DineLA Week 2 @ Starry Kitchen

Today starts 'week 2' of DineLA; and one of our favorite restaurants is once again participating. Lunch was $16 a person and includes an appetizer, entree and dessert. A LOT OF FOOD!! I ended up using most of my daily 'weight watchers' allotment on this one meal.. As I write I am still stuffed!

I thought I'd share some pix from our lunch today!! =)

Sean's meal was the Crispy Kimchi Rice Cakes appetizer, Spicy Black Korean Pork Belly Banh Mi w/ Spicy Vietnamese Salad as a side..


I went for the Pandan Chicken, the Spicy Black Korean Pork Belly wrap w/ Spicy Vietnamese Salad as a side..

I ended up not being keen on the Pandan Chicken.. That's a first for me! I did have one of Sean's Kimchi Rice Cakes.. I liked that!

and dessert..

Pandan Flan and Durian Cheesecake (foreground) We ended up halving them so we could try both.. yum! The Pandan Flan is still my favorite though. =)

DineLA continues til Thursday February 4th all over Metro LA.. with varying price points.. lunch and dinner. If you're in the LA area I would suggest going to the LA Restaurant Week website and see if there's someplace new (or a favorite place) in your area you'd like to try..



**Disclaimer** Yes, I'm still on Weight Watchers.. I have a blog for that now! Check it out: Do or Doughnut **

Beer at the Nickel

As most folks who know me, know one of my favorite places to eat is the Nickel Diner. I have several posts about the place and have joked in the past often this should be my Nickel Diner blog.. "so what you eat this week??" Actually, it's been a while.. in part because I've been out of town a lot the last couple months. Then there's the diet. Going on Weight Watchers new program had me anxious to see if I could even go out to eat, let alone enjoy my favorite places.

Having a mad craving for meat, we headed to the Nickel so I would be sated. The surprise waiting for us was Kristen Trattner, noticing the Sean's NOFD tshirt mentioned she had a bottle of Dixie for him to try. "What?!"


Sean taking a sip of his Dixie..

Turns out their beer & wine license went through the beginning of the year. Kristen says they should have it on the menu officially next week and will carry about five or six different beers at a time. Like the soda they offer, she says they plan to mix it up and 'keep it fun'.. So at least for now, they plan to have different brands available.

This was Sean's first Dixie (I got him hooked on Abita) and agreed with Kristen it's definitely an 'everyman's beer' and similar to a PBR. So there you go. =)

Big Thanks to Kristen for sharing the news with us. It's a long time coming for that beer and wine license.

As for me, I did alright!



I ordered the lowrider burger (Ano chilis, pepperjack cheese, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes) w/ a salad instead of fries. I asked for the dressing on the side. I did good earlier in the day so I actually had just enough to be able to eat the burger (leaving the bun). It was just the thing!

Next time I'll get that steak salad.. sometimes a cheeseburger is all you really want.

Art Shows Closing at 5th and Main

Tomorrow spotlights two separate exhibitions closing at the home of Gallery Row, 5th and Main. Bert Green Fine Art (BGFA) hosted artists Jeff Gillette and Scott Horsley. Edgar Varela Fine Art (EVFA) whose gallery fills the back space at 5th and Main, hosted Ivan Limas. I was lucky to speak to all three artists at their respective openings last month on September 22nd.

Jeff Gillette


Gillette standing in front of his piece "Charpi" (2010)

Jeff Gillette got inspiration for his "Slumscape" series from his experiences in the Peace Corps in the late 80s. Having spent two years in Calcutta, India seeing the immense filth of the slums he found a beauty in the "cacophony of debris" and compared it to modern art sculptures. Since then he's made several trips back to India and Nepal getting new ideas and material for his series, which he first painted in 1995.

Gillette's new series of "Slumscapes" might have people questioning. "What's with the Mickey Mouse?" Noting that many, if not all of his current "Slumscape" works incorporate the mouse icon in some way or another.

"No one likes looking at this (stuff)." He says "They hate it, they try to go around it. This is like an access to it. It forces people to indulge. People will be like "look it's Mickey!" and they'll be drawn into it.. and what are you getting drawn into? It's a toilet."


