Lisa Burks Online

I See Wax People: My Encounter with Glenn Ford

This is sort of cemetery related, as I've visited Mr. Ford's crypt.

read more at Adventures in Grave Hunting

A Berry Good Saturday

Foul weather predictions be damned, Walter borrowed his dad's Caravan, we loaded up the crew after Max and Justin's basketball game this morning and headed down to Knott's Berry Farm to celebrate Max and Joe's birthdays, which were Tuesday and Thursday respectively.

Food, rollercoasters, walking, shopping, exploring the cool vintage displays, more food, more rollercoastering, more walking, souvenirs, arcade games and still more food - plus, a real old fashioned photo booth!  LOVE them!

Fortunately, hamming it up in a photo booth is a silly fun passion that Walter and I have in common; we're both life-long photo booth groupies.  Here's proof:

We stayed until the park closed at 10pm and the rain held off until the last hour, and even then it was just a drizzle.  Not enough to stop the rollercoasters from running, if that gives any indication.

I'm afraid of heights, so even the most infantile of rides will give me a terror thrill (which is why I even dig the Camp Snoopy portion of the park) but I have to say that Montezooma's Revenge was my favorite coaster to ride, while the rickety wood-framed coaster Ghostrider left me feeling like I know know what shaken baby syndrome must feel like.  I think I need a chiropractor or at least a good night's sleep to settle my brain down from rolling around inside my skull.

I liked all the displays and shops we saw; Walter's favorite area of the park is Ghost Town so he, Joe and I spent a lot of time there.  The three coolest buildings were an authentic Little Red School House, The Bottle House and Judge Roy Bean's saloon, The Jersey Lily.  That was especially intriguing to explore because "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" was a movie that Walter had introduced me to last summer.

Wallydog generously gifted the kids and me with fun money and I used mine to get a cool "Mexican Coconut" geode - you could pick the rock and then watch it get cut in half to find out what was inside.  The one I chose ended up with quite a variety: amethyst, clear quartz crystal, blue banded agate, limonite and moss agate, plus a bit of volcanic ash which the cutter said was unsual.

I stuffed the rock, wrapped in newspaper and inside a paper bag, into my sweatshirt before getting on the Silver Bullet, then noticed it had fallen out.  Walter spotted a chick who appeared to have found it after we got off the ride so I approached her about it, asking if she had found it.  She insisted she had purchased it herself so I let it go.  A few minutes later she came back with the rocks and said she wanted me to have hers since I had lost mine.  It was, of course, mine to begin with, but it's nice to know that there's semi-honest people out there.

After that I decided I didn't want to lose anything else so used the rest of my fun money to buy a hot pink tote bag featuring color photos of Knott's jelly jars.  Classicly kitchy, I am sure to get tons of use out of it as it's just too gaudy and LOUD to keep hidden away from the world in the back of some closet.

It was a wonderfully fun day, and I really enjoyed sharing a weekend adventure with my honeybunches Walter, and spending quality fun time with his sons: Nick and his girlfriend Mahalia, Max and Joe and their friend Justin - they're all really great kids, their folks should be very proud of them.  Additional photos from the day can be viewed on this Flickr album.

Historical Sunday

Our Sundays are not always overly-planned.  We'll get in the car and I'll ask, "Where are we going, Honeybunches?"  Walter will reply, "This way....." and point north, east, south, west or thereabouts.

I love mystery adventures!  Walter has the same kind of "see where the day takes us" take on lazy days that I do, and the destinations he chooses are always fun.

Today as we headed east down Victory toward the I-5 on-ramp, Walter indicated that we were headed right(ish) and we ended up downtown at the Central LA Public Library, yay! 

He'd mentioned earlier that he thought I should investigate the wonderful resources available on in the History & Genealogy Department there for my Grand View cemetery research.  I love how he gets into things that I'm interested in. 

Walter reading a 1909 Glendale City Directory

Since we only had about an hour to explore, I headed straight toward the city directory shelves and was excited to find books for Glendale dating as far back as 1909.  Vintage directories are plethoras of information, including listings cross-referenced by name and streets, plus editorial pages describing a town's history.

