Must be nice...

...to be 9 years old and have that kind of set-up.

My lil' Stowaway

I forget that I live in Los Angeles sometimes; but every now and then I am reminded by an occasional lizard in my tire well. He's been laying about lately, especially now with the 100+ degree heat. After much prodding, I scared him off into a different spot of shade.

I might start putting out cricket cocktails for him.

Inspirational reading

Last christmas my mom gave me a bunch of books from estate sales that she collected over the last few months. She knows my weakness for the written word, and to give her much credit, the books were all awesomely varied. The one that dominated my attention was Notes to Myself - By Hugh Prather.


A passage that really got me was one about making mistakes. I am quite the perfectionist, which is nerve-wracking most of the time. He writes: " My fear of making a mistake seems to be based on the hidden assumption that I am potentially perfect...a "mistake" is a declaration of the way I am, a jolt to the way I intend..."

To read something that honest and insightful is, well, really quite refreshing. It seems we never take the time to think about the small things that we encounter daily. We just shrug it off and go about our day, even though it did have a lasting effect. I guess more so I am pleased to find another wisdom laden book that is accessible to all.

The only thing I didn't care much for was the Christian language that was inherent throughout the book. It slightly contradicts it's message; which I think may have been intended.

Space dogs of the Jurassic live by Trailer disasters

The small museum front was alluring- in a stranger offering me candy sort of way.

A baby with gangrene?

Yes please.

Some random 3-D pictures...



I bet you never knew that Trailer disasters were commonplace during the mid-20th century.







Another area explained performance spaces, but I was distracted by the lovely ship.



and what you’ve all been waiting for...





Space dogs!

These are actually paintings of the dogs sent into space. One of them had a lit candle and a small bouquet hanging on the frame. It was much too dark to snap it.





After a small, slightly disappointing space dogs exhibit, we were lured into the lovely and cozy tea room.





I think he might have been envious of the space dogs, so to fill the void he went around begging for cookies.



After a exceptional visit to the Jurassic Museum, the day was capped off at Venice Beach, a haven for fans of Space dogs and litter.

Keep your carrots under lock and key

The Bunny Museum!!

It really does exist, and I should be going there this weekend. I know there is much talk of pictures, which I might be embarking on soon from earlier events; but I am serious. There will be lots of photographic evidence from this land of leporidaes.


That much is certain.

Missing it...

Old People

Random

Rad Jose and his lady.

Meh.

Betty Crocker had no hand in this.

As of late, my inner Duncan Hines has been on the loose. A muchacho of mine had a birthday today and I thought, cupcakes would make this day perfect. But, I did have a prerequisite: they could not be bastardized by the dough boy. I spent most of the afternoon searching the interwebs for the magical formula. The one that won my heart was a simple chocolate cupcake with butter cream frosting. I read and re-read the recipe, then decided that I could make this fantasy become a reality.
I left my apartment armed with a list and a whole lotta hope. I stalked the aisles at Ralphs like a gerbil in a cheese factory looking for my components. When I came across the baking shelves, I admittedly lost steam. Grazing the box mixes, my mind unfurled into a realization: why go to all the trouble of mixing ingredients and hoping against all hope that it may or may not taste good when all I gotta do is get eggs, oil and some water? The temptation was overwhelming, especially since the loss of steam was becoming apparent. Biting my lip, I reach for the cocoa powder that will (hopefully) blow minds while imbibing my mystical baked goods.
When I arrived home; my laboratory started coming together. Benny Goodman on the turn table, and all the tools of the trade: 2 mixing bowls, spatula, cupcake tin with foil cups for said comestibles; blender and an apron to catch all the delicious mistakes.
I was surprised how good the result was: I almost purchased some store mades just so I could have a control to compare my specimen to. After several minutes of self-congratulatory goodness, and pure awe that I didn't completely screw it up, my hips busted out a lil' ditty to celebrate my latest conquest.

Inanimate objects have their needs too.

New trip idea...but not really.

