day 281: Cafe Stella

Rod and Chadonna are a couple to admire. They are so comfortable in their relationship, it's a pleasure to see.

For me, Rod will always be that perfect junior high dance partner who grabs my hand, leads me out to the dance floor and slowly sways back and forth. :) He will be my conscience: the one tugging me away from the Pig and the Whistle on New Year's Eve.

Chadonna will always be my fellow Pisces cohort. Although she's a Snake, so she's a little more cunning than the Rabbit, but as a pair we're not to be reckoned with. She will be my fellow vampire book reader and first showing of a movie watcher. She will be my eternal wing man.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cafe Stella in Silverlake/Sunset Junction. It's like a little bit of Paris in LA. With dim lighting, bottles of wine on the sills and comfy benches, this little cafe is a gem. The Bordeaux we ordered was nice on the palate and not too dry. Rod and Chad had a variation on the steak. I don't think you can go wrong with any dish. I ordered the short ribs that fell apart as soon as my fork touched it. It was so tender, it must have been made in heaven.

day 256: 3.5 - the breaking point

This was the breaking point. I haven't posted anything since this day, because this day was so exhausting. I needed some time to come to terms with my decision. It was the beginning of October and for the few days before I was thinking of moving to NM. If I made the decision it was gonna be today. I had to give a 30 day notice to my manager. My roommate gave me his notice a few days earlier and said he would be moving to Colorado.
Factors in my decision were:
finances: I'm losing so much money by living in LA, and if I'm still unemployed at the end of my unemployment insurance, I'm not sure what I will do.
looking for another roommate: I figured my luck of finding another cool roommate was running out, between Duane and Lucas, I was very fortunate.
the rising unemployment rate: the national unemployment rate is 9.8%. I always forget that the beginning of the month starts with bad news.
holidays: most companies don't hire through the holidays (even when  the economy is good)
potential jobs: I had three potential jobs and didn't get any of them. This was a definite blow to my confidence.
my car: I've had some recent car problems... I swear, when it rains it pours. 
the moon: maybe a little bit of the full moon came into play. :P 
stress: each day I'm losing a little bit of myself: my confidence, my sanity, and my happiness.

I was so stressed I worked out 3.5 times (0.5 is the brisk walk): I ran 3 miles in the morning, rode my bike down to Redondo beach, came home had lunch and rode to Bel-air and then around midnight I took a brisk walk to Fairfax and back. The picture above is one I took in the morning: before the meltdown, before I made the decision. The photos below are in Manhattan Beach.

A huge "Thank you" goes out to Mark and Tim for making sure I was ok. I know it must have been scary for you, but thank you for talking to me so late at night. Thank you for being my friends.

 

day 251: This Is It

This picture is the line at LA live. The tickets for "This Is It" were handed out. The news started reporting on that people had been camping out since Thursday.

This is actually from yesterday, but I've been proofing photos all day. I haven't really had a chance to get out today.

day 250: downtown

Chadonna and I went down to LA Live, watched some football and caught up with our lives.

day 201: Henry & Rod's Surprise Party

A couple of weeks ago, Chadonna and I were talking about my and Henry's trip to the Getty on Saturday night with Cut Chemist. We realized that Henry and Rod did not celebrate their birthdays. How very Cancer of them, so we took it upon ourselves to throw them a surprise party. If we botched this surprise we would be the worse party planners ever, because it was nearly a month after Henry's birthday and two weeks after Rod's.

It went off without a hitch. We enjoyed a beautiful evening amongst a few close friends and music. We picnicked and drank 'juice.' Rod & Henry were both surprised. Happy belated Birthday, Rod & Henry!

Here are more pictures from that day.

day 200: intent

I've been reading/researching various ideas, people and projects. I've realized that I have not focused on one area. I've notice that people who are successful give their all (heart and soul) to one project. From hear on out I'm doing that, and I realize with this photo-a-day blog that I'm not letting you in on the bad times: allowing myself to be vulnerable. I thought, "who wants to read about a depressing day where I'm stressed out?" Who wants to know that "Inconsistencies on your form" is such a vague statement on the f-ing unemployment notice?

