Earlier this month, an author I love sent me the address where her fictious character lives. Since it's in Hollywood, I decided to check it out Wednesday night after picking Jennie up from the airport.
I'd gotten directions off Yahoo maps, and my first order of business was to figure out which way I wanted to go on the freeway. Finally, I figured out I wanted to go south. Just one problem. I thought I was on the correct onramp, but suddenly found myself going north. So I had to exit and turn back around.
When I got to my exit, I found out that I couldn't turn left, as the directions told me to.
Finally, I got turned around and headed the correct direction on the correct road. My directions said the street was on the right, so I stayed in the right lane and slowed down for every single street. It wasn't there. I made a couple more passes, then decided to check out the other side of the street. And that's where I finally found it.
Well, almost. The addresses were hard to see in the dark. I made a couple passes, but I figured that the neighbors might not appreciate me doing it again. Afraid they'd call the cops about the strange car on their little street at 11:30 at night, I left.
Still, I have a guess on which of the houses it is. It's the one that best matches the description from the books. Of course, since I got the rest of the details in the neighborhood completely wrong, who knows if I was correct or not.
Still, it's always fun to see what the reality is. It was similar to what I had pictured, but not quite right. The street was shorter, the houses packed more together, and even though it knew it was close to the freeway, I had no idea it was that close.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Monday, March 21, 2005
First Day Off
So today was my first day off for the new carpeting. I slept in until 10 AM. Got up, washed my bedding, watched The Incredibles and some TV on DVD and then hopped on the internet. Nothing too dramtic. And the rest of the week is going to be about the same.
Now my weekend, however....
Saturday was day one of St. Pat's Hat for this year. Because of the rain, it was on the beach in Venice. So I trucked down there fully intending to get my shirt, play a game, and then leave.
But something happened. I started having fun. It helped that my team was on a real winning streak. We won all five games on Saturday. Most by a large margin. The largest being 11-3. The closest game was 13-12.
It rained a little for a while, but most of the time was sprinkles. I even got hot enough to take off the shirt I was wearing underneath for warmth.
Of course, my legs were downright tired after that. But it was a blast. I scored a point in the first game, and was a part of the action every time I was in. Of course, with 5 people on the field instead of 7, I kinda had to be.
I really wanted to play again Sunday, but with Jennie in town, there was no way I could do everything I wanted to do. So, after church, I talked to my family then went down to meet Angelique and Jennie. We went to a very late lunch. Then we played miniture golf. I wound up winning. Of course, they'll clame it was because I was keeping score. But it wasn't. Honest! We headed down to Westwood, then went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. First time I've ever eaten there. Food was great, service wasn't. The kitchen was slow, which might explain why it took us over an hour to get our food. Once we got our food, we had to hurry to get Jennie to the airport on time. But we made it with time to spare. By the time I got home, it was midnight.
With all this stuff going on, can you understand why I slept in until 10 this morning? I must say, it felt wonderful. And I'll be sleeping in again tomorrow.
Of course, I got sucked back into the Amazon customer review board again today. Found a couple reviews on a product that were commenting on other reviews, especially one written by Harriet, the #1 reviewer over there. I headed over there to read the thread about it. As I figured, most of the board is supporting the jerks. Keep in mind that both of them are ex-top 100 reviewers who know the rule about commenting directly on other reviews. And the fact that their review wasn't about the product they were "reviewing." Yes, it got me to post on the board. One of them has been her normal non-civil self. Neither think they did anything wrong. I reported their reviews and their reviews only, and Amazon took them away, so I feel vindicated. Hopefully, I can leave the board again by Wednesday night.
Right now, 24 is on and my roommate is about to go to bed. So I need to post this and go.
Now my weekend, however....
Saturday was day one of St. Pat's Hat for this year. Because of the rain, it was on the beach in Venice. So I trucked down there fully intending to get my shirt, play a game, and then leave.
But something happened. I started having fun. It helped that my team was on a real winning streak. We won all five games on Saturday. Most by a large margin. The largest being 11-3. The closest game was 13-12.
