reach-around romance

My astrologist and I caught a screening of Brokeback Mountain the other week. Liked it, but not as much as my astrologist did. Halfway through the film, he brandished his cell phone and mumbled something about having to take this call and left the theater. He was gone for a while, longer than a phone call you take while watching a movie should last. He denies it, but I think he went to the restroom to rub one out.

free rides on metro

Anyone coming downtown for any of the brazilian New Year's Eve parties going on? Now you can carouse drunkenly downtown without any transit worries - you can ride for free on the Metro Bus and Rail from 9pm through New Year's Day, ending at midnight.

And if you plan on hitting the Music Center's 46th Annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration, Metro is also offering free rides for Christmas Eve from 9pm through midnight on Christmas Day.

a leprechaun, a hillbilly couple, and my astrologist walk into a bar...

A few weeks ago, my new favorite super-secret late-night hangout was out of control. In addition to the great DJ (I danced for hours!), the super-attractive, fun and friendly crowd, the cheap drinks and the mellow vibe - all great reasons to patronize this underground anti-establishment establishment - there was a guy with a popcorn machine. And with this machine, he popped kernels of corn in oil that was infused with marijuana, and then doused with butter, also infused with marijuana. Like I said - out of control. Of course I didn't realize that was the situation until a hillbilly couple asked me if I were interested in a threesome. Then a leprechaun asked me to go home with him. I think it was a leprechaun, it could've just been the popcorn talking. Clearly, someone was under the influence. It just wasn't clear who. My astrologist was there, texting me furiously, "Where are you? I'm by the popcorn," but I think he fell into a tub of butter and didn't want to come out. At some point I figured it was time to leave. Probably when I realized it was 5am. We treated ourselves to breakfast at the Pacific Dining Car and I made it back home just as the sun came up.

I don't know if there will be any "popcorn" tonight, but I need to blow off a lot of steam just the same. Is anyone even in town? It feels like Night of the Comet in Los Angeles today.

sunday morning with william goldman

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riding the silver bullet

I needed to spend some quality time with my astrologist and photographer, so we scheduled a day at Knott's Berry Farm. The astrologist flaked out last minute, but I was able to find suitable replacements. We brought brand new toys valued at $10 or more (not gift wrapped) to donate to Toys for Tots and received free admission to Knott's. Such do-gooders. To get more bang for our buck, I hit the Toy District on Saturday and bought enough toys to fill two large garbage bags. I forgot that I walked there and had to drag them from 3rd and Los Angeles Streets to 5th and Spring. I almost reinjured my shopping arm.

The first ride of the day was the Silver Bullet. Although I love rollercoasters, I have an almost-paralyzing fear of heights. So I face my fears by riding 'coasters, but have a big bag of tricks to keep me from completely losing my mind. For instance, I'll stare at the horizon, but will not look down. So there I was on the Silver Bullet with my friend Jason. Right before a particularly steep descent, he suggested "Celia, look down at your feet." Foolishly, I complied. This is me right after looking down:



BTW ladies, Jason is single and looking...

catching up

I am so far behind in processing all the activity swirling around me. A few weekends ago I attended the Creative Screenwriting Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Three solid days of seminars, speaker luncheons, parties and networking left me exhausted.

The opening night cocktail party was held at the Hotel Figueroa. I was fortunate that Adrienne walked in right after I did, it would've been hella difficult to find each other in that dark, crowded, poorly laid-out but pretty poolside bar. We found her friend, a professor from Berkeley, here to teach a few classes. Our luck held out as we found a poolside table a few minutes later. I remember it was such a pretty night. Too bad I don't remember much of anything else.

I take that back, I do remember the rest of the evening. I was supposed to meet "DJ" at the party. I was under the impression that it was just a friendly meet-up and then my astrologist would join us and the three of us would hit an AFI party. Shortly after meeting up with DJ at the Figueroa, it felt more like a set-up. Adrienne thought he was beautiful. He was cute. I should give him a second look. BTW, everyone run out and buy Adrienne's book, Blogosphere: Best of Blogs.

We went to the party, had a great time, and wound up back at his place to lounge on his roof, sipping champagne beside a roaring fireplace. We did not do the no-pants dance, he was a perfect gentleman. He held up his end of the conversation, but there were no sparks. At least not for me. Oh well.

I'll post something about some of the seminars I attended and the William Goldman interview in a separate post.