"Dread/Coca" (2010) Jeff Gillette acrylic and collage on canvas $2,000

"Everyone loves Mickey Mouse," Gillette insists. Using the Disney icon as an access point to his art, it brings social awareness and allows the art-goer to see everything. He further explains that while people don't like to look at slums and the filth and garbage, they will look at Mickey. "It allows them an access point to engage."


Scott Horsley


Horsley with Recreation I and Recreation II

Horsley, who grew up in New York,received his graduate degree at UC San Diego. He met Bert Green at a show a few years ago and has been in a few of his shows including the LA Art Show.

Horsley now spends most of his time at the University of Florida at Gainsville where he teaches.

Having got his start with painting, he found it became busy and he's cut down to the basics. "Paper and pencil appeal to me," he says, expressing the purity and raw nature of graphite on paper. His graphite on Luxe paper drawings explore the relationship of sex and the absurd, how fear and ecstasy intermingle when faced with death or tragedy. His current series are full of "ecstatic joy in the grip of a sinking ship."

Many of his works seem to book-end each other, whether it's "The Expression of Truckliness" a duel piece about the concept of what truck-ownership might envision.. or "Recreation" a somewhat startling image of what seems to be duel hangings were actually contrasting images Horsley happened upon in the news. He explains on one page was an image of several soldiers witnessing an execution in Kabul, and on the opposite page, a group of people watching Patriots cheerleader tryouts. In both images the heads were cut out of the photos, "It was like the exact same photograph," said Horsley. "The images were so similar and so diametrically opposed, that like 'death' and that ecstatic sexual moment so those things back to back.. I couldn't believe it that they existed together."

Again, the shows end tomorrow, the 30th of October, which will culminate in an artist's talk with Jeff Gillette at 4pm. Don't miss it as Gillette will be sharing slides from his travels to the various slums that are the inspiration for his art.


Bert Green Fine Art
102 West 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013 ·
213-842-8574


EVFA presents Ivan Limas "Free to Behave"


Ivan Limas at his show's opening last month.

In the EVFA Gallery, Ivan Limas filled the room with his vibrant project-based works. Limas, who lives and works in the Santa Fe Art Colony, is a life-long Angeleno. He spent his childhood growing up in various parts of LA like Compton (and later La Merada) and says it had a big impact on his life. While some of the kids he grew up with were into the gang culture or graffiti art, he stuck to drawing comics, but his drawings eventually moved him to explore ideas in culture, and experience.

"A lot of my work is about defiance, exploration and self-perception.. cultural perception."

Immersed in the comic culture in his youth, he was surrounded by various subcultures whether it was anime, the machismo of Mexican-American, gang culture or graffiti art. He brings his personal experiences to bare. He'll get many ideas from his walks around LA or the conversations he hears. He said a lot of his work might be about the polarities of those sub-cultures and understanding those persona.

Most of his work in this show are oil on canvas paintings. He explained how he learns from his environment, often "doodling" while listening to lectures or conversations when growing up. He used this technique for several of his paintings in his current show. When going to a location, he would create several drawings based on the sounds and voices he hears and then photographing the environment. "I let the environment affect me," he says. He creates the larger oil paintings based on the drawings he created earlier at the project's location.

His work varies from video or mixed media sculpture, or performance pieces where he wrapped himself up in bandannas.

"Bandannas to me are like these mini flags.."

He talks about visual signifiers, like those communicated through items like a common bandanna. The bandanna having many meanings in different cultures, and he thinks about where the bandanna originated from, whether it's from Mexico,Spain or somewhere else. His hope is to "contextualize it into contemporary dialogue.". He has created a series of 3 bandannas with ironed transfers that might hint different places to different people. Discussion of the pieces range from the language expressed in the wearing of bandannas, the color significance in gang culture, or any number of things.

He wants his work to be available to everyone, not restricted to any one group. Bringing the idea of an item that's not necessarily considered art and having people think about it in a new way, or bring their own experience to the interpretation. Whether it's a synthetic ostrich skin-encased vacuum cleaner or a video installation of Ivan cutting off his own tongue.

His show also wraps on 30 October, when Limas is scheduled to have an artist talk in the EVFA gallery where he will discuss more about his history and background. It's possible he may bring up his earlier work on a comic book that he wrote and illustrated for use as his college thesis. While the work never got published, "It made me realize I wanted to go from a painter to multimedia."

EVFA

Get Ready for Autumn Lights!

