will work for clothes.

The new job is kind of awesome. It's not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life but it will pay the rent and I'm having a fantastic time while I'm there. Last night, there were three shows, two dance performances and one theater thing, all of them wildly different and all of them amazing. After the final show, and at the end of my shift, I took a picture with terrifying clowns, and another picture with a giant snake around my neck. Both the clowns and the snake were part of the final show.
Tonight, there was a wrap party and because I had an early shift, I was done early and spent the rest of the evening as a guest, schmoozing and dancing. Dancing!
I've had a pretty dismal track record when it comes to employment this past couple of years - I kept stumbling into places that were just awful, awful jobs, working for terrible people. After three of these, I was starting to wonder if maybe the problem was me but nope! Turns out, I was just having a run of really bad luck. It's still pretty early to say (I've only been there a week) but I'm thinking my luck seems to have turned around. I'll be having a fun time with cool people and making decent money while I work on getting my own business off the ground.

In news of the Extremely Shallow, one of my outfits was featured on Weardrobe, a fashion site I joined recently. This is very gratifying. I figured it would take months, maybe years, to be noticed by the style mavens that run the site. As it is, I think I only joined up about a week ago. The site features new clothes every day so I think my picture will only be up there for a few more days before it scrolls right off the page. This means I shall have to continue to wow them with my mad style, so as to be a regular feature. I'm all about winning things. Also, my fashion sense, it is strong.

It's a small world, after all

Yesterday was my last day of unemployment and I woke up not knowing what I'd be doing, but hoping it'd be good. The universe totally delivered.
Parties and clubs are fun and I always have a good time but my favorite thing in the world is spending time with my favorite people, just hanging out at restaurants or in living rooms and laughing and talking for hours. That's my perfect day.
There are lots of people in my world that I enjoy spending time with but there are a few special favorites - five people in particular (and my brother, TAFKAM, who is my very best friend but doesn't count right now because we're related) that I'm much closer to. These five know about each other but a few have never met and none of them are close to any other one.
Today, I'd only planned to see Neil for lunch but because the world is an awesome place, I ended up hanging out with Sooz, Robin, and Talia as well. These are all very busy people who move in different social circles, with me as the only connecting factor so spending time with four out of five of them on the same day? That never happens. Ever.
Except today, I mean. All the stars were lined up and Sooz just happened to be outside when Neil showed up to meet me. Talia happened to be walking past the (favorite) restaurant Neil and I had lunch at. Robin only lives a couple of blocks from the restaurant and always has ice cream so after lunch, Neil and I were knocking at her door, ready for dessert. Because Neil is the most likable guy ON THE PLANET (introducing him to people gets annoyingly predictable because there are never any surprises. Everyone's just going to love him.), he was the perfect bestie to have with me when I was running into all the other besties. Everybody was thrilled to see everybody else and I had an absolutely fantastic day.
I know this isn't very exciting to anyone else - look at me, running into people I know! - but it makes me happy, and it's my blog.

Today, I start training at my latest New Job. I interviewed on Monday and got hired on the spot, which is usually a good sign. These past couple of years have been kind of ridiculous, job-wise. Normally, I get hired someplace and stay there for YEARS but lately? Not so much. This will be the fourth job I've had in two years so I'm hoping it works out better than the last few did. I can't handle all this instability. It makes me nervous.
So shoulders back, head up, smile plastered on, and back into the fray I go.

Winning things is my favorite.

Image by ipythias via Flickr

It turns out the secret to winning bets while playing pool is to play with someone that isn't very good. I had no idea. Here I was, wasting years of my life trying to hit all the little balls into all the little holes when all I had to do, really, was stand around and wait for my opponent to scratch on the eight-ball.
Last night, a friend of mine and I had a very high-stakes tournament going (the loser cooks a fancy-shmancy dinner for the winner) and I was all serious and aiming and calling and just as I was about to lose (you totally know where this is going), I won. Javier scratched the eight ball. Yay, me! We were playing best three out of five so I went into the next game thinking that I'd totally rock this one, THIS was the game where I'd blow him out of the water and instead, I played even worse than before. And he totally scratched the eight ball. Third game, I didn't even bother. I just sort of walked around the table and tapped haphazardly at striped balls. And then Javier scratched the eight ball. This, as I made sure to inform him repeatedly, made me the winner. I am the winner, Javier is the loser, and the world is a good, good place.
I'm thinking of making a career out of this. If you aren't very good at pool, I will totally play you for money. Call me.
Did I mention that I am a winner? Because I am. I totally win things.

