Andy Williams has passed away at age 84. When I was working as a standup comic, I was lucky to open for him at Harrah’s in Reno in 1987. It was just after my Star Search win and I couldn’t believe I was sharing the stage with the man who sang Moon River. He welcomed me on opening night and I truly enjoyed listening backstage during every show to hear that beautiful, mellow voice. Rest in peace, Andy.

It’s all anyone talked about all week here in Los Angeles. The space shuttle Endeavor made its final voyage today on the back of a 747 on its way to the California Science Center here in L.A.. After leaving Edwards Air Force Base, it flew over Sacramento and San Francisco and then did the most amazing flyover all over Los Angeles, really close to the ground. It allowed people all over the city to see it, many of whom were brought to tears. It flew over the Hollywood sign, Disneyland, Universal Studios, the Getty Center, Malibu, the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Disneyland, the Griffith Observatory, the Getty Center, weaving back and forth all over the city. I pulled over on Mulholland Drive and watched along with a crowd of people… and there it was!  How exciting to see this part of history! I took this photo which I’ll treasure forever.

Below is the flight path taken by the shuttle today. It flew over many of our famous landmarks where thousands of people gathered to see the flyover. What an exciting day!

Yesterday, my tomato count hit the 4,000 mark. Today, the new total is 4,086!

That’s not counting what this guy eats.

Look at that face. He knows how wrong this is, doesn’t he?

I may never see a plant like this again so on August 16th I made this video tour of my cherry tomatoes. Keep in mind that I did not plant this, I didn’t feed it, it just appeared in my garden – and it’s ONE plant!  It’s grown to about 25 feet long and 20 feet wide, vining in every direction. I had been picking tomatoes for seven weeks and in this video I picked 151 tomatoes! (it took 15 minutes so we sped up the video – even I don’t want to watch 15 minutes of tomato-picking!) That’s 151 tomatoes in one day! That brought the total to 2,352 tomatoes but since then, I’ve picked over 1,000 more – you can follow the daily tomato count in the “Tomato Progress” posting above. I still can’t believe it! How many more will come? There may be another contest yet…

Driving to Vegas in August… what was I thinking? It was 110 degrees! Going to hell doesn’t scare me now. We went for three days and I guess I’m not a very good traveller. It took me more days to pack than we spent in Vegas. I had to bring sandwiches & drinks for the road, 110 proof sunblock, my own sheets, my teapot, disinfectant wipes, hard boiled eggs, phone chargers, my skincare products…  I forgot my face scrub but that’s okay – I just rubbed my face with the hotel washcloth. When we hit the casino, I couldn’t breathe. I said to Denis, “This must be a  smokers’ convention.” Or else people who quit years ago were so stressed about losing money, they started smoking again.  I tried to have fun but it seems like I enjoyed Vegas more when I was younger. The clubs are all so loud. Where I enjoyed the music most on this trip, was in the elevator.

They need more Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas. Com’on! There’s too many! They’re not even exciting any more. With titles like “O” and “KA” I should send them my idea: “BLAH” – acrobatics based on the history of how paint dries. Even my gambling was a bust. I lost my twenty dollars at  blackjack in less than a minute. They should call it Whackjack:  as soon as  you start putting money on the table, they whack you with a big stick.

Denis and I are off to Las Vegas for a few days. So what if it’s 107 degrees? Okay… it was my idea. I’m not concerned about the weather (just crank up the a/c!), but what about my tomatoes? And my hummingbirds? Who’s going to pick tomatoes and feed the mass of hummingbirds around here? No worries. We’ve arranged alternating shifts of people to come by every day to pick & count tomatoes (to make sure that  mangy, rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, tomato-eating squirrel doesn’t get them) and fill the bird feeders. I should be worried about my gambling luck in Vegas but noooo, I’m more concerned about the birds running out of food! Oh well, I’ll have peace of mind to focus on the $20 I plan to gamble away. That’s all I’m willing to lose!

The car is gassed up and it’s only a 4 1/2 hour drive but I like to be prepared. So I’m taking hard boiled eggs, cut up carrots & peppers, salmon sandwiches, homemade oatmeal cookies, apples, bananas, water, kleenex, paper towels, handiwipes & bandaids. That’s just for the ride.  Once we get there, it’s party time! I’m staying up ’til midnight!

Total to date: 992 tomatoes!!!

I feel a contest coming on…. 🙂

UPDATE JULY 29TH: 1,014 tomatoes!

My sister was here for the weekend and we had fun, fun, fun. We hung out, shopped, watched the hummingbirds, did jigsaw puzzles, went to my favorite restaurants (mostly small family places), and picked tomatoes. We had to… my plant is out of control! Three weeks ago it was 14 feet long. Now it’s over 25 feet and taller than I am! And I didn’t even plant it. It just showed up. It’s so heavy it just lays on top of itself and I prop it up with fencing and tie it up where I can without breaking it. It’s like a mass of giant spaghetti. So far, we’ve picked 785 tomatoes and it’s not even making a dent. That’s 40 to 50 huge cherry tomatoes a day!!  It will easily produce 2,000 tomatoes or more. Sis says I should inform the horticultural society about this freakish plant.

We pick every other day, wash & drain them and so far, I’ve given tomatoes to our housekeeper, our assistant, the gardener, the pool guy, the critter guy, Denis’s niece & nephew, two friends, we keep a bowl for snacking all day long and I’ve made two pots of awesome tomato sauce, not to mention salads. These tomatoes are super sweet but the best part is… the mangy, rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, tomato-eating squirrel is gone. Gee, I hope he didn’t choke on one of my peaches… because I’m only trained in CPR (Catapulting Pesky Rodents).

I’ve picked about 150 tomatoes already from my unwanted, unplanted cherry tomato plant. I almost stepped on the rabbit yesterday who was trying to hide under the plant again. If he’s eating the tomatoes I wouldn’t know since there seem to be around 1,000 tomatoes on the plant which has now grown to 16 feet across. There’s even enough tomatoes for the mangy, rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, fruit-stealing squirrel. But he doesn’t want my tomatoes.. Nooooooo. He eats my white peaches.

I hope he chokes on a pit. He can beg me to give him a Heimlich but the only thing I’d give him is a shoebox. “Get in. We’re goin’ for a ride.”

Does anybody else get annoyed at the mall? I went there today and here’s my list…

~~ A giant chrome-plated Hummer parked in handicapped? I don’t think so.

~~ They had Christmas stuff at the Hallmark store. Com’on!

~~ Skinny jeans are not for everyone.

~~ The louder the music, the less money I spend.

~~ Who’s getting their teeth whitened at the mall???

~~ My size is always gone.

~~ When you get to the bottom of the escalator, MOVE!

~~ Just stay in your kiosk and leave me alone!

Is it just me? Bad mood? Low blood sugar? Too much squirrel-stress ?