| A | B |
|---|
| L.A. Times | the Los Angeles newspaper |
| glean | learn |
| miraculously evading | somehow staying away from |
| obituary page | page in the newspaper that lists people who have died |
| a "piano prodigy" | able to play the piano well as a young child |
| obit | paratraph about the dead woman; obituary |
| on sight | just by looking at them |
| with criminal tendencies | who might do something against the law |
| wound around her block | was so long it went down the street and around the corner |
| livestock | farm animals, like pigs and chickens |
| stuff from "Chopsticks" right on up | music that was easy, like the song "Chopsticks" and music that was harder to play |
| all in a fluster | rushin gand worried |
| launch | begin |
| the twenties | 1920-1930 |
| becomes a painting machine | begin to paint quickly |
| squirreled | saved, hidden |
| masterwork | special painting |
| mar | ruin, spoil |
| with sudden emotional fervor | quickly and seriously |
| psycho | crazy |
| paint-bloated | paint-filled |
| an homage | a special homor |
| deformed boulders | funny shaped rocks |
| sardined | stuffed |
| made headlines | been famous |
| lifting | stealing |
