Vazquez Rocks

Yesterday, it was a beautiful if chilly day here in the SoCal, so we opted to take Miss Pupps & The Tween out to Vazquez Rocks for a hike. This is a beautiful park about an hour north of the San Fernando Valley, featuring unusual rock formations caused by its proximity to the San Andreas fault. So unusual is the terrain, the park is often used as a stand-in for other planets in movies and TV shows -- most famously, Star Trek. (See: Kirk v. Gorn.)

It made for a lovely morning outing.

Please enjoy these snaps!

More Healthcare Clusterf*ck

So, as most of y'all know by now, we had to switch health-insurance companies at the end of last year, moving from Blue Shield to Aetna. We've had Aetna before and were pretty happy with them -- as happy as one can ever be with an HMO. We were all able to keep our old doctors, so that was a relief. The costs of everything went up, but that's okay -- we expected that. No more cushy state-subsidized healthcare for us. ;-)

One of my first orders of business was to switch my prescriptions to the new plan. Since the cost of everything had gone way up (can you say $50 for a Nuvaring?), I was motivated to set everything up via their mail-order pharmacy. I went to my doc, got the scripts, and submitted everything, easy-peasy.

After awhile, I received a letter from Aetna, saying there was a problem with one Rx, and it had been delayed. I knew which one it was -- my anxiety med. A very basic med, I'm on a low-dosage, and there is a generic available. But I had requested to have the dosage reduced by half, in the hopes of eventually weaning myself off of it. I would, however, need to continue to take 2 per day, until my body adjusted to the lower dosage.

Aetna didn't like this. To them, on paper, it looks like I'm just taking double the number of pills for no reason. Their costs go up, so they put the kibosh on it.

From what I can piece together, they tried to talk to my doc about this; I dunno whether he talked to them or not. He hates HMOs and has advised me that he will soon be affiliated with none of them. I don't blame him! Who wants to have your every move questioned by a paper-pusher?! The order was cancelled altogether.

This leaves me running low on this medication that I've been on for years, and which has a NOTORIOUSLY bad cold-turkey withdrawal. Now, I will have to go BACK to my doc, and get ANOTHER Rx that won't be questioned by Aetna. I guess I'll ask for the half-dosage, once a day. That should fly. And if I have to take extra to combat side effects... Well, I dunno what will happen then, because I know they won't like that. Their rules don't allow for people's differing reactions to medications, or the lack thereof. Their rules aren't about PEOPLE. They're about MONEY.

Good thing I'm unemployed and have time for this bullshit, huh.

But seriously. This is insanity.

I'd like to see ALL state/federal/government/military workers -- but most especially POLITICIANS -- have to deal with these HMOs. Because only then will "certain people" in power recognize that this is ridiculous, embarrassing for America, bad for society, bad for people's health, and COSTS MORE IN THE LONG RUN.

I will also point out to Aetna... when your customers are social-media whores, this stuff IS NOT GOOD FOR YOUR PR. #sorry

Lunch at a cemetery?! I'm SO there!

Today, I went over to Westwood to have lunch with my delicious girlfriend Jessica. We decided to meet at the cemetery that's just off Wilshire. Most people don't even realize it's there! Jessica brought us some yummy Thai food and we sat on a bench in the shade.



I made sure to get a pic of Jessica with the cemetery's most well-known occupant.



I was especially happy to see that Don Knotts has gotten a new grave marker! It's gorgeous! For comparison, I've included a photo of Mr. Siegel with Don's previous marker -- that photo was taken in 2009.




I love Jessica. I love cemeteries. I love beautiful southern California days. I love Thai food.

So, I guess it goes without saying that I loved today. :-D

Simi Puppeh Park

Every now and again, we like to change-up our dog park routine. Today, we went out to Simi Valley (the Birthplace of The Katerz) to take advantage of THEIR lovely dog park.

It was a GORGEOUS morning! Kelsey loved it!

Thank you, Simi!

My Minnesotans (and a Monrovian)

Some years ago, I picked up a bunch of bizarre women on the internet. Most of them turned out to be from Minnesota -- go figure! Anyhoo, I've had the pleasure of meeting a few of them in person, and this past weekend, I got the pleasure of meeting TWO MORE! And their creepy spawn!

I do not know what I did in life to deserve friends like these... but whatever it was, I'm so glad I did it. These ladies have changed my life. They are so kind and loving and supportive! What a difference it makes, in the life of a parent, to have other like-minded parents (and/or professional nannies) to talk to.

