Wanted: 1 Nap

This past Friday, I posted a list over at L.A. Metblogs of free, or inexpensive, fun activities happening this weekend in Los Angeles. I knew other events were happening, some of which were mentioned in the comments, but I specifically noted things E and I were interested in doing. Also, I didn't include anything that cost over $5.

Surprisingly, between the two of us, we hit each gathering even if only for a short time. I enjoyed Classic Eats #5 with fellow Metblogs authors and readers, while E went to the Santa Fe Art Colony Open Studios and the tail-end of BarCamp. (Oh, and I picked up what dregs were left over on Free Comic Book Day on the way to Classic Eats).

Today, I headed downtown for Unique L.A. I pretty much hung out with JustJenn and didn't see much of the enormous, somewhat difficult to navigate show. For one thing, I hadn't seen Jenn in a while and wanted to catch up. Also, I didn't want to spend any money and I have some kind of very painful foot injury and couldn't really walk around. It was all good fun until I was unable to locate my car in the underground garage. It took me 20 minutes to find it. I wish I was joking. All the while, E was learning about Circuit Bending at Machine Project.

I then swung over to Echo Park, picked up E and we geeked out in Pasadena at the JPL Open House. After gawking at Mars Rover replicas, we both went to the art colony and hung out with friends who were displaying 3D goodness in front of one our buddy's space. Then I dropped E back at Machine for another lecture and came home to do laundry, etc.

All in all, a great weekend. The panic of Sunday night has set in though as I look at all of the things I didn't get done. I guess they'll be here tomorrow.

Time Is Free, But It's Priceless

I'd hoped to have time to write a little about yesterday. Jenn mentioned that there is always plenty to do in Los Angeles if you want to get out of the house. It's very true. I didn't even get to the L.A. Times Festival of Books, which I've wanted to do for years. And I didn't head out to the desert for Coachella, which looks more unappealing as I get old, like Will.

Yesterday, I went on a private photo tour of the Walt Disney Concert Hall (including the main auditorium and backstage!), had lunch at Philippe's, went to a car show in Burbank, and then attended a pet adoption event in North Hollywood. It was fun, but hot, so it was all followed by a long nap.

In prepping for Maker Faire, I don't have time right now to go into more details or even post any of the many photos I took. I hope to catch up soon!

Tonight's Post Brought To You By The Letter "T"

T as in tired...

T as in too much to do...

T as in time that I do not always use wisely...

I haven't even gotten around to posting about last weekend which involved riding the subway, musical theater, late night burgers, French dip sandwiches, lectures about interactive art, a 50th birthday party complete with arts & crafts AND a puppy!, and a comedy show. Even though this weekend involves completing taxes, working on Saturday, laundry, and cleaning, there will be some music and hopefully animals.

(Some Of) The Weekend In Photos

Not much time to blog right now. A couple more things from my weekend:

Dying Knights



Rose Bowl Flea Market, where we learned THIS!


A duck pond themed birthday party for 1-year old twins.

It was a beautiful, summery weekend. I'll be happy if the weather continues. Cosette continues to improve, which is also a wonderful thing.

Jack Sparrow: Close your eyes and pretend it's all just a bad dream. That's how I get by.

The weekend started out just fine. I joined E and a friend for lunch. It was fun to catch up after the holidays while laughing and reminiscing about the 80s music playing in the restaurant. After going our separate ways for some shopping, E and I met up at home to get dressed up and head over to the Magic Castle to see our friend Lincoln, a very talented magician.

I got to partake in the yummy food and laughter that is guaranteed at party hosted by Jenn. Fellow blogger buddy Nanette and I have both answered the question, "So, how to you know Jenn?" asked by various friends and family members of hers several times now. It's starting to feel a little less weird to say, "Our blogs." I think everyone realizes we aren't crazy and that you can actually make some good friends through the internet.

Later that afternoon, things started going downhill and I started feeling quite ill. I took a long nap and then ventured out for a couple of art shows. We wrapped up the night by meeting up with some very drunk friends celebrating a birthday at a bowling alley. We watched them finish their game and had a very late dinner. It nearly did me in.

