It was Finn's 5th birthday this weekend, so we made the trek up to SB for the day. I was supposed to be in a T-Rex walkaround costume for the party, but they couldn't get one like they planned. Pheww! What we did end up with was a 4 foot tall inflatable T Rex, and a very cool bubble machine. Carolyn asked us to come up with something to entertain the kids using those items. Steve and I came up with the Legend of the Soapasaurus, a long winded tale of betrayal and exile with a happy ending. The big finish had the Soapasaurus bursting through the backyard gate and being chased around by a gaggle of preschoolers.

An easy crowd, but a satisfying gig none the less.

I have emailed with Mr. Phillips, and I will be picking up my MAUS book on Wed. I will now edit the previous post.

My fried Carly's blog today discusses a quote about how supposedly gay people are just engaging in narcissism, which I find really funny. As if one is the cause of the other or something.

It brings me to an incident yesterday. I was sitting with my friend Tom (who is gay) and we were talking with an older woman we had both just met. She finds out that I have recently gotten married, and she launches into The Speech. The one that goes on and on about how great it is to be married, and really it's the only way, and blah blah blah. The Speech is superficially designed to make You, the Young Married, feel reassured about your decision. What it really does, is make the Not Married, Single People sitting around, who up to 45 seconds ago were also participating in the conversation, feel like absolute shit.

The second part of The Speech is where they now try and get you to have a baby immediately.

About ten minutes before, she did remark that she had a daughter of marrying age. She is actually quite lovely (we saw a photo-of course) and started throwing hints Tom's way. When she remarked that Daughter was probably a little too young, I replied that Tom was probably a little too gay. At that point, she was done with Tom.

We will have achieved equal rights for gays when Nosy Yentas harass gays for not settling down in committed relationships and adopting children. Or maybe harassing them for not settling down in a committed relationship and renovating a farmhouse into a bed and breakfast, right now! The point is to have THEM too be the objects of the Yenta's scrutiny. Out of the frying pan and into the fire with the rest of us!

Went to the MOMA downtown to see the last of the American Comic Masters exhibit. Sunday was the final day, and the museum was quite crowded with hipsters, nerds and more families with younger children than I would have expected (expected=0) for an exhibit of artwork that includes graphic nudity and violence.

Pretty much, if the exhibit includes R. Crumb you shouldn't be surprised if your 8 year old boy wants to spend the whole time in that gallery. It was so crowded that you really couldn't follow the "flow" of the exhibit. One could circle around the galleries from the back, and not see the introduction of the artist painted on the wall indicating the "beginning" until you finished. For Crumb, that's where the "adult content" warning was. This mother seemed a little miffed that she had just exposed her child to such material. What did you expect, Lady? It reminded me of the time Alicia and I were in the Tate Gallery in London, in the "Human Body and Form" wing, and this Veddy Proper Mummy was hustling her charges through a room where the only work was a giant projection video of a naked man jumping up and down on a trampoline. She too, irate. I think the sign on the door says it all, and you could have been in the other 4 wings of the gigantic museum!

We'd been talking about going for months. I'm guessing so had everyone else, but you never get around to it until the end. I need to make a point of going at the BEGINNING of exhibits if I don't want want to deal with crowds. For once, the KCRW discount worked, and we got 2 for one tix.

My favorites were Crumb, Spiegelman and the guy who started MAD magazine. Steve loves Chris Ware. I appreciate him for his awesome artistic abilities, but I find the material so depressing, that I can only read a few pages before I'm plunged into such depths of despair that I want to burst into tears, save the world and kill myself because life isn't worth living and this 12 panel cartoon just proves it.

The exhibit also reminds me that DELETED, still has my Maus books. We took Second City classes together, and were in an improv group called DELETED.

That reminds me. I should give Marty, Lisa and Carla back their DVDs.

For the record, the decrepit RV/white pickup truck that has been parked across the street for two weeks without moving is STILL THERE. I did notice yesterday that it is sporting one of the green "move it a mile or we'll tow it" tickets, but so far, it stays. I now recognize it as the vehicle that used to park way down at the bottom of the hill and would block your view as you tried to make a right turn onto Berkeley from the little cut thru street.

