please stow all weapons in the over head compartment

To get straight to the point, LAX has a couple of my knives.

One was a really nice blade, the other a Swiss army knife, and um. Yes. The butter knife incident. That last one was post 9-11. Security was not amused.

At any rate, I'm a knife kind of girl, what with it being in the family and all -- heard of the Bowie knife? Yeah. That's my family. I'm a Bowie. Jim Bowie was my first cousin about eight generations up, and my family is a strange and violent motley crew, so.... knives. I also like Escrima sticks and I'm getting better with a gun, but that's a different story. My nunchuck skills are also quite good. Nope, not joking.

So whenever I am about to go on a flight I go through this sort of disarming process with my backpack, laptop bag, and key chain, because I'm tired of airports taking my weapons and I think every time they confiscate one, there goes another check mark on my application for the No Fly List.

I am flying out tomorrow morning and will be in New Jersey for much of the time, and what was going to be more vacation-like has turned into a full-on support mission. (I am visiting the good, good friend of mine whose father dropped through a roof. See earlier blogs of panic and relief.) Meaning: I'm not going there to ensure I have a good time, I'm going as a supporter, healer, friend, and whatever else is needed. Luckily I'm good at this, and I'm honored to do it.

Posting will be light to non-existent depending on when I find time/wi-fi. Have a wonderful Fourth of July, don't blow off the fingers of yourself or your loved ones, I'll be back on Tuesday of next week and oh yeah:

"Let your caring change the face of everything..."
-- paraphrased from Charles Harper Webb

let's pause for a moment as I talk about myself...

I know, I know, self-serving blogs (is that redundant?) are kind of boring, but I was playing around on the internet and found that the Valentine's Day Zales commercial that I'm in was finally posted on YouTube.

My cousins on the East Coast will be so thrilled.

At any rate, that's me at the very end, the bride, using sign language to tell my (adorable) husband that I love him. Yes, I do know some sign language. No, I could not breathe in that dress. Yes, I'm aware that they gave me poodle hair. And yes, that necklace and ring that I was wearing cost more than a really, really nice car.

Enjoy! :)

because we all need reminders every now and then

I got these here - and they're on sale, so if you want some of your very own, go get 'em!

relieved

Phew. Okay. Everyone take a deep breath with me. The father of a very good friend of mine (whom I am flying out to see this Wednesday, actually) fell through a roof, but I just got the phone call that he is okay with some minor trauma and injuries.

It's not the best ending ever but it certainly could have ended a lot worse. I am so grateful.

Thanks guys, for your support, love, crossed fingers, and general all-around awesome-ness. I really, really appreciate it.

much love,
Tracy

"transform our hearts / into melodies"

I took Tai Chi in college, and sometimes, instead of doing the movements, the instructor would have us sit down and just follow our breath, to get us to focus. But she'd warn us.

It's very hard to get your body to focus if you're in pain.

Right now I'd love to be blogging, eating, sleeping, hell, even working. But I'm waiting. For a phone call. To tell me if someone that I care about is okay after an accident. It's very hard to focus. My excess energy goes into my right leg and bounces, shaking my chair along with it. I am waiting. I am waiting. I am waiting.

I listened to the new album by Great Northern on my drive into work this morning. It's fantastic. All of the songs on the album "Remind Me Where the Light Is" are fantastic, but right now I'm liking the song "Fingers." The lyrics start like this:

"Transform our hearts
Into melodies
and remove the parts
that know tragedy..."

I am waiting.

what not to do at a Subway restaurant

So I'm in line, ordering my sandwich, when the kind and talkative man ordering ahead of me puts both his hands flat on the glass that separates the food from the customers in order to lean in and look at everything...and the glass wall gives way, tips forward, and takes the man with it.

The glass landed on the food (it didn't shatter) and the man landed on the glass (he was completely fine) and I think I cried from laughing, especially when he collected himself, looked straight at me, and said, "That's never happened before!"

