leftovers

Today was a very crazy, fun-filled day! Several years ago, we started a new holiday tradition of spending a day with Dylan's nephew, Connor, and Connor's mom, Jennie. We get together to help Connor build a gingerbread house, while we visit and sip champagne. It's so much fun and it's great to be able to have some holiday time with someone much younger than us. Everyone knows that the holidays are much more fun with kids around. This year, we had a hard time figuring out when everyone was available to get together and one of the only times we could do it was today, even though it was the first day my family was going to be here visiting, so we just decided to make it one big celebration. In the morning, Dylan, Adrienne and I got up and went to the valley to pick up my parents and we went last-minute gift shopping at the Fashion Square mall in Sherman Oaks (where I finally finished my shopping) and then to the grocery store to get almost everything we'd need for th...

We had a Sunset Vine BID Board meeting today and at the end it got a little heated regarding the situation with the Farmers Market and the Film School. I won't go into much details here in this blog but everyone who knows me knows that I've been really disappointed to witness the media spin and the lemming mentality that this situations has displayed. Obviously (it would seem obvious) no one has it out for the Farmers Market, no one is "against" farmers, or against people having access to healthy foods. But the fact is, unlike most Farmers Markets, the one in Hollywood takes places on public streets, blocking access for many businesses and creating issues for property owners in the immediate vicinity. Rather than working with these businesses and property owners, the Farmers Market just cries "victim" and tries to smear the Film School for daring to want to use their own property. Through my job, I have found myself on the unpopular side of arguments se...

Today was the annual dinner for the HED Board, so after our board meeting, we all walked over to Cleo, a restaurant inside the new Redbury Hotel just up Vine Street from our office. I had been wanting to check it out since it opened, but this was the perfect way to do it. We had cocktails in the bar first and then once everyone was ready, we were seated at our table and treated to many different hors d'oeuvres and entrees. The food was really good and it was a great atmosphere. I definitely want to go back soon with friends. We finished dinner and took a group photo outside and then walked further up the street to AMDA, the American Music and Dramatic Academy. One of our board members is the president of the school so she had arranged for a special presentation where the students sang for us, from the 100 years of American Music AMDA Songbook. It was a great and powerful experience, and it's so amazing to see such talent just up the street from us.

I had set up a lunch meeting at Off Vine Restaurant with Kerry, Chris (the chair of the Marketing Committee), and two gentleman from West Hollywood - one from the convention and visitor’s bureau and one from the Sunset Strip BID. We wanted to just kind of chat with them, pick their brains, and just have a friendly lunch meeting. It was really nice, especially since I live in West Hollywood (or as close as you can POSSIBLY live adjacent to it - I walk out my front door and, in the hallway, I’m in West Hollywood) so it was nice to hear what they are doing. Also, I hadn’t been to Off Vine since it closed down after a fire a couple of years ago. Mary Lou used to take me there for lunch occasionally and I always enjoyed it. After work we had another Invisible Material rehearsal at Cascade. When I walked in, there was some big to-do in the lobby going on. There seemed to be a mob of people with cameras (photo and video) and they were all centered around some guy. One of...

This morning I had my marketing committee, which was great because I had a lot of stuff to report, and we had a lot more people than we did last time. We had a couple guest speakers which was good, and I got to report on my meeting with Cirque yesterday. After work, Sarah and I went to an event at the Kress which was the HBT annual shindig, and this year was honoring Captain Girmala with LAPD. The comedian Paula Poundstone was supposed to be the MC, but she was running late in traffic, along with several other people involved in the event, so she didn't get there until the end of it, but I thought she was really funny. Thad, our board president, also spoke and he was really funny too. He is such a great supporter of the community. There were quite a few people from the Media District there too, including Susan and Jim, so it was nice to visit with them. Sarah and I decided to go to Musso and Frank's afterward and I ordered the Jellied Consomme because it was featured in LA...

I had a meeting this morning with the marketing and PR person for the new show that Cirque du Soleil is bringing to Hollywood. It's going to be a very big deal! It will be at the Kodak Theatre all year, except for during the time that the Oscars will be using it. Kerry and I are wanting to make sure the BID and Cirque can work together, and we're talking about collaborating on some promotional campaigns. I went to Amoeba on my lunch break and ended up getting "Made In Sheffield," this documentary about Human League, ABC, and other bands that came out of that scene in the late 70's. I already had it on VHS but I'm trying to upgrade everything that I really love to have on DVD, and it was only $8 since it was used. Dylan and I met Rob and Steven at Silver Spoon tonight for Glee Club, the first time we have gone this season! But, it was the Rocky Horror Glee Show episode so we couldn't miss it. It was really, really fun and I am back to loving the show.

It’s rainy and grey here still, which as you know, I love. A whole bunch of people brought treats into the office. First, Joe brought cinnamon rolls, then Thad brought donuts (I had an apple fritter) and then Kerry brought in homemade scones! It was ridiculous. Kerry and I met with a representative from a couple big buildings in the Entertainment District who is looking for tennants. We told him a restaurant probably wouldn’t be the best thing at the moment as so many of them have opened recently. After work, I tried to finish putting up the Halloween decorations but I didn’t end up finishing it. Instead, Dylan and I watched the movie “Whip It,” Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut about Roller Derby girls, wherein Ellen Paige (Juno) becomes the nemesis of Juliette Lewis. Great flick that got panned undeservedly.

