Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

October is about half over so we are well ensconced into the 4th quarter. The clouds this cool morning are adding some color and depth to the usual seascape. Enjoy.



















And here's a zoom in on those stray clouds in the middle that are hitting the ceiling formed by the colder clouds above--almost like balloons in your living room after visiting Disneyland with the kids.

This is about two hours later than when I usually snap a picture. Y'ever wake up knowing it's the time you are usually leaving the house?--so you just grab everything in the dark and run out. I didn't grab the watch.
Just throwing in a wildlife photo to break
up the text... taken yesterday.



Don't do that if you're a bus commuter with a 30+ mile journey with transfers to make. Turns out I was an hour late out the door, so in public transit, one hour late turns into 2-3 hours late because you miss connections and there's more traffic slowing down everything. You also make mistakes like taking the "short line" version of your route and have to get off and wait for the regular line to get to you which happened to me. To make up time I grabbed the Santa Monica bus to take me to the Malibu line up the coast.

None of my friends of family have taken a bus in years (eldest daughter and her husband excepted--they're such green souls,,,), let alone buses from two or more municipalities. In L.A., as soon as you can afford a car (meaning: your 1st F/T job), you kiss mass transit goodbye and never look back.

But when you get in a car, you miss the democratizing experience of it all, the observance of crowd behavior, the differences between Latino, white, and Asian private space in public,  the variety of psychoses manifest in the homeless, and the true general smell of what urban humanity exudes, beyond the colognes, perfumes, and deodorants. Have I convinced you to buy a bus pass yet?

The female of the species
One observation is that Santa Monica buses are "chicks" and Los Angeles Metro buses are "dudes" but with multiple personality disorders. For those of you have not ridden a bus in years, the buses now talk to you, telling you what stop your at, what the next one is, to please use the rear exit. The Santa Monica buses tell you all of this in a female voice. It's very soothing and comforting. She even stops to take a breath and let you think about what she says mid-sentence. "Next stop is 10th [pause for sexy breath] Street."

The male, with damaged psyche
L.A.'s Metro bus on the other hand barks the destinations at you in a standard radio announcer voice (much like mine, but more mechanical). And then he channels failed presidential candidate Senator John McCain, and tells you in a tenor, nasal voice "For your safety, watch your step as you exit the bus."

And then the 3rd personality kicks in if you're at a train stop. This time it's deep-throated Darth Vader who rudely cuts off Senator John and says "Connection to the Expo (or whatever) Line." Poor Mr. Metro is in need of medication as much as his riders.

Before I let this multiple personality thesis on the mental pathology of the Metro bus just sit there with out support, let me offer this. Consider John McCain, consider Darth Vader, and then consider Darth (aka Anakin Skywalker) with his helmet off.

Did the evil L.A. transit authorities, somehow trap the Ur-hero of the Star Wars father myth in the soul-less mechanical body of its buses, doomed ever to tell you where you are? You be the judge.

Love,
Pops











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