international vacation

B and I are leaving for the beautiful country of Costa Rica tomorrow morning, but I'm going over to his place in a few hours as he lives very close to LAX. My stomach is all tied up in knots - I have to admit it's nervousness. Going out of the country, leaving my cat for ten days (I am so lame, she is in good hands, but I know she will be depressed. I am so lame.), did I pack enough stuff?, do I have enough cash?. Stuff that really isn't a big deal, but when I put them all together my mind starts to race a little. Control freak much? Uh, duh. I've got my passport, wallet, lots of clothes, my camera, some flip-flops....and lots of other things, but really, I think I've got my bases covered.

I'm sure I'll be fine once we're there, and I'm drinking a fine Costa Rican alcoholic drink, lying on the beach or hanging out on the balcony....ahh I wish it was tomorrow already.

randomness

First off, although I don't get Showtime (or cable for the record), I think Weeds is a fantastic show. I saw all of season one during a slow weekend sometime last year. When I get a free weekend (hello the end of September) I'll be renting season two.

But I just love the billboards for season three, which are posted all over Los Angeles (and probably many other cities too) and feature the most beautiful picture of Mary Louise Parker:



Forget Angelina Jolie or whoever else is considered "hot", this is the mesmerizing kind of beautiful. And I'm not into women! I don't think it's just the snake either...I wish my skin was as milky as that.

Second, I heard on the news today that there is a new application on Facebook...for cats and dogs! For cats! I have a cat, I have Facebook, so the loveliest cat in the world, Calliope, will now have a profile, so she can get more dates. Here she is looking all cute:



Third, I just found out about this seemingly very interesting event happening this Sunday at the Arboretum of Los Angeles, called Terrabyte 2.0, described on their website:

Be transported to a realm of ever-changing sounds, sights and spaces within The Arboretum’s beautiful gardens. Combining emerging technologies and spatial experimentation, you will find your way through an evening featuring soundscape performances by Boom Bip, Tycho, Test Shot Starfish, Eezir and Dewey dB, and Karl Fornander. An experimental lab, earth in space tours, planetarium presentation and various hands-on activities. Proceeds of this event support The Arboretum’s Plant Conservation Programs.

I think I'm going to try to go! More plans!

for each inch cut...

It has been a long time since an August has flown by this fast (note that I have mentioned this in two consecutive posts). It's almost enough to not notice how hot it has been lately! Almost.

This past weekend was kept busy by the fact that B's brother Jim was in town, a last hurrah of sorts before he begins his new teaching job in Philadelphia. On Friday, I booked us free tickets to see a taping of Last Comic Standing, which ended up being a good choice. I like Last Comic Standing; among the mindless teevee you get in the summer (hello, America's Got Talent!) is this funny gem. I like to laugh. It' s an easy equation really. The taping was for the episode that is going to air tomorrow night. I'm glad we picked this particular week, as all five of the finalists performed. Every week after this, the audience will get to see fewer comics (arguably better comedy, but really, I'm all about quantity).

Most of the evening was spent waiting in line, and waiting for all of the theater seats to be filled. Once the filming started, it only took about an hour and a half, for a forty minute show. So if you see a dirty blond and two guys in the audience, stage right, that's us!

The activities continued on Saturday, as B hosted a BBQ at his place. Something that I find nice is that we've been together long enough for me to have met almost all of his friends. Now we have things to talk about when I see them, and the awkwardness of the first meeting is gone. There was an interesting, and quite long, conversation about ingrown toenails, and the remedies available. I'll summarize by saying I'm glad I've never had an ingrown toenail.

Yesterday, B brought Jim up to UCLA, and we walked around the campus for a bit before walking down to my favorite vegan place in L.A., Native Foods. I was vegan for about five years, although I'm just vegetarian now. Jim was also a longtime vegan, and still mostly vegetarian. I think he enjoyed it. I think B tolerated it. He's definitely a steak and chicken and pizza guy. It's good we have nights apart, I could be so fat.

The rest of this week will hopefully be spent laying low, relaxing a bit. Next Wednesday is when B and I leave for the Costa Rica trip, and I don't want to be overly stressed about anything before we leave. Although, Friday night will be spent at yet another low key party, this one involving karaoke and Guitar Hero. I am a master at the medium level, although very out of practice. I may have to rock beginner for a while.

Listening: Rainer Maria - Look Now Look Again (oh I sing along and pretend I'm 19 and emo again...cry cry sniff sniff)

the best parts of summer fly by fast

August has been a busy month so far. Two weekends ago, I was busy on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday, B and I went to see his intern's band, 17 Pages, play somewhere in Irvine. We probably would have gone to support him, but I had extra incentive; one of B's coworkers also has a digital camera, and had gone to a show recently, taking what I thought were some pretty good pictures - B played up my photo skills, and well, a challenge was born. The band turned out to be pretty good, and it reminded me a lot of my hardcore days (to be young again...). Here are a few products of the night:






Saturday I found myself headed out to the Corona area to go to a family gathering. My cousin had recently gotten married in a ceremony on a cruise, and they threw a reception for all the family to attend. My cousin and his wife now live in Texas, so they had a Texas BBQ themed menu, and needless to say that as a vegetarian, I didn't eat much. I had enough not to pass out though, and got to take some pictures. Everyone kept asking about B, but he is pretty shy and I figured I needed one neutral family event (I had a breakup early in January from a three year relationship). I think he should meet my parents and brother first, then the rest of the family, maybe at Christmas. I have a huge family on my dad's side; he has 11 siblings, so that makes for a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, and now my cousins' children.



