sorry blog

it's been so long. sorry for ignoring you. i'll pay more attention to you soon.

oops!

yep, i did it again.  i've let almost another month go by without updating this thing.  you would think being unemployed would allot time for all the things you want to do, which it sorta does, but still......time goes by...so quickly...so quickly...so quickly!

okay, so last i left off, i had just received my jz heart tattoo from amy. huzzah!  that night was marty's birthday as well.  so after my tattoo i met up with my friend shawna for lunch at the black sheep.  that would be my second visit to the restaurant while in town.  we had a great time catching up, talking about life, goals, richmond, gossiping, reminiscing, etc.  i also enjoyed the best huevos rancheros i think i've ever had.  

later, i went back to sam and anna's to rest up for my real last night in richmond, which was chock full of activity, including an art opening at chop suey tuey featuring rob lee, bonnie staley and tyler thomas.  i am so lucky i got there in time because i was able to nab one of tyler's most beautiful watercolor paintings.  i have been wanting a piece from mr. thomas for some

 time and sorta had the notion in the back of my head on this trip to buy a piece from him as well as adam juresko.  mission accomplished on both fronts! 

after the opening, and mingling with friends from oh-so many years ago, i headed over to a mexican cantina a few doors down for marty's bday dinner.  mexican food and margaritas, one of marty's faves!  what turned from one margarita to another, followed by beers and shots of tequila, we all ended up stumbling out of the restaurant immensely full and somewhat lethargic.  the crew was rather deep for the dinner including old time favorites like george berry, frank, brendan, hugel joined us as well.  deciding we hadn't consumed enough of...well...everything....we headed over to dre's house in carytown for more tequila shots, beers and dancing (living room style, a personal favorite).  as the night progressed i began to get the overwhelming feeling of sadness i usually get when i know i'm leaving.  yet this time it didn't last as long.  i was ready to go......sad....but ready.  i bid marty, tanja and the rest good night.  it was hard to go and let go of marty, especially when he dropped the "i love you harp," while giving me a great big hug, which always melts my heart.  alas, i will be back in may for anna and sam's wedding, where i will get to see him again.

the next morning i had a coffee date with liza kate and i had to pick up my piece from chop suey tuey.  meeting him at his house, we headed over to tuey and then to betsy's coffee shop to rendezvous with liza.  it was quite lovely to catch up with two richmonders i normally never had much opportunity to spend time with while living there.  i guess that's what sorta happens when you leave and come to visit, you get to forge new relationships with people that you were not able to do so with before.  we spent a good hour or so just shooting the shit which was wonderful.  man.  i love richmonders.  there's a caliber of friendship or connection there that is very hard to come across in other places.  a true gem of a place which shines because of its inhabitants.  so that was that.  i headed north on 95 back to nova.

that night at my brother's house we grilled steaks and drank wine.  lucy, her friend and myself were dancing in the kitchen while my brother and his friend randy played the wii.  an obvious divide between brothers.  

so that was my trip.  i arrived back in la on sunday evening.  zoe and lauren picked me up from the airport, where then we headed to hama sushi for dinner.  i went back to their house and settled in, handled my mail and then ended up staying the night.  only to wake finding los angeles completely blanketed with heavy rain and wind, i decided i would stay at babes manor for the majority of the day.  twist my arm.  turns out, it was president's day and little deb was off of work and brought over wine, cheese, prosciutto, and an array of yummy desserts.  liza came over as well and we enjoyed the afternoon with catch-up conversations of love, lust and lies. 

that night i headed home to get some part of my life in order, ie taxes, unpacking, tending to my plants, cleaning, etc.  the remainder of the week took a little bit of adjusting back into my lack of routine life here in la, meaning my unemployment, looking for work, drinking coffee, jogging, and finding other ways to waste time.  in all honesty, i was a little lethargic coming back.  it was nice to have a vacation from my vacation.  i say that, but truthfully, i was looking for work everyday and hitting the internet nice and early each morning.   i was also taking this time to reinstate my membership in the unemployed hiking club, which pretty much consists of elizabeth birks and myself, as founding members.

the following weeks were pretty much occupied with looking for work, to no avail however.  i also spent this time getting my portfolio in order to print, assembling my book, and prepping myself to delve into web design.  nothing very monumental to report.  i've sort of been laying low, not spending money (because i have just about zero disposable income), and trying to concentrate on what my future holds. 

