Insomnia, which I never have, has been very present this week.
I am the walking dead.
But things are good.
The temp I trained was really with it and made training go so well.
I dropped off my cat with Zappy (thanks lady - I owe you).
Went to the Silverlake Lounge last night for a reunion of sorts.
Caught Evil Maria (new music for the new cd is great) and then caught Vic du Monte's Persona Non Grata. They rocked it out.
It was a good show all the way around. Seeing old friends and hearing good tunes.
And tomorrow at this time I will be in flight on my way to Europe.
Catch you all later...that is what the jet set are saying these days and well, now I am one.
In prepping for my trip to Europe, I have been trying to get my shit in order.
I got my hair cut and then last night, I went to get my hair highlighted as a hair model at a very upscale BH salon.
It was a class.
I had the best student. Thank god.
But the best part about being there is when you see celebs. I have seen a certain tv and film star there who is on a regular series (monday nights).
But last night, I got there and saw a woman who looked so horrible that it made me realize that no matter how much cosmetic surgery you get, you always need to have someone still make you look fabulous, cuz if you don't, you look the same as if you would not have had anything done in the first place.
She was an Angel in the 70's. The most famous one.
I felt bad for her assistant. Working late on a monday night to hang with this lady.
Ugh.
Been there, done that. It so wipes you out.
Although, I am totally wiped out from my job now.
But at least, I have set hours.
And thanks to the amazing student I had, I also have great color.
Nice.
I slept most of the weekend away.
Well not exactly true but it took me a long time to get up on Saturday.
I finally got up and moving around 5pm.
Sunday was similar. But I got moving much faster.
Got my hair cut with layers specifically for my curls.
Nice.
Then on to El Coyoto to meet up with Mads, Stephen, Ennui, Reedfish, Zappy and her friend from NYC and Jazzy.
It was such a fun night of seeing people I hadn't seen in awhile and also meeting some new ones. The margaritas were a flowing and the guac was there to awaken me from my coma weekend.
On the way to the car, Stephen, Mads and I saw a guy take his "people-mover" (think GOB from Arrested Development) out to "walk" the dog.
It was so weird. Even for LA. There was his dog running around and there he was zooming around. I couldn't stop staring.
We went to El Carmen and I tried to perfect my stripper dance. Turns out, my face is made more for comedy than the burlesque.
Mads kept scrunching up her face with discontent..."Not that face..do a different face....no not that face either...no try just the eyes...no something else."
Well if that don't make you feel your sexiest, I don't know what does.
There have been several classes that I have taken that changed my life. Some of them even saved my life.
Several months ago at the Hollywood YMCA, my amazing latin dance class's teacher (who I just love), had a sub.
I started talking to a woman waiting for the class not knowing that she was the sub.
She was humble and pretty and just really friendly.
When I found out that she was going to be the teacher, I felt a little stupid because we were talking about dance.
I talk to people who haven't taken the dance classes and try and support them. I have taken several at the Y but i am by no means a dancer.
I just love it.
So, I tried to retrace things I may have said that would now seem very dumb since not only is she a dancer but also a teacher.
The class was amazing.
I had to find out where else she taught.
Lucky for me that she teaches on Wed. nights at the North Hollywood YMCA.
That class has changed my life.
I leave on a high every wednesday.
I don't know if it is her style, her voice, the music, the routine, the movements we do, but whatever it is, it all clicks.
She made me a cd of the songs she uses and so throughout the week, I find myself dancing some of the moves to certain songs.
Even in the car.
I love classes like that.
And I really love teachers that can inspire like that.
I heart Salsa Fusion (mixed with belly dancing) at the North Hollywood YMCA. Take it if you are near there.
I do.
And really, if you listened to me more you might be happier.
But that just might be the work out high I am on so excuse me if I get out of line.
I watched Born into Brothels last night.
And when it was over, I watched it again.
It is an amazing movie.
And it stirred something in me that I already knew existed.
That I want to work with kids in a creative form.
I always said that once I make my millions, I want to start a camp for underprivileged kids who would never be supported to go into the arts.
I would have people teach them various crafts in the industry.
I have volunteered with Free Arts before which is an organization that uses art to heal kids who have been abused.