I felt even worse today and spent the majority of the day in bed and sleeping. It seems to have helped some. I don't feel great, but I feel a little bit better. I'd already taken a vacation day for tomorrow, so at least I can sleep in some on Monday too if I need to.

More To Come

Even thought NaBloPoMo ended, I did intend to post something yesterday. It ended up being a very long and fun, yet incredibly exhausting day that didn't end until close to 2 am, when I just gave up. Today has consisted of sleeping quite late, laundry, dishes, some robotic housecleaning, and now a scramble to get ready to go out into the world. I intend to write something later, as does Rusty, who has quite a bit to say about our adventure yesterday.

Blow Out That Cherry Bomb

So, we're winding down on the birthdays around here. We had a good time celebrating E's transition to the next decade this past weekend, in spite of me getting sick toward the end. We hit an artsy street fair in Burbank and chowed on some Hawaiian food Saturday afternoon. Then we went on the Neon Cruise, which was fabulous. At some point, I'll be posting photos, but I haven't downloaded them yet.

On Sunday, we got a later start than hoped, but enjoyed running around the Rose Bowl Flea Market for a couple of hours. E had a conversation with someone he had met 22 years ago and also picked up an old game from his childhood. I found a $3 pink dress for Cosette to wear when I get around to doing some photos for her 15th birthday, which is today.

After that, we ran a couple of errands then headed home to get gussied up for the Magic Castle. The night there was a lot fun as we celebrated with 10 of our friends. I'd heard the food has vastly improved since we'd eaten there before and it's true. Now, I've never eaten a fancy gourmet meal like Jenn and Nanette have, but I do appreciate a good filet mignon from time to time, which is what I ate. It was one of the most tender steaks I've ever eaten. We also had really good performers, so the evening ended with great entertainment following the fantastic meal.

Unfortunately, I'm still under the weather and will be heading back to bed now. I hope you, my loyal three readers, are all better than I feel.

Wonderment

What do you people do on weekends? I do a lot of fun things, but clearly I'm missing something. E produced two fantastic events this weekend, one free and one a mere $10. While the turnout was okay, it was not at all what we had worked for or hoped to have. That being said, the events themselves went smoothly and those who did attend* gave positive feedback. I just can't help but wonder what really outstanding things I missed by being there to help him pull off a film fest and a drive-in movie.

I know it's tough in a city like Los Angeles to get people to pick one particular cool thing over another to do. There are a lot of choices. It's just a little disappointing to pour your heart, soul, and money into something that very few friends attend. Especially those who promise they'll be there and then don't show or call. There are a lot of excuses...I've heard them all...and some are actually valid. That's okay though. We always try to support friends and will continue to come to you screenings, plays, art openings, etc. No hard feelings. Just wonderment.

So, maybe there will be no 5th annual Short Screams Film Festival. Or maybe we'll take the advice of having naked women. Because nude chicks always pack the house, right? And the talking bunny isn't enough.

*Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who did show up! It is really appreciated and hopefully you had a great time!

Mr. Blue Sky Is Living Here Today...Hey, Hey

I fully intended to share some of my weekend. However, I am too exhausted, too sunburned*, and way too behind on some household chores that must be done tonight. Instead, I'll leave you with a few photos and the possibility of explanation in the not too distant future.

*Yes, even after being lectured, just today, by my mother to go to a dermatologist after she told me about various friends and family who have or who are dealing with skin cancer, I got burned. But, not on my nose.

Full Plate

I'm going to attempt to throw together a few coherent thoughts here, which may not work as I'm getting by on little sleep (and a little caffeine). I think it will be more of a glimpse at some of the things that have been going on and are upcoming in Jodiland.

Last week we attended a Scion event. I have yet to post any photos I took of the modded* cars, which were pretty cool. Eric did a presentation on "Why I Love My Scion." Sadly, I'd left mine at home. Oh well, it's not like I've done anything to mine and it's pretty dirty right now. We raced out to get to a free screening of a film called Mojave Phone Booth. I think it's going to air on Showtime later this year. Check it out. I dare you to not be impressed that it was made for $40,000. It's a great example of quality, low-budget indie filmmaking.

