that time I didn't burn the house down

Ahoy,

The RRS recently discovered flambe. His new favorite cooking method, and he'll take every opportunity to employ it. I let him be head chef for a night, and he almost burned the house down. Maybe I'll think twice about how much supervision he needs next time.

He has this habit of turning the flame on as high as possible, it's pretty much the only setting he knows. It's as if he doesn't know how to cook at any temperature except hothothot! Watching him cook is like a scene out of a war movie. There are splatters and explosions and flames everywhere! He leaves a trail of dishes and kitchen tools and stains and dropped ingredients. All ye who approach be warned.

He made lamb last night and tilted the pan to an angle so that the brandy he poured in would gather at the bottom. Also, the heat on the stove top was all the way hothothot! The next thing we knew a giant flame hopped up all the way to the ceiling. It made this big 'whoosh' sound, like in the movies. I guess it's a real thing.

There doesn't appear to be any damage, but that was probably the closest I've witnessed to burning the house down. And it wasn't my fault at all, and I'm not going to let him forget it.

exceedingly alit,
jt

hippies gathering

Ahoy,

LAGreenFest was last weekend. Have you ever been? I've been to a lot of them. They are always fun. I went to my first greenfest in San Francisco as a wide-eyed college student. I've also been to the Chicago, Washington, DC, and NYC greenfests. It's always fun to sample and check out the newest organic, locally made products that I would probably not ever be able to afford. When it comes to "green" products, I'm really not the best hippie. I remain skeptical. But I can feel the optimism of many other gullible hippies surging through the energy of the convention center. It's difficult to find this type of excitement elsewhere.

I went exploring around the building and found this really cool tree art thing on the 11th floor. All the other volunteers guessed I was a high schooler. One of these days I will age, and it will be a curse and a blessing.

We went to try out the new udon place next to the ever popular ramen place in Little Tokyo. You know the one. We sat right in front of the noodle master and it was super fun to watch him roll out noodles during our meal. Little Tokyo was super busy that night. They had set up a karaoke thing on the plaza for people braver and more intoxicated than me to embarrass themselves.

To top off the night we sampled this organic non-dairy ice cream place in which I exclaimed my love for processed American snacks. Let me just walk through Whole Foods shouting that and see what happens to me. There was a really good chocolate ice "cream" at Kippy's, but it doesn't quite hit the spot like creamy ice cream. Again, I'm a really bad hippie also for being a slave to my taste buds. And my taste buds have grown up on processed American snacks.

devilishly tempted,
jt

halloweens last

Ahoy,

I'm getting pretty excited for Halloween this year. But it's going to be difficult to top last year's costume of the Mars rover, Curiosity, and Mars. It's the one and only night of the year the RRS lets me dress him. His request this year was to not have to wear a box. 

Last year's box.

This year's costume will be unveiled in a separate post.

spookily candied,

jt

for the millionth time

Ahoy,

We went to see the space shuttle. Again. O and my brother had never seen it before so it was well worth it. Plus, it was EndeavorFest in celebration of the one year anniversary the Endeavor arrived in LA. Happy Birthday, Endeavor!

In continuation of our space themed weekend, we also went to watch Gravity in imax 3d on Saturday. It was awesome. You should all go see it. If you're as reluctant in your old age to watch things in 3d as I am, you will also find that this movie is the movie to watch in imax 3d.

On Sunday, my brother left me here in the desert. And the other boys made me go to the beach. We found a plastic rock structure thinger on a children's playground. And commandeered it for a good chunk of time because they don't make playgrounds this fun for grown-ups.

clamberingly envious,
jt

for the corgis

Ahoy,

It's infinitely more difficult to convince my brother to do something without the lure of dogs. The Corgi Beach Party was pretty much all he came for. He will admit it right away, because who are we kidding here? Dogs are much better than sisters. 

