A Venice Weekend - From Surfside To Moby Dick!

Another excellent weekend in Venice was just lived, and it was well-needed after all the drama of the world and California last week. The weather was lovely, and I think people were just in the mood to cut loose a little bit. To that end, there was a bunch of house parties and fun like that, and then on Saturday night there was a little book release party for Jason Hill's new second edition of his collection of Venice Stories (and I'm in it!).

I don't believe I've ever seen Harry Perry play anywhere other than the Boardwalk, but there he was shredding it up at Surfside with his band, the Karma Kosmic Krusaders. They were louder and harder than most anything I've ever seen at Surfside, but it was legendary to see Perry play an actual set with a full band.

Friends and locals were all there celebrating life, basically, and it was almost like the last day of school when everyone signs your yearbook, as those featured in this Venice Stories booklet were going around having everyone sign their copy. It was cute, and a good way for everyone to come together.

I couldn't stay as long as I would have liked because all THREE of my brother Paul's bands (The Weight Of Everything/spaceblanket/Shotshell Press) were playing the same night in San Pedro (at Harold's Place, who really need a new person that doesn't double book bands like losers - but I digress). Sunday was a lot of recovery, but we were able to get it together in time to hear a little bit of Moby Dick being read in its annual beach reading at the Breakwater, put on by the wonderful Venice Oceanarium. It's one of my favorite annual events for good reason - literature being read aloud next to the sea where the story takes place. Wonderful, picturesque ... great. I think I missed the clam chowder this year, but the view and the story was more than enough.

Then just like that, it's a new week, a new hustle, and a new opportunity for more great things to happen. My beach walk this morning was rewarded by running into the bulldozers that are building the winter sand dunes as we speak, which means today is Opening Day of Sand Sledding Season! Yay.

As we now enter the hustle and bustle of the holidays with Thanksgiving kicking off this week, let's remember the little things that make life great. Walking along and looking out at the beautiful sea, I recalled a quote a mystical lady told me one day at the beach, that I think goes great with Thanksgiving especially, but every damn day too.

"Gratitude IS the Glory." Think about that. Like, if you're feeling grateful, that IS the recognition of things being good at that moment, and that you're tangibly aware of it. Thus, that feeling IS the glory that we're all going for.  Gratitude is the Glory. Get after it! Happy Thanksgiving Week, Friends!

Memorial Day Weekend In Venice

We just had a nice long Memorial weekend in Venice, and I didn't leave the city limits once, which was fine by me. No holiday weekend traffic dealing for us, other than on the very packed bike path at the beach - again, fine by me.

The whole shebang started out with the Grunion Run at the beach ... which this year turned out to be a total bust while we were there - not one little fish did we see. So, we made ourselves feel better by belting out tunes and generally going nuts until the wee hours, hoping to see some grunion on the way home.We did not (but thank you to Paul Chesne for hosting the late night shenanigans!).

Long weekends mean beach days, and even though we're dealing with some May Gray these days, the sun did make itself known over the weekend. Tan lines 2017 have begun! I walked over and checked out the new rainbow lifeguard tower at Brooks Avenue, all dressed up for Venice Pride this week, looking great.The bright colors can be seen from blocks away, and certainly helped to brighten up the gloom in the earlier part of the day. Great job, everyone involved!

I was invited to a lovely party in the canals, where I discovered the "Venice Canals Art Gardens" tucked away there behind a little bungalow. Canal residents Deborah Groening and Peter Rother bought this plot of land so that it would NOT be developed by yet another big ugly box (BUB). Bless them, because they created a beautiful little oasis of nature there in the canals to be enjoyed by its neighbors. They all came together and pitched in to create and build the garden in March 2016, and now all benefit from the produce and gorgeous space that it took this village to bring to abundant life.

There was a big potluck picnic and a nice guy cooking up some great chicken on a big grill, and everyone was enjoying the beautiful twilit evening. Everyone seemed to know each other, and there is definitely a Canals Clique going on, but all were welcoming (if a little clearly curious as to who we were and why we were there). The highlight of the soiree was a performance by some guys playing the "Hand Pan", a hauntingly pretty instrument that we all got to hear a (very, very long) explanation of before they were played. It was a joy to close your eyes and listen to as you breathed in the heady aroma of all of the flowers blooming around us. Ahhh.

Another beach day was had on Sunday, and it began with the excellent breakfast burrito from Hinano's, which was all decked out for the patriotic holiday of Memorial Day with its attendant red, white, and blue everywhere. Everyone knows about the Hinano burger, but if you haven't yet tried the breakfast burrito - get thee there. It has hash browns (the thin, crispy kind) inside of it. Just trust me.

After a full afternoon of being on the beach body rotisserie, it was time to head to the Ocean Front Walk home of Colleen Saro and Steve Eustace's pad, who were hosting a fun margarita party. They had all kinds of different bowls of fresh fruit, and you would choose your combo, and Steve would blend you up a custom margarita to order. It was delicious, and what great people! We sat in their windows, singing songs, overlooking all of the Boardwalk mayhem, and considered ourselves lucky once again that this is where we get to call it home. The sun set, my phone died, and we later found ourselves at yet another fun party at General Admission's parking lot (where I was still dressed in my bathing suit and towel from the day). Rowdy times.

