Project 365: 2010

This is a photographic project in which I take one picture, everyday.

A visual diary.

: New Year’s Day. Brunch. Nap. Twilight Zone. Dim sum.

: Just got home from running. Me. The girl who hates running (but probably only hated it because she didn’t know she had asthma). I ran. Foot cramps, baby lungs, shin splints and all. 🙂

: Walking meditation. Yay. Student loans I didn’t know about rearing their ugly heads. Not yay. Very not yay. The very most opposite of yay.

: “It’s like that book I read in 9th grade that said ’tis a far far better thing doing stuff for other people.”

: Irish/Brazilian hot chocolate

: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” —James Neil Hollingworth

: Abbot Kinney for Hanne & Russell’s visit

: Ramz turns dirty 30

: A 30-second haiku after finding a travel journal

: My boss made plum wine by soaking plums in Japanese vodka for 2.5 years. I ate one of the plums. It’s supposed to be really good for your liver.

: If you ever want to buy me something, Pulp on La Brea is a good place to start. They also have scented candles, cheap jewelry and chocolate-bacon bars.

: Jane. Patton Oswalt. BLD. Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes.

: “Calamity makes cousins of us all” -Saul Williams

: 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (Project 365 is supposed to be about photos that you’ve taken but a) I didn’t take any pictures I liked today, perhaps because my heart is still so hurt and b) this felt pressing enough to bend the rules.)

: There’s a new show debuting on MTV called “The Buried Life” in which 4 four friends go around the country checking things off of a list of the 100 things they’d like to do before they die. Each time they accomplish something on their list, they help a stranger do something on theirs. I think it’s a wonderful idea so this is me working on my own list of 25 things. It’s harder to come up with than I would have thought.

: My Haitian girls. The older girl’s mom we’ve heard is okay. Still waiting for word on the younger. **Update: 3 days later we heard that the younger girl’s mom did survive 🙂

: “Biscones” and sweet tea-brined fried chicken. Thank you Paula Deen. It was a spiritual experience.

: “Everything about ’em is a little bit stranger, a little bit harder a little bit deadly…” Industry Café with Jason

: West Hollywood. Trader Joe’s. Took the girls to a photoshoot for a Haiti fundraiser. Saw West again for the first time in years. Saw Michaela Watkins & Mike Welch and ran into Andy Dick, literally, about 5 times.

: On repeat, on the 90. “Bring on the evening hours I cried Bring on the evidence of my life”

: Things to do before you die

: May 18, 1935–January 23, 2010

: Walking the Los Feliz Village and contemplating the interconnectedness of life when I came upon this… There is an infinite source of life of which he was one expression. But life abounds. And sadness will fade.

: “The only thing I know is everything you love will die. The first time you meet that someone special, you can count on them one day being dead and in the ground.” —Chuck Palahniuk

: Originally I was going to post this on Saturday, but then my grandpa died… So, after a minor delay, this was Saturday at TLofts, food trucks for a cause. Helping Haiti never tasted so good.

: Took a break from medicating my grief with pasta, cookie dough and biscuits and holding solitary socratic seminars on existential topics to take a walk in the trails. I counted 35 snails. I also had the epiphany that when I die I want the program at my beach bonfire sendoff to say– Exposition: May 5, 1983 Denouement: ___________

: My dad always has to get everything out of his pockets when he comes in.

: He looked like a mountain man. A homeless mountain man.

: 74 years, 8 months, 5 days. There were over 300 people.

: Downtown waterfront

: Driving home

: Ille qui nos omnes servabit

: Religious views: raised Jehovah’s Witness, converted Buddhist agnostic, made honorary Jew, fascinated by Wicca/nature-based practices. So, pretty west coast basically.

: Look what came today!!

: Reading a condolence letter from my cousin in the rain. It’s been interesting to see through all this, who’s shown up, and in which ways, and who hasn’t. “When you struggle, that’s when you realize what you’re made of, and that’s when you realize what the people around you can do. You learn who you’d want to take with you to a war, and who you’d only want to take to lunch.” -Chamique Holdsclaw

: True story: I went deaf last year for a few hours from an impacted ear canal. This is even less fun than it sounds. Last night it happened again. This stuff feels like Alex Mack is crawling through your ear canal–it’s almost fetal–and extremely disturbing. But at least I can hear.

: “Maybe it is not where an athlete is from that makes us root for them. Maybe it is simply that they are human and we are human, and when they succeed, we succeed.” Laissez les bon temps rouler!

: Serendipitous moments in DVRing. (I’m calling it now that it won’t be Allie in the end) Update: Jesus Christ I’m good

: When I was five years old my grandpa told me, “girl, don’t say a word you can’t spell.” I took it as a personal challenge. Ironically, this is also what kept me from advancing in the spelling bee world because I was not interested in learning how to spell words that I knew I’d never use.

: “I can see clearly now…” There are things about this city that simply never get old.

: There’s something so comforting about going to a place where you know that no one’s going to hit on you.

: In my mind I imagine that Apolo Ohno is a Linkin Park fan. I base this on my latent crush on Mike Shinoda.

: Double vanilla tea lattés and blueberry scones at the Coffee Bean on Lincoln on days when you feel like you have the lungs of a 75-yr. old social smoker just make things make sense.

: I love Tara Marie

: I have way too much fun blasting this down the 90. (Thanks Emily.)

: Tutoring makes you a part of families.

: My 14 yr. old client lent this to me. I gotta say, it’s quite interesting.