My brother would have sold me for a dog if our mom allowed dogs. They are probably less trouble than me.  

sandily pudgy,

jt

permission granted

Ahoy,

The RRS had an old friend visiting. They've known each other since grade school. There's such an ease and childlike delight that possesses a person when they are with their childhood best friends. The comfort of history and memories that link people together can cause you to discard all of your insecurities. It's absolutely adorable to observe two grown men giggling like schoolboys. The RRS tends to be overly formal, calculating and polite with a lot of people, even friends, but all of it slips away when he is with I. It's a side of him I am always honored to be in the presence of.

I'm sure if you've spent a day exploring with me, you know that it can be absolutely exhausting. I have the uncanny ability to push you to your physical, and sometimes mental, abilities like I'm paid to do so. A knows this about me all too well. So I had to first check with A what I's power level (like in video games) is, so that I don't break him as I've done with so many other souls (you know who you are). A gave me the go-ahead to "run him into the ground." And bulldoze I did.

I gave him the whole scenic walking tour of Culver City. We were only out for about two hours, and he was absolutely exhausted. The following day, I took him to the museum to see the space shuttle. We arrived back to Culver City in time to catch the farmers market and happy hour. I know they're exhausted when they're asking for coffee in the middle of the day.

The next time we see him will probably be in Istanbul! Bon voyage, my friend!

questioningly kosher,
jt

we have to look at art?

Ahoy,

Because he was racking his hours up during the week, the RRS got to play hooky for half the day on Friday. Yahoo for me because he took me to the Getty Villa. First we karate chopped a watermelon and picked up sandwiches from Surfas. There weren't a lot of people at the Villa that day.

I must preface this by saying that I like the Getty Villa much more than the Getty. I could admire the architecture of the Villa much longer than the art at the Getty. The gardens and structure of the Villa is much more interesting to me than the galleries at the Getty. It's built like a Roman Villa with many pieces and components imported from or inspired by ancient cities in Italy. Anybody that knows me should know that I like art museums the least of all museums. They are the most boring and least interactive. I thought we were there to see the building and gardens, but A tried to get me to look at the art. I'll bet he regretted that after his first heart attack. He's such a straight-edge. I got much too close to the pieces for his liking.

Upon getting ushered out because it was closing time, we exited via this edible garden that was filled with herbs and fruit trees of every variety. I was so tempted to pick everything and take it with us to cook for dinner, but I was with the straight-edge. We rushed over to catch a Friday evening showing of Rush, but by the time we got there - only the front row seats were remaining, so we left to return another day. The poor boy was so upset. I'm not sure I had ever seen him so upset. It was as if somebody had stolen his other girlfriend (READ: his car). He was so upset. It was absolutely ridiculous because we watched it on Sunday.

dribbelingly seasoned,
jt

first day of school

Ahoy,

The RRS started school this week. So I'm bestowing upon you some first day of school photos. He pretty much looks the same from year to year these days, so it's not quite as cute as those kid ones you see everywhere else on the internet. 

semesterily asea,
jt

repeat

Ahoy,

We made it out to Black Mountain again this past weekend, but it was a far less action packed climbing day than last weekend. I was just happy to be outside with our friend E. We ended up staying there later than anticipated. It was a mad dash to get home so we could get back out to Santa Monica for the Glowfest. It was an excellently puzzling time of strange concepts and art things. Clearly, I'm not cool enough for this.

A and I took the bus from Culver City to Santa Monica, which took probably less than 20 minutes. It goes straight on the highway with less than a handful of stops and dropped us off pretty close to where we wanted to go. I finally got to try a slice of Joe's Pizza in Santa Monica. I love a good NY slice, and I'm pretty much over those California style pizzas with the soggy middle. I'm always jonesing for pizza, though, there is never a time when I'll say no to pizza.

A was so upset on Friday when we didn't get to see Rush, so we finally got to watch it on Sunday. This movie is completely testosterone driven, just drenched in manliness. I'd never ask him to watch a girly movie in the theaters in exchange. I've come to accept that the big screen should be reserved for action movies. But we did get ice cream afterwards, which was delightful.

simmeringly sorted,
jt