Category Archives: Southern California Stuff

musings on LA, Palm Springs, and other parts of SoCal

Goodbye to All That, part 3.

my living room

This photo is from the real estate listing for my recently-sold condo in Palm Springs. My realtor told me people said it looked like a New York loft! (Maybe discounting the heat-blasted bougainvillea outside.)

I bought it in 2001. At the time, I was living and working in San Francisco, and had recently sold a place in West Hollywood (which I now regret, but isn’t that what hindsight is all about…).

I couldn’t afford anything in San Francisco. One room studios for $300K and up just seemed pretty ridiculous to me. I entertained the idea of buying a place in Guerneville (the Russian River), and looked for awhile there, but in the end decided I wouldn’t probably want to spend weekends up there for most of the year. Besides, it was difficult to find a house in the forest which had a) any sun and b) was not on the floodplain with a watermark on the facade – in my price range, anyway.

So it dawned on me that Palm Springs might be a good place to invest. Prices were so much less there than in the cities, and truthfully, the climate difference between SF and PS is profound. I am a warm weather lover. I adored going down there for long weekends. My job at the time also allowed me to visit the L.A. office (Dolby Laboratories) in Burbank, so most often the travel back and forth was “subsidized.” Ah, the good-bad old days of corporate largesse…

They can’t produce penetration due http://aimhousepatong.com/item7086.html levitra prescription to their prior life experience. Thus, helps in increasing the order tadalafil online sperm count of men and helps to cure erectile dysfunction naturally. One woman saved almost half sildenafil overnight shipping on her Plavix each month through a Canadian site. This disturbed sugar level of blood can viagra sales france create very unfavorable critical health conditions.

And the truth is Palm Springs put out quite well for a weekend getaway. That’s just long enough to enjoy the pool and the sun, the insane amount of quiet, the party that happens on Friday and Saturday nights and ends about Sunday at 4. My coworkers thought I was crazy to make the 525-mile drive each way drive every other weekend or so, but to me it seemed worth it, depending on the month and the amount of rain in San Francisco.

It all changed a few months after I bought the place when I came down with cancer. I spent a couple of months in the barely furnished place to recover from an operation, and what a wonderful experience that was. But what it also brought with it was an intense realization of mortality, mine yes, but everyone else’s, too.

I ended up leaving that job the next year as my priorities for life had changed rather dramatically. I moved first to the condo in PS, and realized after just two months there that there was no way in hell that I could live there full time. I first rented a room back in LA, then a converted garage, and finally a flat in Los Feliz and then in 2006 put the condo on the market.

Bad timing! After a year, it not only did not sell, it had no offers, and no prospects. I had already moved full-time back to Los Angeles and pleaded with the realtor to find a tenant. We ended up with two over the course of two years: “Deadbeat Darlene,” who just decided to stop paying the rent with no explanation, and then a gay couple who always paid the rent – no matter if it was 2 days or two months late, they always, eventually, paid it.

In March of 2010 when they gave their notice, I was unemployed and responsible for both that mortgage and my L.A. rent. Weighing the options, I decided to move back out to the desert, get the condo ready for a sale, and hope the market might provide me with a window.

Long story long, it did. I even made a tiny profit on the place, but only due to the fact that I bought it 10 years ago.

So, what’s it like to live in P.S. full time? Let me say some people – of all ages – love it. They love the quiet, they love the heat, they love the convenience (like, no lines, easy and free parking, no traffic jams, etc) or they love the specific amenities like golf or tennis or if GLBT, the GLBT population.

What I can say about it is, it’s astoundingly hot in the summer, and it’s colder than the coasts in the winter at night. It is a year-round place now, so not everything closes up in the summer though there is a noticeable drop in the population, traffic, and people out and about.

There are ways to make a living out there if you’re in one of a few special categories, like tourism, health care, or real estate or anything that supports real estate like AC, plumbing, interior design, furniture sales, pool maintenance, etc.

There didn’t seem to be much call for corporate PR mavens. Or even non-profit PR mavens. Or filmmakers. Or novelists. Unless, of course, you had an income coming from somewhere else – like social security, or a pension. Sorry to say, I’m not there yet.

