leftovers

The LA BID Consortium was meeting today at a restaurant downtown in the 'industrial' area, so Joe and I decided to go together. I've been going to those meetings since I first started at the Media District, so it was nice to be able to go tell everyone about my new job. They were all very happy for me. The food was really good, I can't remember the name of the place but it was like a Korean BBQ place (I think). The meeting went by pretty fast and we were out of there earlier than usual which was nice cause it gave me some time once we got back in the office before I had to leave again. On the way home, I actually drove just like I would have if I was going to my old office, it was just out of habit. Joe had to sort of stop me and ask what I was doing! I had another couple of meetings at the Chamber of Commerce, the LOHO (Locals Only Hollywood Offer) committee and the Tourism Committee. After that, I went back to the office and then walked over to La Vida at Sunset...

Today, the new Scissor Sisters album, Night Work , was released so I waited for lunch break and then I walked over to Amoeba and met Marc there. I looked for it on vinyl first of course (usually, new vinyl albums come with either a CD or a digital download, so it's a great deal), but it wasn't there. Marc and I went to the information counter and he was asking them when it was coming out on vinyl, and if they had the 12" single on order, or even a CD single, or if they had this other import album that was supposed to be coming out called "K Mart Disco" which is a collection of their early recordings. The guy was having trouble getting us any information and Marc was getting really frustrated with them for not ordering these items to stock, since we would have bought some of them. Since Marc was a buyer at Virgin Megastore for years, it has really sucked since they closed because Amoeba is not always good about keeping up on new releases, especially singles an...

It was mom and dad's last day in LA, so after Dylan and I left work work they got their stuff packed up and then Brandon came and picked them up and brought them to Hollywood so they could see my new office. Of course, we're moving our offices up two floors soon, so this won't be my office for long, but at least it's the same building. I showed them around and introduced them to Brian and Sarah, and then took them next door to the W Hotel, which I had never even been to. We took some pictures there and some outside, and then we walked down to Sunset/Vine and had coffee and snacks at the cafe in the Borders Books. We sat there and just hung out and visited since they were going to have to leave soon to get on the plane home. It was sad saying goodbye, since this time I really am not sure when the next time I'll see them, but I told them I'd try to come home in the fall. Mom was really good and didn't cry hardly at all! Then I went back to work. It was m...

Mom and dad let us sleep in while they went out for coffee and donuts. When they got home we decided to get up and around so we could go shopping with them. Mom and dad wanted to buy my birthday present for me, which was going to be a digital camera (my first), so they wanted me to pick it out. We had lunch at the Veggie Grill which they both seemed to like although we weren't sure if dad would be into the fake meat thing. Then we drove up to the Target on Sepulveda in the valley and picked out a nice Fujifilm camera. Mom and dad were both so concerned about getting the right one and I had to keep telling them any of them would be fine with me - anything is better than nothing which is what I have now. Then we picked out a case for it and got a memory card, and then looked for a gift for Ben G's birthday since we were going there next. We looked all over and then I had the idea to get something for his bar, so we got these retro Miller Lite bar glasses. Ben's wife, Rox...

Dylan had a hair appointment with his Aunt Renee in the morning so he got up and left and then I got around and took the bus to the red line, up to North Hollywood where Brandon, Angie, mom and dad picked me up. We drove up to Granada Hills to meet Dylan at his sister's house. Tracy was having a BBQ for her daughter Cody's birthday (Dylan's niece) so we wanted to stop by for a little bit. Dylan's mom and dad were both there which was cool, and lots of other family members. My parents had met many of them before when they were out and Dylan and I had our housewarming party, but it was nice to get them reacquainted. We had hot dogs, cake and ice cream, but we had to run right after singing the birthday song. Dylan and I drove to Susan's and got there first since the other vehicle had to stop and get booze. Susan had rented tables and chairs, and decorated with purple balloons and stuff, since purple is my favorite color. Jonathan cooked a bunch of food and it was ...