the past week or so has been very fruitful for me.  to catch you up to speed, i'm speaking of the beginning of march.  i dedicated myself to learning web design and css for my own benefit so that i can hopefully gain enough skills to get a job, or at least make myself more attractive as a job seeker.  eww, that sounded so business-like.  i became a little frustrated half-way through last week when i was attempting to just learn css via text book, without applying it to a site i was working on.  therefore i decided to ditch strictly learning css via textbook and started building my web site using dreamweaver while implementing css to my site.  for those of you who don't know what css, sorry, i'm writing this and it's probably boring you.  needless to say, after about ten days i got my site up and running.  it's  a bare bones site, that will eventually change, but i'm officially on the web!  peep it: www.sodhipop.com

east coast cont.....

i'm already slacking on this. but now that i've got a bunch of time on my bolt bus back to dc, what better time to catch up on this thing.  okay, flashback in time.  on thursday i met up with mya, melissa and johnny hugel for lunch at melissa's brother's restaurant, the black sheep.  i've only eaten at this spot once, but boy is it good.  good ol southern-style cooking...with added flair. plus, it's always nice to support local businesses...owned by friends and family.  i highly recommend it to anyone that visits richmond, va.  before lunch, i met up with melissa at her apartment in oregon hill.  i was instantly jealous at the size of the house, as i'm used to living in one room in la...but alas...it's a trade-off when living in a big city.  

so back to lunch. i ordered a battleship sandwich, consisting of tuna, a lime basil sort of sauce/dressing, and some other stuff.  the fucker was like two feet long. i was only able to devour half of it. i honestly thought i would have been able to eat the whole thing....i failed.  after lunch i went to rumors to bother casey and marshe again.  i found some tight jeans, lits, that i may eventually buy.  the next bullet on my agenda was to meet up with amy for my tattoo consultation. i almost forgot about it as i was on my way to byrd park for a run and realized i needed to see amy.  that's what happens when you have a beer with lunch at noon.  thanks mya! the consultation went well and we hammered out the details for my tigershark tattoo.  i was actually getting a little nervous about it....but i knew i was in good hands.   

next, i went on my run, which felt amazing since all i've been doing is eating, drinking, eating, drinking, repeat.  after that i met up with caroline to catch up, take a shower, and be a homo hobo, or homobo.  it was tight to see her, as she seems to be doing well.  i felt bad for not being able to hang longer and i was hoping to see her again on my trip but alas, our paths did not cross again while i was down there. after my visit to miss payne's house, i headed over to edo's squid for brendan's birthday dinner. homeboy was turning 30 and sticking to his tradition of eating at the squid  for the past six years....so why change a good thing.  on one half of the table there were nothing but engaged people at one point....including marty, anna, sam, tim and stephanie.  i had to get to the other side and hang with brendan, josh barker, b-dawg's mom and her friend...which i will call west avenue.  

leaving gorged, satisfied and mildly fatigued, i met up with the boys at the rowland street house and then eventually headed to sidewalk for some drinks. anticipating my tattoo the next day, i had to be cautious of my alcohol intake, which i was, but still a little challenging. it was good to hang with brendan, dave garland, and jay the gentleman. that night i slept at rowland street...which i had to think about it for a bit..but i'm pretty sure was the first time i had done so.  which i sorta found ironic that it was jonny's old room.

the next morning i met up with anna and sam for breakfast at harrison street coffee shop. i got my tattoo after that, which surprisingly only took an hour to complete and only really started to hurt up near the ribs. amy was gentle as usual and very attentive to how i was feeling.  she's the shit!  after my tattoo i headed over to anna's house to relax a bit, take it easy and prepare for the night.  we took a little excursion to some north side antique shops. after which we came home, showered, noshed on some food, and headed to ward's house for burritos, beer and slumdog millionaire. next, we headed to bagel czar aka twisters aka 929 space aka nanci raygun to see snack truck and some other bands. i proceeded to get wasted and everyone proceeded to hug and squeeze me on my tattoo. ouch! snack truck fucking ripped it.  i need to cop a record. after the czar, marty, tanya, rasul, frank and myself were looking for more hanging out and dancing.  we did not find it and i ended up hanging out with frank and rasul at helens in the fan. which, i had forgotten, was a great place for cute boys.  after making eyes at one boy on multiple occasions, and not doing anything about it, we left helens....rasul found $20 on the ground and then we went to frank's to hang out and listen to some of rasul's new tracks...which were dope as shit!