Autumn Lights, an Art Walk of a different kind, will once again take over Pershing Square this weekend.


Emmeric in front of his work "The Horse He Rode in On"

Art Walk night, Emmeric Konrad was creating live art on canvas hung in a empty shop window of the Medallion Apartments. His painting, on a white canvas sheet started shortly after 7pm was a work in progress, as images from the 2009 "Autumn Lights" were projected onto the center of the canvas. Attendees could see him wrapping up his work titled "The Horse He Rode in On", around 1030 PM.

He was there in support of Artist/Curator Lilli Muller who was getting the word out about this year's "Autumn Lights." While the Muller produced and curated event is partially funded by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, Muller has put most of her own money into this event, now in its 6th year. She was hoping to drum up more support of the artistic and fund-raising kind for this year's event.

Over 70 artists and counting will be creating unique installations within Pershing Square this Saturday, September 25th. Muller says "It's going to be pretty intense."

"I want this to happen for the city and I want it to grow for next year."

"The cool thing will be that there will be more performing things going on as you are walking through it, so it's more interactive."

"There's a very eclectic music schedule," Killsonic will be opening performers, "Ruby Friedman Orchestra," as well the ukulele band "The Ooks of Hazzard" among others.

Attendees last year might recall the amazing projections on the walls of Pershing Square, digital and laser lights, black-lit art installations, and many creative pieces that were made especially for Autumn Lights by local artists.

Emmeric dropped a hint about one of the pieces you may be seeing this year: "Suzi Moon is doing a thing with women's underwear. She's tearing them apart so they look like jellyfish.. and they're black-lit."

Along with Emmeric (and aforementioned Suzi Moon), other featured artists include: Jerico Woggon, Rush Varella, DJ Vader, Flip One, Rick Mendoza, Shane Guffog, Anna Broome, and several dozen more.

With three times as many artists and performers getting involved one may wonder what next year holds for "Autumn Lights," and Lilli seems to have great visions for next year, "I'd like to create a corridor and get California Plaza and MOCA involved." Noting the Fall fund raising event at MOCA, she imagines working together and possibly doing "Autumn Lights" in cooperation with the LA Film Festival. "Creating a backdrop for events."

"All these walls, it would be really cool do something like that."

Until then, you can enjoy this year's event at Pershing Square. The event runs from 7 PM til 1 AM on September 25th. To see more detail about the event, including a list of artists and performers participating go to:

Autumn Lights LA 2010

Donations I believe are still welcome and can made by contacting Lilli Muller at: lillim99@gmail.com

here's my mini set from Autumn Lights 2009 which includes this:

Random LAFD

So I was meandering my way back home when I spotted an LAFD truck just off 7th & Hill Streets.. The firefighters were pulling a small ladder off the truck and headed to the sidewalk. Being the nosy person that I am (heh) I stopped to see what was up.. (I didn't smell any smoke but that doesn't mean something isn't amiss)

Apparently not much other than the ladder..


here comes the ladder..


and UP it goes!







meh.. they're done.



See?? Random! =)

Broadway is looking UP!

Broadway near 6th Street is getting a fresh coat of paint..




over at Payless..




applying new window treatment..


and next door they're making repairs to the storefront:

World of Color Road Show

The World of Color road show wrapped up its 4 city tour in downtown LA... Although it's nothing like the real World of Color (which is full of most awsomeness.. like the Bellagio fountains on steroids.. 200ft water cannons, fire balls and flamethrowers, along with several hundred feet of projected water screen amazingness)

Sean & I wandered over there after having dinner at Starry Kitchen last Friday.



We just got new his & her's iPhone 4s from the Glendale apple store Saturday before this, and so this was the first real test for them. Taking videos was alright but the flash seemed to over-expose the images.. and without the flash you may notice it's a bit blurry. The phone takes forever (in the sense of taking an image) to decide to shoot something..

Day time or dusk images shoot way better.. but despite the frustrations, we we gave it a go. Luckily the 10minute loop repeated itself


So here you go..




and a little bit of video:


the projected images where first abstract..




later you could see snippets of the Blue Fairy, Fantasia, Aladdin, and Sorcerer's Apprentice portion of Fantasia..