It was quite the day - my very last day at the Media District. I went into HPOA in the morning so that I could have the afternoon to work with Jim and finish the newsletter - the last newsletter I'd be doing for the Media District. It's so weird when everything is you do is "the last time" you'll do it. It was kind of hectic cause we had just found out that Jim needed to be out of his office by next Tuesday, so we had gone over to Hollywood Center Studios to look at his new office and then we went up to Susan's to work on the newsletter. I ended up pretty much finishing the newsletter myself cause I didn't have much time. Jim had done a couple stories himself so I finished up a few more and got it all formatted and put together. The only thing left was that Susan needed to proofread it and then Jim would just have to click 'send.' Then he would just need to format a printed version and mail out to the database. Hopefully I didn't leave h...

This morning I had to get up really early and make it to the Arclight by 8am for the Hollywood Economic Summit. It's an annual event that's put on by the Chamber of Commerce. I had gone to it once years ago when I worked for the Media District and Mary Lou was still there; she was always much more involved with the Chamber Events so when she was my boss, we were always going to meetings and luncheons with the Chamber. I knew quite a bit of people there, so I tried to talk to them all and let them know about my new position. Then Brian from my office showed up so I just hung out with him and he introduced me to some of our board members. The summit was pretty interesting. There was a lot of information in a little amount of time, but most of it was pretty positive about how Hollywood is weathering this economic depression fairly well, and that things are starting to turn around. I had a dentist appointment right after that, so I had to run down to Larchmont as soon as the su...

Usually the day after my birthday is kind of sad and depressing, but I didn't have time to be mellow this time because my mom and dad are coming to visit today. Work went pretty well. I'm still just trying to balance between the two jobs and the transition right now, which makes it difficult to really focus. Jim and I have a lot of things we still need to cover and time is running out. After work, I tried to finish the cleaning that Dylan has been madly doing over the past few days, so there wasn't much left but it was still pretty significant. Brandon called around 9 to say he was picking mom and dad up at the airport, so Dylan and I hopped in the car and drove over to Brandon and Angie's place. We got there just a few minutes before they did, so it gave us time to catch up with Angie and see all the work she has been doing out on their patio, which is so beautiful - great spot to relax. Mom and dad came in and we all hugged and sat down and chatted and then Angie ...

It was my birthday and Susan wanted to take me out to lunch to our usual birthday spot, Mikado. It's a sushi restaurant attached to a hotel that's a block away from where Dylan lived when I met him. So, I went into work at HPOA in the morning because Kerry and I went to tour a new project at 11am, and then I just went straight up to the valley afterward. It was me, Susan, Jeff, Diana, and Jim at lunch and we had a great time. Susan and Jeff ordered everything because they go there all the time and know what to get. We had some sake, oysters, and tons of different sushi. It was all delicious! They kept bringing stuff out to our table and it was all just amazing. It was a great birthday treat. We went back to Susan's afterward and Jim and I worked on cutting checks and other stuff. Dylan had plans for me so I went home and he told me to get ready because he was taking me to get a massage for my birthday! It was an awesome birthday present. I was really needing a mass...

My phone alarm started going off at 10 so that we'd have time to get around and pack up to be out of the room by noon, which was check out time, but I kept hitting snooze and didn't get up until 11. I got showered and dressed but everyone else was still sleeping so I had to start opening the curtains and rousing them. I didn't think there would be any way I could get them out of there on time, but noon came and went with no calls from the front desk or visits from housekeeping, so we seemed to be OK. We finally got everything gathered and moved out about a half hour late. We decided to finally go downtown since we hadn't made it last night. Jason had told us about a place called Mermaids that he said we should check out, and Dylan and I always like to go to Fitzgerald's since it has the rainbow. We found Mermaids right away and had a brunch of deep-fried oreos and twinkies, and hot dogs. We didn't have much luck there on the slot machines though, so after ...

It was father's day, so Brandon and I were walking out to his car because I thought I left my bag of clothes in his car (I didn't; it was in Dylan's). While we were walking down the hallway in the Riviera, we both called dad to wish him a happy father's day, but Brandon beat me to the punch and I got the voice mail. Brandon put me on the phone with dad when he was done, but dad thought he was supposed to hand the phone to mom so I just ended up talking to mom but then the call was dropped. Then Brandon and I went to this deli in the casino to get some food; I got some spring rolls and a slice of coconut cake - yummy! Dylan, Brandon, Angie and I got our swimsuits on and went down to the pool for the afternoon. It was pretty sunny and warm, but there was also a nice little breeze. The pool was pretty nice and we had a good time relaxing. Eventually, Luther and Andy made it down but they were wanting to go eat at a buffet so they didn't join us. After the pool, Bra...

