Halloween is not the only scary thing about October. I was out walking today and did not realize I was heading straight into a huge 4-foot spider web. I only noticed it because the spider that built it saw me coming and ran up to the top. I was inches away from walking right into it, face first. If that happened, you’d find me in the psychiatric ward of the hospital in the S.I.F.T. ward (Spider In Face Trauma!) This thing was HUGE! He ran up to the top and then looked down at me and I swear I heard a voice say, “What are you lookin’ at?” I decided to stare him down but then he started back down the web. He was either the biggest spider I’ve ever seen or he was carrying a backpack. I took a stick and knocked down part of the web and ran, afraid to look back in case he was mad and bungee jumped down his web to come after me. You know what doesn’t scare me now? Scorpions.

These spectacular photos were shared by someone anonymously, but they are beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

Look what I saw at Venice Beach yesterday! A car from Juarez, Mexico! I have never seen any Mexican license plate in all my years in California but this one is from Juarez. Isn’t that the most dangerous city in the hemisphere? The murder capital of the world? That’s where all the drug dealers are. But what would this vehicle be doing at Venice Beach? All I saw there were street performers, sunglass kiosks, T-shirt shops, and bunch of medical marijuana shops. Hmmm, it’s a conundrum.

My sister came to town for the weekend with her two daughters and one granddaughter for some fun. We went to Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and shopped and ate ourselves into a near coma: a monster buffet, gourmet burgers, Benihana, Cheesecake Factory, Chicken Pot Pie at the Daily Grill, Pinkberry for dessert. Well… you can imagine. I was one slice of cheesecake away from needing my stretch pants! 🙂

I love Chinese food but everything I like is batter fried! So I finally mastered my own recipe for Orange-Sesame Chicken that is healthy, crazy good, and it cooks in less than ten minutes! You’ll need a couple of not-so-common ingredients like toasted sesame oil but this dish is so worth it. If you can’t find the toasted sesame oil or toasted sesame seeds, try the Asian section of your market, Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. It took me about ten tries to get it just right and now I have to share it.  I hope you don’t like leftovers because there won’t be any! Click here for the recipe.

I actually was inside Air Force One today! Denis and I went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley and the real Air Force One is there, inside an enormous hangar. It’s a Boeing 707 and it flew seven presidents: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush. It’s huge! 152 feet long and the wingspan is 145 feet! No one could take pictures inside but it was so great to see where the presidents sat, all the (old school) computers, phones, fax machine, where the VIPs sat, and the press had to sit in the back, never allowed up front. Plus… the press didn’t fly free – they had to buy first class tickets. We also saw one particular seat where one person sat with a computer and he was the guy with all the nuclear codes. Always ready for anything, I guess. It was exciting to see it all in person, but this was not the highlight, my friends. The highlight of the trip was getting my senior discount. I asked for a senior ticket and got it. I said, “Aren’t you gonna card me?” “No.” Okay, that hurt a little.

1. I went to the mall today… actually, I didn’t get in because I could not find parking. Even the handicapped spaces were taken. How is it that so many handicapped people are driving a Lexus or Mercedes? Oh, I suppose they must have been injured, got one of those TV lawyers and won a big settlement and then spent the money on a luxury car. There could be no other explanation…

2. If a man says something when he’s alone in a forest and nobody hears him, is he still wrong? (this ponderance may be a reflection of how my day went today)

3. What happened to Charlie Sheen’s teeth?