Los Angeles

Ha HA, foolish mortals!! I am lurking in my fog-shrouded tower…. Well, it was fog-shrouded a while ago, but the clouds seem to have lifted. It was a little eerie, especially since I was reading The Moor, by Laurie King, which is wonderfully spooky – which is why I was reading it. Anyway, since I can tell how touched and thrilled you've all been with my last few posts I thought I would sling another out into the void that is cyberspace (Beautiful! I inserted more whine into that one sentence than I think I've allowed myself in this whole blog!). Our subject today refers to the most amazing piece of news I have gotten in at least a month. I was chatting on Messenger with one of the teachers I got to know in Guadalajara (GDL) who moved to New Zealand shortly after I left and who I have never seen on Messenger previously. While we were talking, my brother (okay, okay, HOST-brother) Fernando came on for the first time, too! In the course of our conversation, he informed me that he is living in Los Angeles and is planning on being there until he graduates from college (he's in the eighth grade)! So, not only is he over half the distance closer to me, he's in the US and I can call him without racking up massive fees! So, anyone reading this from LA ("ha, ha," she said in a whiney way. What is my problem tonight?! Seriously, I'm not actually feeling whiney, whiny, no red lines so I can't tell which is right, at all.), you may be getting a visit from me in the not so distant future. I really want to bring him up here for a visit as well. I guess Juan Carlos is still working for them but is down in GDL with el señor, but who knows, maybe I can get him to come to the States for a visit. This is one of the few reasons I can think of for me to go to Los Angeles. I have decided opinions about that city, that's for sure.

And now, to continue the picture saga, I give you the houseplants. I've decided to do this in installments so that no one's brain falls out from over-stimulation, so these first two are chronologically the first two I received.

This first one is an amaryllis my grandma gave me when I graduated from college. It was blooming then, big, blood-red flowers, and Flo managed to knock one of them off before I even got the thing home. But I've forgiven him for it, so all is well. It didn't bloom this last year and I need to go do some research and figure out why. For all that it didn't flower, it certainly added a touch of arachnatude to the house and I think it looks very cool on top of my bookshelf.

This second picture is of the amazing Angel Wing Fibrous Begonia, my Christmas present from same grandma. It was actually not that impressive when I first got it, although it did have cute little pink blossoms, but once I fertilized it…. Well, you can see what happened. What you can't see is that when it opens up new leaves they seriously look like mutant egg pods. The white sheen on the leaves is because they have a satiny texture in the first months after they open, and they have silver dots on them until they get old enough to fall off. Zach, I know you're bored to tears, but bear with me here, this is the end of tonight's botany lesson!