Normally, I wouldn't care, but now it's personal.

The Project Runway Finale Viewing and Barbie Fashion Show Party was a overwhelming success. It is a real shame that no one brought a video camera, but alas, there were no boys at this decidedly estrogen-riffic soiree. Pictures to follow as soon as Robin Walsh emails them.

Everyone pulled out all the stops, and the outfits were extremely well crafted and wonderful. The theme was Red Carpet Worst Dressed List. Co-winner Rebecca H's could have truly been worn by Sharon Stone. Lisa had created not only a runway for the dolls to strut down, but a white screen for them to be silhouetted behind, just like on the show. Techno music completed the experience. The only thing missing were gift bags! (hmmmm...) No one "modeled" their own doll to prevent the judges from having any bias, and everyone worked the runway like a pro. It was hilarious to watch a room full of grown women playing Barbies. There were no "costume malfunctions" that weren't pre-planned.

Everyone at the party works in costuming, crafts and art department, except for Keri, who was one of the three judges. She was absolutely blown away by the effort, talent and final products. It should be noted, that besides Keri, only 1 other person of the 9 women in the room has a job right now, so I think there is a lot of creative energy and frustration building up while everyone is waiting for their next job to start.

We all had such a great time that the next one is in the works for late April with the theme of Swimsuits and Bathing Beauty.

Watching the actual show was almost an afterthought. I was bummed that Santino didn't win, but I'm happy for Chloe, even if her stuff mostly looked like a formal living room threw up in 1984. She will get the most out of that Banana Republic mentorship. Michael Kors cannot wait to bite Daniel V. on the neck and drag him back to his toile covered lair, his eyes were like a tiger ready to pounce on the weakened gazelle. I hope Santino is able to squeeze something out of this experience, because they just left him dangling in the wind, kinda like Kara.

I realized I can't look at a bunch of the blogs I usually cruise by this morning, since I don't want any Project Runway spoilers today. My pal Lisa is hosting a viewing party tonight, and I want to be surprised. She even delivered Barbies and a bag of fabric for us to create our own Red Carpet Oscar dresses for a little competition of our own.

I played Barbie while watching the Oscars, like a total geek. Well, not like a total geek. Steve was on his computer playing World of Warcraft with a NEW HEADSET (so you can hear the other players) which I think is more geeky. Like this house is a nerd contest or something.

I'm at a job transition period again. This week started the "get some new work" project. I've had a couple of interviews already. I'm holding out for union work for now. There are rumblings of an industry wide strike in early 2007, and I need to make sure I have enough hours banked to keep my health insurance as long as possible. The best interview was with the Hat Guru, Harry. He has his own little union shop at Western Costumes, and the set up is sweet. I know it wouldn't be top union dollar, but he runs a tight ship, they do beautiful work, and everyone in the industry regards him with such respect that no one gives him shit. They all play by his rules, and are happy to do it. The best part? His rules are my rules! Work 8 hours a day. Your mismanagement is not my problem. Construct things to the highest quality, but if the client picks crappy materials and cuts corners, it is not my problem. If the client makes changes, it comes out of their budget, not mine. I'm sure being a 6'7" haughty and well dressed gay man doesn't hurt. His presence commands respect. I could certainly learn a few things about not being such a pushover about work.

I hope his two very happy employees have even better opportunities arise to make a spot for me.

"The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them. "
GOV. MICHAEL ROUNDS, of South Dakota, after signing a bill that largely bans abortion.

The greatest thing that can come from all of this will be the recognition of the second most vulnerable and helpless persons in our society, the BORN children. I hope that the sponsors and supporters of this bill will follow through with the next step, which is more support of the alive children. Federal money for better day care and medical care. Head start programs, library budgets, playgrounds. Longer maternity leave. Better pay to encourage better teachers. Raising the minimum wage, so poor parents can afford to spend more time with their kids.

I look forward to watching the progress South Dakota makes. I'm sure all of this is just around the corner, and we'll hear about it any day now.

The car has been sold. Long Live Blue Car!

The couple who came to look at in on Thursday night came back as scheduled on Saturday morning. They hemmed and hawed, dropped in a new battery, drove it around a while, let it sit running for 45 minutes while they grabbed lunch, but by 2pm, the car had new owners and we had the garage back.

