Rollin

The dover

I'm out and about today getting the oil and tires changed on Angela's car. While I'm out I happen to pass the dover, where devin and dylan used to live.

Seeing this building in the context of now is slightly odd. I think if late nights and mount sims when I think of the Dover.

Devin is driving back from kansas city today with my parents oil car. He is passing through Hay, KS just now, seeing other odd sights of a past life.

I was thinking last night about how fragile life is. How life is really a serious of choices and the consequences. Sometimes actions have consequence that ripple outwards the rest of our lives.

May consequence be kind to us all.

Back at it!

Welcome to the jungle.

New car smell

Horsey

Sleep with the Fishes

I had a really wonderful birthday and I'd like to thank everyone that made that possible.

It began Thursday night kickin' it with my boys at Invisible Material rehearsal. We rocked through some new songs and some old ones. Dylan filmed and Moses danced. it was a great time and I look forward to seeing some of the finished product. Robin, being a classy gent gave me a HUGE bottle of Jack Daniels. After rehearsal I played the role of the good boy and went home and went to bed, so as to rest up for the weekend.

Prior to going out Chris, Elaine and Carrie came over to our house. Chris gave me a wonderful Marc Jacobs shirt. I die. I'm very thankful of the shirt. You will like it when you see it on me.

Friday night was the real celebration station. Shenanigans. We began the evening with cocktails at The Big Foot Lodge. The guest of honor, me, was in fine form. While here I received a gift from Devin and Dylan. They were ever so kind in giving me gift cards to Lowe's and Barnes and Noble. Very generous of them, they will be loved for a very long time. Prior to that I was given a wonderful book by Rebbecca and Loren, "I can't fight this feeling anymore". Very nice in deed.

Next up we went headed to The Roost. A rather packed pop corn smelling dump. I could see the potential for charm but it wasn't really delivering.

We ended the evening out at the Griffin, which is my favorite of my near neighborhood bars.

After bar call many folks came over and helped us to break in the new pad, some going so far as to crash on our floor.

Saturday was a lazy day spent recovering. In the evening Angela and I pulled our selves off the floor and drove down to San Diego, where a birthday surprise was waiting. I was very excited.

We got into San Diego late, went directly to her grandmothers, raided her fridge and went to sleep. I had at this point never met anyone to whom Angela is related. And I still would not until the morning.

Sunday morning I woke up very refreshed in the guest bedroom of Angela's Grandmother's house. Angela greeted me as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I was lead towards the kitchen, the closer I got the more amazing the cooking smells became. I met her grandmother, who is so very sweet. She made us an unbelievable breakfast of biscuits and home-made gravy with sausage and scrambled eggs. I have not eaten so well in a long time. I have really missed Grandma Strecker's cooking, this is the closest I could imagine. She was simply so kind and took feeding me very seriously. It made me feel very special and I was glad that Angela let me in to her world. It's nice knowing that there is a little family just 2 hours south of us, where food is plentiful and everything is comfortable.

Finally, bursting with excitement we left the house and headed out in search of my surprise. As we traveled down the freeway I noticed signs for Seaworld. My tender heart beat fast in my chest as I've always wanted to go there. I was over joyed when Angela took the exit headed in that direction.

Upon entering the park Angela grabbed a map and proceeded to dominate it. I found this to be a bit strange for her but really only in an unconscious way. On the way there she had explained that my birthday surprise was a 2 parter. The first part being sea world. As we wondered through Sea world it should have been apparent that Angela was looking for something, but I was missing all the signs.

Finally we came to the Dolphin area and stood by their pool. She pointed to the pool and said "this is part two of your surprise". I was confused. I said what? Perhaps thinking she was going to throw me in and it was a joke. She said "we get to get in there with them". To which I could only reply, "how?".

She had made the reservations earlier in the week. Knowing I have a crush on sea life, especially dolphins. We were ushered into a locker room and given wet suits and before I knew it we were in the pool petting a Dolphin named Ripley. Ripley was amazingly sweet. If you hugged her she would rest her head on your shoulder. Love Bug.

We got to feed her and she splashed us. We hugged and petted her and posed for photographs. All told we got to spend over an hour in the water with this lovely creature. A really wonderful once in a lifetime opportunity.

We wondered around sea world for much of the afternoon. Seeing many nice sights and shows. Afterwards we were famished. Angela's Grandma had been so kind as to give us cash to go eat at Olive Garden. We had amazing food and filled our tummies to the brim.

We stopped at a few little stores for some shopping after this. I found a wonderful tuxedo jacket for 2.75. Happy find.

