Now For Waste of Your Time..

Borefest 2008 Alert:  If you want to see me video chat with my good friend John Cantrell, about why ID4 ( Independence Day) is such an "explosive" movie ... watch it here !

My 24th Birthday/ Mother Visiting Weekend '08

What an action pack weekend I had.  Mom was in town,  Independence Day, AND my day of birth!

So ladies and gentlemen... let the blogging begin... this will be a long one....

FOURTH OF JULY: EVENING

One of my favorite things in the world is getting to see Fireworks on the 4th of July.  My Birthday is the 5th, and I have always associated the fireworks with by day o' birth.  My Mom was in town, and we decided to meet up with Lauren, Lindsey, Gigi, and Brittany over in Santa Monica.  Although they were not launching Fireworks from SM, we could still see the ones near by.  So we walk down to the beach, and spot fireworks in the distance.  They were a little ways off, so we start walking towards them.  In fact, we were walking towards them during the whole display!  Just as they seemed to get closer, the next series would push on back.  It was as if they new that we were following them, and the fireworks were freaked out, running off.  But, it was a gorgeous night,  the company was more than pleasent, and the setting was beautiful.  Next year I hope to be a little closer :)  I enjoy the fear of fireworks' ambers, possibly falling in my hair.

THE METRO ART TOUR:

Birthday Morning, I decided a fun activity for my Mom and I to partake in would be the L.A. Metro Art Tour.  This was something I had been wanting to do for quite some time.  First Off, I love Art, Secondly, I Love riding in subways.  This was the ultimate mesh up.  Basically, it is a free tour, held on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month.  You meet a guide at 10am, outside the Hollywood/Highland Metro station, and you ride the subways all morning, while th guide explains all the artwork that makes up each station.  You see, Each station has a different artist who has been commissioned by the city, to make the stop into a work of art. Our tour group consisted of 2 couples, All in their 70s +.  They did however enjoy my tattoos, and call ME a work of art. haha.  It was such a blast , and the art was way cool!  I cannot wait to do this again next month! 

After the tour, my mom and I celebrated one of our favorite hobbies.  Thrift Shopping.  Although neither one of us found anything, it was still good times.  We then took a drive through Griffith Park, which I discovered quite recently.  It is such a beautiful place, and my mom really enjoyed it.  Following our drive we had a late lunch at Good, off of Sunset.  I had eaten there once before, and I must say.. it was "good". haha.  

At This Point, it was time to take a little birthday rest, and I dropped my Mom of at her hotel, and took a little siesta at my place.

BIRTHDAY NIGHT ACTIVITIES:

 My Mom wanted me to take me out for a birthday dinner, and she encouraged me to bring a friend.  I opted for my gal pal, Lauren. She met me at my place, and gave me my birthday present.  2 words. WALKIE .... TALKIES!  And they are incredibly awesome! Thank You very Much Lauren! Walkie Talkies are one of my favorite things in the world!  AND, that was one of thew few actual birthday gifts I have received in the past 7 + Years ... ANYWAYS, we go and pick up my Mom from her hotel.  I take her to the grove, and I pick the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  I told my Mom and Lauren not to mention my birthday to the waiter.  They do it anyways, while I am away in the restroom. haha. So towards the end of dinner, the wait staff presents me with a tiny ice cream sundae and sings me some rendition of "Happy Birthday".

Dinner was over, and it was then time to drop my mom off, and head over to the ChaCha for Birthdayness with friends!

Tha Cha Cha was great.  It is my favorite bar in L.A. And it felt so comforting to be surrounded by friends.  Everyone seemed to be having a really fun time!  There were even a couple celebrity guests ( including Bret from Flight of the Conchords, Aziz from Human Giant, and Mr. Jesse Camp from MTV )! haha.  Lauren and Lindsey demolished Aziz in a couple games of foosball!  I lost in a game of foosball :(  It was my birthday... you are supposed to LET me win....ha.  So, we stayed to closing, and my birthday night was over.

SUNDAY: VENICE BEACH

Yesterday I took my Mom to Venice Beach, where we road our bikes all a long the bike path to Santa Monica.  My Mom was able to keep up surprisingly well on my cruiser.  I guess, I may have slowed down a little for her...haha. But it was real cool getting to share something I love so much (bike riding on the beach) with my mom!

After Venice, we took a little breather. I dropped her off at her hotel, and I went to my place for a little bit.  After the break, it was then time to meet up with my Mom, so I could take her to the UCB theatre for a performance of ASSSSSCAT.

ASSSSSCAT:

It was a lot of fun.  My mom loved the show as well!  She can appreciate some dirty humor with the rest of them.  There is a part in the show, where the comedians take surveys of the audience.  They bet each-other "How many Southerners do you think are here?" or  " How many people work in Animation?" or some other poll.  This time it was " How many Atheists  ?" haha.  So each of the 6 comedians were told to select an audience member who they though was an Atheist.   Doug Benson ( Best Week Ever, We the 70s, 80s, 90s) picked me, and to my surprise all the other comedians let out a " AHHHHHH" in unison... for all 6 had chosen me. haha.  I was a 1 out of 100. But, Anyways, it was a great show, and it was also very cool getting to share that with my Mom!  She had just as great as time as I did.  

