Windmill Denny's

Saturday night, while Kirsten hosted dinner for her Tot Lot friends, Riley and I jousted fries at the quite literally Quixotic "Windmill" Denny's in Arcadia.

There, we ate and talked.



I asked Riley what he thought about the $700 Billion Bailout Plan. He complained it was an exorbitant strain to the system, would hand-tie any incoming President, and was, as far as he could reason, an arbitrarily decided figure. An economic solution based on psychological Sea Change was a tenuous one at best, he explained, especially given the failed rate incentives preceding it.

So, I asked him if he preferred a greater Free Market approach. He said, although it may provide a viable long-term tactic, it leaves too many "dead in the wake." He also said the situation calls for pragmatic execution over dogmatic principles, dropping the familiar "no magic bullet" trope.

I said I feel there needs to be more system transparency to avoid this calamity in the future, but not at the price of weighty governmental entanglement, and he said his pancakes tasted good.

I tried his pancakes and agreed.



Editor's Note: Riley snapped this photo while extolling the finer points of Laissez-Faire capitalism to me. After fifteen minutes, I finally had to say, "I get it, Ayn Rand! Back off! And quit eating my fries!"

Stupid Human Tricks

A couple of nights ago, Riley wistfully told me, "Mom, I love to play dead."  I asked how one does that.  The answer:  "Lie down, close your eyes, and stick out your tongue."  

Note that his friend Puppy seems to be playing dead as well.

Dally In The Valley

It was a pleasant Valley Saturday* for the P3 this weekend.

Riley's been jonesing to play golf after seeing the cartoon Curious George do it. Monkey see, etcetera. So, Kirsten and I carted him to Sherman Oaks Castle Park for eighteen holes of the miniature persuasion.





It was Riley's first time swinging a putter. And he aced a green -- or, in this case, a red -- halfway through the course!

A hole in one! He was the only one to do it.

Much of the time though, he took the doleful five-stroke. He wasn't the only one to do that.



Afterwards, we assaulted all senses in the name of fun in the arcade. Skee-ball, air hockey, videogames and such. Riley and I won first place on the motorcycle race game!





Then, we munched at the quite Googie Mel's Drive-In on Ventura Boulevard. A most Valley diner on a most Valley street. And only a few blocks from the veritable Tigris and Euphrates Of All Things Once Valley Pop, the Sherman Oaks Galleria.



Between bites of peanut butter sandwich, Riley obsessed over the tabletop jukebox. One quarter bought us a random oldie.

"Shu, shu, shu...
...Shu, shu, shu...
...Shu, shu, shu, shu...
...Sugar Town..."

A pie and coffee song if ever there were one.

Life is pretty good sometimes.



* Although we live in a valley -- the San Gabriel Valley, namely -- THE Valley, as known by Angelenos and mass-popularized in the '80s by the sundry Valley Girl manifestations, is the San Fernando Valley. For some myopic locals, L.A. consists only of the Hills, the Valley, the Westside and a freeway or two.

Here are two must-see movies that really capture the current timbre of The Valley for me, even though one takes place in the '90s and both are flat-out loopy: This one here and this one here. Check them out.

Invasion

Last night, we were visited by a short robot from the future.

He seemed to like trash a lot.  And bugs.

He was cool, I guess.

He could compact himself into a box shape.  Kirsten and I can't do that.

He had a few highly reflective parts which impressed. Kirsten and I like shiny things.

Remember that E.T.-inspired song by Neil Diamond, "Heartlight?"  Boy, did that suck.

Oh. It was just Riley.

He's cool.

I guess.

Labor Day

This is how my Labor Day began.  My designated holiday weekend project was to organize and file all of our household records and reference materials.

Project completed!

 Now, for some fun!  Riley, Chris and I decided to go to the California ScienCenter near USC.  It seemed like all of LA was there for the BodyWorlds exhibit, but we bypassed that crowd and explored the permanent exhibits.

First, we learned about how technology helps us use our senses to communicate and interact with the world.

Have you ever seen those communication tubes at playgrounds that allow kids to voice silly messages from one side of the playground to the next?  We found this giant version at the museum.

Riley loved it.  He sang a made-up song to the tune of Jingle Bells, while I (and everyone in the general vicinity) listened to his voice ring out at the other end.

Here, Riley and I are learning about how the absence of oxygen affects sound.

Electra told us all about electricity:

Onward to the Life Sciences exhibit...

In this exhibit, we learned about the life cycle, how the human body works and how animals adapt and function in different environments.

We peeked in on hibernating animals....

...and checked out some baby birds.

Outdoors, Riley and Chris used a giant lever to lift a truck weighing 5,400 pounds!

We also got to see an A-12 Blackbird, which was the first titanium aircraft made.  Its virgin flight took place in January 1963.  It could travel up to twice the speed of sound.  For a 45-year old plane, it still looks pretty cutting edge to me.

Sadly, the permanent exhibits at the ScienCenter are rather dated, but it was still an interesting excursion.  We closed the day at the park, where Riley had some big playmates and some small ones.

Big...

...and small:

Summer Fun at Zuma

Last Friday, Riley and I met friends at Zuma Beach in Malibu.  Renee brought her kids Kaitlyn and Sean, and Maribel brought her kids Ben and Gabrielle.  We live an hour or less from the ocean, but we rarely go.  This was only our second trip to the beach here in California this summer, and the first time it was actually warm enough to play in the water.  It was a glorious day.   Even though it was the beginning of a holiday weekend, the beach remained relatively uncrowded for most of the day; the water sparkled; dolphins jumped beyond the breakers; and we were in the company of good friends.

(from left to right:  Ben, Kaitlyn, Riley)

Sean

Gabrielle

Kaitlyn, ever the nature lover, wanted to share a bit of sun, sand, and surf with her snail friends too, so they tagged along with her for the day. 

Play-Doh Pumper Fun

Sometime this summer, Riley got over his textural aversions.  A while back, he got this Play-Doh play set at a friend's birthday party--sort of a "thanks for coming" gift.  I stowed it away thinking it might never see any use.  However, when I hauled it out one night last week, he surprised me by playing happily with it for more than an hour by himself.  That's quite an accomplishment, because he usually loathes playing on his own when I'm home.