leftovers

I tried to get up early enough to go to the box office at the Hollywood Palladium to buy Scissor Sisters tickets, but the box office closed at 2 and I wasn't there until about a quarter after. So then I went to Ross Dress-For-Less but I didn't get anything. I ate lunch at this Hawaiian BBQ, but it wasn't as good as Ono. I met Dylan at home and we went to Candle Delirium so that we could get gifts for his cousin's grandma Joan (it was her 80th B-day) and for Jason and Ismael's housewarming. He took off to go up to Joan's and so I went next door to One LA to get underwear since tonight is the Club Blender Underwear Party (after the housewarming). I ended up buying a pair of $42 underwear, which I know is ridiculous - I wonder where my money goes. Back at home, I recorded myself playing the Kylie cover I've been working on ("Get Outta My Way) on my camera as a video, and then watched it - it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I did so...

Today was payday, and not a moment too soon! I went to Amoeba on my lunch break, and had the Kylie 7" in my hand, but I couldn't find anything else I wanted so I ended up just putting it back. I ate lunch at Jack in the Box, which I immediately regretted - not only is the food the epitome of greasy fast food, but they now have a "robot" (really just a kiosk) that will take your order - I stuck with the real 'human' order-taker. Worst of all though, this particular Jack in the Box is just always filled with disgusting homeless people, many with deformities or open wounds, who come harass you for money while you eat. As if I'd be eating at Jack in the Box if I had money to spare. After work, I went to Madame Tussauds for a going away party for the manager there, who was also on our board at HED although I never really got to know him. It was fun, and I got to meet Kerry's husband there, Mike. I had to run out of there before it was over because I wa...

I had my first Visit Hollywood meeting today at noon. The meeting was at the Hollywood Museum, which is in the old Max Factor makeup building near Hollywood and Highland. I only got to see a little of the museum, but it looked really cool. This meeting is a group of mainly PR people and people from various attractions in Hollywood and it's sort of all about brainstorming ways to market Hollywood together to get more tourists. We were having a staff lunch in the conference room, but they ended up serving lunch at the museum, so I ate a little there, and then on the walk home I stopped in Famima and got a couple little things to eat back in the office with everyone else. This guy Kerry used to work with, Joseph, came in to interview Kerry for an article he is writing online for the Hollywood Examiner; I had coordinate the interview so I also sat in on it. He is very enthusiastic about Hollywood and everything we are doing here at the BID so I think it will be a great article for ...

Today we had our monthly LA BID Consortium lunch meeting, which was held in the upstairs of a bank in Los Feliz. Jim, my replacement at the Media District, was there so we sat together. The food was delicious, as Dora (from the Los Feliz BID) brought it from her restaurant, Yuca's. Afterward we were walking to our cars and Jim told me he had some questions for me so he wanted to meet for lunch soon, which I said would be great. Later in the day, I went over to Hollywood and Highland as I was going to take a tour of the Kodak Theatre and see the preparations they are making for Cirque du Soleil, which is going to be starting a show there next year which they will do for most of the year, for many years - the only other thing that will be going on at the Kodak is the annual Oscar Awards. I actually had never been in the theatre before, it's really amazing inside. The lobby and everything is so cool, and the inside of the theatre is designed sort of like and old European oper...

I walked to Ono Hawaiian BBQ for lunch, which is one of my favorite places to eat, but walking there turned out to be a bad idea. I wasn't even sure of where I was going when I started to walk, but ended up there. Unfortunately, when I looked at my phone after eating I realized it had taken my whole lunch break just to walk there and eat so I had to book it to get back to the office. My newsletter for the Sunset & Vine BID came in today and it was cool to see my first all-color, printed newsletter! The HED newsletter is just online, and the Media District's newsletter was black and white, printed on bright green paper. The Sunset Vine one looks really sharp! After work, I rode the subway up to North Hollywood and took the Orange Line up to Ben's to hang out with him and Brandon. Robin is out of town doing the Iron Man Triathlon for Multiple Sclerosis. So we decided to get together and just talk to see if we were all on the same page about the future of the band. ...

