Friday found me back in Culver City, meeting my old camp counseling buddy, Josh, for lunch in the Sony lot. Fancy, right? He's doing well and is happy, so that was good to see. He also saw people he knew while we were walking around. #2. On the way back to Beverly Hills, there was a man - homeless, I presume - waiting for the bus with a rigged up roller suitcase contraption and cooler. He was wearing jean shorts, a Bahama shirt, straw hat, had an unfortunate strawberry blond dye job, facial hair, and wait for i t - ski goggles (yellow/orange-tinted) for sunglasses. If I wasn't convinced he was a murdering psychopath, I would've talked to him.
I walked around a lot that afternoon. All flat in Beverly Hills. I got blisters and talked to a Korean mail man for a minute. No Korean spoken, just him asking me how I liked it and him responding that the people love Americans. Good news for me. (He had seen me walking in one direction in the morning, for the bus stop, then again in another part of BH in the afternoon, so he was wondering why I was walking instead of driving and then I was wondering if he was Korean, so we chatted.)
Suzy, Katie (I love it when my friends become friends! Suzy is a good pal from college and I met Katie in Chicago through my friend, Ali) and I ate dinner at a delectable Mediterranean place with a yummy veggie spread and flowing wine - bless those BYOB places!
Afterward, we took a drive up Mulholland. Lights in LA and vomit-inducing (there wasn't any, but boy! those roads in the hills are curvy!) road, we wound our way up, up, up.
My buddy Steve came up from Dana Point on Saturday. Initially we were going to check out an urban farm in Silver Lake, but they don't give tours on Saturday, so we roamed the roads instead. La Brea Tar Pits and LACMA's Sculpture Garden, falafel sandwiches and then driving through hills and talking and laughing.
Sunday saw hiking in Runyon Canyon, In 'n Out Burger (grilled cheese!), Grauman's Theater, and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" which if you haven't seen, you must! You must go at once! Run to your movie theater!! Elbow your way through the line. Don't spoil the movie for yourself by reading spoilers in reviews, just trust me and go. It's movie magic. Such a wonderful thing. Best thing I've seen on film in the theater in I don't know how long. GO!
Monday... I'm sure I did something... Ty and I went to a cafe and did a crossword puzzle, then we went to Runyon Canyon, got fish tacos (the salsa was great, but I wasn't a fan of the deep-frying-ness), headed over to Echo Park to check out 826LA's Future Store and Ty's going to start volunteering there, YAY!! -- You should volunteer there, too!! 826 is in LA, San Francisco, Seattle, CHICAGO!, DC, NYC, Boston, and Michigan.
On Tuesday, LACMA!!
Ty and I went to see the Tim Burton exhibit (GO THERE TOO!! If you find yourself in LA, of course) and exhausted ourselves wandering through the rest of the museum. Museums make me tired and thirsty, but I love 'em enough to keep going back. We also wandered around the Grove's Farmer's Market in between Tim and the rest, for falafel sandwiches(!!!) and there were two celebrities there. These tween girls were excited to take pictures with them. Ty thought they might've been in that Twilight nonsense or some teen drama on ABC Family.
La Brea Tar Pits for a quick walk-through on our way to find a cafe and crossword puzzle. Then we found our way over to Beverly Hills to take Richard Simmons's class!!
He's still got it, that crazy ole fool!! $12 for an hour and a half long class. Sweaty. Back handed encouragement. "Maybe if you hadn't eaten that quarter pounder for lunch you could get your leg up higher!!" and "You're all a bunch of pansies! Weak, baby pansies!!" Those faces of his, and that energy! He was something else. He would shout about keeping correct form for push-ups, and then retract saying if you needed a modification to listen to your body.
The studio itself was non-descript on the outside, blending into the Beverly Hills background of strip mall doctors and spas. Inside was a completely different air with speakers blasting electro-synth workout music. A crowd registering late, myself and Ty included, was shouted at by Richard, "C'mon slowpokes! This whole class is waiting for you shits!" He was a lot more vulgar than I remembered from his bejeweled PBS show. (Note: he's still sporting his tiny diamond-encrusted tanks and rolled socks.)
