Happy Holidays from The Hotel Careyfornia! 5 years ago today I started this humble little experiment in sharing my life with the world. In that time, I’ve written 707 entries and have devoted this space mainly to my photos and random musings. The Xanga community has been good to me. And though I micro-blog more often on facebook, Tumblr and Google + these days; this site will always have a special place in my heart. Though I’ve pretty much been absent from Xanga the past six months, I have not been idle. I’ve lost 45 pounds, hosted many foreign dignitaries (including President Obama!), and traveled a bit. Here’s a look at the highlights of the past six months; filled with lots of dogs, kids and sunsets. The captions will open links to whole albums of more pictures if you’re interested. I’m not sure when I’ll be back here blogging more often, but I’ll never be gone for good!

The following, appeared in the Washington Post last week:

I checked, and I have written 39 posts about Wicked Witch of Wasilla, since that fateful morning of August 29, 2008, a day we wish we could all forget. So today, I declare a:

So starting tomorrow, no posts about the Queen of Darkness. Like Mika Brzezinski, I will not give her the publicity she so craves:

No politics this week….my family has forbidden it:

Happy Holidays from The Hotel Careyfornia!  4 years ago yesterday I started my humble little blog.  In that time, I’ve written 692 entries and have devoted this space mainly to my photos and random musings.  The Xanga community has been good to me.  And though I micro-blog more often on facebook and Tumblr these days; I still try to come here once a week to summarize my life and write my rants.  As I’ve said before, blogs are like clothes.  Sometimes you look back at them and wonder, “What was I thinking!!??”

It’s often been suggested that I rename my blog:

When I look at my most common “tags“, this rings somewhat true.  Here’s a look at the highlights of the past year, filled with lots of dogs, kids, sunsets, Xangalebrities and political rants:

• Christmas Eve in the Emergency Room (Twice!)

• Civil Lights? Do Smokers Have a Right to Smoke Outside?

• Dangerous, Delusional and Doltish

• Tonight the Streets are Ours

• ‘Twas the Day After Oscar

• I Married My First Cousin!

• America’s Prettiest City

• My American Idol After Party Photos

• From Germany to Africa to West Hollywood

• The Gandhi of Dogs

• It Was the Summer of ’85 – Xangalebrity Edition

• Viva La Vie Boheme!

• It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

• His Name is Rio…

• Sorry for the Woody in my Pants Officer!

• The Bureaucratization of Terror – Theater of the Absurd

And here are some photos from the past week with links to photos past:

To explain how the week ended with me in the back of a police car, we have to back up to the beginning.  It was another busy week at The Hotel Careyfornia.  Mike was in town on yet another stop on his trip around the world.  Darlene came home from her summer in Michigan with fresh pasties.  I took Arielle to the pumpkin patch, which has become somewhat of a tradition.  The night before Halloween was spent at Griffith Park Observatory with Sam & Charlotte.  It was an unusually clear day in Los Angeles and as the sun set into the Pacific, Halloween was upon us.  As I wondered  how I could top my outfit 2 years ago, when Sarah Palin was running for vice president and I was a moose in a bulletproof vest; and last year, when I was Balloon Boy’s dad, taking pictures with all the cute Balloon Boys; it struck me.  This year I would take the conservative route, and dress as a nice, Midwestern, pedophile priest!  It was a lot of fun.  Surprisingly, no one was offended by my costume.  Even the (real) cops asked to take my picture.  The best costume of the night for me was the BP Oil Spill.  There were lots of Chilean miners and Snookies and of course standard Lady GaGa fare.  Let the fun begin:

It was nice to see the HBO film, “Temple Grandin” starring Claire Danes, take home so many Emmy Awards last night. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Grandin’s work, I highly recommend the movie, which is available on HBO On Demand in the U.S.  There are also several clips on YouTube.  I’ve been a fan of Temple Grandin for quite some time.  Her insights into autism are truly ground breaking.  I also encourage anyone with an autistic relative to take the time (3 hours) to watch her fascinating C-Span interview: 

The first book I ever read by Temple Grandin was called “Animals in Translation“. 

I’d love to read it again, but unfortunately when Chazz was six months old, he destroyed it, along with another book entitled “The Moral Animal“.  Apparently Chazz does not agree with the Academy when it comes to Temple Grandin!

June, 1985 was a big month for me.  I moved out of the dorms in college and into my first real home with 3 friends.  I got my dog, Oreo, who was my constant companion for the next 12 years.  I lost my virginity (to a girl), made lifelong friends that I still have today and developed my identity.  I was 19 years old, about to turn 20.  I had yet to travel the world, but I was beginning to gain my wanderlust.  The next five years would turn out to be the most pivotal of my life.  They were years I look back on fondly.  It was a time of big hair, skinny ties, great music and carefree times.  To get through college I babysat for about 50 kids, and worked at 2 homes for the developmentally disabled.  Last week, one of those “kids” found me on Facebook and sent the following messages:

Just like now, I took lots of pictures of kids and my dog.  Jocelyn’s message inspired me to scan a few of them. Try not to laugh too hard!  (Time to go on another diet!)

