sha in LA

the big not so easy aftermath

An update on the relatives in New Orleans.

I haven't spoken with them directly, just getting information from my parents but it looks as if they're gonna call it a day and not return to the area to live anymore. They have, or quite possibly had, a beautiful 2 story house in the Garden District although no one will find out the extent of damage for a few days, if not longer. Aunt, Uncle, cousin and the 2 cats made their way to Shreveport for safe refuge during the storm and now are considering going to Florida, where my parents live, for a bit.

I've been keeping tabs on the situation down there from fellow bloggers, Metroblogging New Orleans.

I can't even imagine the destruction that has happened along the Gulf Coast...it's incomprehensible....

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bloggers unite

Friday night I went to the After Party for Laura's Blood Drive at Cole's and caught the last few songs from I See Hawks in L.A., which the LA Weekly states is "The finest cosmic cowboy music since the Burrito Brothers." If you missed them and want another shot they are playing again THIS Wednesday night. I think I may be stopping by after my show so once again I'll probably catch the last few songs but oh well...I'm trying! My little trained monkey, Jim, decided to surprise me by showing up at Cole's and gave me his free drink ticket because he decided to get stuck by a needle and doesn't drink beer. However he does drink other things that look but don't taste anything like Long Island Iced Teas....you had to be there. I met Adrienne Crew of L.A. Brain Terrain fame and we chatted briefly before she scattered off to go finish a looming deadline. Then Celia and I chatted bout the stupidity of boys, amongst other things while Jim sat and took it all in. Finally, I drove Jim the 2 blocks back to his pad even though he was willing to walk...those 2 blocks are a rough 2 blocks under the fall of night and I didn't want him to unwillingly be someone's bitch.

Yesterday I had a thought that I shared with the group and I'll share with you now. It occurred to me that I had spent a lot of time this weekend with my newfound blogger friends, silly me thinking my blogger friends were just more outgoing and proactive than non-blogger friends...Jim and Dave set me straight and said, at practically the same time..."we need inspiration, something to write about." I guess that kinda sums it up for me too but I just didn't realize it until yesterday. Regardless, I like my new blogger friends...even if I am merely a vessel for their inspiration.

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dressed to go

Yesterday Dave and Penelope (maybe she'll post more now that she's linked ;)) and Jim and I all braved the scorching heat to attend the Chinese Food Festival in Chinatown.

I took the Red Line from my neighborhood and we all met at the fabulously beautiful art deco Union Station, from there we walked to the festivities in Chinatown. I sampled some very tasty Tofu Pad Thai and Kung Pao Chicken. Afterwards I proclaimed loudly that it was time for ice cream!!! I had already spotted the Fosselmans tent and was looking forward to some fabulously refreshing ice cream treat to cool me off.

Knowing that both Dave and Jim would bring their cameras I decided to keep mine at home and simply link to their snaps instead. Take a look here for Dave's visual story. Be sure to check out the last pic. Someow I don't think they mean this:

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speaking of junctions

That last post reminded me, oddly enough, about my intended Halloween Costume for this year...Interplanet Janet!

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sunset junction

If you're not otherwise occupied this weekend and you live near the Eastside of town then you may want to check out the 25th Annual Sunset Junction Street Fair.

I've been a fair neighbor of Silver Lake for quite some time, residing in the 90027, however I've never managed to drag my ass over to this hipsters delight festival. Maybe it's because I'm not fond of trucker hats, ink, attitude and massive amounts of bodies close to me. I guess I'm sort of odd that way. Or maybe there has to be a hard core food theme involved for me to be truly interested and willing to put aside my quirky reservations. I dunno. Apparently though, from reports from friends who make this a regular stop every year, they have a plethora of local bands that entertain so if you're interested in audio and visual stimulation this is definitely the festival for you. Check out the performance schedule for more info.

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Bergin's Blue Crew

It was during my Bergin's Bender Weekend over a month ago that Chris, EA & I had the brilliant idea of doing a combined Bergin's / Elephant Theatre Company night out at the ballpark. Well, all my theatre people dropped out so last night ended up being solely a Bergin's Blue/Brew Crew night at Dodger Stadium. I'm on antibiotics so needless to say I was a bit more tame than the norm. Others however are not and were not.

We sat field level, directly next to the opposing teams bullpen. Near the end of the game I realized what a nice opportunity I had to take some snaps of the boys warming up as you'll see if you visit my photo album. Girls, you know who you are...be sure to check out #47, aka tent master and #7, his friend. They look so much bigger in real life...

And to the "other" Shannon...it was Jose Cruz.

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festivals "R" us

In keeping with the food festival theme, Jim and I are going to check out the Chinese Food Festival in Chinatown this coming Sunday. He's my new festival partner as most people I know are apathetic in the whole "getting motivated to do fun things on the weekend" aspect of life.

That same evening I will be attending a production of Richard III by the Independent Shakespeare people. A few weeks back I wrote about my experience watching Hamlet by the same people...and this time I will definitely bring a parka. It gets mighty cold up on that hill.

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i do, sudoku

I'm addicted to Sudoku. It used to be that a good crossword puzzle would satisfy me but now there's a bigger beast that has taken hold of my mind. It contains numbers (which I love) but no math (which I'm not particularly fond of) and a grid (like crosswords). It's a logic game. The object - fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. No repeats in the same row, column or grid.

Last week a "Tough" puzzle stumped me but since then I've completed 2 "Diabolical" puzzles with great ease.

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troubled youth

There's good reason why I don't hang out with ... (aka Trouble) as much as I did back in my youth.

Last evening started out relatively tame. A nice dinner at Noe with the relatives and another family dropping their kid off at USC this week. Insanely good food, insanely good service, insanely steep prices...but I guess that comes with the territory. It was on my way back to my nice little abode that things went terribly wrong. I made the mistake of calling upon Trouble to see what kind of trouble we could get into. "I dunno, come over and we'll figure it out." Minutes later we were headed to Little Joy. The throng of smokers clogging up the entrance scared us off and we decided to go to the Short Stop instead. Why mess with tradition, right? Beer, greyhounds, American Spirits, the ever popular photo booth and Elvis pinball where I happened upon a boy who, get this, now lives in the apartment that I coveted 7 years ago when I was looking for a new residence in the area. Freaky.

Back at Trouble's pad we popped Chappelle's Show Season 2 into the DVD player and shortly thereafter is when it all went to hell in a hand basket. That man is hi-larious. I've heard people profess love of his show but since I don't really have TV I've not had the chance at fully experiencing the Chappelle brilliance. After what seemed like hours of laughing I was still in no condition to drive the .08 miles back to my place so I took a power nap on a very squishy but comfy couch. Two and a half hours later I dragged my post-prom queen looking ass back to my own bed and got a satisfying one and a half hours of blissful sleep.

I've known Trouble for 15 years and no doubt this was the best outing yet. It's a damn good thing that Trouble likes to stay busy in other people's business and we only see each other twice a year or things would get ugly real quick.

Most memorable quote of the evening....and there were many:

"She's kinda hip, kinda now, kinda meow meow." (you had to be there to fully appreciate)

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welcome back

I sense a disturbance in the force. That must mean only one thing, there's one more Greek in Los Angeles.

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