Happiest of New Years!!

I hope you all have a safe and happy night tonight and may 2011 be your best year yet!

I will be unpacking and working on posts today, with pictures of course. All this in between shopping for tonight's communal dinner with friends for New Year's eve.

Happy birthday coey!!

and the 5th season is...

RAIN!!!!

It has been gray and rainy for over a week, and will continue to rain a half a week more. I wouldn't mind but today is the first lunar eclipse on winter solstice since 1630 a.d. California is one of the best places to see it if it weren't for these pesky clouds and raindrops hitting you square in the eyeball.

Oh well there is the next half a millennia.

it only happens once every 4 years

I have been complaining since I got here that the one thing I don't like about Los Angeles is that I miss the seasons. It turns out that there are in fact seasons. Not your typical seasons that follow months or a calendar, as I write it is December 12th and it is 84 degrees, but something that is a bit more subtle.

Season one: Yucca Blooms
Season two: Spring
Season three: Jacaranda drop their flowers
Season four: about 40-50 degrees

But I have gathered that something else happens every four years and that is Fall.




The color in LA has been amazing and worth the four year wait.

Saving face

Whilst I was at my conference lounging in my hotel room my facebook account got phished. What the heck does that mean? Well someone was able to get into my account, impersonate me and send people a link to an IQ test. Kind of embarrassing, especially because that person insinuated that I was stupid and could only get a 106.

So I decided that maybe it was best to delete my account. I find that I don't really miss it. Before I left, I saved this picture of me from 1992 that was added by a friend in Arts High days.

in summary

So this is what I have been up to besides writing on this here blog....

I planned and executed an international conference on art history and hosted people from Rome, Turin, Mantua, Padua, Marburg, Zurich, Frankfurt, New York, Washington, DC and greater California and learned a lot more about stucco than I had ever imagined possible. (That sounds kind of sarcastic, but in all actuality very, very interesting.)

I threw a going away party for yet another of our interns going off to greener pastures or plains, because the rain in Spain falls mainly on it. (Wish I were going)

Celebrated a friends year + long search for a job by eating dollar tacos. (Who knew deep fried mash potatoes could be so good.

Saw art and tried Polish food.

On a related note, I started back to the gym.

(in preparation for mom's "surprises" and "of deaths" that are coming my way in two weeks.)

fear of the foot

I never know quite what to say to actors that I like, actors that make me laugh and that are extremely talented. I don't know if they would like to hear how much of a fan I am or if I should just leave them to enjoy their day. Plus there was that one time I embarrassed myself by being such a huge dork when I saw the Roots outside of first avenue in Minneapolis.

Last week I went to see a photography exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and I ran or kept running into John Michael Higgins .

You may know him from the Christopher Guest movies, Best in Show and a Mighty Wind. He was part of a "symphony of guys" in the Break Up. He is hilarious and has made me laugh really more than I can count.

And the later is what I would have said, if I knew what to do in those situations.

another first

This Thanksgiving I hosted a second annual orphan thanksgiving at my apartment with a few close friends. It was my first attempt at cooking a turkey. I must admit that I was a bit nervous, but after a couple badly burnt fingers, I think it went pretty well. I think I know why the ove-glove was invented.

The gravy... now that was another story. I think the meticulous attention to detail to make sure the turkey was not overcooked and juicy made me not care so much about how the gravy turned out. Maybe I was a little bit cocky and threw in just a little too much cornstarch and my roommate threw in a little too much wine.





It made me realize that I really miss cooking. Not that I don't cook. I cook, but I miss the line cook days of making things from scratch. I miss making chickens, fish, cream sauces, I miss marinating things, whipping squash and potatoes.

Something happened I guess and I forgot how much I love it. So now is as good of a time as any to start again.

A special thank you to Alton Brown, who taught me how to truss a Turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Travel safely. No drinking and driving.

conquering a fear one bite at a time

Today I did something I never thought I would do. I ate something I am deathly afraid of.....

The little inscription above the sausage is not a name I used for my order. I in fact ate RATTLESNAKE.

mixed with a little rabbit.

Wurstkuche is a ale house/sausage maker who mixes some pretty exotic cocktails of meat and stuffs them all into a nice little casing like duck and bacon, alligator and pork and classics like bratwurst.

I have to say that the rabbit and rattlesnake was pretty darn good. It was mild and tasty, not what I was expecting at all. I was a bit afraid of this combo and had originally thought about chicken/turkey with cilantro and green chilis but changed my mind while I waited in line because how often do you get the chance to eat snake. Pretty much never.

So when I am hiking up one of the many trails in the LA area and I see a rattlesnake I might just look at it a little differently.

And may just salivate a little.

funny interesting cool

I added a new function to the blog. It is a tally on the bottom of each post where you can check whether something is funny, interesting or cool or gross. (Maybe some foreshadowing) I haven't had a lot of people comment and I thought this might be something quick.

I am going to see how it goes for a while.

parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

I am always so surprised how such a short drive can make you feel like you are hundreds of miles away from Los Angeles. Forty-five minutes can pretty much drop you in the middle of nowhere. A completely different place with fantastic views.

The intention for this trip was to view the over-wintering Monarch population. I won't bore you with all the sciency stuff, but basically the butterflies west of the Rockies hang out on the California cost in the winter months. Any butterflies east of the Rockies go to Mexico. In October and November you can see concentrations of Monarchs in Sycamore trees, so vibrant that the trees look firey orange. What better place to see them than in Sycamore Canyon.



