Food Trucks

So at the Art Walk I mentioned previously, there were a ton of those food trucks in parking lots.  Food trucks have become something of a phenomenon in major cities like Los Angeles and I'm still not sure I get the big deal about them.  I think my major apprehension has to do with our two failed attempts to eat at a food truck - first, at the disasterful food truck festival in downtown that was overcrowded, and secondly, trying to find the Kogi truck at 10:00 at night only to see a 45-minute wait line queue up in a matter of minutes. I think it's also weird because you get your food and you have nowhere to go eat it.  At both places in downtown and where we saw the Kogi trucks, your only choice is to stand on the street and uncomfortably (I assume) eat it.

Anyway, back to my original point.  The majority of these food trucks seem to operate on the notion of fusion food.  Unfortunately, fusion food in Los Angeles mostly consists of taking one ethnic food (preferably Asian), shoving it into a tortilla and calling it a taco.  You're genius, Los Angeles.

Hungover

I love how the cast of The Hangover had no problem working with a convicted rapist in the first film, but they all banded together to exile Mel Gibson from the sequel.  Way to develop a conscience after you made $467 million, you asshats.

ArtWalk

I recently went to my first Art Walk in downtown Los Angeles.  I had heard about it here and there, and known it was a massively popular.  We had also heard from 2 friends personally who said it was good and we finally had a free Thursday to check it out.

So it's basically a once a month gathering in downtown LA where a bunch of galleries are open at night.  Multiple parking lots are set up with food trucks, live music and it's this huge social gathering.  I personally didn't really like any of the art I saw and the sheer number of people walking around made me a bit paranoid.

I was walking down the street and at one point, noticed a syringe lying on the ground.  (Hey, I used to use those to inject my insulin each day, so I notice them.)  I thought it was weird and then I saw a guy standing near it.  I thought to myself, "Grrrreat, this guy is going to pick up a random syringe because, hey, it's free!"  Well, said guy walked past me a few minutes later on his cellphone and I could hear him say, "Sorry, I dropped my heroin, I had to go back and pick it up."  Awwwwesome.

Most of the art fell into that "mildly interesting but I would never buy it/hang it" category.  Some of the live music was entertaining, and it was good to have a completely different experience in downtown Los Angeles.  So anyway. I wasn't blown away by my first Art Walk experience but I would go again to give it another shot.

Jericho

I recently started watching the TV series Jericho thanks to Netflix's instant play and our lack of cable television and antenna reception.  I'm about 13 episodes into the first season and I already love it.  I know it didn't last very long but I'm very curious to see how it all plays out.

The series takes place in Jericho, Kansas and shows the after effects of some sort of apocalyptic attack.  In the first episode, they see a mushroom cloud over Denver (sorry, Erica!) so the entire town gets into a panic.  What I really like is that the show takes place in a small town, so you discover things along with the characters.  At first, they assume it was only Denver that was attacked but then someone gets a voicemail saying there was another bomb in Atlanta.  They struggle to get the power back on and all they see is a 2-second glimpse of an Asian news report showing flashing circles around Denver, Atlanta and at least 7-8 other cities in the U.S.

I'm about 13 episodes in and still no one is sure what is going on.  Was the U.S. invaded by aliens?  Foreign terrorists?  Domestic terrorism?  Is the President alive?  Will we find out how The Jersey Shore is going to end?  Ahhhhh!!!  So many questions!

The ensemble cast is pretty good and I love apocalyptic stories so I am definitely hooked.

Hawaii

Graphic pilfered from http://www.hawaiian-stickers.com/

There is this car near my work with a vanity plate that references Hawaii.  The license plate frame also references Hawaii.  It also has a multitude of stickers of hula girls, leis and the word "Aloha" on the back window.  I was thinking about this the other day and it really started to piss me off.

If you love Hawaii that much, why don't you move there?  Oh, what's that? You can't afford to live there? Then shut the fuck up.

Yes, I'm fortunate enough to have visited Hawaii as a youngster and yes, I really enjoyed it.  My point is that if I move to Austin, Texas you can sure as hell bet I'm not going to have a car or a cubicle plastered with references to California.  I would understand why I'm in Texas and accept that I'm there.

You already live in southern California which is better than at least 40 other states in this country of ours.  So please, I implore you.  If you love Hawaii that much, move there as fast as you can or please shut up.  Thank you.

Rule Bender

I generally don't consider myself a rule breaker...I'm more of a rule bender.  Especially whenever I think the rules I'm up against are bullshit.

I'll give you an example - parking validation.  Say, at someplace like The Grove in Hollywood.  If you want to get a discount (or free) parking, you have to get validated from somewhere like Barnes & Noble, the movie theater or Cheesecake Factory.  I've gone to Barnes & Noble, browsed around for 20-30 minutes and asked for validation.  But the cashier tells me they only validate with a purchase.  Ah, here's where I bend the rules!  I'll go get a book, charge it to my credit card, get my validation and then return the book to the Barnes & Noble conveniently located on the way home from work.

That may seem like a waste just to save $6 but I'll do it every single time.  The stupid thing is I could probably return the book to the same B&N at the Grove 5 minutes after purchasing that book.  Trust me, I've made more than one purchase in my life that I've returned to the store minutes later.  Or I could also buy a movie ticket, get my validation, go into the theater for less than a minute, then say I got an emergency call and I have to go.  Either way, they give me a refund for my purchase and I get my validation with a little bit of hassle.

The point is that with so many easy ways around it, the "validation only with purchase" rule is bullshit.  Bend those rules, people.

Frozen Zen Lunch

Much like my brother, I hate making my lunch during the work week.  I absolutely hate it.  I don't know why, but my only guess is because it's a daily task requiring just enough time to be annoying.  I also hate spending money but I think I achieved something of a Zen status with lunch.

I bought a loaf of bread from the 99¢ store, and also got some bananas and peanut butter from Target.  When I got home, I cracked open the peanut butter, chopped up some bananas and took out 16 slices of bread.  I made an assembly line and cranked out 8 sandwiches rather quickly.

Ah, but don't that many sandwiches get moldy, Zen Master?  Nope.com!  I put all of the sandwiches back in the bread loaf sleeve in the freezer.  Each morning, I open up the loaf of bread and take out the next sandwich.  By the time lunch rolls around at work, it's nicely defrosted.

My coworkers teased me about eating the same thing for lunch everyday.  But then I told them about my assembly line methods and having 8 days worth of lunch ready in a short time, and they all agreed it was more smart than lazy.