the awesome/terrifying freedom

so yeah! had my official birthday party on friday night. i was a little nervous.. first time for the friends to meet sam, but it went great. i wore my empty birdcage shirt from my goodbye new york party. here's ben, sam, chad, and me...



and here's everyone at the party, taken by sam: celeste, chad, me, carla, david, and ben.



and here we are again being damn goofy.





yeah, it was definitely time for the hair to go. big, giant, frizzy mess.

it's my birthday week! ever since last year's extravaganza, i'm now laying claim to the entire week.

some tidbits: saw my friend kelley, who was visiting from barcelona to see her sister in glendale. her sister tutors jj abrams' kids. last time she was in town, she hung out at jj's house, met him, chatted while he talked about having to go to the premiere of m:i:iii. i hate her.

woke up saturday morning to an entire table of elaborately wrapped gifts from sam. and not just any old gifts, extremely intuitive things, like a bonsai tree, and the 5th season of 'six feet under.' so fuckin sweet.

we saw the tour of 'souvenir' with judy kaye on saturday. really amazing performance, and a fun piece that really speaks to the power of self delusion.. maybe it's not such a bad thing?

on tuesday we saw the tour of 'doubt' with cherry jones. i just really really love well-executed ambiguity, and this show had it in spades. plus she was a phenomenon, complete transformation, so honest. loved it, loved it loved it.

emily has received my las vegas entry into the tackiect gift in the world contest, so i can now post my finding. here's the top:



it hints at something classy, ritzy, well made, stylish. and then there's the front.



and here's the back.



to me, it epitomized everything las vegas - the attempt to be classy, sleek, yet comes out overblown, gaudy, overtly sexual, and is a necessary tool for alcoholics.. i only wished i could have found a gift that also alluded to the place's gross waste of money, but i suppose the actual purchase of this atrocity illustrates that well enough.

past tackiest gifts in the world:
commando in action paris for men
the horny hillbilly
ugliest t-shirt conceived by humans

1. nose picking
2. headbanging
3. simultaneous pda and cell phone operation
4. makeup application
5. nose picking

for like the first time in a month, i didn't go anywhere this weekend, which was refreshing.

the big news: sam and i have had 'the talk,' and we are now official boyfriends! it's soo frackin awesome i can't tell you.

speakin of frackin, this week saw the premiere of LOST (first 5 mins: brilliant, the rest: setup which had better pay off soon), and battlestar galactica, which was so good it was astonishing. this show is achieving the kind of political commentary that star trek was able to do in it's best episodes. it's current, it's about iraq, it's about the psychology of suicide bombing, it's about the problems of cultural occupation, it's about detention without due process, and so many other current issues.

i work in the tower of the old hollywood bank building on the corner of hollywood boulevard and highland street, which is the 7th avenue and broadway of los angeles. i learned this week that my office was once heidi fleiss'. keep your comments to yourself, please.

the basment of this building is creepy and amazing - giant abandoned vaults from when it was an operating bank - in 1929.













i want to make a movie down here.

oh! saw two films this weekend: shortbus and the queen.

shortbus was quite good, but i felt it fell "short" (haha, boo) of being a great movie because of some narrative holes. i think mitchell's goal of incorporating real sex into a story was extremely successful, however the narrative itself needed work. ebert often quotes siskel's standard for grading a film: 'would a documentary about making this film be more interesting than the film itself?' and i think in the case of shortbus, the answer is absolutely yes. i wanted to drop the story of the film, and learn more about the cast's real stories that gave rise to it.

the queen is a marvel of filmmaking in that it finds two hours of drama in the oddest thing: whether or not this old lady will give a speech. here's the entire movie:

tony blair: give the speech.
queen: no.

(pause)

tony blair: give the speech.
queen: no.

(pause)

tony blair: they hate you now.
queen: oh.
tony blair: give the speech.
queen: ok.

(pause)

queen: (the speech)

it really is as simple as that, but every scene is electrifying.

this week several new stars were added to the walk of fame outside my office. the process is interesting. the star outline is laid down and filled with the pink grout/cement mixture. i guess it's sanded down and polished after it dries, i didn't hang around to find out. when i realized i was watching the creation of amy grant's star, i quickly left.

when i was in vegas, i found an entry for the tackiest gift in the world competition. i've sent it to emily. once she gets it, i will post the horror.

each week just keeps getting better and better.

friday i got a tour of disney studios. i met two of the writers on LOST, and toured their building. it was awesome to see where it all happens, the few rooms from which that entire amazing, astonishing show is dreamt up. as i entered, an actor was leaving who had just auditioned - i realized the room he was exiting was the room in the dvd where we see all of the main cast's original auditions. it was disturbing to be so close to something i admire so much. the atmosphere of the disney lot reminded me of david's tour of google's santa monica office: an environment designed to stimulate creativity, well being, and be considered home to people who truly love what they do. i want to work there. so so so so bad. i know desperation isn't sexy, but i want it! now!

spent the weekend in palm springs visiting my friend john, who was on vacation from brooklyn. it was my first time staying at a predominately gay resort since i went to provincetown with rob several years ago. turns out we were at a 'clothing optional' resort, which might sound fun, but it's always the people you'd rather not see naked who take the option. it was rather like an extended version of the old guys in the gym locker room, just hangin' out and, well, (forgive me) hangin' out. i opted to leave my clothes on.

the gay section of town had a 'gay mart.'



as well as 'bear wear, etc.'



i wasn't curious enough to find out just what the 'etcetera' encompasses. were i a bear, i'd be reluctant to purchase clothes from 'bear wear,' the gay equivalent of 'dress barn.'

it was dark when i drove into town, and i was worried i was on the wrong road, until suddenly there's a row of palm trees, all lit up like an alien landing strip, welcoming you to town. here it is during the day, as i was leaving.



notice the mystical ipod cloud formation. i should have stopped to get a better picture of the windmills, which are gigantic and amazing.



it's october. it was a year ago this month that i turned 30, got a tattoo, and decided to change my life completely. it seems like forever ago. i want to feel exactly the same when i hit 32.