Category Archives: Uncategorized
Psychic Traits – by Gary Smolker
Below are guidelines I use when deciding how much of my time and energy I want to invest in having a relationship with other people.
Stay Away From
- Completely soulless people
- People who are socially disinterested in other people
- People who are not empathetic
- People who don’t understand there is something “there” to understand
- People who have no concept of the pain they cause other people
- People who are in competition with all other life forms on Planet Earth to maximize their own gain unaware of the costs incurred by others
- People who drain you
- People who don’t “get it”
- Insecure people
- People lacking in self-confidence
- People who lack self-esteem
- People who don’t have a high level of self-esteem
- People who don’t think
- Negative people
- People who are full of excuses
- People who don’t take responsibility for their actions
- People who don’t take responsibility for their own lives
- Stay away from people who have the habit of making excuses
Seek and Embrace
- People who are brave, honest, complete self-starters, and who require absolutely no oversight
- People living an engaged life
- People who are generous
- People who pitch in
- People who are action oriented
- People who punch above their weight
- People who have come to terms with the amount of self-inflicted damage incurred by poor performance
- People who have come to terms with the amount of self-inflicted damage incurred by not taking threats seriously
- People who have clearly defined goals
- People who have a drive to succeed
- People who focus their time and effort on what they can do to make a difference
- People who can’t resist the lure of direct involvement: the adrenaline, the single-minded sense of purpose with life-and-death actions
- Creative people
- People who are an acceptable level of “freak”
- People who emote the “right amount of wrong”
- People who are sweet
- People who are tender
- People who have a smile in their voice
- People who have a cheerful temperament
- People who feel like they are fulfilling their life’s mission
- People who “get it”
- People who weaponize data
- People who believe in you, and you want to have with you when you need someone you trust
- People who inspire you
- Positive people
- High energy people
- People who work at an intense tempo
- People who don’t slack off
- People who are “hands-on”
- People who think
- People who have self-confidence
- People who are real
- People who are honest
- People who are sincere
- People who know when to shut up
- Seek to be with people you enjoy being with and who enjoy being with you
Thoughts for the Day
“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” – Winston Churchill
“Love is a decision you make every day, though matter what.” – GSS
“Care only about facts. Facts are irrefutable. Truth that comes from facts can be difficult to accept. But truths should not be ignored.” – GSS
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
“We are anchored to our principles.” – GSS
Copyright © 2017 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve 4715, Year of the Rooster, Dinner Party Feast
New Year’s Eve, January 27, 2017
I attended a Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner-party Friday night January 27, 2017 at the PV Palace Seafood Restaurant in Lomita, California.
Below is a list of the dishes served at that dinner.
I was driven to the dinner and attended the dinner with my Special Trusted Friend Leslie Gonzalez.
We left our office in Encino at 5:30 p.m. and arrived at the Restaurant in Lomita two and a quarter hours later.
However, when we drove back to our office in Encino from the Restaurant, after dinner and clean-up, it only took us 45 minutes to travel from the Restaurant in Lomita to our office in Encino.
Such is traffic in Los Angeles on a Friday night.
Dishes
The dishes served were colorfully presented and magnificent.
Below is a picture of the Sauteed Scallops with Garden Vegetables served at our feast. I took that photograph and all the other photographs in this article.
Below is a picture of the Crispy Boned Sole Filet.
Below are three pictures [taken by me] of the dish of Lobster in Black Bean Sauce and Scallions presented to us as part of our dinner at that feast.
Below are pictures of Roasted Peking Duck served at to us at our feast/celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year 4715.
The skin of a duck is considered a delicacy; served on a separate dish separately from service of the meat of the duck.
I Found Myself Eating Duck Skin
HOW TO EAT DUCK SKIN: The skin of the duck is placed on a piece of pastry in the shape of a shell then plum sauce is added.
Yum….that combination is totally delicious treat. See photos below.
Below is a photo of flesh of the duck (skin of duck removed) which was served separately, on a separate dish.
Tradition
Traditionally, Chinese Lunar New Year’s is Christmas, Thanksgiving and Eater all rolled into one holiday. All members of a family gather together — people who are away from their parents travel to be with their parents.
Sons and daughters visit their parents and grandparents to pay respect and brothers and sisters reunite and their children get together with cousins and aunts and uncles.