Thank god for blogs, because I really wouldn't be able to Twitter all that.

life equations

now this is my kind of math! If you had a life equation, what would it be? Feel free to get as creative/snarky/sarcastic/cutesy as you want. I welcome all types, except religious fanatics.

tracy - sleep = cranky

tracy - sleep + caffeine = spazz

tracy - sleep + caffeine - food = completely useless

tracy + chocolate = yes

tracy + sleep + chocolate + hammock + root beer = hells yes

tracy + kitten - kitten scratches = :)!

Now you try.

Tuesday menu

Dinner is: cucumber salad (diced cucumber mixed into cottage cheese with Italian dressing), sliced fresh nectarines, sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and raspberry lemonade to drink.

YUM.

5...4...3...2...1

I'm sitting at my desk, munching on chocolate covered Joe-Joe's (Trader Joe's version of oreos) and feeling all bloggy. What to blog, what to blog...

5 things I want right now:

5) The movie Public Enemies to come out, as it has both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale (::swoon::) in it, and good God, I don't even care what it's about. But the trailer makes it look pretty damn good anyways.

4) a lobster quesadilla

3) tickets to a Tori Amos concert - I'm working on it, I'm working on it...

2) this dress (look at the third picture of it, with the girl under water. How gorgeous is that?!)

1) two words: beach picnic

4 activities I should be doing instead of blogging:

4) working

3) editing my script

2) writing another article for the Examiner

1) finishing The Blind Assassin, now that it's getting AMAZINGLY GOOD

3 places I need to go to:

3) The new crepe place that just opened up across the street from my favorite movie theatre in Burbank

2) Laguna Beach

1) the New Jersey shore

2 things I'm looking forward to this week:

2) Dinner with a good friend of mine on Wednesday night at her place

1) Seeing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged at Shakespeare Orange County this weekend. Hilarious show, and I worked for this theatre company for four years while in college. I get to see old friends, AND laugh my ass off!

1 quote that is getting me through it all:

Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.
Tolstoy

here kitty kitty

A one year old snow leopard cub using the fence as a scratching post

big kitty, big attitude

Do all white tigers stick their tongues out at me?

this big leopard was on the prowl

cheetah vs phone book - guess who won?

panther vs cardboard tube - guess who won?

how was your weekend?

Mine was terrific. I had actually intended to post only this blog for today, but my earlier blog was something I had to get out of my system, so we now return to my regularly scheduled blogs of random spazziness.

So I don't drink wine, but I love cooking (okay, technically I love eating, but I'm learning to cook for myself.) What I do instead of pairing wine with dinner is pair a movie with dinner, like doing fish and chips and Boston Cream Pie with The Departed (success!) or making ratatouille wraps after watching Ratatouille. And oh the geekery, my friends and I do a Lord of the Rings marathon once a year, (all three movies in one day) and last year we served up all seven hobbit meals. I know you're judging right now, and I don't even care, the food was that good.

Friday night I watched Chocolat. (Johnny Depp as a guitar-playing gypsy-like-pirate with a ponytail and Irish accent? Can I get another amen?!) And then I cooked this afterwards and OH MY GOD instant chocolate heaven. (My pies didn't look as pretty as the pies in the official recipe picture, so I didn't take any pictures of my own, but I will when I make it again.)

Saturday morning it was cold, grey, drizzly, and I had some friends in town who were visiting. Did I know any good hikes? they asked. Did I know any good hikes?!

Um. For those who don't know me, quick catch-up: I love hiking. So much in fact that (what feels like eons ago) I created a yahoo group that went on monthly hikes all over Southern California. I love hiking and camping and hiking gear and camping gear and somewhere inside me, I'm just sure of it, is a pretty pretty princess dying for a pedicure but most of the time I'd rather just play with swiss army knives.

