plan a day to enjoy kicking back to crochet, I get sidetracked into doing something else. This has got to come to an end. On Thanksgiving, I plan on spending the day eating a store-bought roasted chicken and pumpkin pie. Throwing back a couple liters of Canada Dry Ginger Ale.  And crocheting.

There are a million things I want to crochet (in contrast to the one favorite thing I like to knit a million times — a scarf). I am thinking by this time next year, we'll be decorating a crocheted Christmas tree with crocheted ornaments. You think I'm joking?  Every time I find myself at Wal-Mart (I block out the fact that I'm going until I'm actually inside), I've been picking up a couple of skeins of Red Heart Yarn at $2.33 a pop. Yep, I'm a cheap hooker. Last week I grabbed a few Christmas colors. Christmas and crochet seem like they're just meant to go together, like Christmas and commercialization.

My big ol' secular heart just bursts into holiday carols as I think about making a hypertension penguin and rabid raccoon Christmas tree ornament! Now I just need to find a pattern to make my very own Griswold Christmas tree squirrel!  The cutest, kitschiest crochet holiday patterns can only be found in honest-to-goodness vintage publications! You can find 'em on eBay (stay away from anything published after 1982!) or FreeVintageCrochet.com (Go look at everything on that site! I haven't felt this high off something since my last Vicodin!).

I have completely lost track of this post because ohmygod have you gone to FreeVintageCrochet.com yet?!?! Have you seen the horsies? Or this purse? And holy smokes — the potholders???? This is more fun than receiving a prescription for Percocet in my stocking! Seriously, look around and then leave a comment here telling me what you're most excited about crocheting first!

The Social Network

At the beginning of Downtown Anaheim's Veterans Day Ceremony, we were asked to rise. I respectfully placed my right hand over my heart. "Let us pray."  Oh God.

Next to me I felt a vibe rolling off Marissa. I didn't dare risk looking at her. We had just voiced our frustration about this on the walk over: Support for our Soldiers = Religious. Support for our Soldiers = Republican. Support for our Soldiers = Rah-Rah These Colors Don't Run.

I tuned out the prayer and thought of the reasons why we showed up. We were there to remember and give thanks to the soldiers who served because joining the military was their way of getting out of poverty. We were there to remember and give thanks to the soldiers who served not by choice, but who were drafted. We were there to remember and give thanks to the soldiers who served because of their commitment to high American morals, even if high American morons are the ones running the country.

And I was there to remember and give thanks to the man who said he joined the Army to better himself after he screwed things up with me.

"In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen." I looked up at the sky and thanked the Jewish-American soldiers, the Muslim-American soldiers, the Buddhist-American soldiers, the Hindu-American soldiers, the Native-American soldiers, the Pagan-American soldiers, the Wiccan-American soldiers, the Brujo-American soldiers, the Atheist-American soldiers, the Agnostic-American soldiers. And all the American soldiers who hold steadfast to their spiritual beliefs in war...and peace.

I overheard a woman exclaim that she hadn't expected such a large turnout. Which made two of us. I had this fear that very few civilians would be in attendance. But I should have known better: this is Anaheim, a community who cares. And I was so proud of my people ... not as Americans ... but as human beings.

When the classy and moving ceremony came to a close, I wanted to stick around to capture some candid moments on camera. I also wanted to get familiar with the faces of our city leaders. I did not know, however, I would have the chance to meet my political girl-crush! Here's the thing: I've been around celebs most of my life. I simply don't get star-struck (OK, so there was that time with Christian Slater. But I had been awake for, like, 24 hours straight. I will try to repost that someday). But I am a political groupie, er, junkie!

As a Latina-Trapped-in-a-White-Girl's-Body, my big ol' Cholita heart goes pitter-patter over Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)! She is my HOMEGIRL! And she was standing right behind me after the ceremony! And I was all, "Loretta?" And she was all, "Hi!" And I was all, "I've admired you for years!" AND I DID NOT CRY! (OK, so there was this one time I sobbed when I met Liesel from The Sound of Music. And then I hid behind a book display, kind of like how she hid behind the tombstones).

The three of us chatted for a few moments. Loretta made a comment about where we had previously lived before moving to Anaheim, and it made her that more awesome and proved I was totally correct about crushing on her! Suddenly the cutest-sounding woman was telling me to give her my camera. Maria T. Solis-Martinez, an Anaheim advocate with an awesome attitude, was making sure I didn't miss out on having a photograph of my moment with Loretta!