The older members of the family give gifts to the younger members of their family wrapped in red. Likewise employers give gifts to their employees wrapped in red.
In traditional Chinese culture, it is understood that the one who gives a gift receives more than the one who receives the gift; that the act of giving is a high honor and that giving is a sign of high status.
Our host at this dinner, Norman Wong, gave each attendee such a gift.
Below is a photograph I took of the wrapping wrapped around the gift given to me.
A similar gift was given by Norman to each guest at the dinner.
Cultural Diversity
There were about 40 guests at this dinner.
All of the guests were very worldly, very polite, and very refined.
At the table I sat at the man sitting directly across from me describe the home on a farm in Germany that he owns that has been in his family for one thousand two hundred years.
He told me that architecture of his home on his farm is “Romantic” …. meaning the same architectural style prevalent in Roman times.
He and another man talked about the kinds of different beers and wine in different regions of Germany and the kind of beer that is the favorite in each place.
One man said “The beer in Cologne, Germany, is tasteless.”
The other man replied, “No. It just has a quiet taste.”
Copyright © 2017 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Bitter Sweet Love – by Gary S. Smolker
Cafe Society
I saw Woody Allen’s latest masterpiece “Cafe Society” last night.
It is a perfectly told story of bitter sweetness in life.
Each actor and actress plays his and her part perfectly.
Watching “Cafe Society” last night resulted in me being overwhelmed today with thoughts about my own loves and love life, and thoughts about the loves and love lives of people close to me.
TAKE AWAY: Life is a journey in which unrequited love never ends and sometimes is an illusion.
There is a clear difference between so called rational business decision making and the way love works out in “Cafe Society.”
Watching “Cafe Society” reminded me of a photograph I recently saw.
Below is a copy of that photograph.
The photograph shows buildings visible in water in a swimming pool. Two people are swimming in that swimming pool.
I am informed that swimming pool is in Mumbai, India.
I saw that photograph on the thewearytravelers website attached to a recent notice that thewearytravelers is now following my blog.
What do you imagine when you look at the photograph shown below?
What were you thinking about while looking at that photograph, after looking at that photograph?
While looking at that photograph and after looking at that photograph, I asked myself : Are those swimmers swimming through the buildings reflected n the swimming pool, or over them or under them?
Woody Allen and the actors and actresses in “Cafe Society” clearly show what people say and what people do does not tell us what they are thinking about or what they are made of.
In “Cafe Society”, Woody Allen cleverly shows us:
- We want to know what other people think.
- We want to know what other people are thinking.
- We all want to know what other people are made of.
We want to know what is going on.
Unrequited love and the illusion of unrequited love are a nightmare.
That is what Woody Allen’s movie “Cafe Society” is about.
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Magical Women – by Gary S. Smolker
A Magical Night
Shortly after I arrived home at 11:30 p.m., on Monday night (August 1, 2016) I read a notice from Word Press informing me that thewearytravelers is now following my blog – “The Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog.”
I clicked on the “About” button in the notice, then I clicked on the button for July, 2016.
Below are copies of three of the pictures that showed up.
By coincidence, before I read that notice, I had enjoyed a magical evening with a female friend which had began at 4:30 p.m. and lasted until 11:00 p.m.
Summer, Annecy, France
Colorful Canal, Venice, Italy
Forest Path, Madeira, Portugal
My Magical Evening
The woman I was with Monday night told me she had never laughed so much or so hard in her life.
She told me she was laughing so hard that her jaw hurt.
Time ran away from — We were drinking wine and eating dinner at a bar over-looking the ocean in in a sumptuous luxury hotel without a care in the world.
Before we knew it, it was 10:35 p.m.
My car was parked in the public parking lot at the Santa Monica Public Library which closes at 11:00 p.m.
I told my date we had to rush to her car in order to be able to quickly drive to the Santa Monica Public Library before the parking lot was locked up for the night.
We ran to her parked car.
She drove quickly to the Santa Monica Public Library.
I told her if we didn’t get to the parking lot in time, I would like her to drive me to my home in Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks and I will figure out how to get to Santa Monica the next morning to pick up my car.
Rushing to the Santa Monica Public Library parking lot with her driving was exhilarating.
We got to the parking lot at 10:53 p.m.