Anyways. Cold grey drizzly Saturday mornings are perfect for two things: hiking or snuggling. I opted for hiking. Off we went to Switzer Falls, one of my favorite tried but true stomping grounds, which has streams and waterfalls and is just heavenly in the spring time. It was the perfect workout and a good time was had by all. And then, the highlight of my weekend:

The Cat House Twilight Tour.

Three times a year (one in spring, summer, and autumn) an exotic feline breeding compound in Southern California opens up its doors after dark to the public and lets people come view tigers, mountain lions, jaguars, lynxes, snow leopards, white tigers, and all other types of exotic, endangered cats - about three feet away from the cages. The keepers give the cats "enrichment" toys -- usually salt licks, cardboard tubes and cardboard boxes, phone books -- and you get to see 400 pounds of man-eating tiger turn into a kitten in about 8 seconds. I took a bunch of photos, and I will post more over the next few days, but I wanted to leave you with this shot, a sneak peek if you will:


I hope your weekend was awesome too -- and that you kicked off the first official day of summer in style :)

it's complicated

For those of you on social networking sites that ask you how to define relationships, you can appreciate the "it's complicated" title, I'll bet. Because regardless of whether you're single, dating, married, divorced, nun, or "other" (that last one always creeps me out a bit), you have to realize that all relationships are complicated.

This is even more so with family. We grow up with these people that we didn't necessarily choose, and we try to make it fit and work and put a lot of effort into these relationships because "blood is thicker than water." Except family is so very...complicated. It's not always easy.

At any rate, Father's Day happened yesterday. For reasons that are personal, and that I probably won't ever truly explain in a blog due to the fact that I don't like to blog about events where there are always other points of view (that doesn't seem quite fair to blog about), I'll just say that a phone call was not made, an email was not sent, a card was not mailed, and a gift was not given to my father. I love him very much and hope he is well, and I hold him in my heart, and in the light, but for the first time in my life I am choosing my well-being over his and because it has made the nightmares lessen, I know it is the right thing to do.

I look forward to the day I get to reconnect with my father, give him a fierce hug, and tell him that I am proud of the man he has become.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there who are strong, brave, fierce, protective, and loving. And happy Father's Day to all the mothers out there who stepped up and, in the place of a father, were just as strong and brave and fierce and protective and loving.

May the light shining from your children's faces tell you how grateful we all truly are.

holy frak! *

So last Saturday night after a week of ick, I caught a free concert with a couple friends. The Grand Performances Series in Downtown LA opened its summer season with Bear McCreary, the composer for the new and improved television show Battlestar Galactica, orchestrating and playing his original music along with his regular crew of musicians.

(PS you should watch this amazing show, especially now that it's out on DVD and you have no excuse to not watch.)

This song was the highlight of the performance that night - Katee Sackhoff, who plays the character Starbuck on the show, briefly joins composer McCreary on stage for a piano duet that she performed on the show during one of its last episodes. The fans lost their minds.

Also, check out how bad-ass the fiddler in the white jacket is (he's center-stage right, which means if you're the audience, he's on the left side of the stage.)

I was in the third row that night, drinking hot chocolate. Life is damn good.




*yes, I swear like a nerd.

Lest someone out there think I am classy

...today I sneezed on my Ipod.

Also, ponder this: I can eat anywhere, anytime, anything, and not spill a morsel on myself or my clothes. I had tacos in BED a couple nights ago and spilled not one crumb on my sheets. I have literally caught drinks in mid-air that other people have knocked off the table, placed the drink back on the table, and had not a drop on me, to the utter horror/amazement of friends.

Doing martial arts for 14 years gives you quick reflexes.

However. Doing martial arts for 14 years did NOT give me, as you might expect, oh, I don't know, GRACE, hand-eye coordination, or the ability to successfully negotiate a truce with gravity. As a result I continually walk into bed frames, fire hydrants, telephone poles, bang my head repeatedly getting into MY OWN DAMN CAR, trip over sidewalk cracks and occasionally miss stairs, and ah. Yes. The concussion of 2007 that I gave myself. After walking into a TREE.