Those are the eleven children (one aunt passed away about 15 years ago) and my Grandma. Can you tell it's a fun family? Very lively, that bunch.

Sunday I took it easy and hung out with Corey (my ex); I decided I needed to go to Amoeba, and to Amoeba it was. I got a lot of stuff, my favorite being the Noxagt - S/T c.d., although a close second would go to the Mammatus - S/T c.d.. I also got the new Fridge and DNTEL records, an older Comets on Fire album, two OOP Bedhead e.p.'s, and c.d.'s from Kings of Convenience, Rachel's, Jessamine, and Larsen. What a good trip! We then ate dinner at a place in Sherman Oaks called The Habit, and that was good, but the best part was the ice cream sundae with chocolate fudge, nuts, and whipped cream for only $2.25. Hell yeah.

That was just one weekend, I've still got more! (But less pictures.)

This past weekend was spent mostly at Caltech. One of B's college friends was getting married on the Caltech campus on Saturday, but arranged for guests to stay at the Caltech dorms (a lot of out of state people). I met B up there on Friday night, and got to meet some of his oldest and closest friends, who all turned out to be great. There was a lot of drinking, and fun times were had by all. Saturday was the wedding and reception (I got a lot of HUGE mosquito bites at the reception, but, what can I do?), followed by more drinking. I am so not young anymore. Hit me like a ton of bricks on Sunday. I left pretty early, and B stayed to go out to Dim Sum before saying goodbye to everyone. I could go into drunken detail...but really, you had to be there.

But there was no rest for the weary, as on Sunday, Jessica came up from San Diego to spend time with little old me. She got to town right as my apartment reached its peak temperature for the day, so we went and got iced tea and browsed around Cost Plus. I got some Swiss milk chocolate and a bottle of New Zealand riesling (my very first bottle of wine!). Now I just need some wine glasses. We then drove over to the Thai place in Silverlake that I'm in love with, and headed over to Spaceland to see Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects. Her boyfriend, Brad, plays the trumpet. It features Pall Jenkins on vocals/guitar; Pall being the center of two great San Diego bands: Three Mile Pilot and The Black Heart Procession. I saw The Black Heart Procession several years ago at the Knitting Factory, and the awesomeness of the show was diminished by the drunk person that kept dancing into me. Somehow, these people are drawn to me. D r a w n. Mr. Tube turned out to be fantastic; a more upbeat, danceable (not that I danced...pfft) kind of feel. But the pictures aren't ready yet. So actually that means I have no more pictures. Last Comic Standing just came on so I got lazy.

So much more to blog about! I should be one of those people who post five entries a day on various things. It would probably be easier to read.

Like, at the wedding this past weekend, the bride's sister and brother-in-law were playing these gorgeous instruments that I had never seen before. After a little searching today (god bless Google), I discovered they were 'thumb pianos', or as they are known in Zimbabwe, the 'Mbira'. And I want one! They are available for purchase on E-bay!

And then, there's like the news that the U.S. government (specifically our Preznit, of course) has labeled some of the Iranian military as a
terrorist group. Wow, I didn't know it was that easy. I want to play, I want to play! I would like to declare...the country of Switzerland to be a terrorist organization. "What, they're neutral?", you might think to ask. No, no, no, in this age of global terrorism, being neutral is as good as bedding with terrorists. Remember all that, if you're not with us, you're against us bullhonkey? Well, neutral sounds like 'not with us' to me. When does the war start????

close encounters of both the new and old kind

Monday morning, just as I'm getting to the corner where the Chinese restaurant is on my walk to the bus stop, Craig Robinson crosses my path. If you don't know who Craig Robinson is by name, this is him:

My three favorite T.V. shows right now (comedy, otherwise Lost would bump one off) are The Office - watched it religiously this season, Arrested Development - RIP, watching with B on DVD right now, and Curb Your Enthusiasm - I own the series on DVD as well. Granted, Mr. Robinson had only small parts in one episode of both Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm, but who cares. And one of the only movies I saw this summer was Knocked Up, in which he plays a small, but very memorable, part. I haven't had a chance to see any of his stand-up though.

I didn't accost him or anything, and he seemed friendly enough, we exchanged polite stranger smiles as we walked past one another.

But what I want to know is, what the heck was he doing in the Palms neighborhood of L.A.? I have recently come to a deeper appreciation of my neighborhood, but really, there's not much there. Perhaps he was there on personal business, he probably is just a normal guy.

Then yesterday morning, as I was leaving my dentist appointment at the UCLA School of Dentistry (I like the experience of participating in the student dentist's education, and the appointments always make for good stories), I saw an old friend from middle and high school that I haven't seen since 1999. This was a guy who I "went out" with in both seventh and ninth grade. I think I was his first kiss, in ninth grade. I didn't talk to him, and I don't think he noticed me, as he looked pretty busy with a patient in the clinic area. I suppose something like this isn't entirely surprising, but in a way, it is. I know he went off to the Air Force Academy, and after that I really had no idea what his plans were. I definitely didn't know dentistry was in his future, but going to UCLA isn't improbable since we grew up in the southern California area. However, him and I being in the same place, at the same time by chance to me sounds unlikely. But there it was, and he looked so adult-like! I suppose I look older, but it's so gradual when you see yourself everyday.