The next morning I called her on the phone.
I asked, “How was last night?”
She answered, “I laughed so much my jaw was hurting.”
During our date, she asked me if I needed to be put in a trance to subconsciously get to a heightened state of imagination.
The Next Day
I thought about that question all through the morning and early afternoon.
I then went back to thewearytravelers web site and clicked on the button for June 2016.
Below are copies of some of the pictures I saw posted in June.
The first picture is a photograph of a Forest Lane in Yorkshire, England.
The second picture is a photograph of the Mostar Bridge in Bosnia.
The third photograph is a picture of a festive street on the Isle of Crete, Greece.
Pictures like those posted above make my imagination soar.
Magical Women
The Genetic Lottery
Biochemistry determines whether you are a happy person or a gloomy person.
One a scale of one to ten, some people are born with a cheerful biochemical system that allows their mood to swing between levels six and ten, stabilizing with time at eight.
Other people are cursed with a gloomy biochemistry that swings between three and seven and stabilizes at five. Such an unhappy person remains depressed even if he or she enjoys the support of a tight-knit community, wins millions in the lottery and is as fit as an Olympic athlete. These people are always disgruntled though matter what gifts the world lays at their feet. When they get what they desire they are no happier. Getting what they want does not change their biochemistry.
Our mental and emotional world of “happiness” is governed by biochemistry, by various biochemical substances such as serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin cursing through our bloodstream and to a storm of electrical signals flashing between different parts of our brain programed to keep our “happiness levels” relatively constant.
The woman I was with last night is a happy person.
That made all the difference in the world with respect to how pleasant it was to be with her.
Psychological and Social Factors Have Their Place
The woman I was with is not a miserable person. That made it easy to have a magical night with her.
The woman I was with sees herself as living a meaningful and purposeful life. That made it easy to have a magical night with her.
Although happiness is determined mainly by biochemistry, psychological and social factors and “values” also have their place.
- Although, it is almost impossible to exceed the upper and lower emotional boundaries set by biochemistry and
- Although the keys to our happiness are in our biochemistry; and
- Although, the only way to make people happy over an extended period of time is to manipulate their biochemical system; and
- Although, to some extent, only changing/manipulating/tweaking our biochemistry can change our happiness; and
- Although, biochemically speaking, lasting happiness only comes from serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin;
There is also a cognitive and ethical component to happiness.
Happiness also consists of seeing one life’s in its entirety as meaningful and purposeful.
“As Nietzsche put it, if you have a why to live, you can bear almost any how. A meaningful life can be extremely satisfying even in the midst of hardship, whereas a meaningless life is a terrible ordeal no matter how comfortable it is.”
The woman I was with last night feels she is living a meaningful life. That made it very easy to have a magical evening with her.
The woman I was with last night has very reasonable and simple expectations. That made it extremely easy to have a wonderful evening with her.
Human Expectations Determine Level of Happiness
Happiness also depends on subjective expectations.
Being satisfied with what you already have is far more important than getting more of what you want.
The lady I was with last night is satisfied with what she has. That made it very easy to have a wonderful time.
Lasting Happiness
Yuval Noah Harari discusses all of the above subtopics in his wonderful book “Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind.”
Yuval Noah Harari discusses “lasting happiness” in great detail.
Harari reports that family and community seem to have more impact on our happiness than money and health.
The woman I was with last night has a good “family-situation.” That made it easy to have a good time with her.
Tranquilizers and Pain Killers
Harari writes: We moderns have an arsenal of tranquilizers and painkillers at our disposal but our expectations of ease and pleasure, and our intolerance of inconvenience and discomfort, have increased to such an extent that we may well suffer from pain more than our ancestors ever did.
The woman I was with last night is hale and hearty (very athletic), doesn’t expect to live a life of ease and pleasure, is happy to work, and is good at tolerating inconvenience and discomfort.
Nothing upset her. That made being with her very pleasant.
Laughter Is A Great Medicine
We laughed together for hours and hours and hours last night, so much so that her jaw hurt.
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
A Woman’s Sexual Appetite – by Gary S. Smolker
May 5, 2016
A Woman’s Sexual Appetite
I know a man who showed pictures of the dinner Veronica Prout, Johanh Phil Gustilo Cao and I had at my apartment Sunday, May 1, 2016 to his girlfriend.