: Amor de mi vida. Pa’ siempre.

: Being an adult woman means once every three years letting a stranger insert foreign objects into your southernmost cavity without the luxury of dinner, dim lights, dealing with your daddy issues or listening to your theories on LOST. You are supposed to want to do this. It is awful.

: Not pictured: the part I “love secretly because it’s on a hidden bit that nobody else could see.” I swear, I am such a sociable loner.

: Organic pedicure in Manhattan Beach. There are orange slices in the water. 🙂 Afterwards, I snuck sushi and a honey tangerine into an afternoon showing of Shutter Island.

: Chile. 8.8. Tsunami warnings/advisories in at least 20 countries. Este mundo te partirá el corazón una y otra vez.

: Allez Canada! If I were Sidney Crosby, I’d hang my medal next to my health care.

: Things I Have Done Today -Youtube -Talked to myself in a Canadian accent for a few hours* -Tax preparation -Scoffed at the Bachelor *This is why I’m single/will make an excellent dialect coach

: I’m gonna pretend like I didn’t almost swerve off the 90 when I saw the Eye of Sauron shining down over Marina Del Rey. Yep. Nothing to see over here. Okay, but seriously, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IN THE CENTER????

: Things that it is impossible for me to do: Calculus–Draw a straight line–Go to Akasha and not get their mini-cupcakes

: “Me and my cousins and you and your cousins I can feel it coming…”

: Charlie & Me

: Trust Me. sugarFISH for dinner after Charlie grabbed my, admittedly mediocre, pizza off the counter. Simple. Fresh. Yummy.

: Well, what an apropos thing to come home to on Oscar Sunday.

: For Tara

: My life is Clueless

: Sometimes my kids draw me things (which I really appreciate but also have no idea what to do with). I mean to store it all in a box and then give it back to them when they’re older.

: Ended the unofficial yoga hiatus. The great thing about YAS is that you know exactly what you’re going to get so it frees up mental space to focus on the achieving the correct form. The disappointing thing about YAS is you know exactly what you’re going to get so it can make it easy to get bored.

: Hotel Café for the third night in a row this week. Highlights: Called Matt lame repeatedly. Convinced Dan of the healing properties of ginger root. Got sent on a Grilled Cheese Truck run. Worked the door. Worked the cleavage. Worked myself into a silent frenzy over things best not mentioned.

: 5 hours… Gave me time to catch up on RHONYC & Be Good Johnny Weir and to finally see District 9, which reminded me of a less-singy Wicked. Then Sari’s birthday party for real talk chats, the White and Black running man and hilarious text messages.

: The Foundry. Acoustic set before SXSW. Grilled cheese & bread pudding. Shoe game. Trash talking. Recording. Laughing. Epiphanies about pain. Obsessions about food. (and) The stories we tell other people about ourselves.

: Work got cancelled so I’m brushing up on my Italian. “Tutte le strade portano a Roma.”

: Abbot Kinney for lunch–Casalinda you are no Tortilla Grill–before work. Entertained running away to SXSW but decided to be a responsible (yuck!) adult instead.

: Happy St. Sari’s Day! Traditions include: hugs mini-cupcakes ginger ale and me telling that story where I looked like a total spaz

: This is Koko. One day I’m gonna take her on the Great Ocean Road. But for now, PCH will have to do.

: Szechuan Wonton is Chinese for “I don’t feel well.”

: Screw. This. I miss chest colds, even though they made me feel like Satine and Beth March and whatever Les Mis was about since I was too bored to get past the first 10 minutes.

: 3 days of this??! I don’t understand my body. How can there be any mucus left??

: Baby Blues BBQ on Lincoln I don’t…I can’t even…there aren’t words for the experience I had with this place. There is a number for how many times I went back though: 3

: Downtown Culver City’s as good a place as any for wishing.

: Venice circle to see Casey off but ended up in a discussion about health care reform passing and the places you go that never leave you

: I wanted to pull them over and ask so many questions.

: This is my temple. It is a good temple. Remind me to tell you about the time I went to Powell’s in downtown Portland and almost started to cry because I felt like I was in the Vatican.

: Venice for Casey’s bday/going away party. I’ve know him for 9 years. It felt like the end of an era. I wondered if our paths would ever cross again and kept thinking of Robert Frost: “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back…”

: Udderly Perfect on Highland in Manhattan Beach

: Woke up this morning coughing (blood) excitement, then paid $300 to pay $1950–(down from the $2625 I found on my own)! Yay taxes!!

: Because I don’t know how to photoshop I can’t include the rest of this picture, but mostly I was sick that. Sick sick sicky sick.

: My 8 yr. old client is constantly saying how she wants to marry me so today I finally asked her, “And what does it mean, to be married to a person?” “Well…it’s not a law but it means you have to love them and bring them toast every morning and you have to kiss them and go to dinner and try not to get in a fight with them and be with them forever.” “[Stifles a laugh] I see. And what if I don’t want to get married?” “Well then I’ll just get drunk and marry you anyway, girlfriend.”

: @ Buca di Beppo on Flamingo. You should be so lucky as to see this picture in person because nothing I know how to do is translating the drop dead-ness of it. Also, on this less than 24-hr. sojourn to the city of sin, I finally realized that Vegas = Orange County – God + gambling. And singing my head off on the midnight drive back to LA (when I already had laryngitis) put me back on vocal rest the following day.