So just in case anyone out there thought I was physically capable of walking more than five feet without running into something...wanted to clear up a few misconceptions there.

You're welcome.

18 hour day of OOF

Hey everyone!

So I didn't get a chance to blog at all yesterday, as my alarm clock went off at 4:45 AM (yep, you read that correctly) so I could take my bestest friend in the whole wide world (you can call her Alyssa) to LAX so she could catch a 7:30 international flight.

Ooof.

Then I headed straight to work, worked until 4, and headed out to Santa Monica to do a freelance gig until 7. Ate dinner in my car, came home, fell asleep on my bed from 9:30 to 10:30, woke up, did some chores around the house that I was supposed to do earlier, then dropped back into bed like a sack of potatoes.

And then lay awake. For over an hour. Ever have that -- your body is exhausted but your mind just won't shut up? I have that, oh, almost every night. And then when I do fall asleep I don't have very good dreams most of the time. I think it's anxiety, whether from past, present, or future events, playing itself out in my sleep. Either way -- do NOT appreciate.

Anyways, some thoughts, questions, and the best lemonade stand I've ever heard of for y'all before I sign off:

Either my brother also reads my blog or it was just plain serendipity, because my mom called and said that not only had my brother found the chair hammock I recently blogged about in her garage, but that he'd brought it over to my aunt's so I could pick it up. I'm thinking about hanging it on my balcony and lounging in it while reading and sipping lemonade.

Summer drinks. I love cool, refreshing, fruity drinks -- but I don't drink alcohol, so about 95% of these recipes I can't use and have no idea what to substitute instead of booze. Ideas, tips, or recipes, anyone? At any rate, enjoy the link -- it's 50 cool summer drinks, all of which look amazing.

Also: I love buying things intended for the kitchen and using them someplace else. I have a pots and pans rack from IKEA mounted above my bed that holds all my necklaces and pretty picture frames and cards I get in the mail, and I just found these at Sur La Table and instead of using them to identify summer drinks, I will be labeling each one in chalk (I'm thinking DREAM, LOVE, and BREATHE) and hanging them on a wall somewhere. I'll share pictures, I promise.

Finally, as I'm noticing an accidental lemonade theme here for my blog post (when life throws lemons at you for 18 hours straight, make alcoholic lemonade while buying things at Ikea?) so I leave you with this amazing virtual lemonade stand -- it's the cutest idea in the world from a kid whose heart is in the most amazing place.

Happy Tuesday, guys!



photo credit: I got it here

imagine all that is shining and new

It's the end of what's been a long, frustrating week for me, not without its good moments, but certainly a few bad moments as well. Today I had another setback and felt, well, a little defeated, to be honest. Feeling discouraged and a little beaten by life, I did what I usually do when things aren't going well -- I go someplace else, in my mind. The change of "scenery" always gives me new perspective, and I remember how transitional life is, slipping from one moment to the next like a cloud changing shape, and nothing is forever except love.

I close my eyes. I breathe. I open them. I am in Laguna Beach, with my mom, sitting on the warm grass in the Friday sunshine, watching the aqua blue waves crash against the shore, the volleyball players, the little kids swing on the swings. We eat mozzarella and tomato sandwiches and ice cream cones and I listen to her tell me stories about when she moved to Boston by herself without knowing anyone, or how she once got to interview the prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, before he was assassinated.

My toes are warmed by the sand and I can practically feel my shoulders freckling, and there are jokes and stories told and a lot of them are about all the cats we've owned, and we give each other advice and make references to how we still think The Gilmore Girls totally borrowed from our lives, and when my mom gets home she will play Jeopardy! over the phone with me because there was a Shakespeare category again and she loves how I know 95% of the answers to all the Shakespeare category questions. And when I get home I will dust the sand off my flip flops and put some aloe on my shoulders and go to bed, dreaming of summer days of warmth and love, and I will know that yes, this too shall pass. It always does.

Have patience with everything unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is to live everything.