This is NOTHING like the real World of Color.. but if you haven't seen it, hopefully it makes you curious to go to the park and check it out.. FWIW I heard a few people heading off discussing how they haven't been to Disneyland in a while and "We really need to make another trip to Disneyland soon!" I guess Disney marketing accomplished their task with this one..

my complete flickr set here

World Cup at the Down & Out

Yesterday I wanted to watch the Germany/Spain match so headed over to The Down & Out where I met up with neighbor Sara J. and had a very peaceable time watching the match. There was a good crowd and after the first half we were able to move up to the bar to sit and watch the three screens.

It was my first time at the Down & Out and based on my experience I would definitely go back. I still got to find out what that pear cider I had was. It was alright. =)

Happy Anniversary Raw Materials!

Along with the celebrations that goes on during your average downtown Art Walk tonight, is something definitely worth celebrating! One year ago tomorrow (the date of last year's November art walk) was the grand opening & official ribbon cutting with our Councilwoman, Jan Perry..






Jim & Celia, co-owners & proprietors of Raw Materials Art Supplies
Happy Anniversary Raw Materials!! Here's to many, many more!!



Raw Materials
460 S Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 627-7223

Nickel Diner Now Serving DINNER!

As one may have already read from NewDowntown (yahoo group), BlogDowntown or other blogs, the Nickel opened for it's first official Dinner hours tonight, the 23rd. Before the Nickel experimented with dinner hours on the monthly art walk nights.



Nickel Diner opens for dinner from Tues through Saturday from 6-11pm.


Checking in at The Nickel shortly after 6pm, there were already a couple tables seated for dinner. Apon sitting, ordering a couple glasses of water and perusing the menu.. we saw that there are many items one will see on the regular lunch menu. However, a list of dinner entrees are now offered including: a double stuffed chicken, a salmon dish, catfish dish, flatiron steak with arugula & tomato salad, and a couple veggie leaning options.

Lunch regulars will see they have the pulled pork sandwich, the Nickel Burger, and Lowrider among many other favorites. (Smac and Cheese anyone??). Knowing I could get one of my favorite lunch items.. during lunch, I made sure to try one of the new dinner options.


"Eat Your Vegetables" hashed bacon Brussel sprouts with green beans, sauteed spinach, and roasted parsnips and carrots over a bed of buttermilk mashed potatoes. OMG! This was sooo incredibly delicious.

The hashed bacon brought a gently salted savoriness to the Brussel sprouts. The parsnips & carrots worked well together.. the parsnips providing a meaty texture and the carrots a sweetness. I was happy with the green beans and the spinach. Perfect!



SeanYoda ate with me of course (he's been wishing The Nickel opened for dinner only slightly more than myself, and probably was more vocal about it though). He chose the beef stew. I tried his and having been slices of beef with vegetables on buttermilk mashed potatoes, it reminded me ever so slightly of Shepherd's Pie (which Sean says 'no it's beef stew!!') so yeah, it's got a hearty thickness that I imagine would be very filling and hearty.

Ok.. getting over the "It's stew!" "It's Shepherd's Pie" argument.. let's move on to everyone's favorite.. dessert! Yes, we had dessert.

Tonight's options included the Red Velvet cake, tres leche cake, tapioca pudding, cheesecake, lemon pie (with the entire lemon!), and the salt peanut cake.


"Salt Peanut Cake" chocolate cake layered with a peanut butter cream cheese frosting & potato chips. YES! Potato Chips.. omg crunchy sweet, salty, chocolatey.. **Please note the above photo is 1/2 a slice (we split the serving down the middle).

With a Diet Coke & Cherry Soda, the entire dinner came to about $34 (not including tip).

The Nickel has been doing fantastic since day one, and if our dinner was any sampling of what will come from the future dinner service schedule, all is well at 5th & Main. There's no question I'll be coming back for dinner again.. and again.. and.. well, you get the idea!


The Nickel Diner
524 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Open:
Breakfast/ Lunch: Tues through Sunday 730-330pm
Dinner (currently): Tues through Saturday 6pm-11pm

False Alarm at the Barclay

Being close to a Fire Department in a true emergency is good thing. This can be attested by the many calls that seem to go out around our neighborhood whether at the Alexandria around the corner, or the warehouse on Winston earlier this year.

