ADDICTED TO MATCH GAME

I don't know what it is about the re-runs of Match Game from the 70s but I can't get enough. I remember watching it with my mom when I was a kid and I enjoyed it then as well, even though I didn't quite understand all the double entendres.

Normally I don't care for game shows but something about the looseness and informality of Match Game relaxes me, almost soothes me! Maybe it's because I 'm under a tremendous amount stress right now. I don't know.

Gene Rayburn, was a class act and made it all look easy. I don't think the show would have been as successful as it was without him. It's truly amazing that despite the fact these shows were taped over thirty years ago, they remain as entertaining, if not more so, than anything else that's on TV today. The humor is still spot-on and at times just downright subversive.

Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson and rest of the regulars and semi-regulars were all true pros and it was obvious that everyone was just having a really good time, as if they were at a party. I think the mood they set was/is infectious to the viewers, because one feels like they are sharing the good time right along with them. The only problem I'm having, of course, is that GSN doesn't run them enough. I swear sometimes I hear the music from the show playing in my head. I'm hooked. Match Game is my therapy!!

SAN FRANCISCO CARNAVAL 2008

Over the past weekend, I was up in The City for my sister's wedding, which was great. Congratulations to them. It was a nice, simple wedding with close family and friends at a beautiful setting. They had it at the Carnelian Room atop the former Bank Of America Building. I managed to take a few nice shots that I will post later.

On Sunday morning I walked up the street from my parents' house to check out the parade for Carnaval 2008. There was a festival as well on Saturday and though it was large, the weather was the shits and there wasn't much of a crowd. The parade however, was different altogether. There wasn't much time because I had to get the airport but here is a slide show of what I managed to capture and as a bonus, I've included a short video. Enjoy...

BLISS NO MORE...

BLISS ACCESSORIES @ WESTFIELD MISSION VALLEY
(MAY 20, 2005 to MAY 19,2008)

We have struggled for more than three years but it's all come to a bitter and ugly end. Some of it was our fault, but most of was is not. There were plenty of others who mislead us and took advantage but I can't allow myself to be overly angry because karma is king and the Universe has a way of correcting itself, along with all the greedy beings that inhabit it. In the end, it was the economy, whose stranglehold over consumers, delivered the final death blow.

High fuel and food costs, a credit crunch, a never ending war, and a clueless administration leading the charge are all a recipe for disaster when it comes to small business. People just stopped buying and that was it. Sadly but not too surprisingly, the government's stimulus package was too little and too late in our case.

Besides the stress caused from lackluster sales, we quite enjoyed running the business day to day. We had a great groups girls who worked hard for us. Working along side of them, as you must in any small business, was a great experience that made it worthwhile to show up everyday. I equally enjoyed the relationships that we built with some of our vendors, who recognized our situation and tried to help in anyway they could. And finally, the customers who loved our store and understood the value of it. It felt good to give people what they wanted and have them come back again and again to see what we had to offer. It's hard to please everyone but it felt pretty good when we had "just what" they were looking for.

It's time to move on now,I suppose, but it's not easy walking away when you have just lost everything you have worked for since you started working. All the money is gone and nothing is left but family. So from that base, we must start again.

Good-bye Bliss. Good-bye San Diego, Good-bye Southern California. It's time to take a trip into the unknown. Again...

CALIFORNIA RULING...

TO ALL THE GAY FOLKS: Congratulations!! It's about damn time right?

TO ALL THE FOLKS THAT ARE AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE: My advice: If you don't like the gays getting married, don't marry a gay. Face it, it's really none of your business. Life will go on. Don't worry.

Have a great weekend...

CIRCLING THE DRAIN...

So it looks as if the end is finally in sight...somewhat. Strangely, I'm actually looking forward to hitting rock bottom because after four years of years of losing my house, life savings, credit, family, friendships and my sanity; there's some solace in that when you hit the bottom, there's nowhere else to go but up. As it is now, the situation has been a continuous free-fall to nowhere.

These next few months are going to present some of the most difficult challenges I have faced. I don't how I will do it but then again I still don't know how I have been doing it thus far. At damn near 40 years old, my family has start all over again.

Yesterday, I read that Linens n' Things is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the conclusion of the article, one of the analysts is quoted :

"There is going to be a record number of store closings through bankruptcy in the next 150 to 1500 days, as the retail recession becomes the worst the U.S. has seen in 30 years."

Yeah...no shit.