In total we saw one Monarch. The guide told us to follow that Monarch until we found its friends, but it dipped into a no mans land of snarled branches, underbrush and trees. So we didn't follow.

But we did see bees in a heartshaped hive



The greatest thing about the hike, 4 miles in total, was the free aromatherapy session. There was wild sage, rosemary, wild fennel and something at random that smelled like dill pickles. It was very relaxing and much needed before the start of my work week. That and it made me hungry for pickles.

The sunset video was taken shortly after our hike, across highway 1 on the beach.

And now I give you....

30 seconds of sunset

(you may want to turn the volume down a bit)

Whistle and wait

Before I forget this guy was standing behind me in line at the grocery store.

This year, something different

When I moved here I was so excited for Halloween. I could finally wear what I wanted without having to hide my costume under a parka and trudge through the snow in bare legs. I guess though that I could have gotten by without buying a costume at all. I could have just said:

"Under all of these layers I am the Statue of Liberty"

I was so excited to move here and be whatever I wanted. Year 1 I was a flapper, Year 2 Cleopatra, Y3 The Bride of Frankenstein, Y4 Cleopatra again. I was all of these things without having to wear even a sweater.

This year since I got the dress-up out of my system for Oktoberfest, I decided to do something different and not dress up at all. I did the other thing I have wanted to do since I got here and went to Dia de Los Muertos at Hollywood Forever (You may remember this name from the cemetery movie screenings from summers past)

I like the idea of Dia de los Muertos. The day where you can celebrate with loved ones who have passed, share their favorite foods and celebrate their life.

(Here is an example of what the offerings look like, candy, nuts, hot chocolate, the ever important tamales &Folgers.)

What I like about this holiday is seeing all of the creativity that goes into the Ofrendas. There was a great one that looked like a dollhouse with all the separate rooms with wedding scenes with paper cut out and miniatures. Another with a large scene tv running their loved ones favorite Telenovelas(soapoperas) Ofrendas with live participants dressed up as Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Or dressed up as beautiful skulls as seen below

Marigolds and Monarchs everywhere.

I know at first glance this all seems very morbid, but some how it isn't. It is nice to have a day and reflect upon the people who have shaped and effected out lives. To not be sad, but to give thanks.

I will definitely be back next year and maybe dress up.

one last thing

The last thing I felt I had to get out of my system was a trolley ride at the Grove. It really isn't that log of a ride, just to one end of the Grove to the Farmer's market, unless you get on with a kid who just got a

brand
new
recorder.

Trendsetter

I have always been a trendsetter. I get comments all the time about bands I liked first, things I wore before they were popular. Tall boots with skirts, that was me...Arrggh matey

I was talking to another friend last week who is gluten free and she said:

"Do you know what the new diet fad is now?"

I replied "no"

She said "Being gluten free."

See I am always ahead of the game.

Before I explain the following I want to say that I am not a professional nutritionist, dietitian, weight loss coach etc. But I do have some hints, warnings, etc.

One, if you think that you can lose weight and not exercise you are completely delusional.

Two, people have gotten smarter and have made gluten free products very similar to their gluteny counter parts, they are tastier and spongier; like French Meadow and their sinfully wrong cream cheese frosted gluten free vanilla cupcakes. Those definitely have calories and just because they are gluten free does not mean that they are calorie free. Don't think that you can get away with eating them and think, Oh they are gluten free so therefore on your diet.

Whole Foods has this amazingly rich flourless chocolate cake, this will also not be on your diet.

A lot of these products are made out of rice and rice has a lot of sugar, just ask a diabetic.

All I am saying is be careful and mindful. If you decide that going gluten free is something you want to do, just be smart about it.

Did you know that one cup of raspberries has more fiber than a cup of oatmeal? As a gluten free person you can't eat oatmeal. So eat raspberries.

global scorching

It was a really strange summer. Instead of May Gray and June Gloom, we had an additional Steely July and argentine August.

Now in November 3 out of 5 days have been in the 90's. Usually at this time I have made myself a couple new scarves and am wearing my mid-weight coat. Today I wore a skirt and tank top.

Off to run in the neighbor's sprinkler.....

450!

So here it is, my 45oth post. Thank you for reading and writing to me.

Bio-pic

So it has been decided by my father that the bio-pic about my life will be called...

"The Girl With the Winne the Pooh Tattoo"

A very zen tide pool experience

Tide pool, tide pools,tide pools I am sure you are so sick of hearing about tide pools. If you will indulge me one last time I promise I won't talk about them for a while.

This trip I was still feeling like perhaps this would be one of the last times I would see the things about Los Angeles that I love. With a heavy heart I rode to Doheny State Beach, which is about an hour and a half south. Coincidentally the very first time I visited LA we headed down to Doheny to escape the city and it was there I almost drowned. So I thought that maybe things had come full circle.

I digress.

If you look at the website for the tide pools at Doheny you will get a list of what you can find there. What I keep finding after all of the tide pools I visit, even though some of them are only 10 miles from each other they are very different eco-systems, with very different marine life. Sometimes you do not have to look hard to see Sea Stars, muscles, etc, but other places, like at Doheny, you really have to stare hard into the water, relax, breathe and wait for movement. Sometimes this can be a very zen experience.

If you waited long enough you saw hermit crabs catch the racing shrimp-like mini crustaceans, the crabs battling snails for their shells, and other tiny cool things that if you were impatient and stressed you wouldn't have even noticed.

(this little tiny pink thing is a sea cucumber)

If you check my friends blog you will see me balance gracefully from rock to rock in a skirt and all of the scientific names of what we saw.



