The wind is a blowin'

It's Santa Ana wind season and it is really windy tonight. Given that it's always calm and pretty, even wind makes the news. It is really windy. According to the weather channel:

A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM SUNDAY TO 3 PM PDT TUESDAY.

A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.

In other news, I got a job! More details to follow. We also got an LCD HDTV today. It's something. I'm watching one of the new Star Wars movies on it, just to see how gorgeous it is. It's a shame the dialogue isn't better; the sound is almost as good as the picture. "Hold me--like you did long ago on Naboo; when there was nothing but our love..." Ugh.

Celebrity sighting

So I was shopping yesterday at the local grocery store, Pavillions/Vons, which is really Safeway, when in the produce section, I spotted Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye on Bravo. It was close range. He looked good, and is tiny. I almost invited him over, assuming he lives nearby.

I've been away for a while and so I haven't kept up with posting. I'm sorry about that. I'll get on the stick. It's not as if I have a job to distract me, just Ellen on the DVR.

For now, here's a picture of fall color I took last year when Jason and I spent some time at Shiloh and on Skyline Drive:



I understand that no one in the country is experiencing this right now since there's kind of a heat wave on. I post it here as a reminder that if I were back east, fall would be on the way. Instead, in LA, the change of season is marked by the availability of gourds and pumpkins at the grocery store. My front yard looks like this, and it will forever, unless the Mexicans who take care of it forget to water:



Finally, a photo testament (photestament?) to how commercialism has hijacked our holidays. I took this at Target almost a month ago. Here's a fun idea, how about a contest to come up with the best name for the holidays: a mash-up of the October/November/December holiday season. Like the commercial, "ChristmaHannuKwanzaKah", except you can probably be more clever. Like, Day of the Dead Turkey/Savior. Or something. Submit your entries as comments. Winner gets a guaranteed holiday card from me.

You know you live in West Hollywood when...

...the municipal park and auditorium play host to the Tom of Finland Foundation's erotic art fair and sale, as well as the 2nd Annual LA County Medical Marijuana Exposition & Patient Festival.

Sorry no pictures or samples. You can probably find some on the net.

Rufus rocks the bowl

Jason and I got tickets a while back, right after I'd decided to move to LA, to go see Rufus Wainwright interpret and restage Judy Garland's famous Hollywood Bowl concert
(as he has done for her Carnegie Hall concert, the Palladium and others). The concert was tonight and needless to say, it was amazing; not only Rufus' performance which was impressive, but also the whole scene: a bright beautiful moon, family members suppporting him, Debbie Reynolds in the front row, and Lorna Luft performing with him. Nothing gayer has happened in my life I don't think.

To top it off, I had my first legitimate celebrity sighting: Michael McDonald from Mad TV was sitting a row behind us and several seats down.





Bonus pic: Michael McDonald

Weather Event!

So on Friday and Saturday it rained.

It rained. (note wiper use to the left of this photo)

Apparently this doesn't really happen here. I wouldn't know having only lived here for a couple weeks. Seemed pretty natural to me. To be fair, it rained a lot--very steadily for a good day or so.

You would have thought they were expecting locusts or brimstone or frogs. For six days prior to the event the news media were speculating about the rain and what it would mean for residents. Seriously. I know weather reporting is kind of crazy everywhere, but this was something.

Again to be fair, there was some damage and there were some injuries.

Driving down the street, I was struck by how unprepared everyone was. I speculated about how many households in LA were digging through closets in the vain hope of finding their neglected umbrellas (if they had them).

Friday night it really poured for a little bit and Saturday it rained pretty steadily for most of the day. Jason says, "You know all the plants in Southern California today are like, 'what's going on?!'".

Emmy party!

Last week was the Emmys. They're held at the Shrine Auditorium. Afterwards parties are held at various venues throughout the city. Turns out the HBO party is held at the Pacific Design Center which is half a block from our place. I'd noticed earlier in the week that something big was happening. The entire courtyard was walled off in pink fabric covered eight foot barricades, gold statues were brought in, carpet was laid, and a large tent was erected. As the setup progressed throughout the week, a guard was posted 24 hours a day.

We weren't sure what the event was until a big Emmy statue appeared on the balcony of the PDC. On Emmy night, Jason and I were busy unpacking and doing things in the apartment. San Vicente was blocked off between Melrose and Santa Monica and there were cops stationed outside our apartment. This was a checkpoint for folks arriving at the party. As the night went on, we decided to walk up San Vicente. We were prohibited from walking on the side of the street as the party, so we crossed and walked to the library, stood on the stairs and porch and took some pictures. We didn't recognize anyone, but it was pretty cool none the less.


This was the limo parking area near the library.
















This was the scene. Arrivals to the right of the picture.

Predictable but Hooray!

You'd be disappointed if I didn't post it, so don't judge.

On the Saturday after I arrived, we went too Hollywood, saw the walk of fame, the Kodak theater, etc. It was touristy but we figured we'd better do it ASAP. I snapped this through the telescope thingie.

We walked all around and then I had my first In and Out Burger. Not bad. Comparable to Five Guys. ** In retrospect, I completely disagree with myself about this. Sometime I'll write about it but to summarize: In n Out burgers and Five Guys burgers are comparable, but the fries, hands down, belong to Five Guys. Overall I still love Five Guys more and think they're better. **

Herb doctor

This is one of the first pictures I took when I arrived in LA two Thursdays ago. Jason and I were walking down Santa Monica in the homohood at about 9:30 or 10 at night. We were on the way to the gym where I inquired about membership (it's LA after all: first things first!).

My mother begged me to send her this picture so she could tell everyone I had gotten a job.

Touchdown

So, a blog. Why not? I'm unemployed!

As a new transplant to LA (that's WeHo city limits to you!), I want to record my nuggets of wry, nose-snubbing, eye-rolling, east coast, bitchery with as much drab, khaki, muggy, DC, disdain as I can muster before this place captures my heart and transforms me into a looks-obsessed, shallow, acquisitive, paparazzi-dodging, fame whore with a carbon footprint the size of Texas. I can't wait.

And I want to post pictures and write about words I make up. And I miss everyone and thought this might help lower your productivity. Stay tuned.