 

A friend of the family sent me this the other day:

 

Man!  I wish I would have thought of that!  It’s a perfect example making money off of fundamental Christianity run amok!  As the website states:

“Once you pay your fee of $110, the rapture pet rescue contract is good for 10 years. If the rapture doesn’t come by that time, too bad. What if blasphemous loved ones are left behind and are able to care for the pets — Will they receive a refund? No. How long will it take for the atheist pet rescuers to arrive? Fluffy and Rocky will be rescued, as soon as possible, considering there will be widespread destruction and chaos”:

“Naturally, we must anticipate that there will be widespread chaos and confusion immediately following the Rapture that could impact travel times. Thus, we are targeting a maximum of between 18- 24 hours from realization of the Rapture, to animal rescue.”  Read more…

Love it!  And seeing how the current “Rapture Index” of 173 is close to the all time high of 182, time’s a ticking.  As a card carrying atheist heathen, I’m glad to know that Chazz and I will face the rapture hand in paw.

This is a great piece on fundamentalism…Christianity has its flaws but at least I’m able to criticize the current criminal pope without fear of a fatwa!

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UPDATE:  The creator and co-owner of the website  “Eternal Earth-Bound Pets” that I refer to here, just wrote me with the following comments regarding the article I quoted.  I had a discussion with some Facebook friends about whether the company has actually collected revenue for their services, and Mr. Centre has confirmed that fact.  A true Atheist American success story!

Carey,

Thank you for your discussion of my post rapture pet rescue business.

Just to correct two small errors:

1)  We do not have “a motley crew of about 100 reprobates” rescuers in 22 states.  At the time the article was written we hat 26 rescuers in 22 states, and one-hundred paying rapture believing clients.  As of this writing, we have added 3 additional rescuers and have just under 200 clients under contract for our post rapture pet rescue service.

 2)  As for being “motley” and/ or “reprobates,” actually all our rescuers are gainfully employed, have families, love pets, and have no criminal record per our criminal back ground checks.  All are financially solvent as confirmed by credit checks also conducted on all our rescuers.

Yours in reason,

Bart Centre

creator / co-owner -  Eternal Earth-Bound Pets

author-  The Atheist Camel Chronicles: Debate Themes and Arguments for the Non-Believer

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Speaking of heathens…I went to church yesterday!  No, it wasn’t to pay my respects to a cosmic Jewish zombie, and no I didn’t burst into flames upon entry.  I went for Tressa’s First Communion.  I was there to support her and her family who I love very much.  As I’ve stated in this space before, going to church does bring back some fond memories of the more ritualistic things I actually used to enjoy about Catholicism.  (I was never molested by a priest…guess I wasn’t cute enough.)  A few times yesterday, I found myself reciting rote responses from memory and my cousin leaned over and said “It never quite leaves you, does it?”  How true!  (Though I must admit, I felt a little queasy when they asked us to pray for the current Pedo Pusher Pope.  In my opinion that slimeball should rot in jail!)  At any rate, it was a beautiful day and Tressa looked so pretty!  She had a really great time, as the photos in the slideshow below should attest; and in the end that’s what’s most important!

What follows, are two completely unrelated stories that are ultimately about hope and inspiration:

I would like everyone to grab a box of tissues and read this story.  I want you to think about it the next time you get angry while driving.  I know I will.  I’m an admittedly terrible driver, and have been guilty of road rage many times.  I’ve been working on driving more calmly for several years, but living in Los Angeles, relapses are easy.  I hope that the memory of what happened to this family and their little boy will forever stay with me when I’m behind the wheel. Life is indeed too short.

When a porn star and a college student driving through the San Fernando Valley fell into conflict, a Bangladeshi American family suffered the consequences

Los Angeles magazine, February 2010

On the Internet you can watch a four-minute video clip of Ayman Arif dancing. The venue is a bedroom in his Northridge home; his stage, a comforter patterned with sunflowers. Taking his cues from a Bollywood spectacular playing on the television, the four-year-old Bangladeshi American boy wriggles, twirls, and bounds. On his bare chest he wears the pink string sash of the Brahman jester he is pretending to be. His mop of brown hair gives way to a wide forehead, and his dark brown eyes are bright with fire as he sings along to the Bengali-language soundtrack. One moment he’s wagging a stern finger, the next he’s clasping his hands to his heart or pumping an outstretched palm toward the heavens.  

