Busy weekend

(Pictures ahead. Click on 'em for full size.)
So much for the weekend being a time set aside for relaxation and recharging.

The last time I really posted was Wednesday... which feels like eons ago. I went out with Emily on Friday night, and we got comically lost on Robertson St. Either we have very similar luck with directions or I jinxed her, because we really did manage to spend 30 minutes looking for a particular place to eat on one street. In the process I was able to ask a Red Sox fan for help with directions, so it was definitely eventful. Emily and I get along really well. And the kicker of our game of hide and seek with Thai Boom, the restaurant we were headed for, was that once we finally found it, the place was a tiny hole-in-the-wall. She had seen that it had high ratings on Yelp.com ,  and I had mentioned Thai earlier in the day as well, so that's what we had settled on, to try Thai Boom, but as the place turned out to be about the size of Nadine's living room, we opted for another Thai place that just happened to be across the street. I think it was something like Nathalie's. Not sure. Very cool place though. I got Naked Shrimp- 6 shrimp served in individual little square-shaped cups, each cup filled with fish sauce, cilantro, chilis, garlic, and probably some other stuff. Mmmm. Afterwards, we went to Yogurtland. I already talked about that a bit so I'll spare you. But it calls for another MMMMMMMM. So good, so close, so cheap. Westwood Village is a great area, right by UCLA, lots of stuff to do.

Wow, just realized I didnt write about my dinner out with Jess, who is a friend of Gussy's, who is a friend of Robin's! Yes, friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend. That's what this town's all about, after all! Jess works at Dreamworks as an animator. Pretty cool right? I definitely think so. Everyone I've had the chance to spend time with has been incredible. Very interesting people, all of them. Easy conversationalists. Good stories. Good advice. We tried a new restaurant (the name of which neither of us caught, shoot!) in her area of Los Feliz. Another example of how easy it is to drive around here- I would have been hopelessly lost several times on the way there if LA's roads didnt make so much sense. I dont know why but sometimes I decide to deviate from the directions that googlemaps has given me. LA's roads are so formulaically laid out, for the most part, that it was easy to set myself back on track once I realized that my plan wasnt quite right. The restaurant had very slow service but the vibe was ... just lovely. We were all seated outside, and each table was sort of its own island. There were leafless tree-like saplings, one by each table more or less, and so the whole space was broken up nicely this way. Each table had votive candles, a wine bottle of water, and around the space were different very fragrant, subtle-but-beautiful flowers scaling intermittently placed trellises. I'll definitely go back- the minestrone soup was much different than I've ever had, with large chunks of vegetables and no beans or pasta. Yum.

Ok, what's next?
As of Friday, I started working from home. It's lovely so far. I love having lunch at home. I love dressing down. I love having the flexibility to get other things done. Tomorrow I'll be able to go to the DMV in the morning to finalize the registration process, as I had my car smog checked on Thursday and the DMV was closed on Friday. It'll be nice to have the door closed on that for a while. Got my insurance cards in the mail today too... the logistics are pretty much taken care of. Also got to talk to my Grandma for a long time. A bubbly 45 minute conversation, at the end of which I still had plenty more to say and I'm sure she had more to tell. But I needed to get back to work.

Friday night went on for too long... I stayed up till about 1AM, only to have to get up at 5:30AM for the 5K that I ran at Dodger Stadium. I didnt know what to expect, with regards to the course as well as to what my own performance level would be- but two things that I definitely did NOT expect:

4 Hill/Incline spots in 5K (exact hills not pictured)

Yep. Had to walk a couple times. Which is why I was also not expecting:

Less than 10 minute miles! I havent run since I was on the East Coast, and for anyone who's counting, that's been over a month now. Again, I walked  for a couple brief periods, so I was pleasantly surprised at my time.

I was planning to run with my friend Roxy, who also signed up, but we never met up. There were so many people there! The race was supposed to start at 8 but was delayed until about 8:30... terrible, terrible. See, on the morning of a race, people have routines. For instance, if you drink enough water to keep you "running" for about 30 minutes of a race, you drink it at a certain point not too far out from the start of the run so that you wont have to go to the bathroom before you're finished. The delay of the race by half an hour nearly proved to be a disaster for me!! At 8 I was already starting to think that I wished there was a nearby portapotty, but I knew I'd make it through just fine regardless... then they delayed the start by a few minutes every few minutes, and by the time I was climbing the last hill I was concentrating on just holding on for a few more minutes. Let me tell you, it was a close call. And I know for a fact that I was not the only on in this boat! It turned out fine, though, and after the race I hung around till about 1pm. There was a lot to do- so much free energy-this and protein-that. I have a backpack full of STUFF that I still havent really gone through. The LA Marathon was the next day (today, Sunday) so there was a whole Marathon expo happening. And the stadium was open! So of course I spent a lot of time exploring. I wandered into the luxury suites part of the park and talked my way into one of the suites (different rooms were rented out by various charities for post-race unwinding). Nice view!

 

Then I went up to the Top Deck area behind home plate and spent a good long while sitting in the sun. (Met an Aussie! He knew his baseball, I was impressed.)

