jimmy

It’s been a great weekend. I went on a hike to the top of Mt Bell in Griffith Park with my_bootay. I was intending to go through the Bronson Caves but ended up on the wrong trail. Nonetheless, the view from the top of Mt Bell was spectacular. You can see all of Glendale and Burbank. Beautiful!

Today, after going to Farmers Market in Hollywood with lotusblossom and cleaning house a little, I went to see the lighting of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, my former abode, with lotusblossom and saltyseas. For the last 16 years, they’ve been raising money and planning the lighting of the bridge. Those 16 years were worth it.

The lights are blue LEDs that are powered by solar panels. Therefore they will not emit pollution or strain the power grid. That’s just fucking ingenious!

Everything seems to hang heavy in the air this week. It’s not just the big train wreck yesterday. Everything I see and read involves the ugly side of reality.

Tuesday night watching Frontline on PBS. They were discussing the nebulous web of al-Qaeda connections in Europe and how Bush is fighting al-Qaeda as if they are a terrorist network in the 80s. Then on 60 Minutes II last night, they had a story of a guy waiting to be executed in Connecticut, their first execution in 45 years. Train Wreck in Glendale Worst Since 1999! Deadliest Day for Troops in Iraq! Deficit Reaches $430 Billion!

It’s too much. My system just can’t handle it. Perhaps it’s winter’s lack of sunlight. But am I the only person feeling this way?

Malaise. Apathy. That’s what I’m feeling. I just don’t care anymore. Disconnection is a better alternative than having to deal with the weight of all of this. Because dealing with this means showing emotions. And I don’t want to feel. It’s only fitting that I’m listening to The Velvet Underground right now.

Then there’s the guilt of apathy. In order to make the world a better place I have to do something about all of this shit. I start to process things, get emotional and go back to malaise. It’s a vicious circle. I guess it’s fitting that I’m listening to The Velvet Underground.

All of this nonsense can only mean one thing: we need to party. Collectively we need something to boost our morale so we can go on and deal with reality once again. Because the more we go on down this road, the more we will need their magical purple pills to get up in the morning.

I have not had a chance to write coherent thoughts lately. It’s more than evident that the blog has been sorely lacking.

Saturday night, Roomie and I saw Flicker at the REDCAT Theater, a multimedia choreographed live action slasher movie type of thing. It is a play, yet they use cameras and choreography in a very unique way. The story itself is a sort of homage to Dennis Cooper but more overtly humorous and over the top. It’s probably more appropriate to call it a cross between Desperate Housewives and Frisk. Though it was pretty good, I wasn’t worth the $20 I paid for it (even after lying about being a student).

Then, of course, Sunday was the plateau. I went and saw the following lady perform:

I’ve been waiting for years to see Nina perform. Each time she came to town, I would miss her. But finally, with it being Roomie’s b-day celebration, I got to experience the Nina. Although she performed mostly covers, she was still amazing. I’m still speechless about her performance.

This still doesn’t even begin to sum up everything I have wanted to write. But that’s all you’ll get from me tonight.

It’s been an interesting morning thusfar especially in my part of LA. A Metrolink train collided with a Jeep Cherokee, derailed, hit another Metrolink Train going the opposite direction and knocked a Union Pacific car off the track at around 6 this morning in the Glendale/LA border. The guy with the Cherokee apparently wanted to commit suicide but decided against it. He got out of the car before the train hit it.

All morning the sound of sirens filled the air already heavy with moisture and seeping with the smell of burning diesel. Looking at the images are astonishing. Mainly for the fact that more people weren’t killed. And hearing about the fast response to this accident was a little reassuring, the knowledge that a system works properly. The only thing I’m hoping for at this point is that the smell is gone.

I have so much to blog but haven’t been able to put my thoughts down. Whatever.

When I got home from work, much to my chagrin I found this in my patio:

Yes. It’s two skunks mating. This picture was taken while they were right underneath my bathroom window. Then they decided to attack the shit out of each other. I’m not an expert on skunk mating rituals, but is this a normal thing?

Anyhow, while attacking each other, they decide to start spraying each other. Apparently they’ve been doing this all week long since the house has been reeking of skunk lately. At one point tonight, as I was coming home from dinner, they were right by the front door. They see me, separate from each other, turn their backs and lift their tails. That was all I needed before I high-tailed it down the stairs. As I got the bottom of the stairs, they sprayed.

The horrible part is that even though I haven’t been sprayed, everything has been smelling slightly of skunk. It seeps in everywhere. Ugh!

I know some of you out there think they’re cute creatures. Sure they are when you don’t have to deal with them on a continual basis. It’s not like they come into your kitchen to eat your cats’ food, right?

I’m wearing all black to celebrate the coronation of Bush for the second time. Thankfully it will be the last time. I know a lot is being made of his speech and how great it sounded. He says he wants to end tyranny. I guess that’s a noble goal. But I do remember him saying in his first inaugural address that he wants to work with both parties. We all know how that worked out.

Anyhow, does anyone else find it funny that his coronation falls on Eid al-Adha?

It does not matter how much I like a job. If it is 85 degrees outside and most people get a day off, then I’m a little pissed that I have to go to work. I probably would have taken another little trek into Griffith Park. Or I would have spent some time writing. Fortunately I do like my job so I’m not entirely bitter.

But goddamn it’s a beautiful day! After 15 days of rain, it’s nice to sweat a little. The unfortunate thing is that it’s gotten me a little horny. Yup.

What a fun day! Deciding not to coop myself up to watch football games, I went with lotusblossom and saltyseas to the Hollywood Farmers Market and a little stroll through Griffith Park. I learned about this particular trail via this post on blogging.la. The pictures on it were so gorgeous I promised myself that after the rains fell, I would definitely go on that trail.

It’s only about a two mile hike up into the hills that culminates right beneath the Griffith Observatory. Well it culminates for now since they’re doing renovations on it until 2007 (I believe).

Of course I took pictures.

Who referred me to the Cultzero website? Or is it one of those things where they recruited me?

It’s been a while, but bite me. Hah!

Work has been busy. True I’ve been staying late (even until 8 Monday night). But it’s worth it. After successfully transitioning accounting software, I’m now working on work flow issues within the department. All in all, to work at a place where I, the manager, have free reign over my department makes staying until 6 most nights worthwhile. Oh. And the money helps too. 🙂

Other than that, nothing much else has been going on in my life. Roomie and I have been trying to clean up after the power outage this past weekend. What with the cats being irritated from being cooped up in the house, throwing up and peeing in the kitchen, it’s been quite a mess to deal with. But things seem to be back in order.

Feh. Nothing much. I’m just looking forward to the football games this weekend.