Rock Nerd

It's been one of those weeks. I keep thinking I should update and then I remember that I've got absolutely nothing to talk about. There hasn't been much going on round these parts, aside from a couple of shows this week and a baby birthday party over the weekend. Hm. So there was some stuff going on. These last couple of days have felt so long that there's no way the weekend was only three days ago.
Let's see... Saturday was a very weirdly rock and roll kind of weekend. Lemme 'splain: One of the kids I babysit has a father, and this father is the frontman of a big rock 'n' roll band. Last Saturday, his parents threw a birthday party for the baby and a whole bunch of their friends/bandmates/fellow rock dudes with wives and small children were there. So I was hanging out with all these rocknrollas, talking about children's television and watching kids trip all over themselves during the mad rush for cake and goodies. It was pretty awesome.
After, I headed to downtown L.A. to see the Battlestar Galactica band (super-nerd!) at the California Plaza. They were playing a free show and since I dig the T.V. series soundtrack, I thought it might be fun to check out. I was expecting a mellow, magical, sort of classical vibe. What I got was mind-blowing military rock. At one point during the show, the composer told the crowd that the next song we'd be hearing was it's live debut. They'd never played it in concert before because, "Well.... I just didn't think it was possible." They launched into it and my head exploded. One of the fiddlers was THISCLOSE to giving himself a heart attack, it was that physically taxing for him to keep up with what was going on all around him on that stage.
Here's a link to the song - Prelude to War
It was an incredible show and I'm so glad I saw it.
I left the plaza on a total music high and promptly got lost. I spent the next twenty minutes wandering through downtown L.A, wondering if I should have made that last right at Hill St. It wasn't too scary, though. Lots of people wandering in and out of clubs, bars and restaurants, lots of valets and doormen to rush to my rescue should anything happen. All the tall buildings were lit up and as I wandered the streets, gawking up at the pretty lights, I nearly fell down the steps of the subway station I'd been looking for. Got home safe and sound.
I forgot what I did Sunday but Monday was pretty great. I spent most of the day hanging out with my neighbors and, that night, went to the Silverlake Lounge to hear a friend of ours play. I'd never heard this particular friend play before and I wasn't sure what to expect. You know how sometimes you have to go and see a friend's band and they aren't very good and then they come up to you afterwards and they're, all, "What did you think?" and you're, like, "Um. I liked that thing you do with your shoe." and they're, like, "What?" and then it's awkward? This wasn't like that at all. Tim was absolutely fantastic. Brilliant musician and a total charmer with the crowd. One of my favorite song introductions: "This next song is kind of a cliché. Everyone writes about Hollywood. This one, though, is from the perspective of a small, drunken Englishman." Tim is absolutely all three of those things. He had a sort of Kentucky hoe-down meets alt rock vibe that I really enjoyed. I'm always surprised when the British peoples play country music.
Anyway, it was a great time and I have a really bad picture.
Tim is the small, drunken Englishman over on the right. Aaron, the guy actually looking (blurrily) at the camera, may be one of the greatest guitar players I have ever seen. I've got to remember to ask Tim about that guy -he's gonna be huge, I tell ya. HUGE.

Fancyland: No children allowed

Yesterday was surprisingly productive for me. I drove around town submitting applications for most of the day, cleaned up my apartment, met my friend Dan for dinner, made cupcakes, and found the way to Fancyland.You're going to want to head west.

Dan is kind of an amazing guy - we've been friends for nearly twenty years, ever since my freshman year in high school when I fell madly in crush with him and commenced five years of stalking. I finally managed to bully him into dating me in college and we dated for a couple of years before we worked out that we get along much better as friends. Since then, we've drifted in and out of touch, once for nearly six years, but we always manage to reconnect. To me, that's kind of insane. I don't really maintain friendships all that well so it's nuts that someone has managed to stick around for two decades. The only other long-termer, Charles, has been the Best Friend for about eleven years. After that, it's five years or less. My friends are great people, mostly, I just haven't really known them for that long.
Lately, I've been hanging out with another high school friend I've reconnected with through FaceBook and it turns out that this guy, me, and Dan are among the very few who graduated that year (and have accounts on FaceBook) who are unmarried and childless. We like to sit around and talk about how strange it is that nearly all of our classmates are soccer moms, and then celebrate our awesomeness with whiskey.

Dan and I, staying out late because we don't have to worry about paying the babysitter.

Leap of Fail

Ike's home is a very large birdcage, all wire and lined with newspaper and bedding to protect his paws. The front of the cage has a large door you can pull up to open. There's a way to snap this door into place so that it stays open and that's usually what I do when I lift Ike out of the cage. When we're done hanging out, I lift him through the door and set him down inside. Lately, Ike, instead of waiting for me to place him inside the cage, has taken to jumping from my hands and through the doorway as soon as we get close enough. I'm not too keen on this because a) it startles me every time and 2) he's using his tiny tiny claws to gain purchase on my palms for the leap. Still, what can I do? He's a bunny. He's practicing his bunny skills.
So, just now, I was lifting him towards the cage and, as per usual, Ike performed the Bunny Leap Of Mad Skillz only this time, he totally miscalculated the distance and smashed, head-first, into the wall of the cage just below the door, ending up dazed and confused on the floor with me standing over him, dumbfounded and empty-handed.
He may be the raddest bunny ever but I can't help thinking that he may also be slightly stupid.

Ooops

Something tells me I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. My first clue was waking up four hours later than I'd intended to. My second clue was when I passed out again, even after realizing I'd already lost four hours and really needed to get up.
I'm typing with a hazy brain and can't really remember why I started typing at all so I'll leave you with my traveling friend and the dudes he's playing with.

