eric: beef – it’s what’s for dinner
eric: pork – the other white meat.
eric:i’d like to write a slogan for a meat
eric: does ‘chicken’ have one?
eric: oh wait. i guess that’s the original white meat.
eric: i think ‘sausage’ could borrow theirs from jc penney.
kara: ‘it’s all inside’?!
when eric makes tea it is magic. when i make tea it always comes out wrong.
tonight was supposed to be cross-rhodes then observatory, but due to uncooperative weather it became just cross-rhodes. it was ben and sara’s first time there. the food plus the paper football game times the MASH round where matt’s future profession is ‘trophy wife’ really made the night a lot of fun. afterwards we went to dominick’s to pick up ingredients for egg nog shakes. we went to ben and sara’s and played scene it, cecile’s early christmas present from matt. we split up girls vs. boys and the girls won both times (although we were neck and neck at the end of the second game). after that we watched some cable – fine offerings such as ‘dr. giggles’ and the escentuals show on qvc. oh – also ‘talk sex‘ on the oxygen network which was incredibly funny. for example, one caller basically wanted to know why men like breasts. uh…does that really rate a phone call? to a sex expert? i don’t think so. anyway, it was a really awesome night. hooray for friends. they rock.
i quit my job – the job that made the last year of my life completely miserable. the changes in my personality over the past year became all too apparent during my trip to LA. i hung out with people i hadn’t seen in years or haven’t been able to talk to very often and i realized – i am not the same person they knew…and i don’t like the person i’ve become. LA friends – you gave me hope and helped me fully realize that i deserve better. hugs all around! as for my former employer – thank you. thank you for making it really easy for me to quit.
crap, who let the cat out of the bag?? the proof via craigslist…click the link to see a full size version.
check out the ‘photographs’ tab for photos from LA, primarily the Getty.
los angeles was awesome. i had a great time and got to hang out with some people i hadn’t seen in awhile. friday eric picked me up at the airport and we went to lunch at home, a nice restaurant near jon and maria’s apartment. after we checked into the magic castle hotel (in the hollywood hills – amazing view of the city) we met up with darren at his house. he took us to the farmers market and the grove, which was one of the creepiest and surreal places i’ve ever been in my life. we ate delicious crepes and saw the inside of the grove movie theater, where the cheapest ticket price is something like $9.50.
after that eric and i drove to the in-n-out burger in burbank and met jon and maria. then we followed them up to their friends’ house for a game of mafia. this is, perhaps, the coolest game ever. 15 or so people showed up (usually they do this weekly) and the first game lasted almost 2 hours. these people are serious about this game. it was on one hand a great way to meet new people and on another, a really horrible way, because as jon pointed out, this game could also be called ‘lie to your friends.’ that first day i was awake for almost 24 hours and i haven’t quite recovered.
saturday eric and i ate at baja fresh, satisfying a jones that has been long neglected since the evanston location closed. afterwards we drove to the getty and looked at the gardens and architecture. the getty is beautiful, but oddly the collections inside weren’t that interesting. that is – they weren’t that interesting to me, but then again, i am way more interested in architecture than rococco furniture.
saturday night jon, maria, eric and i went to the California Science Center for the Body Worlds exhibit. Body Worlds was incredibly fascinating. We spent at least 3 hours there, and I was only through a quarter of the second area (which was much larger than the first) when the 10 minute warning was called. Sadly, I had to rush through the rest, but the whole thing was spectacular. After Body Worlds we met up with meghan and josh and jordan for dinner at Palms Thai, where Thai Elvis sings on friday and saturday nights. Both he and the food were excellent.
Sunday Jon, Janet, Eric and I went to The Coffee Table for lunch. this was the only day it really rained. we hung around there until it was time for eric and i to drive to LAX for our evening flight.
The one thing i really noticed is that every other conversation in l.a. has to do with driving – the best way to get someplace, what way you came, your car, etc. super boring. that and the smog (also driving-related) were my only complaints. oh, and the fake grass. we call those ‘weeds’ where i’m from.
today i read this issue of quantz and my mind was blown. this is the kind of creepy shit that i think about all day long. it’s like t rex can see into my thoughts!
finally made it to ‘sideways‘ last night and it was great – funny and sad and sort of hopeful. the main character drives the same car as eric and there was another one in the background of a restaurant scene so eric got excited about that. has anybody seen the prius episode of ‘curb your enthusiasm’? eric is like that with saab 900’s. i will say though, that eric and i were the youngest members of the audience by at least 30 years. it was a monday though.
after seeing the incredibles i really debated whether to give her that cape or not.
saturday eric and i drove up to evanston to see ‘sideways’ but it was sold out. we got tickets instead for ‘national treasure’ but it was also sold out so when we got in there no seats could be found. SO we traded those tickets for ‘the machinist‘ which was very good. it has good atmosphere – i can’t really explain the plot because most of the movie is spent figuring out, with the main character, what is going on. christian bale dropped 65 lbs. for the role, at 6’2″ weighing in at something like 125 lbs, only to pile the weight back on right afterwards for ‘batman begins.’ i keep forgetting that he’s welsh because his american accent is so good. he gives an excellent performance – this movie is well worth the $9. aitana sanchez-gijon has a supporting role – she was in alfonso arau’s ‘a walk in the clouds’ with keanu reeves and she’s so beautiful it practically hurts to look at her in that movie.
you shouldn’t see this if you can’t handle dark movies. really dark.