We went back to Angela's Grandma's house after this and I took a glorious nap. When I woke up we had strawberry short cake and I got to spend time looking at old photographs of Angela and getting to know her Grandma better.

All to soon it as time to head home. I left with a happy heart having done something truly amazing. I also left feeling very happy that Angela has such a wonderful grandma cause she is now my grandma a little bit too. :)

After my long nap the drive home was a breeze. I told Angela to put her seat back and let me drive. She slept the entire way home while I listened to talk radio.

By the time we got home I was still very into my radio program, Coast to Coast AM, So much so that I decided to tune in on the stereo in the living room. Angela has a record player radio unit that is made to look like an old tube stereo, complete with a soft glowing light on the front. I turned out all the lights and sat at the end of the couch Angela was sleeping on. I sat there thinking about times past. Times when Angela's grandmother and my own grandmother were young. Before television this was it. Dark walls and only the pictures in your mind.

My Grandmother Strecker told a story of sitting in her chair listening to a scary radio program, the whole time nervously scratching at the arm of the chair with a paper clip. Apparently in the light of day the damage done to the chair was enough to get her in big trouble.

I'm thirty now and grandma Strecker is gone. Life comes and goes, very fast at that. But the time you are here on earth is yours forever. Everything a person lives is their's and it happens in that time forever, over and over for all eternity. I don't know much about time but I know this to be true, your actions are forever and they ripple out from the point of action and they never end. Do as much as you can with your life because through what you do you live forever.

Kiss a dolphin, it's so worth while.

Tiny craft

Going to have to get dirty

Spend some time in the shadows if you will. I am mad max. I am beyond thunder dome.

Son of the sun

The hyperion tavern is cute.

Dark figure

Most Eventful

So I'm thirty now and it's better than anyone ever lead me to believe. everyone I know, with the exception of 2 people have been lying to me about what it's like to get older. It is totally frickin awesome and you get to pet dolphins. Yes. Thats right. You get to pet dolphins when you turn thirty. Everyone whines about how your body doesn't work like it used to anymore and yada yada yada. It's all bullshit. It's simply a cover they use to hide that fact that when you turn thirty you get to pet a dolphin and they don't want to share that because it's awesome so they make aging unappealing in hopes that some people try and pull some peter pan stuff and not age. Thats the logic of us oldsters. We are tricky and selfish. We've been around this block and that block and we've seen the truth. We have petted the mystical dolphin and it is good. we have been to the other side and come back with the faint smell of seafood on our hands and our hair still wet and we are wanting to keep these feelings for ourselves.

Seriously, everyone turn thirty tomorrow and I promise that within 72 hours you will get to pet a dolphin. If that doesn't work for you than you probably didn't turn 30. Or your girl friend doesn't rock. One of those two things is the problem.

Dirty thirty

In san diego. Just touched a dolphin. Happy.

The only good cop is a prop cop

Saint patty at the big foot lodge!

Watch out for sasquatch!

Down town burbank in the afternoon

Is this as boring to look at?

One of many yahoo! Buildings

Not my train a train

Return trip

Waiting for the train that goes home sweet mary and hoping that my train is on time...

Back at the Bob Hope Airport Metrolink station. Another day of work checked off the calendar and marked on the time sheet. I was hesitant about going back to a life of bummed rides and public transport but its really not bad. Right now there is a wonderful breeze and the sun is shining. I don't have to stress about traffic and or worry about the best route home, I just gotta be.

It has been a nice day today. I did good at my job and communicated with people I love. Tomorrow I hope to do more of the same.

First Run Steps in the New Hood

I spent my first two weeks in the new apartment working out in the fitness center of the new apartment complex. It was a nice change of pace and good after running on concrete all winter long to go low to no impact on the Elliptical machine, as well as get to do some weight training. I intend to continue doing weight training and some cardio sessions on the machines but I want to intersperse it with some serious Griffith Park runs.

Last night was my first outdoor run since moving. It was amazing. I headed up Los Feliz Blvd toward Griffith Park. It felt nice to be back in the open air. The sun was still up even at 6:30 in the evening but the light wasn't so direct anymore. I had a vague notion that I'd go look for the old Los Angeles Zoo on my run.



I had a decent idea where it was and after another half hour of running I found it. It was a ghost town in the park as the sun was setting. If that sight was ever going to be really creepy it was being there alone as the sun was setting.

I soon left the site of the old zoo and headed back towards a tunnel I had passed on my way through the park, thinking that it appeared to head under the freeway, which would cut off a considerable amount of crossing traffic on my way to the park. Well, really just one bad intersection with a freeway off ramp.