It rained a little for a while, but most of the time was sprinkles. I even got hot enough to take off the shirt I was wearing underneath for warmth.
Of course, my legs were downright tired after that. But it was a blast. I scored a point in the first game, and was a part of the action every time I was in. Of course, with 5 people on the field instead of 7, I kinda had to be.
I really wanted to play again Sunday, but with Jennie in town, there was no way I could do everything I wanted to do. So, after church, I talked to my family then went down to meet Angelique and Jennie. We went to a very late lunch. Then we played miniture golf. I wound up winning. Of course, they'll clame it was because I was keeping score. But it wasn't. Honest! We headed down to Westwood, then went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. First time I've ever eaten there. Food was great, service wasn't. The kitchen was slow, which might explain why it took us over an hour to get our food. Once we got our food, we had to hurry to get Jennie to the airport on time. But we made it with time to spare. By the time I got home, it was midnight.
With all this stuff going on, can you understand why I slept in until 10 this morning? I must say, it felt wonderful. And I'll be sleeping in again tomorrow.
Of course, I got sucked back into the Amazon customer review board again today. Found a couple reviews on a product that were commenting on other reviews, especially one written by Harriet, the #1 reviewer over there. I headed over there to read the thread about it. As I figured, most of the board is supporting the jerks. Keep in mind that both of them are ex-top 100 reviewers who know the rule about commenting directly on other reviews. And the fact that their review wasn't about the product they were "reviewing." Yes, it got me to post on the board. One of them has been her normal non-civil self. Neither think they did anything wrong. I reported their reviews and their reviews only, and Amazon took them away, so I feel vindicated. Hopefully, I can leave the board again by Wednesday night.
Right now, 24 is on and my roommate is about to go to bed. So I need to post this and go.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Word Association for Palm Sunday
Man, I need to be in bed asleep right now. In stead, I'm on the internet, doing this.
- Stink:: Me (I haven't showered after the ultimate tournament, still.)
- Renewal:: Library books
- I remember...:: History
- Loneliness:: Sad
- Ooooh:: Aaahhhh
- For real:: Not pretend
- Titanium:: Good
- Get down:: Boogy
- Rupture:: Break
- Dramatic:: Spectacular (like some of the dramatic catches I saw today.)
Friday, March 18, 2005
A Late Update
Heck, for most of the world, it's already Saturday. But it's still Friday, my time, so I can call it a late update.
I'm off work until Thursday. They're replacing our carpet, and they decided it was just going to be too hard to try to set us up to work somewhere else while they move everything out, put the new carpet in, and then move everything back in. So I don't have to work Monday through Wednesday.
Tom says I'll get bored. Is he kidding? I already have two weeks worth of stuff I want to try to get done in these three days. There just isn't going to be enough time!
I forgot to mention that Monday my friends Steve and Karla took me out to dinner for my birthday. And they gave me a gift card to Barnes & Nobel as well! Guess which bookstore I'll buy the next two Trixie's from.
And yes, I'm finally reading Peach Cobbler Murder. So far, so good. :)
Tonight we had a game night for the youth. Fortunately, we had a lot more guys because the game was definitely a guys game. One of our high schoolers made it up with his friends. The guys seemed to have a good time. Way to violent for me, so I wound up playing Survivor: The Game with some of the staff and the jr. high girls (who would not have done well at that game at all.) It's interesting, but could take a very long time. We cut it very short. No, I wasn't the winner.
I just learned something interesting. Today is St. Patrick's Day as well. :) I have a Foxtrot daily rip-off calendar (aka a page a day calendar) sitting on my computer moniter. It says today is St. Patrick's Day. I just double checked, and it did say that for yesterday as well. Pretty funny error.
Well, I'm tired and I have to get up early tomorrow for the St. Pat's Hat ultimate frisbee tournament. We've been moved to the beach in Venice since it's raining. I really don't want to go and play in the rain. If I hadn't already paid my money for it, you'd better believe I'd sleep in and forget about it. We'll see how it goes. I might not stick around. I guess you could say I'm a fair weather ultimate player. Why do you think I live in Sunny Southern CA?
