the awesome/terrifying freedom

hey ya'll! so quickly, here's what's been going on:

helped load out of the location for the cooking show, which may or may not air on an as yet unlaunched network.



the social dynamics of what happens on set are AMAZING, especially when i only saw everyone on the first day, and then came back to it on the last day. friends became enemies, undertones became overt, it was a play that needs to be written. you haven't seen drama until you've seen the entire crew of a show rush up to the monitor to listen to the much-hated star break down in sobs in the bathroom with her mike pack still on. i only witnessed a small sampling of the pure evil that she was - when her spanish peanuts did not have red skin on them (the red skin fell off) she informed celeste that she 'understood' and that it 'wasn't her fault' because celeste is 'chinese' and knowing that spanish peanuts are supposed to have red skin on them is 'an american thing.' she managed to alienate/piss off every single person on the crew. amazing.



here's artoo, on location.

went wine tasting in santa barbara county with my roommate david and his friends, farnaz, mike, and jenny, to purchase the many bottles of wine with which to stock his birthday party on monday.











had a fine cheeses and great wine picnic under the trees at rusack, far and away the best winery we visited. if you see it on the shelves out there in nyc or colorado or wherever, i recommend it.




holy shit, this is where i live.



went to the beach in earnest, finally, which was beautiful and stunning and perfect and and and. the guy sitting next to us got his foot stung by a stingray. i decided not to go in the water. later, steve irwin died from a sting to the chest. coincidence?

i am sort of dating someone. i know i know crazy right? it's still in the 'we'll see what happens' phase, but what seems to be happening is that we schedule another date as soon as possible. so... we'll see what happens.

chad and celeste had a massive barbeque on sunday, during which they smoked ribs for 7 hours and put out an amazing spread. it's fascinating to be injected into a new group of people, to watch the dynamic, to see what sort of role each person plays, and also to wonder what i might be able to offer or contribute. it's very exciting to be meeting cool people right off the bat like this.

my roommate and i threw a david's birthday/santa barbara wines are awesome/yay for living in california because the greatest thing in the world is sitting outside at the end of the day with friends while the sun goes down party on monday. dissatisfied with evite, david created his own invitation program, for which i designed the graphic. the preparations for the party also consisted of adding some decor to the house, which has been pretty stark. all my brooklyn photos went up - we made a mad dash around home depot, which was fun in it's own right.



this is about as clear as my memory of the party ha ha. no, it was a fantastic evening. david ran a trivia contest that succeeded in mixing our several groups of friends. the wines were lovely, the food was amazing, and the day was perfect.



the kid in the house next door was playing 'sniper' from his balcony and picked the party guests off one by one. you can see the shadow of his gun in the pic.

in a nutshell, i'm busy busy busy, but also settling in. right now the vast differences between ny and la are so completely refreshing. i needed this so bad, like the friend who gives you the shoulder rub you didn't know you needed until you felt it. and as i discover more, meet more people, and am exposed to new things, it's clear how much i had allowed my sense of wonder, creativity, and spirit to gradually sink away in new york. if you're at all unhappy, that's your mind and your body telling you that something has got to change. it's fucking terrifying but my god it's worth it.