cabin fever

I need to get out of here. But I have so much work to do still. I can tell I'm fast approaching burnout - a little crispy around the edges, snarky here and there, horribly impatient, prone to violent outbursts and sometimes just not making sense. Poor Jim, no wonder he insisted (or gently nudged) that we go out for dinner last night, rather than staying in. I don't think it did me much good, but he didn't try to smother me with a pillow while I slept, so in a roundabout way I guess it did.

We're going to take a short break and go to the Downtown News' "Best of Downtown Los Angeles" party tonight. I haven't had much social interaction besides Jim lately, so testing my rusty social skills, which were dubious to begin with (some might say nonexistent), at a party with politicians, fellow bloggers, relative strangers, the press and booze is probably not a good idea. But hey, if you see a crabby-looking Asian girl with a parasol sucking down those Fire & Ice cocktails, grab me another drink and say hi.

nose to the grindstone

There's so much going on and I can't blog fast enough. A few weeks ago, my loftmate Lucas told me that the quality of my blogging lately has sucked ass. Maybe he was just upset because he thinks my blog has misrepresented his sexual orientation. But I can't help it if he photographs that way. To be fair, he's right. It has sucked. But there is an end in sight. I'm on the last rewrite for my screenplay. As soon as I turn it in, I promise I'll go back to blogging about the six-foot blonde trannie in the mini-skirt I saw walking east on 5th Street, the assholes in the Douglas Building who were throwing eggs at homeless people on their sidewalk, and Yoda sucking down margaritas and getting fisted by Ali at Cole's.

we're getting hitched at the train station

Jim and I finally picked a venue for our wedding - The Harvey House Room (scroll halfway down the page) at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Here's the relevant part from the description on Wikipedia:

"Attached to the main building to the south is a small masterpiece, the remarkable station restaurant designed by southwestern architect Mary Colter (the last of the "Harvey House" restaurants to be constructed as a part of a passenger terminal). Although now usually padlocked and stripped of many interior furnishings, the topology of its rounded central counter dynamically thrust forward, its streamlined booths, and the inlaid floor patterns still constitute a busy and evocative sense of place. As with many Angelean locations, it has only survived by serving as an occasional filming location."

Jim wrote more about it here with a cool picture of the interior. I'm so jazzed.

astrologist's b-day pool party at the standard

This past Saturday, the astrologist celebrated his birthday with a pool party at the Standard Hotel downtown. Jim and I picked up photographer and loftmate Lucas at the penthouse, then took a leisurely stroll to the Standard. It was much too hot to move with any sort of speed.

As soon as we go there, we made ourselves comfortable in a pod. Basically, it provided shade and we could lounge around in a very cool, waterbed of sorts. Once situated, I didn't want to move, so I depended heavily on the waitstaff and the kindness of those sharing my pod to keep me drunk. It was quite a scene so I took a few pictures, all from the relative comfort of the pod.




















I didn't realize there was a gift-giving theme. Most of the presents the astrologist received were of the blow-up variety. Here's a picture of him blowing a pig.



Stephanie (the former Pat Benatar look-alike), Lucas, Jim and a waitress look on, speechless.






It seemed like everyone was on their cell phones. Typical.



Doesn't Jim look tres Hollywood in this pic?



Afterwards, we had a bite to eat in the restaurant downstairs, then it was on to Crewest for some gin and juice, turntablists, and hip-hop artwork. The rest of the birthday party went on to watch Repo Man at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, but we went to MOCA Nightvisions for the Rauschenberg show and to catch DJ Aoki and Kid Millionaire, but the highlight was watching lesbians make out by the fountain for a few hours.

Now it feels like summer is really here.

found my wedding dress

I'm not sure if I can carry this dress off, though.



(Thanks Helena!)

BTW, I forgot to mention that Jim and I finally threw some pictures from our engagement party online. Here they are, but the one below is one of my favorites.

it sucks being a responsible adult

I hope someone out there was able to make it to the free concert at the Hammer Museum earlier tonight (yesterday if you want to get technical about it) featuring my cousin Chris' band. You might have heard of them, Silversun Pickups. I had it on my calendar all week, but I got a call from Bigshot Producer - they want the rewrite muy pronto, which means Friday in Spanish. Okay, it doesn't, but I have to turn it in on Friday, which means I can't do anything until it's done.

At midnight tonight, I looked out the window and down the street towards my favorite supersecretlatenighthangout. Then the phone rang. It was Kristin, wondering if I was going to our supersecretlatenighthangout. She had already been partying, but wanted to continue. I toyed around with the idea - it's only for a few hours and I need a break anyways, I can pick up where I left off at 3am when I return from my short break. But I kept my eyes on the prize, made plans for the weekend (which she probably won't remember because she was already plastered), and went right back to work. So this is what it's like, being a somewhat responsible adult.

weekend wrap-up and last remaining seats

Didn't do as much of what I hoped/planned to do over the holiday weekend, what with the heat and all. I did manage to take Jim to one of my favorite restaurants that I don't go to often enough, La Serenata de Garibaldi in Boyle Heights. I had the lengua, which was so tender and delicious it almost melted in my mouth. Jim gave the thumbs up on his beef flautas, but I didn't try it, I was so engrossed with my lengua. Their sangria was so yummy that Jim switched from the also yummy (but not as much as the sangria) margarita. A couple serenaded us, with guitar accompaniment, and it was just perfect. It was a beautiful, quiet dinner on a hot Saturday night - the perfect lull before the action-packed holiday weekend festivities.

We had dinner Sunday night as planned, Shannon blogged about it. Monday night, we went to the Hollywood Bowl for their 4th of July fireworks show and I managed to make it through special guest Kenny Loggins' performance (even though he didn't sing "Danger Zone" from Top Gun) and the loud, rude, disruptive members of the audience without my brain exploding or physical altercations. Jim said the Bowl's website said no cameras, so I wasn't able to practice taking pictures of fireworks, but everybody else and LA Voice ignored it and took pictures anyway. On Tuesday we caught a matinee of The Devil Wears Prada - Meryl Streep was wonderful, as was Stanley Tucci, and despite some minor annoyances in the story, I really enjoyed it. Then it was on to feasting and fireworks at Gabrielle and Jim's pad. Yeah, it was a good weekend.

Tonight, Jim and I are going to watch Rebel Without A Cause at the Los Angeles Theater, the last show in the season for the LA Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats.

This is the Palace Theater, taken while standing in line a few weeks ago.


This is the Los Angeles Theater, taken across the street while standing in line for the Harold Lloyd comedies at the Palace Theater.


This is the interior, taken during the screening for The Mask of Zorro.


Tonight's show is sold out, so you're out of luck if you didn't get your tix early. It's also the last night of Nights On The Town, where various downtown eateries and bars offer pre-theater dining deals and discounts. I better get going or we'll be late for dinner.