Memorial Day itself was pretty much gloomy all day, so you just make the best of it, and start the party earlier. It felt like the whole country just wanted to blow off some of the steam that builds up daily under this awful and ridiculous new administration, and all the horrors that have come along with it. Frankly, it was a little hard to feel patriotic when you know how our country is coming off to the rest of the World these days. These holidays are meant to show off the good parts of our country, and I think most everyone did a good job of that. Fun was had by all, according to social media feeds and notes compared.

My dear friends Jenny and Shane held yet another extra fun holiday BBQ on Memorial Day, and I think some parents are probably still over there trying to get their kids out of the pool! Good food, good drink, great friends, and feelings of gratitude ensured that it was a wonderful and memorable time - again. Thank you, Barachs!

So here we go ... on into Summer! The best time to be here in Venice, and the best time to live it up and love everything and everybody while we are all still here. I've been thinking like that a lot lately, really needing to live in each moment, because the World is crazy and nothing is guaranteed. It conjures up a quote I wrote down as a very young girl, from Philip Doddridge, an English non-conformist who lived in the 1700's  ...

"Live while you live, the epicure would say,

And seize the pleasures of the present day!"

Yes. Do! 

*Birthday shout-out to Tom Morello! Cheers, my friend! You're one of the very best people I know. 

The Annual Venice Oceanarium Moby Dick-A-Thon - Plus

It sure was a beautiful weekend in Venice, highlighted by the annual reading of Moby Dick on the sand at the Breakwater. It's an all day/all evening affair put on by the Venice Oceanarium each year on the sand.

There are maritime props set up like a whale bone and a harpoon next to the chair and microphone for the readers. Listeners post up in the sand, and there's something just so lovely and mellow about lying on the sand and being read to as the sun sets.

It all got even lovelier as the sun sank below the horizon, when the kind folks from Enterprise Fish Company showed up with their donated delicious clam chowder and warm bread from Bay Cities. As the evening had turned chilly in the sea air, this was a most welcome warm up.

Several young students were sprawled across the sand, probably to get extra credit for a class, but it was nice to see all of them so eager to participate in a quintessentially Venice tradition. All read with gusto, and most likely also created themselves a wonderful memory. I know I did. Thanks always to the Oceanarium's Tim Rudnick for being such an advocate of the sea, and for putting this on each year.

I had a birthday party to get to, but along the way there was something I wanted to check out in the Canals. I'd seen on Facebook that there was to be an interactive tap dance light show at a house on the canals, and everyone was invited. Of course, I was there.

A gracious host called Hilary invited us in to his gorgeous home (bedecked with a big Jules Muck cat portrait on the side), offered us libations, and introduced us to the friends gathered for the performance by Laura Kriefman of the Guerilla Dance  Project. They brought out a bunch of containers of dry ice to create a smoky stage outside, then Kriefman tap danced in an LED light dress that changed colors as she danced. The music was controlled by the tap shoes and the lights were controlled by the music. It was interesting and cool and the kind of out there experimentation that I love to see continuing to thrive in Venice. Thank you to Hilary for his true kindness and generosity in opening his home to a bunch of stranger Venetians. That's how we all build bridges. I loved it.

Sunday finally brought sorely-needed rain to Venice, and a farewell to Danny's Deli closing party that I totally blew it by missing. I had in my head that it was a night-time affair, but it ended at 4. Shoot. I'm so sad to have missed the chance to celebrate all the good memories created in those walls over the years. We're all very sad to go, and can only hope and pray that whatever replaces this Venice institution will do right by it and honor its history. Please.

Thanks to everyone for another classic Venice weekend! We can all use all the fun we can get these days ... keep up the good work!

The Grunion ... Crawl.

The grunion didn't really seem to be running on Saturday night, as much as crawling. I always look forward to the grunion party put on by the Venice Oceanarium, but this year was kind of a bust in terms of fish sighting. I saw exactly three of the little silver fish by the time we left. Three.

They might have showed up in the thousands later on in the night, I'm not sure, but it had already been a full day, so standing there in the chilly night air could only last so long until we had to go warm up/sleep.

Still, walking across the sand in the dead of night and seeing all sorts of people out there with their flashlights flickering across the water is fun. It's exciting feeling, just because of the anticipation, and the fact that we were all there for the same reason ... nature. Phenomenal nature.

And some fun outside in the dark night under the stars when most everybody else was sleeping. I really hope those grunion did wind up getting their big orgy on ... was sorry to miss the main event. Better luck next time!

The Annual Breakwater Reading Of Moby Dick

I finally got to go to one of the greatest, coolest traditions around Venice last weekend when I finally remembered that it was the annual reading of Moby Dick put on by the Venice Oceanarium.

I went down for the sunset segment on Saturday, and a good portion had already been read (It goes from 8 am to 10 pm, both Saturday and Sunday!). All sorts of different people were sitting around in the sand near the Breakwater, where a microphone had been set up with a p.a. and nautical props like whale bones, a spear, and a little model ship set the stage for the salty tale.