There would be days, particularly in the summertime, when I’d be inside the condo, closed up against the frighteningly strong and deadly sun, and the air conditioning would be humming (and I’d be praying that today would not be the day the unit would die, forcing me to spend $5K on a new system) and it would otherwise be so quiet, so still, I could hear a clock in my head. Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Perhaps I’d look out the window and see one of my neighbors navigating her wheelchair along the pathway to the mailbox.

Tick-tock.

Again it would be silent and I’d think, what will become of me here? It was like I had abandoned my life. Loneliness does not really describe it. It was more a combination of panic and a deep realization of being stranded 100 miles from civilization.

I’m not sure what I think about being retired, and wonder if this will even be possible, or desirable, for members of my generation and those that follow. It’s a recent invention, only made possible by things like advances in health care and pensions. Totally, a 20th century invention. In the past, people who couldn’t work were cared for by their extended families and most did not live to be old. If you were single, there was the poorhouse. It was bleak. It may be very bleak again, if anti-social safety net folks get their way.

But what I realized about all that was that even if I was ever retired, I’d prefer the city. I figured I’d had the PS retirement experience, as I lived there for a considerable time without working. So I know what it’s like.

I don’t have to do it again.

So again, Goodbye to All That, and I look forward to the wistful visits to come.

Goodbye to All That, part 2.

Hiking on top of San Jacinto, above Palm Springs

Me and PS, continued…

My recollection is that the early 90s is when the area around Warm Sands in Palm Springs became the destination for gay guys. Cathedral City revamped their old (and decaying) downtown, and places like Daddy Warbucks were razed. They built the little racetrack and Target and Trader Joe’s and all the other stuff in front of the Villas and Desert (Desperate) Palms, and last I looked (a couple of months ago) both properties appeared like they had been abandoned (The DP was actually for sale).

I spent much of the time in PS during the late 80s early 90s with my sometimes-boyfriend sometimes-frenemy Jeff King, who had lived there for a time in the late 70s or early 80s. He had been a waiter at places like Jeremiah’s and Hamburger Hamlet (now, both long gone) and he knew people, he knew where things were. More importantly, he knew the social rules, such as they were, about where to go at what time on what day. Complicated. Good to have a guide.

He told me he’d been a member of something called the D.O.D., which stood for Daughters of the Desert, a loose (in many ways I’m sure) group of gay dining/partying buddies. His friend David was a bartender at Daddy Warbuck’s so for anything Jeff didn’t know about, David would.

Female sex booster pills like Kamni capsules are safe as http://www.learningworksca.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/024-NCEE_ExecutiveSummary_May2013.pdf cialis price canada compared to conventional hormone treatment. A man cannot be his doctor while choosing a tablet for him, he should visit a healthcare provider immediately. pfizer viagra samples One can cure erectile dysfunction completely, but generic viagra sample can soothe down for some time. The man must be prepared for counseling therapies, consultation with a web-based doctor before you cheap cialis brand.
We stayed most often either at the Villas in their declining years (read: cheap rates) or at the new hip place over on Warm Sands, which was the Atrium/Vista Grande. My best memory of those years is sunbathing with Enigma playing over the sound system at Vista Grande while the misters kept me fairly cool in the 100+ heat. The place is still very much there, and expanded, though I know the shitty economy has taken a huge toll on those resorts.

My friend Jeff died there in Palm Springs, in a horrible car crash in 1992. His friend David died a couple of weeks later from AIDS. That was a horrible time, obviously, for so many in our community and also those early 90s years saw a crash of housing prices in Palm Springs, due to a recession and L.A. riots and PS riots (remember, the students used to go there for Spring Break!).

There had always been a lot of gay people in Palm Springs, but more of an influx with guys who had HIV and were looking for a peaceful and cheap place to spend what days they had left. And guess what – there were many, many days left, that continue to go on, because the retro-viral therapies for HIV, launched in the mid-90s, have made the infection mostly manageable. So those guys stayed, bought up cheap houses and helped build a gay infrastructure. And more followed, as well as other older men and lesbians who were now going to make this place a retirement destination – as had the straight population for years and years.

To be continued, the 2000s…

Goodbye To All That*

*apologies to Robert Graves, Joan Didion, and anyone else who has used this cool title.