You may have already read about the tote bag. Why I chose to devote an entire entry to that is a little beyond me, but hey. Often, I just have to be a dork. There were far more interesting things that happened that day, such as our quest to eat at El Compadre. E had eaten at the one in Echo Park recently and liked the food, so he suggested it for the Mexican food craving I was having. We decided to go to the one in Hollywood, since it's a little closer to home. After pushing our way through the very crowded bar, we learned there was an hour-and-twenty-minute wait. Um, no. So, we drove east on Sunset Boulevard to the other location. After driving around a bit to find parking, we were seated immediately. It became a really interesting "Tale of Two Los Angeleses" experiences. While the Hollywood location was chock full of hipsters and "beautiful people" in their party clothes sipping margaritas and martinis, the Echo Branch turned into a raucous post-Dodgers game party, complete with beer-swilling fans singing along to the live Mariachi music. I can't say I "fit in" with either crowd, but it was fun. Oh, and the chicken in molé sauce was really good.

Saturday was a work day for me. Bleh. We did make it out for Thai food with friends later that night. It was a good time that devolved into giggling and arguing over what is cooler...light sabers or tote bags. Yep, dorky again. It happens just about every day, folks.

I got up very early on Sunday for the Special Olympics in Long Beach. My dog, Rusty, and I volunteered at a booth our Therapy Dog group had there. It was a fun time, but pretty exhausting. I took a much needed nap afterwards. We had errands to run after that and it was impressive how long Sunday turned out to be. I'm feeling it today. Somewhere in the weekend, I also did some writing, but not enough and not very good.

Tonight we're seeing Emo Philips with some friends from Indiana who are in L.A. for the summer. The week will continue to be crazy with TWO Police shows(!!!), and the start of the L.A. Film Festival. So, my updates here, comments on your blogs, and photo uploads may be limited. I'm sure I'll resort to a lot of mobile blogging. There's always Twitter that will have the best chance of being the most current over the next 10 days or so. That is if you care. And if you don't, I'm too tired to care about that.

*I was gonna say "tricked out," but then you'd know how uncool I truly am.

**I am working full-time and doing a few other things during all of this too. That may partially explain why the dishes, laundry, dog hair, and hamster poo are piling up! And if you saw E's schedule...it's pretty jam-packed too.

I will eventually write about the rest of my weekend, which included two Ben Folds concerts, bowling, and a freak show.

Holiday Shmoliday

My 1-day weekend is quickly coming to an end. Damn.

Rarely A Dull Moment

It's been a long, busy weekend for me. It started Thursday night and then I was off today because I have to work this coming Saturday. I've started to write about my weekend a couple of times, but was being too wordy.

In short, the past several days have included friends, s'mores, arts, music, crafts, annoyance, good food, comedy, creating, more music, more friends, classic cars, more comedy, some sleep (not enough of course), some organization and cleaning (also not enough), and a couple of unexpected celebrity sightings. I guess it hasn't been too different than a lot of my weekends, but it just seems like it has been exceptionally busy.

I'm finally taking a bit of a breather to update here, upload some photos and listen to some music I picked up almost two weeks ago. Currently playing and enjoying Panic! At The Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. I still have laundry, reading, creating, and organizing ahead of me tonight.

Where Have All My Weekends Gone?

This past weekend flew by, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, like most of them do. And most of my weekends are three-dayers (I'm off on Fridays), except when I have to work on Saturday and then, well, it doesn't even feel like a weekend. A few highlights:

• I finally got my non-iPod mp3 player cleaned up to make room for podcasts.
• I met up with Ren for some lunch and conversation. I still need to get on what we discussed.
  
• We had dinner with a couple of friends we hadn't seen in awhile, at a favorite restaurant we hadn't been to in awhile.
  
• We went to a midnight comedy show and stayed after to put up our portable screen for a film event the next morning.
  
• We attended the screening of Paradise Lost 2: Revelations Sunday morning at CFI West. They also showed a snippet of the first documentary, which I'd like to see in its entirety. There was also a Q&A with the Free The West Memphis 3 Support Group. Check out the website if you haven't heard about this story. I'm personally sickened by our supposed system of "justice." Ick.
• We got dressed up for a good friend's 40th birthday party, which was held at The Hollywood Entertainment Museum, on the original Cheers set. The museum itself is kind of lame, which is probably why it's closing its doors at the end of the month. It was fun, but I regret not having a camera with me to get a shot of the cake that was shaped like two giant cupcakes. I know a couple of you would have appreciated it!