After seeing this movie, I realize how I could combine my love of kids, travel and creativity to gain a fulfillment that sometimes seems lacking in me.
The kids in the film take the most beautiful shots. I am so moved by this film.
I am so proud of it that it won the oscar last year.
Yesterday was the LA Marathon.
Katie came to my house and we hopped on the subway to go downtown and show our support for Hendricks who was running in it.
Sweet-natured Katie almost got in 2 brawls with 2 people who were pushing and shoving their way past us.
It was very chaotic.
If you think that most people who are down there to show their love to their loved ones are loving, you got that wrong. Tensions were high as people tried to find their runners, yell their support, take pictures and make their presence known.
But all in all, it was a great day.
Weather was amazing. We saw a puppy on the subway that just melted my heart.
Katie and I got back to Los Feliz and decided to grab something to eat at HOME.
We ordered margaritas that were so strong that 3 sips into them, she and I were both tipsy. Several sips later, we are beyond tipsy and are giggling like freaks. And this is despite the mac and cheese we were sharing which should have absorbed some of the tequila (or that was our thinking anyway).
We realized that we had to get coffee and walk off our buzz. We ended up at the Alcove and saw BUSTER from Arrested Development. He is tall-ish.
I didn't run in the marathon, but we walked a lot yesterday and so I felt a little tired.
Laundry was done, shopping trip was made and my weekend was complete.
Last week was the week that all my worries reached their apex and then they disappeared.
Thursday, i finished my online drivers school and rocked it. Only missing one.
I shouldn't have really missed it since you could take as much time as you needed to search for the answers. But I was happy.
Then on Sat,I went to the tax guy. And I broke even. And that makes me very very happy.
My tax guy is in the OC and as I was at a stop light, I noticed on two corners, two different advertisements for Liberty Mutual.
On one corner was a guy dressed as Uncle Sam. He had his back to traffic and at first I thought it was a statue. Then I realized he was looking for new cds to play in his little radio.
He finally picked one and put it in the radio and just stood there. As Uncle Sam. In front of a billboard for Liberty Mutual.
Then on the opposite corner was a guy dressed up as the Statue of Liberty. He was dancing a la Napoleon Dynamite at the end. I never would have thought old liberty could move like that. But there it was. It made me laugh and I wish I wasn't the only one there to see it.
I wanted to roll my windows down to the next car and say, "Can you believe what we are seeing?" But they weren't even looking at the dueling liberty mutual mascots. I was though and it made me smile. And that was before I found out that I don't have to pay anything.
Then I drove to meet Mads, Zappy, and Jazzy at Zappy's showroom in downtown LA. It was a beautiful day and the fashion district was all abuzz and I was so thrilled to see downtown from her magnificent windows. We worked until dark. It looked really good. Zappy kept us refreshed with lunch and coffee.
Then on to the edendale in Silverlake for dinner.
Then I crashed.
My week of worry turned into a weekend of enjoyment and for the first time in several weeks, I was able to dream without worry.
Life feels good today.
Dance class rocked last night.
My teacher gave me her dance mix cd that she uses in class.
I love it.
The sun is shining, I am halfway through with my online traffic school, I have an appointment with the tax man on Sat, and I may be hot on the trail to finding awesome highlights which will fit into my cashpoor wallet.
Ahhhh. Sometimes LA is harsh and other times, it feels so much like a friend.
Today, it feels like a friend who I called a long time ago and who usually doesn't email, but who is in town for a layover and we are gonna grab a drink.
And maybe dinner if she stays long enough.
El Coyote turned 75!
And not only that, they had a party.
Yes they did.
They had $.75 enchilada dishes that were a full meal.
Mads ordered it.
Jazzy, Tammy and I ordered the requisite tostada with fajita chicken (yummers).
Our waiter was decked out in very glittery blue mexican cowboy attire.
The waitress who we would have had if we had sat one table over commented that she was wasted.
We took a lot of pictures.
New friends were made.
Like Joe who appeared naked in a film. Got drunk off the scratch margaritas at Jazzy's request and spilled his on screen birthday suit extravaganza.
Balloons were popped, birthday swag was handed out and a mariachi band played and which brought people to their feet to dance in the middle of the restaurant.