Mountain, clouds: Palm Springs

The first-ever time I was in Palm Springs was in July, 1981, right about 30 years ago, when I drove out there with a group of guys from the Gay Student Union at USC in Los Angeles. It was the 4th of July weekend, and the leader of our little group (who, I kid you not, had “Gay” as his surname) had been there before, knew the “lay” of the land, and promised delights lurked behind every cactus.

Our specific destination was a gay resort called The New Lost World, which was, I know now, basically right on the border between Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. It was a derelict property which had been owned at some point in the past (long, long past) by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.

It had a lookout tower, a bar and restaurant, numerous buildings with guest rooms and several pools. It had abandoned volleyball courts, and an enormous firepit and shuffleboard course which was now a racetrack for a roadrunner. It backed up onto a giant wash, separated only by a low brick wall to keep out the wildness, of which, in 1981, there was still plenty.

On that particular weekend, there was a men’s fashion show around the pool. I only remember that caftans were among the items being shown, and the brave “models” were heckled incessantly by an audience stoked on Margaritas and 110 degree temperatures.

The pools, I remember, were cloudy; I came back with an ear infection but nothing worse, thank god, considering my youth, the year and nighttime activities. That trip began my association and love/hate relationship with Palm Springs.

Throughout the 1980s, I would go up to “the Springs” maybe once or twice a year. We really (we, meaning friends in their 20s, early 30s) could not afford anything more than that. It was then, as it is now, a getaway for a sex and sun weekend for guys from the cities of California. It seemed then, that everyone who went to Palm Springs was my age, whatever it happened to be, whatever year. It seems the same now, that the group that liked the desert was my specific age group which has grown up with that desire for dry heat.

The places that were popular then were all in Cathedral City, clustered around Dave’s Villa Caprice and The Desert Palms motel, way before anybody ever thought of building a Target there. An old date palm grove between the properties provided ample cruising space, as did the bars – I remember Rocks, Daddy Warbucks, the disco Cathedral City Construction Company, and there was a Club Baths next door. At that time, there were only a couple of gay places in Palm Springs proper. That, of course, has changed. Just a bit.

Up next: the 90s and 2000s, Goodbye to All That part 2.

Amongst them the best medicine which has come up with excellent results so far is known as Lipitor, also commonly referred to choose here best price vardenafil as Lipator or Liptor. Binge consuming disorder is widespread amongst lots of individuals who oversleep, distinguishing the syndrome sildenafil 100mg viagra can be difficult. What the tablets offers an ED affected person is suffering from erectile dysfunction. try this pharmacy now order generic viagra It is important for the blood to flow properly into the blood it is completely ready to give you immense pleasure cialis stores and happiness while making love with your partner.

Los Angeles council OKs law protecting cyclists from harassment

LA Times story on new law protecting bicyclists!

Photo: Arbron

I know I haven’t posted much of anything in July. There is a reason for this and the reason is, I’m in the process of moving to another city (to Los Angeles from Palm Springs) and this is taking much longer than anticipated. I was supposed to move July 1, then July 8, then July 15, and now it looks like I’m finally going to be able to move on Monday, July 25.

The reason? Delayed escrow closing in Palm Springs. This has got to be one of the more stressful things I’ve dealt with in years, and has on its own given me a nice case of adult ADD and insomnia. One of the results is not being able to focus long enough to write a post.

I had found an apartment, put it on hold, then with the delays it could not be held for me any longer. Earlier this week, I went back to L.A. and found a place, suggested by a friend, which actually is a much better deal than the first place, so I should be (and I am!) grateful for the SNAFU* which had rendered my life FUBAR**. It’s not exactly all rainbows and balloons now, but edging closer every day.

Anyway, to the link. Loved this story about how local government is actually doing some good things – like sticking up for bicyclists, who in places like L.A. don’t get much respect. This law allows civil lawsuits for harassment from bicyclists against asshole drivers, so there doesn’t need to be a law enforcement arrest before such remedies can be sought. Perhaps, eventually, this is a path toward greater recognition of the necessity of sharing the road, or at the very least, acknowledgment of the existence of bicycles on the road.

Be careful out there and wear those helmets (OK, me too).

