leftovers

It was back to work, but it's a short week and most people are still out for the holidays, so it really wasn't like being completely back to work. Very relaxing and a chance to get caught up on some stuff. After work, I walked over to Ryan's house. Dylan was already there and so was Von, and David. Von is in town for the holidays and wanted to get together with Ryan so we had all planned to meet and hang out. Ryan suggested we go to Te'Kila which sounded fine to all of us - I especially wanted to go since it's in the Entertainment District and I haven't been there yet. I like to try and go to all the bars and restaurants, actually all the businesses, in our BID so I know what they are like. We walked down since it's just a few blocks from Ryan and David's apartment. It was really fun and they were having happy hour which meant the drinks and the appetizers were all on sale for really decent prices - $2 tacos and $5 margaritas! It was ...

I had the day off, but Dylan had to work so he got up and it seemed so cold at the time, but then shortly after he left it was very bright and it started to get hot and I couldn’t sleep so I got up and did some housework. After I did some laundry, dishes, and cleaning up the apartment, I took a bath and then proceeded to watch about 4 hours of Arrested Development. Over the holidays, I’ve completely re-watched Season 3 and now I’m half-way through Season 2 - Geez, I love that show!!!

It was a rainy day. We got up and had brunch, and then Dylan left to take Robbie home so I tried to do some housework. I really wanted to put the holiday decorations up, but I couldn't find the key to the storage closet that we have down the hall in the laundry room. Robbie had even helped me go through our junk drawer in the kitchen and we couldn't could locate it anywhere. I was doing some other housework when suddenly I had this vision of the key being in the hat I wore for Halloween when I was Boy George. It must have been a memory, because I went to the hall closet, opened it up, found the hat, and voila! There was the key! I brought all the big green and red plastic tubs (we have three of them now) filled with holiday decorations, plus the tree and another bag of decorations, back to the apartment and started going through everything. Eventually, I had to stop and get ready for the Invisible Material show we were having at the Viper Room. I was a little worried abo...

It was a really busy day around the office, we had a meeting at 1pm in the conference room for Sunset/Vine BID Renewal (although I didn’t have to be part of it) and then we had their board meeting at 4pm and it lasted almost until 6pm. Afterward, Kerry dropped me back off at my car and I went home to find that Dylan was on his way out to Trader Joe’s to get groceries. While he was gone I watched an episode of Blue Mountain State that he had already watched without me, and then he came home and made a really healthy chicken salad for dinner. We watched Glee while we ate and we both really liked the episode. I feel bad that I was doubting the show this season, because it’s definitely back in top form. I had laundry in the dryer and then I drove down to Marc and Myles’ to return Myles’ cymbals and drop off my electronic drums so he could rehearse. When I got home, I got the laundry out of the dryer and folded it while we watched Raising Hope (one of my new favorite sho...

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.

We had a BID renewal meeting for Sunset & Vine at the YMCA and after that, Sarah and I went to Larchmont to get coffee at Peet’s. I also got a tin of tea leaves for my ice tea maker. I told Dylan that if anyone asked what I wanted to Yuletide this year, to just tell them I want good loose-leaf teas. If I could get enough tea to last me through 2011, I would be happy! Angela and I decided we would have a chili night, so I texted my mom to get her chili recipe. As a kid, my mom used to make chili often in the fall and winter, and it was usually one of the first signs of fall. Back in western Kansas, chili soup is traditionally accompanied by cinnamon rolls - even in the schools - but apparently people in LA have not heard of that, so we decided Angie would just be in charge of some type of bread to serve with it and I would make the soup. As I was leaving work, I told Kerry about my plans so she asked to look at the recipe and she suggested I add cumin to it, whi...

Had lunch at Chicken Dijon again. I really like that place and it’s so convenient. After work I went home and quickly loaded up the car for Invisible Material rehearsal, and then went to pick Jared up. We rehearsed in the space on 6th street again and still didn’t have any way to amplify the vocals. Hopefully next time we’ll be able to. After I got home, Dylan had ordered pizza (again) so I had a few slices and we watched “It’s Always Sunny” from two weeks ago that I’d already seen but Dylan hadn’t, and then we were about to watch “Mad Men” (which we eventually did watch) but then I got an update from Facebook and looked and it was a very long, emotional message from someone who was one of my closest friends many years ago that I’ve barely talked to since. It took me by surprise so I had to read it a few times, and I started to write back but I really wanted to make sure my response was what I wanted to say, so I wrote back briefly just to say I would write more tom...

