First Things First

The weather, thanks to global warming, was totally off the mark this month.  Forget about the terrorists, what about the stuff we did to the earth?  I'm sure we're doomed, no matter what.  On a cheerful note, I'm just living my life, coming up with things to say.  Maybe someday an alien civilization will find what remains of the last years of planet earth.  Can you tell I'm writing this on Earth Day?  Well, I am.
Now, on to the updates.  This month I added two more pictures to the color section of Vista Drive.  Also, there's an updated The Grill at the Fitzgerald, with 3 more reviews of my favorite food around Los Angeles.  But, that's not all.  Art Deco LA is something I'm working on.  Soon you'll be able to virtually visit some great art deco buildings around Los Angeles.  That's coming soon to 17.

Afterthoughts : Playing Hooky

The first, and only, time I ever played hooky from school was in the 6th grade.  A friend of mine at the time named Morgan convinced me to play hooky with him.  I had never done it before, so I pretty much just followed his lead.  I don't think he was that good at it either because we didn't really do anything cool.  Right in front of my elementary school was a park, and we hung out there for a little while.  But, then we got hungry, and we needed to get something to eat.  For once I actually missed the school lunches.  Hell, I missed my friends.  I realized at that point that I didn't have much in common with my friend Morgan.  He had different ideas, like not ever going to school.  I wasn't much on school, but I liked hanging out with my friends.  We decided to go to Domingo's, down the street a bit.  The clerk behind the counter looked at us funny because we, rightly so, should have been in school.  I think he even asked why we weren't in school, but Morgan just gave him some lame excuse.  Like it was an off day, or something.  We went back to the park by the school and sat eating our sub sandwiches on the grass.  That was way cool, the coolest part of the whole day.  I sat under the bright LA sky, soaking up the warmth.  The ground was cool, so I didn't get too hot.  I sat there looking at the bunches of clovers.  I made a joke that I would find a four leaf one, and I did.  I kept that four leaf clover in my wallet for years.  I think it did bring me good luck... sorta.  I wonder if I still have it somewhere.  The bell run and we waited for our friends to come out of school.  We were the first in line for ice cream at Don's ice cream truck.  Don was a nice guy.  He had such a selection of candy.  I saw him once a few years later at the same park, limping.  He had a brace on his leg.  I think now that he must have had polio, or something.  I haven't seen him in a long time.  I wonder if he's still alive... if he's still selling ice cream out of that old truck.  That was near twenty year ago.  My cousins asked me where I had been on the playground.  I lied and told them I was in the corner.  My friends from class asked where I was.  I told them the truth.  It was fun being out of school for a day, but I didn't ever do it again.  Too much explaining to be done after something like that.  I had to get a note from my mother to explain the absence, but I just kept on telling my teacher that I had forgotten it.  Soon she forgot about it.

Editorial : Parents Today Suck!

I have no intentions of having a child.  I wish there were more people in the world who thought the same as I do.  Sadly, I see that so many people who have children don't have the slightest idea how to raise them.  They give their kids too much latitude.  They don't discipline them at all, and then they bitch about how other people raise their kids.  Somewhere along the way we, as a society, we came to this idea that a couple of smacks isn't good for a child.  Believe me, I was smacked once, just once, but I learned my lesson.  I'm not talking about child abuse, where a kid gets beaten up on a regular basis, for no good reason.  I'm talking about when a child seems to be getting to the point that he/she is talking back.  Times like that my mother would give me a look which meant, if you don't stop what your doing your going to get smacked.  The fear of getting smacked kept me in line.  Ah, but today, parents want to be their children's friend.  If I have a child I'm not going to be concerned about being their friend.  My job is to raise a child to be a considerate, productive and individual member of society.  So many parents today are failing at that because they have this notion that they have to be their child's friend.  Believe me, when the teen years come along no child wants their parent to be their friend.  I guess my advice to parents is, stop trying to win a popularity contest with your child.  They are going to love you if you love them back.  There isn't a need to smack them, but you do have to discipline them.  I have always believed that a child must know the rules before he/she can break them.  Children have to learn boundaries in order to one day break them.  Without boundaries to break from children will grow up to want nothing.  They will have had everything their heart desires, but it will be empty.  For it's in the struggle to over come those boundaries that a child becomes an adult.  In short, learn to say no to your child once in a while.

Etcetera : C'Mon, C'Mon