BTW, there has been a camper/truck/POS parked across the street for days. I keep checking to see if it moves or get the old green "move it" warning ticket.

To fans of Trader Joe's. I've been on quite a "new product" streak with them lately. The pot roast, lamb roast, beets...the ginger granola wasn't quite what I wanted, but still passable. The streak came to a screeching halt when I tried a new product I saw in the Fearless Flyer. DO NOT BE TAKEN IN! The new Sprouted Wheat Pasta was so horrible I didn't even finish the bowl I made, and immediately threw away the rest of the unused package. I should have know it was too good to be true. I even tried to imagine if it was like how someone who doesn't eat ice cream anymore can take pleasure in Tofutti. Well, I don't eat pasta much anymore, but it still tasted like crap. Flavor and texture both feh! : (

And the car saga continues...Old Blue is now down in the garage. A couple came and looked at it last night and it looks like they are going to buy it. They are coming back on Saturday with a new battery. Blue stayed the night in the garage. This morning, my Honda had gotten a "fix it" ticket for no front plate. I don't get that ticket very often in our neighborhood, usually only in Hollywood at night. It will be nice to park in the garage again. I don't get the front plate because the hassle of going to DMV and getting 2 new plates with new numbers (they won't just give you a second matching one) far outweighs the $25 ticket a few times a year. Everyone I talk to feels the same way. Adam Corolla even had a whole story line about it on his TLC show about remodeling his dad's house.

I think it's just "right place at the wrong time." The homeless guys who live out of decrepit RV's have taken a liking to our street the past few months. I don't know if they have been chased away from the usual spots in the area (Glendale Blvd, Riverside north of Fletcher) but the relative remoteness of the street, plus it's right up the hill from the big homeless guy attraction, the recycling center. They have always stayed down on Alvarado and Glendale Blvd, but this ballsy move up into the neighborhood has people calling the city.

The law here is you have to move vehicles every 72 hours. If there are no complaints, nothing happens, but if someone calls in, say a decrepit RV with a homeless guy, his shopping carts with cans and his dog camping out on the block, the city can officially hassle the guy enough to make him move along. And while parking enforcement's out, they can take a glance at everyone's tags, plates, how close they are to hydrants, and help hit quota. It sucks, but it also shows that the neighborhood is on the way up. Way up, considering how high the house prices and rents have gone in two years.

We are trying to sell Steve's old car, a 1990 2 door Toyota Celica. He wants $600. Everytime we get the AAA guy out to jump it, he tells us we should get $1000. Street racer kids love this car, they tell us. I don't care. Get it out of my garage and off my insurance, ASAP.

The saga starts last spring when it officially "died." Not dead, just less than useful for Steve. The work it needs mechanically exceeds what we want to spend, which is $0. Instead of parking it in the garage, he parked it on the street. And left it. But not in front of our house, across the street and down a bit. And the car didn't move for a while. Some neighbor got sick of looking at it, and wrote WASH ME in the dust and called the city. I think Steve moved the car after that, but soon after the city tagged it with the "move it a mile or we'll tow it" tag. Mind you, there was an abandoned stolen car in front of a hydrant next door for over a month around the same time that bothered no one. But our car, now parked in front of our house, was a bad thing.

Steve moved Old Blue into the garage, and that's where it stayed for a year.

Now we are actively trying to sell it. It's fully registered, which means it is fully insured, with WAY more insurance than a car that doesn't really run should have. DMV wouldn't let me register it non operational, so it needed proof of insurance. AAA wouldn't let me insure a third vehicle with anything less than the other two cars, so now Old Blue is covered like it has a bank loan. People are starting to come take a look at it, so we moved it out of the garage, and parked it in front of the house. Two days later, the city has put another warning ticket, which means whatever neighbor has called it in again. The car is right in front of the house. We are not taking up anymore spaces, as now one of us can park in the garage. We don't have street cleaning and parking is not an issue. The battery is dead because we have not run the car in so long, so really, it is a giant paperweight.

So again this morning, under the glare of parking enforcement, we pushed the car back down the driveway into the garage. Safe from the city, but back at square one. I want this POS money sucker out of my life.