Dylan and I had to get up and around - before 2pm! - because we were going to a time-share presentation, which is how we had gotten the three night free in the Riviera. We drove down to where the presentation was, which was very near a condo we had stayed at for our 5 year anniversary (in 2007) and also had gone to a time share deal, although that time we were lucky and the guy told us to go have fun because he knew "we weren't going to buy anything." I guess looking back maybe that was sort of an insult but we didn't care, we were just glad that we didn't have to sit through it. This time we were both a little irritated with having to do the time share thing... we've done many of them before and I guess we are just to that point where it's just really annoying. We got there and the place was so busy that they stuck us in this room with a video projector showing this reel about the resorts they have and these families talking about how great there lives...

I could not wait for work to be over today, as much as I'm enjoying my new job. Invisible Material is playing in Vegas tomorrow so I was so excited to get on the road. After I left work, it took FOREVER to get home! I was surprised at how much traffic, and how my few extra block to the new office ended up taking me so long. It took almost a half hour just to get home, which is insane considering I'm only 3 miles away. I had been trying to find cymbals but I just didn't have any time today so I decided I'd do it in Vegas, as well as buying my outfit for the show. Talk about leaving things until the last minute. I got home and Dylan was pretty much ready to go, so we headed across town to meet Luther and Andrew at Brandon and Angie's place. They decided to all ride together in Brandon's SUV but we had plans to trade passengers at some point along the way so we could switch things up. While we were still leaving LA, we pulled up beside them on the 210 freeway,...

Today I had my first board meeting for the Hollywood Entertainment District which was a good experience. I commented to my new co-workers that it seemed so calm in the office right before the meeting, whereas usually before a board meeting I was running around like crazy, sweating, trying to get everything put together. Since I was pretty much a one-man show there, I'd have to get the food and water bottles, copy the meeting packets, get the sign-in sheet and all the supplies gathered and then carry everything over to the Musicians Union and set the room up; now that there are 5 of us, everyone has their job to do and it's much easier. As they said, it's a well-oiled machine. After the meeting, I went home and got ready for the Shitting Glitter show at the Joint. It definitely felt weird knowing this would probably be the last time I'd be getting ready for an SG show for the time being. It was sad but refreshing at once. I found this silly crystal tattoo that I...

Today was the third day of training and it went pretty well too. I took Jim out to lunch at Street so he could see the type of cool things that the Media District has attracted - an amazing restaurant right on Highland Avenue, across from hip live/work lofts, and right by one of the medians we built in the middle of the street, with the huge date palm trees. After my half-day spent being trained at HPOA, I took the subway up to North Hollywood and then hopped on the Orange Line (my first time - it was so fun!) to get out to Reseda for rehearsal at Ben's. We were supposed to rehearse 6-7 which is a pretty tight time slot, but Ben had plans right afterward and we didn't have any other time we could do it before Vegas. I had called Brandon to see if he could pick me up, but he was already going to be at Ben's so he suggested I call Robin, which I did. Robin was running late so I actually just sat there at the bus stop waiting for him and we ended up not getting to Ben'...

Day two of training and being trained. Today, Katie did come in to run over things with me, so that was very helpful, although at times I felt a little overwhelmed. I do think I will be great at this job and that I will love it but I'm also a little scared since, although it's very similar to my old job, there are a lot of differences. I felt a lot better today in general, since yesterday I was kind of groggy from LA Pride weekend, and disoriented with the whole new job thing. Today I was in a much better mood. After work, I went to Amoeba to get the new Devo CD! I wanted to buy the record, but they told me that the vinyl wouldn't be out until next month, so I went ahead with the CD. I took it home and listened to the whole thing while I was doing house work; I really like it! Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 165 Small yellow fuzzy journal. Barely used; just some scribbles from when we were apartment hunting back in 2005 before we foun...