I had a street closure committee meeting this morning at 9am over by Sunset and Western. I avoided parking in the shopping center garage because I found a spot on Western, but then I was paranoid because the meeting ran long, and I parked in a 1-hour spot. It ended up being fine. The office was all abuzz today as we were getting ready for our Man Men-themed open house, celebrating our new offices. We invited all our stakeholders and we had a 50's/60's themed slideshow on the new plasma tv in the conference room. We set up a bar in the kitchen area (which we would all take turns bartending) and had food catered in the conference room. The open house started at 4pm and people slowly started arriving. It was a lot of fun. We all dressed up like Mad Men (the TV show about Advertising executives at the end of the 1950's) but Kerry really went all out to dress up like Joan, the head secretary on the show. She looked fantastic! The party went by really fast. Dylan showed u...

Since we were at Brandon and Angie's when we woke up, we stayed and had brunch and watched True Blood - now we're caught up except for the very last episode. We went home and then we went back to Hollywood to Kitchen 24 for Happy Hour. We meant to go to our friend Rafael's fund raising event for gay and lesbian elder housing. Triangle Square, the apartment building for LGBT seniors, is right next to my work's parking lot, and we thought the fundraiser was there, but when we got there we couldn't find anyone. Turns out the event was down in Hancock park at a private residence. Since we were already in Hollywood we just decided to hit the K24 Happy Hour. Gary, Dylan's co-worker, was meeting us for drinks before the Belle & Sebastian show that we all had tickets to at the Palladium. So we hung out there and then Gary's friend came and met us too. We all walked over to the Palladium together but soon after that we got separated. The crowd was really bi...

It was a Friday night so Dylan and I decided to go out in Hollywood. We really wanted to try having dinner at Kitchen 24, which is in my BID, so we went there but they charged to valet so we parked at the ArcLight and walked instead. Dinner was good, but we decided we really wanted to come back for happy hour sometime. After dinner, we went next door to Citizen Smith. They were supposed to be having this big fundraising event for the AIDS LifeCycle or something to benefit the gay and lesbian center, but it didn't seem like it was really that well organized. We did run into a friend (more of a friend-of-a-friend) there so we hung out and had a couple drinks. I also ran into quite a few people I know from work, including the owners of the building. We hung out back in the alley bar area for awhile and talked to the bartender who was really friendly. Ongina, from RuPaul's Drag Race, was supposed to be the host of the event but she wasn't there and we got tired of waiting...

I had been contacted by a group of German geography students awhile back who were visiting the US and wanted to tour the BID, so today was the day they arrived in Hollywood. I met them outside my office around noon and first showed them the W Hotel, right next to our office, which is kind of the new eastern hub of the entertainment district. I very proudly pointed out how they worked the subway entrance into the front of the hotel (hoping they wouldn't notice the drug dealers and homeless teenage runaways), and then we walked all the way down to Hollywood & Highland. I pointed out things like the Hollywood Broadway, the multiple Scientology buildings, the Hollywood sign, and the historic buildings along the way. Unfortunately, it seemed like some of them were less than impressed with Hollywood. One of the leaders of the group told me "it doesn't look like what you think of when you think of Hollywood." I agreed with him, but told him it definitely looks bett...

Today was another busy day. We had a board meeting for HED, but since the PAL Event was tonight, we bumped the board meeting up earlier since both Kerry and Thad are involved in PAL (which is the Police Activities League). The theme of the event was Disco, so I went to Iguana on my lunch break and bought a shiny black shirt and a pair of gold glittery alien sunglasses, thinking it could kind of not only work for the Disco look but also for the Alien Nation video, which we're going to film next month. The board meeting went well, and then afterward Kerry and I walked down to the Music Box for the PAL Event. Sarah met us there later because she went home to get dressed. There were tons of people I knew there, so during the first part I mingled and visited with everyone. There was a silent auction and open bar, but I just had a couple glasses of wine and I didn't bid on anything because it was all so expensive. There were some great prizes, though. Then we moved inside to th...

It was a very busy day today. First, we had a renewal/expansion meeting for Sunset/Vine at the YMCA. We had catering from Chipotle so I had a burrito, which really wasn't on my diet. During the meeting, Brian called with a question for me so I went out to the courtyard and I saw Jonny McGovern (aka the Gay Pimp)! He's on the Big Gay Sketch Show but I've been a fan of his for a long time since his video for "Soccer Practice" and his podcast which Dylan and I used to listen to all the time. Later in the afternoon we had a Sunset/Vine board meeting at AMPAS and that went pretty well too. Our board president just had a baby so he was out, but we got him this cute bomber jacket for his new son that we all signed the card for. After work, Luther and Andrew came over to return the clothes they had borrowed for the glam birthday party they went to on Sunday so we hung out with them for awhile, it was fun.

