5.4 or ' The Longest 20 Seconds"

In case you haven't heard there was a earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 in Chino Hills on Tuesday at 11:48. This is my personal report of the event.

It was a slow morning at Scrapbooking Heaven and I had just said goodbye to the owners of the store as they were headed inland for a product show. We had one elderly customer working in the back and I was writing a note at the front counter. The room started to move. I yelled 'Helen head for a doorway" (she was close the the back door and I was close to the front). As I'm standing under the front door frame I realize I'm surrounded by glass windows so I step into the parking lot where the good looking guys, who work at the Karate studio next door, are standing. "I've lived here all my life" one guy says, "Don't stand in a doorway, head outside if you can." I'll remember that next time I'm scared spittless.
The whole thing lasted 20 seconds and you could feel the "wave" for, maybe another 15 seconds. It's a very strange, almost a rolling motion, where everything around you sways slightly. The best way I can describe it is if you take a large pot of water and shake it back and forth for 20 seconds and then hold it until it settles back down. Now imagine you're able to stand on the water. Call me a geek but I just tried this and it's a pretty accurate description.
My personal "after shock" was my hands shaking and heart pounding for about half an hour. This was calmed by Helen, a native 80 year resident of this crazy state, telling me it was all fine. She figured the best thing she could do was to stay seated and hold on the the table! If something had fallen on her head I would have felt guilty forever. A few things fell off the shelves and a small paper rack tipped over - nothing dramatic. When my boss called I answerer the phone 'Scrapbooking Heaven, we're still here." She instantly knew everything had returned to normal.

On the Cover of Newsweek

Mark is one happy camper! After many months of sanding and grinding, cursing and swearing, painting and filling, the Thing is on it's way to be painted. I thought it was funny that the flatbed truck took the PCH to the Maco in Newport so I created this magazine cover.

The Lily Pond at Huntington Gardens

This is my photo shop interpretation of the pond - what do you think? This hobby keeps me off the streets of Huntington Beach at night, so be kind.
Wondering around Huntington Gardens is always a treat, but it was extra special last Friday because I was accompanied by my friend Bill, who is a source of interesting information about all things botanical.

You got to love somethings about living close to LA

Like getting to go to the Hollywood Bowl and seeing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Yeah, I realize these guys are older than I am, but you would never know it to see them perform. We headed down to the "Bowl", as it is affectionately called by the locals. Lauren and Seth, our much younger and way cooler friends, drove and we parked in some sleazy parking lot for $20, which is a fantastic deal in that neighbourhood. I brought along sandwiches and beer and we had dinner in the parking lot. If you've never eaten dinner in a parking lot in Hollywood you're missing an experience. We hiked up to the bowl with about 20,000 other fans and squeezed into our park bench style seats to enjoy two hours of fantastic music. For those of you who are interested I copied the play list below.



I’ve come to rock Hollywood!” Tom Petty announced two songs into his sterling performance Wednesday night at the Hollywood Bowl with the commanding Heartbreakers and a fine opening set from Steve Winwood. “We got a really nice night for a rock ‘n’ roll show here,” he noted. “Only in Southern California.” As for the set list …

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Hollywood Bowl, June 25, 2008

Main set: You Wreck Me / Listen to Her Heart / I Won’t Back Down / Even the Losers / Free Fallin’ / Mary Jane’s Last Dance / Sweet William / End of the Line / Can’t Find My Way Home* / Gimme Some Lovin’* / Saving Grace / Honey Bee / A Face in the Crowd / You Don’t Know How It Feels / Learning to Fly / Don’t Come Around Here No More / Refugee

Encore: Runnin’ Down a Dream / Gloria / American Girl

* = with Steve Winwood

It's all about having fun!

Even though we kept saying "It's all about me" every time we'd buy something, it really was all about having a good time. My dear friends from Sherwood Park, Sharon and Lynn, came for a 10 day visit in the middle of June and we made it our mission to just do what ever, when ever we felt like it. We even took the train to San Diego and went to the zoo - just in case you're wondering where we saw a polar bear in Huntington Beach. Curious about the other pictures in my collage? Some of you will recognize some of the places but you'll have to come visit if you want to see all the sites.