Normally after Pride weekend, I'd allow myself to sleep in and go into work a little late, but this year was different - much different. I had to be on time, because I was training my replacement, a man named Jim. I met him out front of the studio and we walked up together. I immediately felt a little overwhelmed because I had so much to teach him, in such a little amount of time (2 weeks, for four hours a day) and anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the best teacher in the world. It's ironic, since both my parents are educators, but I tend to get really frustrated when trying to explain things to people and I get irritated when they don't catch on as quickly as I'd like them to. Unfortunately for Dylan this has often been the case when I've tried to teach him things on the computer, and because of that I think I have actually gotten better and more patient because I've learned how counterproductive it can be when you're trying to teach someone s...

As soon as we got up and around, I walked down to Gelson's so I could get the tube of biscuits to make my 'famous' LA Pride Parade donuts. I use a shot glass to poke the holes out of the middle of the biscuits and then fry them in oil in a pan, then put them in a bag of cinnamon/sugar to coat them, and that's that! I started doing this for Pride a few years ago when Shitting Glitter was going to be in the Parade AND the Festival, and we had 3 people spending the night in our apartment, and many more meeting us that morning a block away for the parade line-up. That was a fun and crazy Pride Sunday morning, so the fact that this one was considerably less hectic was both a relief and also somewhat of a disappointment. I complained to Dylan that no one was there with us in the apartment that morning - you'd think living right in West Hollywood that someone would inevitably want to crash with you during pride - but Dylan pointed out we hadn't really invited anyon...

A little overwhelmed from the partying last night, we slept in nice and late but still felt groggy and tired when we got up. We wanted to make it down to the festival in time to make it worthwhile, since it was $20 to get in (I had saved a bit of cash by purchasing my ticket online). We walked down to the festival by ourselves, but once there we quickly ran into friends. First, we saw Dudley and Mark and hung out with them for awhile, and then we met up with Marc, Robert, Brad, Alf, Tiger, Tommy, Ryan, and some others. We had some time to just walk around, look a the booths and what not until we realized it was almost time for Kelis to play. Before today, I didn't really know anything about Kelis other than her song "Milkshake" which had been a huge hit a few years ago. I didn't really know what she looked like or have any idea what her voice really sounded like. So, when she came out looking very cute and sexy in a little pink suit with a mini skirt, I was prett...

I met Amy for lunch today to talk to her about my schedule and how busy I am going to be with my new job so I had to let her know that I wasn't going to be able to really be involved with SG for awhile. She was very understanding and we ended up having a nice lunch together. I was really worried about it, but it turned out that I was worried for nothing. It was day 1 of LA Pride and so I was in a great mood after work and wanted to get the party started! I stopped at Rite-Aid on my way home to get a photo album for the photos from Canada (which I had printed the other day), some booze (a huge bottle of Smirnoff), and some other odds and ends. When I got home, Dylan wasn't there yet, so I started working on "Winnipeg Beach" and ended up finishing a demo of it that I was really happy with. I burned it to a CD, e-mailed it to Brandon, and then headed down to meet Brad, Alf, Tommy and Ryan at Mickey's to kick Pride off. On the way, I called Brandon to have him li...

Today was an amazing day but it was a real emotional roller coaster. I had my last business watch meeting this morning and I thought it would be just like any other meeting, although Ron had called yesterday and said he was bored of Subway and suggested I call the Corner and have them cater it. So, I went to go pick up the catering but right before I left Susan called to ask what time Business Watch ends at. That seemed a little odd, but I thought, "oh well." I went and got all the food and got to Hollywood City Hall a little early so I could set everything up. A couple of the police officers stopped by to ask me about where I was going and wish me luck. Then, close to noon, people started coming, and quite a few were walking in that don't normally come to the meeting. I started worrying that I wouldn't have enough food! Then, Susan came in with Diana and I knew something was up! I think Susan had only come to one other business watch in the five years she...

After work today, I went grocery shopping at Fresh & Easy for Brandon and Angie to come over and have dinner since it's been awhile since we really got to hang out. I ended up making some white fish with tomatoes and onions, a salad, some vegetables and I got the ahi tuna poke that you just put the sauce on. It ended up being really good; everyone seemed to love it. We visited a lot and then decided to watch the Episode of Modern Family where they go to Hawaii. Sometime before that though, Dylan and I got in a really stupid fight about the record player, which we realized much later was a huge misunderstanding. Anyway I felt really stupid about it. Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 158 QX International Magazine, Dec. 2003. I picked this British gay rag up when I was on my first trip to the UK but it's not really something I need to continue to keep with all the countless other magazines I've saved through the years.