My new camera is great at catching things that my old camera couldn't, like this sea hare. Unfortunately for one of these creatures a family came across one and thought it would be cool to pick one up, throw it and watch its purplish blood spatter across the rocks.

The most fun at this tide pool is picking up large dry rocks and watching the crabs skitter away from you. What we saw can also be seen in the post in my friends blog.

So, no more tide pools for this blog, but next is the Monarch butterfly migration, which I hear is spectacular.

blurry stars

Although I do recommend going to the Griffith Park Observatory, I do not recommend going right after an exam where they dilate your eyes. Especially when this eye exam is at 9:30 and you did not know that they do not open until noon. And you are stuck up there in the sun, squeezing yourself in the tiny strips of shade around the building. Trying to enjoy the view without burning your retnas, or trying to point out areas of interest without being able to see.

I do not recommend that at all.

I do recommend going at other times. I recommend going for the view, the planetarium films and my favorite 150 foot timeline of the universe made completely from costume jewelery.



I also recommend seeing how much you weigh on different planets.

Who am I kidding, I don't like science.

The view is fantastic though.

before I forget-sightings

Before they become a distant memory I wanted to let you know that a few weeks back I saw...

Andy Richter- w/ his kids

and

Zelijko Ivanek If you don't recognize the name you sure will recognize the face. He is in everything.

He was my guests first and only celeb siting while they were here.

Save Ferris

I finally have a new roommate. It seriously came close to me leaving this apartment, this place, LA.

At a certain time when my friends were here from Minnesota I surrendered myself to the fact that I may be seeing some of these things for the very last time. Which is was heartbreaking because I think you can tell from this blog exactly how much I love it here.

So I did one thing I never thought I'd do in a million years. I rode the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel. It was always daunting to me. It is large, so large that you can see it from Malibu at night, me being afraid of heights, it being old and rickety and run by carnies w/ really small hands. (or actually kids who look like they are in high school. I am not sure what is worse.) I couldn't bring myself to do it. And it is not like I hadn't been asked or begged to go on it before, for some reason Ferris wheels are romantic. I see them as a spinning wheel of death.

So last Friday my visiting friends suggested we go on and I looked up at it and thought, this may be the last time you get this opportunity so I said "f-it, I am riding that Ferris wheel."

And I did. And I was so distracted by the view, the breeze that I didn't think about how high we were, how old it was, how warped the boards were on the boardwalk that was holding us up. We didn't get stuck at the top waiting for other riders to get on, so that was a plus.

I want to go on again.

Deep thought

..while getting a Thai massage yesterday.

It is much better to have someone literally walk all over you than have someone figuratively walk all over you. Although the former seems expensive at first the latter has more emotional cost.


I also learned that when someone cracks my back I giggle, which is awkward.

what do you do when it is 113

On the last Monday in September Los Angeles broke its own record for heat, which stood since 1877. It was 113 or rather the official thermometer broke when it read 113.

Anyone who complains on the day after labor day about summer being over, needs to just shut their mouths because if it can be 113+ so close to October how can summer be over. Sorry a pet peeve, I digress.

So what exactly do you do when it is that hot out? Since I am so grounded in nature, I went tide pooling with my mid-western friends. This was our first time at the tide pools at Point Dume, which is a bit north of Malibu. What we were supposed to see were new creatures, like nudibranch (here I will google that for you so you don't get something weird-click here ) and different sea stars, but what we saw was nothing. Which was fine because I had another opportunity to use my camera and feel an ocean breeze, so plus-plus.

Here are some photos:

(on top of Point Dume looking down)

(We came across this vast field of muscles and a bright orange sea star hiding in their midst, or probably more likely eating them)

(sunset bird feeding time on Point Dume Beach)

By the time this is posted, I will have visited the tide pools at Doheny Beach, so hopefully there will be more to share.

7 away

Can you believe that I am 7 posts away from my 450th post? or rather 6 now. This started for me just a silly thing for me to keep connected with family and prevent me from having to call all of you when I saw a celebrity and a way to keep myself busy and not feeling so lonely as I tried to adjust to life here.

Like all great shows I have had two spin offs. One that was canceled in its first season called "we are here" produced by the amazing mandu and another that is going strong by coey of minsk called S+N+B+F.

I am hoping that you are still enjoying this.

I am wondering what your favorite posts have been, maybe I can do a greatest hits.

You know my email, but if not please write me at eyemheer2@yahoo.com

I'd love to hear from you and am wondering if there are any other blog spinoffs I should be aware of.

Another CA first

I am still having a lot of firsts in Los Angeles, even after 4 + years. Upon a friends suggestion, because of all I have been going through in my search for a roommate and love here, I went to a psychic.

Psychics,like therapists, are everywhere in LA and the surrounding areas. I guess there are more people out here looking for answers. Like all things you should take what they say with a grain of salt and although she may very well have the gift, she was a good advice giver and when I kind of needed a direction to focus my energies.

When we sat down she asked if we could sit for a couple minutes so that she could get a feeling about me. So we sat, I was supposed to write questions I had, but I had them packed into my brain already, for two minutes.

Here is what she said:
I have a generous spirit-check
I am kind-check
sweet energy-check
I feel grounded in nature- umm yes, I love tide pooling but camping is not something I look forward to with any type of fondness
I have a tenderness toward animals-ummm, I like to eat them especially when they are tender-I guess a stretch

So at that point, I wasn't really sure what to think.

I won't go into what I asked her or whether or not I feel like it will come to fruition, but I just want to say that before I saw her, I was having panic attacks about my life and that after I felt like I had something to focus on. And whether or not it is true it is nice to hear that I won't die alone in a studio apartment, childless with 10 cats.