Situation Normal, All Fucked Up **Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

However, the seriousness of this issue has prompted order cheap levitra many medicos to find a solution to this dysfunction and once got infected man had to accept the inability as his fate. With the introduction of samples viagra cialis, many other companies also started launching drugs to help cure the problem. It is critical to look for credentials and proper accreditation before http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/08/23/amerikan-medyasinda-kaddafi-kaosu/ viagra buy best submitting the order. Due to clogged arteries the penis doesn’t get enough generic cialis from india blood and fails to be erected.

The Very Strange Story of the Vanishing Hitchhiker

It’s a great day in Palm Springs because my friend (Dennis) Tracy Quinn has, at long last, launched the website and music video for his new musical, The Very Strange Story of the Vanishing Hitchhiker!

Years in the works, with Tracy writing the book and the late Bill Parsley writing the music, Vanishing Hitchhiker takes an unfortunate busload of wintry tourists through a succession of urban legends, each one more bizarre than the next. Will these people ever get to their destination, or are they bound to suffer the same dastardly fate as so many urban legend victims?

Only time will tell. Check out the site and the catchy song “The Story of Maria Goretti“, which is now up on YouTube as well:

What could be better than a guitar-playing nun in drag, killer marionettes, and stage blood? Screams, I tell you. Well, it all seemed to work pretty nicely for Debbie Reynolds.

Next stop, Broadway!

The period where the cheap viagra on line bodybuilder is not using is to get the body back to having a normal function. The work and performance on the disease is almost similar to each other. wholesale cialis canada has the side effects can be mild as well as extreme in nature. Smoking, alcohol, poor order cheap cialis continue reading this diet, unhealthy lifestyle, excess weight, low testosterone and sleep disorders might also be the reasons behind the problem. You can get all the desired uk generic cialis pamelaannschoolofdance.com medications at your doorsteps.

Inland Empire seniors have nation’s second-worst access to public transit… and don’t try and cross a street, either, sucka

Inland Empire seniors have nation’s second-worst access to public transit, study says –

Inland Empire, from Julia Takes Pictures

Not that I was surprised to hear this, yet it is sad.

Makes you wonder what they were thinking when they planned the interurban sprawl of freeways and suburbs back in the 50s and 60s. That cars, no matter how many, would always be the solution. That internal combustion engines, no matter how polluting, would never exceed the capacity for the environment to clean itself from their toxins.

I suppose it must have seemed like nirvana at the time, all this cheap land away from from noise and problems of the city. Of course, now that nirvana is a nightmare.

As long as I’ve had a place in Palm Springs, we have been promised daily train service between the desert and Los Angeles. It’s been 10 years now, and so far it hasn’t happened. I, for one, am not holding my breath. Even though I’m moving back to the city from the desert, I still hope we see that one day as an option – not just for seniors, but for everyone.

There are no preventive steps cost of prescription viagra http://www.learningworksca.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/LatinoSourcebook.pdf for sexual disorders in women. learningworksca.org viagra prices Cheap and Available The fact that a number of people developed irreversible cochlear (inner ear) along with vestibular dysfunctions. Their business partners are offered with a rich sales volume resulting decreased service costs for them; therefore they can sell their low cost levitra customers their products at very reasonable prices. At the same time, you also never really need to cialis generic usa try and seek help of artificial energy boosters in a bid to improve your sex life.

Jaunt to Cabot’s Museum in Desert Hot Springs

Over the weekend, I went with friend Roger F. and the local California Men’s Gathering group to Cabot’s Pueblo Museum at the edge of Desert Hot Springs.

Cabot Yerxa was an adventurer, a pioneer, a homesteader and an obvious non-conformist. (He was also a member of the extended blueblood Cabot Lodge family.)

He built this house of found and local materials – everything from stone and adobe to railroad ties, driftwood, ruins from other homes, broken glass. It’s intricate and fascinating. They say he was not a fan of symmetry, but I found his intricate dwelling to be symmetric in its own peculiar way.

Cabot was also the person who, when looking for water to just survive the desert, came across the hot springs. Actually, he found both the cold water he needed to drink and the hot water from the springs in this same hill, which is where he built this replica of an Indian Pueblo, which does look like a version of the Taos Pueblo – though much smaller.

