TPIR-Captain Klutz (1975)

They may have just been showcases on a game show, but to me the Flaky Flicks were so much more. Jay Wolpert, one of our producers on The Price is Right, wrote all of the Flaky Flick showcases. In my mind, his talent and sense of humor is on a par with some of the best comedy writers in Show Business. Along with the large mix of dedicated and generous people who worked behind the scenes on TPIR, and the audience, with whom I always felt such a strong connection, performing in the Flaky Flick showcases was my favorite part of the show.

finding gold in the gray

I notice the difference in my energy on gray days. And there's no doubt that sunshine is uplifting. Over the past two weeks, I've been tying to convey in photographs the mood of our gray days. At first, I wanted to express the bleakness. But then, driving past the ocean in Carpinteria, I noticed a certain grace in the small, glassy waves, and also a rare depth in the jade color of the water.

I lightened the photo of the children, as the dark sky made the detail difficult to see.

Happy Father's Day

Sending you all my sincere good wishes for a beautiful Father's Day ~ Anitra

Open Air Market

Tri-County Produce is a very Santa Barbara market. At the base of Milpas Street, near the ocean, it sits high above the pavement on a thick concrete slab. The most unique feature of Tri-County's, is its one open wall. This allows the ocean breeze to waft past the checkout stands and bares a view of the beach and Cabrillo Boulevard. On cold days, Tri-County's clerks keep warm in heavy jeans and hooded sweatshirts.

The small market--just five aisles wide--consists primarily of fresh produce that arrives daily from local farms. Their slogan is: "If it's any fresher, it's still in the fields." Beyond produce, they have a small and eclectic array of other foods: a full aisle of wine, fresh locally baked bread and steaks and salmon in the cooler. The freezer holds a variety of organic foods and many flavors of ice cream

Recently, on one of my typical quick runs through the market, after snagging a brownie, a turkey sandwich and a bottle of cranberry juice, I noticed a middle-aged couple standing in the center of an aisle looking around perplexed. They seemed misplaced. Dressed impeccably in city clothes--the man wore a tweed jacket and dress shoes that shone bright enough to see your reflection--I immediately pegged them as out-of-towners. When I walked past them, the man looked at me with his face twisted into a question mark, and spouted, "What's the deal with this place?"

I laughed.
When I first started shopping there, I'd asked myself the same question.
He waved his hand toward a shelf and, as if he'd discovered some rare West Coast tribe that survived solely on Hagen Daz ice cream and coleslaw, asked, "Do you do all your shopping here?"


"No," I said, chuckling. "Mostly produce and a few quick fixes."


Yesterday, waiting at Tri-County's checkout stand, I gazed out at the ocean, and within the broad view, I caught sight of a perfect fragment. The Islands were outlined sharp against the sky. Tall palms towered above them, and a tiny boat, almost imperceptible to the eye, graced the frame like a lovely stroke of punctuation.

The Fence Lizards of Laurel Lane

They're back -- the tiny dinosaurs. And wouldn't you know, when I returned from my trip to Joshua Tree, even as I stepped though the front gate, there he was, Huey! sitting on his favorite rock (honest.) And he was, of course, thrilled to hear that he'd been named "Fence Lizard of the Year"(see post of 1/6/11.) He looked up at me with bright eyes and cocked his head as if to say, "Gee thanks; that's rad! And so, now -- gimme a meal worm!"


One way to tell the lizzies apart is by their tails. They tend to loose them, or parts of them, to predators, and the regrowth is different than their normal scaly skin: it's smooth and gray. Slinky is a muscular male who darts with force across the rocks. His tail is tipped with a one-inch regrowth. Sometimes, when he's competing with another male for territory, he turns a brilliant shade of blue. Lady Gaga has more highly defined patterns on her back than the others, and her fully regown tail often sticks up at an odd 45-degree angle.


Huey's tail is intact, and he's the only one who jumps off the rocks and waddles down the path to greet me. He often climbs up on my shoe. This is the second year I've been feeding the lizards meal worms, and I'm truly amazed that I'm able to recognize them, and that these same fence lizards have returned.

Gems of the highway

While driving through Joshua Tree, on that winding two-lane road, surrounded by the desert's endless shades of beige and gray, I had a vision. A little turquoise jewel approached, and passed me heading in the opposite direction, and I was simply dazzled by the image. It was a T-Bird convertible -- probably 1957 -- with the top down. When I saw it, I took one hand off the wheel and searched the front seat for my camera, but by the time I had it in my hand, the little gem was gone


I've never been a car nut, nor will I ever be; but since seeing that T-Bird in the Park, I've begun to take notice of colorful and classic cars. I think one reason is that nowadays, so many cars look alike. Most are fairly colorless, either black or white or metallic shades of silver and gold. If it weren't for their brand logos, I'd be hard-pressed to tell them apart.



In Santa Ynez, collecting old cars appears to be a popular pastime. I saw so many antique cars there. And with a vintage car show going on at the same time, my head was spinning with sightings of surprising and stunning cars.