We made it back from Canada late last night so I was very tired when I woke up today, but I had that song stuck in my head still so I ended up working on it a little bit in the morning before work, thus I was a little bit late getting to the office. The song is called "Winnipeg Beach." Laura posted a bunch of pics from Canada on Facebook. I am definitely having Canada withdrawals, it sounds so weird to say that I missed Winnipeg so much. I just had such a great time there and met so many amazing people. I was really bummed though cause LA Pride is coming up this weekend, and Dylan and I were so excited about Kevin coming down from Portland to stay with us, and he had called yesterday while we were at the Minneapolis airport to say he couldn't come after all (don't remember if I mentioned that already). Now I'm not even sure if I'm looking forward to LA Pride. I had my first little 'toe in the water' moment today with my new job when I went to the S...

It was sad waking up and knowing that we had to exit the beautiful country of Canada. We set the alarm early to the point of naivety. Considering all that we had done, and what little sleep we had done it on, obviously we should have known we were not going to rise and shine. We were sort of hoping that maybe we could take R up on his offer of giving us a more in-depth tour of Winnipeg, but after I hopped in the shower, he called and said he ended up having to work today at the pub where we had gone last night. The girls were getting ready next door and told us they were all going down to the Elephant and Castle for brunch and they wanted us to join them for one last meal together in Canada, but Dylan and I really wanted to go hang out with R one last time so we got a taxi over the river. Remembering the record store from last night, I decided I wanted to go check that out first, to hunt for a rare Voice of the Beehive "best of" album which was only released in Canada and ...

In the morning we finally got to go to a Tim Horton's, Canada's version of Starbucks (but much better of course) and the R showed us some of the sites in Peg City. Shitting Glitter had sound check at 11:30 at the Forks, which is where Pride was, so Dylan rested in the hotel room while we went and did that. Our driver was a really funny Russian guy who we all adored. The sound check went pretty well; I thought everything sounded great from my corner of the stage, but apparently some of the girls had trouble hearing everything. The band had brunch together in the fancy hotel restaurant where Dylan and I had dinner the night before. I had Eggs Benedict which were delicious! R texted me for us to meet him at the Pride Parade but I texted back that the band was eating at his restaurant so he told me to tell the waitress 'hi' and for her to meet him after she got off work. She seemed surprised when I told her. It took me nearly an hour and a half after th...

I woke up to the gentle Winnipeg morning light shining in through the front windows of Chad's house. Dylan and I had slept on a mattress in the living room that was SO comfortable I completely drifted away and forgot all about last night's troubles. Dorothy came to pick up AJ and Laura (Red had stayed at her place overnight) so they could go to Mother's Music to rent guitars, bass, and to buy drum sticks. She also had Canadian cash for us so we could exchange our money. I gave Laura some cash to get me a tambourine if they had one for rent. Dylan and I watched Canadian TV and were surprised to see their version of 'Cash Cab' which we often watch when we get home from work on the rare days we have nothing else to do. Soon, Dorothy and the girls came back and we decided to walk over to Perkins for brunch. Most everyone ordered breakfast stuff, but as usual I was feeling more like lunch so I got a french dip sandwich. After that, Dorothy drove Dylan, Red and I to ...

I've had some crazy days but this was one of the craziest. Amy and AJ came to pick Dylan and I up around 9:30 in the morning, which wasn't that bad - we were actually ready to leave by the time they pulled up. I had packed most everything before so I just had to take a shower, get dressed, and throw my toiletries in the suitcase. We got to LAX behind Red and Laura, who had already gone through security by the time we checked in and printed our tickets from the automatic kiosk. I had been worried about the tickets because one of them had Barb's name on it instead of mine, but it turned out to be fine as well all got checked in with now problems. The line for security seemed infinite, but we made it through in an hour or so, from beginning to end. Then, Dylan and I met Red and Laura in the McDonald's by the gate because we were starving; AJ and Amy went to a different restaurant where they could drink (I didn't want to waste my money on alcohol before getting to C...