By Neena Strichart
With the weather so beautiful these days, it is nice to spend a bit of time outdoors. Most of the time I feel like a mole-person, as my lily-white skin rarely is exposed to sunlight except when I to go cover a story or see an ad customer. I know that constant sun exposure isn’t good for one’s health or beauty regimen, as it can cause cancer and wrinkles, but my total lack of sunshine has left me practically transparent.
Coming from Swedish, German, Polish, and Scots-Irish stock, we are not a dark-complexioned people to start with. Add my cloistered daytime lifestyle to my fair-skinned heritage, and it leaves me pretty much invisible to the naked eye. My mom says I was so pale as a toe-headed baby that I was difficult to see against the white sheets in my crib and that she never would have found me if it weren’t for my dark-brown eyes that stood out like two holes in the snow. Lovely woman, my mother.
Through the years I have tried to tan— both naturally and via tanning booths. A bright red burn is what was usually achieved so I tried the self-tanning stuff in a tube for a while. Not bad for a fake, healthier tan, but in some cases I looked more like a giant carrot rather than my goal— a tanned, blonde goddess.
I’ve seen sitcoms and other television shows that promote the virtues of spray-on tans, but I am hesitant to try. Guess I’ll stay with a bit of bronzer make-up and leave it at that for now.
Speaking of my mother, she’s been dealing with a bout of pneumonia that seems to be lingering. Two emergency-room visits and a few days in the hospital seem to have her on the mend. I’m looking forward to her being back to her sassy self so we can go out for a drive or out to eat. With her feeling pretty lousy these days, I know she won’t be able to join us to celebrate Steve’s birthday this weekend. That’s okay. We plan to go to Azteca Restaurant in Garden Grove Friday night for some good Mexican food, an Elvis fix and to walk through the weekly car show on the street just outside the front door of the restaurant. Great fun. I also have a surprise for Steve on Saturday, but I’m not going to spill the beans now. Happy birthday, honey. I love you.
Here are some beans I will spill. The former location of Koyo Restaurant in Signal Hill (across from Costco near Turner Outdoorsman) is under new ownership and they plan to open sometime in May. The new name will be Kashiwa Restaurant and the new owner is!drum roll please!Keichi Nakai, former owner of Kinokawa Restaurant. Remember, you heard it here first!
Now, for serious matters. For those who want to know the final official tally of the Signal Hill election, here they are:
Larry Forester — 569
Tina L. Hansen – 660
Matthew D. Simmons — 429
Kathleen Pacheco (City Clerk) — 776
Emerson Fersch (City Treasurer) — 755
Total ballots cast — 986
For more information, go to cityofsignalhill.org.