MILK

I both love and hate that I live so close to MILK . After feeding our savory sides at Shik Do Rak we headed straight for MILK for ice cream and whatever else we could find which is a lot if you look through their menu.

My favorite by far is the grasshopper/mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich, which is mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiched between two mint flavored macaroons with one side dipped in dark chocolate.

As we were ending out ladies night of gluttony I spied Anna Kendrick who you may know from Up in the Air and the Twilight series.

I actually see a lot of people at MILK, because hey, everyone likes ice cream.

I just realized that all of these last posts are all food related. I don't know why, says the girl who on Saturdays plops in front of the tv with a grilled cheese and watches food shows on public television all day.

I think I have a problem, but at least I hope I have made you hungry,

like a chimpmunk

I have friends in town from Minneapolis currently and I wrote a bunch of posts on Sunday just so you had something to read while I was away. I will write about these new adventures when I get back, but for now enjoy my past.

and on a continuation of the festival of nations

(which somehow both involved cabbage delicacies)

I finally after living in LA for almost 5 years and being so close to Koreatown tried Korean BBQ. I have wanted to try it for at least two years but was pretty much blinded by the overwhelming choice of BBQ joints in the area. Well over 50 restaurants in a 5 square mile radius with names like Sa Rit Gol, Soot Bull Jeep and Chosun Galbi; I really needed a tour guide for a place I could take a 5 minute bus ride to. (By the way another thing I love about being here is that you can be so close to a completely different culture. See Anthony Bordain's No Reservation show on Los Angeles)

My friend chose Shik Do Rak, on 1st and Western, for us and I don't think there could have been a better choice. New to the experience it was great to have someone explain how it works.

When you sit down little dishes of things are placed across the table, Kimchi of various types (also a first for me-and the cabbage reference in the first line of this post) vinegar pickled cucumbers, fish cake (so good) pickled radishes, spicy pepper and peanut sauces and plenty of rice paper. (See pictured)

You order meats which is always various and wonderful cuts of beef, although for the more daring and non-united states centric palates there are plenty of intestines, stomach and other bits to choose from. I didn't choose to go that way. We chose Galbi, which you can see pictured as frozen curls of frozen beef and deckle which is a brisket, skirt steak cut.

You cook the meat to your desired doneness on the grill in the middle of your table. Don't sit too close or you will burn your legs. When it is how you like it you wrap it in rice paper with whatever you want from the table and eat and cook some more until you are so full you can hardly see.

There was also plenty of soju and this great potato noodle dish that is now calling to me from the refrigerator.

I have been thinking about Korean BBQ since I had Korean BBQ so I will definitely be back and will probably be in my new tour repetoire if non-vegetarians come to visit.

Oktoberfest

One fateful Halloween last year my old roommate and I met up with this couple at my favorite local. We ended up at their house with the entire bar celebrating Halloween until 4:am, which was the night before, or rather the morning of the day that I moved into the apartment I am in now.

It seem that they had just finished a couple weeks previous, their 1st annual Oktoberfest celebration. Everyone there went on an on about how fantastic it was. It became evident that these people went all out. Homemade beer, a 24 hour blitzkreig of homemade pretzel, sauerkraut and brat making (yes homemade veal and pork goodness) It made my mouth water for about a year.

So as the second annual Oktoberfest approached I had to make sure I was on the guest list, especially since this year promised to out Oktober the last. I even bought a costume. See me pictured with my good friend T, in costume with polka band in background.


Part of the going out this year involved a make shift polka band of local friend musicians, called "Polka, I hardly now her" There were such polka favorites as "ya ya ya, nine nine nine" and the lalala song that you just sing la la la for a while and then bier at the end.

Although I debated hard about having a brat as pork seems to be another issue of mine, I did manage to talk myself into two, which were the best bratwurst I have ever tasted and when in doubt homemade sauerkraut will be on of the best choices you will ever make nevermind the vat festering in your kitchen because once you have tasted homemade, that jar you get at the grocery store that is slightly brown will repulse you.

That day I lost my struggle as being gluten free was an epic fail and glad I had Sunday to sleep and blog which is all I could do.

Until next year. Ein Prosit!

8, 9, 10

To finish my count down and move on to my most recent California adventures or misadventures here are items 8, 9 & 10

8. Yes, I made it and had a mint oreo blizzard, which is my favorite. I think the only DQ here is in Compton, I don't think I'll make it there.

9. No, no lake fish this time.

10. Yes, there was actually a liquor store in town that carried gluten free beer I was shocked, but very happy to float in circles in the pool with a red bridge an sunburn my troubles away

Next on I am Here....
Oktoberfest- Yavol!!
My first Korean BBQ experience
Star sighting of the twilight kind
What to do when in is 113
the grueling roommate search

click click click

I promise that all of the photos from Minnesota will be up today.

I also wanted to let you know that I saw two people from my new favorite show, Modern Family.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Reid Ewing

If you have not watched the show, which I think is a huge mistake, you can find some episodes online at abc.com and hulu

List items 3 & 4

Grills make me thankful that I am not a vegetarian, I know that sounds awful, but they do. The only thing I do not like about living in my fantastic apartment is that I no longer have an outside space to cook. So when I have the opportunity to have bbq-ed meats I do. The closest thing in LA I have that tastes like it has been cooked outside (well, now that I think about it, it has) Is the Brazilian place in the Farmer's Market called Pampas Grill. My mom makes some great Bbq-ed chicken.