I had gone on Facebook last night and saw that Susan had posted this little American Flag on her page to honor the victims of the 9/11 attack and so I put it on my page too, with a little message. It wasn't until after I posted that I realized the flag came from some group called "Being Conservative" or something like that. I decided to leave it, because it really pisses me off how conservatives/republicans like to "claim" 9/11 like it somehow is "their" thing... I mean, it sort of is, since they are the ones who elected Bush and the attacks occurred during his watch, arguably in response to his actions in office. But, of course, that's not the way they frame it. It's like conservatives thing that liberals don't give a shit about our country or our troops. Just because we don't want to keep this country stuck in the past doesn't mean we don't love this country. Just because I may disagree on this being a "christian...

I have been doing extremely well on my diet!!! So proud of myself. We had a security committee meeting at 10am which I usually go to, but decided not to today because I had other stuff to work on. It turned out to be a bad one to miss, because some of the "characters" came to the meeting - these are the people who used to dress up as famous characters (without any permission from the copywrite owners, or studios, or anyone else) and stand on Hollywood Blvd. harassing tourists to give them money in exchange for taking photos with them. LAPD did a crackdown on them awhile back and as the BID we have tried to help prevent their return because they are bad for business and are a blight on the District. Anyway, they are of course completely upset and trying to make it seem like they are just these innocent people who are trying to make a living and that the tourists love them - all of which is hogwash, of course. They are territorial and are constantly getting in fights with ...

Kerry was back today, so we had a staff meeting at 3pm. We got some really disappointing news today. The Jefferson Hollywood, the big new mixed-use project on Highland Avenue that I had toured and attended the opening reception for, had called because we put Robin on the list for a low income unit. Dylan got really, really excited and got the form all filled out and turned in and had been stressed over the weekend because he wanted to make sure he did everything right so she could get the apartment. It would be perfect, because she really needs her own place to live and she would love living in that area of Hollywood - so many things right within walking distance and we would be able to visit her much more often, plus she'd be right by the subway. We didn't want to get her excited about it, but Dylan had to call her to get some of the information to fill out the application. But today they called Dylan to say she did not qualify for the low-income housing because - get this...

I got up early in the morning to take Adrienne to LAX. Her flight was really early, but I didn't want to go back home and try and sleep for just an hour or so, so I went right into work afterward. I got there so early - obviously I was the first one there. It was actually kind of nice being there so early before everyone else. At 8:30, Brian and Sarah came in and Brian said how weird it was the there were already 3 of us there that early. We had a couple meetings in the afternoon, including a Hollywood U meeting which is a collective of all the post-secondary schools in Hollywood. I was really tired after the meetings were over, so I ended up leaving a little before 5pm since I had come in so early. Adrienne texted that she got home safe, so that was good. I think she really had an amazing trip, I know we all had such a good time while she was here. I was so tired when I got home, but instead of trying to sleep I ended up playing this game on the iPad, Angry Birds, which I...

I had a Visit Hollywood meeting at the Roosevelt Hotel at 11 am, which was nice. It was funny because I hadn't been in that room at the Roosevelt since Mary Lou took me to some event there back in the days. It's funny how, after Mary Lou left, I became somewhat disconnected from the Hollywood people up on Hollywood Blvd., because it had been her that had been so involved and always taking me places and getting me to be part of the community. It's nice to feel like I'm back in the swing. After we had our lunch, which was really good, I said goodbye to the new people I met and the girls from the Chamber that I was sitting with, and I headed towards Atwater to pick Adrienne up. Brandon and Angie both had to work, so she was at their apartment by herself. I picked her up and brought her to my new office, and then we walked to Space 15 Twenty so she could have lunch at Umami Burger. I had already eaten so I just got onion rings to snack on. So much for only having sal...

I had a meeting at the Chamber for the Walk of Fame 50th Anniversary this morning. We already had the community festival, but now we are planning a black tie gala that will happen in November at the grand ballroom of Hollywood & Highland. There will be celebrities, star honorees, entertainment, dinner, etc. I'm not sure if I will even get to go, but it's fun being a part of the planning process. We had our board meeting for HED today at 4pm. Because it's August and most people are on vacation, we just barely had enough people for a quorum. Since I'm still fairly new, I didn't have much to report on for Marketing, but we did have to request money out of the marketing budget to go towards promoting LOHO, which is Locals Only Hollywood Offer. It's a program that will be running in October for Southern Californians - locals - to get big discounts on attractions, restaurants, and shopping in Hollywood.

On my way to work I noticed the Del Taco at Santa Monica and Highland was completely demolished. It had been fenced in for awhile now so I knew it was on it's way out, but it was surreal to see it gone. They are replacing it with a Walgreen's drug store, and it was an issue I followed closely during my time at the Media District because it was a big development. As much as the Del Taco was a magnet for loitering, crime, drugs and prostitution, I love their food (as far as fast food taco joints go - much better than Taco Bell), and it was also sort of a landmark. I remember going there, or at least driving by it, with Dudley when we first started shopping around Hollywood and he told me it's where all the tranny prostitutes and drug dealers hung out. So, it's actually probably a good thing for the Media District that it's gone, since it probably would never shed that stigma (or the realities of it). But, I hate Walgreens because they are owned by Jesus freaks ...