I promised myself I would write every day in here, while I’m not sure what I will be writing about I figure it will be just about anything I can think of which means I may be getting creative which might be a little painful to read at times.

I suppose I should start with an update of the last six months. Most importantly, I was laid off December 1st from my job at the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust. Its no secret that non-profits all over are struggling to survive in this down economy and especially in Los Angeles with the budget crisis what it is. I feel I am fortunate enough to have a strong background and have a wealth of knowledge in both the day-to-day operations of parks and the creation of parks from the, no pun intended, grass roots on up. Okay maybe a little pun. Its this knowledge and experience that makes me an attractive option to consult in parks and particularly community based organizations. We shall see what comes of it. For the time being I will be dedicating my time and energy to other projects that I have, perhaps, not focused as much attention as I owe them. Such as…

I have agreed to stage manage a play at the USVAA Theater which I am currently a board member of. I also produce a monthly improv show there called “Nation of Improv presents the Culver City Slam“. A mouthful I know and I wish I could say the name wasn’t my idea but it was. The play is called “Bug” which was written by Tracy Letts. Its about a possible AWOL Gulf War Veteran who holes up with a cocktail waitress in some motel in Oklahoma and is a little funny in the head. The dude not the chick. I highly recommend everybody go see it and I’m sure I’ll be writing and tweeting about rehearsals and stuff along the way. It opens February 26th and will run for four weeks which means…

I’ll have to miss a few shows because I’ll be in Washington DC for a week in March to advocate for the creation of a 44 acre park in the heart of Hollywood. A project many of you know is very near and dear to my heart. This trip is a chance to get the required money to build which will be far less than the $2.25 million the Federal Government granted California to build a high speed rail system from Los Angeles to Anaheim and Los Angeles to San Francisco. This trip will be my very first to our nations capital and while I know I’ll be busy going from meeting to meeting which includes the Capitol, White House and other offices I would also like to visit historical monuments and such. Exciting for me and you can be sure I’ll have my…

I recently got very serious about my photography inspired by my friends Dana Arak, Alex Thompson and a few other online community friends. I began to bulk up my camera bag with better, more appropriate lenses for work and pleasure. For example, I will be taking promo shots for the above mentioned “Bug” which I won’t be getting paid for but could lead to work if somebody sees and likes what I take. I plan on using my “brand new” minolta 58mm f1.2 lens for this occasion. (look it up. Its legendary.) I say “brand new” because while I haven’t used it more than a couple times to test it, the lens is actually older than I am and of course Minolta no longer makes camera lenses. I’ll also try and leave you with samples of my photography at the beginning of every post.

Now, while I’ve only just touched on what I’ve been doing I didn’t have a proper lead to another project I’m working on so its just going to have to wait until tomorrow or another day to update on other stuff. But, for now, I think I have fulfilled my self imposed quota of writing for February 1st even though we are now well into February 2nd.

Los Angeles State Historic Park, formerly known as The Cornfields, offers 32 acres of green open space right next to Chinatown with Downtown Los Angeles as a great backdrop for a quiet picnic with family or a couple of friends, but recently it has been taken over by demons, clowns and villains.

Sunday night, a friend of mine and I made our way down to The Cornfields to catch the circus that is in town. Except this isn’t your typical circus.  You wont find any elephants balancing themselves on giant red balls or a couple dozen clowns squeezing into a Gremlin or even a rabbit being pulled out of a top hat.  Quite the opposite.  You might find a top hat being pulled out of a rabbit instead.  Basically its like walking into hell with a visitor pass while the devil is having a tea party.

Cirque Berzerk is a netherworld filled with phantasmagoric visions that will grope at your senses and oddities that are bound to scorch the very tips of your soul.  Everything from a stilt-walking fire-breathing demonic clown to a contortionist and harrowing high flying acts that will leave you breathless and begging for more.

So gentlemen, dust off that top hat and ladies, stretch out those corsets and head on down to Cirque Berzerk and have a little Villain with your Vaud.

Due to popular demand, Cirque Berzerk has been extended through July 26th so don’t miss out!

This past weekend was full of events and things to do.  There are weekends where I struggle to find stuff to do then there are weekend where I don’t have enough time to squeeze in all I want to do.

As I mentioned in an earlier post this weekend had the East Hollywood Earth Day Festival and an Art Gallery Fundraiser in Chinatown.  What I forgot to mention was the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA.  I somehow managed to do a little of all three.

First I attended the East Hollywood Earth Day Festival at the Vermont/Santa Monica Metro Station.  I got to see lots of friends and a few musical performances as well as one Aztec Dancing group which is always fun to watch.

At the festival the EHNC also dedicated a tree in honor of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was tragically assassinated in 2007.

After a little fun in the East Hollywood sun I was off to Chinatown and the Chinatown Art Walk.  This quarterly event has some fantastic galleries in Chung King Court off of Hill Street.   With over 35 art galleries in Chinatown this event is one of the better art walks in LA if not the best rivaling that of the Downtown variety.  My interest in this event was a fundraiser I helped produce at the Fifth Floor Gallery.  Over 500 people came through the gallery looking at and buying art from various artists from around the world benefiting Empowerment Works and their Global Summit as well as their Grassroots Orphan Care Program in Zimbabwe.

After a well needed few hours of sleep I went down to UCLA Sunday morning to catch the Festival of Books.  Unfortunately I did not get a chance to see any of my favorite authors and the discussion panels I was interested in were either too late or already filled.  I did manage to buy a new book by Kevin J. Anderson “The Edge of the World” and I am anxiously awaiting the release of  “The Winds of Dune” later this year.

I leave you with a few more pictures from my weekend.  Enjoy.