Two-Headed Animal

Tuesdays.

Hollywooding

So here is the last of the Los Angeles photos. I took a lot more but they are crap. Okay well there's this one where Monica is standing outside Fergie's mailbox...actually I think I mentioned that already, which means it is turning into a highlight of my trip, which is sad.

The first is the only photo I took of a Hollywood star. We were walking Hollywood Boulevard and I just KNEW the perfect star would come up. So I passed Keanu Reeves (he's not coming back) and even Betty Davis and then I saw it, Cubja Gooding Jr. Perfect.

The second was taken at a B-Grade restaurant in Thai Town. This is not the grade I'm giving it, because in that case it would be A+ Grade. This is the grade the Los Angeles Public Health Board gave the restaurant based on sanitation. A little bit about the photo: That is Monica highlighting the Star Map we got out of a vending machine. Yup.

The last is one of the only photos that came out semi-decent when we were at the Hollywood Farmer's Market, which was amazing by the way. They had produce that isn't anywhere near showing up at the Farmer's Markets in D.C. (raspberries in February? okay then), live goats and delicious DELICIOUS food like corn on the cob and tamales.

Lastly and unrelated, my font may have changed. The blog format changed a bit and I'm taking a moment to adjust to it. This is ironic because I recently decided to add basic HTML to my resume, yet cannot do the simplest of things without referencing 9 google docs on "how to make your pictures bigger" or "how to add music to your blog". I think once I decide to stop this I'm going to have "My Heart Will Go On" on constant loop in the background and just be done with it.

The Baltimore Aquarium

On Friday Drew and I went to the Baltimore Aquarium. This is important to you for two reasons (1) It is only $8 Fridays after 5 and stays open until 9 and (2) They have tons of sting rays, which I love.
There's also a big orange octopus, sharks, a sloth and dolphins (supposedly).

Don't leave during rush hour and don't visit when you're thirsty. Do be aware if you go on Friday, you are going to be pushing wide-eyed kids out of the way to see the seahorse.

Driving through Maryland I can only see it as the sum of its stereotypes. It's hard to imagine the place as anything other than a giant factory that spits out drugs, crabs and fratty dudes, no thanks to The Wire and the various lacrosse tournaments, I'm sure. This is why I'm always surprised when people praise Baltimore and why I rarely, if ever, make the hour trip North. Yet every time I go it suprises me. The Inner Harbor is a little touristy but Fell's Point nearby, well, that's pretty touristy too but it's so nice to be near the water on a beautiful day.

I'm going to make an effort to remember that this is a state of abundant but runty crabs, cheap crack and Sperry Topsiders, yes, but it is also home to the Renaissance Festival, charming towns and a giant sea turtle with only one flipper.

Grooveshark - Nobody Loves Me

I use Grooveshark a lot and found out I could create a widget and add it on the sidebar. Cool huh? I get hooked on songs and play them over and over until I'm absolutely sick of them. So now when that happens, I'll upload them here so you can get sick of them with me.

This is the Nobody Loves Me "play list", I use quotes because it's only two songs:

Sour Times - Portishead
As Far As I Can See - Phantogram

Enjoy and don't worry, I know everybody loves me. Especially the girl licking her lips in the picture above.

A Waffles Reunion!

Once upon a time I had a rabbit and his name was Waffles. Monica, Courtney, Andrea and I had spent a lot of time googling breeds of rabbits, what they eat, how to take care of them and wondering if that giant rabbit was actually real (still undecided!). Then one day we were watching TV and Frank Beamer had a commercial spot for a local pet store and what did they have? RABBITS. And rabbits with floppy ears, no less.
We literally got in the car immediately after the commercial ended, picked out a little brown bunny and took Waffles home in a cardboard box. We found that Waffes was a cuddle bunny (yeah-that's a real thing), who binkied (also a real thing) when he was happy and didn't like carrots. We dressed him up as a pumpkin, put him on a leash, tried to fashion him a diaper, took him on picnics and made up songs about him.

When I graduated, he lived with me in my basement where my Mom and Koa gave him lots of attention while I was at work. One day while he was running around the basement, Koa somehow got down there and licked him until he was soaking wet. When I moved to Georgetown he came with me and though his words might mislead you, Trees loved Waffles (it's okay, you can admit it). But at this point, I wasn't giving him the attention he needed anymore. He couldn't run around on our wooden floors and I was gone all day long. I can't tell you how guilty I felt, all I saw was a sad under-loved bunny and a bad Mama - me, that's me.

In short, I decided to find a new home for Waffles about a year ago because he deserved it and because I couldn't feel like the bad guy in a Disney Channel movie anymore, grrrr I have dark features and negelect cute bunnies. So yes, part of it was selfish, but I really thought Waffles would be happier with someone who could give him more time-and I think he is.

Sob story over because Waffles and I had a reunion last night. I'm not sure if he remembered me or I just know exactly how he likes to be pet, but he hopped right to me and started nuzzling into my coat, otherwise I would have been able to get a better picture of his ridculously cute nose and chubby cheeks. Not much has changed.

I think most of you are friends of Waffles, so I thought you'd like to know that he is still the absolute cutest and softest bunny in the world.

Hey Yo This Beat is Bananas

Doesn't that look like a Pirate boat? I took it in Venice with the smell of weed from the drum circle wafting in the air. I saw a two headed turtle at the freak show there too. Kind of a weird place, Venice Beach. Kind of amazing actually. Even though there were all kinds of dogs and people walking around, babydoll heads buried in the sand, men dancing on trash cans and teenage couples giving you goofy smiles as you caught them passing a joint back and forth, it all seemed so peaceful. Maybe it was the sun going down and the big waves (they were seriously big, you can't really tell in the picture) drowning out some of the noise, but the vibe of Venice Beach is completely different from Los Angeles itself and it was refreshing.

Anyways, I have a lot of pictures I took out in LA, but haven't had the time to sort through and edit them (or in the very least, turn them into JPGs-it happens a lot, sorry). Adding this class into my schedule took away a lot of my watching The Wire/going to Trader Joe's/reading and general down-time. I love Thursdays, it's usually the first time during the week I can actually relax. I'm always hesitant to plan anything because there's nothing I look forward to more than a few shows lined up and a recipe in hand. Tonight, I'm going to try and pan fry chickpeas and convince myself tofu is delicious. Good luck, right?

24th Birthday Parties Go Something Like This:

At Lucky Strike. But don't expect to win or anything, because I'm (randomly) good, if I'm drinking. And if I'm not good, you're not allowed to say anything because it's my birthday and I've been known to cry.

Two Funny Pictures

Two photos from this weekend that made me laugh a lot.

The first: This is what Trees does when I leave my camera out. I have usually forgotten of the surprise attacks until I go through my camera and find a sequence of 8 photos depicting me with the refrigerator door open and moving closer and closer to the camera with a half amused and half horrified look on my face.
This time I will give credit to Trees for capturing the intimate relationship I have with Teddy, acting pillow and defender against all creatures of the night (official title and definitely cooler than your Teddy/Bearsy).

The second: Victoria being a good model and Drew photobombing my homework. We were walking to the Dupont Farmers Market and by the way, I'm always worried I'm getting the refuse of all the produce when I get there any time after 10 but after noon, Bonaparte Breads gives out buy one get one free baked goods. So maybe sleeping in until 11am is not the worst of ideas on a dreary Sunday.

The Santa Monica Pier

One of the more interesting things about being in Los Angeles was seeing the names of places I'd always heard stacked and layered on top of eachother. Santa Monica above Muscle Beach, which is in Venice Beach and if you drive East towards Hollywood, you pass through Beverly Hills and Bel Air and if you look to the right, there's Rodeo Drive.

The Santa Monica Pier, however, was not one of the things I had ever heard of, which was surprising because it was a complete clusterfuck of tourist traps. Yet, I loved it.
Oh come on, you've gotta do the touristy things at least once. Like getting a Star Map...which we did. I might have a photo of Monica posing in front of Fergie's mailbox just before we passed Josh Duhamel in his black pick-up truck.
That somewhat embarassing confession aside, the Santa Monica Pier was pretty incredible. We went out on the Pier and bought over-priced sodas, we took a romantic ride on the Ferris Wheel looking down at the sprawling beach and over-saturated pier and we ate lunch on a lifeguard stand with a couple who would (could?) not. stop. making out. We thought about Marissa Cooper and her lifeguard stand/sanctuary and how she would go there to cry when Ryan (or Jimmy) punched someone, but I guess Jimmy Cooper was usually getting punched. And yeah, later, we watched the OC.

So pretty much all those things you expected me to do in LA?

I did them.