Weekend Update

Jenn was right. I need one of these. I did wake up this morning, around 5:30, when one of my five alarms went off. I even got up to pee and then decided I could sleep for another 20 minutes. So, three hours later, my cell phone wakes me up...it's a co-worker calling to see if I'm coming in. I should have arrived at work an hour earlier. Happy F*&#ing Monday!

I did have a very busy and fun weekend, which could account for the start-of-the-week fatigue. I'm off on Fridays, so my weekend usually starts on Thursday evening. Since we had some friends coming down from San Francisco on Friday, my weekend started with a cleaning frenzy. We stayed up until 4:30 am Friday, got a few hours of sleep, and then resumed readying the house until that evening when our guests arrived. The four of us had a fun dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, Ruen Pair.

Since the purpose of D & R's visit was to find an apartment to move into next month, my Saturday was fairly open. I took advantage and slept in, really late. Then, I teamed up with Ren and headed over to Felt Club, a mini craft fair behind Meltdown Comics. No crafts were obtained, but I did buy a few books. There were several other things I wanted to purchase, but am holding out for Comic Con and/or freebie hand-me-downs from Ren. I was drawn to a little indie book called "The Suicidal Dog," and knew I'd probably buy it before even looking at it. (Yes, I do occasionally judge a book by its cover or title!) So, I picked it up and it turns out it was written by a friend of mine who I haven't seen in awhile! That sealed the deal for sure.

Following our perusal of the glory of Meltdown, which may now be my second favorite store, behind Amoeba Music, we headed back over the hill to Yummy Cupcakes in Burbank. I had a brown sugar cinnamon cupcake that was delicious! I'm not quite the cupcake connoisseur that Ren is, so I was surprised to see how she ate hers. That Ren is always the practical one! My cupcake lunch was followed by a lovely little nap, as Eric had gone out with our friends to show them some different areas of town.

Once Eric, D, and R came back, we made plans to go to the Arclight and see Thank You For Smoking. The movie is a brilliant satire and is laugh-out-loud funny. However, it also makes you think, so you get a little bit of everything. Great cast and performances too. We followed the movie with a late-night dinner at Fred 62. Our houseguests were exhausted and got some sleep before driving back up to the Bay Area Sunday morning.

As usual, my sweet dogs got me a couple of cute cards and gifts for Mother's Day. They gave me A History of Violence on dvd and a fun Punkee Monkee. I'm not sure if the recent gender confusion issue is to blame, but there was no acknowledgement from my hamster. Hmm...let's see who gets to roll in her his ball tonight!

Eric and I spent Sunday at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market (I picked up some old Duran Duran buttons!) and the Renaissance Faire. An old friend is the general manager of the faire, so we got comped in. After a quick jaunt around the event, we headed back to Hollywood for AsssCat, a free improv show by the Upright Citizens Brigade. We finally tried the chicken at Birds, which is what the restaurant is known for, and it was really good.

So, yeah, I guess I have reason to be tired. But, there is no excuse for going back to bed once you're already. That just makes me a loser.

Aftermath

I'm experiencing the Monday exhaustion that comes after a very, very busy and fun weekend. Since it was a good, I don't mind so much, especially since I'm not working tomorrow. The day off is a comp day for having to work this upcoming weekend, but I need it. I was barely home, except to sleept, the past few days and lots of household things were left undone.

The Perspectives Film Festival and Forum, which I was somewhat involved with, is done. As is typical for a lot of film festivals (unless it's huge and very well sponsored like Sundance, L.A. Film Fest, etc), attendance was so-so. I saw some good films and enjoyed the media forum, which featured Peter Farrelly, as well as the director, writer, and an actor from The Ringer. After both the opening night film on Friday and the forum, there were receptions at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills. The Kids of Widney High, who were in The Ringer, performed last night and were a blast. I worked as a P.A. on their music video for "Pretty Girls" that a friend of mine directed. My job ended up consisting of hanging out with a few of the 'kids' quite a bit during the on-set downtime and driving several of them to and from the location. It was fun to see them perform and talk to a few of the members at the party.

