Mr. Meatballs turns 30

Court finally celebrated his own dirty 30th birthday. Usually people cling to their youth by fighting every step of the aging process. Court on the other hand feels that his body is finally catching up to his mind. Take that as you will. When we were dating, his sister wrote me a letter giving me a heads up about him secretly being a "crotchety old man" before making the commitment to marry him.

This year we went to Pizzeria Mozza, an uppity pizza place in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. As we waited for the valet, (yes valet at a pizza place) we saw an old woman in a long black dress with a tutu type detail holding a Badgley Mischka bag. If that wasn't bad enough a women left her car with the valet and he chased after her with a large fist full of cash yelling, "excuse me ma'am this was lying on the floor of your back seat." We decided that for fancy pizza, Delancy's was clearly the better choice. 

I wanted to give Court some magic for his birthday so I got up super early (5:00am) and strung lights up over the table for a special breakfast. In the picture he is holding Beck's Mellow Gold album.

     - Spinach & gruyere quiche

     - Cinnabon cinnamon rolls

     - Orange juice in a vintage glass pitcher 

Enroute

 A playlist for occupying the space between sky and ocean.

Dirty Beaches True Blue

Echo & The Bunnymen All My Colours

The Chameleons View From A Hill

Girls Names Black Saturday

Jessica Lea Mayfair Our Hearts Are Wrong

Kings Of Convenience Misread

Raveonettes With My Eyes Closed

Toro Y Moi Divina

Warpaint Undertow

Washed Out Feel It All Around

                                          

 Jared sitting next to some dude who would much rather

be swimming in a pool full of alien cocoons.

Being trapped on a plane means having to partake in a stranger's flatulence from beginning to end. I have broken down the stages of suffering.

1. Its subtle at first, making only your nose crinkle and nostrils flare.
2. Then the furrowed brow.
3. At this point you realize you are now breathing in air that has  
    passed through someone's anus. This realization induces an       
    overwhelming sensation of anger.
4. After the anger subsides the theories begin to formulate as to what
    the perpetrator may have eaten to produce such a vile odor.

In this particular instance my brothers and I concluded that this person must have eaten an aborted Garbage Pale Kid.

Left: Adam's inflight snack                                             Right: Adam in a smoking chamber

My Golden Ticket

This Winter I recently visited my parents again but this time with two of my brothers. Since my sisters and I went last Summer, my mom felt that is was only fair to plan a brothers trip. My mom bought a ticket for each of my three brothers. The expectation was that they would acquire a visa and time off of work for the impending trip. Two out of three made good on the deal... but the last little piggy had none.

I would just like to paraphrase the exchange that took place between my mom and brother #3 when he had to tell her that he would not be coming.

Mom: "Josh, did you get your visa?"

Josh: "No mom. I can't go. I'm really busy."

Mom: "What are you talking about? You're unemployed."

Josh: "I am taking an auto class at the community college and I have class once a week that I can't    miss."

Mom: "I already bought your ticket. Surely you can take this class again next semester."

Josh: "I'm also heavily involved in the Occupy Wall Street down in San Diego. They really need me."

Mom: "This is too ridiculous. Get your visa Josh!  If I cancel your ticket I won't get all of the money back."

Josh: "Another reason I can't go is because I have be here to support Ron Paul. I need to put signs up around town and talk to people."

Mom: "Are you even registered to vote?...Wait a minute, are you even allowed to get a visa? You know you have a felony charge and I'm not sure they give those people visas."

Josh: "That charge was dropped to a misdemeanor."

After much discussion it was decided that my brother's ticket would be transferred to my name.

Europe in Stirrups

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I recently returned from Europe for the third time in my life. I went once in high school to France and England accompanied by my dear friend Tanya. We saw Stonehenge, a Rembrandt exhibition, the Eiffel Tower, middle eastern men with starring problems and wondering hands. We went to Piccadilly Circus, bought a pair of creepers and a gas jacket from the flea market.