His girlfriend immediately replied: “I am not going to have sex with you again, until you take me to a dinner party like that.”
Take away: Food is the key to a woman’s sexual appetite.
What A Beautiful Dinner
The dinner was created, eaten and enjoyed (Sunday, May 1, 2016) by Veronica Prout, and Johanh Phil Gustilo Cao.
They cooked a delightful seven course dinner in my apartment, which the three of us enjoyed immensely.
We finally finished “eating” dinner at 2:00 a.m.
Entree: Braised Eggs with Lamb, Portobello Mushroom with Asparagus
Drink: Star Anise infused Chilicano
Salad: Arugula Fennel Salad with Garlic Shrimp
Desert: Port Infused Meringue with Caramel Pudding, covered with Pistachios and Cashews
Veronica and JP enjoying desert
JP In My Kitchen
JP has just cut the rack of lamb into individual lamb chops
Food Prep
Vegetables on the granite table top in my kitchen
Veronica dicing vegetables
JP cooking mushrooms for main dish
JP preparing garlic shrimp for salad
JP assembling the salad
Arugula Fennel Salad with Garlic Shrimp
Individual lamb chops cut from the rack of lamb by JP
Preparing the tomatoes that will go into the braised eggs with lamb entree
Cooking the lamb chops that will go into the braised eggs with lamb entree
Adding cherry tomatoes to the cooking lamb chops
Adding/braising the eggs
Adding cilantro leaves
The final dish – braised eggs with lamb & sumac
Ingredients: Olive Oil, Finely Chopped Onion, Cloves of Garlic sliced thinly, Lamb Chops, Ground Cumin, Toasted Unsalted Pistachios, Toasted Pine Nuts, Harissa Paste, Finely Chopped Onion Peel, Cherry Tomatoes, Chicken Stock, Free-range Eggs, Cilantro Leaves, Salt (Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals) and Freshly Ground Pepper.
This concoction is Jerusalem fusion food at its very best. It incorporates traditional elements that are purely Palestinian with ingredients characteristic of various Jewish cuisines, and puts them all together in a completely nontraditional way.
By the way, we also had Pistachio Saffron Ice Cream, a classic Persian treat, for dessert.
Original Menu
Our original menu was:
- Salad: Arugula, Fennel, Artichoke, Shaved Parmesan Cheese, Pomegranate Seeds, and Grilled Shrimp
- Soup: Melon Gazpacho with preschuito (???spelling)
- Protein: Braised Eggs with Lamb
- Vegetable: Portobello filet with Asparagus
- Starch: Sweet Potato Gratin
- Dessert: Port-infused meringue on caramel custard pudding
- Specialty Drink: Star Anise Chilanceo
We latter added: (a) prechuto (??spelling??) wrapped garlic shrimp as an appetizer, (b) Pistachio Saffron Ice Cream as a desert, and (c) a desert wine offering aromas of black cherry and fig with flavors of plum, cocoa and raspberry.
Conclusion
If a man makes an exciting sexy memorable dinner for the woman in his life he can reasonably expect a positive response.
If the woman asks him to take her out to dinner, if he doesn’t do so he should reasonable expect a negative reaction.
Good decision making is contingent on the ability to envision what comes next.
By the way: a losing hand/bad decision isn’t necessary a loss. Rather, in poker and in life, it is an excellent experiment when you learn from it.
Life and poker are about using your bets and guesses/chips to gather information.
Poker is about using your chips to gather information faster than the other players.
Life is about using your experiences to gather information as fast as practical.
Good decision making is about envisioning what will happen next.
Even the smartest poker players can be undone by bad luck.
Probabilities can help you forecast likelihoods, but they can’t guarantee the future.
The paradox of learning how to make better decisions is that it requires developing a comfort with doubt, with less than a perfect confidence level.
Most of our most important decisions are, in fact, attempts to forecast the future.
Good luck.
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
LIVING HOME-LIFE ELEGANTLY – by Gary S. Smolker
Last night (April 22, 2016, the First Night of Passover), I attended a Seder at a friend’s home.
The Seder was held in the backyard and inside my friend’s home is in Trousdale Estates, Beverly Hills, California.
Below are photographs I took both before the Seder began and during the Seder.