Oh, and Kelsey likes 'em, too. :-D

My Top 25 Songs of the Decade

For reasons unbeknownst to me, out of the clear blue sky, I recently decided that I simply HAD to craft a list of my Top 25 Songs of the Decade. (This is what happens to you when you're unemployed.) I further decided that this list would encompass the years 2000-2009, as the 2010 songs have not had a chance to gel with me yet. And so, I sat down and started compiling.

This was no easy task. It wasn't easy to remember all the songs that have grabbed me over the years; I studied "Hot 100" lists for each year to help jog my memory. (Not a GREAT method with my personal taste, but a method, nonetheless.) My criteria for inclusion was simple: These are songs that GRABBED ME BY THE THROAT and would not let go. Songs that affected me viscerally. Songs that I really, REALLY loved, and in many cases, STILL love.

Some of these songs, I love simply because they're good, or great, or fantastic, or amazing. In other cases, I love them not only because they're good, but because they spoke to me at a particular time in my life, or they remind me of a great moment in time. (The inclusion of the Donald Fagen song is an example of the latter, as it reminds me of one of the best concert experiences of my life -- the "Morph the Cat" tour in 2006 at Santa Barbara's Arlington Theatre.)

If you think I've forgotten something, please, mention it in the comments! Even as I was typing this up, another song occurred to me, and I had to bump something off the list.

And so, I give you, in no particular order, THE SONGS!

(Please let me know if you encounter bad links.)

1. Linkin Park, "In The End" *

2. Evanescence, "Bring Me To Life"

3. Eliane Elias, "Running" *

4. Toto, "Falling In Between"

5. Simply Red, "Sunrise"

6. Death Cab for Cutie, "What Sarah Said"

7. Keane, "Bend and Break"

8. Drive-by Truckers, "Puttin' People on the Moon"

9. Michael Penn, "Walter Reed"

10. Dixie Chicks, "Not Ready To Make Nice"

11. Death Cab for Cutie, "Brothers on a Hotel Bed"

12. Coldplay, "Lost"

13. Iron & Wine, "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"

14. Liz Phair, "Extraordinary"

15. James Blunt, "1973"

16. Duncan Sheik, "Days Go By"

17. Art Garfunkel, "The Thread"

18. Sun Kil Moon, "Lost Verses" (possibly the most beautiful song on the list)

19. Midlake, "Branches"

20. Coldplay, "Fix You"

21. Death Cab for Cutie, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"

22. Donald Fagen, "H Gang"

23. Sara Evans, "Born to Fly" (a holdover from my hardcore C&W days)

24. Vienna Teng, "Whatever You Want"

25. U2, "Beautiful Day"

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Maia Sharp, "Home";

Taylor Swift, "Love Story" (if you heard my child sing this at the top of his lungs, you'd love it too);

Jem, "They";

Duffy, "Mercy";

Midlake, "Roscoe";

The Ting-Tings, "Shut Up and Let Me Go"

* These might be my theme songs for 2010.

Placerita Canyon

Today we decided to head up to Placerita Canyon. It's been a long time since we were there! They've been working on some improvements, and the place is really looking great.

Sadly, the recent rains have rendered the main trail from the Nature Center to Walker Ranch impassable, so we were not able to hike that route. Out of necessity, we discovered a new, beautiful trail and hiked it instead. As an added bonus, the local firemen were also hiking this trail. HA!

It was a great morning! I can't wait to return in spring and see all the wildflowers which will undoubtedly have sprouted.

This red-tailed hawk is just one of the creatures that lives at the Placerita Canyon nature center. There's also an owl, some tortoises, and more! This fella is a real beauty, as you can see.

Euro-visitors

I was excited to see I had a whole mess o'new Euro blog hits! Then I realized people were landing on my blog when they searched the late Gerry Rafferty. ::sadz::

Hopefully people weren't too terribly disappointed in my flimsy little blog post which did not remotely begin to do Gerry justice... :-\

Another interesting tidbit: as you can see at the bottom right in this image from Feedijt, 47% of my blog visitors in the countries shown were visiting expressly for the Gerry Rafferty post. In the U.S., only 8% visited for that post. #TheMoreYouKnow

Wine

For many years, the words "Katerz" and "wine" were virtually synonymous. I LOVED wine and everyone knew it. I drank it; I talked about it; I studied it; I read about it. For YEARS, I did this. It was my second biggest hobby, after voracious music consumption. I visited wineries all up and down California. I subscribed to Wine Spectator, and was not remotely intimidated by what I read there. (Now THAT's hardcore.)

Then one day... it just stopped.

About a year ago, I realized that I was just not feeling well after having wine, or alchohol of any kind. It was as if my body couldn't process it anymore. It made me feel ever-so-vaguely sick, like I had a touch of the flu.

