Offing Myself

I've decided I'm going to leave all my money in a pile outside my door and off myself. That's what I might as well do as the end result will be the same in a couple years' time.

Sorry if I seem a little overly frustrated. I have been through the wringer in my attempts to record some of my music for a rough-but-presentable demo. It's frustrating. The only words of comfort I can offer myself are that I'm new at this so, I guess I'm bound to run into roadblocks.

The only noteworthy thing to mention is that I checked out Ventura - gorgeous beach, made me remember a guy I met in Greece who was from Ventura - and Oxnard, which is indeed as ghetto as SD had cautioned me it would be. That didn't deter me from getting some pastries at the local panaderia and frequenting Albertsons, where they had a lot of queso de la casa's and sliced cactus available in their deli section. And also a very long line. And special flaming hot Cheetohs con limon. Interesting. Kinda yummy.

Friday was Bowling Night at my place of employment. Free 2 drinks for each person and their guest (I brought CM) plus free flirting with the guy at the office who likes me. Actually the 17-year old custodian likes me too, so it's nice having some excitement at work. Of course I wouldn't date either as I love my job too much! I managed to get the absolute lowest score (40) during my first round, and then increased it to 76 after I warmed up a bit. I'm getting there.

Wetsuit? What's a Wetsuit?

My friend RR was nice enough to let me come visit her in San Diego on the spur of the moment, when my scheduling conflicts suddenly cleared up and I was OK for takeoff.

O M G.

We went to Encinitas on Saturday and the water was so warm a wetsuit would have been overkill. The waves were so small and gentle that I managed to catch at least 10 of them and ride many of them down the line. I couldn't believe myself. Afterwards we had dinner at Pacifica in Del Mar and then headed home for rest.

Sunday commenced with RR's triathlon (which I slept through, unfortunately) and World Cup viewing. Sadly, this World Cup I haven't been able to watch any of the weekday daytime games. If I had done my homework I would have figured out how to get live streaming World Cup ...

After watching Italy win RR and I headed to Pacific Beach. Again, I was astounded by the warm water, the gorgeous beginner waves, and the huge meat market on the sand. While I was in the water, RR tried boogie boarding and got hit on by thousands of guys. Meanwhile, I got hit on while surfing, which never happens. Folks tend to be more aloof and detached, "This is my piece of ocean, stay away from me." By the way, I have never seen as many cute guys with nice bodies as I saw in two days there. Unbelievable. Not to mention they allow beer on the beach. ???!!!

I'm moving to San Diego.

Sniffing Singer Sweat at the Bowl

My friend - he thinks it was a date, oops - had comped Row 2 box seats at the Bowl for yesterday's Belle & Sebastian show with the L.A. Philharmonic. My goodness. I've never been before but it was quite an experience.

Row 2. This bears repeating. Row 2.

We were one row away from the monitors and microphones. We were closer to the stage than the large amplifiers were, and you could hear the performers making sounds and drinking water in between songs. I didn't even know what the Bowl looked like (a hemisphere, or rather, "quarter-sphere") until I went to go to the bathroom and then got to take it all in from a distance.

Let me say this: I am not a big indie music fan. In fact, it really gets on my nerves. A lot of high-pitched wailing and feel-good hill-billy-esque tunes. Eh. But it was an unreal experience. I had to go through 3 ticket ushers to get to our very elite section, where they serve complimentary tea and coffee during the intermission between acts. I was parched and didn't want to stand in the long-ass line for "Refreshments" and I got one of the waiters to bring me a glass of ice water. (I tipped of course).

At the end of the concert loyal fans rushed the stage and our elite section but of course we, being the gracious aristocracy we were, deigned to allow their presence. The funniest thing was watching fans ricocheting off the bouncers. No one lasted on stage beyond 20 seconds.

Afterwards, we went to the exclusive afterparty and I got the lead singer to sign my ticket, "Love, Stuart."

Had I known the seats were that good I would have arrived earlier and caught the Shins, who opened for them. (I arrived late because I wanted to avoid exposing myself to the horrible sound that is the Shins minus their New Slang song. I am a little sad I missed New Slang though.)

I had never seen so many hipsters in one place in my life. Big ups to big-name indie acts at the Bowl for drawing more hipsters than all of San Francisco.

From Disneyland to Metal Skool

I met up with the fam in Anaheim on Friday for a fun-filled day at Disneyland. I hadn't been in 12+ years and was re-introduced to the excruciating heat and nostalgic rides. California Adventure was new and my dad insisted on having beers. I have a feeling that contributed to my near-encounter with heat stroke. I swear, I thought I was going to pass out for most of the day. My favorite new ride was Tower of Terror, which I went on twice. It is, quite simply, the bomb. And it doesn't hurt to have the creepy-sounding safety announcement ... also in Spanish!

My all-time favorite ride was It's a Small World, which I rode on with a gooey smile. I sang along with the lyrics, much to my little sister's dismay. Of course we went on all the usual suspects like Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Matterhorn (pleez keep zee hands eenside zee bobzled ...).

Although I was struck with mortal fear when I first arrived at Disneyland - in contemplation of this media behemoth, I soon began to find this "happiest place on earth" really did make me happy. And I made the startling deduction that it was my dad who really liked Disneyland, for had he not liked it so much, he wouldn't have taken me so many times when I was too little to really know what was going on.

I surfed Huntington Beach at 17th Street in my new bikini on Sunday on my back from the Magic Kingdom and on Monday night SA and I headed to Metal Skool at the Key Club. I found I was a little "mis-dressed" with my chain-draped punk pants, as everyone was wearing eighties cutesy stuff. I had no idea that metal skool featured a stand-up comedy-worthy cover band that played Bon Jovi and GnR. They cracked vulgar jokes and treated the audience to a strip show at the very end, which made me uncomfortable.

But overall it was an interesting experience. I only wish the drunk bastards wouldn't have been so rude. People were quite violent in trying to push me out of the way and I was astonished at the hitting, grabbing, pushing, and shouting that was leveled at me. It sucks to be a small person.

On 4th of July I failed in my attempt to go surfing as the waves at Countyline were nonexistent. Instead, SA and I went to the Dodger-Diamondbacks game and bought decently cheap scalped tix. Little did we know that we were sitting in the People's Section. That's right, they're the cheapest tickets and they're in the fenced-off Pavilion where you can't buy alcohol because it's been the site of major riots in the past.

Despite the unplanned teetotaling, I thoroughly enjoyed myself with multiple bouts of the Wave, the seventh inning stretch, and frenzied cheering for the Dodgers, who won 11-3 against the hapless Diamondbacks. Apparently I get 10 free wings at Hooters with my ticket stub.