: A blueberry muffin has 720 calories!!? When a chocolate chip cookie only has 403! (Only.) Why don’t you just call it a bulimia muffin so we can be honest about what’s going on here. Vocal rest makes me cranky. But seriously, goodbye blueberry muffin.

: “Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. (If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.)”

: Migrated from bed to the couch where I spent the day reading old myspace blogs from 2006-7 and catching up on Be Good Johnny Weir.

: The dishwasher broke. I would make neither a good field nor house slave.

: Met Amanda & friends at Bodega Bar in Pasadena and had soju for the first time.

: Umami

: There are $2058 worth of linear inequalities, pretérito vs. imperfecto Spanish conjugations, countless hours of private school entrance exam prep and coloring with an 8-yr. old in here. Jesus, take the wheel.

: This night at Hotel was one of the best that I’ve ever had.

: April 10th. La Descaraga (LA’s Cuban speakeasy) for Nicole’s birthday. Met Avidan and we talked–or he talked and I drooled–about food for like 2 hours.

: God bless the mug brownie after a long day of recovering from liquid lil wayne, aka doing nothing but video chatting in my pajamas.

: Bathroom at Piano Bar after showing up too late to Sal’s video shoot. I remember that feeling.

: As I said to the cute 日本人 dude next to me at Mitsuwa, it’s like Japan meets America.

: I forgot to take a picture this day, though I’m sure I did end up in Culver City. This was going to be my picture from a few days before.

: The part that is cut off said, “I am doing laundry, drinking hot chocolate, listening…” I also started setting my last sessions with clients. It made me cry.

: After WisdomToothGate 2010, it was nice to laugh my face off with the girls at Backstage.

: A friend called me in a crisis 1000 miles away. My heart went out to her.

: Dr. Donlevy is the best. Vicodin, on the other hand, is not.

: I meant to take the picture while we were there but I forgot. Day after surgery, late breakfast at BLD with Emily. Clueless moment as I was eating: “And you lose weight by doing this, by cutting it really small.” Also, this was the night I became CONVINCED that I will never be a drug addict, after I spent 20 minutes on my bathroom floor writhing with nausea and daunted by the mechanics of how my toothbrush works.

: No. More. Mashed. Potatoes.

: Woke up with terrible move anxiety and spent most the of day sending emails that weren’t returned. Fingers crossed that I can get this settled by this weekend. (Wishful thinking…is there any other kind?)

: Craigslist, Craigslist, Craigslist, Craiglist…yay 30-person mob to see movie David edited and Hollywood for Sal’s show and midnight tears and mini-afterparty at Sarah’s.

: Sat Nam

: I GOT A PLACE!!!! And this is the Google Maps shot of my corner grocery store, which according to Yelp is: “Really the closest thing to a Trader Joe’s in Vancouver.” Jesus wept.

: Brass Knuckles Slam Qualifying Event in Leimert Park

: Take Your Soon To Be ExPatriate Employee Out to Lunch at Her Former Place of Employment Day!

: I don’t know who I am anymore that I went to Tito’s and thought it was just okay. Do I have CanadaMouth? Is that thing? I think that is a thing and that I have it. Somebody get WebMD on the phone.

: This is my list. I am checking it twice. And also many many more times.

: Housesitting for 4 days with 3 dogs, 1 cat, a dozen tadpoles and 7 hamsters.

: From Venice to Baldwin Hills to Newport Coast to Silverlake to Huntington Beach celebrating love & life.

: “It’s like Jersey Shore in hipster outfits.”

: This card was a gamechanger.

: Troubadour for Laswell’s tour kickoff/record release with Peter, Katherine, Matt, Jamie, Nicole, Chantal and Sal. I realized/remembered that I have been to every one of his record releases since Good Movie.

: ¡Happy Cinco de Me-o!

: Manhattan & Venice with my cousin who I love more than I can even say.

: I’ll come up with a caption when I can think about this night without tearing up. (This may be a while.)

: The Tasting Kitchen. Two words: fried prosciutto

: “See you later” lunch at Café Brasil (which, sidenote: SO GOOD)

: The markerboard in my (old) room that reads. I can’t remember where I first heard that phrase but I’ve tried to internalize it.

: California from the 5. That last picture, I had just gotten off the freeway and wondered if I was making the right choice and if I should just go home. I took it as a no.

: Mt. Shasta. This is, in my opinion, one of the best pictures I have ever taken in all of my score and a quarter plus 2 years.

: This place is the best place.

: Washington Washington Washington aka Crossing the border: take 1

: Apparently Bellingham is a lot more picturesque than the inside of my motel room.

: Ghirardelli hot chocolate at the Old Town Café in downtown Bellingham. I sat at the communal table with a twentysomething mother of a 2 yr. old and an 83 yr. old farmer from Oregon. It was great.

: *Sometimes* if you request to be in my 365 because we happen to be videochatting, I will grant that request. It is a privilege and not a right! (Sorry, that’s what the officer at CBSA said to me and it’s still in my head.)

: I MADE IT!!!!!!

: Stanley Park/Downtown via Point Grey

: Granville Island Public Market. I bought a bunch of spinach, a head of butter lettuce, 4 cloves of garlic, a bunch of cilantro, 3 ears of corn, 3 potatoes, a bundle of scallions, 2 oranges, 2 fuji apples and 1 ripe avocado for $12.11.

: Lion’s Gate Bridge via Prospect Point in Stanley Park. This was my second time to the park in 4 days. I think you can see why.

