I had to get blood drawn today for some routine tests, and for my own comfort I always warn the lab person how hard it is get blood out of me. I've had lab people tell me that my veins are too small, and how they can't find my them. I've had the tourniquet tied so tight around my arm, it left marks. I've opened my eyes to see to a broken needle or two in my vein. And when they do finally get the blood, I get a bruise that lasts for days. I don't give blood anymore, because it took an hour to just get half a pint and my arm was so sore.

Today was no exception. No matter how much I warn the lab technician, they never listen. They look at me insolently like they're saying "how dare I tell them how to do their job." First I told the lab tech the tourniquet wasn't tight enough, but she didn't listen. She stuck the needle in my left arm, and I could feel her moving it around because of the pain. Finally she gave up and said, "Your veins are too small and they move too. I need to try the other arm and use a smaller needle." I shot her a "I told you so" look, which of course she totally ignored.

I offer up my right arm, and I tell her again that the tourniquet is too loose. The lab tech moved it further up my arm and tightened it. Then she started tapping my arm looking for a vein, but again to no avail. Finally, she tapped my upper arm where the tourniquet was, and magically a vein bulged out. This seemed to excite her, and she quickly grabbed a needle and obtained her sample. The lab technician smiled at me afterwards and says, "Your veins are really small, and they move, but I got them." I smile and left the lab with band-aids on both arms, wondering why I bother even saying anything since it's always the same.

I saw the Winslow Homer watercolour exhibit at the Legion of Fine Arts today. Homer painted exquisite watercolours of his favorite pastime, fly fishing. His use of colour was amazing, and his mixing of greens and oranges reminded so much of how Cezanne mixed these two colours together. Once you see an Cezanne oragne, you never forget it. I can recognize a Cezanne painting just by the colour orange.

Homer also does fantastic water and rushing water scenes, which is amazing since he did it with watercolour, which is such a delicate medium to work with. Homer's blues are beautiful. What I like most about his watercolours was how close he got the colours to match what you actually see in nature. To match what nature can do with colour takes genius, and Homer definitely had the genius touch.

The exhibit showed a few of his Florida paintings, and he minute brushwork to portray the spanish moss hanging from tree, or the delicate palm fronds were incredible.

Although the subject matter of trout and anglers was not very interesting to me, to see Homer's genius with watercolour and his delicate brushwork was a fantastic experience.

I just finished watching "Brush with Fate", a surprisingly not so schmaltzy Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. I missed the opening credits, but I believe the movie was based on the book, " Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by Susan Vreeland. Brush reminded me so much of the movie, "The Red Violin", a hauntingly strange, eerie and beautiful movie.

Glenn Close was great. She has become such a great character actor. Her character reminded me so much of an ex-school teacher at church, that it was as if Close had personally studied the mannerisms and looks of this woman I know. And the surprise ending was fantastic, and ultimately sad. Like I said, not your usual Hallmark sugar coated ending, but something far more disturbing and unsettling. I definitely will have to read the book now; I love good historical fiction.

There was a swarm of earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area this morning. I felt two of them. You always know it's a quake, because if you're sitting you feel your butt move first.

I felt the first one at 8:22 am, while I was reading the Sunday paper. It was small, but unmistakable. I waited thinking I'd feel another one, but nothing happened. Then at 10:22 am, when I was getting dressed for church, the building shook again and it felt like something had hit the place. It was small sharp jolt, and again I waited for the aftershocks to follow but nothing happened.

The earthquake at 8:22 am had a magnitude of 3.6. The earthquake at 10:22 am had a magnitude of 4.2 There was other quakes all morning, but those are the only two I felt. I hate earthquakes, but they're a fact of life here, and I don't know if I'll ever get used to them.