Blahs Not So Blue or Blah
Life has those ups and those downs. I've been riding that roller coaster over the past week, but it's all a continuation of that ride I've been on my whole life. I'm not planning to get off any time soon either. But what comes is what is supposed to come so it's best to have a good of a time as you can.
Yesterday my wife and I took a day trip out to the desert town of Indio California out east of Palm Springs. It was an ideal day with temps in the sixties and partly cloudy skies. Somewhere it was raining, but it never touched us all day.
We spent several hours in the Agua Caliente Casino meandering to watch the players and just absorb the atmosphere. It's a top quality establishment with a lot of machines and other places to lose money. I lost $27 that I really don't like to lose plus an additional $10 of free cash the casino gave me for signing up to their players club.
Also for signing up we got a coupon for a free appetizer with one ordered entree in one of the casino restaurants. The restaurant was a pleasant surprise. Since I haven't been eating all that much lately I let my wife order an entree (she got bacon-wrapped meatloaf that was simply amazing with a savory fall vegetable medley and garlic mashed potatoes--all for a very fair price of $15). For my appetizer I got skewers of filet medallions marinated Korean style on a bed of kimchi which was about as perfect of a meal as I've had in a long time. I ate every single bite of mine.
On the way home we stopped at Cabazon to visit the touristy Hadley's Market and Deli where my wife and I got an assortment of date delicacies and two date shakes for a dinner in the car to help us better endure sitting in the traffic heading back to L.A. The myriad of car lights were a bit tedious though dazzling to look at, but still it was a nice drive home.
Life is looking up. That's fine with me. One nice thing about being down is that you don't have much other place to look other than up. And really I don't mind being down as long as I'm peaceful. A valley is as good as a mountaintop. It's just a matter of perspective...
Battle of the Bands Results

This was another tough one. I kept going back and forth listening to them until I realized that I kept deciding that my favorite was whichever one I was listening to at the moment. Both artists are winners and the voting reflected that.
Still, having to pick one as my own favorite I decided to go with the majority of voters. I really dug on the cool smooth vocals and lush orchestration of Lauren White so that's where my vote goes...
Final Vote Tally
Lauren White 11 votes
Pat Dinizio 7 votes
Next Battle on Sunday December 1st
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week whatever you decide to do. I think we're just going to be going out to dinner just my wife and I. Probably not as good as the dinner I'd fix, but a whole lot easier.
Do you ever go to casinos just to wander and watch? Where is your favorite place to get in from the cold or elements and just watch other people or enjoy the indoor environment? What are you going to do this Thanksgiving?