The Tunnel was a bit creepy too, being as dark as it was. Luckily I'm not so small. I wasn't to afraid to run through it. Turns out it's an Equestrian tunnel which allows people on horseback better access to the park. How fun that must be. Sure enough the Tunnel Popped out on the other side of the 5 freeway on the bike trail wich runs along the LA river. I was very happy to make this discovery.

I ran home smiling feeling very happy to live in a new neighborhood surrounded by so much nature and so many new adventures.

I'm about to turn 30 years old. I have a new apartment and a girlfriend I love. Life is still nice. As the inside of apartment comes more and more together the outside opens up and reveals to me more secrets of a happy existence.

Added bonus. I'm getting a new computer desk for my birthday, thanks mom and dad! We wanted to upgrade the keyboard and mouse to wireless, since the old ones were crappy and worn and we didn't really want all the ugly cords about. Oddly enough the other day as we were getting out of the car in our new building we noticed that there was a keyboard box sitting on a chair in the garage in the are near the trash. I at first walked past it but then I had second thoughts, maybe there was something more to this... I opened the box and found a wireless mouse and keyboard... but no way it works right... Well, a battery change later and it means business! A nice totally clean and working wireless mouse and keyboard for free! Happy happy.

Dee plane!

Nodnarb

Art

Downtown burbank station

Only one more stop, a one mile walk and one new day at work.

Zooming by life

Upper deck metro link!

This is an adventure. I'm on the upper deck and there is much more to look at since this train runs above ground. Also its nice and warm in here.

Early train

Waiting at the train station in glendale. Pretty morning, birds are chirping. bit of a nip in the air. I had a good nights sleep and Angela was sweet enough to drive me to the station.

I got no complaints.

All in a days work

So an upside of being once again without a mode of personal transportation is that I can blog mobile while waiting for rides and trains and things. I currently am sitting in north hollywood waiting for angela to come pick me up. What a sweet girlfriend huh?
The pictures which accompany this post are of my saturday project. My boss asked me to come over and put together a gazebo which she purchased at costco. Easy enough right? Wrong!
Turns out it was no simple wooden gazebo but a chinese metal and lead paint behemoth! Luckily her son in law dave was there to help out. As the day progressed the instructions called for more and more sheets of metal to be screwed by hand into place. Each piece of metal became a little more weight. We grew nervous as the day went on, finally deciding that we should add no more pieces to the roof until the thing was in place and off the ground.
When it came time to add the colums that hold it up I read the instructions which said, this step requires 8 to 10 people. Ruh roh. With a very creative use of milk crates and a wall we were able to hoist it up, it was a bit scary. In the end it makes a 12 by 1e square and stands nearly that high at its peak.
At the end of the day I was beat but proud.

See bunny

IMG00129.jpg

Sort of racist toilet stall art?

More water

Breaks fast

Eating breakfast at this cute place in our new hood! Yum.

Cuddle bugs

Busted at 7am started up again

Substation motivation

I went to work out, this happened in the hour I was gone.

It begins!

A Course Complete

Saturday Night was a proud evening. Angela graduated from her Burlesque dancing course with a smashing performance at a wonderful venue. The event was in Riverside California, at a place called "Back to the Grind:, a coffee house during the day, but on this night the hottest burlesque club in the known universe.

Angela began this adventure over two months ago, but like all great accomplishments it's seeds were planted much earlier than that. They began at the now defunct Club Cherry where a young Angela was mesmerized by a particularly wonderful creature, Kitten De Ville, who danced there regularly. It was during many nights spent at that club, watching with glee as Kitten Danced as she does that may all that came to be this last Saturday possible.

In the years since that wide eyed young Angela did encounter the Kitten there was much watching and admiring from a far. Kitten now a seasoned and well established performer, decided to give back to the community and to women everywhere, and due to the work that they do, men everywhere as well. Kitten began offering courses in the Burlesque.

During the years in which she admired Kitten from a far Angela was on her own journey. One which gave her the experience and confidence to be open to the challenge that Burlesque dancing would bring. Enter into this report my brother, Devin. At this time Devin was commanding the keyboards in Shitting Glitter, the very same band for which I was playing guitar. Devin had become friends with Angela whom he had met through our dear friend Tiger. he was struck immediately by her and knew then and there that she was a keeper of a person. As their friendship grew he saw more in her than just a wonderful person and friend. He saw a talent and a rockin' body. He invited her to go go dance with Shitting Glitter. This concept had not occurred to Angela to be within the realm of possibilities, and on the first invitation she turned him down. A decision she has said she began regretting shortly there after, having always been interested in performance. She was perhaps a little to shy and embarrassed to ask for an opportunity. As she as the world turns Devin is tenacious, and not long after he asked her to dance yet again. Her first premiere at the palms was a good way to break into performance, a small crowd in an intimate setting. It allowed Angela experience in being in front of a crowd but in the much more comfortable group setting.