: Carved into a bench at Lynn Canyon Park

: LOST finale party. Oh there were tears. Watch together, cry alone.

: I’ve been remarking how the sky is different here. I feel like I have geo-lag: the “jetlag” of geography. This was taken at 9:30 pm.

: At Greens, a less-expensive Whole Foods, in Kits with one of my roommates. Later that day I spent about 4 hours on Commercial Drive speaking “Italianglese” and …let’s say charming, since hustling sounds so vulgar, Italian men into buying me pizza and grappa.

: If someone can just explain to me what this is…?

: Coming down the hill in West Van, an unexpected piece of home

: The moment I became the most ridiculous person I know

: Organic beef burger with lettuce, tomato, spinach, havarti, hot peppers, fried onions, ketchup and dijon mustard. Dare I say it? I’ve found a place BETTER than In-n-Out. This is the only thing I left the house for today.

: Deck HoCho with the roomies–though, come to think of it, I was the only one who actually had hot chocolate; they all had tea.

: El Rinconcito on Commercial. These weren’t just Vancouver-good; they were good-good! I want to go back today and get more good.

: Two 5-piece rolls, an 8-piece roll, miso soup & salad (DELIVERED) for $12.95. What is this place??

: This is photobomb

: Sunset at Kits Beach. Beautiful end to a lovely day–until getting home and seeing the email that the job that was a long shot missed the net completely.

: Went to get a discount mani/pedi in Kits, then walked to Fisherman’s Wharf for some really good fish & chips.

: Gourmet Italian cooking class at Meinhardt’s. We made tortellini, ravioli, canneloni and gnocchi. Cosí buono!

: Italian Day on Commercial Drive!

: Made $1.40 recycling my bottles which I then promptly spent on a meter on Main St.

: At the Monarch Sculpture Garden outside of Olympia, WA. I asked permission of him before I took it. He responded, “as it is,” which I took as a yes.

: Grocery shopping with one of my roommates and ran into this guy in the checkout line. Best shirt? Best shirt.

: Granville Island for produce with a different roommate than the day before. Oh the wise words you find on napkins.

: Relaxing in North Vancouver at Lonsdale Quay (pron. “key”–which I refuse to say)

: After the anticlimactic U.S.-England World Cup match, went on a pub crawl with Meet Market through Gastown

: Australia New Zealand Association for the Australia-Germany massac–er, game. Being born on Cinco De Mayo I always want to root for the underdog but sometimes, the underdog is the underdog for a reason.

: Secret rendezvous

: Cherokee dinner of bean bread and grape dumplings. I am proud of how much I respect my heritage. And I really miss my grandpa.

: Kate played my 24th birthday party. I adore her. This is my theme song.

: Solo walking tour of Granville St.

: 2 books for $4 at a sidewalk yard sale 🙂

: $4.50 Long Island Iced Tea with breakfast for the World Cup. That’s normal right?

: CarFree Day on Commercial or Brazil won their game so todo mundo é brasileiro

: Dragonfly just chillin’ outside the house on Summer Solstice

: I can see your halo, halo halo…

: The houses in Point Grey are imaginationy (we’re gonna pretend that’s a word)

: I bought shoes. A really good pair of shoes that one buys when one gets serious and makes a commitment about running. They were going to be my picture today–but then I had this bowl of noodles at Legendary Noodle House on Denman and it was so good that it made me cry. CRY. So go there when you come to Vancouver.

: 6:15 am for the Brazil-Portugal game. There was dancing and singing. There were instruments. A news crew. By the time the game started, at 7, the crowd was 20x as big and we were packed in there like sardines. It was incredible.

: “Just looked in the paper and there it was.”

: On the Drive on the way to watch the game. Why isn’t everyone doing this?

: After party for the Brasil-Chile game (3-0). The game was at 11:30. I got there at 10:30. We partied in the patio until about 4:30, then went to Gabi’s house and partied there until about 9. ❤ Brasileiros.

: Oh you know, just making international news is all. No big deal… 😉

: At the Latin Quarter after my 2 dates (TWO DATES) working on my samba and talking about boys. Somehow after dancing here for 3 hours, we went and did salsa for another 2. Oh Brasileiras…

: July 1st, 2010

: An Irish-Canadian, Spanish/Indian-Canadian, Brazilian and an American all took shots at a bar after the devastating losses of Brasil and Ghana

: Brazilian party in Gastown where I was told that I samba better than some Brazilians (blush!!)

: First music show I saw here: Bobby Long at the Backstage Bar on Granville Island

: On Bruno’s recommendation, I headed to Wreck Beach and saw more of the human anatomy than I ever did in kinesiology class

: Aquarium, then later English Bay with Adriana

: 7/9 of this picture is Brazilian (notice a theme over the last few days?). Samba with Zazueira for Renata’s last Wednesday at the Latin Quarter.

: Free pass to the Vancouver Art Gallery. I’m still rubbing the pretentious off.

: Renata’s going away bbq aka, they don’t call it Sunset Beach for nothing

: Deep-fried octopus at the Richmond Night Market. So yummy!

: ¡Viva La Roja!

: Ran into Mike at the World Cup after party and we went out the next night at had the BEST tacos in all of Vancouver. El Rinconcito on Commercial. They also have REALLY good pupusas.

: Decided to take a stroll through Yaletown and over to Robson to get some wontons and happened upon the filming of a Fringe episode. The day after, I might add, running into Jasika Nicole walking down Commercial. What is my life?