Seeing lightning bugs. I guess it is just a Spring thing. I didn't see any.

before I forget-sightings

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of seeing restored Charlie Chaplin films at the Silent Movie Theater. This was my first experience seeing a Chaplin film, I know shocking since I am such a movie nerd. The films we saw were:

The Idle Class and City Lights. Both fantastic and very funny. Can't wait to go and see more.

Also there I saw Jason Ritter, who you may know from a tv show called The Class, which I kind of liked, a new show coming out called "the Event" and a little film with my very first boyfriend called "The Perfect Age of Rock and Roll" His Dad is also the late John Ritter.

I am kicking myself, because I didn't go...because I came back to LA and got a very nasty cold that left me incapacitated for a couple days, but I had an invitation to the opening of Kat Von D's gallery called Wonderland. You may have heard about her first Red Carpet appearance with her new beau Jesse James. (Who I am sure you have heard about by now)

I was just too sick and would have been fine just looking at the art, but all of the photogs, the taping of two reality shows and the desire to be on, would have been just a little too much.

Oh well, there is always next time.

Items 5 & 6

I did walk in the rain for a minute on my way around Lake Calhoun, just a few sprinkles and no thunder and lighting but I was hoping. I did hear rain and thunder and lighting up north as well as saw the glimmers of the later, but didn't see the light show I wanted simply because there are too many trees. Which is hardly a complaint.

So kind of a check and check.

photos and more photos

As you will see from the photostream I am very excited about my new camera. I have posted so many new photos that I have maxed out my flickr account, which forced me to upgrade. I will post more once my account is fully upgraded.

Until then enjoy.

List item 2-Walk around one of the MPLS chain of lakes

The first true sign of summer in Minneapolis, was your first walk around one of the Minneapolis chain of Lakes (Harriet, Calhoun, Isles) A time to shed your parkas and show your fish belly white legs and arms and see people you could hardly recognize under scarves, hats, mittens, etc.

Even though it was overcast and raining a bit, I had to walk around Calhoun, especially after stuffing myself full of Punch Pizza (I know, not gluten free, but an essential part of the lake walk experience)

It was nice to walk and talk with my friend Janie who is an excellent tour guide and took me to some of our old haunts, the Nicollet Mall farmers market, and to see how much Uptown has changed. The restaurant I used to work at is gone, the Uptown Bar is now the largest Apple store in the US, Calhoun Square is a ghost town.

It's true, you can never go home again.

The picture above is a view of the mpls skyline from Calhoun and is one of the last photos taken from the camera I got 6 years ago. It had been with me in France, Italy, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, Monaco, Bryce Canyon, Zion.... but it is starting to turn everything blue.

I bought a new camera on this trip and it is fantastic, can't wait to show you all of the photos.

List item number 1-See family of course

The majority of my ten day vacation was seeing family, of course. It has been way too long since seeing NoNo, especially with the baby model photos, I needed to see all of that beautifulness with my own two eyes.

(um could she be any happier)

I was in town for my mom's birthday. Where we ate a Florio's of course. (where the fried chicken rival's Rooks)



I had a brief foray into camping and actually cooked my own hot dog on a stick. (Gasp!)And camping calls for the Johnsons and Pearsons of course.




Then as I was leaving I had the opportunity to see Reeeda, Er-ee, Arne and Carol for a nice lunch where we ate until we were in food comas and yelled "We love you guys" and followed them down the driveway waving goodbye like good Minnesotans of course.



I did miss seeing Evan just by three days, which is a bummer of course.

to do list

As I am preparing to go back to Minnesota I am thinking about all the things I want to do when I am home.

1. See family, of course
2. Walk around one of the lakes in the Minneapolis chain of lakes
3. Eat food cooked on the grill, the majority of the days
4. See lightning bugs
5. Experience a downpour
6. See lightning, storm or heat
7. See a movie I secretly want to see, but would be too embarrassed to tell anyone about because up north movies cost a lot less to see
8. Go to the DQ
9. Eat lake fish
10. lay on the good floaty in the pool and read and have a beer


I am sure there is more, but I need to save some room for being spontaneous.

guess who got the memo

Sometimes when you spend a lot of time with people you show up at work dressed alike, randomly. Here is me with a couple of my workmates on a day that we thought to ourselves in the morning, without warning, that mustard and black looked mighty fine together.

What are "they" wearing

It seems like everywhere I go this summer the staple must have is TOMS . What are TOMS you may ask? I guess the best answer is the keds of this generation. And like this generation they have a social justice angle; every pair you buy means another pair donated to a child in a third world country.

Is this an advertisement for TOMS? No. You just wanted to know what was going on fashion-wise on LA, but if you bought a pair, that wouldn't be so bad.

i knew...

I knew it would happen sooner or later. I knew that this experiment of a blog, my love affair with Los Angeles, would bring someone out here. My fiendish plan worked.

(evil laughter)

We are not men, we are Devo

What I love about Los Angeles is its propensity to provide one of a kind experiences. From surprise Q & As from directors after the film to flash mob at Hollywood and Highland.

I took part in one such one of a kind experience a few weeks ago. (wow, I guess I haven't written in a while) I had the pleasure of seeing Devo at Hollywood Park. Hollywood Park is not to be confused with the Hollywood Bowl. Hollywood Park is in fact a race track smack dab in the middle of Inglewood. I must admit that watching horseracing made me nostalgic for the Arlington days, dressing up, watching the horses parade around and picking the one we thought would win.

Anyway I digress.

I didn't bet this time. I have learned that after 30 + years that I just don't win things.