I'm off work until Thursday. They're replacing our carpet, and they decided it was just going to be too hard to try to set us up to work somewhere else while they move everything out, put the new carpet in, and then move everything back in. So I don't have to work Monday through Wednesday.
Tom says I'll get bored. Is he kidding? I already have two weeks worth of stuff I want to try to get done in these three days. There just isn't going to be enough time!
I forgot to mention that Monday my friends Steve and Karla took me out to dinner for my birthday. And they gave me a gift card to Barnes & Nobel as well! Guess which bookstore I'll buy the next two Trixie's from.
And yes, I'm finally reading Peach Cobbler Murder. So far, so good. :)
Tonight we had a game night for the youth. Fortunately, we had a lot more guys because the game was definitely a guys game. One of our high schoolers made it up with his friends. The guys seemed to have a good time. Way to violent for me, so I wound up playing Survivor: The Game with some of the staff and the jr. high girls (who would not have done well at that game at all.) It's interesting, but could take a very long time. We cut it very short. No, I wasn't the winner.
I just learned something interesting. Today is St. Patrick's Day as well. :) I have a Foxtrot daily rip-off calendar (aka a page a day calendar) sitting on my computer moniter. It says today is St. Patrick's Day. I just double checked, and it did say that for yesterday as well. Pretty funny error.
Well, I'm tired and I have to get up early tomorrow for the St. Pat's Hat ultimate frisbee tournament. We've been moved to the beach in Venice since it's raining. I really don't want to go and play in the rain. If I hadn't already paid my money for it, you'd better believe I'd sleep in and forget about it. We'll see how it goes. I might not stick around. I guess you could say I'm a fair weather ultimate player. Why do you think I live in Sunny Southern CA?
Thursday, March 17, 2005
St. Pat's Edition of the Thursday Threesome
Brought to us this week by the Irish and The Back Porch.
Onesome: Happy-- No matter what's going on in your life, what always makes you smile?
A friend being nice to me. A funny joke. Lots of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Twosome: St. Patrick's-- St. Patrick's Day is March 17th. Do you celebrate and wear green? Drink Green Beer? Ignore it?
I always wear green, but that's about the extend of it.
Threesome: Day-- What day of the week is your busiest?Tell us about your schedule...
I think it's Sunday. Between church in the morning and evening and talking to my family and youth group stuff, the days just seems to fly by.
Onesome: Happy-- No matter what's going on in your life, what always makes you smile?
A friend being nice to me. A funny joke. Lots of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Twosome: St. Patrick's-- St. Patrick's Day is March 17th. Do you celebrate and wear green? Drink Green Beer? Ignore it?
I always wear green, but that's about the extend of it.
Threesome: Day-- What day of the week is your busiest?Tell us about your schedule...
I think it's Sunday. Between church in the morning and evening and talking to my family and youth group stuff, the days just seems to fly by.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Not Much to Say
It's Wednesday, so I need to blog something, but I really don't have that much to say.
Things have been pretty quiet at home for the last couple of days. Which is nice.
Weather's getting colder again. In fact, it's supposed to rain and be in the 50's over the weekend. So my St. Pat's Hat tournament might move to a beach. Playing in the rain is fun for an hour or two, but all weekend? And I'm hardly ready to play on a field, playing on the sand will literally kill me. I'm guessing lots of people don't show up if that happens. Heck, I might join their ranks. Especially on Sunday. But we'll see.
I was watching an episode of Wonder Woman last night, and both Tom and Chris wound up watching with me. Why is it that program gets so much cheesier when someone watches with me? I was almost embarrassed by some of the stuff going on. Of course, I've always known it was bad, but enjoyed it anyway. So we mocked it together. Me doing a little, but not much. Then they both watched Amazing Race with me. I'm getting quite a kick out of what Rob's pulling there. He's making it a season unlike any others. I think Phil is enjoying that as well.
