Food! Italian Food! Brio Tuscan Grille coming soon to Victoria Gardens

I don't get out much, but when I do, I want to eat out.  On a recent visit to Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, I ended up eating in the food court.  The food was acceptable and reasonably priced, but next time I plan to eat at a real restaurant.  Enter Brio Tuscan Grille, which will be opening on October 24.  This will be the first California restaurant opened by Bravo / Brio Restaurant Group.

According to their press release:

BRIO Tuscan Grille is a chef-driven neighborhood restaurant serving delicious, northern Italian cuisine with an emphasis on the finest and freshest ingredients available. The menu features a wide variety of dishes prepared by Executive Chef Tyler Kehr, including grilled and oven-roasted steaks, fresh fish, made-to-order pastas, bruschettas and flatbreads. 

They will offer appetizers and desserts, as well as the main course.  The price for lunch starts at $10, and the price for dinner starts at $12, so eating there will not break your bank account.  Even so, the quality of the food and the sit-down restaurant atmosphere promise to stand high above the food court fare and ambiance.  They offer wine and cocktails for adults, adding to the more sophisticated atmosphere.  And their web site features "chef's weekly select" lunches priced at just $8.95.

This restaurant promises a fine dining experience at affordable prices, a market segment that they call ""upscale affordable".

Brio Tuscan Grille offers authentic Italian cuisine, attentive service and a lively atmosphere.  "Brio" means "lively" in Italian.

I can't wait to go there.  I plan to get my brother and his family to come along.  After all, at their prices, the whole family can afford to eat out.  And I will be sure to enter their Facebook contest, as well.

Random Ramblings

Apparently, my childhood experiences fit into the template of government-sponsored mind control programs of the 1960s.  That is the conclusion of several experts in the field.

I remember quite a few odd incidents, and I am certain that the people I encountered were lying to me about many things.  But certain bits and pieces of truth were wrapped up in their fraudulent omelets.  Along with the usual cheese, bell peppers and onions, they must have tossed in a spice or two.

They do say that the best lies contain nuggets of truth.

My recent conversation with Robert Guffey, author and university professor, served to solidify my suspicions that I and many others were subjected to government-sponsored experiments on children.  Those programs have been in operation since at least as far back as World War 2.  My experience began in 1961.

A major news event that affected me deeply, and continues to trouble me today, took place on November 22, 1963, when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through Dealy Plaza in Dallas,Texas.

Do not believe the Zapruder film:  it is a fake.  I dismiss that film for a number of reasons.  First, the sign that blocks his view of the motorcade just after it turned left onto Elm Street is fake.  That sign was not there in November 1963.  The insertion of that sign obscures the fact that the first shot hit JFK in the back before anybody in the Texas Schoolbook Depository could have shot him.

Second, many frames are obvious copies, frames in which the people along the sides of the road do not move, do not so much as twitch a whisker.  The limousine is moved along the road, but it is identical, and the people inside it are identical, to both earlier and later frames in this hoax of a film.

Third, even though someone has drawn in the blood spatter from JFK's head, he is still thrown backward by the head shot.  JFK was obviously shot from the front, not by Oswald or anyone else behind the limousine.  This is very much like the official story of 9/11, insisting that the towers were brought down by the airplanes.   As I like to say, it wasn't the airplanes, it was explosives killed the towers.  (Obscure reference to the last line in the film King Kong.  Look it up on Youtube, the original, not the remake. )

WE might never know who shot JFK or who brought down three buildings in New York City, but we do know one thing for certain:  Our government lies to us all the time, about anything and everything.

Wake up, people!  The Republicans and the Democrats are all alike, all liars and thieves.  It is time to vote out all of them, from both major parties, at all levels, from you city council to the hallowed halls of Washington, D.C.

The government is shut down, yet about 85% of the government is still spending your money.  They have locked you out of national parks and monuments, while they continue their pattern of waste, fraud and corruption.

You have the power to put a stop to this.  Republicans will not solve the problem; they are the pro
blem.  Democrats will not solve the problem; they are the problem.  Vote them all out, now and forever.

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You can access my interview with author Robert Guffey at

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedomizerradio/2013/10/07/ancient-of-days-no-bull-zone

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Field trip in the Inland Empire

Yesterday I went on a field trip with Andy "Mothman" Colvin, Joseph Farrell and Walter Bosley.  This was a sort of magical mystery tour, including a trek around a local shopping mall called Victoria Gardens.