A while back I posted a trip idea for the Trans-Siberian/Manchurian Express. The excursion was inspired by a night with Henry Rollins I had back in 2005 at his spoken word show. Mr. Rollins, being the articulate raconteur that he is, enticed me into possibly doing the same journey. His descriptions of surly babushkas, mystery meat, in climate weather and Genghis khan/nomad-type characters ignited the travel bug that had mysteriously dwindled over the past months. Shortly after, an intense inter web search was on, and I completely tuned out of my job. Not like anyone noticed; master control is sort of lenient like that.

After a not so long search, I came up with some mildly irritating discoveries with all points towards mother Russia:

1. You need to be officially invited in.

2. You have FOUR NIGHTS valid on your transit visa, which allows for one or two nights in Moscow, an overnight train and two or one night(s) in St. Petersburg respectively, but you must be across the border before midnight on the final day of your visa. Basically, you need to be the hell out of there or you can expect a mighty huge fine.

It adds that you're better off booking your trip with a tour company or the like based on the fact that if your ass doesn't speak the Ruskie you might end up in Chechnya. And the tour company will at least procure your visas and arrange everything for you. And to be honest, I'm not all that interested in war zones. Even though I know you pegged me as that kind of gal; I will have to disapoint on this one.

Things I miss about Minneapolis.

1. My family.
2. Autumn
3. My lovely and brilliant friends.
4. Spyhouse
5. Pizza Luce
6. Hard Times
7. South Minneapolis
8. brownstone buildings
9. foxfire...which I know hasn't been around in ages, but I was thinking about it the other day.
10. making movies with friends

There's always more to add, but at this moment I was missing those.

Bye!!

I'm taking off to the Southern hemisphere, hope everyone is well! I will most definitely post some pictures when I get back.


(And the um, space dogs one too)

Space puppies?!

My friend and I are total, ridiculous nerds. We don't deny it. Reveling in nerdery is an activity I partake in daily. Another activity that I make great attempts at is attending as many museums as humanly possible. Her and I are in the process of creating a list of all the Los Angeles area museums that require our presence. One in particular that I found interesting (to say the least) is the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Mmmm...

She sent me an email mentioning "space dogs", and that we should be a part of the phenomena.

After much slacking, we finally explored this building of intrigue. There will be a post arriving in the next few days documenting Space dogs, Trailer disasters, and some other oddities.

When trekking in Nepal...

Don't forget to bury your turds after you're finished!

Sleeping with Elvis...

booked and well shooked.

I know, I know, I just wanted something to rhyme.

Anyways...

everything we required for the Great South American adventure is booked. Hurray!

There are some minor details to get arranged, but all the main day trips and the like are taken care of. We had to book hostels for visa purposes, which can be quite a headache. But rest assured, they are taken care of.

I apologize for sucking it at posting entries, but with interning and working seven days a week I haven't had much time. Well, I guess I don't know if people even read this, but if you're one of the five that spend a few moments reading, I salute you.

Faithful readers, I will write more to satiate your souls. Or, fill a couple minutes for you before work beckons.

die Freiheit!

He demands his freedom, fresh water, chew sticks, and sunflower seeds.

Preferably in that order.

Thanks.

My arm tastes like burning

I am vaccinated against yellow fever. Friday morning was reserved for appointment; the night prior anxiety was seeping into my chest. I had heard many horror stories about the pain and the burn that the vaccination brings.

Honestly, the amount of anxiety I had was clearly not worth it. (I am not scared of needles, it is purely situational) I dictated what arm to put it in, then he inserted the needle, and a quick 2 seconds later, it was out. He had me sit there for 10 minutes to make sure there wasn't any bad reactions. All was fine.

Over the last decade I have heard horror stories about Yellow Fever shots, mostly that they had the most pain or burning when the vaccine was injected. I was more nervous for that reason alone. Imagine my shock and glee when I was sweating profusely while he was administering the shot and it lasted 2 seconds. Albeit I don't have anything to compare it to; I haven't had a shot in years. The last vaccination I had was in 1999, and that was with a gun.

The best part about it was it ended up being covered by my insurance...yea!