July Better Than June

Above, The Beast at the Manzanar visitor center parking lot. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Where the heck is this year going? It seems almost recently that we were in January. Now we're in August.

While the first half of the year was rather crappy (with some exceptions), at least the second half started out better. At least July was a better month than June was.

July began with my cousin's annual 4th of July (held on July 2) bash down in Wildomar, California. It was great to see family members in a festive mood.

Above, a meadow in Devil's Postpile National Monument. Photo by Armnd Vaquer.

Following that, Jes and I went to the Ventura Beach RV Resort for a few days of relaxation. She had never camped in an RV before and she enjoyed it.

After this, I headed up the Owens Valley in the Eastern Sierra with my cat Sierra and visited places that I hadn't been to before such as Manzanar Relocation Camp, Devil's Postpile National Monument, Mammoth Lakes and Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park. I am happy that I'm getting plenty of use out of The Beast.

Above, at Japantown in West Los Angeles. Photo by Anastasia Lipovetskaya.

I commissioned a portrait in July and it was only completed a few days ago. I am working on holding an "unveiling party" to be held in the not-too-distant-future.

I bought DVD sets of Dallas and finished watching Seasons One through Three. Yesterday, I picked up Season Four (the "Who shot J.R.?" storyline) and now in the middle of side one of disc one. It is fun watching my onetime favorite television show after all these years, especially the insults J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) threw at people ("Sue Ellen, you're a drunk, a tramp, and an unfit mother.") Classic!

That reminds me. There's still some legal matters to attend to this month, but I feel confident that I will prevail in them. Most, if not all, were forced by the actions of a couple of female jackasses. There's not much to do except to deal with them and move on.

July ended with an enjoyable dinner at Maria's Italian Kitchen in Encino with Dawn. We'll see how August shapes up.