Kerry came and pick Joe, Sarah and I up and we all went to Floridita, this Cuban restaurant on Fountain, for lunch. Brian is on vacation this week. After work, I didn't feel so well. I laid down, then watched an old 30 Rock episode and I was feeling OK but not great. Ben and James came over to watch the new episode of RuPaul's Drag U on Logo. We had invited Ben because his favorite singer, Taylor Dayne, was the guest judge this week. They came over a little early, so we watched Hot in Cleveland first. After they left, I practiced my set once before bedtime. Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 205 "You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Superhero" paperback choose-your-own-adventure book. I bought this when Virgin Megastore at Hollywood and Highland was going out of business on clearance sale, but it wasn't really that exciting. I was just on a shopping spree.

I got up early for Hollywood Walk of Fame 50th Anniversary Festival. I'd been attending the committee meetings for this event at the Chamber and had been looking forward to it. I signed up to volunteer since I thought it would be a good thing to do for my job, so I had to be at Hollywood & Highland (the big shopping center) at 10am. I met some other volunteers and Chamber people there and we got the table and tent all set up. As soon as we got set up, of course people kept coming up to us and asking questions, many of which were stupid. But, it was fun, and I enjoyed being a part of it. You may not know it, but the Walk of Fame is considered the most successful marketing idea ever conceived by a chamber of commerce. The Walk of Fame is one of the biggest tourist draws in Los Angeles and almost everyone knows what it is. I remember going there when we first visited LA back in the 90's. Anyway, I finished my volunteer shift and walked down to meet Dylan at Capitol Re...

Dylan and I were going to the Opening Gala for the Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design Exhibition. This is an annual event held downtown at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) that we usually go to, because Dylan usually has to work there since it's also a TV Academy event. They do the nomination receptions at this event for the costume design Emmy nominees. It's always a really fun party with great food and an open bar. I got up and dyed my eyebrows, and then had Dylan do my eyelashes. I meant to do my hair too, but I got too lazy. Then got my outfit ironed for the event. Dylan and I went to Jack in the Box on the way downtown since we hadn't eaten anything and we had to get there early since Dylan was helping set up (although just the reception table, not the whole event). Dylan wanted to get a new shirt so we went to Macy's on 7th street. He ended up getting a neat grey button down shirt with a damask sort of pattern. We parked at F...

It was a big day! I was the first one into work, since Brian is gone and we had the meeting yesterday so everyone was kind of drained from getting ready for that. The movers came to pick up the carts from when we moved up to the 4th floor, but Sarah was still using hers so I had to call her to figure out what to do. I went to lunch at Umami Burger, this fairly new place at Space 15 Twenty that I had been wanting to try When I walked in the guy seemed to be kind of rude when I told him it was just one, and he told me I could "sit on that couch," pointing to a couch right by the entrance that looked like a waiting area. Whatever, I thought, as I started to sit down, when I looked at the table right next to me and saw most of the staff from the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) which I had just had a meeting with a couple days before, and have known some of them for awhile. So I asked if I could sit with them and they said sure. There I was having lunch with nearly the e...

Today was the HED's annual all property owners meeting, which we held at the Kress, an old multi-level department store on Hollywood Blvd. that has been converted to a hip restaurant and nightclub. Getting ready for the meeting, things in the office were a little crazy but not too bad. It was definitely much easier for me than getting ready for the Media District's annual rooftop party, since I had to coordinate pretty much everything for that meeting (but I loved it). I went and had the copies of the information packets made at Copy Mat, and got the name tags from Staples. I also printed the RSVP list and then I was in charge of the sign-in table when we got there. For the program, we had several speakers including Kerry and Thad, our board president. We also had a big presentation from our research teams that had been working on the Demographic Research Project, so that was probably the most exciting part that people were not too many people stayed. It was nice getting...

