New York Trip

A few weeks ago I went to NYC just for fun. The trip was very short - I left LA Friday morning at 6:30 am and returned Monday at 11 pm. The only thing I had planned in advance was who I would see and when. The where and what we would do developed as we went along. It felt really good to be free of responsibility and without big expectations. My godmother, Judd, and my good friend, Michael, made sure I always felt safe and taken care of. I got to see so many great friends - some of who I haven't seen in years. Let the journey begin:

Judd in the park on Staten Island - check out those awesome above the knee, purple suede boots!

Judd's daughter, Mimi, at the Tottenville train station - so glad I got to see Mimi again! Last time I saw her she was 10 now she's 16.
At the train station with me newly adorned work jacket - Judd covered the old Breakthru Fitness insignia with antique, mother of pearl buttons
Tomme met me in Chelsea - we drank sangria with lunch
Michael met up with us and had a margarita - we realized after ordering maybe a pitcher for all would have been a more cost effective choice
Michael and Tommy in the East Village - I told them to stretch and this is what they did

the dress I wish I would have bought - tried it on and got encouragement from the boys but opted out because of the $178 price tag
Michael, ironically, had a gift certificate to a vintage glasses store - little did he know I have become a glasses collector - I bought new frames, he did not
I highly recommend Fabulous Fannie's if you are in NYC and looking for vintage frames
East Village
the best ear muffs ever at the coolest punk rock/vintage store ever, Search and Destroy
That's right, I bought those panda ear muffs. Then I wore them in a dive bar while drinking a Maker's and Diet Coke.
Michael didn't have fun ear muffs and bourbon, just beer - note the less happy expression
Michael at Milon - this Indian restaurant wins the award for coolest lighting ever - every inch of the cieling was covered with dangling Christmas lights
Deepti met us for dinner - she described the plan for her sister's wedding that will happen in India next summer - Michael and I dreamed of going to experience an authentic Indian wedding
Michael lied and said it was my birthday - they strobed the lights and played an awesome birthday song - this was supposed to be a video but I haven't figured out how to make it work
the lights hang low enough that Michael's head was engulfed by them when he stood up
one white rose
Kevin and Chris met up with us at the Sly Fox - Kevin works at the MoMA and had some great stories about past exhibitions - Chris and his wife will be having baby soon!
Cole, Michael and I in the men's restroom - yes, Michael wrote on the mirror
Yes, Michael wrote on the wall



Michael and Cole waiting for the train back to Brooklyn

painting on the wall outside the Wimpee's apartment left there from Marfa Lights
loading the truck full of flats
Cole and Casey's apartment in Brooklyn
the yard where they do performances and have bon fires
unloading the truck at the storage space in Harlem
Harlem condos
the Texas burger - after very little sleep and lots of manual labor
the California Salad - after very little sleep and lots of sitting and watching boys do manual labor
Cheesecake
the Standard NY on the High Line - a sort of park/walkway that was built along an overgrown, abandoned rail line
lots of futuristic, blue lighting on the High Line






interesting window display in a super fancy store
chips and margaritas for dinner
main door to a hipster loft apartment building in Bushwick

the street in Bushwick - not many people around - just the occasional guy on a skateboard or girl with a big backpack and high heeled boots
the loft we went in was an unusual catacomb of boxlike rooms - nine people lived in one left - each one had there own box
Ishaq came out to meet us in Brooklyn
this is our expression right after Michael almost fell over backwards from leaning too far back to get a wider shot
Casey and Michael "smiling" - awkward
Michael's apartment in Brooklyn - thanks for letting me stay, Michael!


Judd's dogs - Lulu and Bucky - they go everywhere together, side by side - too cute
Judd outside her house - thanks for letting me stay, Judd!

The return trip literally took me from 9:30 am until 12:30 am that Monday. I began by leaving with Michael and taking the train from Brooklyn into Manhatten. Michael helped me figure out which train to take to get to Battery Park. Then I took the Staten Island Ferry from Battery Park to Staten Island where I got on the train and rode it all the way to the last stop, Tottenville. I then walked a few blocks to Judd's house where I had a few hours to lay down. Judd came home from work and soon after we drove to the airport where I waited 3.5 hours then flew from Newark to LAX. Upon arriving, I found the Super shuttle, waited for the one to my neighborhood and finally rode home. It was a long day but definitely worth it for the great time I had that weekend visiting with all my fabulous friends and family.

Halloween Horror NIghts

Last Sunday we went to the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Saw was the main theme this year - not as scary as last year when it was Texas Chainsaw Massacre but still fun. There were lots of people in pig-face masks running around with chainsaws and a ton of zombies creeping around. It was great having Beth and Steve with us. We all took turns getting genuinely surprised in the scare zones and mazes. A high point was definitely the Terror Tram that takes you into the backlot. We got to walk past the hotel and house from Psycho and the crashed airplane from War of the Worlds. There were many very scarey performers throughout the tour. We even got our photo taken with Norman Bates! Beth convinced me to go on Jurassic Park in the Dark. You are guaranteed to get wet on this ride but we avoided getting soaked. I ate corn on the cob and Kelly got a humungous glazed doughnut with pink icing from Krusty the Klowns bakeshop. It was big enough to split four ways and still have at least one or more whole average-sized doughnuts worth. One downfall of a number of the events was the overuse of random water sprayers. The spray was supposed to be spit or blood expelled by the performers. Annoying! I got more wet from the random "blood spurts" than I did on the water raft ride. By the end we were all saying, "More scaring, less spraying!" Even so, days later I found myself thinking I would like to go back and do it again.

Yosemite Trip

Last week, September 13-17, we had a fabulous time in Yosemite National Park. Sunday we drove up and stayed in Oakhurst near the south entrance. Before heading into the park the next day we ate breakfast at a place where Kelly likes to get chicken fried steak and we went to the local gym. The day rate was only $7 and they had everything one would need to have a good workout. After our weight lifting fix we drove all the way to the north side of the park near Hetch Hetchy Reservoir where we checked into a little cabin at the Evergreen Lodge. I highly recommend staying here if you want to avoid the crowd in the valley and still be in the park. The drive from Oakhurst is so windey I always got motion sickness on past trips. This time I didn't get sick once because we were able to avoid extreme elevation changes. After a few nights in the cabin, we made our way to the valley where we stayed one night in Yosemite Lodge. It was us and all the Germans - I mean all the Germans. It was very crowded and much hotter than when we were up at Hetch Hetchy. Still enjoyable and the restaurant was excellent. The last day we drove the entirety of the Tioga Pass and came out on the east side where we then drove down through Mammoth. Each day we did at least one 3-4 hour hike. Then we spent time just walking around near our cabin or in the room where Kelly made music or we watched movies on my new laptop. Yosemite is definitely one of our favorite places.

drinking coffee with the bowling pin people at Oakhurst's Kountry Kitchen:

in the meadow where Kelly proposed:

making field recordings:



stopping along the Tioga Pass near White Wolf:


hiking to Lukens Lake:



Carlon day use area near Hetch Hetchy:
hiking to Carlon Falls:





ran into a herd of cows on the way back to our car:

after dinner at the Mountain Room at Yosemite Lodge:

after our most difficult hike up to May Lake: