Monthly Archive for August, 2006

I haven’t been home since Trashy Prom weekend so I thought what better time than now? It just so happens that Kaki King was playing at MOCA on Saturday night and I knew I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to hear her play live. NPR calls her “Queen of the Acoustic Guitar” and I would have to agree. I sent out an email to FBT requesting their company on July 12th. Some replied within 3 minutes, some later, but eventually we had a nice group ready for August 19th. Then a few days before, Ted decided to go Vegas with some friends. I won’t say more.

On Friday evening, I was about 15 minutes late getting home because of some heavy traffic after the 405 interchange. When I arrived at his house, his dad opened the door with a look of confusion. You see, Ronald still was not back from the Beverly Center yet. No problem, may I come in? Yes, of course. I went into his room and did what any reasonable man would do – watched “The Negotiator” on TNT. His mom was playing Mah Jong on the computer and iTunes was belting out music. The Gimpness finally returns in his suave black polo and khakis. He changes and we go to Old Town Pasadena and have a very late dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We didn’t start ordering until 11PM and didn’t leave until past midnight. It was a pretty terrible dinner. After the appetizer, I had lost my appetite and I barely touched my pasta. Ronald ordered an apple dumpling which is literally a whole apple wrapped in tart type dough and baked. It was insane.

Saturday morning, I went to Acura to get my oil changed. It’s supposed to be every 5,000 miles and I was at 17,200 mi. Oops, a little late. My appointment was at 11:15, I didn’t hand my keys over until 11:35 and Steph and Ed didn’t arrive until close to noon. We went to Lovebirds after Tony Roma’s and Shakas were vetoed by Steph. I am glad, though, because I have not been there for years. The combination of croissant, mayo, and avocado is heavenly! We all had basically the same sandwich but they also had some air baked fries. I should mention the sandwhiches had turkey too. Minor detail!

Ed left to play golf and Steph and I went to Cha because Ronald was going to pick us up. I still had an hour left on my appointment (promised time 2:30). We stopped by Nucleus on the way there and found this great shirt with a Sriracha bottle on front with the letters SGV. On the inner tag area, it said “Pho Life.” It doesn’t get much better than that. We arrive at Cha and secure a table for three. Ronald called and said he was on Valley but it still took him a good 10 minutes to arrive. After the obligatory cold beverages, we went to Nucleus to show Ronald the shirt. When he got there, he was so excited to find these toys that Janet liked called Toki Doki (sp?) so he bought three and the shirt! We returned to the Acura dealership and waited another 20 minutes. At this point, I told them how great the new RDX was and to check it out. Ronald talked to his older brother who asked if he wanted the new turbo SUV and to let him know if he did because he could get it for $6k less than sticker. Just like that. It’s scary to think of the power that man wields.

I finally get my car and we all head to Best Buy in Pasadena. Ronald was on a mission to get Karaoke Revolution 1, 2 and 3. They didn’t have any. Steph and I both bought 2 DVD’s for $15. After, Ronald went to Target on Colorado to look for his games while Steph and I went to Old Town for some shopping. We parked in the Fair Oaks lot and walked to Patagonia where they were having a sale. There was some cool stuff but even at 50% off, I couldn’t bring myself to buy them. I ended up just getting a pair of hiking socks which I always love. We walked another two blocks to Holly and checked out Grey One. It was Steph’s first time there and she ended up buying 3 tops, all at 50% off. Are you kidding me? That’s awesome! A girl who shops at Grey One? That’s pretty sweet.

I drop Steph off and go home briefly. At 6:45, I pick up Ronald, then Mido and we head to Curry House in Little Tokyo. Dinner was delish and Mido told us about her plans to purchase a “phatty” house. I loved it. The next 15 minutes was spent being lost around downtown L.A. We finally make it to Olive street and park. $8. Not cheap! We walk a block to MOCA and before we arrived, I knew it was going to be fun. There was music playing, people dressed up and mingling, a large cash bar. We checked out the museum for about 30 minutes before we settled in back of the outside courtyard to await the arrival of Kaki. She started about 20 minutes late and alternated between her classic blue acoustic guitar and a lap-steel. When Claire, Ted, and I saw her perform at Hotel Cafe, she had just picked it up. It’s amazing how quick of a learner she is. Ed showed up with about 15 minutes to go and soon he and Ronald left to check out the artwork. Mido suffered through it with me, though I’d like to think she enjoyed it a little bit. We both went inside afterward and found them pretty quickly.

At one point, Ed was trying to tell me something about “that lady” that was in “that thing.” It was on the tip of his tongue. At the same moment, I turned and saw Rene Russo standing about 4 feet away from me and staring in my direction. I started saying out lout “Yes. Yes. Yes. YES!” as I nodded enthusiastically. I am not sure what that was all about. Maybe a combination of telling Ed I knew what he was trying to say plus marveling at seeing a celebrity. How did she look? Well she was 45 when she did the nude scenes in the Thomas Crown Affair. She’s 52 now and looks twice as good.

We left the museum and I dropped Mido off and met the guys at Cha. I know, twice in the same day! My cute waitress was there. What a treat! We left at closing (1 AM) and went home. The next morning, I went to church. After, I took my parents to Cocary BBQ which they always seem to love. My mom always says “This has such low fat. It’s so healthy!” I go to Steph’s house afterward and after a quick Starbucks run, we pick up Ed and head to the Santa Anita mall so she could return some items. Ed went to look at a watch while I looked at bedding. We didn’t buy anything. We drop Ed off and I go with Steph to pick up Meggie and we head to Sunset to the Arclight. I have never been there but read cool stuff about it. We paid $14 for our tickets, $4 for caramel popcorn, and settled in to watch The Illusionist. The story takes place in Vienna and is about a magician who has a love affair with a duchess, who happens to be engaged to the crown prince! The girls gave it a C and C-. I know what you are thinking. Apply the Steph & Meggie Rule (as devised by ted). S&M Score + 2 = Actual Score. That would mean this was an A movie, but I’d probably give it a B or B-. The night ended with a nice dinner at a the girls’ favorite new Japanese restaurant in Pasadena. $90 worth of sushi later and I was driving back to Santa Barbara.