..And other exploration pics..

And that's the race. I got home around 1:30pm or 2pm and started the resting process. I cleaned my room and watched LOST... man was I tired, but I couldnt make myself take a nap. Roxy texted later on and we went out to walk along the 3rd Street Promenade. Fun, busy street that's closed off to cars/only for pedestrian traffic. Lots of stores. We relived our respective race day moments of trial and triumph. Then we both went back to our homes and crashed! ZZZZZ

Today was all about the LA Marathon. The majority of the course ran down Santa Monica Blvd, and the entire west-bound side was shut down for the runners. I live off of a side street that connects to Santa Monica Blvd so I walked out to watch for about an hour. Races are really fun events. Inspiring. I saw children runners, runners that must have been in their mid 70's, blind runners, runners with only one leg, overweight runners, very athletic runners, average-looking runners. The whole time I was thinking about how great it would be to run a marathon. I was standing by the Mile 18 marker, and saw maybe 10 people out of the thousands I watched run past who looked like they were laboring, out of breath, red in the face. I guess it's all about pacing, walking when you need to. Lots of people were walking at that point. I was standing on an incline spot so I would imagine that by Mile 18 you're feeling any even slight upward slant in the road as if it's a mountain. Walked up the street a bit to where it was a downhill slant, and ended up talking with a guy and his family who were visiting from Lowell MA. He was sporting a Boston team print button-up so I had to chat with him! And actually, as I was running my 5K, I got about 10 GO RED SOX cheers from people in the crowd as well as people I passed/who passed me. I was wearing my Pedroia shirt, of course :) People dont wear sports shirts out here- that I've noticed, at least. And I really do look out for that. I talk to any Red Sox fan I stumble upon.

When I was tired of standing, I walked back across the street to the Century City Mall and sat in the food court area (it's outside, and a great place to hang out). Wrote some letters, listened to the live entertainment. They have live music there every weekend.

Since then, I've cooked myself some dinner (chicken, spinach, corn, garlic, lemon juice over pasta), watched some LOST. My body is saying, it's time to sleep. My mind and my will might just give in tonight. I have to be up early to get in line at the DMV, take care of this car stuff once and for all.

Long entry. I deserve to be able to end it abruptly. Have a great night everyone. Happy birthday, Grandpa. We all still think of you often. Miss you very, very much.

Grey skies, and I can hear the clock ticking

Literally. It's so quiet in here that the clock is noisy in comparison. The subject line sounds metaphorical and I guess it could fit the situation too but ... it's just ... quiet.

...And the search continues.

Hopefully, tonight will consist of checking out a 2005 Honda Civic in Rancho. I'll find out if that's a go sometime in the next hour. It would be nice to have a car for the two interviews I have on Monday. (Yes, two.. one is for a more contract-like job doing data entry, which will bring in some money for the time being. It would be so easy to get myself into a long-term position that pays good $$ but doesnt have anything to do with what I came out here for... and after week 1, I'm not quite ready to give up on the dream :))

I feel sad if I let myself, but then and only then. My mom called today and I didnt have much to report in terms of news, and it (noticeably) bummed me out, but at least she had plenty of new info for me. I appreciated hearing it even if, for some reason, I wasnt able to be animated in my responses. 

I miss the Red Sox and the prospect of spending so many spring and summer evenings in Pawtucket (there's a lump in my throat as I type... I need to get a grip!) I could have been so happy working there for the rest of my life- if I could have found a substantive job. From my research, it seemed like permanent jobs are hard to come by in such a small organization. But the small-town feel of the park and the community... seeing all of those young (and sometimes not so young) minor leaguers come through, catching great major leaguers who are on rehab assignments... but it would be easier to get a job with the parent club than with the PawSox. Along this vein, I MISS the thought of Michael Bowden. And I miss Dustin Pedroia.

I wrote to my Grandma this weekend and got around to remembering to send it just yesterday. If she doesnt come visit this spring or summer I dont know how I'll make it till the holidays to see her again.

I listened to Claire de Lune today and it made me think of my brother, who bought me a musical Edward Cullen card for Valentines Day (it, of course, plays Claire de Lune when you open it). I miss his teasing Twilight references. I'm not a huge Twilight fan, but it has admittedly held some interesting points of inspiration for me over the past 4 months. Speaking of which, I think I would feel more balanced overall if I had a piano to play. I listen to these songs that I've learned and imagine how my fingers will be a little clumsy trying to find the right keys again. That's a point of worry for me- I get very frustrated with myself, like a mini volcanic eruption, heated and sudden, when I cant do something as well as I used to be able to.. or when I dont do it as well as I know I can.

What a silly thing to be anxious about, I know.