This morning at writer from the LA Times came to interview John, the star polisher on the Walk of Fame. John, who is missing one leg, used to be homeless, and he would polish the stars for tips from tourists and business owners, but in 1999, Kerry was able to set him up with a job with the BID Maintenance team so that he could actually earn a regular salary and get health benefits. He's a really interesting guy but there is some concern over the type of comments he makes about the walk of fame, so I had to accompany the writer and try and make sure the conversation was positive. I thought it went really well; John told some interesting stories and really shared a perspective on Hollywood that most people don't see. Kerry and I had a meeting with the CRA staff today, discussing a possible program to hire a retail recruitment person for Hollywood. It was pretty interesting, until this week I didn't know what a retail recruiter is; it's someone who comes in and works w...

The grand opening of the Jefferson Hollywood was after work today, so Kerry, Sarah and I went over there for the reception, which was quite an affair with free food and drinks, gift bags, and city council president Eric Garcetti on hand to make the opening speech. There were tons of people I knew there, so it was a lot of fun - not what I had expected at all. The Jefferson is a new development across from Hollywood & Highland (where the Burger King used to be) which now has hundreds of apartments, and some retail on the ground floor. I got to tour it a few weeks ago. After the event, I ran home and then hurriedly drove up to North Hollywood for Invisible Material rehearsal. There is some tension in the band lately that is really troubling. Not sure what exactly is going on. Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 199 Green belt with bling - worn at Shitting Glitter shows.

Today I had a meeting with Jeff, who works for the magazine and book company that is my partner for the Hollywood Visitor's Map and Guide. This is one of my duties at the new job, to put together this tourist guide that includes a map of Hollywood and advertisements for various businesses and attractions in the area. I put together a similar map when I worked at the Media District, but it didn't include an advertising sales component, so I'm a little worried about that. I hate having to sell things! Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 198 W Magazine with David and Victoria Beckham on the cover. I kept the cover and the pages with the Posh and Becks. Kim Zanti gave this copy to me.

It was a pretty hot day so we were thrilled to be able to go hang out in the pool at Brad and Alf's. Since we had been drinking so much of Brad's liquor lately whenever we would go over there, we stopped at CVS and got him a big jug of Captain Morgan - his favorite. We also got some beer for ourselves. Tommy and Ryan were there too and we all just lounged around most of the afternoon, which was nice. Marc was out of town; he had gone to San Diego Pride with Amy and AJ. Shitting Glitter was playing there so it was a little strange to think that they were all down there and I wasn't. We had missed the last episode of True Blood so we had two episodes to watch. Tommy and Ryan left to get back to the OC (they don't watch TB) and it was our turn to get dinner, so I walked down to Sammy's Thai and got four different entrees with sides and egg rolls. When I got back, we started the show. Both episodes were really good and the dinner was great too. After they were o...

We got up and then Brandon, Angie and Tiger came over for brunch, like we had planned last night. Angie was making pumpkin pancakes, and I made eggs with parsley, cilantro, tomato, cheese and almonds. We had mimosas also (of course). After brunch, we watched this movie "Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story" that Brandon had gotten from Netflix. Several months ago, while exploring on Wikipedia, I had come across this phenomenon of 'song poems,' which is where people would respond to an ad in the back of a magazine that would say the company was looking for 'songwriters.' The person would send in their lyrics, and then for a fee, a company would set the words to music and make it a song. Usually the ad would make some claims that they would also distribute the song and try to make it a 'hit,' but in reality they were just churning out these songs non-stop and making money from the poor saps who thought they were going to be the next big songwriter. ...

Brandon and Angie really wanted us to go to Trannyshack tonight at the Echo and Dylan wasn't that excited about it so I wasn't sure if we were going to end up going or not. Luckily, Jason was driving and offered to pick us up so that made up our minds to go ahead and go. We went over to Brandon and Angie's place because Luther and Andy were supposed to be meeting us there to have a drink before the club, but they were not there when we arrived and didn't show up for quite awhile. By the time they got there, it was pretty much time to go to the club. I had already probably drank too much because then I made a series of bad decisions which resulted in me being stuck outside for awhile (my wallet was left in Jason's car) and then Dylan and I had to walk really far to go back to the car so we missed some of the performers, and then I did something stupid and I wasn't in a very good mood for the rest of the night. Oh well, some nights out are great and others are...