the next morning, nursing yet another hangover, i made my walk of non one-night stand shame back into the fan to the car. i headed to sam and anna's to shower up and meet marty and crew at 821 cafe for an hour long wait for food, followed by a visit to maymont park.  it was a bitter cold day but the sun was shining so it made it much more bearable. to all of our surprises, we discovered a new addition to the birds section of the park. they had added a bald eagle whose left wing had been severely injured.  this was definitely the closest i had ever been to an eagle. it was quite majestic. i pointed out how bald eagles sorta remind me of mean, old white men....which...go figure...is our country's bird and is quite apt of a comparison. after maymont, we headed to tanya's apartment for a little R&R, coupled with hot chocolate, then coffee, followed by my margaritas, chips and salsa, and tanya's guacamole salad. we spent a lot of time watching youtube videos. ahh, the digital world we live in. 

next, we met up with erin briggs at moms siam in carytown followed by drinks and dancing at empire. i met a boy, austin, i believe his name was. things didn't really pan out. i guess they could have had i been more forceful but i'm glad i went back to tanya's and chilled with marty and talked for a bit before we all hit the sack.  the time was much more rewarding. 

on sunday we headed to carytown for sandwiches and then to belle isle for a walk with josh barker's dog diego aka roscoe.  the weather was warm, the sun was out and so was everyone else. following our stroll in the spring-like weather, i decided to dump myself on mya for the remainder of the night and join her in prepping for the super bowl party she was hosting. we had a hellish time whilst shopping at the kroger near broad street...as everyone else was getting last minute supplies for their own parties. as people trickled in at the cherry street adobe, it was a bit of a shock being the only single lad in the house...therefore adam juresko and i decided to be one another's date. i ate way too much, drank equally as much and was asleep by midnight.

realizing that i was not going to make it to new york that day, i spent a very leisure day in richmond at anna and sam's crib. i did laundry, relaxed, etc and made my last restaurant visit on my to do list and had dinner at elephant thai with anna and sam and my girl, tonya the waitress.  and then i left for nova. got to my brother's house around 10 and then left for my parents house around midnight; got up at six for the metro to dc, to catch the bus up to nyc. 

i arrived in new york city around 12:30, to snow cascading down from the grey sky. it was gorgeous. cold.....but gorgeous. hatnim met up with me and then we grabbed a bite to eat, ran some errands, got supplies for dinner and then hibernated in her apartment for the remainder of the day. it was so bitterly cold outside that neither of us wanted to really do much. and as the snow continued to fall i was easily swayed into staying in.  that night we made a delectable butternut squash soup and hatnim made a small chicken, well seasoned, salted and cooked!  we ate with her roomates rob, guido, and hatnim's friend kelly.  their roomate, lauren came home later as hatnim, myself and guido were watching the cell.  i say watch, but with the heater running, hatnim screeching and the audio only so high, we were struggling to hear is probably the best description.  C.G. I loved how fun it was!

the next day hatnim and i ventured out later in the afternoon, on yet another blustery cold new york day, for lunch and 99¢ store shopping for here photo series.  the color theme chosen was green, so we gathered green wrapping paper, cellophane and plastic cups.  we came back to her apartment and started to construct my costume for the photo shoot. result will follow shortly:

that night hatnim, kelly and i headed to nowhere bar in the east village. this is a rad gay dive bar. we met up with kim z as she was done with class and there with a friend as well. we had a couple drinks and headed out as their coin slot night was beginning to get underway.  i sorta wanted to stay but decided to make our way back east and into brooklyn. we disbanded and left kelly to head home while kim, hatnim and i went to another bar for a drink. we were good and only got one drink but then we were cursed with the 40 minute wait for the G Train to take us back. Waiting, and then waiting when you are slightly drunk is no fun.....and then on top of that it was so bitingly cold outside, especially in the subway.  At three am the metro arrived and hatnim and i were the first to get off, meanwhile kim had a long haul ahead of her. When we left the metro stop, hatnim and i ran back home.....only to make our faces and noses that much colder and making breathing a little less normal. being that it was nearing four am, one would think we went to sleep immediately....instead we sat up for a bit drinking hot chocolate and tea. it's odd, four am is like two am anywhere else. i guess being in new york just gives you more energy to deal with hanging out later. maybe it has to do with all the traveling involved in getting to and fro.

on thursday, i headed over to park slope to visit sarah, chopper and amalie.  what an adorable family the three of them are. i came over and then sarah, amalie and the dog and i all headed out for a stroll, just as chopper was walking up. the timing was perfect. afterwards, we 

sipped on some spicy v8, ate a banana, amalie was fed and burped and then i got to hold the precious little one. it was very touching and quite surprising how much of an effect it had on me. i honestly looked at the cute little bugger and thought, wow, i want one of these one day. sooner than later even.  no current plans for a future sodhi running around. 