On Tuesday, October 9, 2007, some ten months after her son’s impromptu performance made it onto YouTube, Syeda Arif was readying her family for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr—three days of gift giving, party hopping,overeating, and prayer to conclude the fast of Ramadan. At 30, Syeda was petite, with almond-shaped eyes and a husky laugh. She and her husband, Amir, lived in a Bangladeshi enclave in the northwest San Fernando Valley. Her father had been twice nominated to the Bangladeshi parliament, and Amir liked to say that she made friends with the ease of a born politician.

Around noon in the gathering heat of the day, Syeda buckled her two-month-old daughter, Ikra, into the car seat in her Honda Civic and drove to the home of Romey Islam, one of her best friends. The Islams lived in a modest gray ranch house on Sherman Way near Van Nuys Airport. Its soundproof front windows looked out onto a six-lane river of crosstown traffic that, like the row of palm trees lining the sidewalk, continued as far as the eye could follow. Read more…

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And keeping in the vain of “life’s too short”, here’s another article I highly recommend taking the time to read.  It’s an inspiring look at Roger Ebert, perhaps the best known film critic in America.  Those of you in other countries have probably never heard of him, but I’ve always had a special affinity for Mr. Ebert.  He was a fixture in Chicago where I grew up, and his movie reviews with Gene Siskel and patented “thumbs up or down” are legendary.  Five years ago, when the movie “Rent” came out, I was very excited.  Any regular reader of this space knows that seeing the musical “Rent” in 1996 was a seminal event in my life.  I went on to see the show 15 times in 15 different countries!  While I was a bit underwhelmed by the transition from stage to screen; subsequent viewings of the movie made me appreciate it more.  Upon realizing this, I wrote to Mr. Ebert to take issue with a few of the comments he made in his review of the film.  Imagine my surprise the next day, when I got a personal response from Roger Ebert from his personal email address; and he actually agreed with me!  I thought that was a very classy thing for him to do.  At the time, I had no idea of the huge medical ordeals he was facing.  I read this article last night and it brought tears to my eyes. Roger Ebert is a class act. This is the story of a life well lived and it’s worth your time. 

February 16, 2010, 7:01 AM

Roger Ebert: The Essential Man

It has been nearly four years since Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw and his ability to speak. Now television’s most famous movie critic is rarely seen and never heard, but his words have never stopped.  Read more…

PLUS: Have You Seen All of the Essential Movies?

By Chris Jones

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It was a very busy weekend at The Hotel Careyfornia, filled with many of my blog’s namesakes, primarily dogs (4), kids (3), and sunsets (2).  Thankfully, there was little mention of Sarah Palin and her redneck teleprompter!  Friday, Seth and Hannah came by with Garbo & Ruby.  On Saturday, David & Rebecca came with the two girls and Chanel the dog (just like last Valentine’s Day, when I went to Gay Traffic School!).  Despite snow in 49 of the 50 United States, it was 75° (24° C) in L.A. and we hiked up to the “new” Hollywood sign.  It’s been covered by conservationists temporarily to prevent land development at one of the last untouched parts of Los Angeles. After a quick trip to Millions of Milkshakes, we headed to The Getty Center for sunset (it’s free after 5:00 on Saturdays!).   We capped the night off celebrating the Lunar New Year with delicious Thai food.  Sunday, Claudio, Ryan, Omar & Chazz came to dance the Valentine’s night away at Avalon.  Tonight, Tyson (who took time out of his busy TV appearance schedule), met me and Chazz for dinner at Hollywood & Highland.  I’m exhausted.  Is it the weekend yet??

Exactly one year ago today, the world was a different place.  No one knew whether a black man could become President of the United States.  A pot free Michael Phelps was the toast of America.  Michael Jackson was still sleeping (alive) with little boys.  And that morning, one year ago today, 99.9% of Americans did not know who the governor of Alaska was.  Exactly one year ago today, I sat in front of my television and watched as John McCain took the stage in Ohio with a pretty woman (who looked like Tina Fey) and her admittedly telegenic family.  With my laptop appropriately on my lap I googled a name I had never heard before, Sarah Palin.  I found out she was still breast feeding her 4 month old son with special needs.  I found out she was a former beauty queen (runner up) with a questionable educational past.  I found out she was a radical gun freak with no comprehension of the Second Amendment.  And I found out that she was a religious whack job that made George W. Bush look like a heathen.  I even surmised that she liked the TV shows Charmed & Buffy (supernatural though they may be), as that could be the only explanation for her oddly named brood of white trash babies, Trig, Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper.  I discovered all this within 10 minutes of learning her name, and a yearlong crusade began.  Of course at the time I did not know that her preaching of abstinence had fallen upon deaf ears in her own household, as her 17 year old daughter was pregnant with yet another redneck bastard.  I did not know that she couldn’t even name a newspaper she had ever read.  I did not know she would be crippled by 19 ethics scandals.  And I did not know that she could see Russia from her back yard.  In short she was, and still is, an incoherent mess!  Oh, and she birthed Michael Jackson’s son Blanket!  Some people have suggested that I rename my blog:

And following throughout the last year with: