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4 July in Pacifica – by Celticangel

It would seem that the eternal smoke in the air problem here in California affects my singing ability. You all remember how intrinsic music is to me, yes? Well, last week the best I could hope for was about one line of a song before I developed a pain behind my sternum and had to stop.

No, I don’t have an inhaler. Why do you ask?

This weekend it’s a wee bit better, but I hope that we get some nice clean rain soon.

Speaking of air quality, on 4 July I was down at the beach in Pacifica with Koshvader, as you can see in the pic above, and the air was like soup. I think that the pic is the visual representation of what my lungs think about the air these days.

Think that the atmosphere in the pic above is a trick or a momentary thing? Try this one…

Yep. That is a photograph. Scary, eh? For more pics from 4 July, go here.

Happy Bastille Day folks!

This video has been around for a while, but it still amuses me. Obviously this means that I need to share it with you all.

Obviously.

So, please enjoy the silly dancing kitty.

Well, my quest is at an end. As you can see from my terrible photograph taken through the widscreen of the car.

The story of its location goes a little something like this…

The other day my husband went out for a drive and thought, “If I can find the Orange House for Celticlibrarian it will make her happy and I will be her hero!”
So, he went where I had said we should try next, and ‘lo he found it!
When he came home, he told me he had located the elusive house. And I…got all territorial about my quest. And the fact that he’d gone out and found it without me.
So there you see the difference in our thought processes. Le sigh.
After a bit I managed to get down off of my territorial-quest high horse and I demanded that he take me to see the Orange House, narrating all the while how he found it. Poor man. But, he did it. And now my quest is at an end.

Except…I need a better photo of the front of the house, so I may try to swing by one more time. I wish I knew a bit more about the house, but at least I’ve found it.

(And my husband is my hero.)

I located this interestingly spelled notice at the local Shell station. It is attached to the Air/water station, and I think that they meant to say Push Start Here.

That’s only a guess, mind you. Perhaps there’s something called a Puch Star that I’m unaware of which you can find there.

Hello. I’m the manager here at the Koshvader Gallery. Today we bring you four new entries. We hope that you enjoy them, and thank you for stopping by.

This is an unoccupied Lifeguard Station at [tag]Stinson Beach[/tag].

These last three images were taken during the Fourth of July festivities at a particular beach in [tag]Pacifica[/tag]. They really take their [tag]fireworks[/tag] seriously over there.

My favorite photographic subject seems to be Koshvader’s back.

I’ve been experiencing a great deal of stress and anxiety lately. It’s the usual cocktail of money/job/relationship stuff with a heaping side of can’t-seem-to-get-pregnant. Meh.

All of that is really annoying and makes it difficult to sleep/concentrate/wake up, you know? Plus, with my nervous system, it also means that any tiny little thing makes my cry. For like…two hours if I’m not careful. Things like a balloon popping (which makes me cry all of the time anyway. What is it with me and popping balloons? For some reason the noise just goes right through me. All sorts of fun in social situations, let me tell you.), missing a phone call, or making a mistake. This, in and of itself, is really annoying and stressful.

So, what I want to know is, what do you do to [tag]relieve stress[/tag]? I mean, obviously there’s “have lots of sex” (fun, but hard to work into one’s schedule on a daily basis) and “have a nice cup of tea” (the pause that refreshes, but one must stick to decaf or herbal is one wishes to sleep at night. Have I mentioned that I drink a lot of tea?) What has been working best for me lately is photography. It forces me to try and think creatively. It also forces me to get out of the house, which is not my preference when I’m feeling like this. I’m a hermit at the best of times. An interesting side effect of all of this photography-based travel has been my gut opinion of places. (Sometimes being an HSP can be a bit entertaining. Who knew?) For example, I love this one beach in Pacifica. There’s just something about it that I connect with. But I went to Stinson Beach the other day, and I found it to be not soothing. Easy to walk on, yes. Soothing, no. The parking lot for said beach in the evening? That was soothing. No idea why. *shrug*

Oh. And petting cats is nice too.

What do you lot do to [tag]relax[/tag]?

Apparently you have to visit Wordle to see the big one…

Destination: The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia & Classic Toy Museum
Location: 214 California Drive, Burlingame, CA, 94010, USA
Website: http://www.burlingamepezmuseum.com/
Hours: Open Tuesday – Saturday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Entry Fee: Regular Admission – $3.00 (you can find a discount coupon here.)

Worried about gas prices, but you still want to get out and do things? Worry not! Join me as I investigate the various museums, parks, and other interesting locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia & Classic Toy Museum lurks one town up from where I live. Finally, after two years of thinking about it, I got my act together, grabbed my camera, and drove over there. It took all of ten minutes and I even got a parking spot right out front.

Some things to note:

*The best way to easily reach your destination is to turn on Howard from El Camino Real, and then left on California. If you can parallel park, do so almost immediately. You will need change for the meter. If you are not fond of the parallel parking, and don’t mind walking a block or so, make a left on Burlingame and park there (there is even more parking behind the Apple Store if you need it.) You will still need the change, though.

*Bring some cash with you. There is a a $10 minimum to use a credit card at the Pez Museum Store. You want to get some Pez before you leave, right?

*With your price of admission you get a guided tour from the museum’s curator. He really knows his stuff. Also…he has a nice voice. (You can get a PodCast of a tour and hear the voice for yourself here.)

*Hey! The price of admission is only $3!!

The Pez/Classic Toy Museum used to be the curator’s computer store about thirteen years ago. He brought in his Pez dispenser collection, figuring that folks might like to look at it while browsing the computers. More and more, though, people stopped by just to see the Pez. The rest is history. The museum now has an example of every Pez dispenser ever made. A couple of years ago, they also added classic toys to the museum. A toy must be at least fifty years old to be featured.

There are a few things I like to take note of at any of my destinations. At the request of a friend I am trying to keep an eye on the amount of seating available. This museum has no seating. It is, on the other hand, only two rooms in size, so you probably won’t need it. The room that you enter off of the street is the Pez Museum shop, catering to all of your Pez dispenser needs. (I managed to replace my Pez Witch that had a close encounter with ants some years back. And yes. A Pez Witch. Just like the one Willow had on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) The second room is the museum itself. For all of its diminutive size, I found the displays to be both informative and professional. As you may imagine, the only food available is the aforementioned Pez in the shop, so don’t go expecting to have lunch there. A word to the wise, Burlingame is a rather high rent area. You may wish to have your meal in San Mateo if you are trying to save money. And finally, a word on the subject of crowds. I hate crowds. I do whatever I need to to avoid them. Crowds are not a problem here. I was not the only visitor, but there were only a few other folks in the shop while I was there.

This destination will not take all that long to visit. The meters out front of the museum only allow for a two hour stop, but that was quite long enough for me to see the museum, choose my Pez dispensers (I got a baseball themed one for my husband as well), and take lots of photos. There was still time on my meter when I left. All in all, it is definitely worth a trip, especially if you are like me and enjoy quirky little places. I now know that PEZ was named after the German word for peppermint, “PfeffErminZ,” which was the original flavor of the candy. Hey, fun and knowledge with a side of candy! How can you go wrong?

This isn’t the whole collection, but it looks mighty impressive all in there together, doesn’t it?

Did you know that Colorforms were fifty years old? I didn’t. Nor did I know that the first Colorforms were basic shapes.

The Easy Bake Oven is also at least fifty years of age. I had one when I was a kid. It certainly didn’t look like this one. Did yours?

Look! It’s the World’s Largest Pez Dispenser. Also, me looking like a dork.

So, there you have it. My close encounter with the Pez Museum. To sum up: small, informative, and sweet.