Being unemployed sucks. It sucks ass. It's fun for about a week. After a month there's one major meltdown. You've strategized, punched the numbers, but life happens and you can't predict it. You question all of the choices you've made. There's doubt that creeps into your mind about your talent and abilities. It sucks. Some days are better than others, and sometimes it comes down to a few good hours. I will say that it brings out a good human trait, and that's taking care of each other, whether it's financial or emotional. So many people are willing to open their hearts to you. It's absolutely amazing.

I keep thinking that when I look back on this time, I want to say that I accomplished so many personal goals, but sometimes those goals are clouded by living day-to-day. It's hard to look long term. A year from now seems faraway and ten years? I can't even fathom it. As each day passes you hope that you're inching closer to the end of this chapter in your life, but then the news reminds you that this will be longer than anyone expected.

The good part, if you can call it that, is that there are others out there in the same boat. It's comforting and discomforting. At least you have people to confide in and go places with. Talking to friends who have jobs is awkward. They want to bitch about their jobs, but are quickly reminded to be thankful they have a job. Employers are pushing them to the limit and employees are doing it in fear of losing their job.

I am thankful there are unemployment benefits, one doesn't start the job force to think that they'll be unemployed. I am happy that this nation takes care of the unemployed, if not our health.

day 196: nose bleeding

Chadonna and I won Dodger tickets back at the stripcrawl on Sunset. Our seats were in the nose bleed section, but it was free, so we weren't complaining. Chris joined us in our fortunate winnings. It was a beautiful evening filled with friends, Dodger Dogs and rally cries. The game was exciting especially the last inning, but the Dodgers couldn't pull off the win. Next time!

day 188: grace jones

Chadonna had an extra ticket for the Hollywood Bowl. I love the bowl, so I would never pass up an opportunity to go. It's the best venue to see a concert. Summers in LA are not complete without a trip to the bowl.

day 181: cream puff for breakfast

These cream puffs were left over from our sweet binging last night, and I had them for breakfast. [High five the 8-year-old version of myself]

day 180: late night sweets

Chadonna came over with sweets and a movie. It was a perfect way to spend an evening after a terrible week.

day 175: meltdown 2.0

Not having a job: SUX. I wish I could ctrl-z some things in my life.

day 173: #stripcrawl

On twitter, I found out there was a Sunset Strip pubcrawl. (#stripcrawl) It included The Andaz Hotel, The Comedy Store, The Viper Room, The Roxy. For the first part of it my roommate joined me, and for the second half, Chadonna joined. At each location, they handed out buttons and that was the access into the club/bar where drink specials awaited. It was very successful, in part because I've never been to the Viper Room or the Roxy and, because I won Coldplay tickets! I can't wait. The concert is in a week.

day 166: Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th! I hope you enjoyed your 4th as much as I did!

day 157: halo

Chadonna and I went to Digital LA's networking mixer at Halo. Of course, we stepped into the photo booth and took our pictures.

day 154: summer officially begins

Fox Searchlight kicked off summer with a 500 days of summer give away. Chadonna and I went to Westwood for Kogi Tacos and then to the Grove for Sprinkles cupcakes.

day 118: game 7 Lakers/Rockets

We (Chadonna, Ken, Angela and Ritch) went back to Busby's to watch game 7 of the Lakers/Rockets Series. I still love this place. I'm so happy that the Lakers won. Bring on the Nuggets!

For the Magic/Celtics game we went to Ken's apartment, which is where I was when the earthquake hit. I had flushed the toilet and thought the pipes were old, but then the glass on the shower doors started shaking. I opened the door and stood in the doorway. I'm so proud that I actually did the right thing.

day 115: game 6

I love my life.