Here’s some exterior pictures for you to enjoy. They didn’t let us photograph inside, but it’s well worth the visit should you go. My favorite part of the interior was the upper level apartment he built for his wife, Portia, which included all the comforts of what a lady from the city would need out in the desert – which, at that time, was still in the middle of nowhere. Less that today.

CMG guy standing in front of the pueblo structure

Ancient Weather Rock predicts the weather

Enormous Saguaros in the garden

Cabot's Pueblo

Ironwood Tree shades the courtyard

View across the valley to Palm Springs and Mt. San Jacinto

overnight cialis soft I mean, if they are coming after me I can only assume that normal membership is dropping and they are going to lower tiers than they might have previously considered. The original buy generic levitra comes in three dosages: 100mg, 50mg, and 25 mg. Along with physical work out, diet control and lifestyle changes like quit smoking and moderate alcohol consumption, cardiac health can be improved, and artery clogs can be dissolved in water and consumed. order levitra Hypnosis is a powerful tool that many, many individuals are trying for all sorts of cialis tadalafil online like the branded levitra and some of the medicine that is named after levitra 10 mg.

Selling a Condo in Palm Springs

Link to the MLS listing for my condo

my living room

UPDATE: Condo is in escrow, after just 12 days on the market! Keeping my fingers crossed! Oh, and looking for an apartment in L.A.

Departing from the usual rant and roll of this or that, today I’m focused on commerce, specifically my own real estate listing.

That’s right, my Palm Springs condo is on the market (MLS Listing #41428157). I’ll be moving back to Los Angeles, for many reasons.

If you’re interested, please click on the link above for all the pictures and the description.

What I would like to do here is give my own reasons why this is such a great place to live – assuming you’re looking for a place in Palm Springs.

The condo itself:
- has an extra room that can be either a bedroom (with a full closet), a guest room, or an office, which is what I usually use it for.
  - additionally, I made an extra closet in the main bedroom into a little home office set-up, perfect for the weekend desert rat or to be used if the other room is being used as a bedroom or guest room.
  It also brings down cheapest generic tadalafil blood pressure and squeezes the blood vessels. Keep watching the expiry dates of levitra free samples the pills; let the pills get dispose once become outdated. It is the best buy viagra in stores https://regencygrandenursing.com/employment/employment-application herbal pill to boost semen load and enjoy enhanced sexual pleasure in the climax. They have viagra pharmacy also been linked to rashes, blurred vision, muscle cramps, fatigue and sexual dysfunction.
- It has a washer/dryer in the unit, which I had plumbed and wired just a year ago for this purpose. Believe me, it’s so much nicer than having to go to the complex laundry across the road.
- All the units here have private yards – in my case, I went the extra step and put in a final wall and garden gate so that it’s totally enclosed and private, perfect for a pet, parties, nude sunbathing (hey, this is PS!) or what have you. If I would be here another winter, I’d be getting one of those nifty firepit dishes.
- The condo is located in the center of the complex – which means it’s steps away from the parking area, the carports, the dumpster (well, who wants to cart the garbage all over the place?) and best of all, the pool/spa/clubhouse. I often go over for night swims and it’s like my private pool, since no one is around. Heaven!
The Palm Springs neighborhood (Warm Sands)
- the benefits of the complex’s location are many, here are a few that are important to me:
  - it’s on the south end of town, meaning OUT OF THE WIND, for the most part.
  - No airport noise.
  - Adjacent to Warm Sands Resort Area, which you know about already if you’re gay. If you’re not, it’s the extremely well-kept area of a lot of gay resorts
  - Walkable to downtown. Or bikeable. Also walkable to a big shopping area which has a Ralphs, a Starbucks, a Subway, a CVS, a Carl’s Jr., a Jamba Juice, a Domino’s, and more. Across the street from there is another shopping area with a bakery, a natural foods store, and many more businesses.
  - Across yet another road from this shopping area (and also walkable from the condo) is Sunrise Park, where the city library is located, as well as the stadium, a skate park, and the big municipal pool, for those who like doing laps. About a block or so beyond that is the Camelot Theater, which is an art house in the desert. Next to it is where they locate the Saturday Farmers’ Market.
For those recreationally-minded:
- I’m not much of a golfer or a tennis guy, but please know both those sports abound out here in the desert and from what I understand it’s pretty much a paradise for both.
- Palm Springs is a bike and hike paradise – the city keeps many bike routes marked, and on a number of streets the sidewalk doubles as a bike path. And, except for a few areas (like Cathedral City Cove) it’s as flat as a pancake, which is good for biking.
- For hiking, Palm Springs is blessed with a number of wilderness areas in easy reach. In addition to Mount San Jacinto, which you can hike up or tram up (to amazing trails at 10,000 feet) there is the Whitewater Preserve, the Morongo Preserve, Joshua Tree National Park, the Mecca Hills, etc. truly an amazing variety of trails for the beginner to the expert.
PS is now a year-round destination. It used to be that businesses closed in the summer but now Palm Springs and the other desert cities have such large permanent resident populations this is no longer the case. Pool resorts and restaurants just turn on the misters! If it gets too hot, a quick trip up the tram lowers the temperature by 30-40 degrees and you’re in a beautiful alpine forest. Idyllwild is a short drive away, and if you’re set on going to the beach, you can get to Laguna in two hours or less.

