old news but still good news

it feels like years, but about three weeks ago i entered a poetry contest on one of my favorite food sites www.eaterla.com, to win two VIP tickets to an extraordinary food event known as 'extravaganza of the senses'. the idea behind the contest was to write a rhyming poem about the raging food-truck phenomenon in la. i am no stranger to the food-truck phenomenon, or as my old friend Al calls it "mobile eats".

so after several minutes of deep thought, i composed a rhyming poem of questionable rhythm (seriously, the rhyme scheme is ALL over the place) about my experience of being rejected by the Cool Haus ice cream sandwich truck after months of anticipation.

you would have thought i won a million bucks by the way i shreiked and cheered when, one friday afternoon, i received an email from the site's editor telling me that i was one of two winners of the contest! click here to read my winning entry. (it's poem #2, about Cool Haus).

ps. just learned how 'INSERT LINK' works!!! so THAT'S how Jen Garrett does it! (look! i did it again!!)

who does your hair?

for the second time today i was stopped by a middle-aged woman with bad hair asking who does mine. the first time was in laguna beach - she was a jogging midwestern-mom type with a frosted sandy duncan style (see Figure 1). today was at the carwash, she was a spiky-haired butchy businesswoman with an annie lennox gone wrong orange dye job. (see Figure 2)

i've been liking my hair lately, so what does that make me? (see Figure 3)


Figure 1



Figure 2


Figure 3

tiny little food

last week viva and terrence (our pet name for her bun in the oven) were in town for work and i had the wonderful good fortune to enjoy a meal with them at our new favorite non-koreatown korean restaurant TOFU YA. the TOFUYA is similar to the CUYA, but tastier. they have beer but probably no liquor license because the beer is not on the menu. viva introduced me to heaven on earth - cold noodle (they put ice in it!) and we ate galbi and soft tofu stew and other morsels. all of this was fantastic and so good to see viva and terrence as they both grow and change until terrence joins us on the outside in november.

however, it was the food we got AFTER we ate that was the real highlight of the night. behold...tiny fake food! there are 6 different meals available, but it's exciting because they all come in identical boxes. collect them all! you never know what you're going to get! viva got SEAFOOD DINNER whereas i got BREAKFAST TO GO. these little fake meals totally rule - they even come with fake ice and wine and garnish (hers) and a rad toaster and wrapped pop-tart like items called smart tops. but tiny.


terrence on board


OB, it's the way you should be...


the most important meal of the day


truly indulgent, lobster dinner with oysters and wine

West Hollywood's favorite day?

Today Ben and I walked down to West Hollywood park for the final day of the 2009 LGBT Pride festival. It is debatable whether Pride or Halloween is the pinnacle of WeHo living - for me it's obviously Halloween, which i find even gayer than pride. at least there's a lot more nudity.

Here are some highlights from our trip into the rainbow glitter wonderland...


optical illusion at the 2b hair products photo booth


this frenchie needed a break so he just laid down on the sidewalk


beads to promote gayness!


another photo booth this one by progressive insurance


temporary tattoo application


yogurt stop's yo-go dancer

super video

this is a video of a 15 month old baby who might like adam lambert as much as i do. worth watching through to the end.

A Weekend in The Bend

About a year ago, Emmy Selden moved to South Bend, Indiana to work at a rad women's liberal arts college called St. Mary's. and although we usually meet in arizona for her birthday in february, this year we could not make the trip so instead, i made my way to one of my favorite parts of the country...the midwest.

when i say i love the midwest, what i really mean is that i love iowa. i really really love iowa. thanks to emmy and the selden family, i have had the great fortune to visit iowa four times, including two visits to the iowa state fair. i'd also been to fort wayne, indiana and even passed through south bend once during a cross country drive, so i was pretty sure i knew what i was in for when i arrived in south bend.

however, the weekend was filled with unexpected quirks and firsts that belong to south bend alone

Quirks:
1. they have an original ms. pacman machine in the airport. you don't believe me? check it out:


2. they do not sell beer and wine on sundays. i think in a restaurant you might be able to order booze, but if you want to buy some you are s.o.l. don't believe me? check it out:

and if that oddly capitalized sign doesn't stop you, try getting past these barricades!


3. in lieu of beer and wine, on sundays you can quench your thirst with something called 'faygo'. if they sold 'faygo' in west hollywood it would fly off the shelves. don't believe me? check it out:


4. the ultimate end-all quirk was not in south bend, but outside of goshen, indiana. the local walmart has horse-and-buggy parking. this is due to the large amish population in the area. if you don't drive a car, how are you allowed to shop at walmart? seems contradictory but there it is. don't believe me? check it out:



you can see the parking barn in the far right of this photo

this photo is so you can see that it really is walmart


And now for the firsts. Over the course of the weekend I did these things for the first time:
1. Drove a Boat


2. Learned to play a drinking game called 'Flipcup' and proceeded to score the win for my team!



3. Visit the Olympia Candy Kitchen, founded by Ally Paflas' grandfather and still run by the Paflas Family


4. Checked out at one of 32 checkouts in a Target Superstore.


5. Watched 'Groomer Has It' and then used my newfound knowledge of topknots to give Bruiser this fabulous hairdo.



Thanks to Emmy and Bruiser for hosting me for three fun-filled nights!! Here's a pic of us at the D.Q.



Just do the cones... make sundaes, make Blizzards, 'n... put stuff on 'em, 'n... see a lot of people come in, a lot of people come to the D.Q... burgers... ice cream... anything, you know? Cokes... just drive in and get a Coke, if you're thirsty.

Lebowski Fest 2009 - A Natural, Zesty Enterprise

Last week Ben and I attended night one of Lebowski Fest Los Angeles 2009. The fest featured lots of people dressed as The Dude, plenty of Walter Sobchaks, a screening of the movie and of course, the white russians were flowing. It was so much fun to be around people who love the underappreciated cult classic like I do. We did not attend night two, which was the bowling party and costume contest. However, our costumes did make onto a couple of LA websites.

http://la.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=23509254&event=748853&CategoryID=34141


click and scroll down for a very good photo of ben as The Big Lebowski and me as Brandt
(could not get hyper link to work! - it's worth a cut and paste in your browser)

http://www.la2day.com/nightlife/la2day_at_lebowski_fest_09

and now for a few photos of Dudes


Duder


El Duderino (if you're not into the whole brevity thing)


This Dude brought his Lady Friend (do not call her his Special Lady)