We were quite famished after the show, so we headed to Canters Deli, for a late night nosh.  You have to say "nosh" because it is a Jewish Deli.  At the table next to us was the always weirdRodney Bingenheimer. This was the 2nd time for me to see him in one week.  I guess he truly is "The Mayor of the Sunset Strip".  So, we finished dinner and called it a night.

I dropped my Mom off at the airport this morning.  It was so great having her in town.  Although it was only a couple days, we crammed so many activities into the weekend, it felt like we shared a lot more time.  AND,  Thank You to everyone who made my Birthday weekend so much fun! 

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of JULY !!!

- This is me in my proper red/white/blue -

( I cant tell if I look European, or like a Gay )

( This Peace Sign I am holding with my hands will single handedly end the war in Iraq )

Anyways...

Here is a quick recap of yesterday....

-  All my friends got out of work early, but I had to work a full day...

- 3 Employee Birthdays (including myself) this weekend, and no ice cream cake :(

- Clint and Nicks 3rd of July Party, with fun dip!

- Getting to Video Chat with Mr. John Cantrell ... 

Today:

- July 4th Pool Party at Kozak and Bernies 

-Picking up my Mom at Union Station!

- Lunch with Mom, and showing her my work

- going back to pool party for a little bit

Tonight:

- Fireworks at the Beach!

Roxie LOVES Chatting on The Interweb...

I Got Bored and Cut My Hair....

One of the more Painful Nights...

Last Night was tattoo night!  It had been almost a year since I was previously inked, and you kind of forget how painful of hobby it can be.  This was my first tattoo session with Graham.  He is a friend of a friend from back in Texas, and I was elated with his work!  We started off the night doing a piece on my chest.

(I was very sneaky taking this picture at work.)

The Chest is one of the more sensitive areas to get tattooed.  All work that crossed my sternum was quite painful.  But, as most of you know, I am a man's man, and took the pain with a grain of salt.  I swallow glass and nails for breakfast. haha.  

I have been collecting old timey imagery for years.  There are so many tattoos I would like to get, its just a matter of time at this point.  So, previously, Graham and I talked about the possibility of doing two tattoos that night.  The other being a neck tattoo I have wanted to get for some time.  We agreed that we were both up for the task, so we got back to work.  About an hour and a half later, I had officially transformed into a freak, with a tattoo that is visible at all times...

(Yes. I am always this serious when taking pictures of Neck tattoos.)

Towards the 2nd half of the neck tattoo.  A woman came in with her 2 nieces, and asked if they could watch me get tattooed.  I said "sure". They were pretty young, and asked a lot of questions.  

After about 4 and a half hours of tattooing, we were calling it a night. We bandaged everything up, and I walked out with 2 new pieces of art that I love.

As I rode my bike home, I was bandaged up like a mummy on my chest and neck. I felt like Stacy from Wayne's World, when she is riding her bike with the neck brace on.  It was kind of scary riding at night , not really able to move my head around to check out the surroundings.  But don't worry.  I made it home without being hit by a car ( Notice the ability to use my fingers while I type this entry.)

I arrived home and fell asleep soon after.  I was tossing and turning all night.  I don't know if it was the bandages suffocating me, or what, but I could not sleep.  So, at around 3 in the morning, I thought my best bet would be to remove the bandages, take a shower, watch The Drew Carey Show: Season 1 , on DVD, and snack on Cool Ranch Doritos.  And ya know what?  The "cool ranchyness" of the Doritos, were just the sedative I needed to lull me back to sleep. Needless to say, It was quite a painful morning....

Give it 6 Months...

As I was signing into my Blog account, I questioned why it is I always make my entries in the morning , talking about yesterday, as opposed to writing in it at night, recapping the days events.  If I wrote in it at night I would feel a lot more like Doogie Howser M.D.  Maybe that is the reason I choose not to? Or Perhaps I get too lazy at night, and when I get home all I want to do is put in a DVD , roll over and go to bed.  I prefer the latter.*

*Note:  This Paragraph was a waist of everyones time.  

Last night, was the final night of the Afternoons residency at Spaceland.  I am so glad I got to catch them.  I was really really impressed!  It's one of those bands  you watch with a silly grin slapped across your face.  You just feel so good seeing musicians having so much fun and radiating positive vibes from their guitars and amps.  

I was debating wether I wanted to go to Spaceland, or the Matt and Kim show, also close to my place.  I figured since the Matt and Kim show was a Vice Magazine show, it would have been filled with a bunch of hipster douche-bags.  I always hate being categorized as a "hipster".  But, I guess those generalizations usually come from people who think anyone in fitted jeans is either a hipster or an emo kid.  I don't even know if there is really an emo scene anymore. At least like there was when I was in high-school.

Hipster: A Person who superficially follows recently mass-produced, homogenous, urban fashion trends, overly concerned with their image and the contradictions of their identity. Hipsters are apathetic, pretentious, and self-entitled.

That, my friends, is exactly what I cannot stand in a person.  I know I have gone off on hipster rants in previous posts...so, sorry.  For some reason it just pushes my buttons. haha.

ANYWAYYYYS.  At Spaceland I ran into Mike Lavanos, and I got to meet a couple of his friends.  I forgot their names, but they were really nice and cool.  Somehow we ended up talking about my last relationship, and my new friends said some things that were pretty re-assuring. It made me feel good.  I also got to see Mike Shapiro and Rachel.  Although the place was packed, and I am not a big fan of cramped spaces (it's odd, because I used to love confined spaces), it was a lot of fun!  

Tonight is Tattoo night!