: I wish I knew flower names. They should call it a “taking a moment (or tomamomento in Latin)” because that is exactly what it makes you do. Hiking Cypress Mountain.

: My view of False Creek, during hour 4 of 5 with Mike at the SeaWall. Afterwards, I went and saw 2 movies at the opening night of the Brazilian Film Festival.

: Samba, sun and sand (plus a naked lady trying to take my shirt off, TERRIBLE fried chicken and spontaneous applause at sunset) at Wreck Beach

: After going to the BFF panel discussion on contemporary Brazilian cinema, decided to go to North Van to see Inception. Not far from the movie theatre there was this bush, which reminded me of one of the few things I liked about Seattle: picking berries off the side of the road. This berry, however, proved to be disgusting. Inception was great.

: Closing night of the Brazilian Film Festival. Andrea went to go look for Mike and Corey is curiously not getting any popcorn.

: The savoury galette at Mix Bakery in Point Grey. I loved it so much I went back twice.

: J’etait ici. I was here. My moment of triumph came not during the day’s hike on Cypress Mountain but rather, later that night at Death By Chocolate. I don’t know when I’ve ever been so proud of myself.

: Penultimate time going to Latin Quarter for samba nights. They say I am an American girl with a Brazilian heart. (Photo taken by Mike)

: At a viewpoint on the way back from Whistler

: The international life: An American girl wearing a Cuban bracelet given by a Brazilian friend goes to a Spanish chocolate bar after having a Chinese dinner, drinks an India-meets-Mexico drink, while reading an Irish book, eavesdropping on the Portuguese conversation being held by the Brazilians at the next table. Got all that?

: On the way to Caribbean Fest, I saw this posted in someone’s car. Namaste.

: Girl time with Andrea commiserating over the downside of the international life

: Ok, I’m kinda cheating here because I actually took this picture on day 208 but, I didn’t like any of the pictures I took on Monday and I liked too many of the ones I took on Tuesday. So, here we are: a not-so-hidden lagoon between Fisherman’s Wharf & Granville Island.

: Leo’s birthday bbq, after lunch at Go Fish and a walk on the SeaWall with Kelly & Nathan through Kits Beach. I got there at 6:30p. I think this was taken at about 12:30 a.m., not long after the cops told us there’d been a noise complaint (or several). You would think people would go home after that. No, just moved the jam session to the kitchen.

: No hay palabras para todo…

: You want to know how I feel about leaving? This is how I feel about leaving.

: I just…adore him.

: Everyone should see the Oregon Coast at least once–and hopefully under more favourable circumstances

: The population of the state of California is larger than the population of the country of Canada. So…there’s this.

: When taking the long way home feels looooong

: My cousins who live about an hour north of me. I stopped, gossiped and crashed on the way from my grandma’s house. We have some good genes in this family.

: Brioche french toast at The Foundry for Sal & Brianna’s show. Housemade buttermilk sorbet. That’s all I have to say about that.

: Bachelorette party at Downtown Disney for the first girl I met when I was maaaybe considering a dance minor, aka Dolce, my little sister.

: Redondo Beach for the rehearsal

: “Love comes along and changes us for the better…When we love–because we love–we are changed for good.”

: I could talk about the personal trainer I met in the trails or the text message I finally sent (because I am a basketcase) or how I listened to The Scientist & Left and Leaving over and over again or how I still haven’t unpacked, but this is really what it boils down to: Stu Pickles just gets it.

: Brass Knuckles for Eb’s birthday. Other people’s poetry can often be insufferable but there was a moment, a line, spoken by a woman who’s been homeless for the past 6 years, that really stood out to me: “Anytime anyone remains anything, it’s a choice.”

: Worked out for an hour and a half with a personal trainer and then drove to San Diego–in traffic–to get the bacon cheeseburger at Hodad’s. No shame. No regrets.

: Modern-day medicine bag. My ancestors would be so proud.

: I ate a farm. An entire farm.

: “You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.”

: Bike riding on the beach and had a “you’re not in Canada anymore” moment when I didn’t have to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit

: I don’t know how Chipotle got my address. I don’t care how Chipotle got my address. I missed them so much.

: The Bad Bad Things’ first show at Cinema Bar in Culver City. Surreal to go from a summer of seeing no one I know to being at an impromptu high school reunion.

: Rachael Yamagata at Hotel Café at the end of “Be Be Your Love.” We had a cute little chat after the show (because she is my friend in my mind). I love her.

: My cousin Tiffany & I coming up with a life plan for me over sangria, red wine and a cheese plate. We decided that money-wise, I should stay in LA.

: Border Grill with my bosses at the agency to catch up on all the Canadian-ness over nouveau Mexican

: John’s new place in Echo Park for gumbo/jam session

: My Saturday night: El Pollo Loco, Real Housewives of New Jersey, acute pain in my lower back and text messaging. Sometimes my life is just TOO glamourous.

: Walked from the Manhattan Beach Pier to just shy of the Hermosa Pier

: It took me 2 days and 3 stores to find you but you were worth all of it. I love you.

: You can’t buy eggs in a grocery store in this country because they will all kill you and make you die so I went to the Culver City’s Farmers’ Market to cut out the salmonel–er, middleman.

: Muscles of the anterior thigh (courtesy of my anatomy coloring book): Sartorius, Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Medialis, Vastus Intermedius and Iliopsoas. I broke them all.

: Glass cleaner. One of my dream jobs is to be a producer/star of a show about how to respect the environment and respect your wallet at the same time.