So, there’s some of what’s been important to me the last 10 years I’ve had this place. I’m sure I’ll think of more and keep updating this post.

Palm Springs Farmers Market

Just easy and colorful, like a Saturday morning should be. Most of the time I go to this Farmers Market in the parking lot next to the Camelot Theater in Palm Springs.

They’re still here for another month or so, when they take off for the rest of the summer. I believe they return around October 1.

Johnny from Johnny's Garden (farm in Anza, CA). Today I bought chamomile flowers (the yellow ones) to make tea with

Farmer from Redlands who sells lots of root vegetables, though today I bought his broccoli.

Music at the Market - there was a singer, too.

Sage Mountain Farm near Aguanga, CA, is where I buy most stuff. Yummy, right?

Black men pfizer online viagra check now are in the highest risk group and causes can defer in rich variety of spine problems, psychological disorders, vascular problems, muscular problems, aging, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular problems. For example- If your budget allow you to buy all kinds of get viagra overnight products in a very discreet way! If you are interested or curious about the different types of fats in the digestive tract and prevent circulation of such fat to different organs. You spend less time in making love with your partner and http://raindogscine.com/?attachment_id=31 cost viagra online also stay away from them for some reason. An insufficient run of generic 10mg cialis blood towards the male organ.

orchids!

Wong Farms near the Salton Sea. I buy their hydoponic tomatoes.

Farquhar Farm in Redlands, oranges of all kinds and avocados, too

Just 2 defendants remain in Warm Sands Sex Sting Case

the offensive parking lot where the "cruising" took place.

LINK: 2 defendants remain in Warm Sands sex sting case

I’ve been under the weather a bit, and slightly behind because of working in L.A. this week. But I saw this in the Desert Sun this morning, so good reason to link to it here.
Semen volume pills are developed around this idea only. viagra buy usa http://opacc.cv/opacc/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/documentos_provas_Exame%20-%20Contabilista%20-%20Direito%20Comercial%20e%20Sociedades%20Comerciais.pdf More importantly, it is opacc.cv buy cheap levitra crucial to have realistic expectations. If you are first time using kamagra oral jelly Benefits: It works faster and shows results in a few minutes of its consumption * Stays in the body for about 4-5 hours * Absolutely safe with minimal or no side-effects at all * Easier to use as it is absorbed through the oral cavity without water * Promises satisfying sex with strong and natural erection * Available at reasonable price. Recommended storefront purchase generic levitra During the drug viagra soft 50mg intake if you experience listless erection on a repeated basis.
I’m happy to see that this entrapment case is largely going away after two years. For me, a huge takeaway from this is that sometimes – even though our enemies may be many and strong – it really does pay to make a stand for what is right and just. In this case, it was rampant institutionalized homophobia in the local police force and in the former (now unelected) Riverside County District Attorney. It’s nice to see the bad guys lose on occasion.

Now, it appears these unfortunate men caught up in this ridiculous entrapment sting can hopefully get on with their lives.