Live the questions now. Perhaps then, some day far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it,

live your way into the answer.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Also:

My push-up count is now 40.

Hells yeah!

happiness is a warm list

I'm recovering from the bummer that was yesterday with a list of things that are making me happy right now. It's cheaper than drowning my sorrows in a swimming pool of Rocky Road. (Also, easier on the thighs.)

I am really craving owning a hammock again (I owned a small chair hammock at one point, and it might still be in my mom's garage), and this one looks super-comfy.

Lately I've been putting fresh sliced strawberries in all the lemonade I've been drinking. I've been getting them at the farmer's market, but Trader Joe's has organic ones on sale for $2.99/1 lb container. Awesome! Also, they are now selling sweet potato fries, so maybe I can learn how to cook them for my very self. And then dump a large amount of bleu cheese dressing on them.

I found the EASIEST recipe on the planet for chocolate croissants. I served them up for guests at dinner the other night, with sliced fresh strawberries on top (noticing a theme? I'm obsessed) and they came out AMAZING. Ready for the recipe?

Grab chilled Pillsbury crescent rolls from fridge/supermarket
Unroll into triangles on cookie sheet
Place about 10 chips of semi-sweet chocolate chips on the larger end of triangle (usually makes two rows of chocolate chips)
Follow instructions on crescent roll package for which temperature to bake at
Bake about 9 minutes, until crescents are golden brown and chocolate is oozing out just a bit
Eat. Then celebrate how awesome you are.

Totally easy, right? One of my favorite things to munch on in Paris was the chocolate croissants -- and they weren't all dry and flaky like the ones in the U.S., just doughy with just a bit of crust to them. These are a fairly good substitute until I can get my butt back to France.

I just got this book and I am so excited to read it, you have no idea. Jane Austen + Zombies = loveliness.

I also just got the first half of the last season (got all that?) of my favorite TV show, Battlestar Galactica (what? I'm a nerd and I'm okay with that) and I Can't.Wait. for season 4.5 (the second half of the last season) to come out on DVD on July 28th. FRAK! Why do I have to wait so long?!

And finally, I am celebrating the fact that my very first post over at Examiner.com is up! It's not the most fascinating post I'll do on an actor's life in LA, but give it a read and lemme know what you think! (Oh, and try to be nice in the comments section, although I know all of you guys already are. My blogging partners-in-crime have been encountering some swirling negativity out there in the comments section these last few weeks, and we in the blogging community are wondering if it's the weather or a sugar-low.)

Have a perfectly lovely rest of your Thursday, people!

fun with coping mechanisms

This morning, I got a speeding ticket.

For going 61 mph in a 55 mph zone, while accelerating up a hill.

I asked the cop for a break, to which he replied, "We don't give breaks, because people have died on this street."

Which I understand, and respect, and I would never snark or be sarcastic about the dangers of driving recklessly. But I'm not quite sure that if I (or someone else) could have died going 61 mph, I, or someone else, would not have died going 55 mph.

It's just...if you've met me, or driven with me, I rarely speed. I've never received a speeding ticket before (probably because I don't speed. I'm the rare person who doesn't have to brake on the freeway when a cop comes up behind me, because I'm actually doing the speed limit.) I obey all traffic laws, I'm an incredibly safe driver, and when good drivers get tickets it makes them less supportive of obeying the laws in the first place, especially as I endure, on a daily basis, people tailgating me, cutting me off, and racing up and down that very same street at 80 mph, with no cops around.

I got home tonight, did two loads of dishes, scrubbed the oven and the kitchen floor, cleaned out the fridge, took out the recycling, and then re-organized the entire two cupboards of pots, pans, lids, and Tupperware. My coping mechanism is to clean, which I suppose is healthier than World Of Warcraft.

I feel better about my day. I'm still pissed about my ticket.

breaking news

For those of us in the entertainment industry of LA, not even necessarily SAG, this is good news. Read it and opine what you will, but to have acting jobs again is a very good thing, regardless of what you (or I) think of the negotiated deal.

