INDIAN HILL

It is the day, I'm afraid.  More like I'm afraid of the day.  Why?  It's an extended psycho drama I'm caught up in; Giants are in the World Series and I can't enjoy it--way too seized up in childhood memories of failed Giants teams; the '62 World Series when I came home to see Chuck Hiller's blast up the middle speared by Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson and the boys go down in seven; 2002--I was in Pac Bell Park for Game 5 with my reluctant brother who I had to persuade to join me in the park because he wanted more tickets so he could bring his family (I was only able to get 2 freebies from my Fox friends...sorry Phil) .  The Giants won that Game 5, and Game 6 I'm with my friend Jim at Angels Stadium, Giants manager Dusty Baker gives the hook to Russ Ortiz when the Giants right-hander surrendered a walk and a hit, something harmless in the 7th, and the Angels never looked back.  Angels win the Series in 7. So I'm anxious on this Dia De Los M

     I’m exhausted.  Hallucinogenic dreams powered by too much hot red pepper, my first night home is an hour of sleep here, an hour there, strange dreams of boats and large urinals, unable to punch keys on a calculator, all courtesy of a missed pour of pepper from a shaker after I’d made dinner at home and then I’m up all night.  Six nights on the road feels like a year, a month, whatever, but I’m back and going through the damage like a forensic librarian searching for clues in the book-bin-dumpster.  It was non-stop, overwhelming, intense, fun, and most of all it offered a glimpse of writers on the publicity stump telling tales of lonely beginnings when they changed careers from media office camaraderie to the solitary confinement of sitting at a keyboard punching up bad-guy stories.       The lobby bar was a scene, and I hung with a couple of writers and got their business cards.  Listened to the rich and famous tell about their lives when they weren’t so rich and famous.  Hard to

  The Mission Playhouse, just behind the San Gabriel Mission.   Courtyard inside Grapevine Arbor, site of one of the oldest vineyards in the area.   Gateway to the cemetery on the grounds of San Gabriel Mission.   Bride embraces a bridesmaid outside Mission San Gabriel church, San Gabriel California. Mission Bells of the San Gabriel Mission, San Gabriel California.  Once the cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley, the Mission Church now centers the Mission District neighborhood, a thriving renaissance of city offices, artist's shops and galleries, restaurants and cafes.  It's worth a visit.