Below are the most recent 21 friends' journal entries.

Saturday, July 4th, 2009
berniebrad	11:56a	Surgery For those of you not on mysp/fb I underwent arthroscopic surgery on my ankle to remove some chips of bone and cartilege that have been floating around since my car accident 10/28/2007. Surgery was mostly a succeess, my recovery is going to take a little longer than anticipated so I'm likely to miss the US Zone Nationals after just winning the world title :-( Otherwise I'm ok. I made my dad get me a deli sandwich and matzo-ball soup while I was in recovery. The jackhole attendant told me not to eat solid foods, but I know matzo-ball soup has healing capabilities- it's jewish penicillin, and sure enough even though I had post-anesthesia dizziness and nausea, the soup made me better. It did, however, take me 6 attempts to sit up and try the crutches. Shaking the anesthesia was tough. There was also this total bloody cunt of a physical therapist who, once I had gotten into the crutches, wouldn't let me lay down to avoid passing out when I got dizzy. I got into a seat and she stood in front of me and kept telling me to stair straight out at the wall and breath deeply. This didn't help and I asked her 3 times to kindly move so I could lay down and she refused. i took my crutch and jabbed her out of the way so I could lay down and regain compsure. I'm pretty sure that woman hates me. The feeling's mutual. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
uratowel	6:47p	Severely moody. (Comment on this)
lolagoo	10:25a	i just discovered superpoop.com. Current Mood: sick (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
lifeofreilly	11:24a	First look at photos from my new 24-70 lens (Tiny Vaudeville #4) I am looking at the images coming off of my camera from the Tiny Vaudeville #4 show I went to at The Echo Plex. I am so impressed with the quality of the images that this lens produces that I am having difficulty with where to start. There is so little noise in these images. The Tamron lens I used just- doesn't compare. The ability of the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens to resolve an image is stunning. Really- I am agog. I thought my 50D was just a bad purchase on my part. Too much camera for me. I liked the images from my Rebel XTi more than the images from the Canon. No. No. It was the lens I used. The sensor on the 50D is so much more sensitive that the sensor on the 450D (Rebel XTi) that I was running up against the limit of the Tamron lens to resolve an image on to the sensor. The clarity, noise and crispness of the images from the Tamron lens was disappointing. So much that I was considering getting an XTi again. So- I threw money at the problem (with, of course, an excellent return policy) and bought the Canon L-Glass lens. Let me show you the results: These are at an F-stop of 2.8. There is *minimal* post-processing of these images. No flash. Large versions behind the cut (the detail is lost unless you look at the larger images) Image Heavy. Is anyone really on Dial-Up anymore? ( Read more... ) (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
boymaenad	12:57p	not really vegan LA-area vegan restaurants reveal non-vegan ingredients they didn't test for meat. just casein (milk protein), shellfish, and eggs. I wonder what they'd find if they tested for, like, 100% usda grade C beef. my favorite vegan restaurant got dinged, too. I don't know whether to boycott or support them extra; the neighborhood needs them. Current Mood: mmm nonvegan (15 Comments |Comment on this)
lolagoo	1:07a	Why I Suck Sometimes I forgot gina's birthday post! Honeybunch, I'm so happy you've made it to this point in your life, because I could not be prouder to call you my friend. You've saved me from crippling shittiness so many times in the last eight years, and I aspire to be as strong, kind and generous as you are. You are made of awesome, so for your birthday, I did a google image search for "made of awesome" and picked a few random images. I love you, happy belated birthday! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 29th, 2009
lolagoo	3:08a	i'm leaving here because i can't work 50 hrs/week. because i don't have a place to put my clothes. because they pay the bulgarians 600/month combined and still make them scrub the toilets after working hours. oh, and because when i mentioned that my grandmother had had quadruple bypass surgery before i left la, she's all, 'well that's what happens when people don't eat right their whole lives'. i hate condescending foodies. i seriously have been eating like shit every time i'm in amsterdam just to spite them because i'm so mature. and because dutch pancakes and belgian fries and amazing falafel should be eaten by me. so i'm spending two nights in the dam, and on wednesday i'm taking the train into brittany (western france) to see a family friend. booking european vacations for the summer works well six months in advance, but when plans change and you need to rearrange shit, it is not happening. i can barely find any trains or hostels. i really want to go to bruges and brussels, but i may not be able to book anything. it's crazy touristy right now. so we'll see. i may be home soon. amdam is amazing. i'll never be a country mouse because of cities like this. there's so much trashiness contrasted with pretty dutch flowers i can't take it. i'll tell more later, in pictures. maybe, i'm kind of lazy. Current Mood: sick (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