And I haven't book blogged in a long time, have I? Meanwhile, I am reading faster then normal. Probably due to fewer new episodes on right now.
Drop Dead, My Lovely is a humourous mystery, as you'd expect from the title. It tells the tale of Pete Ingalls who, after a bump on his head, thinks he's a PI. Problem is, he's extremely stupid. Quite funny, especially his narrations on life along the way. However, the character's language was a real turn off for me.
The Flaming Luau of Death is the new Madeline Bean novel. Loved it! As always, the plot is a wild ride that you'd never expect. This time she's in Hawaii for a vacation/bachelorette party for employee/friend Holly. I thought the change of location might hurt the series, but I enjoyed it just as much as the others. I just can't get enough.
The Waking Nightmare is the newest Diagnosis Murder book. I'm half way through and loving every minute of it. If you were at all a fan of the series, get these books. They are just as if the series never went off the air. Can't wait to get back to it.
Well, it's a little after 5. Need to head to dinner so I can get home and change so I leave on time to meet Jennie at the airport. Will be fun to see her, even if the tournement is taking up some of the time we could be hanging out. Of course, most the time she'll be attending the conference that is the real reason she's out here, so it's all good.
Things have been pretty quiet at home for the last couple of days. Which is nice.
Weather's getting colder again. In fact, it's supposed to rain and be in the 50's over the weekend. So my St. Pat's Hat tournament might move to a beach. Playing in the rain is fun for an hour or two, but all weekend? And I'm hardly ready to play on a field, playing on the sand will literally kill me. I'm guessing lots of people don't show up if that happens. Heck, I might join their ranks. Especially on Sunday. But we'll see.
I was watching an episode of Wonder Woman last night, and both Tom and Chris wound up watching with me. Why is it that program gets so much cheesier when someone watches with me? I was almost embarrassed by some of the stuff going on. Of course, I've always known it was bad, but enjoyed it anyway. So we mocked it together. Me doing a little, but not much. Then they both watched Amazing Race with me. I'm getting quite a kick out of what Rob's pulling there. He's making it a season unlike any others. I think Phil is enjoying that as well.
And I haven't book blogged in a long time, have I? Meanwhile, I am reading faster then normal. Probably due to fewer new episodes on right now.
Drop Dead, My Lovely is a humourous mystery, as you'd expect from the title. It tells the tale of Pete Ingalls who, after a bump on his head, thinks he's a PI. Problem is, he's extremely stupid. Quite funny, especially his narrations on life along the way. However, the character's language was a real turn off for me.
The Flaming Luau of Death is the new Madeline Bean novel. Loved it! As always, the plot is a wild ride that you'd never expect. This time she's in Hawaii for a vacation/bachelorette party for employee/friend Holly. I thought the change of location might hurt the series, but I enjoyed it just as much as the others. I just can't get enough.
The Waking Nightmare is the newest Diagnosis Murder book. I'm half way through and loving every minute of it. If you were at all a fan of the series, get these books. They are just as if the series never went off the air. Can't wait to get back to it.
Well, it's a little after 5. Need to head to dinner so I can get home and change so I leave on time to meet Jennie at the airport. Will be fun to see her, even if the tournement is taking up some of the time we could be hanging out. Of course, most the time she'll be attending the conference that is the real reason she's out here, so it's all good.
Monday, March 14, 2005
I Need Patience. Now!
Or
Only 78 days until my roommates move out, but who's counting?
Yeah, they were driving me crazy this weekend, why do you ask? Ok, mainly yesterday since I wasn't home on Saturday.
The guys in the second bedroom have started sleeping with the sliding door in the living room open, the door to their room open, their window open, and their fan on. One of them should have known how I feel about that since it's been an issue before. When I talked to him about it Sunday morning before church, he got angry with me. "We need to cool it off in here." I suggested opening it earlier, to which he replied, "I wasn't home. I was out witnessing." So being out doing something spiritual is an excuse to ignor your roommate/landlord's wishes? That's news to me.