I made “Indian Summer Soup” for dinner, which was my own invention involving butternut squash soup with tomatoes, corn, and white beans. It was pretty good! Dylan and I were frantically trying to pack for our camping trip to Joshua Tree this weekend. We are leaving tomorrow directly after work so we had to get everything packed up tonight. I had hoped to go down to our neighbors, Dominic and Andrea’s, for their “Scary Movie Night” but I was so far behind on getting ready for the trip that I just couldn’t fit it in. In addition to packing, we also watched as many of our Thursday night shows as we could (the live 30 Rock was especially good!) and cleaned the apartment too, since Luther and Andy are house-sitting for us while we’re gone.

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...

OMG it was SO hot today. It was over 100 degrees, I’m sure of it. With so much heat, I just couldn’t be bothered to do anything - I definitely was not about to steam clean the carpets and make it even hotter in the apartment than it already was. So, I shut the windows and blinds, turned the AC on high, and Princessa and I had a “David E. Kelly” festival... alternating between episodes of “Boston Legal” and “Picket Fences” all day. I only left the apartment to walk to Fit Food, a new healthy restaurant that is right on our block next to Fubar that I’ve been anxiously awaiting. It was OK but it seemed a little overpriced, which I was already suspecting it would be. It’s nice to have some healthy food available so close, though.

Someone replied to my Craigslist ad! I was so thrilled when I got the e-mail. It's a girl who is a classically trained pianist but she loves 80's music, new wave, synth pop etc. and would like to start performing in that realm. It sounds really promising, so we are going to set up a time to meet soon. I didn't know it last night, but today Brandon and I were talking and he mentioned the lead singer of Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s last name is Rushent and I asked if he was related to Martin Rushent, and Brandon said it's his dad! For those of you unaware, Martin Rushent is a music producer who produced one of the all-time most influential albums of all time (at least for me), "Dare" by The Human League. He also produced a ton of other artists that I love including The Go-Go's and Altered Images. Brandon and I also talked about getting backing tracks ready for the inevitable Devin Tait & the Traitors show - that's what my band is going to be ...

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...

Emmy day arrives! I set my alarm to wake up early with Adrienne to help her do some errands, but when I first got up, she said she was going to go have her nails done and get some coffee, so I went back to sleep until she returned. Then I drove her to the Grove because she wanted to get Dylan a gift for taking her, so we went to Nordstrom's and got him a real bow-tie - as in, not a clip on. The saleslady was super nice and helped us pick out a really cool purple and pink striped one. Then Adrienne got some makeup at the Mac counter and we went to Coffee Bean to get Dylan a Latte. Back home, Adrienne gave Dylan his gift, which he was thrilled with. We spent the next half hour or so watching You Tube videos trying to figure out how to tie the damned thing! As Adrienne and Dylan were getting ready, they realized they didn't need to leave as soon as they thought they did, which was great for them since it meant they had more time to get ready, but bad because I knew if I wait...

Kevin was gone by the time I woke up. He had left a note explaining that he would have woken us up to say goodbye, but that we look like "gay angels" when we sleep. Dylan and I went over to Brandon and Angie's and I made brunch, eggs and hashbrowns and bacon. The bacon was the beef bacon I had bought the other day; I definitely am not going to buy beef bacon again. It's weird. We got caught up watching True Blood so that was good. Otherwise it was a pretty lazy day.

It was a slow day at work. I walked to Chipotle for lunch but the line was way too long, so I went to Baja Fresh instead. One of the big windows looking out to Sunset Blvd. was broken out, which was weird, and also meant that there were less table to sit at and I thought I was going to have a panic attack when I was about to get my food and there was no table to sit at. Would I have to go sit with some random person? Or just eat standing up, holding my tray? Luckily, I saw some girls getting ready to leave so I swooped in and got their table right as they were leaving. I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to get a cabinet organizer for the kitchen. Stayed late at work so I could meet Dylan after at the Station Bar at the W Hotel next door to my office. I wasn't sure where the Station Bar was, but it turned out just to be the outside area where mom and dad went with me and Brandon when they were visiting and I showed them around. Dylan was there working as they had a Governors mee...

Dylan and I were extremely hung over when we finally crawled out of bed, so we went to brunch at Silver Spoon. Then went home and I played The Sims on my iPad while Dylan watched this movie, "Black Dynamite." Then I cleaned the closet out and got rid of a whole huge box of junk, catching up a lot on my New Year's blog project, although I'm still really behind. After that, we went to Brad and Alf's for True Blood, and it was just the four of us this time. Alf ordered pizza, which was very yummy. We watched 2 episodes and now we're all caught up. Hello 2010, goodbye junk! NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 211 Glamour Magazine, March 2010, Victoria Beckham cover. I kept the cover and the section about Victoria.

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...

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...

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...