reddig	11:55p	Mike is all a twitter 10:57 Just climbed Gordon's Hangover, 5.9+, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake City. Beautiful Granite. # 16:46 Blanche Lake trail, 3 miles, 3000 ft elev gain, 2:30 car to car. Gorgeous alpine lake at the top. # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
reddig	11:55p	Mike is all a twitter 14:22 Just had chance to hang with Glen from high school. Beautiful family. # 16:40 How can I find bananas that are environmentally conscious? # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
wyrdmuse	12:15a	Sexists suck. Also, I'm a little buzzed right now so forgive mem for spelling misstales. it has been a while since i have had any alcohol at all in my system so these peach tasting jack daniels things are kind of a lot right now. Why do I even keep drinking them? i hate peach but it tastse good. And there is not even a lot of alcohol in them, but some how I am nearly drunk already. At work today I had to run things out to the dumpster three times in the first fifteen minues. That's after helping tnt move into the house. The house where i'll be living to! Yay! Well, boo that we were moving things into the house in 100+degree weather. That was not fun. Anyway. Work. So these two guys-fater and sun maybe---were in the ya section which is my section now and i'm kind of please even though it takes a lot of work, i know ya really really well because i rea d a lot of it. So yeah. i asked if they need any help and they looked me up and down and there was the whole looking down their nose thingy and 'no, I dont think so." Then they started discussing fantasy. "Who is the lee gwin? I've never heard of her. Blah blah blah I'm a huge fucking tool." Assholes. I've probably fortoggen more about fantasy then you'll ever know. And the fucking kids. really. There were kids running around playing TAG in the fucing isle next to me. And all the stupid questions people were asking me. And the people that argued with em. "But mah friend said she got My Sisters Keeper from here so why don't you have it?" "As Ive explained thirty fucking times to you already lady, we can't keep the damn thing on the shelf. Your friend was lucky to get it before the next bastard asked for et. We have none. silzh zero nada none." I love my job, i really, really do bu i think I'm going to have to keep booze on hand for days like today. i dread f4th of jully because it is a saturday and it is also a holiday and i have to work that day. it will be a bad day and i predict much durnkenness when i am finally done wit that day. Current Mood: drunk (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
boymaenad	2:22a	so you want a haiku in three words? prognostication: sesquipedalianist polysyllables (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 26th, 2009
reddig	11:56p	Mike is all a twitter 18:21 With instant Internet availability the only thing left to fight about is feelings-Kate Clinton # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
wyrdmuse	12:19a	So. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Well, the best part of the movie was the trailer for 9 at the beginning. It looks fucking fantastic and I can't wait for September to see it and I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a movie. Lord of the Rings, maybe. Oh, and it was followed by a teaser for Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it's the teaser that hit the net a couple days ago. GI Joe looks disappointing. I predict that Scarlet will be relegated to being the Love Interest that gets to stand around looking worried. And hot. Wolf's not happy with my prediction. Anyway, spoilers behind the cut. ( Read more... ) Current Mood: giddy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
reddig	11:56p	Mike is all a twitter 18:58 From GA to GA In the SLC. They were out of polygamy porter though. Hope to hit some climbing this weekend. # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Comment on this)