It seemed all of Los Feliz and Silver Lake (hipsterville) descended on Hollywood Park to see Devo in their fedoras and capes??

I was pleasantly surprised that after all these years Devo still offers a very consistent, excellent show with many costume changes. I wasn't really a Devo fan before, but now am and found myself singing along to songs I didn't even know they did.

The planes flying in to LAX added and oh my god, I can't believe I am here factor.

I heard that they played the Minnesota Zoo and I am not sure, but perhaps a Petco in Cleveland

It's been a while hasn't it

I realized when I was walking past the film set that has become my street that I haven't written a blog post in a while.

I have been gathering posts through life experience.

Does everyone like the new background? I changed it a couple weeks back. Looks very California right?

happy 4th!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!!

sad

If any of you have been long time readers of this blog you may remember that the weekend I moved in Amy Locane (Cry Baby, Melrose Place) was staying with us. I was very sad to hear today that she was charged for vehicular manslaughter from a DUI.

Not sure what else to say.

out and about

So here is the rundown of who I have seen in the past couple days.

Jennifer Coolidge
Tim Bagley
Brett Ratner

triple H...

:Watch your head or
:Look what a little oil money can do


I finally found a willing participant to tour Aline Barnsdall's Hollyhock House with me a few weeks ago. It is a sprawling estate on top of Barnsdall Hill, in the Los Feliz neighborhood, built for the oil heiress in the '20s. You can tell by the quote from Frank Lloyd Wright that he and Aline did not see eye to eye. I think he was fired and re-hired from the project at least once.

We unfortunately got a tour guide that had only done the tour once before, that day. She couldn't really elaborate beyond what her little note cards said. Also the tour was colored by these two yokels who loved loved loved puns and joking around. So whenever the guide told us to..

"watch our heads"
They replied "Well, I think we would need a mirror for that."
They were in their 50s, no excuse.

Hollyhock is a gorgeous maze of a house that has been fantastically restored. Frank Lloyd Wright has great attention to detail and made a lot of interesting functional pieces. This house was built in what seems like a Mayan phase as you can see with the "abstraction" of the Hollyhock seen below:



















(Do you see the flower in the geometrical shapes)
And the other houses he built in the area like the Ennis House and Sowden House which you may have seen in a couple commercials and a season of America's next top model. (by the way you can rent Sowden house for $3,900 a night)

A lot of what we saw were replicas and adjustments, since the house went through some ownership changes after Barnsdall left, including the USO who demolished the kitchen and turned it into a formica hell.

Aline had envisioned a artist compound with a theater, gallery and studio, much of which is still standing and is being used for that very purpose.

I recommend going at $8 a ticket. I think I will do it again soon, maybe the tour guide will be off cards.

mi vida loca

Believe it or not, I am still celebrating my birthday. I had a rain check dinner on Thursday, I have a rain check dinner this week (cooked for me, which is nice) and a yet to be determined outing, probably to a Korean Pirate Bar. (yes, you read correctly)

It is nice to feel so loved.

I am still settling into my new job. They have yet to find a new replacement for my old job. It has been two and a half months, starting to feel slightly taken advantage of.

Stars: None
Books: Still the Savage Detectives, started Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl and I and since I am a believer in fate and since a couple of the books I have read keep pointing me back to Ulysses by James Joyce, I will be tackling this coming next month. Wish me luck.
Movies: I was disappointed in "Get Him to the Greek" I really wanted to laugh. I would recommend it to 18 year old boys.

I will be writing about some highlights in the next couple days. I realize I haven't written a while, but you know what they say about time....

h

Happy father's day!!!

I hope you like your prize!

because this is how I do things

I am in the midst of a two week long celebration of my birth. I guess I started celebrating my birthday for two weeks once I got to LA. Everyone has such social calendars that require a lot of advance planning and conflicts. So very LA.

It is not that I wanted to turn 34 especially. I am actually not too pleased for very personal reasons. But this is how I do things now whether I like it or not.

My birthday celebration began May 30th at the UCLA jazzreggae festival. I went to jazz day and I have to say that it wasn't very jazzy, more r & b undergroundy, but I suppose that the r&bundergroundjamjazzreggae festival isn't as catchy. I really wanted to see a new band that my friend had me tune into called Quadron.They were fantastic, but the rest of the show was off because of horrible sound and the fact that it was 90 and on an open field, needless to say that my Irish skin could not handle all of the sun.

Thursday I went out for gluten free pizza and beer at this place called Pizza Fusion. It is fantastic, gluten free and have a great view on environmental responsibility. It was nice to share a beer with friends after not being able to really drink beer. This from a girl who misses New Castle and Old Peculiar.

Gluten free red velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles are better than gluteny red velvet cupcakes.

Friday night was another glimpse of Quadron at the Echo with a friend.

Saturday was a day relaxing on the beach of Manhattan with the ladies, then getting my hair done at home.

It all ends next weekend with Beetlejuice in the cemetery. How very me?

What I have been up to-working, fundraising and museums

Job is going well, I come home very tired, but am very happy although it seems like I am living to work instead of working to live.

I have spent my free time doing my part as a local philanthropist. I supported the local Planned Parenthood chapter in their 7th annual bingo for choice event. It was fantastic, funny and I felt better knowing that I helped low income women get pre-cancer screenings as well as additional health related information.

I saw the renoir exhibit before it closed. It was great and nice to see someone who really liked painting his wife.

I also saw some performance art, and found that I am just not cut out for it. I just want to laugh.

I have been reading Savage Detectives and I really can't think of a person I would like to recommend it to.

That is it in a nutshell.

