No weekend itinerary for this week, other than staying low and under the radar. I have some pictures from my trip to LA thanks to Erin's camera.
Erin picked me up at LAX!
[Insert picture here of Erin's insanely awesome workplace, the private art gallery/office of only one of the biggest players in Hollywood, and then a delicious double-double at In N Out. The burger was good...but tastes really similar to the Burger Joint in the Le Parker Meridien.]
Then she took a nice scene route to the beach (other than work, my only must-do item on the trip itinerary). Ahhh, look at that warm clear blue sky. I hate you, NYC winter. HATE YOU.
Beach! I was amazed at how this kid in the photo kept himself amused with just a stick and a few rocks.
This woman tenaciously kept her kite afloat. I don't care what age you are, kites are mesmerizing to watch. Always. I think every UN session should start off with some kite flying. The end of Mary Poppins had the right idea. Speaking of, I had this conversation recently with a friend. Am I the only one that always thought Mary Poppins was pretty poppin' hot? Anyway, I'll let you come up with all the bad nanny jokes and such. Pervs.
Erin reads her totally pretenious art magazines. Haha. I think it's so freakin' cool that she's had dinner with all these artists in the magazine. Erin, OWN IT! OWN THIS! It's alright to brag! I love that my friends all have such cool jobs!!! News editor at start up! Famous and mega rich hollywood guy's gallery curator! Writer--who incidentally just moved to NYC to work on my favorite stand-up comic's new show! Tech stuff in India! Brain doctor! Well, lots of doctors actually! And lawyers! Lots and lots of lawyers!!!
Mrod contemplating...How to keep self amused...
Got it! First, the wind-up....
And the jump!
Erin decides enough work! Time to regress to a child like state and play with sticks!
This might be one of my all time favorite jumps EVER. It's just so joyful to me. Kite. Jumping. Beach. Blue sky. Sand. Stick. So good, so right.
Then we met up with some of her friends for dinner at this Asian fusion restaurant. I liked how all the menu's had this one item circled and noted as "Best Seller!" with a crayon. Also, I don't know if you can tell in this photo, but the menu had this really interesting old-school font reminiscent of typewriters. I wish I could use that font with everything. Love it.
[Insert picture of housewarming party of a friend from Brown and his new wife. It was such an awesome and relaxing time: an entire night of drinking beer, laughing endlessly, and watching this 3-year-old energetically and so adorably dominate the party.]
Pauline and her boyfriend, both visiting from Portland Oregon, who were following us so they could get back to the place they were staying at in LA. I so predictably played the role of the paparazzi. Pauline, graciously...and actually, very quickly acted the role of diva actress who sought YET shunned the spotlight of fame! While her boyfriend in the car actually is making the SAME face that Matt Damon makes in that music video of him and Sarah Silverman. Uncanny.
"Are you pregnant?!?" some asshole stalkerazzi yelled at her. Note Pauline's strategic binary usage of her hands: BOTH to block her face, yet simultaneously extinguishing rumors of her marriage by revealing clearly the lack of a wedding ring.
The next day, which incidentally was Easter Sunday, we met up with her parents and headed over to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Along the way, we walked through this park that has these tar pits where they found remains of mammoths or something. 10,000 BC what? Anyway, these families were having a cute picnic there while the kids hunted for hidden easter eggs. I spotted two. Eagle eye vision, kids. Can't fuck wit it.
A small, intsy tar pit.
The cool escalators at the LACMA. I've always enjoyed the combination of utility and art. Kind of like Transformers.
Famous art.
Famous art. No photos are allowed, so I had to sneak a hip check snapshot here.
Requisite touristy photo. In the far, far distance you can see the Hollywood sign. Can't see it? It's okay. Me neither.
Wind up...
Jump! Plus heel click. Excellent.
I'm "not sure" in this jump.
Erin is "sure."
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0b1YR5n7hk]
Lame attempt. Lets try again.
Take two. BETTER! MUCH BETTER. God forbid, but if something were to happen to me tomorrow and I move on from this life, I hope this photo is shown at my memorial service. Seriously.
I could tell that while Erin and I were jumping around like buffoons (but hey what else can you do when you're standing in front of dozens and dozens of lamp posts), I could tell that her dad really wanted to get in on this jumping fun. So finally with little pressure, he was game.
And then after some ice cream at Baskin Robbins, they dropped me off at my hotel.
[Insert pictures of me hanging out with Jesse as we sit outside a cafe, then drinking beer on his apartment building's rooftop, then playing Wii where he whupped me in tennis, bowling, and boxing, and then a sushi dinner.]
The view from my hotel balcony. Across the street, the building with the square hole in the middle is the CAA headquarter. And then in one of those windows in the two tall buildings in the background sits the West Coast division of Chopstix Inc.
[Insert photos of meeting, after meeting, after meeting. Then lunch at Newsroom across from the Ivy, where some D lister stood outside getting photographed by the paparazzi while holding up one of the celebrity gossip magazines.]
Thanks again to Erin for letting me hijack her camera and her hospitality.