We explored strange historical sites, including a rock quarry that looks like a satanic pit.

Will report later, after I upload my photos.

I highly recommend looking up Walter Bosley on Amazon.  His book on the 1915 murder in San Bernardino sheds light on the mystery and raises questions.

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Werewolf screenplay

My screenplay begins with the scene of a small wooden rowboat in the middle of a lake at night.  The lake is small, as lakes go, and it sits in the middle of a park with a jogging path running along the shore.  By the light of a full moon, we see two men in the boat, in silhouette against the darkness.  They begin fighting, and both stand up.  We hear them growling like dogs or wolves.  One man strangles the other and tosses him into the lake, then sits down and slowly rows the boat back to shore. 

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Another day in the neighborhood

Yesterday was my birthday.  I am now officially 59 years old.  A neighbor drove me to the seniors center for the monthly catered lunch, and a friend drove me home.  I don't have a car, and I really don't think I can drive safely.  Maybe after I get eyeglasses next month, I'll at least be able to read the street signs.

Lillian down the street paid me $20 toward the water bill.  She has about 100 potted plants in my driveway because county Code Enforcement officers warned her that she had too many in her own driveway.  Lillian sells potted plants.  It's the only way she can make ends meet because she's disabled.

It's chilly morning in June, but the day promises to be a scorcher.  The weather is like that in the mountains.

My garden is beginning to sprout little shoots of corn and beans, and the tomatoes that I started in the window are close to 6 inches high.

The blackberry vine is turning pretty white blooms into green berries that will take a few weeks to turn dark purple.  I'll be making jam pretty soon.

Life is good.

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fairy folk?

When we talk about little people, we usually think of the Leprechauns of Ireland or the Brownies of England.   Well, how about San Francisco?  I came across this article on ABC News about a tree in Golden Gate Park where somebody installed a tiny door over a small hole in the trunk of the tree.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/03/itty-bitty-park-door-opens-to-a-world-of-mystery/

It seems that people stroll through the park looking for the door, and sometimes they leave notes inside for whatever creature lives there.

It all started with a blog.  Somebody sent a photo of the little door to the blogger, and the rest is history.

http://richmondsfblog.com/

They aren't telling the exact location of the tree, so people strolling through the park can have fun looking for it.

(Image Credit: Erica Reh / RichmondSFBlog.com) 

how an author really makes money

Authors do not get rich, unless they hit that lucky jackpot of a best seller or a Hollywood deal.  Even then, most successful writers go through that money in a year or two.  It simply is not as much as you think it is, and it is all that you will ever see, unless you happen to be Stephen King.

My books, all of them together, make about $25 in a good month.  So I write articles for Examiner and review products and services for Epinions.  I also pick up coins, cans and bottles from the roadside.  Every little bit helps to pay the bills.

So how do authors really make money?  Most do it with a day job.  Some live off the benevolence of a spouse or other family member.

And then there is the Internet.  I have signed up for countless paid to surf, paid to click and paid to read sites, as well as a few survey sites.  I have wasted my time on some and found a trickle of rewards on others.    Some sites never pay, while others are faithful.

I have lots of fun on Swagbucks, which has several ways to make money.  They have a search engine, video clips, surveys, a daily poll, shopping, coupons and more.  I usually get an Amazon gift certificate because it takes more points to get cash.  Like many sites, they send cash by Paypal.

If you want to make money online, Paypal is safe and reliable, and almost certainly a necessity.  Paypal allows you not only to get paid online, but also to transfer funds to and from your bank account.  I even have a Paypal debit card that I can swipe at stores and ATMs to spend my Paypal balance,

Of the survey sites, I have done okay with Vindale, Opinion Outpost and ClixSense.  I'm trying Survey Savvy, but I have't qualified for any surveys yet.  The most interesting survey site is PollBuzzer.  They send you a single question that you answer by clicking a link in the email, and they send you a dollar by -- you guessed it -- Paypal.

I also use MyPoints, which has paid to click emails, shopping, search, coupons and more, and they just sent me $25 by Paypal.

If you would like to join any of these sites, I will try to come up with my referral links.  They must be around here somewhere, buried among my notes, shopping lists (consisting mostly of cat food) and manuscripts.

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why grammar is important

When I was teaching English, I used to pose this question to my students:

In Dr. Seuss' book Green Eggs And Ham, what color is the ham?  We know that the egg are green, but what about the ham?  Is it also green?