The second time was just last summer. My sisters and I went to visit our parents in Germany. We stayed a couple days in Germany visiting different castles, then onto Prague and Budapest. We were so excited to be in Europe that we decided to buy a five country Euro-pass and see as much as we could. We hit the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France & Switzerland. We peeked inside the notorious cafes of Amsterdam, ate sweet waffles in Belgium, floated down the Rhine River of Germany, sampled macarons from Laduree in Paris and walked along the beach during the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The three of us spent the night in a phone booth, caught a glimpse of young black male prostitutes working the streets and got a proposal from an elderly Italian man on the train. Each trip was eventful to say the least. I have many a memory to bottle and store.

To be continued...

L.A. Art Walk

Every second Thursday of the month, a portion of downtown Los Angeles bares its heart and soul to the public. Many stores stay open after hours, street vendors set up shop in breezeways and turn of the century business buildings open their doors to expose office space turned museum displaying local artists. Events like these make L.A. a bit smaller and the community that much closer. 

Here is the lovely Haley. True story: She actually made this sassy dress she is wearing out of a curtain.

The bulk of the crowd was found in the "Theatre District" near Broadway. Los Angeles has some really beautiful buildings that currently serve as Hispanic evangelical churches, a place to buy cheap luggage and quinceanera gowns or even shutdown altogether. The city of angels has high hopes for restoring these historic theatres and business buildings but until then, they remain a place to buy designer imposter perfume.

Venders congregated in antique office buildings and hotels, selling handmade art and goods.

To end the night with a cherry on top, we decided to grub out at the House of Pies. The night only got better when an older "gentleman" was seated at the table next to us. His attire could only be described as bedazzled-gothic-cowboy-pimp. I tried to get a good picture without his seeing me. I wish you could see his aviator/pedophile glasses.

Eric & Haley and our little friend in the background.

If only I had the juevos to talk to this guy. I need to know more about this man.

Skirball Cultural Center

Los Angeles is a rather expensive city to live in. If you do not keep vigil, you will find yourself with two parking tickets a week at 70 bucks a pop from the street sweeper. On the plus side to living in the city, there are plenty of cool things to do for free. One year for my birthday, my dear friend Ashley gave me more or less an inspiration first aid kit, which included a set of mini sketchbooks, mini colored pencils and a list of all the free admission days for the museums around Los Angeles. This list has spared me the doldrums.

I took out my free museum list and made a date with Jenn. We opted to go to the Skirball Cultural Center. We entered the museum behind a suburban mom pushing a stroller. The group migrated towards a woman abaft the counter to collect our day pass. As the mother and her child approached the counter, the worker asked, "Here to see Noah's Ark?" "Yes," the woman replied. After she left I took my place at the front of the line. The worker gave me a quick once over. I could see her filing each detail away into their respective categories; my short unkempt hair, male prescription tortoise shell framed glasses, my plaid flannel button down long sleeve shirt in a men's large. We finally made eye contact and then she asked, "Here to see the women's exhibit?" My fantasy response, "For the last time, I am not a lesbian. I just like to dress like one." My actual response, "Noah's Ark actually."

 The second exhibition was Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America. The continuous theme throughout was the belief that life was a gift, deserving of celebration. The Jewish people follow multiple calendars. For example, one is to keep track of the days and months but another is the calender of the human life. Every life has certain events that occur serving as a right of passage. Birth, death, marriage, coming of age are all experiences that we get to have in this life. They are to be appreciated and celebrated. 

 Six faces to represent the six million Jews whom died in the Holocaust.

A seemingly generic kitchen of the 1890's, except this kitchen is Jewish.

The lighthearted sentiment of Noah's Ark was fleeting. As if the Holocaust segment wasn't enough to take things down a notch, the third and final exhibition focused on human trafficking, forced prostitution etc. At the end of the display, the viewer is invited to write down a wish for these women on a paper heart. These hearts are then hung from the ceiling. 

What a cute display for such a depressing exhibit.

The ceiling was incredible. I thought it looked like its own living organism.

Lil' Tokyo

Court and I spent the day downtown exploring 

Little Tokyo. After looking through all the little shops,  

we ate sushi and green tea ice cream . 

Then we drove around the Arts District to look at the cute old buildings. We watched as a group of people drew pictures on the street with chalk. Much to my surprise one of those people was lil' Rachel.