He didn't come home until late at night, when I brought it up again. I started by asking if he knew why I wanted it closed. "Probably some stupid security reason. We'll close it when we go to bed." Obviously, he wasn't happy about it. When is he going to learn how to get along with his roommates? All I have to say is, I feel very sorry for his future wife. She's going to be in for several rocky years when they're first married.
Meanwhile, it's been three and a half weeks since I asked my roommate to clean our bathroom. I'm still waiting. He's sorta cleaned it once the 10 months he's been here.
Can I just saw I want mature roommates in the future. Who respect me and will give me the courtisy I give them?
Saturday was a fun day. Got up early to go running before I left for book signings. First was Lee Goldberg's for his latest Diagnosis: Murder book. Then comes Ellis Weirner for his new book. Then I went to the Mystery Bookstore by UCLA to hang out at their party for an hour or so. Ran into a friend I haven't seen in over a year, so that was very nice. Then dance class and game night.
That turned out to be interesting. Ran into one of the Quizno's employees I see each Thursday after youth group. Said hi to him, but those with me thought he was a friend of mine not a casual acquaintance, so they invited him to join us for the evening. We had fun, but it could make life interesting in the immediate future.
And that's my weekend in a nutshell. And if my roommates don't back down for the next couple months, I'll be in the nuthouse.
Only 78 days until my roommates move out, but who's counting?
Yeah, they were driving me crazy this weekend, why do you ask? Ok, mainly yesterday since I wasn't home on Saturday.
The guys in the second bedroom have started sleeping with the sliding door in the living room open, the door to their room open, their window open, and their fan on. One of them should have known how I feel about that since it's been an issue before. When I talked to him about it Sunday morning before church, he got angry with me. "We need to cool it off in here." I suggested opening it earlier, to which he replied, "I wasn't home. I was out witnessing." So being out doing something spiritual is an excuse to ignor your roommate/landlord's wishes? That's news to me.
He didn't come home until late at night, when I brought it up again. I started by asking if he knew why I wanted it closed. "Probably some stupid security reason. We'll close it when we go to bed." Obviously, he wasn't happy about it. When is he going to learn how to get along with his roommates? All I have to say is, I feel very sorry for his future wife. She's going to be in for several rocky years when they're first married.
Meanwhile, it's been three and a half weeks since I asked my roommate to clean our bathroom. I'm still waiting. He's sorta cleaned it once the 10 months he's been here.
Can I just saw I want mature roommates in the future. Who respect me and will give me the courtisy I give them?
Saturday was a fun day. Got up early to go running before I left for book signings. First was Lee Goldberg's for his latest Diagnosis: Murder book. Then comes Ellis Weirner for his new book. Then I went to the Mystery Bookstore by UCLA to hang out at their party for an hour or so. Ran into a friend I haven't seen in over a year, so that was very nice. Then dance class and game night.
That turned out to be interesting. Ran into one of the Quizno's employees I see each Thursday after youth group. Said hi to him, but those with me thought he was a friend of mine not a casual acquaintance, so they invited him to join us for the evening. We had fun, but it could make life interesting in the immediate future.
And that's my weekend in a nutshell. And if my roommates don't back down for the next couple months, I'll be in the nuthouse.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Word Association for March 13th
As always, from here.
- Shape up:: Ship Out
- New Orleans:: Sqare (Disneyland)
- In the bedroom:: Sleep
- All the time:: Always
- Philosophy:: My brother's major
- Tyler:: Lane
- Disturbed:: upset
- French kiss:: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
- Solidify:: Freeze
- Furtive:: Glance
Friday, March 11, 2005
Mostly Good News
But first the bad.
Remember how a week ago I was all excited about having found a roommate for when my roommates move out in June? Looks like that's falling through because the guy is being forced out of his current place even after his landlord told him he'd work with him about rent this month since the guy had lost his job. Yep, the same guy who "needed" three months notice would rather be without a roommate then wait an extra two weeks for his money. Call me crazy, but I'd do it the opposite way around.
Speaking of which, I have a roommate who still owes me rent money, don't I?