lifeofreilly	5:54p	Elysium Festival I took some good photos at Elysium (as well as made a ton of friends and had way too much fun). The details are both scandalous and unimportant. What is important is that I get some of those photos I love up here. ( Read more... ) (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
jasonflemyng [ a1cmustangpilot ]	3:31a	"The Bunker" in icons It's not the entire movie as some parts weren't good for capping and then I just decided that 18 is my limit. For those who are unfamiliar with the movie, "The Bunker" is a WWII-horror movie. I finally saw it and it's not really what I would consider a "horror" movie as everything that happened in the movie related to war-horror. But since this kind of horror terrifies me about the same as dinosaurs, I was really intrigued the whole way through. It's an awesome, completely underrated film that has a really strong and powerful message in it. Without spoiling the movie, I'll just say that if you tend to be a bit nervous about dark tunnels, rats, skeletons, and someone being burned alive, I'd strongly recommend caution in viewing the movie. It's not bad. Considering all the horror movies I've seen, it really doesn't compare to some. When related to war movies however, it's gore can be less than what one would see in a series like "Band of Brothers", "Full Metal Jacket", "We Were Soldiers", and "Platoon". Now... reasons to see it... Jason Flemyng is brilliant in this! I suggest renting the movie or buying it if you can because the Behind the Scenes featurette has him talking about his role and the filming. It's great! Plus there is a deleted clip that actually reveals a bit more about his character, Corporal Baumann. Oh, I did forget to mention that this WWII movie is taken from the point of view of German soldiers. Another reason to see the movie is that it's really intense and I think its subtle use of shadows and the pulling the character as well as the audience into this abyss of darkness helps make for a chilling movie. There was one part that got me to laughing a bit during a tense scene. It's where Baumann was in the tunnel and his flashlight went out and he started shaking it. I immediately blurted out, "Ohhh so you got the flashlights from our Basic Training too? Aww I'm sorry! Just give it another shake!" And then his superior came up to him and turned on the light. I was chuckling for a bit after that. Because honestly, that's how our stupid flashlights acted. Anyways... great movie that I hope others will enjoy this movie as well! There will be spoilers in my icons! ( +18 ) ~ Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: "He's Dead-Cover Fire" by Hans Zimmer from "Black Hawk Down" (Comment on this)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
reddig	11:55p	Mike is all a twitter 05:55 Savannah here I come. # 13:59 Welcome to Savannah. Your choices are muggy and hot. # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
reddig	11:55p	Mike is all a twitter 16:54 Jumper on 5 bridge south. Traffic stopped. # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Comment on this)
rydot	12:22p	Milestones...millstones Today, I am celebrating one full year of living adjacent to Little Tokyo in my new-construction condo here in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. For starters, a lovely brunch at Cafe Metropol, whose iced green tea provides a pleasant overture to an attempt at self-reflection through LJ posting. Hrm, haven't done this in a while, so let's see if I can remember how it's done... I completely adore my neighborhood. It's not the whitewashed set from "Somewhere That's Green"; nor is it Big Business hustle & bustle -- I seem to have fallen into one of those seemingly rare best-of both places here in this little slice of Downtown Los Angeles. I'm several blocks removed from the farthest reach of the tall buildings' shadow, yet I'm still in an entirely urban landscape. There are no lawns; trees do indeed sprout from impossibly tiny holes carved into the concrete. Not to say there isn't green to be found by those who seek it-- over in Little Tokyo Village, gardens and a surprising bit of topography are nestled into the seemingly inorganic cityscape. And that's the thing-- I've done so much more walking in this past year than I've ever done in my home environment; certainly the most in the decades since I once walked to elementary school. I feel like this is entirely obvious, but one's perspective definitely shifts when observing life at a pedestrian's pace. We take more in; we discover more; we pause...more. It's not just that my neighborhood is "walkable" -- you CAN walk (at least locally) in just about every area of Los Angeles, even in those areas that cast off their sidewalks. The difference is that most people wouldn't even THINK of doing so, for exercise notwithstanding, what would be the point? And while other neighborhoods may well be experiencing their own pedestrian-level