Regardless what the reason, I remind myself daily how important these guys are & what an excellent job they do. So tonight rather than get frustrated with the loud interruption to my viewing of "White Christmas" (it's not as if it's not available on DVD) I went downstairs to investigate.

Initially there were some four or five vehicles.. including 2 large ladder trucks gathered around the corner on 4th Street, down below on Main in front of the Hellman Building and the future location of the Medallion. From the vantage of the loft I could see folks running up the sidewalk to Pete's Cafe to get a closer look.


"purple shirts" were securing the intersection on either end of Main Street at 4th as well at the corner at Winston.


checking out the scene


several firemen had gone up the ladder to observe one of the units (my best guess).


City Hall can be seen shining in the background as the Fire Department work on retracting the ladder.


With everything seeming A-OK the LAFD eventually wrapped up and by the time I returned to the loft, they were well on their way to whatever came next.

Oh, and eventually my girl Kiki Cat & myself got back to watching "White Christmas" with limited interruption.

Happy Hanukkah & Merry Christmas & thank you to the LAFD & all our Public Safety folks who protect us all day & night.

It's beginning to look a lot like..

LA Plays..

Having a run at the Aero Theatre, "LA Plays Itself" is back, this time at the Egyptian Theatre, for one night only, Sunday the 12th of October.

From the American Cinematheque website:

"LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF, 2003, 169 min. Dir. Thom Andersen. A must see for Los Angeles history buffs and cinema enthusiasts, who will marvel at the hundreds of archival and film clips revealing an almost secret history of the City of Angels..."

If film isn't your thing, there's always hockey. The LA Kings have their home opener Sunday night. They're looking for the home ice advantage to avenge tonight's 3-1 road loss to the San Jose Sharks. It looks like tickets are sold out for the opener. However, there are certain to be some available somewhere no doubt for a little more than they originally were purchased for. Stub Hub anyone?

VP Debate tonight @ "The Exchange"

Tonight is the much anticipated Vice Presidential debate between (D)Sen Joe Biden and (R)Gov Sarah Palin. There was to be a last minute opportunity to view the debate. It had been posted recently on downtown bulletin board groups NewDowntown & Downtown LA Life, respectively. Unbeknown to me, there were no follow-up approval made, so I went to the location where I found it had been canceled.



Instead,"The Exchange" (or DLANC HQ as most of us may know it) will be host to some pro-Obama phone banks every Saturday and Sunday from 1-4pm. Also every Monday at Morona Kiang Gallery from 5-8pm 218 W 3rd Street in the Bradbury Building. You will need to bring your own phone with you to participate, as "The Exchange" does not currently have a DSL or phone line.

Phone banks are not my thing, but may be yours. Hope you enjoy the debate wherever you watch it.

Over a Year Later, LAPD "May Day" discipline

According to the LAPD blog, an outline of disciplinary measures has been brought forward from the egregious melee that occurred in MacArthur Park May 1st of 2007. During what had been previously deemed a peacable rally for immigration rights & reform,a handful of ne'er do wells made it bad for those in attendance, and some handful of LAPD made it incredibly worse for all.

From LAPD's blog:

Chief of Police to Mete Out Discipline

"The personnel complaint investigation alone represented over 12,000 hours of work and was the most exhaustive investigation in Department history. Many sworn and civilian personnel of all ranks completed witness and complainant interviews, a detailed analysis of video tape and still photography, and numerous updates and comprehensive reports.

Twenty-nine named officers were charged with one or more acts or omissions, for a combined total of 80 allegations. The Chief of Police sustained 31 allegations against 15 officers. Among the officers disciplined, three will also receive a reduction in paygrade and four will be transferred from Metropolitan Division."

Read the entire article as linked above. Better late than never, right? Hopefully this will do something to repair the damage that a few have wrought upon the reputation of the LAPD. Let those that do the job right get back to "serving & protecting" IMHO..

American Apparel Expansion in LA

KPCC/NPR is reporting this morning that American Apparel has hired some 2500 workers to fulfill their growing business needs. They also stated that yesterday (Tuesday) Mayor Villaraigosa toured the facilities and praised them for keeping jobs here in LA. They played a soundbite from the mayor as well.While I couldn't find a link to the streaming audio, you can read the small related piece here:

KPCC "LA Mayor Villarigosa Praises LA-Based Clothing Manufacturer"

Suffice to say it was a good piece and I hope that other businesses are listening to this example.

