Summer in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach | CdM Photos

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What am I doing here? Visiting my Walk-in-the-Park friend. =)

For lunch I feed him slices of fresh, ripe peaches and read to him quotes from a book on Friendship. For dinner I made him short-grain brown rice with dried cranberries and read him some poetry. For desert we had green tea ice cream. That really rocked his world.

He has never had a beer. Ever. Never even tasted it. May be the only such living American male over 80. =)

I make him laugh. Sometimes hard. He seems to appreciate my East coast humor. "Were dinosaurs roaming the neighborhood back when you grew up?"

» Home of the Beautiful People

CdM is home of the beautiful people. If you are a smokin'-hot babe looking to land a vacationing $audi prince, you've come to the right place.

Let me be the first to welcome you (.. with open arms). Tho I must warn you » competition here is stiff.

CdM reminds me of those lazy Harry Connick Jr songs. You could, I'm convinced, hang loudspeakers from the crossmembers of telephone poles here and broadcast Harry thru-out the entire city and I doubt anybody would notice ..

.. such is the Valium-like atmosphere that pervades summer in Corona del Mar. Dont worry, be happy.

Man walking down the street: "Honey, do you hear anything unusual?"
Woman listening intently: "No, dear. Cant say that I do."

CdM must have a strange municipal ordinance. Seems only German imports are allowed to park within the city limits. Mercedes. BMW. Porsche. On a second look, it seems Hummers and Land Rovers are also included on the approved list of vehicles.

A Chevrolet was being towed away as I took my walk. "How dare they park this trash here," grumbled the tow truck man (wearing an Armani tuxedo) as he pulled the crome lever that lifted the Chevy's badly worn front wheels off the ground.

» Presentation & the Presenter

You get the feeling here, quite distinctly I might add, that this is a place that cares deeply about » presentation. Appearances here are obviously important.

My experience has been that .. there's usually a reason why people are motivated (driven?) to focus on presentation .. on controlling every detail of external appearance ..

.. and that's often because they (very badly) dont want others to see the ugly or painful reality that lies hidden inside (.. which is understandable. No one is without inner hurts. We all have them, and it can be terrifying to confront one's inner demons.).

The question naturally becomes » what lyeth behind this most impressive of presentations? Behind this most elegant veil? The most impressive of people? Or is it just expensive camo? The finest imported veneer?

My intuition regarding this area (here in CdM) tells me that they care about appearances "too much." But I'll be polite and withhold judgment til I know more. (You know how I like to probe.)

» Seeking Balance

My observation has been .. that people, over the long haul, tend to seek balance in their lives. When hungry, we eat. When tired, sleep.

After spending all day sitting behind a desk, the last thing an executive wants to do when he goes home is sit. Right? He wants to get out and move. (Balance.)

After I hike to the top of Half Dome, for example, I'd rather not walk much for the next few days. So when I observe extremes, excesses or anomalies, I naturally wonder » what lies on the other end of this? What is serving as the counter-balance?

For example .. what makes controlling people act that way? My observation has been that it's because they feel out-of-control .. at some other place in their life (internal, perhaps) and that they are simply seeking balance by trying to exert control over their external world (.. to the n^th degree).

Do your own research and I think you'll agree. (You have to get to know them.) The micromanager is that way for a reason. The control freak feels out-of-control. Think about it. It's not a radical philosophy.

Finding myself in a new area, I feel myself shifting into data-acquisition mode. What's this new place all about? What value-system do they subscribe to here? What makes them tick? What floats their boat? (Heck, I've done it enough times.)

The lady next door has the most beautiful personal garden I've ever seen. Seriously. A labor of artistic talent .. infused with generous rootings of love. I want to ask for a nickel tour cuz you cant see it all from the street, but the timing needs to be right. Timing is everything .. right? Speaking of timing ...

» Midnight in Paris at the Lido

Yesterday we saw Midnight in Paris (.. Woody Allen flick, released by Sony Classics) on the big screen at the Lido ..

.. one of my favorite venues to catch a flick .. classic, old-school style theater with balcony seating. Last of its kind. A dying breed. Excellent sound system, too.

I heartily recommend it. You'll be magically transported (.. along with everyone in the theater) back to the roaring 20's .. where you'll drink with Hemingway, debate with F Scott Fitzgerald, meet the mercurial Zelda, ride with TS Elliot ("Tom") and argue with Picasso (Pablo).

The film actually made me laugh at Hemingway. Didnt think that was possible. The way they parody Hemingway is .. hilarious. Too much. You gotta see it.

Not possible to dislike this film. Reviews » here. ■

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