after my visit with the new family i headed back to flushing avenue to meet up with hatnim and head out to beauty bar. once we got to beauty bar, i quickly discovered the manicure and drink special and got my ticket for a mani.  sadly, i was very close to the end of the line but my time was well spent sipping on martinis and other libations.  i also met an australian doctor, which actually remains to be proved whether or not he was indeed a md.  the conversation was initially great...witty and slightly flirty.....however as the night progressed...he quickly became overly sexual, creepy and uncouthly, propositioning me in a very non-flattering way. call me a prude, a romantic, what have you...but a boy likes to get to know someone before anything happens. as it turns out, i told him very politely that it wasn't going to happen, and he was ok with it.  meanwhile, in her own state of drunkenness, hatnim was obliterated  drunk and taking pictures of people around the bar....forcing people to make out and pose in compromising positions.  at that point it was time to take her home, so rob, lauren and i headed out, while hatnim was insistent on going back into the bar.  she was abruptly advised that it wasn't going to happen and if she persisted to get into the bar the cops would be there in a very short while. so rob offered to take hatnim home and lauren and i looked at one another and thought, we should go dance!  we did, it was great...though hardly anyone else was on the floor dancing. instead they were taking up space on our dance floor!  in betwixt our dancing, we tried to grab the attention of mysterious single hot dude, who kept evading our presence and was later found flirting with hoochies, we determined. 

on friday, i was, yep, you guess it, hung over again. trust me, i was getting tired of it too! hatnim and i took it easy and watched a really bad drama, kiss of death. before we knew it the day had escaped us and the night was upon us once again. kim z came over and we headed out to williamsburg to a bar called daddy's.  there we met up with almitra and alison (florida) and spent a few hours slamming back some pints.  next, we ventured to another williamsburg bar for the remainder of the evening.

saturday morning kim and i grabbed a delicious mexican brunch, followed by a much needed bike ride to the met.  the weather was a balmy 45-50º which was very conducive to a lengthy ride. we took a stroll through central park, grabbed a hot dog, hot chocolate, and meandered thru the met.  we checked out the reality check photo exhibit, where the theme consisted a milieu of images that altered the viewer's interpretation of whether or not the scenes were real or not.  we also spent a lot of time in the byzantine jewelry area of the museum. i was actually very impressed with the exhibit, as usually i'm one to skip right over it.  i really enjoyed some of the older belt buckles and oxidized swords.

next, after a couple hours in the museum, and running into raimy's good friend amy c, we headed back to chinatown for some vietnamese food.  after arriving back at kim's house, we took it easy for a bit..showered, relaxed, etc. we headed out to a dog bar named sunny's. meaning, dogs are allowed inside the bar as the owners get tanked. this was a great little spot in redhook.  abutting the ocean, the statue of liberty in sight and the salty ocean air on our lips, we made our way to sunny's. and as indie, kim's dog, was the life of the party, we were introduced to some interesting people.  eric, from danville, va....and his girl jen, who spent several months as a deckhand on a boat in alaska....falling asleep to the sound of humpback whales.  so jealous!  

later that night we totally had more drinks atop of kim's roof at her apartment complex. a very cool, old firehouse (i think) in redhook, brooklyn.  the moon was almost full, as our hearts were totally full with memories of jonny z.

having extended my flight and staying in new york thru sunday, i was prepared for my last day in the city. kim and i headed to the biggest, most labyrinth and non-corporate style grocery store i've ever seen.  we grabbed lunch at fairway grocery store, followed by a pre-valentines day cupcake.  next, we hopped on the ikea ferry into lower manhattan for some shopping in soho. kim got an adorable snoopy hat, i got a leather belt and kim offered to make me a belt buckle as a project she already has to do. i, of course, begrudgingly accepted. as we grew weary of shopping, we were ready for a drink and a sit down. in route to a watering hole, kim ran into an old high school friend, brenden and his girlfriend. by twisting their arm we all decided to get one drink...which turned into three....followed by burgers and more drinks.  coupled with two amazingly funny and generous bartenders, we spent the next four hours with this couple...eating, drinking and being merry.  i love when those things happen. for my memory and for those of you actually reading this, the bar was on the corner of prince and thompson.  

the remainder of the night was spent continually getting plastered. kim and i had mutually decided on officially getting drunk.  as we took the train into williamsburg, we headed for another bar...and once again having great bartender luck (a bartender from virginia), our night was filled with guiness, brooklyn lager and a bounty of shots of jameson's.  needless to say, we stumbled back into redhook. on our way back, i attempted to give kim a piggyback ride which proved to be unsuccessful due to numerous factors.  she ended up with quite a knot on her head, but persevered.