Payday!!! It was very much needed as I've been trying to balance everything out in the transition between my jobs and the pay periods were not in my favor, but everything will be fine now. I walked to Amoeba on my lunch break and bought the Goldfrapp record, Headfirst, since I've been wanting it for awhile. It comes on heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve, but it also includes the album on CD too in a cardboard sleeve, and a poster! The artwork is beautiful. After work, Dylan and I walked down to meet Amy and AJ at Bite because they wanted to take me out for my birthday since they hadn't gotten a chance to yet. I stopped at the ATM and got Dylan some cash to repay him since he had been loaning me money. The dinner was really nice. I had Thai Red Curry chicken with rice, it was delicious. Afterward, we went next door to Yogurt Stop for desert. That place is always so busy. It was getting pretty late by then, so we said goodbye, and Dylan and I walked home. Hello 2010, ...

Dylan called me at work to see if I wanted to go see the new movie, Inception , tonight with him and our friend Josep. It's an advance screening and Josep had an extra pass - he writes for a local newspaper, and this was a press screening. I was so excited! After work, I just walked down to the ArcLight and met them - they were already at the Arclight Bar with one of Josep's friends. Dylan bought me a Ketel One Gimlet - that's what he always likes to drink at the ArcLight before a movie. I bought a hot dog and some raisinettes for the show. It was SUCH a good film! Very complex, surreal, and fascinating. It was one of those movies where you really have to pay attention to every detail, because you really want to understand everything that is going on - there was a lot to think about and keep track of, but it was amazing. I definitely recommend it, and I'll probably want to go see it again at some point. Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY...

Today we had the board meeting for Sunset/Vine and we had the research group that we had hired to do the Demographic Research Study on Hollywood there to report their findings, so we had the meeting in the theatre at AMPAS. It was interesting to hear the results and see the presentation. Afterward, I went to Target to exchange the camera I had gotten for my birthday because of the little glitches that it had. I traded it for the same model of camera, but got a little worried when I saw there was a lady there at the counter trading in the same camera. I asked if hers had problems and she said, "no, why did yours" like she was not telling the whole story. She said she just realized she wanted a Canon instead. Well, as soon as I got home and charged the new camera, it turned out that it was even worse than the camera I had before, because several of the buttons on it just don't work. We had Invisible Material rehearsal at Amp in North Hollywood from 9-11. Those late nig...

Because of the way the pay periods worked out when I switched jobs, and because I had gotten a little behind on some bills after all the traveling we'd done at the beginning of summer, I ended up being really incredibly broke this week. I didn't want to dip into my savings anymore than I already had so I just decided to rough it out this week with basically no money, which feels very strange since I know I am making more money now than I have ever before. But I don't have any right now, so I had to bring food from home for lunch and then after work I waited for Dylan to come home and bring me food that was leftover from a meeting he had worked late for. Luckily, I really needed to practice piano for what may turn out to be my first ever solo performance next month possibly, so I had plenty of work to do without spending any money! Since Dylan was working late, I could play the piano without headphones and practice singing. I picked out six songs, including a couple cov...

Today was Marc's birthday, but instead of having a party, he wanted everyone to go to Akbar for Bears in Space. It was the 1 year anniversary of that club so they were having a parking lot party, which sounded like fun. I hadn't had any time to get a present and I had no idea what to get him, so instead I made a chocolate orange pound cake with orange slices and glaze on top. It looked and smelled delicious but I never got to try any of it other than the batter. Ben came over and Dylan was going to drive us all, but we stopped at Viktor's to give Marc the pound cake so he didn't have to take it to the club and share it with everyone. Marc was driving to the club by himself so I volunteered to ride with him. When we got there, it was fairly sparse but it filled up rather quickly. It was really sunny outside so I had to either hide under and umbrella or stay inside, but it was really fun. It felt like a small pride festival out in the parking lot. Amy and AJ were the...