Word.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Screen Actors Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify TV/Theatrical Agreements

Los Angeles, (June 9, 2009) – Screen Actors Guild announced today that members have voted overwhelmingly to approve its TV/Theatrical contracts by a vote of 78 percent to 22 percent.

The two-year successor agreement covers film and digital television programs, motion pictures and new media productions. The pact becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. June 10, 2009 and expires June 30, 2011.

The contracts provide more than $105 million in wages, increased pension contributions, and other gains and establishes a template for SAG coverage of new media formats.

Approximately 110,000 SAG members received ballots of which 35.26 percent returned them – a return that is above average compared with typical referenda on Screen Actors Guild contracts. Integrity Voting Systems of Everett, WA, provided election services and tonight certified the final vote tally upon completion of the tabulation.

The vote count in the Hollywood Division was 70.70 percent to 29.30 percent in favor. In the New York Division, the vote count was 85.74 percent to 14.26 percent in favor. And in the Regional Branch Division, the vote count was 89.06 percent to 10.94 percent in favor.

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said, "The membership has spoken and has decided to work under the terms of this contract that many of us, who have been involved in these negotiations from the beginning, believe to be devastatingly unsatisfactory. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting the elected leadership of the other talent unions with the hope of beginning a series of pre-negotiation summit meetings in preparation for 2011. I call upon all SAG members to begin to ready themselves for the battle ahead,” Rosenberg added.

Screen Actors Guild Interim National Executive Director David White said, “This decisive vote gets our members back to work with immediate pay raises and puts SAG in a strong position for the future. Preparation for the next round of negotiations begins now. Our members can expect more positive changes in the coming months as we organize new work opportunities, repair and reinvigorate our relationships with our sister unions and industry partners, and continue to improve the Guild’s operations.”

Screen Actors Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire said, "I want to thank the SAG members and staff who dedicated their time to the negotiations process. We emerged with a solid deal that the members have now voted up. The negotiating team worked tirelessly, building on the work of the first negotiating committee, to deliver these improvements to members.”

Screen Actors Guild began talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on April 15, 2008. Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire, Interim National Executive Director David White, and Deputy National Executive Director for Contracts Ray Rodriguez, working with a 10-person negotiating task force comprised of Screen Actors Guild board members and officers representing the three divisions, reached the tentative agreement on April 16, 2009 after 12 months of periodic negotiations with the motion picture studios and television networks.

Ahem.

Not that I'm complaining about it not being 113 degrees in the valley, but where oh where did my hammock/picnic/blowing bubbles in the sunshine weather go?

(By the way, when I post in a few weeks about how hot it is and where did the cool spring temperatures go, I give you permission to [verbally and politely] smack me in the face.)

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, eh?


(photo credit: I got it here)

shortest movie review ever

Go see Pixar's new film, "Up." It's amazing. Bring kleenex.

(photo credit: I got it here)

random Monday musings

Hey guys!

Guess where I went for my birthday this weekend. No, guess. If you guessed Disneyland, you're The Awesome! (also, The Perceptive, as the pic to the right is me.)

And I had SO much fun. I took a Disney newbie with me (always the best) and we did 17 rides. I know, right? I didn't even know Disneyland HAD 17 rides working at the same time. The crowds were great, the food was super, the children throwing temper tantrums in the middle of Toon Town were minimal, and it wasn't too hot or too cold. Perfect.

ALSO: I got a writing gig. I am BEYOND excited. I applied for a position at the Los Angeles Examiner (it's a blog site that encourages people who know a lot about a topic to write weekly articles on that subject) and I got tapped to be the ::clears throat, ahem::

LA Actor's Life Examiner!!!!

People, I am so excited. I love writing, I love acting, I love life, and I love blogging about all of it. I will probably start writing my articles by the end of this week, so look for a weekly smattering of links to some of my articles that give acting tips, advice, and takes you through the day to day journey of what it means to be an actor in Los Angeles. I am going to have so much fun.