Maria was so much fun to be around! Marissa and I loved hearing all her stories, especially of how as a teenager working for a local radio station, she got to broadcast live from Disneyland on opening day! At one point, Maria told me she was happy to see me having the opportunity to network after the ceremony. At first, I wanted to clarify that wasn't my agenda for being there. Instead, I gave her just a hint of my idea of how I wanted to get involved with helping the residents of Anaheim. And she was all over it: telling me about people and upcoming events and giving me encouragement! I have a feeling I'll be seeing Maria again. At least I hope to see her again, 'cause she's so cool!

Having spent so much time on social media sites and being active in the online community, it feels really good to want to be part of the in-real-life community again. And after living in a Wonder BreadLand for so long, I am so happy to be back amongst a diverse neighborhood like Anaheim! I love how the leaders and residents of Anaheim resemble the United Nations and are respected, respectful and sociable. And that totally means more than how many "friends" you have on Facebook or how many "followers" you collect on Twitter when you have no intention to actually socialize with them.

Anaheim Veterans Day Ceremony at Center Street Promenade/Veterans Monument.
November 10, 2011.

Clouds in the Colony

The happiest you'll ever find me outdoors during the day is when it's cold and I am walking in the wind or when it's cold and I am walking in the sunshine immediately after the rain stops. I am just pretty much the happiest when it's cold. Even outside at night with my teeth chattering and I am all, "I'm frrreeeezzziiiinggg!" I am saying it while doing a little dance in part to stay warm, but mostly 'cause I am so happy it's cold. Maybe I am just very strange. And living on the wrong continent. Yet I hate, hate, hate being cold in the house! If the thermostat shows it's below 70 degrees, I am convinced I am developing symptoms of hypothermia. And if I should see it read below 68 degrees, I freak the hell out. I'm cranking the heat until someone passes out!

But how lucky am I to be able to make that choice to go from being all cheery and cold to being all warm and cozy in my apartment? When we were at the height of our financial hardship, our electricity was nearly shut-off several times (it was once turned off for several hours until a family member stepped in to pay the bill). Another time we were fortunate to have a wonderful blog reader who gave us a gift of fifty dollars just in time to keep our electricity on! It was exactly the amount we needed. And then there was the tremendous help from the Anaheim Downtown Community Center. They have an one-time emergency utility bill assistance program for residents of Anaheim. And I also have to mention that Anaheim Public Utilities conducts business with a sense of humaneness.

As terrible and challenging as it would have been to be without electricity (every appliance in our apartment is electric), this all occurred to us during the mild weather months. We didn't have to worry about freezing inside our home. If we had become homeless during the cold and wet months, we could have at least afforded a cheap motel (or had friends to stay with) to keep us from freezing to death on the street or in our car. And it's those individuals and families who have nothing and no one but themselves to count on who were in my thoughts as I took a walk with Marissa around our 'hood to take pictures of the clouds after a rainstorm on Sunday afternoon.

The clouds over Anaheim are my most favorite to chase and photograph. I'm not sure what makes 'em so special to me, but I like to believe that Disney's Nine Old Men are up there drawing 'em. Here's a few of my favorite shots from last Sunday that I want to share with you.

I'm off to get a bit of house-cleaning done before this weekend's storm so I can kickback, crochet and think of how to make those in need feel less alone in this tight-knit community.

The Rain 'n Skein

You know that moment when it hits you that there's just not enough yarn in the house? Well, it happened to me on Friday morning. I was staring at my sad-excuse-for-stash and realized most of it has been sitting around for six years. There was a serious need to stock up on a few new skeins of Red Heart, especially since November Rain was on its way!

It's true! It's November in Southern California, and we are having rain! I hope it's not some kind of freak-accident-of-nature, like the Weather Gods are all, "Crap! Quick! Forecast thirty-one days of sunshine for December!" That would suck.

So in preparation for the precipitation, I went to Wal-Mart and came home with a hoard of 4-ply Red Heart yarn. This stack is pretty much all I need for my next big-storm-a-comin' crochet project!

From bottom, L-to-R: Cafe, Cornmeal, Ranch Red, Honeydew. Aruba Sea, Perfect Pink, Gold. Buff, Orchid. Raspberry.