mt. baldy

drove up to Mt. Baldy after church and took the ski lifts to the "Top of the Notch" Restaurant for lunch

what a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon

grilled chicken sandwich on a ciabatta roll with a side of bleu cheese and bacon potato salad

dogsitting

I'm more than halfway through my gig of dog-sitting while my friends are on vacation.  I was excited to see what it was like to care for a dog for two weeks, a sort of test drive, as I plan to one day adopt a dog.  It was fun, but also a lot of work.  I enjoyed having someone to care for who was always excited to see me, but I quickly tired of the jumping and scratches that came with it.  Also, run/walks were difficult because the dog was easily provoked by other dogs and cats.  I have to keep someone else out of trouble for a change :).

But, things turned for the better when I saw how calm she was with the "grandparents."  They were very generous with the treats, which I tried to avoid, but decided to give it a shot.  I started with a couple and soon didn't have to give her any to get her to stop jumping.  She knew what I expected of her and now I'm more happy to play with her.

one of the perks of the job is I get to eat the fruit from the fruit trees.  this morning I picked some delicious oranges and cherry tomatoes.  the fruit picker was great for those hard to reach oranges.  when i got it out of the garage, i felt like i was carrying a spear about to capture my prey, hehehe

she's really a sweet dog when she's not jumping on me

bloomfestLA

Fun times at BloomfestLA this past weekend.  It was an eclectic showing of artists, musicians, and food trucks displaying their talents in the Downtown Arts District.  Bloomfest is named after Joel Bloom, a community activist who helped shape the Downtown Arts District in Los Angeles in the 1990's and 2000's.  He died in 2007 after a battle with cancer.

Parking was tough, but the festival was well done with a lot of variety.  It was busy, but not ridiculously crowded like the 626 night market a few months ago.  While the food truck choices were interesting, we chose to eat at one of the many eateries nearby. We scored with the happy hour :).

street art

booths selling jewelry, t-shirts, crafts, with some giving away free samples

live music

san diego comic-con

This year I decided I wanted to check out Comic-Con and see what all the fuss is about.  I knew it was popular, but I had no idea it sold out over 6 months prior to the event.  I knew it was big, but I didn't know it was 130,000 people big.  That made me want to go even more.  I'm not into comics or anime.  I don't watch TV or movies when they first come out.  I watch movies on DVD, but my Netflix queue is so backlogged I often put a vacation hold on my account even when I'm not on vacation.  Still, I needed to satisfy my curiosity.

My friend got me entry to the last day of the annual convention and it was really cool.  I didn't go to any of the panels, but I liked the displays, props, costumes, and giveaways.  Even though it was crowded, people were nice and courteous, posing for pictures and being helpful.  I enjoyed the experience, but after hearing some of the conversations from people who were really into all that stuff, I felt that Comic-Con was wasted on me.  There were so many people who would have happily gone in my place.

celebrity sighting ... Kevin Bacon promoting his new show, The Following

 

UFC fighter Nate Quarry.  Maybe he's in a zombie movie or tv show?

I saw all the original Batmobiles on display

almost nabbed Carmen Sandiego.  next time!

I saw Spaceballs before I saw Star Wars.  I guess that's why I didn't get the jokes.

Korra the Avatar

the locker room

I went to a UCLA Alumni event held at the Rose Bowl inside the state of the art UCLA men's locker room.  It was not what I expected ... dark wood cabinets, carpet, and no lockers.  It was perfect for an event, but I could not imagine 120 large sweaty football players crowding the space.  P Diddy's son is a freshman on the team and, supposedly, he said he would get them new TV screens to watch practice tapes.  Hopefully these investments lead to a stronger season :P.

wildlife learning center

I attended a fundraiser for the Wildlife Learning Center.  I did not know such a place existed in Sylmar.  They keep animals who were sent there after their owners were no longer able to keep them, zoos could not house them, or needed special care.  It's a small place, easily seen in half a day, but they have an impressive collection of wild animals and allowed us to interact with many of them.

Stanley the Giraffe is not part of the Wildlife Learning Center, but belongs to its neighbor, who allowed him to be a part of the day's event.  You might have seen him in movies and commercials.

American Alligator

Sulcata Tortoises

Red-tailed Hawk

Petunia the Porcupine.  I loved feeding her.  So much cuddlier than I ever imagined.

Joe Bruin.  Also not part of the Wildlife Learning Center.  Only there for the day's events ;)

Lola is a two-toed Sloth who came to the WLC as an overflow from a zoo.  She's so gentle and sweet.  Her only defense is camouflage.  In the rainforest, moss would grow on her fur, making her all green.

Bald Eagle

Siberian Lynx

bodybuilding

Never did I ever expect to attend a bodybuilding competition.  Frankly, the pictures look scary and unnatural to me.  But, I was invited to check out the California State Bodybuilding National Qualifier and I was interested to see this extreme of fitness.  

It was so much more fun than I expected.  While there is a lot of spray tanning going on (it looks more natural with the bright lights on stage and accentuates muscle definition), there is also music and choreography that makes it fun and memorable for certain contestants.

women's figure

women's bikini

mission control

I joined a tour of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena today.  I had been to the annual open house before, but this was nice because we got to see some different areas without all the crowds.

This is the old mission control room, considered outdated by today's standards.  The new mission control room is in a different building with a bunch of computers.  Still, this is the one you'll see on television when the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity lands in August.  It looks more impressive on camera :).

 

A scale model of the Mars Science Laboratory, due to land on Mars August 5, 2012.

another day in the neighborhood

OC Pet Expo

got tickets to the pet expo again.  it was a long drive to costa mesa, but so much fun to see the different breeds of dogs, cats, and other animals.  of course, there are always my favorites:

llama.  be careful, they spit

"Splash Dogs" exhibit where dogs jump as far as they can off a dock

IAMSambassador

empty bowls

I went to a fundraiser to support Family Promise, an organization that provides homeless families with a place to stay, food to eat, and counseling to get them back into the work force.  I thought the "Empty Bowls" format was brilliant.  Local artists donated handmade ceramic bowls and restaurants donated soup to be served at the event.  A ticket got you a bowl and unlimited soup.

It was hard to chose from all the beautiful bowls.  As soon as I put one down, it got snatched up

along with soup we got bread, drinks, and cookies