The Table in the Backyard
A religious ceremony was held in the backyard before we came into the house to socialize and have dinner together.
The religious ceremony, which includes eating prescribed food, was held in the backyard.
Below are photographs of the table set up in the backyard at which we all sat while eating during the religious ceremony which Jews all over the world participate in while they celebrate Passover.
Socializing Before Dinner Is Served
After the religious ceremony finished we proceeded to go inside to socialize.
After they came inside some of the women sat down on couches surrounding a table on which were nuts and fruit to snack on.
Some people talked to other people while standing up.
People also talked to one another before dinner was served, various sitting rooms in the house.
Below is a picture of the hostess and her two daughters.
Below are three more pictures of her daughters.
Buffet
Dinner was served buffet style.
Guests selected dishes to eat for dinner from a table laden with entrees and side dishes.
My Plate of Dishes
Below is a picture of what I put on my dinner plate to eat.
Everything was delicious.
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Carpe the Hell Out of this Diem. – by Gary S. Smolker
Examine Your Life
I saw the 8:35 p.m. showing of “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” on Saturday night, March 12, 2016.
“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” has many important messages.
All the messages left a lasting impression on me.
I hope I am like the main character, Kim a female journalist.
Kim thought she was responsible for causing a Marine to have his feet blown off by a mine while he was on active duty in Afghanistan.
She believed/believes that he had his feet blown off by a mine as a direct result of an interview of him she conducted in Afghanistan that her Television Network broadcasted to a worldwide audience.
When Kim returned to the United States she drove out to the “Marine’s” home to apologize and to give him an opportunity to yell and scream at her.
Instead of yelling at her, the ex-Marine (he was honorably discharged from the Marines as a result of his disability) explained to Kim
- (a) it was not Kim fault that his feet were blown off, and
- (b) he has gotten on with his life, and
- (c) Kim ought to get on with her life, and
- (d) why Kim should get on with her life.
The speech the Marine (ex-Marine) gives Kim is absolutely beautiful.
It is worth watching the entire movie just to listen to that speech and to watch the two of them (Kim and the Marine) interact as he is giving her that speech.
At the moment, the most important and prominent message delivered to me in “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” is/was, Move on with your life.
Life Goes On
“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” was extremely poignant to me because I have three daughters.
Before going to see “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” I had spent the afternoon (Saturday afternoon, March 12) with my 28 year old daughter Leah on an excursion to purchase an embroidered meditation pillow at the ANANDA store located at 1345 Abbot Kinney Blvd., in Venice, California. Phone: 1-310-450-2607.
Leah had asked me to buy her a meditation pillow.
That is why I ended up on Saturday afternoon being on Abbot Kinney Blvd.
I ended up purchasing four meditation pillows at the ANANDA store.
Below are pictures of the meditation pillows.
Abbot Kinney Blvd is an extremely cool street.
Many of the walls of the stores on Abbot Kinney are painted with interesting designs.
There are interesting signs on the sidewalk.
Many of the store fronts have very creative windows and signs on the sidewalk in front of them.
Below are two picture of me standing in front of an exterior wall of one of the stores on Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Below is a picture of me standing in front of the wall of another store.
Below is a picture of a storefront window of one of the stores on Abbot Kinney, the L. Angels store.
Below is a picture of a sign on the sidewalk in front of a store.
The walls of buildings are painted with interesting pictures.
Below is a picture painted on the side of one of the stores.
Below is a picture painted on the rear wall of one of the stores which abuts on an alley located behind the store.
Notice the no parking sign.
Leah and I had lunch at an interesting restaurant, Kreation Kate Kafe – Venice, located at 1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA. 90291 [phone 1-310-314-7778], before going shopping on Abbot Kinney.
Below is a photograph of a Kreation Kate Kafe “You Are What You Eat” napkin, taken by me before Leah and I ate lunch there.
Below are photographs of two of the signs posted near the cash register at the Kreation Kate Kafe on Abbot Kinney Blvd., advertising one of their products that supposedly flushes out toxins which get into your body after you have imbibed three Tequilas and averts hangovers.
Below is another sign which advertises products to get your body beach ready.
Among other things you may order on the Kafe menu, you may order “Avocado Toast.”
For further information about Kreation Kate go to http://www.KreationJuice.com.