renaissance, I know of only a few other places in this city that offer as much variety in short-walk destinations as what I've encountered here. Little Tokyo Village almost feels like cheating in this regard, but of course, by the same token, its goodness and concentrated food/shopping-ness mustn't be ignored. There are still so many places in the Village I've yet to check out. But, across the street, in MY neighborhood, the options are just as enticing. The food: amazing. Just across the street, FOUR restaurants, with two cafes each one block further. And, in a continuing spiral outward, places I've been advised I ought to visit, but even in the span of a year, haven't yet managed to investigate. It's kinda neat to have a human-scale universe that seems to be expanding for a change. I routinely journey across and under bridges now. I am actually quite surprised at how many of my friends give me blank looks when I casually mention "bridge" and "Los Angeles" in the same sentence. And yet, we've all seen them (at least in media form, if not in person)-- the diverse collection of deco-esque bridges [PDF] that span the concrete-lined Los Angeles River. Well, I get to see them every day! My train to work glides alongside, over, and under them; my routes to the various freeways take me over or under them. I've even taken an exploratory walk or two over the First Street bridge just to see what things were to be seen from a foot-travel vantage point. So much has changed in this first year of new home environment. It's hard to keep it all sorted out. How much of myself did I leave behind in Culver City? Did important bits really slip beyond my apparent grasp in the breakup that followed, one month to the day, or had I already allowed myself to shed much of that skin? Should I still be seeking those pieces of my personality, or clearing way the weeds away to make room for and to nurture the occasional seedling or bud? Since when did my brain turn into a botanical garden? What will year two bring? I really want-- NEED --to get my act together on decorating. I've allowed myself to dither on this, and although some styling has happened (namely, the Movie Parlour Room has delicious velvet curtains), there's much to be done. Most of my place is still "Real Estate White" and I am desperate to change this. I had this notion, over half a year ago now, to do one of my walls in natural stone cladding. Perhaps I will finally get this going, along with the urgently needed pigment. Lighting, one of those æsthetic skills I used to wield with a deft hand, is also pathetically and particularly incomplete. Part of this is just getting over some of my original intentions, which means getting my mind to move on, which means having confidence that I, alone, am capable of making the correct design judgements. I know it's in me somewhere; while having a sounding board might be comfortable and even rewarding, I just need to trust my instincts to act on what I think will work well. Of course, there's still my issues with inertia to overcome. One little bit at a time is still progress; gotta remember that. It dawns on me that I haven't really posted any good photographs of my place in an entire year. Not that I've been gracing Livejournal with much personal content, but still. It's probably a good idea that I capture some photos, for evolutionary sake, if nothing else. See, this WOULD be a good point for me to post some sort of photograph, to celebrate this first anniversary of Downtown living, but instead, I will conclude with the following subject change. Two years (less ten days) after being present at The Beginning, I again found myself in a line full of excited people waiting to enter an Apple Store on Friday. I tend to be very personal about these technology transitions, and it seems fitting that the photograph I choose to share in this entry is not of my life-in-progress in my new home, but a snapshot of the bliss that exists in that moment where a new iPhone 3GS first touches one's soul: Current Mood: nostalgic (3 Comments |Comment on this)
boymaenad	12:58p	I finally had a post-apocalyptic dream the city was paralyzed and disease-ridden and smelled terrible. all the phones, including cell, just played a fast busy signal. the lights still worked, but the freeways were jammed, and it was hard to find a bathroom. I walked the filthy 405 in the rust orange sunlight and found myself at the nuart. Especial was there, but she'd lost it; she was happy to see me, but kept going on about stuff that made no sense. I wandered upstairs to the office (much nicer than the real one, and with a better view and a big skylight) and was surrounded by friends. there was a ticker panel that scrolled with movie ads; there was no television or radio, so I kept hoping that someone at the