Here's another thought, and not all of you will be on board with me for this one: I know I am truly comfortable in a place, and I finally feel like it's mine, when I get the urge to clean it. Weird, right? Does anyone else do that? Several months ago I moved into a new apartment and it didn't quite feel like my space yet. It took me a few weeks to finally get acclimated and want to clean and organize and make the place mine, and now my bookshelves look nifty and my bathroom is freakin' awesome and I make my bed everyday.

Today, I showed up to the job I've had for the past couple months, took a look at my desk, and I wanted to clean it and re-organize it and make it mine. So I did, and as I sprayed that CO2 onto my keyboard (so odd, it gets colder the more you use it) I felt a sense of peace and accomplishment. Do you guys get that after a good cleaning too?

At any rate, I had a fantastic birthday, a super wonderful weekend, I'm looking forward to my new little side gig of blogging about the trials and triumphs of being an actor in L.A., and my keyboard looks shiny and new. And with that, I leave you dreamers and cloud-watchers with one of my favorite new photography websites.

Happy Monday, everyone :)

Friday night lights

Yo.

If you aren't doing anything this Friday, June 5th, and you're looking for something a bit more off the beaten path in Los Angeles, I suggest this, which is about eight steps cooler than just finding a bar somewhere and hanging out with your friends. C'mon, whaddya got to lose? Plus, I'm not in town this weekend, so if you go, I can live vicariously through you. And, true to my blog word, it's less than $15 (well, the $9 entrance fee is. The food and drink might push your $15 budget over by a bit).

Still. Who can resist a tour of the Natural History Museum at night, a public discussion and book signing by an expert on Darwin and evolution, and then almost five hours of music spun by one of the hottest DJs in Southern California right now? And did I mention organic food and drinks?

Note that this is only the first Friday of every month that the Natural History Museum puts together these shindigs, so if you can't go this Friday, you have to wait until July to check out the next one.

Step on it, kids! :)

budget suck.

Well, boo. Under Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts, over 200 national parks might close in California, and not only does that seriously crimp my verb-ing style, it just downright sucks. Those national parks need all the money they can get, and some financial expert-like people are saying that it could take up to a decade for some of these national parks to recover from the temporary closures.

Here's a partial list of which parks would close in Los Angeles, including my beloved Point Mugu in Malibu, which has one of The.Most.Gorgeous hikes you could dream of:

1. Leo Carrillo State Park.

2. Los Angeles State Historic Park.

3. Los Encinos State Historic Park.

4. Malibu Creek State Park.

5. Malibu Lagoon State Beach.

6. Pio Pico State Historic Park.

7. Point Mugu State Park.

8. Rio de Los Angeles State Park.

9. Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach.

10. Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park.

11. Topanga State Park.

12. Verdugo Mountains.

13. Will Rogers State Historic Park

and the rest of the 220 parks can be found here. A more thorough explanation of the proposal can also be found here.



Boo. :(

Life Is...

Well, you get the picture. Enjoy your day and know that sometimes life's joys are in its simplicity, quiet moments that gather and help you find peace.

on the way to work this morning...

while driving through my favorite canyon, the traffic ahead of me came to a gentle slowing and cars starting driving very precisely and carefully. One of my favorite reasons for driving the canyons in Los Angeles is the sense of community you just don't get on the freeways -- it's usually one lane, down winding residential streets, and there's a better sense of "look, we're all in this together" than in most driving areas of Southern California. I think we forget that we're all in this together.

Also, there are trees. I will take tree-lined streets wherever I can get 'em.

As I drove by, I saw what every car before me had seen -- three deer; two adults, one baby fawn, peacefully and calmly munching a mid-morning meal, either oblivious or accustomed to the traffic that probably drives by their favorite eating grounds every morning. I smiled, something lifted off my shoulders, and the world was new again.

We're all in this together.