: This is a couple days old but it’s my current profile picture on Facebook.

: Antica Pizzeria in Marina Del Rey. They’re a member of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. I learned from this experience that less than one glass of prosecco can get me drunk and that I don’t like anchovies.

: In Venice between “Tell me about Canada!!” sessions. On an unrelated note, I love Buddhism but I’m not sure if it’s accurate for me to call myself that anymore…

: I went to see my friend’s band. There were pole dancers.

: Went to see Marianne Williamson speak for the first time. Lord…she gave it to me. “You can have a grievance or you can have a miracle–but you can’t have both.”

: Continued strengthening my spiritual fitness with my first Agape session since I’ve been home. “I give myself permission to be great.”

: Amusing moment during my mini-comedy of errors (Jamie, notice the speedometer. I took this in my driveway with the car in park. I swear.)

: Spent the day FINALLY unpacking and getting rid of old clothes–which meant a lot of trying on of things…which meant a lot of time in the mirror…which meant, shabby photo quality and all, LOOK AT MY CALVES!!

: The way a single girl can spend a Saturday night

: At the W in Westwood for a free poolside showing of The September Issue. People who work in fashion seem so sad in a way.

: Operation: Let Go to Let In yielded $10.47 in old purses. Sweet!

: One of the 1/2 dozen or so framed quotes outside of the Regent Theatre where I go see Marianne Williamson speak on Tuesday nights. I found this apropos since I’ve made meditation a priority as of late.

: I own these. I wear these. (Especially when I’m not feeling well.) No shame. No regrets.

: More castoffs from Operation: Let Go to Let In. Not pictured? My massage table which I sold to my mom’s coworker’s daughter who’s in massage school right now. Farewell! Adios! Ciao!

: Stopped to get a vanilla latté on the way to babysitting and I was quite taken by this coffee shop. It’s run by a church and they only serve organic fair-trade chocolate and coffee. Nice to see them applying their ideals outside of their walls.

: Kryss’ 29th bday at Mikey’s house/Bad Bad Things show. Chili cook-off, bean bag toss, mislabeled piñata and multi-colored ink pens.

: Het Heru women-only workshop/performance at Agape for the wellness festival. I was on the fence about going because I had planned to go to BrazilFest but I met one of the dancers the day before and she told me, “Come. We need you there.”

: Beauty treatments

: Oh what does that even mean?? This is why my car got towed–TOWED–after the Brasil-Chile game. I finally paid the ticket only to realize that the officer put the wrong state down. In theory, I could have “gotten away with it.” Ah well.

: TiRon’s performance for the swan song of Fat Beats on Melrose. Eboni, Zach and I spent a fair amount of time side-eyeing and chuckling at subpar lyrical choices from the 1/2 dozen emcees who preceded him.

: “On the road to your dreams, you are going to encounter oases and deserts. In both cases, don’t stop.” Apropos on what felt like a desert and oasis day.

: Ventura Blvd in Studio City after a 2hr meeting with Carla about the ins & outs of dialect coaching.

: I got really sick out of nowhere but I refused to be unproductive so I decided to update my vision board (and kinda felt like a serial killer, cutting things out of magazines).

: Felt better than I had the day before so I went shopping to make some of the recipes I’d seen on Eating With S.O.L.E.

: The fruit of my loins! Well, umm…not my loins, that’d be weird…but it is fruit! Strawberries and blueberries and balsamic vinegar oh my!!

: The day everything hit me. I didn’t take a picture of that. It was also the day my mother made pot pies from scratch. She was very proud of them.

: This is the rental car I used while my car racked up $1,041 in maintenance fees. This is not the most important thing that happened today but how to take a picture of tragic news happening to other people?

: Obviously, food and I are in a relationship. A very delicious relationship.

: Homemade brown sugar cookies covered in chocolate sauce. Still a little sick but chocolate means I don’t care.

: From the introduction to The Alchemist, which I am rereading

: Food trucking at the Abbot Kinney Festival in close to 90-degree heat. It reminded me a lot of Commercial after the World Cup Final. Spent the rest of the day drained and vaguely dizzy. Maybe some mild sun stroke?

: So this has just basically become Food Blog ’10. I babysit and bake (and reread The Alchemist). This is pumpkin/plum bread.

: Vinoteque on Melrose with my cousin to dish after seeing Marianne Williamson. This place is fantastic in every sense of the word and this patio reminds me of what I’d want my backyard to look like. When I’m one of those settled down adult people.

: Just look at that face!

: I adore Charlie.

: In an attempt to not make this project “pictures I take of food I eat” I took this on the way to First Fridays. (Which I went to for the Grilled Cheese Truck. I AM WHO I AM.)

: This is Chloe. She’s the newest foster of one of the families I sit for. LOOK AT THAT FACE.

: An accident but I liked it. Selena, Matt and Josh at The Foundry.

: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is one of my all-time favorite poems

: “Every creation myth needs a devil.”

: Obviously there should be a 22 degree temperature change in the space of 4 days. It just makes sense. (This is why I never know what to tell people to bring when they come visit. “Umm…just bring all your clothes. All of them. Seasons here aren’t mutually exclusive.”)

: My status update from this day: “I am going downtown. This is an even bigger deal than going to the Valley. I expect a round of applause from all of you for how I am progressing as a person. I would also accept Jesse Williams’ phone number, as we have some unfinished business. Namely, that he didn’t propose the first time we met, an oversight I’d like to give him the chance to rectify. (What is this status update even about anymore?)”