Siting- Q and A

I forgot that I had the pleasure of seeing a new movie by writing by Scott Caan called Mercy. He did a Q and A after the film, so I guess I had a siting surprise.

food and memory

Cannes 2010 is already here I see that Paris is there again butchering her French and I am doing the thing that I failed to completely do last year and that is learn French.

I kind of would like a do over of that trip for the language and a couple more reasons.

I have been thinking about my trip to France a lot lately. So I tried to re-create my favorite meal at this little Moroccan place in a small town outside of Nice. The lure of the tagine has been calling me ever since that day, that and the Moroccan mint tea service.

Chicken with olives and preserved lemons. (pictured)

I looked around a bit and found a place called Tagine (Coincidentally co-partnered by Ryan Gosling) but their menu was down on their website and I had to have chicken with preserved lemons and olive. So I chose a restaurant in West Hollywood. Fabric covered the ceiling and walls, pillows line stools and floors and couches, mirrors, beaded curtains and everything I think would be in a restaurant in Casablanca, even though I have never been. This place in LA was much unlike the place in France, very over-stated.

The food was good, we were the only people their and we got a little too much attention from the owner, who told my roommate that he would sell his camels for her.

It is funny the way food can connect you to a place.

As long as we are talking family...

Here is a site you might enjoy this week. Some of the comments are a bit risque, but there are more funny ones than inappropriate ones.



Awkward family photos.

word to your moms

To the moms we love, to the moms we lost, Happy Mother's Day.

another alien landscape

California is not just the land of celebrities, traffic and loud feverish pitch. It is a land of alien landscapes.









PS this is why you need to make sure your crude oil stays in one place

foxy reading

Last weekend I headed to the LA Times Festival of Books. I had always wanted to go, but never had a willing participant until this year.

We bussed it on down to the UCLA campus to experience the festival in full force. (they said later that there were around 130, 000 people who attended. I think they were all there on Sunday with me) There were tents upon tents of vendors, publishers, food, bookstores. It was very overwhelming and in a good way. I never thought that many people in LA read.

I did get the chance to see Pam Grier talk about her new book called "Foxy: My Life in Three Acts" she seemed nervous.

Next time I go, I am going with a plan.

What are you reading? leave a comment or email me

Sometimes....

Sometimes you have to travel south to go back in time. ( I learned this from Jose Luis Borges)

I tagged along on a trip to San Diego. Traffic was bad because it was also the weekend of Coachella. (a music festival that I would classify as Woodstock for hipsters) Since it was taking forever for a 2 hour trip we decided to make a couple of side trips. Leslie and I talked about tastes that remind us of being a kid, her's is Swiss Orange Chip ice cream from Swensen's Which we recreated at Coffee Bean with an ice-blended orange mocha.

When we entered Buena Park, CA, I turned to her and asked her..

"Have you ever had a Chicago Dog before"
"Like the one at Pink's" She asked.
I laughed and said "No one at Pink's has ever been to Chicago."

And we drove to Portillo's. Yes, the Chicago chain has finally made it to LA.



Leslie said it was the best hot dog she had ever had and talked about it for days. Me, I was lost in the nostalgic moments and happiness that a Chicago Dog brings me.

Happiness is a warm bun

Star siting of the golden glove kind

Last week my cubicle mates took me out to celebrate my promotion. We ventured to Palomino in West Wood. (i.e. the area around the UCLA campus) This is a great restaurant to see deals being made with agents, and people who want to be noticed by agents, managers etc. We have a Palomino in Minneapolis, but it isn't nearly as interesting.

During this excursion we saw Sugar Ray Leonard having lunch. My back was to him most of the time. I think one of the girls got a picture.

emails, please

I sent out an email of some recent work related news and got several bounce backs. If you want to be on the listserve to get little snippets that I am not posting, please email me at eyemheer2@yahoo.com

Writer's block

I completely have writer's block.

I haven't seen anyone out and about
The springs fashion trends are so varied(my roommate and I seriously watched this fashion segment that said this spring trends are short, long, bright colored, neon, but not neon, military, floral) Everyone in LA is wearing all of these
I haven't been exploring
I haven't been reading
I think all of the things I found strange about LA have now become completely normal.

I am wondering if anyone wants to submit something? Maybe you are not ready to commit to an entire blog, maybe you want to share some news? have you seen any celebs? Tell me all about it, this is a family blog after all.

I am taking submissions just until I can get this promotion under my belt

When we last left I am here....

...she had just got home from dying easter eggs, fat from eating BBQ-ed meat and anxiously awaiting a promotion.

Well, she is waiting no longer because this week she has been promoted.

Very much a yay moment for me.

I have to wait for my boss to get back from Italy to tell me exactly what it will entail, but I am very excited.

All of this I cannot tell you about on the blog, but know that I am happy.

happy easter

two birds

I'm in jail.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy April Fool's Day.

constellations

Stars seen:
nada
zip
zero
no one

BTW

400 entries on this blog.

I hope you are enjoying.

Book it

I wish there was Book it for adults because I would so be on my way to a free pizza at this moment. I have been reading so much.

Here is what I have finished in the last couple months:
People of the Book
Down and out in Paris and London-George Orwell
The Tao of Wu- by the Rza
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (The best book I have read in two years)

Now I am reading:
Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Are you reading anything good?

Whale watching 2nd attempt

Last weekend we, not the same group one was too disenchanted, schleped our way back to Newport Beach to see the whales.

(On a side note, I heard that if Newport flooded all the women in town would be safe because of all of the surgically implanted flotation devices.)