Undaunted, I kept trying. I was NOT giving up without a fight! HA! I'm IRISH, for Pete's sake! My BLOOD is 10 proof! :-D For a time, I was still able to drink white wine, but I was definitely off the reds. But that didn't last. Eventually, I had to admit that I just could not drink wine anymore.

I'm used to it now. But it still makes me sad... It's like I lost a part of myself. That probably sounds silly to people, or overdramatic. To those people I say: YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVED WINE!

I still hope that one day, I'll be able to enjoy it again. Especially because I'd still like to crack open the 16-year-old BV Georges Latour Private Reserve cab I've been saving for a special occasion...

Blogger is Buggin' Me

I am struggling so much to get Blogger to post stuff the way I want it to post (see my last blog entry) that I'm considering bailing on this blog. The fact is, I don't have as much to say as I used to cuz I get everything outta my system via social media.

But at this point I'm not WANTING to post here at The Siegel Files because every post is a struggle.

I guess I'll consider whether I have enough to say to warrant a new blog. Or maybe I should just start a Tumblr or something...

I dunno. ::shrugs::

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

One of our many winter-break activities was paying a visit to the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park. They recently opened an "Age of Mammals" exhibit, featuring a full mastodon skeleton found just a few years ago nearby in Simi Valley! They also have a cool new DinoLab exhibit, which allows you to watch scientists while they work on items in the collection. And of course there are the old favorites, like the dated but specimen-packed Gem & Mineral Hall.

But one of my VERY favorite things about this museum is the architecture. The original center-section of the building was constructed in 1913, and is GORGEOUS. It's the kind of place where you're missing out if you don't take the time to study ceilings, tiles, and wainscotting.

And once you're done there, you can visit the Rose Garden, or take in an IMAX over at the nearby ScienCenter.

Exposition Park definitely makes for a great family outing for LA peeps and visitors.

Bullies

Can I just tell y'all how frakking SICK AND TIRED I am of BULLIES frakking up other people's lives?!?!

You encounter these asshats in elementary, junior high, and high school, and you think: That's it. I'll never have to deal with these people again once I'm out of school. Once I'm in college. Once I get a full-time job.

But it's not true. They appear and re-appear, again and again, everywhere you go, throughout your whole damn life. AND I AM SICK OF IT.

Whatever your PROBLEM is that makes you behave this way, whatever it is that makes you talk down to me, whatever it is that makes you verbally attack me out of the clear blue sky when I least expect/deserve it, GET OVER IT.

Whatever it is that makes you set people up to fail, whatever it is that drives you to undermine people at every turn, whatever it is that makes you want to publicly humiliate and invalidate others: KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF.

Seriously, man. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH. I'm sick of it happening to me, I'm sick of it happening to my friends and former co-workers, and I'm sick of it happening to my husband. I'm sick of workplaces that harbor, encourage, and promote bullies.

This has GOT to stop. But it won't until everyone agrees to call it out.

We, as a society of grownups, cannot let this behavior continue.

Thank you.

< /rant >

Time

Time.

Time. Flowin' like a river, to the sea.

Time keeps on slippin'... slippin'... slippin'... into the future.

No time for a summer friend;
No time for the love you send;
Seasons change, and so did I...
You need not wonder why
You need not wonder why
There's no time left for you
No time left for you.

This is a post about... TIME.

This year, I, like many people, find myself unemployed at the holidays. This is the first time in my adult life that I have experienced this! I’m finding it to be a VERY eye-opening experience…

My employment ended in October, and my husband and I decided I should just relax through the holidays; I needed some time to recover from the loss of my job, which I held for the past 16 years. I am enjoying this time off more than I could possibly have imagined!

There’s the predictable stuff:

* Having time to actually SHOP in a leisurely fashion, rather than just grabbing the first thing I see;

* Being able to lovingly WRAP and PACK gifts for far-away peeps, rather than having Amazon do it;

* Not RUSHING everywhere!

But the most interesting thing I’m experiencing – and the most surprising to me – is how differently I’m moving through the world.

I’m not gonna lie. After trying to work full-time AND manage a household AND look after my son for the past twelve years, I. WAS. A. MESS. Emotions I experienced daily included but were not limited to: anger, disgust, resentment, frustration, mind-numbing sadness, loneliness, and self-loathing. But it had gotten to where I just didn’t know any other way. This was just the way life was, I told myself. It was just the way *I* was. Life is hard, right? Suck it up.