One of the things we learned was that early on, Grand View Memorial Park (as it is currently named) was called Grandview Memorial Park, which makes sense because of the spelling of Grandview Blvd. on the cemetery's eastern border.  Also that Grand View was actually a part of Casa Verdugo before that area was annexed by the City of Glendale.

More on the historical factoids we began to uncover in a forthcoming post to my ValleyNews.com blog.

Afterward, we had a scrumptious old-fashioned dinner at The Original Pantry Cafe, a legendary 24/7 ("We Never Close!") downtown dining institution since 1924.  Another place on my Can't Believe I've Haven't Been There Yet list.

The cafe filled with booths and counter seating is currently owned by former LA Mayor Richard Riordan.  His memorabilia appears to be the only modern items in the joint.  It's deliciously Depression-era in style.  Except for the cashier sitting in a locked security cage, it feels like you're stepping back in time.

My favorite bit of historical kitch is a class picture of sorts, comprised of Pantry employee portraits circa 1965, honoring them for 35 years of service.

Before you ever order your meal (rib-eye steak for Walter, baked chicken for me) the waitress brings you individual dishes of the best cole slaw ever, and a plate of sour dough bread.

My one-word review: YUM!

We left feeling full, and carrying a doggie bag that included souvenirs (t-shirt for him, coffe mug for her ~ thanks, Wallydog!)

Basketball, cars and headstones, oh my!

Yesterday started early with Max's 9am basketball game (Nuggets won, yay!) Then we helped Nick get his ailing car from Santa Clarita to a Burbank mechanic, which included a fun lunch at the Sub Queen.  Specialty sub was The King, not queen in sight. Mmm-mmm good nonetheless.

Afterward, Walter and I went on a spontaneous gravehunting adventure to Eternal Valley in Newhall, followed by more food at Rico's Pizzeria in Burbank.  *urp*

All in all, a busy, filling, delightful day.

Junk Junkies

Walter and I spent most of the last weekend on an impromptu garage sale world tour of Burbank.

It started innocently enough, with me leaving the house bright and early to get some morning supplies from the grocery store.  Eight doors down the street I spotted a lawn filled with things that I didn't need but must have because they were dirt cheap.

Twenty minutes, groceryless and $2 later I returned to Walter's with an armload of goodies which I dumped on the bed in an eager show-and-tell.  Walter was still sleeping but that didn't stop me, not in my euphoric condition.

His eyes opened at the mention of a mini Revereware frying pan in near-mint condition.  (A passion for this brand was one of the initial things we realized that we had in common when we first met.)  "What else did they have...." he wondered, now wide awake.

Shortly thereafter, coffee in hand, we were in the car and on the road to what turned out to be a bounty weekend despite the rain that morning.  It ended up being my favorite kind of perfect overcast fall weather, and just being out in the fresh air felt great. Additionally, I consider getting in and out and in and out and in and out of the car bonafide exercise.

Burbank normally requires garage salers to get a permit, limiting sales per household to once every six months.  But this weekend, we learned, was permit-free so the junk was selling on lawns and in driveways all over town at-will.  It was like shooting fish in a used barrel.

I ended up spending a total of about $30 between both days which filled up Zeke the Wonder Car.  Yes, we went back out Sunday, too.  Another common passion we discovered in each other: the joy of junking!

Books, an electric potato peeler that I later found out had a short in the wiring, some antique kitchenware, an aerobic step that I probably won't use but hey it was only two bucks, more books, wine glasses from a pair of party ladies in their 80s, a leather dayrunner, a student guitar that I might one day learn to play, clay pots for my new window herb garden, and other assorted goodies.

Now we're contemplating having our own garage sale. Walter has been cleaning his garage out lately anyway, and I have to get rid of junk to make room for all my new junk.

But therein lies the beauty of "junking" to begin with.  Why let something sit in a closet and collect dust when you can set it free back into the world to bring joy to someone else, even if you only get a quarter for it?

In the meantime, garage sale-ing is an excellent way to spend quality time together, to meet new people, get involved in interesting conversations about what the stuff they sell means (or doesn't) to them, and see neighborhoods never explored before.  Can't really put a price on that!