I didn't get to go to any of the festival on Saturday because of a wedding. It was a very nice, very (very) long Catholic wedding of a co-worker/friend of mine. Unfortunately, Eric had a last minute thing he had to do in Vegas and couldn't go with me. The reception was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and had gorgeous views of the rest of the L.A. Music Center and City Hall (yes, that very building that posed as the Daily Planet in the 1950's). I had a great time hanging out with other current and former work friends. It was just a bummer that I didn't have a designated driver. Well, maybe that was for the best.

Eric (aka 'Donkey Boy') and I ended the weekend by getting midnight hot dogs at Pink's. Luckily, the line was fairly short as it was a bit chilly. Actually, if you go by L.A. standards, it was cold, but I was fine with my sweater over a long sleeved shirt.

So, I just need to make it through the rest of today. I'm sensing a nap in my future. Or at least hoping.

Holy Crap, I Went to Church!

For those who really know me, that's a big deal. It isn't what you are thinking though. I went to church for one of the only two or three reasons I can think of going and that was for a wedding. Some very good friends got married on Saturday in Oakland at a beautiful church overlooking a lake. The reception, which consisted of dancing and desserts catered by friends of the couple, was held at the same location.

As is typical for us, we got on the road much later than planned. We left L.A. at 2 p.m. in an attempt to make it Oakland for the 7 p.m. ceremony. Luckily, we hit very little traffic and were able to drive very fast most of the way. We parked, changed shoes, and made it to our seats by 6:55. The event didn't even get started until nearly 7:30, so we were more than fine. We knew quite a few the other guests, which made it even more fun.

The party was winding down around 11:30, so we got back in the car. Initially I thought we'd just drive through the night and arrive home around 5 or 6 a.m. The reality of the situation was that we were pretty beat, probably bottoming out from all of the sugar we had consumed. We stopped for some protein and regrouped. The best choice seemed to be getting some sleep and driving home in the morning.

There was a Motel 6 at the exit where we ate, so we got a few hours of sleep there. We made it back by 1 in the afternoon on Sunday, just in time to get some stuff done around the house. Eric had an obligation later in the day and I met up with some friends for coffee. I even managed to get some laundry done so I have clothes for work this week.

So, another whirlwind weekend. I'm sure I'll be struggling this week as I recover. There are a few photos on my flickr site, as usual.

Let The Fun Begin! (Or The Most Boring Post Ever)

How did it get to be Saturday morning already? The weekend is just beginning and I'm exhausted already! I normally work Monday through Thursday, four 10-hour days, with Fridays off. This week I took Monday off and worked Friday, due to some staffing issues. Same amount of hours worked, but different configuration and I'm tired.

I left work on Friday and went straight to Target to get the rest of my costume for Monday. We're doing Peter Pan and I'm John Darling, one of the kids. I already had glasses, an umbrella, and a hat, but needed to get a nightshirt and slippers. So it's done, it's easy and yeah, I get to wear pajamas to work!

I then headed over to see the first performance of Twisted, "a terrifyingly hilarious experience in suburban lawn art," by The Fright Gallery. Eric did some video work for the show, so I've seen the set evolve and some early rehearsal. It really has come together and the audience had a great time. If you are in the L.A. area, this is a fun, free thing you can do this weekend.

We ran home and had a quick bite to eat before heading over to CIA for this year's Puppet Slam, put on by the L.A. Guild of Puppetry. There were a lot of fun performances, including several by friends of ours.

Now I'm waiting to be able to put the laundry in the dryer so I can sleep. Tomorrow we have a picnic, which is a potluck, meaning we have to get stuff to take, followed by another evening at CIA for The Zombie Ball, a charity event benefiting the National Search Dog Foundation, a cause I can get behind. The night may end up being capped off with a fashionably late appearance at a Halloween party some friends are having.

Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!

Looks like I'll be needing that extra hour of sleep since I'll be up early Sunday morning for the Walk for Paws with Rusty. I didn't even bother to do any fundraising since we just recently did a charity walk. I'm planning to get involved with part of the organization that the walk is benefiting, so I want to participate and just make a personal donation.