After eating lunch at “Kreation Kate” and after then going shopping on Abbot Kinney Blvd. and after then watching “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”, I couldn’t help but spend the rest of the night and the next morning thinking about how unpredictably “life goes on.”
CONCLUSION:
- Life is short.
- Life is an adventure.
- Enjoy the ride.
- Carpe the hell out of this diem.
Copyright © 2016 Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Chocolates in An Art Form – by Gary S. Smolker
Delectable Handcrafted Belgium Chocolates
Yesterday (March 2, 2017), I had a true European experience.
I had the most fascinating afternoon with the most intriguing woman.
We sipped French roast coffee, ate gourmet chocolates handcrafted and imported fresh from Belgium and read poetry to each other at “Lady Chocolatt” in West Los Angeles.
Lady Chocolatt is located at 12008 Wilshire Blvd., in Los Angeles, California.
Chocolates, Chocolates, and More Chocolates; Chocolates Everywhere
I ate five chocolates.
The five chocolates (a Champagne truffle with dark chocolate; a Raspberry mousse; a creamy Hazelnut with orange; a White Chocolate with roasted almond and creamy hazelnuts inside, and one more) that I ate were served on a white porcelain tray.
See photograph below.
I read her poems written by French poet Arthur Rimbaud: “A Season in Hell” and “The Drunken Boat.”
She read me poetry from Rimbaud’s “Illuminations.”
A Season in Hell is a poetic record of a man’s examination of his own depths.
The Drunken Boat is an anthology of separate lines of astonishing evocative magic which linger in the mind like isolated jewels.
Illuminations is a collection of poems that lift the spirit and dazzle the mind, besides quickening all the senses.
Rimbaud’s poems that we read to one another made us smell and hear and see perfumes, sounds, and unknown colors of his invention, while we were sitting adjacent to display cases of gourmet handcrafted Belgium chocolates handcrafted in Belgium then immediately flown to Los Angeles.
See photographs of display cases below.
A Balanced Diet of Chocolate, Poetry and Coffee
My idea of a balanced diet is expressed in the photographs below.
I had a latte with my gourmet handcrafted Belgium chocolate. See photograph above of my latte, my tray of five chocolates and one of the books of poetry containing poems that my darling and I read to each others.
I could have had indulged myself with any one of my Belgium Hot Chocolate drinks. See photograph below of a chalk board sign specifying my choices.
Liege Waffles
I could have had Liege Waffles imported fresh from Belgium —- buttery sweet dough enriched with crunchy sugar pearls — with one or more toppings of chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, whipped cream, Canadian Maple Syrup, Butter and Jam or Ice Cream (vanilla bean, triple chocolate with chocolate fudge, cappuccino crunch, cookies and cream, hazelnut or strawberry).
Blended Drinks
I could have chosen a wide variety of blended coffee drinks to sip while reading poetry to my darling
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Espresso
- Hazelnut Ice Cream with Espresso
- Mocha: Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Ice Cream with Espresso
- Irish Cream and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Espresso
- Caramel and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Espresso
I love milkshakes.
I while reading poetry to my darling I could have cooled my throat with a milkshake, for example with:
- a Vanilla Bean Milkshake
- a Triple Chocolate with Homemade Chocolate Sauce Milkshake
- a Cappuccino Crunch Milkshake
- a Cookies and Cream Milkshake
- a Hazelnut Milkshake, or
- a Strawberry Milkshake
Youthful Memories of Shock, Confusion and Delight
Yesterday, when I bit into my white chocolate with roasted almonds and creamy hazelnut inside piece of handcrafted freshly imported gourmet Belgium Chocolate I was so profoundly and pleasantly shocked and delightfully confused by an overwhelming sense of wonder and awe that I had a flashback to a sentiment I had once experienced when I was about 17 years years old — the experience: when I was done having carnal knowledge with a girl friend I was shocked surprised and confused to see that the condom I had been wearing had disappeared.
Such things happen when you come to the realization that you need to get good energy to contribute to the goodness of the world.
Yesterday, I was the beneficiary of my darling’s intense desire to have the feeling she has created a beautiful moment for someone else she cares about deeply.