The studio's walls were windows into the souls of the participants, or mirrors if you want to be simple. A banister ran along the front and side wall and the floors were buffed to realize the full potential of their lacquered shine. The lights were bright and a big exhaust fan was turned on 20 minutes into class which consisted of following manic Richard's flailing fun dance moves while attempting not to bash the person next to you. We were packed in that room like unitarded tunas in a net. Maybe considered a big room on most days, the night's full class found it cramped and trusting that your neighbor wouldn't crush your toes or punch your shoulder.
An hour of cardio and light stretching, complete with him taking me and Ty out for a spin around the room to YMCA! which he did for a few pairs, but we were up there the longest (he recognized Ty from another class and liked his jazz, so I think that's why we got special treatment). Then arms, chest and back with the weights; abs and push-ups. He ended with a special talk about loving with your whole heart and soul. Anything you do, put all of you into it.
That night I say "adios" to Suz and went to stay with Katie over in Hollywood.
Wednesday was full of more crossword fun, and gelato!!!! A park while Ty taught, and then we went to Griffith Park and checked out the Abandoned Zoo.
Real fun and super creepy. After the zoo portion, we hiked around some more and caught a glimpse of a coyote gnawing on the arm of a dead bum. (I'm just kidding, but we did see a coyote in the distance.) That night, Katie, her boyfriend Wes, and I went to eat Thai food and then Katie and I went to this bar called Birds, based on Hitchcock's "The Birds" and I was a little disappointed it wasn't more divey, but their 1/2 priced Happy Hour from 11-12 was quite alright with me.
I SAW A KID I HAD CLASSES WITH AT MIZZOU!!! #3 in the instances of seeing people you know!! We talked about professors and his mustache.
I walked around a lot that afternoon. All flat in Beverly Hills. I got blisters and talked to a Korean mail man for a minute. No Korean spoken, just him asking me how I liked it and him responding that the people love Americans. Good news for me. (He had seen me walking in one direction in the morning, for the bus stop, then again in another part of BH in the afternoon, so he was wondering why I was walking instead of driving and then I was wondering if he was Korean, so we chatted.)
Suzy, Katie (I love it when my friends become friends! Suzy is a good pal from college and I met Katie in Chicago through my friend, Ali) and I ate dinner at a delectable Mediterranean place with a yummy veggie spread and flowing wine - bless those BYOB places!
La Brea Tar Pits for a quick walk-through on our way to find a cafe and crossword puzzle. Then we found our way over to Beverly Hills to take Richard Simmons's class!!
The studio itself was non-descript on the outside, blending into the Beverly Hills background of strip mall doctors and spas. Inside was a completely different air with speakers blasting electro-synth workout music. A crowd registering late, myself and Ty included, was shouted at by Richard, "C'mon slowpokes! This whole class is waiting for you shits!" He was a lot more vulgar than I remembered from his bejeweled PBS show. (Note: he's still sporting his tiny diamond-encrusted tanks and rolled socks.)
The studio's walls were windows into the souls of the participants, or mirrors if you want to be simple. A banister ran along the front and side wall and the floors were buffed to realize the full potential of their lacquered shine. The lights were bright and a big exhaust fan was turned on 20 minutes into class which consisted of following manic Richard's flailing fun dance moves while attempting not to bash the person next to you. We were packed in that room like unitarded tunas in a net. Maybe considered a big room on most days, the night's full class found it cramped and trusting that your neighbor wouldn't crush your toes or punch your shoulder.
An hour of cardio and light stretching, complete with him taking me and Ty out for a spin around the room to YMCA! which he did for a few pairs, but we were up there the longest (he recognized Ty from another class and liked his jazz, so I think that's why we got special treatment). Then arms, chest and back with the weights; abs and push-ups. He ended with a special talk about loving with your whole heart and soul. Anything you do, put all of you into it.
That night I say "adios" to Suz and went to stay with Katie over in Hollywood.
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