It was like a regular el coyote night filled with mardi gras and new years.
It was fan-frigging-tastic.
Next week, Canter's turns 75! Wow. I guess we know what people were eating back in 1931. I wonder if they will be dancing too.
Well it has been a ride of a time for me.
Last weekend, I acted like a college student on spring break with Brian.
Even in college, I never acted like that.
You have a birthday and suddenly you go nuts.
Anyhoo, I am back on track with the fitness.
Went to see Pete's band, at the Viper on Tuesday. Those boys put on a great show. I had a lot of fun. I had been meaning to see them for awhile and just hadn't had a chance. Glad I went. Also saw Evren, Tara and Ted there. It was like the olden days of hanging out with friends to watch another's friend's band. Wait. Olden days? What the..? I guess I mean last year when I was going to live shows more often.
I had also never been to the Viper Room. Which is weird because it totally felt like a place I had been before. I liked it.
Also, I will be doing a reading for a spec script this weekend. It came out of the blue. A friend passed my name on to a classmate of hers to read an Arrested Development spec script. I love that show and feel very happy to read Lucille and Maeby.
Anyhoo, I started my 3 day fast on the lemon drink and I am trying not to be a biotch to anyone. I am in much better spirits than the last time I tried this.
Time will tell. But hopefully that guy I punched out will not. I need to keep my bitch record clean, see?
Life is just moving along and I am trying to just enjoy it.
She continued to try and learn from her mistakes.
But then it dawned on her that she is continually learning because she keeps making mistakes.
She has the best intentions.
She learns to get better at making her mistakes.
It is not like she doesn't have support.
She has good support.
But if they knew of her vices, they would liken her to a junkie even if her drug of choice won't be in any rehab.
She is old enough to know better.
Every time she tells her friends something that happened about a drama she has an integral part in, she knows that she tests their patience as her patience has been tested by others like her.
She is stagnating.
She is scared that what she knows is all she will know.
Those around her are being lifted towards their destiny.
Once when she was a kid, she was at a carnival on one of those rides where the floor drops beneath you and the sheer centrifugal force causes everyone on the ride to be stuck to the walls like fly paper with no floor touching their feet.
She was the only one who seemed to go with the floor.
She looked up and saw everyone above her experiencing the ride and she just felt like she had done it wrong.
That is how she feels about her current choices.
She has faith that it will change.
But her faith is almost like saying there is an Easter Bunny. She can detail it and describe it but she can't feel that it will come hopping her way any time soon.
She knows that it is her faith in faith that needs to change.
As do her choices.
And with every best intention, she hopes that this choice will be a good one and will not slide into old behaviors.
These are the lessons she hopes she is learning with every mistake.
My birthday continued in quite a fashion on Monday.
My co-workers had their party for me.
Then after work, we went to Dimples for my karaoke fest.
I was the first one there.
A guy named Michael was the only other guy there besides the bartender and the karaoke host.
He dedicated a song to me.
He was cute but took off once my friends arrived.
Then the night got started when I drank some tequila shots.
I performed like I was in my living room.
There were times when I was up on stage and then since no one put in any songs, I would just yell out a song or the host would just play a song and hope I could sing it.
A couple arrived.
I thought they were together.
But then she said that he was the slut in the family and if we were lucky, one of us women could go home with him.
Then I thought he was gay.
Then I thought she was gay.
Then after singing duets with both of them separately and having them dedicate every song to me and dancing to "I like Big Butts" with the guy, I was back to thinking they were a couple...but a swinging couple. They both seemed to really really like me. If it hadn't felt creepy, I would have totally enjoyed the attention. Okay, I sort of still enjoyed it but with a creep guard around me.
I didn't want to have a repeat of the Halloween where the husband/wife team who came as a priest and a school girl were totally circling me like sharks to chum.
But back to karaoke...the guy was cute and the girl was beautiful.
And had I had a few more shots, I may have gone home with them.
Okay, i don't know if there are that many shots in the world for that to have actually happened but since we will never know, it makes me sound like a wild girl.
Which if you saw my karaoke, you would already know it.
They left after hugging me very grabby-like and I continued the night of my million songs. I was tuckered out by the end.
It was a great way to end the beginning of this new bday year.