Marie Javins's Blog, page 53

Decades of Everything Else

I was off to the Egyptian last night to see 1978 movie Superman (with New York-scapes by my friend Sam’s dad, who took photos from a helicopter), The screening included a conversation between a DC Daily host and Helen Slater (aka my former company’s lawyer’s sister).

I remember arguing the physics of the Superman ending with the girl down the street when I was a kid. I hadn’t actually seen the movie until tonight, so perhaps that’s why I was unable to suspend my disbelief.

The original Superman movie starts with a callout to 1938. When that movie came out in 1978, that seemed an impossibly ancient time, unrelated to the modern era. Watching the movie last night, I realized it's been longer from 1978 to now than from 1938 to 1978.

In my head, I roughly think of the last hundred years as "Depression stuff," "war stuff," "the sixties," "Vietnam/Watergate," and then anything after the Iranian hostage crisis and disco as "everything else, especially tech."

I might need to update my definitions.

The Highest Recommendation

The Indian food truck gave me a prescription discount card along with my lunch.

 Maybe I’ll just have a banana instead...

Say It Isn't So

When you have heavy hitters on your panel at SDCC, you do what you must to survive.

Life On the Edge

Everyone's favorite Burbank motorcycle cop was stationed at the scene of the crime again today.

I spotted him as I arrived at the dead end, and so I stopped and hit the walk button once a second for two minutes. It beeps every time it's hit.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

He left eventually. I like to think I annoyed him into departing.

The walk sign still hadn't changed, so as soon as he left, I crossed the street.

Against the light.

The horror.

Back in JC, I'd told a Lyft driver about my Burbank jaywalking warning offense.

He'd howled with laughter, said the Burbank police should check out Hoboken sometime, and when he dropped me off, he said I was the happiest passenger he'd had all day.

I'll take it, but you other Lyft passengers better up your game is all I'm saying.

I Need Help

God, who lives like this?

Monday Night Pottery

Here are photos of my latest pottery class output.

But first, a tale of taking a Lyft home from Burbank Rec Center.

Lyft driver: "It's chilly outside."
Me: "Weird, right? For July."
TLD: "And all that rain. And earthquakes. Maybe someone is coming."
Me: "..."
Me: "..."
Me: "Um, maybe?"

I didn't think the plate would make it through firing because it had a little crack in it, so I just tested out glazes on it. But it looks good and the crack isn't visible.
Hand built with imprints of my knuckles.

Clear and Present Danger

When TSA pulled me aside this morning, I wasn’t surprised, because I had a batter hand mixer in my carry-on.

You know, the kind of plug-in mixer with two paddles. Maybe your mom let you lick the batter off when you were a kid.

I had a story ready. I was giving it to a friend in LA. The real story is too odd, too complicated. I moved from New York to LA, but not really. I moved...but didn’t take my stuff and I saw this in my storage unit and thought maybe I could bake something with all those cherries on sale now. (If only I'd remembered to bring a cake pan.)

But when the TSA agent opened my bag, she only cared about the coffee beans I was carrying.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The offending mixer was purchased at Woolworth's on 14th Street and Avenue B in 1993.

Double the Fun

It's been a while since I discovered something new in my yard in Jersey City via my mom's wildlife motion-activated camera.

And while I was disappointed I found no new animals...I did find something unexpected.

The raccoons are teaming up now.

First Time I've Argued With A Cop INSIDE the Country

Guess who got a ticketed warning for not pushing the walk button this morning?

On a dead-end street with only an alley outlet, where construction has blocked the sidewalk access to other routes. And while I stood there yes, arguing with the motorcycle cop, another person ON HER PHONE did the same thing. Not because she was being a scofflaw (though technically she was as was I) but because who the hell stops, pushes a button, and waits at a dead-end street that gets maybe 50 cars a day total, all turning into the parking garage at the dead-end? I've seen maybe two cars on that road in the two years I've walked 2x daily across it.

"Are you in a hurry, ma'am?"

"Yes. I have 45 seconds to get to that crosswalk there to push the walk button before the next light cycle, since I can't walk on the sidewalk after that due to all the construction going on."

"Construction takes time, ma'am."

"I'm going to do this again. I'm not standing there in the sun at a road with no cars."

"Then next time you'll get a real ticket."

Oh boy. Is it worth hundreds of dollars in jaywalking tickets to refuse to cave into an incredibly stupid rule? This reminds me of the time I was willing to be jailed for refusing to bribe a security officer in Congo. FOR FIVE BUCKS I could walk onto the plane. FOR FREE, I could risk going to jail in Kinshasa of all places. Of course, this is actually legal here, just stupid. I don't do stupid well.

Bonus! Two people from the office spotted this event and called me as soon as I got to work. Ha ha...the humiliation.

Burbank. What a ridiculous place. Charmingly eccentric, yes, but also quite absurd in how it incentivizes driving over walking. Blocked-off sidewalks where the options put the walker at risk. Bicycles sharing the walk with pedestrians because the streets are dangerous. Walk signs that don't automatically change without a person pushing the disgusting button. Motorcycle police pulling over walkers. Gotta keep Burbank safe for cars, you know!

Container Garden

Here's something fun I did on Tuesday night...

...because sometimes I go through phases of trying to do something besides work all the time: I went to Los Angeles City College for a community class in container gardening.

The teacher gave us all wooden planters and some cuttings. I planted them on Wednesday and so far, it looks like the jade plant might make it. And my kale and radishes are starting to sprout.