sha in LA

moving at the speed of light

One would think that if you move from one address to another address within the same zip code (and 7/10th's of a mile away) your mail would arrive in a timely manner. That however is not the case. I thought December 5th to February 4th was pretty stellar until I received today, February 8th, a piece of mail that was sent on November 23rd. YES! We have a winner.

Maybe their logo should be a turtle instead of an eagle.

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a leprechaun walks into a bar…

Last night Eric and I wanted to get together and spend some quality time with each other. Catch up, eat, drink, be merry. The usual. Our sights were set on the Golden Gopher because Monday night is Happy Hour all night long which is always a plus when enjoying libations. The only problem was we needed to grab some dinner. We tossed some ideas around, none of which thrilled either of us until The Daily Grill popped into my mind. And so it was settled. We met there and had a great dinner (actually humongous appetizers) and a drink. It was while we were there that I began waxing poetic about how happy I was that HQ for the Daily Grill finally decided to open a Downtown location. It’s a beautiful spot to go grab a drink after work, take relatives to when they come into town or have that after-work power meeting. Eric chimed in “and they have great music too!”

After dinner we headed over to the Golden Gopher where we proceeded to chat up Dave about the new bar/restaurant development happenings in the coming months. Then an Irish boy walked in and sat down next to us. He had fire engine red hair and a book in his hand. I blurted out something like “you’re not gonna sit here and read are you?!?” And the rest of the night was spent talking about our favorite dive bars in and around this great city.

In the morning when I woke up I had to wonder, did it really happen or was it all my imagination?

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woof woof

I was born in good old 1970, the year of the Dog. Guess where we are again? Watch out world, here I come. I've had some time to get it right and I'm taking no prisoners!

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photo courtesy of chizod, where you can find all your high-end zodiac shirt needs.

stupid bowl

Being the Cleveland Browns fan that I am it pained me just a little yesterday to see the Steelers win in Stupid Bowl eXtra Large. However me likes Big Ben so it's all good. Yes, he has a blog! Plus my Steeler friends refrained from calling me and rubbing it in so that was nice too. The thing that really disturbed me was seeing clips of the Steelers from this past season, whereby they mainly showed highlights of that Christmas Eve game vs. the Browns. The black and gold won something like 42-0. Ouch.

I was at Bergin's (big surprise there) and took just a few snaps as I was busy watching the game.

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wake we-cap

Last night was the Ambassador Wake, which was held in the lobby of the Gaylord Apartments and HMS Bounty. Insane amounts of people were there and part of me wishes it was a more subdued affair as originally planned by Mike from Franklin Avenue and The Ambassador's Last Stand. But this is L.A. and far be it from me to prevent the paparazzi from making a buck or two.

On the plus side, I met a few local bloggers whom I enjoy on a daily basis. Oh yeah, baby. I get around, on the Internet that is. In no particular order there was one of the many Josh's from Curbed LA, who thinks I'm the nuttiest girl this side of Western...and he could be right. Then there was Pat from Eating L.A. who I instantly recognized, Jillian (a new voice over at blogging LA), Jim (Celia's little Trained Monkey) and the ever infamous Celia herself of 5th and Spring. On the non-blogging side of things we had Eric Lynxwiler of "that new Wilshire book" fame with his good friend Lynn Zook, Dave (the best bartender the Golden Gopher has ever seen), Craig Havens who's a damn good photographer, Bill who subcontracts for the LAUSD and worked on the demo of the building and some tall drink of water at the end of the bar that I briefly made eyes with. There were about 250 other people that I failed to meet...probably because we were holding court at the bar instead of mingling.

The evening was a very nice tribute to a building that undoubtedly helped shape numerous aspects of Los Angeles' history. Early on in this fight to save The Ambassador Hotel, just after the initial EIR, I attended a community meeting to listen to and discuss the alternatives to demolition. Now I can debate from here to get out on the pros of Adaptive Reuse, however it was then that I realized this was a no-win situation. The LAUSD has strict codes for classroom size, among other things. It was simply easier to demolish and construct new to their specifications than reconfigure and reinforce an already compromised structure. Perhaps I would feel more impassioned had I experienced the glory of the building in its heyday. Regardless, we should cherish the memories and look forward to a new generation who will hopefully one day understand what all the fuss was about.

I took a minimal amount of pics which can be found here.

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proof

I have headphones on which is why I have no ears and my hair looks funny...and yes, I have needles in both arms. Blood comes out of the right arm and goes to the machine to my left, the platelets are extracted and then I get the part of my blood they don't need back in my left arm. I give one unit and it takes about an hour and a half, hence the headphones and TV set-up just beyond the picture. I get to watch a movie during the process!!

Last night they had the annual volunteer appreciation party and a fellow donor and photographer took great pictures of the needles being inserted into both my arms. If I can get a copy I will post them.

28 donations and counting...

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p.s. oh and the little bean bag things that are on me are filled with rice and microwaved...my own little heating pads because I get really cold.

pins and needles

Later on today I will have a bunch of needles stuck in my arms. No I'm not having acupuncture, I'm doing apheresis. Tonight happens to coincide with the donor appreciation party so I'll get to meet lots of other people who are regular contributors.

For curiosity's sake I just called my Volunteer Coordinator to find out how many times I've sat in the chair and done apheresis. Tonight, if I pass the iron test, will mark my 28th donation. WOW! Way back when I was donating whole blood I well surpassed my 5-gallon mark. During the early 90's I did numerous donations at a VA Hospital, located next to CSULB, which wasn't involved in the ARC network.

Overall it has been one of the best volunteer experiences I've ever participated in. I always feel super-charged when I walk out of the donation center. It could be from the sugar rush due to too many cookies and juice, or it could be the fact that I know my blood (or parts thereof) will have a direct impact on someone's life.

(800) GIVE-LIFE

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