So, when I found myself unexpectedly freed from my life in the Hamster Wheel of the Full-time Working Mom, I was absolutely amazed at the effect it had on me. I literally TRANSFORMED. After about the first week, I felt noticeably lighter! The tension and anxiety I’ve struggled with for years has VANISHED. I move through the world differently. Interact with my friends, family, and even strangers differently. I’m warmer, kinder, more forgiving, more relaxed. No more anger toward everyone in my way (and believe me when I tell you, EVERYONE WAS IN MY WAY). No more anger at the slow barista/driver/grocery checker. All of a sudden, everything is like water off a duck’s back! AMAZING!

So… Am I enjoying the holidays? I can answer that with a resounding YES! For what may well be the first time in my son’s 12 years, I am indeed enjoying the holidays. Again I say: AMAZING.

While I don’t wish unexpected unemployment on anyone, as it is quite traumatic, I DO wish that all moms could take a nice, long break from the Hamster Wheel. I wish all moms could experience the transformative power of TIME, and PEACE. I’m not overstating it when I say: It will change your life, and that of the people around you, for the better.

Best holiday wishes to you. I hope the new year finds us all slowing down just a bit, so that we can enjoy the things that really matter.

Daytrip: Los Feliz & Silver Lake

We had a SUPER-nice day yesterday in the Los Feliz/Silver Lake area! I thought I'd share our activities, as it would make a great outing for local families.

We wanted to do something outdoorsy, but The Tween is not a big fan of our usual hikes (Placerita Canyon, Eaton Canyon, Topanga State Park)... So this time we opted for the Fern Dell area of Griffith Park. The base of this trail weaves along amidst a beautiful canopy of trees, ferns, and streams. (I'd love to know the history of Fern Dell; I found nothing online. If you keep going up the trail, it becomes more strenuous and ultimately leads up to the Observatory.) Dogs are allowed on-leash, so next time we'll definitely bring Kelsey!




After the stroll, we drove in toward Silver Lake for lunch. There are some wonderful eateries here, but we opted for Wendy's (again, looking to appease The Tween).

Next up, one of our favorite stores: WACKO! Mr. Siegel and I have frequented this place since before we were married, when it was located on Melrose. I ADORE this shop. Stop in and you'll encounter bacon-strip band-aids; Absinthe dental floss; tons of Dover clip-art books; wind-up toys; and some of the most unusual art and pop-culture books you can find under one roof. In the back corner lies La Luz de Jesus Gallery, often displaying super-rad art that you won't find anywhere else (altho not always kid-friendly, so scope it out before you drag Junior back there).


A GREAT daytrip for Angelenos. I hope you'll give it a go!

Here's a great article about the Fern Dell area from examiner.com, and here's another from guidespot.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Warmest Thanksgiving wishes from all of us here at The Siegel Files!!!

This year, it's JUST US in our OWN HOUSE for the holiday! We're very excited! The last time we did this was in 2001... (Gee, I'm glad we got rid of that paneling...and those drapes...)

So, wherever you are, whomever you're with... enjoy the holiday and count your mitzvahs!

Zinfandel Cranberries

I only make one thing at Thanksgiving: Cranberries.

This is from a recipe we encountered years ago in Bon Appetit magazine. Basically, you make a mulled syrup with red zinfandel wine, sugars, and spices, then cook the cranberries in that.

IT. IS. DELICIOUS.

Brian makes everything else. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! xoxoxoox

::yawn::

::yawn:: ::strayche::

Yup.

I'm boring as SPIT now that I'm so goddamn happy.

BWHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAH

w00t!

:-D

Helping The Boy's School Via Your Online Shopping!

Public schools aren't the only ones that suffer when the economy is bad; private schools need all the help they can get in these scary times, when enrollments are down and donations are few and far between.

If you'd like your online holiday shopping to make a difference this year, click thru to Amazon via the link on Ev's school's homepage! A percentage of all sales benefit his school. Pretty cool, huh!? And it could NOT be easier.

Everyone who knows us knows that Pinecrest has been indispensable to us as a family. Not having much outside help, we truly could not be raising the child without them. So any little thing I can do to help, I will do.

Thanks so much for considering this, and for sharing the link with your friends and family. We're all in this together!

Wishing you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons.

The Kittens

We continue to be delighted by these awesome little additions to our family.

They have CRAZY personalities... not at all like the late Miss Tabitha. Full of surprises! Some better than others! ;-)

I had no idea how much I would love these little buggers, and how much joy they'd add to our household... despite the food stealing, litter tracking, paper shredding and furniture scratching. :-D

Stuff I Will Try Not To Buy Now That I Am Unemployed

I think I will succeed at resisting most of these.

Except the Starbucks.