Honey, I’m home

Too bad I don’t have anyone to yell that to.

Alas, I am back from hot and sunny SoCal.

My friend from work, Mark, and I went to see the Dodgers play on L.A. last night so I didn’t have much knitting time this trip. We took the Metro from Long Beach to somewhere in downtown LA. The train was fine, a little long, but I got to see some neighborhoods along the way. One of the sales people from the hotel we are working with was warning me about how bad a neighborhood the ball park is in and a cab might not come pick us up after the game, going on and on about how dangerous it is, blah, blah,blah. She was raining on my parade and I had to be nice to her because we are working with her!

Obviously she lives in a white, middle-class neighborhood in Long Beach and never leaves. I live in a city, I can handle the urban landscape. I wasn’t going alone, and I didn’t tell her my friend Mark is black. Sheesh.

Needless to say we made it out of LA without getting mugged or shot. Phew. We did get scammed by a cab driver though. It was so stupid, I don’t know why we let it happen.

The game was fun, even though the Red Sox loss and the Yankees win last night left me feeling a little despondent. Ugh. This isn’t good. But I am going to keep good thoughts.

And we had a brush with fame! Mike from "Desparate Housewives" was sitting in our section. It was very funny to see him hanging out with his buddy, drinking Coors Light, in the cheap seats. It took a while for Mark to believe it was him, he couldn't understand why he wasn't being mobbed, but he came around after recognizing some of his mannerisms.

We both, separately, are keeping a tally of all the baseball parks we have been to. My list:

• Fenway Park, Boston


• Camden Yards, Baltimore


• Wrigley Field, Chicago


• Expos Stadium, Montreal (former home of the Washington Nationals when they were the Montreal Expos)


• Rogers Centre, Toronto


• Safeco Field, Seattle


• SBC Park, San Francisco


• Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles

Knitting
Uh oh. I don’t think my finger is supposed to be poking through the toe of my sock.

I knew the kitchener stitch I attempted was weak. Crap.

I found this book in a used bookstore in Long Beach for $2.00! It is a good reference book and has some nice patterns.

Other Amusements

I am off tomorrow, yay, comp day! Long weekend! Time to catch up with life and hit the dry cleaner, the grocery, do a yoga makeup class.

On Saturday Corey and I are going to the Ballston (Va.) Arts Market . My painting teacher is going to have a space so I am psyched to see him and some local art. Maybe I will find something I like for cheap. I love buying paintings for my “collection,” as long as they are under $150.

Hey, you have to start somewhere. The Cone sisters collected a bunch of Matisse’s works before he was somebody.