Susan Valot

My favorite random fact about We Are the World is it was put together so quickly that they didn’t have time to get together microphone covers, so they had to go out and buy pantyhose to use as that. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

View of downtown Los Angeles with the Los Angeles basin in the foreground and mountains in the background.

Today’s loop had views of downtown LA. Weirdly, a trail that’s usually overrun with shoulder-high mustard (that we haven’t taken in ages) had no mustard at all and signs of poppies. No idea how that happened. (No blooms.) My legs were still tired from my game last night.

Faceoff between USC women's ice hockey team in white and a red team. Referee in black and white stripes is dropping the puck.

My Friday night hockey team lost its playoff game tonight, so we came in 2nd. We had a short bench and actually played really well, even if the score didn't reflect it. More hockey Sunday with USC. (Eventually I'll return to not playing 4 times a week! Got a bit of a Friday night break coming up.)

Hellhole was my first official sheep counting spot, until the heat got me coming down the second day.

:(

Sun low on the horizon, casting a glow over the Pacific Ocean and the flower filled hillsides of Palos Verdes.

Since I have a hockey game tonight, I told my friend I could do our Sunday hike, but it would have to be shorter. Except I misjudged, and it ended up being longer. Only about 3 1/2 miles, but still, probably not a great idea to do hills hours before a game. But it was still pretty!

That’s crazy!! Still hot down here, but not humid. Just looked and our dew point is 55F.

Bend, not burn! I do not want to burn my knees! Ha ha!

Female hockey player in white faces off against female hockey player in black on ice during an ice hockey game.

My weekends (at least part of them) lately. This was last weekend against Loyola Marymount University I have to freaking burn my knees more! #USC #USCHockey

The trees and plants are thoroughly confused!!

Freaking hot today down here in SoCal!! A little after 5pm and we’re still at 85 in my area within a few miles of the coast.

I love them, but was thoroughly disappointed this year to get one that was rotten on the inside.

Deadly bird flu found in California elephant seals for the first time Researchers at UC Davis say news they've dreaded since 2023 has come to pass: California's elephant seals have been infected with H5N1 bird flu.

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in northern elephant seals on the California coast. Just a few years ago, the virus decimated southern elephant seal populations in South America. @susrust.bsky.social www.latimes.com/science/stor...

Incredible talent!

You will get a kick out of this. That’s me on the left. Ha ha! (We lost, but it wasn’t bad.)

As of now, I SHOULD be around. You coming to town??

I have been too busy playing hockey to actually watch the Olympics! I’ve been playing 3-4 days a week lately and haven’t done that since I was in my 20s or very early 30s. I know one of the skaters on the Olympic team came from my home rink and the girls’ program there.

I definitely recommend the one in Westminster (CA)! Then you can go from temple to temple afterwards, which is really cool. There's one temple that does vegetarian food every weekend, even beyond the Lunar New Year.

I hate that there's no edit function! I do that all the time! Post and then realize that I have a typo in there.

This really is a great picture:

Two green boxes of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies.

It’s cold & windy. I was out grabbing dinner & spotted a lone Girl Scout selling cookies. I hated doing that when I was a Girl Scout, so I stopped & got a couple of boxes. There’s not much better than a frozen Thin Mint on a hot summer day. And kudos to the girl (and dad) for braving the bluster!

The Colorado River Crisis is Here States fail to reach a deal; Lake Powell Deadpool appears imminent

Federal officials now project that Lake Powell will "most probably" drop below power pool level — meaning Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to generate hydropower — before the end of this year: www.landdesk.org/p/the-colora... via @landdesk.bsky.social

You know I meant love, not live. Ha ha! Damn phone gets me every time.

People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.

I live the rainbow mat, too!

This is such an awesome attitude. Being willing to fail if that’s what happens is an underrated skill. Ultimately, those are the ones who succeed.

Nearly half of L.A County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they say.

Nearly half of L.A County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds. Via Meg Tanaka. www.latimes.com/environment/...

In a couple of months, it will all be brown. So I have to get out now as much as I can! But they bumped up our number of hockey practices, so it’s harder to get out now because I’m skating more. First world problems.

So cool!