As I approach this momentous milestone in my life I’ve thought back on many memories that have given me so many laughs over the years.  So many stories from different times in my life continue to be told over and over never once thinking; I need new stories.  I turn 30 in exactly 30 days and have decided to share these stories with everybody one at a time.  Some are a bit embarrassing, others are risqué, and some have been known to make people laugh so hard they had to go hunting for their inhalers.  So many of these stories have common themes that I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that my life isn’t as exciting as it may seem since the variety will revolve around a handful of major themes and a few major times in life.  I’ve tried very hard to keep as many names secret but then again, so many of these stories have been told over and over again that the characters are already known.  So here you have 30 vignettes in 30 days until I turn 30.

Lets start with the most recent story; a new story; something I have probably only shared with two or three people.

UNTITLED #1

For the second straight year I’ve travelled to our nation’s capitol to advocate and lobby on behalf of my favorite project in the world; The Hollywood Freeway Central Park.  Last year I stayed with an ex girlfriend who was difficult to stay with for 4 days but still made the trip interesting at times.  The rollercoaster stay was far too much drama for me to want to stay there again this second time around so I decided to stay with my colleagues.  It also would have been quite awkward staying with her again considering she is now living with her fiancé.  Regardless, I extended an invitation for her to come visit me so long as it didn’t conflict with any of the meetings or dinners I had scheduled; In other words, really late at night or really early in the morning.

After a long flight into Dulles and a fairly quick car ride into DC the pressure of our schedule was beginning to become a reality.  After a quick shower and change of clothes I was on the rooftop bar of the W Hotel having cocktails with my colleagues and then we quickly went to a spectacular dinner at Poste in the Hotel Monaco.  After dinner a few of us decided it was far too early for bed seeing as we were all on West Coast time so we hit up Old Ebbitt Grill for a nightcap or 8.  After stumbling a block or so back to the hotel, I set my alarm for 7am and as soon as my face hit the pillow around 2am I was asleep.  Normally 5 hours of sleep are enough for me but I didn’t get 5 hours.

At 5am I get a phone call: “Hey, I’m downstairs. Come get me.”

Really?  The least I could have gotten was a warning. Maybe I don’t stay out so late or maybe I don’t go out at all.  Regardless, I asked for it by saying “…really late at night or really early in the morning. “  Yes, I was excited to see her.  No, I didn’t complain.  We talked for a little bit, tried to catch up on each other’s lives, we laughed, joked and even opened up to each other a little once that comfort level we once shared had returned and then clothes started flying off.

At a little after 7am, my alarm had already gone to snooze twice when her phone rang.  I immediately started laughing because I knew it HAD to be her fiancé wondering why he had just woken up alone.  I had assumed she would ignore the call but instead she shushed me and said, “Shhh.  Its him.” Right as she answered I was yelling out one of my favorite Princess Bride quotes: “HAHA! Your pig fiancé is too late!”

Moral of the story is, Princess Bride can be quoted no matter what life throws your way!

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.