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.