central ticker office would start sending actual news on the thing. people were spending $100 bills to get anywhere or do anything. everyone believed that money had pretty much totally lost all value, but were willing to take a hundred. everyone was bribing. no regular business was happening. everything was chained and graffitied. I remember thinking that all of this was because, to the best of our knowledge, it had all fallen. but we didn't really know, because there was no real news. (I don't remember thinking about the internet.) and I kept saying that LA had gone to hell, but we didn't actually know about the world. it was just the bad-newsmongers and panickers who had convinced everyone that money was worthless and chaos was the only possible course. and I was going to hold onto my stuff and my hope that it would all turn out to be out of proportion. I kept hoping the phones would come back and the police would come by, blaring sirens and calming everyone, and they wouldn't get shot. I know a lot more happened; I only remember the part where I had to move my car because I was afraid of some kind of martial law retribution for parking where I had. I remember having to fill out a form about it, and putting down the wrong license plate on purpose for some reason. I remember I had managed to get into the lot under the building (there is no lot under the Nuart, in real life) and close the electric gate behind me and felt like there, at least that was done. this is all remarkable because (a), I'm not into zombies and post-apocalypses, but it feels to me that for the past ten years or so, everyone else increasingly has been. (b) I rarely have such vivid dreams anymore, but I've been fucking with my sleep schedule and maybe that's what you get, and (c) I can trace most of these elements to something specific that actually occurred in the past day or two. the $100 bills were because Tom Selleck gave Elaine Nardo a $100 tip in the season 1 finale of Taxi I just watched. the bathroom thing was a cross between having used some skanky bathrooms of late, and needing to pee. the Nuart was because I was just there. Especial because we had just been texting. the skylight because I just climbed in and out of a car via the moon roof. moving the car because last night, I had to move my car, because it was full of music equipment (hidden) and I wanted to keep it somewhere populated. the ticker panel was because there was a discussion about giant building scrolling ticker signs that had shown blue screens of death or Abort Retry Ignore errors. the lack of TV probably because all the stations have gone off the air (so weird). the phones were probably out because my phone battery was on the verge of death last night for no good reason, but I'm not sure why the fast busy specifically, except that's what would actually happen. and overall, the city in ruins and everyone acting like zombie assholes may have been inspired by Non's amazing zombie story narration that is slowly unfolding in the form of Facebook statuses, entirely in haiku. no joke. she needs to frakking publish it when it's done. that is to say, you, and you, and you, and that giant stuffed panda with the erik estrada sunglasses were there! what do you mean, what giant panda... it's RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. it IS. Current Mood: confusable Current Music: dude looks lke a lady, via death and cake mix mix (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
jasonflemyng [ a1cmustangpilot ]	10:24p	here's some Behind the Scenes from "The Bunker" If you get a chance to either buy  this movie or rent it, the Behind the Scenes featurette is definitely worth watching!  It's just shy of twenty-five minutes in length but worth every second.  There's some comedy in it (like when he tries to bayonet the camera guy) but it's also pretty informative and interesting to listen to!  For those who may not have heard of this movie, it is a World War II horror movie about a group of German soldiers who have to hole up in this bunker while the American soldiers close in on them.  They shortly discover that the bunker already has residents but who (or what) is in there, none of them know.  I actually am kind of a coward so I watched all the special features, and the ending... and am still trying to watch it from the beginning.  I'm a huge fan of WWII movies so that is what initially attracted me to the movie.  The fact that it is a horror movie kind of makes me hesitant because I am a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to stuff like this. Anyways... this is just the Behind the Scenes and as far as I know, there are no spoilers.  Oh, JF plays a German Corporal named Baumann. ( +16 ) ~ Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" by Relient K (2 Comments |Comment on this)