It was so picturesque, with the sun setting, the clouds dancing and the waves crashing against the rocks behind ... you can imagine how very pleased Mr. Melville would be to see his great work honored in such a way in these modern times.

There's something very nice about being read to ... it frees up your mind to really imagine as you listen, rather than focusing on the words yourself. I thought of my little story hour reader at our library back home (RIP, Mrs Swanson!) and how she had set me on the path to love reading and writing. There were several obvious students there, taking notes and following along in their own copies ... but that's a pretty cool way to get extra credit.

I didn't take a turn reading as I somehow got a gnarly cold and would not have made it through many sentences without hacking, but I certainly appreciated the readers who got up there and brought the quest for Moby Dick to life. Some got into character, some offered their own digressions (like David Bush who didn't want to read next to the spear, as he's a pacifist. I love Venice), and though one clearly couldn't stay for the whole thing, I'm quite sure that they all greatly enjoyed it.

Just as I was starting to freeze and sniffle more, hot clam chowder arrived on the sand, donated by Enterprise Fish Company. So now we're listening to Moby Dick as the very last streaks of sun etched the sky, eating clam chowder and taking snaps off a thoughtful friend's flask. What a perfectly gorgeous Venice evening, truly.

There are wonderful, unique, supercool things like this going on all the time around town, and once you take part in them, you don't want to miss them again.

Thank you to all involved in this magical event ... I'm going to come on Day Two next year to find out what happened! (Ha).

Venice Oceanarium At The Pier

Two of things I love most in life are the ocean and words. I've kept a quote book pretty much since I first learned to write, so it was with pure delight that on a picture-perfect (but extra windy) Sunday, I saw some of the most beautiful quotes about the sea ever lining the Venice Pier, courtesy of the Venice Oceanarium.

The Oceanarium is a "Museum without walls", and they set up most Sundays at the end of the pier, from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. They line the stroll down to the end of the pier with the beautiful quotes from the likes of Shakespeare and Neruda and Melville that nearly cause you to swoon over the side into the ocean below.

At the end of the pier they set up an ever-changing display of creatures and plants from the sea, to educate and fascinate ... only this week they were packing up early because the wind was blowing so crazy the tent was threatening to go overboard.

I kind of like that there's nothing really to do attraction-wise on our Venice Pier, that it really is only about the ocean, the view and that feeling that only comes from being on the water - or above it, as it were.

The Venice Oceanarium is another absolute treasure about Venice that we should all appreciate and support. They put on the extra cool and fun events like the annual Grunion Run parties (mark your books for the next, even bigger and more fun one than ever, Friday, May 16th!) , the great annual weekend long reading at the Breakwater of the entire Moby Dick, and the heart-melting quotes and wall-less museum most every Sunday.

It's so beautiful here on days like this that it's hard to put into words ... but they did.

Thank you, Oceanarium!

The Grunion ... Crawl

Last Friday night was the Grunion Run ... a phenomenon that can only be seen in Southern California and Baja. The Venice Oceanarium hosts the evening, with oceanographic experts there to inform the gathered voyeurs (as the Grunion Run is really the grunion fish washing up on the sand to lay - and have fertilized - their eggs). This is the true Sex On The Beach - and fittingly, Danny's Deli was offering those exact shots for $4 on Friday night, getting in the spirit. Funny.


I've been in years where I've not seen one silvery grunion. I've been years where it was as if the beach itself were writhing about, as thousands and thousands of the fish washed up, lit by neon blue phosphorescence (that was for sure the best year). I went on Friday night and believe I saw a grand total of about 5 little Grunion ... but I'm told there were scads more later on. I threw in the towel about 1:30 a.m., as I had a big day coming up the next day, and have seen the aforementioned bajillions of them before.


Never mind how many you really wind up seeing, it's just kind of great to walk out across the sand and see flashlights flitting about, and entire families - Gramps and toddlers alike - out there past midnight, for the sole purpose of seeing a natural amazement. People talking and learning from each other, ooh-ing and aah-ing over one single fish when that's all there was. Cracking the usual orgy jokes. Sharing a snap off the flask to warm up (I heard. I'd never ever have an open container myself on the beach!). Getting to know stranger neighbors, there to partake in an annual community event that is so crazy, some even think it's just a myth, and give up too early every year.


There was a guy fire dancing down there this time, and it added a whole element of tribal mystery to the proceedings, which we dug. The Moon was two days past full, so the beach was all silvery blue, offering the appropriately hued welcome mat to the libidinous little sardine-like fish. All of it was so pretty, the dawdling grunion soon became secondary to the cheerful fellowship that also naturally occurs when you're all interested in something together.


Much like a meteor shower or an eclipse, your patience is necessary to witness the Grunion Run, but your mind will always be blown when you're there at the right time. It's a good reminder that nature persists, however much we interfere with it. We are so small, and our tenure so fleeting on this planet, in the whole scope of things. I like to check in with that feeling as often as possible, so that I can continue to be dazzled by and appreciative of my time slot here.

There are a couple of chances to witness this mass coupling each Spring/Summer. And once you do, you really won't ever forget it. Go Grunion!!


*PEG photos!