writng in cafe's is more my style. for $3.00 i can get a chicken empanada and a cup of coffee and thereby rent my chair at a sidewalk cafe'

right now i'm watching the sunset behind the short buildings on main st in culver city which is a part of los angeles near the beach.

i'm very happy today because my son jonathan who is a contractor in pennsylvania has sent me $500., $150 more than i asked for to fix the brakes on my jeep. without this car which houses my recent paintings and easels i'm out of business as far as the potential sporadic sales we experience
hawking our work at our outdoor studio on venice beach. that's me in the picture my friend and fellow painter bill tompkins took recently.
so, since i suddenly had $150 burning a hole in my pocket, like the desert sucks up a sun shower, i splurged a little and bought a live blue spruce to decorate for christmas. that made me very happy.

although i will be house-sitting again in topanga canyon from the 23rd until new years, it will be cheery on the table in the kitchen of the tiny place i am living in.

it isn't fair to mention jonathan without introducing jennifer, my oldest daughter. she's my blond blue-eyed 'bombshell'.
http://www.hungryeyegraphics.com/history/jbc2.jpg i would happily include a picture of the totally insanely beautiful granddaughter she is culturing but i promised something about that.

my youngest daughter, caitlin is away from home for the first time in her life. she's a freshman at a pennsylvania college. although caitlin hasn't found time to post in her opera journal,
http://my.opera.com/gofer715/about/ she did post a picture. but this is her and her boyfriend chris.


finally, there's ryan whose claim to fame is having survived marine bootcamp. he is also an all around likeable guy. of course in this graduation picture i think he was coerced to look ferocious as a soldier should be.
so there they all are... my fine progeny.