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Erm... Sorry about that.

I meant to write a blog post, I really and truly did. First, though, I wanted to dash off a Quick Note to a friend that's far away, just letting him know things were a-okay back here. One thing led to another, the Quick Note turned into a Long and Pointless Ramble, and I've exhausted the part of my brain that I use for writing things.
I'll try again tomorrow.
Bing says goodnight.

Really? Already?

This is Ike's favorite hang-out spot. He claws his way from my lap to my shoulder every chance he gets. More parrot than rabbit, really.

It turns out that I'm going to have to look for another new job. This last new job isn't working out as well as I'd hoped. I was promised at least four shifts to begin with - I've got two. No bueno. The Hunt For Employment began yesterday and hopefully, I'll have something new by the end of the month. You know, when rent is due.
TAFKAM is flying me out to see him next month. I'm very happy about this. He really is the greatest big brother, like, ever. I was whinging about my money troubles and my relationship woes and just like that, he bought me a ticket for a flight to San Francisco so I could stay with him for a few days. A mini-break with my best bud. Everyone should have a brother like mine.

It has occurred to me that my grandparents both have birthdays right around now and I think I may have missed both of them. Ever since I broke my Palm Pilot, I haven't been able to keep track of people's things and keep getting embarrassed when I find out I've missed a thing. So, Granma and Granpa - because I'm pretty sure that both of your birthdays have passed, I'm sending you my sheepish but heartfelt wishes for a wonderful year and all my love.
Also, once I track down your address, a card.Ike also sends his love.

Art and Steak FTW

Yesterday, Fil and I hit up the LA County Museum of Art. He'd never been and I was all excited about showing him my favorite things in the galleries. There are three pieces, in particular, that make me happy and I couldn't wait to see them again. Sadly for me, two of them are gone now. The Rodin section? Gone. The whole entire thing. Every sculpture in the room was missing and all that was left were a bunch of empty, forlorn pedestals. The super-cool garage thingy in the contemporary art building? Also gone. Annoyingly, I don't know the name of the piece or the artist responsible for it so I can't even look it up. I've been googling descriptions of it but getting no results. I should ask my brother about it. He's a walking, talking Gallery Catalog. He'll know.
I hadn't been to LACMA for years and man, they went nuts while I was gone. It was like visiting a whole new museum. I had a lot of fun exploring the new building and galleries. This thing was pretty cool:
Right? It's like a street lamp forest. I was impressed.
There was some other art, too:
Also cool.


The new stove has finally arrived and in celebration, I'm making a Big Dinner. Very excited about this. Here is my awesome menu: To begin with, a tasty Soccer Mom Dip. I don't know what it's really called but a soccer mom at a BBQ showed me how to make it and it's fabulous. Then, Tasty Salad, followed by Pan Fried Rib Eye Steak with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Carmelized Carrots. For dessert, Homemade Brownies. I rock at cooking things.

Thunder makes me spacey

I'm incredibly absent-minded. Like, all the time. I try to play it off and act like it's a sort of charming, ditzy affection but really, I'm just not very good with the old attention span. I will make breakfast and then forget to eat it. Or I'll call someone and as the phone is ringing, suddenly realize that I don't remember who I'm calling, or why. So yesterday, when I left work, I set the alarm but forgot to lock the door. An hour later, I'm getting phone calls from my boss wondering why the police are at her store. Luckily, nothing was robbed. The wind blew the door ajar and set off the alarm.
Strangely, my boss is not angry with me. I suspect it's because she suffers from the same inability to focus that I have. Halfway through the conversation, she got distracted by something and forgot that she was mad at me.

Ike is doing well. I bought a huge birdcage for him, lined it with newspaper and bedding, and that's where he spends his time when I'm away. When I'm here, he runs freely through the apartment. He's adopted me, I think. Every few minutes, wherever the two of us are in the apartment, he'll seek me out and nuzzle up to my ankles for a few minutes before dashing across the floor again, off to seek new things to sniff/chew on. The other super-delightful thing he does is come to me when I call him. He's still so small that occasionally, I overlook him and keep on calling, wondering why he's not coming, assuming he's tunneled his way into The Cranky Neighbor's apartment and is about to be crushed by said Cranky Neighbor. Either that, or he's somehow managed to open the lid of the toilet, fallen in, and drowned. I have a habit of assuming the worst. This is actually a good thing. This means that when the worst does not happen, whatever did happen is always a pleasant surprise, even if it's a bad thing. It couldn't be that bad, you see, because it wasn't the worse thing that I'd already imagined. 'Bad' is always better than 'worst'. Meanwhile, Ike's sniffing at my feet, wondering what all the fuss is about.

There is crazy-scary thunder happening right now. I normally don't mind thunder all that much but knowing that I'm going to have to run errands in a few minutes makes me nervous. Thunder sounds too much like bits of the sky falling. What if something falls on my head? Would I have to change my hairstyle if my head is shaped differently?