Brandon and I had planned a trip out to Hoagie's for a BBQ since we hadn't seen him in a long time, and haven't been out there since we finished recording Open For Business . Brandon and Angie picked us up on their way, which was nice. We all stopped at the Pavilions on PCH, and Hoagie was there at the same time! We were all getting food for the BBQ. Ben and Roxy were already there waiting for us when we got there. They had never been out so Brandon thought it would be fun to invite them along but unfortunately they were on time and the rest of us were all late. Tiger came out and joined us later. Hoagie's birthday was coming up soon so it was sort of an early birthday celebration for him. It was nice being back out at his place, especially since it was just for fun and there was no work to be done. We never even entered the studio which was silly since we really should have shown Ben around. Hoagie made turkey burgers with bing cherries and walnuts, and goudy ch...

I had another early meeting at the Chamber for the Walk of Fame 50th, and after that I had to head straight to my dentist appointment to have my cavity filled. I don't know why, but they never seem to give me enough anesthetic at first. Well this time, it was just that he didn't wait quite long enough, because once he started drilling I got the weirdest pain shooting through my body. He waited awhile and then when he started again it seemed to be fine, although I just always have having my teeth worked on, especially when drills are involved. It was pretty quick and I was out of there in less than an hour. In the afternoon, Kerry and I had a conference call with Katie because she is handing the visitor's guide over to me now that I've been here a little while. Then, we all helped Brian with a mailing for the nominating committee. Kerry's daughter was there to help to, so we all had fun chatting while we stuffed envelopes. At the end of the day, I left and for...

We had a joint security committee meeting for both BIDs this morning, it was my first committee meeting. It went really well, and because it's for both BIDs there were quite a few people, so it was a lot different from the Media District security meetings, which were more low-key and a smaller group. In the afternoon, we had been invited to an ice cream social on Sunset Blvd. by one of the stakeholders, so Joe and I met there (he had been out doing errands); Stacy and Gigi from LaBonge's office were there also. The ice cream was delicious! It was from a place called Dandy Don's. After work, I borrowed some chairs from the office and then I had to rush and pick up the ingredients for my dish at the dinner party tonight. I decided to make the Florentine Casserole which has been a hit on other occasions. Dylan wanted to make a fruit salad, so I picked up the fruit for that after consulting a webpage titled ' how to make the perfect fruit salad and get laid .' Our ...

Today I downloaded Pandora Radio for the iPad so I could listen to music in my office and would have to be limited to my own iTunes, which is what I've been listening to lately. I made a CSS station, so it played artists that it thinks are similar to CSS. I picked them because they're one of my favorite current bands, and I really wanted to hear current stuff since my iTunes is so heavy on the 80's and 90's. After work, I listened to the Kylie record and cleaned house. I told Dylan I would to the rest of the cleaning since we're having a dinner party tomorrow and once again he had been busting his hump trying to clean the apartment for company. For dinner, I made Scallops and Bacon with Fennel, and Cauliflower with Homemade Garlic Bread Crumbs (from the bread I baked on Sunday). It was an amazing meal! After that, however, I got sidetracked from the white wine we had, and got on Facebook when I should have been cleaning, and all of a sudden I saw that R from Wi...

Kerry was back from England today so we had a little staff meeting and all got caught up. She told us a little about her trip, and had brought us each a present! She gave me a bar of soap wrapped in newspaper that said "Foreign Correspondent's Soap" and smelled amazing. I got quite a few compliments on the newsletter that had gone out last Friday, so that felt nice. Kerry said it was really good. After work, I went to Amoeba to get the new Kylie Minogue album! I had almost forgot it was coming out today. They had it on vinyl, finally, and it didn't say anything about a download or a CD but I thought I felt a CD in the package. I even had my friend Adrienne who works there feel it but she said she wasn't sure. Well, on the way to the car I opened it and there was no CD inside or digital download, so I guess I'll have to borrow Marc's CD so I can put it in the iTunes. It definitely seems funny to say, in 2010, that I just bought the new Kylie Minogue ...