If you understand grammar, or if you look at the pictures on the cover of the book, then you know that the ham is also green.  If it were not, then the phrase would be "ham and green eggs".

You see, grammar is composed of a set of rules that help us to communicate with each other, so when we use poor grammar, we communicate poorly.  Grammar is also the means for thinking clearly.

In the Trivium, the three basic areas of knowledge that Aristotle taught, grammar is the first.  Grammar gives you the building blocks from which you learn logic.  Grammar and logic together form the basis for the third area, rhetoric.

Grammar helps us to communicate clearly, logic helps us to form cogent ideas, and rhetoric presents those ideas to others.

As the first and most basic area of the Trivium, grammar is important.

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How do you carry your books?

How do you carry your books? In a book bag, of course!

Here's where you can get my book bag,

http://www.zazzle.com/book_bag_with_a_book_cover-149375046195985280

And here's the coupon code:

Winter Savings - 20% Off Select Products! Use Code: SAVEFEBRUARY  

and here's where you can get the books to go in it:

http://www.amazon.com/Tessa-B.-Dick/e/B002BMDCBE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Interview: Joseph Rinaldo, author of the novel A Mormon Massacre, based in part on the historical massacre at Mountain Meadows

1. What inspired you to research the Mormon Massacre? In other words, what did you know about Mormonism before you decided to write this book? This massacre at Mountain Meadows was the largest killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and no one knows about it. I say no one because I grew up in Kentucky and now live in Tennessee and all we "know" about Mormons is they sell books and marry dozens of women. I had, quite by coincidence, read Sally Denton's book about the massacre at Mountain Meadows, and it started me thinking about Mormons and the curious lives they lead. For me research falls into two categories: intentional and inadvertent. Inadvertent happens when you stumble across something that becomes part of a book you write. Such as, a family member might hate people who talk about religion too much. Too much might be defined by this person as any talk about religion. Intentional research is obvious. With the Internet a writer of fiction has no excuse for not including enough facts to be believable. 2. Does your book describe the life of the average Mormon settler in Utah at that time? My book does not dwell on the past lives of Mormon settlers in Utah; the focus is primarily on the modern-day descendant, Jeremiah Cameron, and his reaction to learning about the murders of his ancestors and the abuse of his mother in a prior, polygamous marriage. He wants revenge, and he wants to expose the LDS Church as a dangerous cult. It's interesting to hear about your ancestors and the story your grandfather told about the Mormon Massacre. From my research in the writing of this book, one man, John D. Lee sort of played the "fall guy" in the prosecution of the case, though others were named, charged, and arrested. Remarkably, Brigham Young was never charged or prosecuted; he distanced himself from the case entirely, though it was said that he was often seen riding around in the most valuable wagon taken from emigrants after the massacre, and his wives were seen in the clothes of the women who had been slaughtered. It is almost certain that he kept the bulk of the gold that had been hidden in the emigrants' wagons for himself. 3. How does your novel portray Brigham Young? I believe my protagonist sees Brigham Young as a man who would stop at nothing to further his own ends. In A Mormon Massacre, it is clear that Jeremiah believes that Brigham Young is entirely responsible for the massacre of some of his descendants; further, he sees Brigham Young as a power mad dictator with complete control over his followers and no scruples about murdering innocents to get what he wants. Jeremiah sees Brigham Young more as a forerunner of Jim Jones (without the Koolaid) or David Koresh (without the arsenal) than a man of faith. As he puts it in a presentation before his college classmates, “Like many cult leaders, Brigham Young believed that the world sought to destroy him and his followers. He saw no gray in the world; you either joined the Mormons, or you waged war against the Mormons. Although the Mormons had been persecuted in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois before moving to Utah, they were free to worship as they pleased out west. In spite of this freedom, Brigham Young’s paranoia led him to issue orders for his followers to murder the Fancher-Baker party.” ~~~

Coming soon, interview with Joseph Rinaldo, author

Coming soon, interview with Joseph Rinaldo, author of A Mormon Massacre.

My great grandparents escaped from Utah in a time when the Mormon police would track you down and haul you back.  My brother tells me that our grandfather used to tell the story of the Mormon Massacre as it was handed down to him by his father.

According to our grandfather, one man took credit for the massacre and was proud to serve his fellow Latter Day Saints by giving his life for them.

So my interview with Joseph Rinaldo will have some personal meaning for me.

Stay tuned!

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