the next morning as we woke from our drunken stupor, i quickly purchased my boltbus ticket back to d.c., intending to leave at 2pm. as it turns out, i would not be getting on that bus until the next day due to extenuating circumstances out of my control. deciding to grab a proper new york bagel before i left the big city, kim, indie and myself headed for a beautiful 3/4 mile walk into brooklyn for our morning nosh.   what actually happened through the course of the morning was a series of two near-death incidents.  first involved kim passing out directly in front of me while at the bagel shop.  reviving after about 3/4 of a minute later, i had already had my scare for the year.  i won't really go into great detail about the incident here, just because, but you may note that i was completely horrified, frightened, and panicky.  i thought i had just lost a dear friend of mine, right in front of my face. so, deciding not to walk back home because of aforementioned incident, i called a car service to come pick the three of us up (indie too, the big ol' doof).

as the cosmos were not aligned or maybe they were, our car is involved in an accident on the way back to kim's house. we were nearly t-boned as we were coming out of a wide u-turn, to which we needed to make a very sharp right turn. as we were completing the turn, i noticed to my right that a suv truck was heading toward us, at about 35 mph. noticing the truck barreling toward us, i had the time to think to myself twice, "man, we need to finish this turn quickly or that truck needs to slow down." upon thinking it the second time, i was only able to turn my head away from the point of impact, just as the truck crashed into us. when we were hit, my eyeglasses immediately left my face, as if we broke up and had decided to part ways. the coffee and sodapop also flew from my hands and immediately covered our hands, faces and back-seat of the car. 

after the initial shock had worn off from being in the accident and realizing everyone was okay, kim and i had really no other option but to start laughing. que mas? was the notion. what else could possibly happen to us this morning. it was too unbelievable to comprehend. as we shook the shards of  glass from our heads, wiped the spilled coffee from our clothes, we took a couple of deep breaths to face the walk home, which thankfully was not plagued with any sort of disaster.

needless to say, i did not get on the bus for d.c. that day. instead, kim and i retreated to the safety and security of her apartment for the remainder of the day, recovering, reevaluating, and replaying the events of the day. we eventually came to the came to the conclusion that new york was just too much for us to deal with for the rest of the day. we had our fair share of the city that monday morning.  that night we took it real easy, ordered in, watched a movie, looked at crappy tattoos on the internet (looking for inspiration for my belt buckle), and called it a evening. 

the next morning, feeling sore and a bit worse off than the day prior, i boarded the bus bright and early.  arriving in d.c. and then taking the metro up to vienna was a bit anxious for me as i was not certain my parent's car would still be there.  which, at the time, was the last thing i wanted to deal with....ie a towed car that isn't mine. sheesh.  i can hear my dad now, yelling a resounding "HARRRR-PAAAALLLI," all the way from india. luckily, the car was there, safe and sound and with no boot on it!

i spent the night in northern virginia at my brother's house, ripping music to my ipod and watching crappy movies like death becomes her.  the next afternoon i was off to richmond again. a little precarious about driving down there, i took my time and was overly alert. 

once i pulled into fist city, i b-lined it to rumors to purchase my adam juresko piece. next, i headed to bird's house in the northside for a well overdue visit. we had tea, cheese, apples and then dinner!  her house is beautiful, just as she is.  it was really wonderful seeing her and being able to have some QT with her. i was instantly jealous of her house and made a mental note to make a point to visit richmond in the summer time so i could cash in on pool access. seeing bird made me miss living with her and getting to know all her wacky food allergies and constraints. seeing her house also made me miss the wide open spaces available by living in the south. the idea of owning a house appeals to me so much at this junction in my life that the notion of having to come back to LA to live in my tiny room of a studio depresses me.  but alas, that is for another day in my life.

after a rushed dinner with bird, i had to jet over to the clothes rack (thrift store) to pick up anna for our lost viewing at shelley's!  upon conclusion of a very tight episode, anna and i headed back to her house, knocked a couple back (or maybe that was just me) and called it a night. 

on thursday i met up with melissa for lunch at pearly's in downtown richmond. enjoying a hearty bowl of chili and brunswick stew, respectively, we chatted about richmond, loves lost and found, the yearning to leave fist city, jobs, and the dwindling economy. ya know, typically diner fodder. 