But on to the good news.
We're starting worship time last night. I've read Psalm 100 as a call to worship and am playing the intro to the first song when suddenly, everyone starting singing "Happy Birthday." I'm sure I turned bright red, but it was very much appreciated. They had a card for me, and there were brownies afterwards, too. Plus some gift certificates from Kurt, Kellie, and Nick and cookies for me from Kellie. I felt very loved and appreciated.
Honestly, I think this is the first time my birthday has been acknowledged with the youth, while everyone else's has. I really appreciated it this year. It doesn't need to be this big every year, but it's nice to have something happen.
I'm sure I had a goofy grin on my face all the time, too. I hope they know how much I appreciated it.
There was also a couple there last night who was introduced as being new jr. high staff. Maybe they've found someone to take over, so it won't be us inmates running the program much longer.
Remember how a week ago I was all excited about having found a roommate for when my roommates move out in June? Looks like that's falling through because the guy is being forced out of his current place even after his landlord told him he'd work with him about rent this month since the guy had lost his job. Yep, the same guy who "needed" three months notice would rather be without a roommate then wait an extra two weeks for his money. Call me crazy, but I'd do it the opposite way around.
Speaking of which, I have a roommate who still owes me rent money, don't I?
But on to the good news.
We're starting worship time last night. I've read Psalm 100 as a call to worship and am playing the intro to the first song when suddenly, everyone starting singing "Happy Birthday." I'm sure I turned bright red, but it was very much appreciated. They had a card for me, and there were brownies afterwards, too. Plus some gift certificates from Kurt, Kellie, and Nick and cookies for me from Kellie. I felt very loved and appreciated.
Honestly, I think this is the first time my birthday has been acknowledged with the youth, while everyone else's has. I really appreciated it this year. It doesn't need to be this big every year, but it's nice to have something happen.
I'm sure I had a goofy grin on my face all the time, too. I hope they know how much I appreciated it.
There was also a couple there last night who was introduced as being new jr. high staff. Maybe they've found someone to take over, so it won't be us inmates running the program much longer.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Thursday Threesome for March 10th
Today's Thursday Threesome is brought to us by Randomness and The Back Porch.
Onesome: A Somewhat-- We're in somewhat of a lull between holidays. Are you decorating for St. Patrick's Day or going right for the Easter season. ...or are you just hanging on for margaritas by the pool?
There's a lull between holidays? Not in stores. :) Actually, I don't do much for either holiday. Do play in the St. Pat's Hat ultimate Frisbee tournament. And I'll be in church Easter Sunday, but that's about it.
Twosome: Aimless-- Aimlessly waiting for Spring? What are you just waiting to do once the weather clears up?
Swim! Water is calling me loud and clear and I can't wait to swim again.
Threesome: Hodgepodge-- Where's the hodge podge collection at your place? You know, that drawer or shelf or cabinet where 'all the other stuff' ends up when there's no place assigned to it. Yeah, that one!
Guest towels, an afghan, papers of some sort, tools, and other stuff I can't think of right now. Hodge podge certainly defines that shelf in my closet, doesn't it?
Onesome: A Somewhat-- We're in somewhat of a lull between holidays. Are you decorating for St. Patrick's Day or going right for the Easter season. ...or are you just hanging on for margaritas by the pool?
There's a lull between holidays? Not in stores. :) Actually, I don't do much for either holiday. Do play in the St. Pat's Hat ultimate Frisbee tournament. And I'll be in church Easter Sunday, but that's about it.
Twosome: Aimless-- Aimlessly waiting for Spring? What are you just waiting to do once the weather clears up?
Swim! Water is calling me loud and clear and I can't wait to swim again.
Threesome: Hodgepodge-- Where's the hodge podge collection at your place? You know, that drawer or shelf or cabinet where 'all the other stuff' ends up when there's no place assigned to it. Yeah, that one
Guest towels, an afghan, papers of some sort, tools, and other stuff I can't think of right now. Hodge podge certainly defines that shelf in my closet, doesn't it?
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