: How to find the area of this shape: First, split it into 2 distinct geometric shapes, a rectangle and a triangle. When you do this, the length of the bottom line goes from 9 to 5 and 4. With this, you find the area of each shape: 5(3) = 15 for the rectangle; (4)3(.5) = 6 for the triangle. Lastly, you combine both numbers and that is the area of the shape, 21. This is a glimpse of what I do when I work for the agency, proofread mock private school entrance exams. So in other words, yes, I am smarter than a 5th grader.

: I was sober for the show but I imagine this is how everyone else saw it.

: Please? I deserve it.

: Day 2 of No Egg/No Moo consisted of tofu scrambled with zucchini, spinach and scallion on my homemade peach honey beer bread with raw goat milk cheddar and veggie sausage accented by baby heirloom tomatoes. You know, nothing special. 🙂

: ‎”I like to see people reunited, maybe that’s a silly thing but what can I say, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can’t tell fast enough, the ears that aren’t big enough, the eyes that can’t take in all the change, I like hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone…”–J.S. Foer

: “There were actually 34 of us down here because God never left us.”

: Three, of the six, books that I am currently committed to.

: It’s like Bank of America really understands me.

: I was going to go to Taste of Soul but, after realizing the cashless state I was in (and not wanting to drive to get money to go to an event that is walking distance away), decided to stay in, eat pasta, listen to The Weepies and read Siddhartha.

: Vinoteque for the hot Irish waiter/wine director/restaurant owner–I mean, Like Water for Chocolate. And I got some free dessert wine because even though we still make 70 cents on the dollar, sometimes being a girl is the best!

: If this were Jeopardy the answer would be, “The Santa Monica Stairs” and the question would be, “What is an unfortunate place to find out that your inhaler is empty?”

: Met and chatted up one of my foodlebrity crushes, Adam Gertler, at Trader Joe’s in Culver City. I already thought he was cute on TV but holy crap in person! Plus he was the one who finally got me to try the Father’s Office burger so basically he is the best. And did I mention cute? Because really. Oh, and he bought a basil plant.

: “I think I need a wipe.”–Olivia at 3 3/4

: “What is even happening here????!”–Me, the entire time I watch this (but I can’t stop because I love the accents).

: I’m so preoccupied with taking pictures of food that I rarely just take them of myself. On the way to my 2nd appointment with a new client.

: Empowerment Community Garden! I am so excited about being a part of this. 🙂

: Chunky squash soup & banana squash muffins with the winter squash from the community garden.

: Leaving Leimert Park after a late morning/early afternoon of personal assisting and a night of poetry.

: The imponderable adorability of my baby cousin Liam. His face looks like dessert.

: Moments in nannying: Sometimes a 3 1/2 yr. old is introducing you to all of his Cars cars and then he is naked telling you that he is about to poop.

: I saw Meiko, Michael Keaton, a drag queen, 2 homeless people, a man yelling at someone who may or may not have existed within the confines of his imagination and Where’s Waldo. Also known as, Hollywood on a Thursday night.

: The day I got the legend to the map

: Nannying for the second time this week. After the kids went down and the grownups went out to play, I spent my time with an Amy’s organic microwaveable, The Glass Castle and House Hunters International. Did you know that in Abu Dhabi renters pay one annual lump sum, all upfront?

: “And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”’–Kurt Vonnegut

: Day 2 of my 3-day Day of the Dead Remembrance. I miss him.

: Mi favorito de todos los altares puestos a Olvera Street

: I was at Baby Blues for 3 hours discussing Bukowski, the difference between Ecuadorian and American prom, baby mama drama, Miami, Yosemite, Calgary, the failings of the educational system, marriage, men who give their phone numbers to women who are obviously lesbians, Italian, essay writing and the benefits of being an only child. I also got a free banana pudding. Happy International Sandwich Day!

: What a day, what a day…the garden, a drive-by shooting, 95-degree heat, naps, tostones with beans and rice and business plans

: Pinch me! Is this really my life? 🙂

: Three store for three dishes: jicama salad, chicken-chorizo patty melts, homemade sausage. Money well spent.

: My mother went with me to Bed, Bath & Beyond. I bought a new pillow. She bought a Shake Weight.

: First day working the garden alone. That zucchini fried up so good dipped in egg and panko.

: Manhattan Beach with Larissa & Nicole. Nothing better than CPK, laughing and stories about boys who make you feel like a 14 yr. old with braces on.

: Helllllooooo coconut milk pancakes! Writing a cookbook is the most delicious thing you could do with your life.

: Austin’s record release show! I am so proud; it was one of his best shows ever. (And I’m not just saying that because I’m in the liner notes.)

: A peek into my life (as if this site is somehow not that). This is one side of my bathroom counter. The spray bottle contains a half water/half vegetable glycerin mixture that I spray onto my hair (mostly) everyday. Coconut oil for my face. Jojoba and Vitamin E oil for the rest of my skin/hair. Organic detangler/leave-in conditioner. 3 bottles of Victoria’s secret body spray (but only 1 I actually use). Baking soda. 2 bottles of vegetable glycerin. The store-bought gel that I base my gel on. Various hair care product samples. Aloe vera gel. Lay down my edges gel. A glass fish. Jewelry from Target, Commerical Drive, Cuba and the Museum of Anthropology, among other places. A picture of Martha Graham. Kleenex. A book of quotations given to me by a friend. A card I bought myself. A rock that says “imagine” and a heart.