that night, i met up with marty and dave garland for a drink, or four, at ipanema. hugel ended up popping in by happenstance for some food so he joined us as well. i love that about richmond. it's such a great community and town where you're always bound to run into someone you know. which can be good and bad, but for me it's always a treat. in los angeles, that rarely ever happens.  from time to time, however, it does. yet, it doesn't have the same appeal as in a smaller place.  usually in la, i find myself running into those that i don't necessarily want to run into again. after ipanema, we headed to rumors to catch dave garland's comedy act, yet we were too late.  

on friday, i got another tattoo from amy black at trademark tattoo in carytown. this one was a simple heart with JZ initials in the middle.  i wanted to get this shortly after jonny died but i got the parakeet one instead, along with the outline of virginia. amy was super sweet as usual and when i opted to pay with my debit card, and told her i only had $14 in my wallet, she gave me the option of paying cash. after trying to figure out whether i should pay $13 because it was the 13th of february, and marty's birthday....or pay $14 because the next day was valentine's day...we settled on $14...to avoid any possible bad luck on friday the 13th!  i suggest anyone that's in richmond and wants a tattoo to head to trademark tattoo.  amy is my shit! mad love!

more richmond

as i got into town from anna and sam's house, i ended up parking my dad's car right on grace street, directly in front of my old apartment at 1120 west grace st. it was quite fitting. so i spent the day with marshe and casey at rumors. being that most everyone is at work, i just kicked it with the ladies and bothered them while they worked. and to my lovely surprise, lauren healey popped in. i got a two-for-one. she hooked me up with a pastrami sandwich as well. man, it feels good coming home. we then ran to the salvation army in the soggy and cool weather. that much rain was sort of nice to experience, for a hot sec. on the way back we made a pit stop at lauren's new house in northside. i quickly became stoked and jealous of the property ownership...but ultimately stoked! she gave me a few pieces of jonny's artwork and i started to well up again. it was a bit much. i've been having those moments here and there since being back. it gets very overwhelming at times and hard to breathe.

after a breathtaking, confusing, amazing and tight episode of lost, anna, erin and i went to godfreys. the drag show was fun, as per usual, but a little long as we were all anticipating hearing the single ladies jam. we did, we danced, we moved on. on my bike ride back i had a reflective moment about my time in richmond. everything always feels so comfortable when i come back that i find myself asking why i really left, why i stay gone and if i'll ever be coming back. i love the community, the friends, and the memories of an old life. i just know that at this moment in my life i need to see if i can survive in a large city, to see if i can even do it. only time will tell.

richmond

i just got here yesterday in the early eve. i picked up anna at the clothes rack and we went back to her and sam's crib.  they made delicious whole wheat pizza.  marty, frank and rasul came over. we reminisced about brunswick, the compound, allen street, et. al. whew, how time goes by.  it was so very good to see the guys again.

another attempt

lets try this again.

jan.2009.

new years at the house of babes. time well spent.  i met this guy, heath, so that made me happy. erin foley was in town as well, that melted my heart.  nicole was in from portland. also a plus. it was a wonderful party indeed.  elizabeth birkenbuel sorta took the cake for most drunk. she's a doll. the french were there as well.  they were very sexual, to the say the least.  and then there were rude, drunk hipsters that came, drank, ate, and were annoying.  we laughed about them the next day.  we also watched slum dog millionaire. beautifully done i thought.

i've been unemployed as of the christmas holidays.  still looking for work, even harder so after the new year.  full time job looking for a job. it's true.  in the meantime,  i joined elizabeth, avi, nick and dre in the very informal and continually growing unemployed hiking club.  it's a great way to stay active and sane while looking for work. plus, it's LA, so it's always nice to find new hikes to appreciate the urban mess of a city.

also been passing my time by reinstating the animal facts club in los angeles. members include zoe, natalie, patrick and myself.  i hope the group becomes larger as time goes on.  we've only had one meeting thus far.

i got wasted with christopher and his friend jonathan (from england) at this hollywood hills party.  so euro!  karaoke, dancing, dude from project runway, girl from lost, ohh the LA life.  hung over the next day....terribly hung over the next day.  quelled the fire with cheese pizza and two liter of coke.  the usual. later that day i met up with frau fiber in regards to worn again LA. all systems seem go. i'm excited.  a lot needs to be done but i think it will be a really fun event. i'm so very stoked to have met her and to work with her on this project.

inauguration day=one of the best days in my life in such a long, long time.  it's coming very close to election day...which i think at this point, takes the cake.  the day had come and it still didn't seem very real. it still sorta doesn't.  it was such a refreshing morning and by refreshing i mean 85º.  it was fucking hot.  everyone was in such a great mood. tears, tears everywhere...married with a sense of relief and understanding of hard work ahead.