This time we got on the boat and did in fact see a whale. Not just any whale, but the Fin Back Whale, the second largest whale on earth. It can weigh up to 80 tons and can be equally as long. They also can swim as fast as 23 miles, so our boat had a hard time keeping up. We stalked it for a good 45 minutes before having to turn back and go home.

It was so nice to sit on a boat in the middle of the ocean for two an a half hours and relax, laugh, and just be tourists. Strangely one of the girls in our group who schleped both time is originally from West St. Paul.

Small ocean I guess.

sometimes you feel like vegging out

My favorite gluten free and vegetarian dish is this:

Take all of your favorite veggies like:
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Red and yellow peppers
zucchini
Onions (do not trim root end off)

But any farmers market finds will work

Toss them in olive oil, pepper and garlic powder. Pre-heat your oven to 375 and cook for at least a half an hour, but until you get to your desired veggie tenderness.

While you are waiting for that take that polenta that is already cooked in that tube, cut off thick pancake-like rounds and fry them up. (if you are motivated you can make polenta from scratch, but I am not that motivated)

When finished put a bit of spaghetti sauce on each disk, a bunch of veggies, sprinkle shaved Parmesan to your liking and eat happily.

(I bring home my polenta and fry it up in a pan, because I am a woman...)

Whale watching 1st attempt

I swear I would never be one of those adults who said "expletive teenagers", but I will call part one of this trip "expletive teenagers"

"Expletive Teenagers" by Kristen

It was a beautiful but windy February day..

For my friend's birthday she organized (in an organized way that only grandpa can appreciate) a whale watching trip on a boat from Newport Beach, which is kind of a schlep from Los Angeles. So four of us jumped in car and schleped to "The O.C" and were very excited to do some whale stalking as I like to call it. We bought some whale stalking tickets on a boat serendipitously called "The Amigo" or "Friend" in Spanish from three teenagers in an office located next to the "Fun Zone" We got our tickets and headed across the sidewalk to our boat "The Amigo"

We sat staring at the Amigo and 2:20 came, and we thought shouldn't we be getting on soon? And at 2:30 I decided that maybe I would try to get on the boat myself (an exercise in being more proactive) but was told that "Oh, they will come and get you when they are ready to board" and then 2:40 came and our Amigo had no signs of departure.

So we when back into the office where the teenage boy who sold us the tickets was trying to get his flirt on with the older (19 maybe) office manager and asked him what the deal was.

"uh, the boat doesn't leave from this dock, it leaves on the other side of the blue gray building." (note: all of the buildings on the pier are blue gray)

and we said "but our boat is the Amigo and you told us to wait outside"




"Oh, we ran out of tickets for the other boat"

So we ran (which I only use in case of emergency) and stopped after every blue gray building, and of course it was the last one.

and it left without us.

so we got half off tickets for the next time.

"Expletive teenagers"

Nature spotted:
This ham of a Seagull who was posing for photos. No whales.

to be continued....

Rocky

When I stop feeling like I am on a boat in the middle of the ocean, I will write about being in a boat in the middle of the ocean.

gaffa-gaffaw

There is nothing more California than a convertible. There is nothing more LA than the Pekingese inside of that convertible wearing miniature sunglasses.

ruminations on the 82nd Oscars

SJp...cheeto...bedsheet... Princess Amadalia hair

Opening number awkward and unrehearsed but I still love you Neal Patrick Harris

Miss Oscar stole my jolene jolene hairstyle

What happened no Farrah?

Yay no Beyonce this year

Best Dressed: Demi and Sandra
Worst dressed: SJP and Charlize

What did you think?

Heaven

My work stood in as the scene of Valhalla today for the comic book movie Thor. Or at least that is what I think. All kinds of rumors about who was actually on set today don't really match up to any movie that I could find on IMDB.

All I know is the costumes were very shogun, viking futuristic and the hair took its queue from last nights Oscars.

I was just able to catch little glimpses of things, mostly gaffers, DPs and extras.

It was all the buzz in the office today.

I'll keep you posted on re-shoots if any.

tomorrow

Tomorrow is going to be a big day. Some of you might have heard bout it, some of you will just have to wait until tomorrow evening to hear about it.

link

I just provided a link to Coey of Minsk's blog, now after you are done reading my blog then you can read hers and vice versa.

It is that time again

Another year passes that I live here and no one has taken me up on the Oscars. Here I am in Oscar land so close that I can see it and no one comes. You talk about coming, but never do. Here I am with this awesome apartment, plenty o' room with many alarm clocks to get us up and out the door. But no, I guess you would like to watch them on t.v. with the little people.

Oh well, maybe next year.

I am on the fence about watching this year. I will be alone with no one to watch it with. (hint, hint, guilt, guilt) My roommate is at her parents house celebrating her mom's win over cancer. (Yay!)

I am excited about the hosts who are hilarious, even though Alec Baldwin did not move to Canada or France after Bush was elected to a second term and he does not put his money where his mouth is (hi, Dad)

Here is what I think:
10 films is an awful lot of films to have nominated as "Best Film". How can any film be a best film when they are all nominated?

It will be the year of the underdog and newcomer. I hope Mo'Nique wins for Precious, she was incredible, Christopher Waltz was fantastic and he made me want to go find more of his films just to watch him act. (Inglorious Basterds may be too gory for you) I hope Kathryn Bigelow shows her egomanical ex up and I want Jeff Bridges to win just because I think he is a fantastic actor.

I think that the Oscars may actually be surprising this year in its main categories.

What do you think? email me at eyemheer2@yahoo.com