I managed to get my morning walk along the lake after dropping my son Theo off at camp, but the day was already heating up fast. After half an hour I was feeling overheated and under-hydrated so gulped down some water and allowed myself a quick shower. Then, in the quiet of a child-free house I tried my best in the slow August LA heat to start work planning a new exhibition, re-connect with my dear people at the Japanese Garden, and respond to some neglected emails. In no time at all it was time to pick up Theo and his friend Harry from camp, but mercifully Harry’s mother, Patty, took the boys for the rest of the afternoon, giving me time to sneak over to play with our friend Jane’s kitten, Jimmie (see August 3) for a while and drop off today’s Giveaway.

This summer, my husband David has been replacing his old VHS tapes with DVDs so the VHS tapes have been piling up, even as I give them away. Another pile of 9 tapes was taking up valuable real estate on a living room bookshelf, so I bagged them up and took them to Out of the Closet, which is close to Jane’s home. As I drove away feeling 9 VHS tapes lighter, I wondered to myself, “What does VHS mean?” I’m not sure I’ve ever known what the acronym stands for… Maybe I did 20 years ago, but I can’t for the life of me remember. In its heat-addled state, my mind began wandering…

Video Holding System

Virtually Historic Stuff

Vintage Happy Show

Very Hip Silverlake

Very Hot Summer

Vaguely Hydrated Silliness

Very Head Scrambled…

I got home. I couldn’t stand it. I had a drink of water and looked up the meaning.

“Video Home System.” Really? I don’t think I ever knew that. Am I the only one?