and then i left to come back east for a bit.  now i'm here.  on the east coast for a couple weeks. i just visited my girl ashleigh up in pittsburgh. we laughed....A LOT...as per usual. we drank too much wine....ate a bunch...danced a whole lot. places of interest included, her apartment with her adorable roomate Mala aka Mall-Man!  Ashleigh=Shleighman, i'm Paul-Man. we also went to some bars, a house party with so many gays, stinky ones too (yumm)...we went to the andy warhol museum.  we were little kids in the space room with the silver balloon-pillows and fans. it was too much fun.  we ate bagels, drank coffee, froze our asses off, had a hoe-down, drove in her stinky, moldy car, watched 30 rock, bridget jones, lost, and giggled like school girls.  words include: totertots, lits aka literally.  the first night there we danced to old school funk and soul. i got hit on by this guy that looked like he was 14.  she got hit on by a gay guy that looked like he was 12.  we went to the sunoco afterwards and the queeny cashier thought i was a kept man.  i told him, "honey, i wish."  he retorted, "ain't nothing wrong with that."  we stumbled over our laughter as we left the gay station.

i drove back on sunday. it was a quick, cold, and somewhat scenic ride.  chilled with my bro and his girl lucy for the night. watched death becomes her and the kingdom. left for dc on monday to meet tim, metal megan and kerry's good friend from seattle, that now lives in dc. we at lunch in chinatown (in coincidental celebration of the chinese new year (the ox)).  we headed to the museum of natural history but before we made it we took a detour to the botanical gardens.  a very pleasant and much needed stop considering the bitter cold and the extreme warmth the gardens had to offer.  we went to the jungle, did the canopy walk. it was nice.  after our culturally rich day of dinosaur bones, wing spans, whale exhibits, national geographic photography, and the glamorous hope diamond, we headed towards.....uh...well...it was close to dupont.  we chilled out....warmed up...what have you.  i met some very interesting people, dega, melvin and al.  melvin, tim and myslef went to the uber gay bar, halo.  as i'm writing this, i'm listening to the song halo, by beyonce, and this was not intentional. i swear. i sorta like the song.  

i got wasted. i was drunkzilla. through the course of the night i broke a beer bottle, dropped my chinese food, lost my scarf, dropped a bagel at tim's house even later in the night yet somehow managed to pay my expensive tab and not loose vital stuff.  yep, still got it.  tim, on the other hand, was "losing" things all night.  first his phone, etc, etc, and then would pull out various forms of jewelry and accessories in search of his "lost" items.  it was funny at the time. thanks tim for a great time. solid guy.

now i'm getting ready to head to richmond.  yay!  more later....later.

March 2008 | Part II

Okay, let's begin.

March was a rather busy month for me. Busy in the sense of having fun and hanging out. Again, I know, it really is a tough life I live. The entire month was spotted with dear friends of mine coming to LA for a visit, either because of spring break or just by chance.

My first visitor was mrs. chucklesworth herself, ashleigh pederson. This jewel of a friend spent one week here in LA with me and my gal from the LBC erin foley. Of course, laughter and ridiculousness were our fourth and fifth friends during our outings. The first night was spent at La Cita, trying desperately to run into ryan gosling...but alas to no avail. In the meantime we spent our time sipping on libations and being absolutely silly with the digital camera, alongside stella wingfield. We enjoyed the hiedousnes of zooming in on one's face and discovering each clogged pore and blackhead. Yum!

On friday we hit up akbar for some dancing, along with miles, claire, and my wonderful LA crew: erin, zoe, lauren, cmo, noelle, et al. We danced the night away...as per usual. We did have a few celebrity sightings....including kids in the hall star, scott thompson. I was forced to pose with him for a photograph with erin....and naughtily and clumsily grabbed his butt and caressed his balls. Ooopsiees! We also saw some guy that's in heroes...who will also be in the new star trek movies....playing spok. Which explained his weirdo eyebrows.

The next morning, ashleigh, erin, and myself bid miles and claire adieu after a cheap and yummy breakfast at Cafe Tropical. We hit the road for wine country in paso robles, just north of san luis obispo. If anyone has never taken this excursion up, I highly recommend it. It is absolutely stunning up there. The drive is just as phenomenal and part of the experience; and it's only about 3.5-4 hours.

We spent our first night just visiting one wine cellar along the coast. The name is Castoro Cellars. After our tasting and purchase, we headed to the pier to sample our wine and enjoy the stunning sunset alongside the sleepy town with such an affording dramatic vista.