Recently other bloggers had posted about American Apparel's expansion to the Eastern edges of the Arts District. American Apparel is a very vocal company which I recall May First they rallied their employees and were a huge presence for immigration reform. Most everyone in LA should be familiar with their "Legalize LA" campaign. It's not empty words. American Apparel seems to take good care of its employees with benefits and a decent wage.


Employees from American Apparel at the MayDay Rally on Broadway May 1st, 2008.

Another article I *did* find was regarding getting reliable & easy transportation for its employees:

American Apparel can't get a bus to match its needs By Steve Hymon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 9, 2008

"..This being Los Angeles -- City of Traffic and Angels -- there is no direct bus service to Union Station. Thus the reason for my visit.

Employees who want to reach Union Station by mass transit have to take a circuitous route that involves walking a few blocks to a bus that travels west into the heart of downtown, where they transfer to the subway. It's a journey that takes 31 minutes, not counting the initial walk to the bus, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority trip planner.

That's 31 minutes to travel 1.6 miles as the crow flies, which I compute to be 3.2 miles per hour. That's not slow. That's Stone Age."

You should definitely read the entire article. They are working w/ MTA. Currently DASH doesn't get quite close enough and in a city where the newest DASH route only got started last week, it seems it might be some more time before the next one.

Tall Ships (Festival of Sail)

Festival of Sail LA & more**

One of the fests I've enjoyed (and continue to) is the Festival of Sail which occurs along the Washington/ California coast. While I get the impression the festival is getting smaller: less ships to see this time around, and fewer booths, the ships are still worth heading out to San Pedro (or in the case of the 20th, San Diego).

HMS Surprise

The Tall Ships rotate each year between Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes. They begin their Pacific tour usually out of Tacoma, onward eventually to San Francisco, Oxnard/Channel Islands, San Pedro, then San Diego. So you have many opportunities in the month of August to see & tour these beautiful ships. As for this year, your last chance is in San Diego. You didn't have anything planned next weekend did you? ;)

rest of my flickr set:
2008 Festival of Sail

USCG Barque Eagle

**bonus**
ART WALK

Robert Vargas sketches outside Stella Dottir's shop

I only have a few photos I took last week and they aren't nearly as good as others have taken, but here you go, four days after the fact:
August 08 Downtown Art Walk
As you can see, I didn't get around to very many galleries, and honestly didn't take many pictures.


SeanYoda Rouse IMHO, has a more complete and inclusive tour of art walk on his flickr however. He got to a LOT more places than I did, although he admits he didn't get to nearly everything. Still, I think his has a better representation of what art walk was like last week. Be sure & check it out:
SeanYoda's August Downtown Art Walk Set
Set includes still as well as video capture.

P.S. for Joe: Between Art Walk and the Festival of Sail, I was much more worn out walking than I anticipated and missed the Bike Meander Sunday. Instead I opted for running errands (which also it turns out wore me down) and watching some DVR'd Olympics. I didn't get back in time for the Nisei Week parade and frankly was too tired by the time I got back at around 8pm to worry about it much. I'm almost glad the weekend is over. =P Too much fun is exhausting!

Happy 70th LA Chinatown!

More "Hope" and then some..

Finally got around to uploading pix from the last few days from my flickr.. so I give you the:
"Hope for Firefighters" set from Thursday:

***
Afterwards, we sort of stumbled upon a " budget cutting rally" which had a pretty good turnout!

My photos aren't the best but I figured I'd put them up anyway.. LAPD were there on their bikes and leading the way through the street!






***
Thursday night I had dinner at Weeneez and had the yummy cheddar cheeseburger with everything (this is my fave!)I had it as part of the 'combo' which included my choice of coleslaw or potato salad, a bag of chips & a drink:



Wow! It sure was cheesy!


***

Friday I was out and about in the afternoon where I came across more LAFD action as they were just leaving the King Edward:




and finally, making a turn onto Main Street..


So.. lots of pix and it's no wonder I'm up late.. =) There should be another set coming up over the weekend.. I'm having more mini adventures starting this morning.. oh and nevermind what the time stamp says, with the editing and all it's now about 5min after 3am. *blink blink*

PSST! hey.. you're not done.. I got a question for my neighbors, so keep scrolling to the next (previous) post: