Amber Waves

Ohhhh the 4th of July. Nothing about commemorating the day makes me feel especially patriotic. But it is super fun to sit and eat yummy food (hello? bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed jalapenos, courtesy of Patrick!) and drink cold beers with your bros. This year I had a couple of different BBQ's to hit up. I was sort of having too much fun to take any photos. But it was an awesome day.

My final stop was Emily's. We had an amazing view of Cypress and Highland Park.





It got pretty loud and sparkly right around dusk what with all of the awesome illegal fireworks which seemed to be in abundance in the area. Some of them were so booming that they would set off the alarms on the cars on the street!

I don't think I have ever seen so many fireworks going off simultaneously. It was rad! Emily's neighbors were setting some off literally RIGHT above where we were sitting. Debris from said fireworks kept landing in our laps. Despite the looming danger, it felt like our own personal display.



I love that I didn't have to fight the crowds to go to a stadium to see some. It made me proud of my hood for sure.

Oh and here is one more I stole from either Sarah or her friend Julia. This is us witnessing the magic.



Lucas has a penchant for spontaneously posing for photographs. Its sort of hilarious that this ability seems to go against his somewhat reserved demeanor.

Also, I didn't have an opener for my beer so some guy attempted to open it by wedging the cap up against a concrete step. It resulted in a jagged glass bottle lip so Lexi was nice enough to give me her lemon half which had contained a yummy shot to drink my beer out of.



I have such nice friends.

Fresh air

LA has a way of quietly slipping into summer. Its nice here year round, but somehow right around Memorial Day, it gets even better. Despite the the gloom of June, the days are warm and breezy. And the nights are perfect. I have tried not to squander it by laying around my house, which some days is hard to resist. But I have had some pretty excellent adventures as of late.

First, got to see LCD Soundsystem a few weeks back. The bass player was amazing. He danced the whole set! Bass players I think sometimes get lost in the shuffle. But not this guy. I did not catch him mid-dance but he is the one in the purple shirt.

The next day Jen took me to the Huntington Gardens. Despite the $20 entry fee, it was awesome. They have botanical gardens from around the world and the Huntington mansion now serves as an awesome decadent museum of sorts.

>

Oh the opulence.

Blue Boy



and Pinkie



and creepy baby monsters

This is the Japanese Garden. One of many different types on the grounds.



They also have an old fashioned tea room that would be perfect if you are ever looking for something to do when your mother is in town. Take note!

Then it was a respite weekend with Cara and Joysie! These two have been my friends since we were 15. You can imagine how many memories and jokes we have accumulated in almost 20 (MAN 20?) years of friendship. Its always a good time. I love these ladies.



We didn't really do much of note which was sort of the point, but it was a good time. As per usual, there was a dance party involving only us at a local watering hole with a good juke box.



Oh and arty photos of course.





I get this face a lot from Cara.



I also love this one. Country album cover much?



We ended the weekend by watching Troll 2. It was amazing despite the fact that the movie is about GOBLINS and there actually aren't even any trolls in it. I am pretty sure the budget for the entire film was about $75. You may want to check it out



So all is well and warm and dreamy. Mostly.

Through the hallway of shatterproof glass

Lately I have found myself going to see a lot of music. I was decidedly burnt out on going to shows at the end of my tenure in San Francisco, but despite all of my complaining (expensive drinks, annoying crowds and the inevitable sore feet) its something I quite enjoy.

I checked out The National at The Wiltern the other night. It was grand. I haven't listened to much of them, but they put on a good show. I didn't feel like taking any photos but you can see some here

The tickets were compliments of the lovely Heather Ryan to whom I am forever indebted. I also ran into some blasts from the past, which is always nice. And I must say that The Wiltern green room had a rather diverse offering of soda (Diet Dr. Pepper AND Country Time Lemonade in a can). I suppose such things are only exciting to me...

Anyway, I had also heard that Band of Horses was playing a private show at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I thought maybe it was not in the cards for me to attend, but I got a last minute text from Mr. Awesome, Dan Hadley saying he had been able to get me on the list! I had 20 minutes to get across LA during rush hour to make the show. I don't know how I did it, but I made it before the show started. And what a show it was!

WOW. It really was just one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The show was in the chapel mausoleum on the cemetery grounds. There were only about 100 people there and the band played acoustic. So it was just right. And Dan did an amazing job on the lights, which truly made it that much more rad. I don't really know who the other people were that were in attendance, but it seemed to be a mixture of fans, bored fashionistas and record label types who stood nervously in the back incessantly checking their iPhones.

I kept thinking that it was a pleasure to be there and not have to work. Or do anything, really except sit back with a glass of wine and listen. They played only for about an hour and in addition to many of their beloved songs they did a cover of Gram Parson's "A Song for You". Which was amazing. Its one of those songs that I have been randomly hearing everywhere. I have often lamented that the Parsons version reveals how trashed his voice was by the time he recorded that song. You can hear 1000 cigarettes and late night parties in his voice. But the Band of Horses version was flawless.

A very dear friend has pointed out that one of the ways to find happiness is to simply appreciate simple things. And this was one of those things. I was so thankful to Dan who went out of his way to get me into the show and I guess I was just glad I got to see it. I know I am super gushy. But it was one of the many examples of awesome that are out there for us to pay attention to. So yeah. Good couple of days.

underneath and unexplored

Busy times. But oddly enough I don't feel like I am crossing very many things off of my never ending to-do list. Baby steps I suppose.

Miss Heather Ryan is in town this week. And I feel the need to stop for a minute and say that she is probably one of the most genuinely nice people I know. I have known her for years and have flaked on her numerous times. And she still roots for me. She was on the tour I did last year, and as I mentioned back then, I don't know what I would have done without her. Its nice to know you can maintain friendships despite geographical limitations. That reminds me, I owe a few folks phone calls....

Any way. We met up in Hollywood and despite the unnerving scenester crowd, the whole gang seemed to be in good spirits.

PS, I don't think dude in the back with the goatee knew anyone. Apparently he was just excited by the groups' collective jovial mood. Good times.



Oh and here is some adorabs of LJ drying her mommys' hair.

Echelon your dreams and they'll come true

Lately I seem to be hanging out in places that are impossibly low lit.



This is telling of how shitty of a photographer I am. This is a place Jen took me in Silverlake. Its a restaurant owned by the son of Grace Slick. I wish you could tell how charming it is.

Also went to see the Parkes', which is always a pleasure. Their stories are mostly hysterical. This was on their fridge. Its from a booth at Dave and Buster's that shows you what your baby would look like. Notice how felon-esque Chris looks.



Apparently their child, although adorable, is meant to be born with a cleft palate....



Also checked in with Erica and Baby A. I am so sad they are moving considering the Dustons are some of the few people I know in LA (this is untrue but feels accurate sometimes). Poor little kiddo just got over the chicken pox!



She was in good spirits despite being itchy.

Finally, Lucas and Lexi invited me out to meet a group of visiting Parisians. They were rad!





Emilie made the comment that she often looks bored in photos. Oh and L &L are doing the "Renee Zellweger" in this one. Hilarious




Random, entertaining bouts of social interaction.

Type Slowly

Bee happy

So not a lot going on that is newsworthy the last few weeks. I have been working a lot and generally trying to stay motivated, despite my very cush work schedule that lends itself to sleeping in and lounging in my pajamas! I also got a speeding ticket, which caused me to get my crap together and take care of a whole bunch of annoying things that I had been putting off. Now I see why people have assistants. Being an adult is hard!

Being a kid on the other hand, looks like its the most fun. LJ is 2 now and talking a whole bunch. She says things like "That's MY robot, Hari" and "I like it!" and "I'm a chillin, mommie". She is also seemingly getting used to me taking photos all her of the time and has become quite the little ham.







Also, this is seemingly not a big deal, but my sister and I have been waiting YEARS for her to grow enough hair for pig tails. FINALLY!!!



Welcome to the world of head accessories, little one. When I put this on her head she kept saying "I don't like it".

She's a lady

Holy SHEET. Have you seen this? I guess the secret is out that I love Lady GaGa. How can you not?

Speaking of dirty sexy - the video's director Jonas Akerlund is 6 feet 3 inches of awesome creepiness. Ever seen the movie "Spun" or Madonna's "Ray of Light" video? Remember when Prodigy had that video that had boobies in it that MTV could only play after 10pm? All him. Plus he was in fucking Bathory !!!

Wow....