After the walk, we are heading up to Faulkner Farm (finally! I've been dying to go!) to visit the pumpkin patch, go on a hayride, etc. We are supposed to be getting a break from the cloudy, overcast weather this weekend. I'm hoping for good sunshine at the farm so I can take some nice photos.

On Monday, I'll lots of Halloween fun at work. Since I work with kids, we get to be really goofy. After work, we'll give out candy for a bit at home, then head to West Hollywood for the annual Halloween Carnaval. It is always a blast with outrageous costumes and people. We are possibly going in our ketchup and mustard bottle costumes and taking Rusty in his hot dog costume. The official website is discouraging pets though so we'll see.

The U2 tickets I have are for Tuesday night, but I'm desperately trying to trade them for Wednesday's show as we have tickets for another event on Tuesday night. I've posted a trade requrest to craig's list and a few other places, but no takers yet.

I apologize if you have read this far, hoping for some witty commentary or insightful information. I'm really boring myself and beginning to see double due to fatigue, so I'm going to call it a night.

Easy Come, Easy Go

Another weekend come and gone in the blink of an eye it seems. I'll give a brief rundown of my various adventures. I'm also in the process of uploading lots of new photos to Flickr, which may take me awhile to complete.

Thursday 9/15:

• My monthly geek-out at the Stereoscopic Club of Southern California meeting. I mostly go to help Eric with his 3D computer display equipment and to hang out with my friend Robin whose boyfriend is the president of the club. It's the only time outside of weddings or funerals that you will find me in a church.
• Cagematch at Improv Olympic West. Our friend's team lost after winning four weeks in a row. It was fun anyway.
• Dinner at the Nova Express Cafe on Fairfax. Cool, funky sci-fi and comic book decor and excellent food.

Friday 9/16:

• Dentist. I don't have to have any work done. Hooray!
• Trip to Swain's to purchase supplies for mounting some photos I'm displaying in an employee art show at work this week.
• Mounted my 5 photos with lots of help from Eric and then rushed them to work to meet the submission deadline.
• Late dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey. A bit of a drive, but Eric had to return a video camera to a friend there. Besides, they have nice outdoor seating right on the marina so it is my favorite branch of the chain to go to.
• Stopped at the World Book and News 24-hour newsstand in Hollywood. It was just about 2am, so all of the obnoxious drunks were pouring out of the bars. Good times. We stopped to see a magazine Eric wanted to check out. I wasn't planning on making any purchases. I bought several magazines and he only got one.

Saturday, 9/17:

• Woke up fairly early to clean the backyard, patio and house in preparation for a screening party that night.
• While doing some laundry, the plumbing backed up into laundry basin.
• Eric resolved the plumbing issue around 3pm, leaving us 4 hours total to get it together.
• Somehow we managed to get everything prepared and had a barbecue and screening of Better Off Dead with 15 people, starting at 7pm.
• One of the highlights of the evening (besides Ren's fabulous dark chocolate cupcakes!) was having our filmmaker friend Devi, who lives in Indiana, join us as she was in L.A. for a film festival.

Sunday, 9/18:

• Slept in a bit, then got up in time to make it over to Raleigh Studios for Shriekfest to see Devi's film Confederate Zombie Massacre! which was great.
• Hollywood Bowl for the finale weekend show The Russians are Coming complete with dancers and fireworks.
  

Low Budget Fun

This weekend's (includes Thursday night since I was off on Friday) activities included:

• Pictures at an Exhibition at the Hollywood Bowl ($1 tickets)
  
• Late night improv competition at Improv Olympic West (free)
• Vaudeville show at the Steve Allen Theater (free since a friend was performing in the show)
• Dinner at Simply Thai in Los Feliz with the lead performer, some of the musicians, and the director of the vaudeville show (not free)
• Fantazius, an art, film, music, fashion, and poetry event at the Spring Arts Tower in downtown L.A. (free with the catch of running the projection system for the short films and poetry reading)
• Pizza slices at Albano's on Melrose (not free)
• Midnight comedy show at the Steve Allen Theater ($5 per ticket)

Lots of fun for not too much money. There are actually a lot of low-cost and free things to do in L.A. We mostly spent money on food, which wasn't that much. I ended up spending more at Target this evening when I ran in for a few items than I had on entertainment for two for the entire weekend!