: 9-3 at the Garden directing high school kids and girls scouts, sprucing up the place. I met the neighbors, learned some more Spanish, got some more work. I love being a part of this. 🙂

: A now a series of fun facts: It took me about 15 minutes to learn the Korean alphabet but I am terrible at painting my own nails. I can’t draw or measure but I’m a really good listener. I overplan and underprepare. I love untying knots and I hate getting lost. Also, later that night I broke that bottle of polish and the house reeked until the next afternoon.

: I’m in cereal phase. Other food phases include: yogurt, bananas, sunflower seeds and chips & salsa.

: Something about beauty and destruction and a metaphor for life.

: I bought these in Vancouver at Famous Foods and now they’re all gone 😦

: On the 110 on the way to meet my cousin for breakfast. I hadn’t seen her since before I left so in telling her the “Vancouver story” I realized that it is composed of 3 distinct Bs: Border crossing, Brazilians and Boys.

: You’d be surprised how quickly Kinkos adds up.

: Work work work work work work

: “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” –Henry Miller

: The most gorgeous full moon on the way home from a quick hi/bye at Brass Knuckles. I am such a luna-tic.

: Headed home after nannying, covered in dog hair, 3 1/2 yr. old’s bathwater, 1 yr. old’s tears and a renewed commitment to not having kids.

: Amen.

: Happy Thanksgiving!!

: I went college. I have a 4 yr. degree. I was a candidate for valedictorian. But this damn game…

: Harry Potter and a reminder to keep moving.

: A few days I was saying how thankful I was that it was still flip flop weather. Welp, that’s SoCal for you.

: Homemade honeygrain!! Gracias abuela for the new (to me) breadmaker.

: Do you see this? Do you know what this is? A CD. Yes, but not just any CD. This is a CD that I helped produce (financially, not musically). This is a CD in which I am in the liner notes. This is me ego trippin’.

: For the stories I can tell and for the millions and millions of stories that I can’t.

: Well hello grad school! Look how yummy you look! I love this culinary careers book. It’s opening up a whole new world. 🙂

: “You take the good, you take the bad…” A candle from my clients on our last session and a breadmaker from mi abuela, that stopped working after one use.

: Last.fm on the iPod and Freakonomics: How I pass the time after putting a 3 yr. old to bed.

: Okay so sometimes you drive all the way to Newport to go The Lido Deck because they have an elk burger with wild boar bacon, caramelized red onions and braised lamb belly (I know, I know) that they only serve on the weekend…and they’re closed. So then you go to the Gaffey St. Diner in San Pedro because they make biscuits…and the microwave is broken so they can’t heat it up. (Why they don’t offer to put it in the oven…?) So you have to just come home and have a warm pear cinnamon cider because, well, at least you looked cute.

: Eggplant pizza. More recipe testing for the book.

: Corey giving me a mini salsa lesson at my going away. This picture wasn’t taken that day but I changed my profile pic to it because I needed something cheerful after World AIDS Day.

: People always complain about LA and its lack of seasons. We have them, just in moments.

: Met up with an old friend from high school for our new “Ask a Mormon Over a Meal” talks. So so so interesting. As a matter of fact, after our second one I started toying with the idea of abandoning everything I have going on, getting a phD in comparative religion and becoming a college professor.

: Great lunch meeting, beautiful day, trying to fall back in love with LA and then this…It should not take over an hour to go 10 miles!

: Good morning! My view out of the guest room in the house I was sitting.

: Car key presented for scale. LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT THING!!

: She’s not always the most photogenic…

: So here’s the deal: I strained both my hamstrings gardening but Charlie still needs exercise so I made her run up and down the stairs by throwing treats.

: Coolest bag I’ve ever seen.

: Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz

: Ho Ho Hotel 10th Anniversary Show, Night 1

: My friends are international. My friends are the best.

: …And then UBC’s program stole my heart

: Not that we could see it here what with the torrential downpour of late, but this is from tonight’s lunar eclipse

: Unexpected gifts are the best 🙂

: It’s faint but it’s there: double rainbow.

: Ten years.

: Cannot. Stop. Reading. These. Books. Even though they’re giving me nightmares.

: I always love the sky after the rains

: My first time freestyling and they came out great. Yay pumpkin bites!

: Pear and Baileys and vanilla wafers, oh my.

: Pretty much my face the entire time I read The Hunger Games Trilogy

: Lost my ticket stub. Enjoyed the movie, an end of the year treat for doing something productive.

: Because sometimes you realize the map isn’t going anywhere

: “May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. May your coming year be a wonderful thing, in which you dream both dangerously and outrageously. I hope you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), I hope that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind. And I hope that somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”–Neil Gaiman

2 Responses to Project 365: 2010

Jamie Kornberg Phillips says:

May 19, 2010 at 3:04 pm

I love the you and Charlie picture; she misses you already!

- J. says:
  
  May 22, 2010 at 6:12 pm
  
  That picture actually took a few different tries. Charlie may be lovely but she is not America’s next top dog model. 🙂
  I miss her though!

	Rick on 363 days to go
	Alison on A funny thing happened on the…
	J. on A funny thing happened on the…
	Monica Zoe Cruz Rios on A funny thing happened on the…
	J. on 363 days to go

Project 365: 2010

2 Responses to Project 365: 2010

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Project 365: 2010

Share this:

Like this:

2 Responses to Project 365: 2010

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta