When I was young and poor (but rich at heart)

Glendale Galleria mall owner General Growth files record bankruptcy
Los Angeles Times - ‎36 minutes ago‎
By Sandra M. Jones General Growth Properties Inc., owner of some of the nation's most prominent malls, including the Glendale Galleria, filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors Thursday, marking the biggest real estate bankruptcy in US history.

Why, you may be asking, would I note this particular bankruptcy? Well, it is part of reminiscing. I used to ride the bus to work, from West Hollywood to Eagle Rock and back each day. It took me three buses in each direction to do it. All that bus time allowed me to read Morning and Evening Prayer according to the breviary of the Order of the Holy Cross, to read approximately two books a week (usually tomes of theology), and to take naps. The route was so familiar I could open my eyes a crack and know exactly where I was. In a few years of riding buses I only overslept my stop twice.

On the way home from work I changed buses right next to the Glendale Galleria. That is where I would buy fresh flowers on Friday when I could barely afford to eat. It was a symbol that I worked for more than mere survival. I don't think I ever cherished a cheap flower arrangement as much before or since then. Once in a while I would go into the Galleria and browse or shop.

That is where I acquired two of my "kids" in a post-Christmas adoption special. Selena Seal and Carlo Verro came to live with us. Selena now lives in San Diego, having been seduced by Taylor the Walrus, but Carlo, my adorably scruffy boar, is still with me.

Those are the memories I associate with the Glendale Galleria: not any intrinsic fondness for the place, just a couple of pleasant associations.

Home again today nursing my man cold. Mercifully my throat is no longer sore and tissue use has declined considerably since yesterday. Those who know me will realize I am not feeling well when I confess that I am drinking lots of water. I normally drink Diet Pepsi all day long and avoid water, which I find boring. (Don't even think of a health lecture on this; I choose my vices and am a stubborn Taurus.)

My civil war research (for my fantasy novel, not US history) is eventuating in some tentative dialogue as I return from laying groundwork to developing text. All these cousins eying the throne. Nasty business. I suspect this portion of the story will be hardest to write as it is so complex. I know how it ends but still have no idea how it will unfold.

Time to go downstairs and see if that loaf I took out of the freezer is rising.
--the BB