We have had a lazy few weeks, not doing much besides working and cleaning the apartment. The fires are again quite bad, but we are out of harm's way. Besides all the smoke in the air and trying to help those who were affected, we have not had any problems. So I thought I would give you another sampling of bus stories.
I've had two "screamers" in the past few months. The first one was panhandling as I got on the bus. Since Jay was kind enough to get me an iPod, I mostly just listen to it to drown out all the crazies. So I didn't realize at first that he had ask me for money (rather, mumbled at me for money) so I sat down in the seat across the aisle. He was dressed all in black, eyes dilated, and rather scruffy. As I sat down, I pulled out my cell phone to text Jay and let him know I was on my way to work. The dude immediately started screaming at me, "Are you calling your f*@%$in' credit card?!" over and over again. I kept ignoring him, and he finally got off a stop or two later.
The second screamer was on a trip home. I again was wearing the iPod, but the battery was dead. Nevertheless, it makes me more comfortable ignoring people when I have it on, so I was wearing it. I had sat in the first seats on the bus, near the driver, facing forward. Dude gets on, and starts an argument with the bus driver, since he does not have the fare. The drivers here are incredibly patient, and will often let you ride without fare if you give a good sob story and aren't obnoxious. While obnoxious, the guy was flashing a hospital ID bracelet and claiming to have just been discharged minus his wallet. Okay, bus driver lets him on. He sits in the seats directly in front of me, however these seats face to the side and he can turn and look at me. Which he does. He then begins a very loud rant about being forcibly admitted to the hospital, but he told "those f*@%ers he was not staying, he was leaving," etc. The story continues at the top of his lungs, profanity included, the entire time he is on the bus, which isn't long because the bus driver put him out a few stops later. A lady across the aisle then slides into the seat next to me, and all the way to my stop proceeds to complain to me about people on the bus who cannot behave, and try to make you listen to them even if you don't want to. Yes, I am still wearing my iPod...
Today's dude was at least funny. He showed up at the bus stop this morning, singing at the top of his lungs. When someone looked at him, he screamed at them, "Yeah, I know I'm off-key! I've been off-key all my life, motherf*@$er!!" He didn't get on the bus, luckily, he went into the McDonald's, still singing. I don't know if they threw him out, as the bus appeared just moments later. Always something on public transportation!
This year Jay and I attended the Nutcracker. This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time, and hopefully we will make it a tradition for future Christmas celebrations together. As you can see by my collection in the picture to the left, I have a bit of thing for Nutcrackers! The ballet we attended was performed by the Los Angeles Ballet at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. The hall was beautiful, and the ballet was magical. It was a wonderful evening, despite my poor husband's cold!
He made me pose also, despite my pitiful self-inflicted haircut. Please just disregard this picture.
Some of the dancers posed for pictures following the performance. From the left is Marie, danced by Melissa Barak, her prince, danced by Peter Snow, Clara, danced by Lilit Hogtanian, and the Nutcracker, performed by Erik Thordal-Christensen. They were all incredibly talented!
