thursday clayton and i drove to sherman oaks and walked around the mall – maria was working there that day so we stopped to see her too. afterwards we went to meghan and josh’s and played the wii. thursday night, clayton’s cousin james came into town for the weekend. friday we got up early and maria made a great breakfast. then we saw ‘superbad‘. it was even better than the trailers let on. after the movie we visited the griffith observatory – it was fantastic! the building is beautiful and the exhibits are really eye-catching and engaging. we got to touch meteorites, see evidence of cosmic rays in an alcohol vapor chamber, and watch a tesla coil spark! next time we go we want to visit at night and see the planetarium show.

friday night ryan was in town to play a show in los feliz – part of a music festival thing. he spent the day driving down from san francisco and got held up by a terrible accident and then, no joke, saw a car driving down the freeway at 50 mph…on fire. anyway, i drove to pat’s in west hollywood and we hung out there for awhile and had a couple beers until ryan arrived. then ryan left for his show and pat and i went to forty deuce for the jazz burlesque show. it. was. awesome. the dancers were amazing and the band was really good. after the show we went to the dresden and listened to marty and elayne play with some amazing guest vocalists. ryan met us after his set and we stayed until closing. on the way back to pat’s we stopped at in-n-out and picked up some delicious burgers. by the time pat and i got to his apartment, ryan was already there and camped out in the blanket nest he sleeps in at the foot of pat’s bed. we ate, watched adult swim, ryan passed out in all his clothes, and that was goodnight.

saturday ryan had to go to a recording session, so pat and i spent the morning…uh…and afternoon…lazing about and watching cartoons and terrible sci-fi movies. and i do mean terrible. that night maria, clayton and i had some sushi for dinner and turned in early because we had to get up early the next day to go to…

the beach! sunday we drove to west hollywood to pick up maria’s friend from st. louis, elaine. we went to famima!!, the best convenience store ever, and picked up stuff for lunch. we drove out to malibu and set up camp at zuma beach. it was a beautiful day – the beach wasn’t too crowded and there were a lot of dolphins. we stayed for a long time – about 5 hours – then drove home, stopping on the way for my second in-n-out of the weekend. clayton and i both got sunburned – the lesson: reapply often and remember to get the sunscreen everywhere!

after in-n-out and some coupling, i left home to meet pat at the movie theater. we saw ‘stardust‘ which has the most surprising robert de niro performance…ever.

this week? not much planned. hopefully hanging out with meghan before she goes on another shoot, definitely watching some ‘serenity’ special edition dvd extras with pat. i really have to study for the california driver’s test too – i guess it’s actually pretty tough and i need to get a new license before my trip in september because my illinois one expires on my birthday. getting my new bank account taken care of would probably be good too. also is my car registration expiring? hmm…gotta reorganize the kitchen too. good thing i made those blueberry lemon muffins today – might need the fuel!