On our way back to town and to our hotel, night had already lay its head down to rest, and the stars were exploding along the skyline. I had to pull over and just lay atop our rental car and soak in such a heavenly sight. All along to michael jackson's "man in the mirror" song, on the weird michael jackson station, aptly titled xmthriller. Twas such bliss to have a commanding nightly view, with zero light pollution from a surrounding cityscape. My favorite! I really forgot how beautiful, scary, calming and silent darkness can be. It was a nice feeling.

The remainder of the night was spent in the hot tub at the Adelaide Inn and then being silly in our hotel room. Including me running around half-naked and climbing on the furniture like a spider.

The next day we visited five wineries. We started out at Tablas Creek with a tasting, followed by a brief tour of the premesis and the steps involved in wine production. From that point on I think a bit of crazy ensued for the remainder of the day, the night, and the trip. We were driving the beautiful and windy country roads listening to the same three songs on repeat. The Cranberries "Ode to my family," Johnny & June Cash "Jackson," and a song from The Hackensaw Brothers. I don't think I have laughed that hard in such a long time slash enjoyed myself and felt so happy in over a year.

We visited a few other wineries/vineyards. Grey Wolfe was definitely one of the best. The staff was so very warm, receptive, humorous and very friendly. On top of that, the vineyard remains in the family, and you get that feeling immediately as you walk into the house for a tasting.

To close out our journey we visited one last vineyard for a tasting. We purchased more wine, some snackables and set up a picnic along the grassy and rolling green hills to watch the sunset and enjoy the comfortable weather, fresh air and stunning scenery. As the sun painted the sky with an array of pinks, yellows, and oranges, we packed up and bid bon voyage to wine country.

The drive back was rather swift and painless. And as we pulled into LA I decided to meet up with patrick and some friends of his at this wonderful bar/restaurant in koretown called the prince. Of course, immediatly after getting out of the car, our exhaustion had set in and we zombie-walked our way into the bar for a few drinks. Whew...what a trying and well spent few days!

The next day the gals and I (ashleigh and erin) met up with zoe for lunch in silverlake at Dusty's (a yummy, moderately-priced french-american restaurant). Aftwards we hit the road to El Matador beach, just north of malibu. However, we took the scenic route via topanga canyon, which offered some mountainous views deep within the hollywood hills. A nice treat for me as well, being that I have not had such an opportunity. Plus, it was a great way to get ourselves ready for the beach. Writing of which, this was also my first time visiting matador beach and holy shit is that place so serene and secluded. I had no idea. On top of that, I swear it reminded me of living in Hawaii, especially with such monstrous and jagged rock formations strewn about on the beach. A true gem of a beach. Afterwards, we went to El Compadre in west hollywood for some delectable comida de mexicano...along with flaming margaritas and a marachi band. Muy bien!

The remainder of ashleigh's time here in LA was spent doing such things as: visiting Joshua Tree National Park; cruising around LA/Silverlake; taking a stroll around the silverlake reservoir; rollercoasting down the monumental hills of echo park; scoping the row of victorian houses in angelino heights; and trying to spot celebrities all along the way. I think Joshua Tree was stunning. Being surrounded by such vastness of land and rock definitley made me feel like I had been transported back to the land of the dinosaurs. The calmness. The quiet. It really was an incredible feeling. I also loved being able to climb upon the rocks and jump from one to another...back and forth...all around. It made me feel like a child again.

Sadly, Ashleigh left mid-week and it was back to normal....but only for a few days or so. My next guest, one Erin Briggs, was to arrive the following monday night. Using this time to "catch up" on sleep and recover from a very unhealthy lifestyle as of late was much needed, yet hardly attainable. That weekend was cmo's b-day and patrick and i kidnapped cmo and went to a bbq in santa monica where we met a very friendly group of LA dancers, whose abode was reminescent of my old college crib on brunswick, ye ol COMPOUND.

When erin arrived on monday night, we sorta took it easy and grabbed dinner at Señor Fish in downtown LA and came back to my spot for some wine and conversation....followed by passing out to a movie. P.S. Señor Fish has some of the tastiest fish tacos I have ever had....and there are so many types of salsas!

The next morning erin had a haphazardous adventure on my moped and ended up in beverly hills due to my miscommunication and bad directions. Ooopsies! Good thing I put enough gas in maxine before erin disembarked. Later, she met me for lunch at Banquette Cafe on 4th and Main St. Banquette is a quaint french cafe that has some interesting and yummy sandwiches with great wine (i hear though i have yet to sample).