Wild About Music Store

You may remember that back in May I was lamenting the closure of an indie bookstore named "The Midnight Special", well a new store named Wild About Music is nearing its grand opening in the once vacant spot. They're still setting displays and and getting the lighting worked out, but they allowed us to enter and even snap a few photos.

They have a wonderful collection of art: paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures that I was not allowed to photograph, but if you go to their website, you'll get a very good idea of the merchandise they offer. Of course, everything's related to music and they have very unique and adorable ornamnets. I already have three items I plan to buy, each costing $40.00! LOL

I love Southern California in autumn. Lots of sunshine, palm trees and outdoor concerts at noon!

Santa Monica's Ocean Ave.










Unlike the homes along Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach, the housing in Santa Monica is so sterile and modern, it's easy to mistake them for office buildings. This is some of the most expensive real estate in the state yet, it's suprisingly ordinary and unspectacular.




Palisades Park is directly opposite condo and apartment row. This is their view when they exit their buildings. Most unit's front door opens to face their neighboring building.




Below Palisades Park, directly off Pacific Coast Hwy., are the homes literally on the beach. Of course, they separate themselves from the everyday folk by enclosing their properties with 8 foot high fences (thus obliterating their own ocean view from the backyard). I guess, this why many of these homes feel the need to have their own swimming pool, though, they're a stone's throw from the ocean!

The colors of autumn

Self Help Graphics Dia De Los Muertos Celebration
The Artwork

Self Help Graphics Dia De Los Muertos
The merchandise and people

Wonderful costume ideas


Very creative employees


More creative costumes

Engineering dept's haunted house




Spouse's department worked many days creating their haunted house from scratch. They had sound effects, compressed air and creepy ghouls scaring the folks who dared enter the engineering dept.!

Talk about creativity. I loved the Pump Cat (top left) and the blonde pumpkin with braces!

Variety of adorable Halloween Decorations!

The Haunted Mansion

Disneyland does a great job of preparing the Haunted Mansion for Halloween and Christmas by presenting the theme from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The following days will feature photos from this year's decorations. I love the Haunted Mansion ride, it's one of my favorites!

2002 Halloween quilt.


2004 Halloween quilt.

My neighbor is a quilter and she knows how much I enjoy Halloween. This year she made a new quilt hanging and I'm so happy with it. Aren't they adorable?

Halloween Decorations













I love decorations and am so happy to see many houses decorated for Halloween. Driving home last night I came upon this house and its wonderful Pooh and Scooby inflatables. Sadly, by the time we drove past again, Pooh and Scooby were gone. I hope the owners chose to remove them, rather then because they'd been vandalized.

Park Entrance
Why is it everything's got to be tagged, graffed or marked?

So on the drive home, I noticed a parking enforcement car with the steering wheel on the right side (normally the passenger side). I didn't know we had cars equipped like this. The small scooter/golf cart-like ones I know about, but this car was new to me.

Moody Monday Theme: Stupid

The city of Alhambra's proposal to extend the 710 freeway 1/4 mile is stupid. It will serve no purpose as traffic will continue to bottleneck in Alhambra only now, in a residential section near an elementary school!

It's time...time for the Knotts Berry Farm Halloween Hunt. I haven't been in several years because they do scare the hell out of you! If being scared out of your wits is your idea of fun, check them out!