What would follow after that first show is a string over wonderful shows, each one seeming to build in momentum, for her and the band. It was also over this time that Angela and myself became friends and over this same period of time which I grew to be madly in love with her.

Angela learned not only dance and performance during this time, but also a fine art of costume creation. She began making all her own outfits, spending time and money on looking good.

After her involvement in SG ended she continued go go dancing at night clubs as well as planning her own dance troop. Last November she decided to take another bold step forward and enrolled in Kitten De Ville's class. It was a major commitment of time and money, but it was accompanied by a great desire to achieve.

Each Wednesday night beginning in January Angela commuted from Hollywood to Riverside, a stressful drive of freeway traffic. The worst possible time to in worst possible conditions. Faithfully she persevered. The temptation to take a few of the classes, meet her idol and call it a day must have seemed great, yet she never bowed to the easy way out. She traveled and she learned, more than she could have realised.

As the weeks wound on she began working on her costume, a fine creation all in white. To think that so much time could go into such a skimpy costume!

The final day, a debut performance was set to begin. Nerves began to build up. It takes a special person get up in front of a room full of friends and strangers and perform the art of burlesque dancing. The final week seemed to be nearly unbearable in anticipation. Angela did not back down.

Finally the hour approached. We headed to Riverside with our good friend and new neighbor Loren. Anticipation building the entire time.

Finally the sound of Mötley Crüe's "Wildside" ripped it's way from the speakers. Bursting out through the curtain came a transformed Angela Diamond. Like a fire cracker with short lit fuse. Immediately her energy took the crowd to a level where it hadn't been all night. I'm not saying this out of boyfriendly pride, though I was experiencing plenty of that myself, but as passionate though reasonably objective observer. The crowd physically moved forward and sizzled with a new found energy. Three minutes of beautiful expression and it was over all to soon for me and everyone else in the room.

So thrilling and amazing. We left later that night bursting with relief and pride and sense of accomplishment. I am so proud. Where this new avenue leads I don't wish to know, getting there will be so much fun that I can only do all I can to aid in moving forward.

A day within a day

I think this little advertisement cart pictured below is hilarious.

I dreamed that I woke up at 7:58 today and I was in a huge panic because I was going to be late to work. The thing that's funny is that I wouldn't even be late waking up at that time, I just wouldn't be getting there early like I have been. Its funny, I used to wake up at that time everyday, now it made me panic.

In the dream when I was rushing around I realized that I was actually still asleep and not at all late. I then woke myself up, one minute before my alarm was set to pop.

I have had a song lyric I though of going through my head

"To think I'm lucky that I have to go to work"

The Bride Stripped Bare

Today at work is a sad day. It's raining and we had to lay two people off. I will miss both of my co-workers that have had their lives suddenly altered by the state of things in the financial realm.

There are consequences to the decision that are made. Being in charge is a tough job and I don't envy anyone in the driver's seat. It is a great responsibilty to be at the top, and as Americans living in a representative republic it's important that we take our job of electing representatives carefully.

When the books don't add up something must be sacraficed so that another page in the ledger will exist to be written.

When I was younger I hated the establishment so thouroughly I wanted nothing more than to watch it come down. I may live to see the wishes of an angry young man come to pass. I have grown up and I have built around me a life that I love to live. I would like to talk to that young man and let him know that it's going to work out. At the same time I feel that the things that drove me to such anger and dissatisfaction are valid and very real, and are now coming home in part to roost.

I didn't realize as a young man that I would be drawn in, and culpable, and just as threatened by the giant sucking sound now gathering around us all.

It is my hope that our system in shambles will result in something better being built in it's place, and I hope that the price isn't so dear for all of us.

I'm an optimist, through and through. I love my fellow man and almost by default see the good in all people. There are people out there that do not care about the world they live, they are not open to the idea that everyone deserves a good life. They are driven by base selfish instinct and a complete inability to see that there is no point in being the richest person in your nieghborhood if all your neighbors are starving and desperate. Inequility of that nature will violently work itself out.

To sign off, I just want to let everyone know that my job is on firm footing. I feel for my coworkers that were let go this morning. I feel for family's struggling to feed children and to keep their house. I'm going to try and be a little more understand of people I encounter out in the world, the stress that some folks are under may be more than meets the eye.

I slept till 9

And angela had every single box unpacked by the time I woke up!

New hood eats