So far, I have been out of luck in my search for pre-made pizza dough (except for the pillsbury can kind). Unbelieveable. I've tried Stater Bros, Von's, Ralph's, and Trader Joe's. (I might expect this kind of shortfalling from the others, but never from you, Joe.) Also, have the Dodgers downgraded their team significantly? The only Dodger shirts that I've seen in stores (havent seen a single Dodgers or Angels shirt on anyone around here... so weird!) have Ramirez or Kemp on the back. What about the rest of the team? You can get any Red Sox player's name on a shirt straight out of any number of stores. I guess you have to customize Dodger shirts if you're anything but a Manny or Matt Kemp fan. (I fall into that category, by the way. Chad Billingsley!) I've got a couple fantasy leagues in the mix for this year, but have been too lazy to think about that stuff yet. It's almost March and so rosters for my keepers league will be due in a few weeks. I guess life has a way of going on whether you've been paying attention or not. The end of a baseball season leaves me standing on the brink of a gigantic chasm, where the next year's season is somewhere safe and sound on dry land across the distance, but I cant even see or imagine it. The "offseason" consists of a number of dark wintery months where I set about trying to pretend that I can genuinely amuse myself with all of the offseason happenings just as well as I can with actual games and season events. Grasping at straws. There's so little news, often, that I've already heard it all by the time my father, brother, and friends try to tell me about the latest happenings. I hope that living here- living away from Boston, living in a city where sports are important but compete with many other things for the population's affection- doesnt stop me from caring as deeply as I have and do. I'll always love the Red Sox. (I wish Ben Bronson could see me now.)

How's this sound- spinach and cucumber salad with raspberry and pecan dressing (fat free!yahoooo); two spoonfuls of avocado; bean soup. And water of course. I dont think I've mentioned it.. but my fast this Lenten season is in line with the bloodwater mission's 40 Days of Water. The idea is that the only beverage you drink for 40 days is water, and at the end of the 40 days you donate the money you would have spent on coffee, juice, soda, whatever, to the bloodwater mission. So far, so good.

Two more things: Jack Shepherd's son is a Red Sox fan! and... go to Bakerella's site for some creative SWEET ideas :)

Ready to have my own wheels.

Sunny and 75 today. Absolutely blissful.
Looked at another PROMISING car- so i have two that i'll probably end up choosing from, both 2001 Honda Accords. I also got an interview for an internship position with Red Varden Studios. They're a TV production company in LA. The guy who founded it seems like he has been around the biz quite a bit. www.redvarden.com if you're interested.

I ALLLLSO went shopping since my professional clothing options are pretty slim right now. I found the following, plus a leather portfolio, for $70!:

Green shirt..

Not what i'm wearing to any interview..

Need to sew a small hole...

Black shirt #1

My favorite of the two

Straightener! heels... and my first blowdryer.

Very light blue (hard to tell in this pic)

Olive Blazer

Pinstriped Blazer

Standard black pants, first thing i tried on... fit perfectly.

MY LUCKY DAY!!!

...I got this portfolio for $2. It's in great shape. So glad to have one.

I love Goodwill.

Off to call a car guy. Gotta get that good price.

what's new?

I havent written since Friday? Well. Saturday was a blast, riding around town with Tony. If we spent a whole day touring Boston, we'd have at least driven by everything. Not so here. We touched some of the west side of the city. Look at a map and you'll see that this is a very small portion of Los Angeles. The area I'll be living in is beautiful, especially compared to my general expectations of LA. Tony treated me VERY well. I met some of his friends, we ate at Islands and at a sushi place in the Valley. ...i almost tried sushi. Instead, I stuck with avocado rolls. I dont think that it'll be the raw fish thing that keeps me from liking sushi- it'll be the seaweed. Anyway, Saturday fueled my excitement at moving into the city.

Sunday was church (where Rob is the pastor; also met a guy who drives the bus for the Angels' local farm team), brunch (first omelet ever- mushrooms and spinach with salsa and avocado!!), and some car searching (fruitless but informative). Interestingly enough, Rob spoke about Zacchaeus as the first in a series similar to White Pine's "They Met Jesus" (parents' church in Maine). This series is called "Unstuck" and focuses on how Jesus "unstuck" these various people from different stumbling points in their lives. I liked the clear focus on Zacchaeus' repentance. Also pretty cool to imagine this small man who cant see over the crowd, who's widely despised by the people, and yet Jesus sees and addresses him specifically, and goes home for dinner with him.

Monday, Rob and Kathleen left for Phoenix for the week (through Saturday night). I'm the house manager right now :) I've been looking for cars, and have a good lead actually:

I've seen it a couple times, and now am waiting to hear a few maintenance details. Who knows. could be the one. Has a few small paint chips here and there but i'm not real concerned with that stuff. The car is generally pretty beautiful.. blue :)

I'm rewatching LOST right now (writing during commercials). Who's 108??? Kate, Aaron, Lapidus, Desmond? Oh and is it me or does the jungle look different to any one else? Not necessarily on purpose. Maybe just a continuity flaw. Like they're filming in a different location.
I will say that I'm done with these episodes that leave out half of the entire active cast. I cant take only seeing Ben and Richard every other week! That's asking a bit too much. But Hurley's sudden promotion to, like, main protagonist.. it's pretty cool.

Today... maybe i'll get myself a car! I've got another lead, similar to the pics above though a newer model and a brighter blue. It's warm out already. Time to giddy up. Opening day is getting closer!