If I was still working for the Media District, I'd be at work today. Just one of the perks of my new jobs is that we get holidays off, even if it's the day after, so for the first time I got to stay home with Dylan one such holiday. It was a really non-eventful day, we just lazied around the house and I played with my iPad for a long while (downloaded SimCity and Clue). Then I finally got around and went grocery shopping. I had found a few simple recipes I wanted to try this week, and I also needed to get food for today. I ended up spending over $80 - way more than I had meant to. I just got sandwiches to eat right when I got home so we ate those and then I put all the groceries away. Later for dinner, I made a mandarin chicken stir fry with quinoa, and then I started some bread. We watched "Speed Racer" which Dylan had DVR'ed from our free weekend of HBO last weekend, and I baked the bread while we watched it. Dylan had seen it in the theatre but he wanted ...

Again, Dylan and I had grand designs on how we wanted to spend our 4th of July, but out of sleeping in late and general laziness, we decide to forgo the pool party at the Roosevelt that we planned on going to, and instead just walked down the street to Brad and Alf's. Marc and Viktor met us there too so we just hung out in the pool for awhile and then moved over to the jacuzzi. At some point, these other 4 gay guys came out and joined us; one of them lived in the building and the rest were guests. We hung out with them for awhile until we got hungry for dinner. No one seemed to want to be in charge of grilling hot dogs or making anything, so we decided to walk down to Tender Greens, which turned out to be closed for the holiday. So we went to Eleven instead. I had bacon-wrapped dates and macaroni and cheese. It was yummy. Dylan was worn out so he went home after that, but Me, Marc, Viktor and Bradley went to Motherlode, where we ended up running into the 4 guys from the poo...

Dylan and I had all these big plans for the holiday weekend, but already they were starting to get pushed aside in favor of just relaxing. We had intended to get up [fairly] early and drive down to Newport Beach for this gay yacht party which sounded fun, but also for me those things are much better if we go with a group of people. Sometimes I don't like having to make new friends, especially if it's with a bunch of hot gay guys with hot bodies. Not that I don't want them as friends, it's just hard to go up and talk to them sometimes. So, we slept in and then we decided to walk up the street for brunch. We were going to eat at this place called The Griddle which is just on Sunset and Fairfax but it's always so busy we've never braved the crowds there. I t hought maybe since it was a holiday weekend, it wouldn't be as bad, but I was wrong so we ended up checking out this little Italian place called Vivoli Cafe that I've always wanted to try. They ha...

This morning I went and toured the YMCA since it's part of the Sunset/Vine BID and I'd never been there; Kitty who is on our board had invited me to come check it out. It's a great gym in a really old building and they have a lot of cool things going on there. She asked me if I was thinking of joining and I told her how I have a membership at LA Fitness but never go. I got the newsletter all finished and Sarah had some corrections for me and then it was ready to go. It was great timing because right when I was ready to send it, Kerry sent us an e-mail from England saying we could go home early for the holiday weekend. We finally got a chance to hear the whole Scissor Sisters CD at home while we were cleaning and hanging out. I really, really like it. It's so nice to enjoy the Scissor Sisters again. I loved them when I first heard of them, which was through the Party Monster soundtrack. At that point they were almost completely unknown in the US. They had only h...

I had to be back at the Chamber of Commerce this morning at 8am for another Walk of Fame meeting. This year is the Walk of Fame's 50th anniversary so there are some events coming up that we are planning, including a Community Festival on July 25 which sounds really exciting. I'm really looking forward to touring the Capitol Records building, which is going to be one of the activities that day. It's an iconic building that's not usually open to the public. My favorite association with that building is in the film "Dig" where Courtney Taylor-Taylor goes there to bitch about the way the record company is treating them - that's about all I remember about it, but it was classic. Maybe Brandon can shed some light on that scene. I saw on my calendar that it was "Canada Day" so I sent messages to R and J up in Winnipeg. Later that day I went to the groundbreaking for the Villas at Gower, a project that is going to provide homes for homeless people. ...