Book Review: Rawhide Down

at 7:11pm · In Reading

This past week I stopped into the gift shop at the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda…just mere blocks from where I work. I went in one morning on the way to work to see if they had a copy of one of Nixon’s most well known books, “Six Crises.” To my surprise they did; a solo copy for $1,000 that was a slightly worn original. No paperbacks, though.

So I perused their vast shelves of assorted political books by scores of authors…including those by Woodward, Kissinger and even Lynne Cheney. An interesting title caught my eye, “Rawhide Down.” I knew Rawhide, given my knowledge of the history of the Secret Service, as being former president Ronald Reagan’s code name with them.
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Saturday Afternoon Thought

at 6:42pm · In Hollywood

“The Benny Hill Show” is playing on KTLA 5.2 right now, and I’ve seen a couple of these shows now. Never really watched any of these before. To me, especially in the early nineties, it was all about “Mr. Bean.”

My take on Hill: without the laugh track and silly canned noises— it ain’t funny. Sorry!

Three months—post Phoenix

at 12:26am · In In General

Well yesterday, actually, marked three months that I moved back here to my native Orange County. That long 6½ hour drive of the morning of Saturday, April 30th seems like ages ago—more like years ago.

So being back three months now has been great. It did take me a while, mentally, to actually adjust. Sounds weird when in fact I lived here in Southern California all my life before moving to Arizona for three years, but it’s true. I’d be asleep in the first few weeks back and just before waking up—I’d almost think I was still back in Chandler—waking up in desert territory.

Speaking of which—it also took me a while to initially realize that when I stepped out my front door—that it wasn’t blue-blazin’ hot! The week I moved it got up to the mid/high 90s there in Phoenix which wasn’t really a bad thing (comparable to what the high 80s feel like here, sans humidity). So when the temps here would get up into the high 80s—most started calling it a heat wave. My smarmy, all-in-good-fun response would be “Try Phoenix!!”

But I think my old conditioned ways of being a SoCal native have returned; I finally gave in and felt that one day it was just a tad too warm. The temperature on my dash in my car? Just barely 89F.

And only recently has it “kicked in” that when I hear of the 101 and 60 freeways—I’m not thinking of the Price freeway and Route 60 to Globe in Arizona—but rather the Hollywood and Pomona freeways, respectively. There are no loops here in Southern California (like the 202 I had gotten used to back in Phoenix).

Does it feel like I never left? Most days, yes, because this is all familiar territory from my childhood on up. But the days of Phoenix are just recent memories—as three years was a long time. Made some good friends and learned many a life lesson out there. I actually had an epiphanal-like moment one day out in the backyard just weeks ago. It had occurred to me—I actually moved to Arizona, stayed three whole years, and I’m right back where I left off.

The adventures continue, and I’m glad I still keep in touch with my AZ friends along the way—some of which who have ties right here in Orange County!

The Little Things

at 1:34pm · In Anaheim, Around Orange County

A Saturday evening sunset taken near Magnolia & La Palma in Anaheim!

Last night around 8 o’clock or so I decided to step out and grab some quick dinner, and of course I thought of Paul’s Place that’s about 3½ miles from my house. That’s just about where I took the above picture—before Magnolia and La Palma. It almost serves as the proverbial postcard for most-things SoCal (blue-peach-orange sunset, telephone poles/wires, modern apartment architecture with palm trees as a backdrop).

As I was heading north down Magnolia I really took in the streetscape there. It was one of my “It’s great to be back home” moments since returning from 3+ years in Arizona. I looked down at my dash lights and noticed the temperature last night was a nice ‘n cool 76°F. Whereas at that exact time back in Phoenix—it would’ve been a toasty 100°F!

So heading north on Magnolia… I looked at all the businesses and stores and never realized most of what used to be there before…seeing as during my pre-Arizona days I probably took it all for granted. At about every red light I hit I made sure to take a look around, you know.

Donovan’s Autumn Moon Tattoo, Mystic Florist and Taqueria De Anda—were just some of the places I never really paid much attention to before. One of the things I began doing back in Arizona was venturing out and trying different places and things that weren’t so mainstream and I’d like to do that here in town as well—mainly Anaheim and Garden Grove.

I guess it’s just the little things.

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