Copyright © Gary S. Smolker
Cool on Steroids (Part Two): Life is God’s Gift to You. What You Do with Your Life Is Your Gift to God. — by Gary S. Smolker
Be Your Own Valentine
I particularly admire talented people who are spiritual and full of courage; and who emote love, trust, and imagination.
Yesterday (Wednesday, February 10, 2016) I was thrilled to see the “Be Your Own Valentine” sign pictured below as I was walking by the Rose Temple Salon on Rose Avenue, in Venice, California
The Rose Temple Salon is located at 305 Rose Ave., Venice Beach, California, across the Street from the Rose Cafe & Market.
Check Out The Restrooms at the Rose Cafe & Market
I wrote about the Rose Cafe & Market [located at 230 Rose Ave.] in an article titled “Cool on Steroids” Part One, which I published on my blog [“The Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog”] on February 6, 2016 at https://garysmolker.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/venice-is-cool-on-steroids-if-you-know-where-to go-by gary-s-smolker/.
A Friendly Woman’s Restroom
Below is a picture of flowers painted on a wall in the women’s rest room at the Rose Cafe & Market.
That picture was taken yesterday (Wednesday, February 10, 2016) by my friend Femme Fatale.
Below is a photograph of a picture of a “Sun Rise” – also painted on a wall in the woman’s restroom.
Below is a photograph of a picture of “Sun Set” painted on a wall in the woman’s restroom.
Below is a picture of Femme Fatale — my friend who took the above pictures.
Regarding my friend Femme Fatale, see my comments below under the heading “In Defense of Good Humor.”
Femme Fatale is a “Good Karman Person.”
I took the picture of Femme Fatale (above) while Femme Fatale, inside the Rose Cafe, before we sat down at the counter to order lunch.
A Friendly Men’s Room
Below are pictures of paintings on walls in the Men’s Room at the Rose Cafe & Marketplace taken by me on February 6, 2016.
These two paintings are what you see in front of you if you are sitting on the toilet.
The painting below is painted above the two urinals.
The Rose Temple Salon
The Rose Temple [Beauty] Salon on Rose Avenue, in Venice, is a good karma establishment.
All services, at the Rose Temple Salon, are provided on a [good karma] pay what you think they are worth basis.
Below is a picture of Andrea Noble, Hair Designer at Rose Temple Salon.
Karma Based Prices for Services Rendered
The Rose Temple Salon is a “hair/beauty salon” which provides services [Blow Dry, Men’s Cut, Men’s Color, Women Dry Trim, Women Specialty Cut, Base Color, Full Color, Highlights, Keratin) on Karma based prices.
Service prices are only suggested.
You pay what you think the service is worth.
“Cool on Steroids Building”
Below are pictures of the building in which the Rose Temple Salon conducts its hair sytling business.
The address of the Rose Temple Salon is 305 Rose Avenue, Venice, California.
I am the man in the photograph (below) holding the potted plant.
The “open door” (in the photograph below) is the front door [entry] into the Rose Temple Salon.
Below is are close-up pictures.
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The Hood
Below is a painting on that portion of a wall on a building that borders a parking lot behind the salon.
Below is a photograph of the signs above and to the side of the entry door to an eating establishment a few blocks east of the Rose Cafe.
Yum
The first picture below is a picture of the hamburger I had for lunch at the counter at the Rose Cafe & Marketplace yesterday.
In the background (behind my hamburger) you can see a vase with flowers, set on the counter top, and a partial picture of one of the food preparation areas in the kitchen visible from the counter.
There are six food preparation areas in the kitchen visible from the counter where I ate my hamburger.
Below is a picture of the same hamburger taken at a different angle. You can see more of the food preparation area in the photograph below then in the photograph above.
I had a side order of sliced avocado with my hamburger, which you can see on the counter in the dish behind my hamburger.
Below is a picture of Justin Fulton and Joveleen (spelling ?) Sanchez.
They prepared the lunch served to us.
After lunch, Justin and Femme Fatale had an animated conversation about the kitchen, the six prep areas in the kitchen.
You Can’t Tell A Book By It’s Cover
I sent the photo below to three of my friends who do not know Femme Fatale.
They responded as follows:
- AWESOME. This obviously rules me out but women shouldn’t be judged negatively for the common preference for established, high status partners. (Meanwhile, I can imagine guys like Balocca, Gisler and Fane thumbing their noses at all us beta-level monkeys lower down the food chain. LOL.