I love that I have friends in LA who have kids, because I can spend a few days with them and then the very next day go out with friends. Today, I went to the Ellen Degeneres show in Burbank with Meredith. I followed it with watching game 6 at Busby's with Chadonna. This series is frenetic. Lakers are playing... not very honorable, and Rockets well...I can't believe there is going to be a game 7.

I must say that I love Busby's. It has become my new favorite venue to watch sports. I can't believe that I've never discovered it before. First time I came here was with Fish and Carla last week. I live near Barney's Beanery, which if you have a good seat, it's great for watching sports, but if not, it kinda sucks. We arrived late, because I got out of Ellen at 6 and Chadonna just got off from work. We rushed over in time to catch the half time report. Even thought we were in standing room, it was not a bad spot. Drinks are reasonably priced $5-$6 for a beer (I know! in LA!) and that's not a happy hour price. My next statement will solidify the decision for most of my friends: They have Boddingtons on tap, FTW! Seriously, I'm surprised that I have not discovered this place before. I've lived in LA for 8 years! The crowd was a nice mixture of Lakers and Rockets fans who were chanting, cheering and high fiving. Awesome! Too bad the Lakers couldn't pull it out, but we'll see on Sunday. They're back in our house, and you know that we'll be back in our new house, Busby's, on Sunday. On the downside, parking can be problematic. They have a $5 valet lot in the back and neighborhood parking is permitted for the 2 blocks, but if you're willing to take a little stroll, we parked on Cloverdale 2 blocks south of Wilshire on a nice neighborhood street for free. Go Lakers!

day 108: live long & prosper

I was in Westwood today. And you know you're old when stores have closed that were open when you went to grad school. Westwood is constantly changing, I think, because of the high rent for the commercial spaces. It's adjacent to UCLA, but the college clientele cannot sustain the market in that area. It was nice to persuse my old stomping ground, that seems like a world-away. Don't worry the Hammer is still there, and so is Diddy Riese, but the ice cream sandwiches are now a buck fifty! wtf?

Rod, Chadonna, Chris and I watched Star Trek today. AWESOME!

day 077: series of intersecting lives and incidents

I'm reminded by my friend, Amy, that bad things happen in threes. one: lost job, two: identity fraud, three: hit & run. I do hope this is the end of it.

Today feels like that scene from Benjamin Button, when Daisy was hit by the car. Everything had to happen in order for me to be hit by that red car, accident or design, it had to happen. I don't know the particulars about the other people involved: the guy in the car, the guy in the Dooley truck, the 10-year-old girl on the Razor scooter, or the two EMTs. I know that for me, I had to have an extra cup of tea this morning. I usually only have one cup, but opted for two. Firefox crashed and I had to reopen all the windows again. I forgot to put on sunscreen and ran back upstairs to lather it on. I decided to read one more chapter in my book at the park. Waiting in line at the Post Office, the AC forced me to put on my sweat jacket which protected me from more scrapes. The Dooley Truck that took up most of the road made me slow down. The ambulance had to be stuck in traffic just a few cars back from where the collision occurred. I had to notice the girl on the Razor scooter whisking down the sidewalk as I passed her and that red car had to make that left hand turn as I was about to ride straight.

And if only one thing had happened differently: If that Dooley truck was in the other lane or that girl on the Razor left 2 minutes earlier, I could've been under the car, the little girl could've been hit by that car or the red car could've made a left turn without hitting anyone. "But life being what it is - a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control:" I was hit by that car and fell to the ground with the little girl on the Razor scooter coming to my side and asking if I was ok. The EMTs quickly tending to my scrapes and the that guy in the red car rolling down his window to ask if I was ok, only to drive away without an answer.

It's strange what you think of during an accident. The first thought that came to my mind when the EMTs asked to clean the wound was "I should have shaved my legs this morning." For some reason everything else was a blur, but that thought is vivid.

day 060: meltdown

Friday was meltdown day. I need to find a job.

Thank you to all of my supportive friends and family. I wouldn't be able to deal with this if it weren't for you.