- I noticed the “I” is lower case… she apparently thinks she is not worthy. …
- Has she checked your inheritance?
In Defense of Good Humor
One of Femme Fatale’s hobbies is “kickboxing,”
Femme Fatale is extremely physically fit, extremely physically active, extremely mentally active, extremely artistically active, extremely professionally active, extremely socially active.
The wealthy men I know “hate” “Gold Diggers.” They hate being with women that treat them (the men) like ATMs.
Femme Fatale is very smart and very experienced in the ways of the world.
Femme Fatale knows that is how rich men “think”/”feel.”
Femme Fatale has been on the Red Carpet at the Golden Globes.
Femme Fatale has been in places in Africa where the local people had never seen a white women before.
Femme Fatale is looked up to by thousands of people all over the world.
Femme Fatale is the type of woman who wants to pay her own way when she is with a man.
Femme Fatale puts everyone at ease.
She is extremely down to earth and not at all moody, grumpy or “filled up with herself.”
You should have seen Femme Fatale in conversation (in French) with the man (Jerome Caillens) who sold her the bread she purchased at the Rose Cafe & Marketplace yesterday.
You should have seen Femme Fatale in animated conversations with Justin Fulton about food preparation and cooking stations she observed: (a) the Aeutemp plancha heated by steam – used to cook burgers and buns; (b) the 12 double baskets for pasta preparation; (c) the French top — thick steel top with flame under; (d) the wood fire oven for preparation of pizzas, cauliflower, roasted avocados; (e) the Garde Manger for preparing salads and avocado toast; and (f) the J & R Grill for Rotisserie Chicken, Bronzino,Bone-in-Ribeye, and grilled radicchio.
Femme Fatale “cooks.”
Femme Fatale has confidence.
Femme Fatale has a down to earth sense of humor and is down to earth.
Femme Fatale would have been flattered by Napoleon’s attention even as short as he was.
At 20 years old Femme Fatale would have given Napoleon her heart and life.
Not at 60.
Femme Fatale is looking for a more simple life for the solid 30 or 40 years she has left to enjoy her life on this earth.
Femme Fatale is enchanting.
When I told Femme Fatale, I think of her and she should think of herself as a computer full of information I have never come across.
She replied, I can’t think of myself as a computer. But, I can think of myself as a killing machine.
Everything we do – including all the decisions we make – sends a message about who we are.
Femme Fatale is subtle, clever, highly intelligent, very physical, down to earth, artistic, spiritual, talented, sophisticated, worldly and enchanting.
Friendliness of Femme Fatale and of All the People We Interacted with at the Rose Cafe & Marketplace Yesterday
Even in Los Angeles, where neighbors do not know the name of the person living next door, community still exists.
Yesterday, all of us – Femme Fatale, me, Justin Fulton and Jerome Caillens – had a great and friendly time together at the Rose Cafe & Marketplace on Rose Avenue in Venice.
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
The Purity of Pure Emotional Communication, How We Shape Our Environment and How Our Environment Shapes Us – A Note from Gary S. Smolker to Rabbi Lazer Gurkow
Lazer,
Pure Emotional Communication: Your words and phrases are noble, passionate and pure emotional communication. I salute you.
The pictures below are an example of how one person can communicate saying “thank you” to another person without using any words,
One Way To Say Thank You
Below are photographs, taken in my living room, of a few objects-d-Arte an “artist” gave me as a gift, as a surprise gift.
Each of those “art objects” were made with the artist’s own hands, installed in my house by him and his son and a helper and given by him to me as a SURPRISE GIFT to me.
That is a powerful way of saying “thank you.”
————-
I got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. this morning because I have so many things to do and couldn’t stand staying in bed any longer.
I am working on several projects including
- Writing an article about the Angels amongst us – how they inspire us when their holiness seeps out.
- Writing something to be put in a “time capsule” as a “history” of what was happening in 2016.
- Writing an essay about what happens when our passion seeps out and ignites others, when the purity of our emotional communication and not it’s perfection is our goal.
- Describing the Creative Energy I observe in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region and Orange County as a harvest, as a living part of the festival of life.
Thank You
Gary S. Smolker, Publisher, Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog www.garysmolker.wordpress.com Copyright © 2016 Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Gary S. Smolker 