How Jodie Foster Ruined My Weekend

Los Angeles, a city of light, a city of hopes and dreams, a city of crime and despair. Home to the rich and famous, and to the poor and downtrodden. Los Angeles is a city like no other...and that's a good thing, because I couldn't deal with more than one.

My weekend was spent visiting my good friends Dan and Brooke Faill at their apartment in Los Angeles. It was also an opportunity to do a little research for my class project - I chose to fly Virgin America. The flight itself was uneventful, but the weekend was not. In fact, it would have been perfect if not for stupid, selfish Jodie Foster. But, I'll get to that later.

Once again, since pictures do more justice to the story than do my words (ok, well not really), I will be taking you through a photographic journey of my weekend.

Dan picked me up from the airport and we made the short trip back to his apartment where we met up with Brooke. The plan for the evening was to go to Lucky Strike, bowl a few and then perhaps head to Howl at the Moon. L.A. traffic put up its best fight that first night and Lucky Strike soon became a bad idea. Fortunately, Jonathon had his trusty new phone and was able to quickly Google-map a route from their location near Hollywood and Highland to Howl at the Moon at Universal Citywalk - good phone.

I wish there was more of a story behind the photos, but it's all pretty self explanatory - drinks, dueling pianos, drinks, dinner, more drinks, Robb shows up, drinks, some more drinks and then the evening goes a little fuzzy...

Look Out! King Kong is coming to get you all! ...stupid people.

Everyone say it..."Awww"

Brooke getting a test tube shot, enjoying beer, and somehow I got Redskins glasses all night, this was the sixth...

Ever have one of those nights where you drink a little much and then your eyes don't like to stay open?

Yarr, pirate Robb...sorry couldn't help but post this one, far too funny.

...there are no pictures for this part of the story.

After the piano bar, we piled into the car and headed home. At that point we (with the exception of Dan) were pretty drunk and needed to get some sleep. I happily passed out on their plush couch and Robb got the inflatable mattress with the hole in it.

At some point in the morning (I'm not sure what time), I woke up and realized that I needed to go to the bathroom. Dan and Brooke have a one bedroom apartment and the only bathroom is in their room - I wasn't about to disturb them so I thought that perhaps the parking garage might be a good place to go. After a night of drinking, this wasn't an entirely horrible idea. What I failed to realize, though was that the door to the garage locks behind you.

After a few minutes of sitting on the ground hoping someone might come into the parking garage, I realized that I was going to have to take the situation into my own hands. I was wearing jeans and a tshirt, I had no phone, no watch, no clue of what time it was and had a sincere desired to get back to bed. I eventually found an exit that lead to the street and thought that might be my best option - at least then I could see about climbing in from the balcony. Turns out this was the only way that I was going to get into the apartment because the front of the apartment complex was locked as well and the door pager wasn't working.

I circled around to the back of the building and looked down a row of identical looking balconies, but which was the right one? I remembered seeing Dan's refrigerator on the balcony earlier in the day so I knew that I would only have to peer into the balcony to see if it was their apartment as opposed to peering in the windows...as if that was any better. Normally peering in balconies isn't a problem, only that the balcony ledges at this building are about 15 feet off the ground.

I jumped up one balcony, no refrigerator. Then I realized that their apartment was roughly in line with their parking spot and I could still see into the parking garage below the building, so I found their car and then found the balcony - eureka! I scaled the stucco wall and pulled myself onto the balcony. Rather than checking the sliding door, I immediately knocked on the window hoping that Robb would wake up...yeah right. Dan eventually answered the door and let me in - he pointed out later that the door was unlocked.

So, I managed to lock myself out of the apartment in order to go to the bathroom (not cool), I got to pretend to be a ninja (cool), I woke up Dan (not cool), I proved why they should lock their back door at night (cool), but I scraped up my arm pretty bad scaling the wall (not cool)

The next morning we went to the open casting call for Big Brother 10 - I have never even seen the show...

So should I audition? Of course I did - don't worry, I'll share the $500,000 when I win.

Later that night we all went to a cultural market at LMU. I helped Robb run his GHA booth at the event. The event was fun and I got to eat Ethiopian and Kenyan food too!

How Theta Chis does it take to rein in the moon?
Three apparently.

The next day - the Brooke Faill $12 tour of Los Angeles.
First stop, Hollywood! You can kinda see the sign in the background.

Klasky-Csupo, makers of Rugrats and Real Monsters...cool.

So at this point, you may have begun to wonder how it was that Jodie Foster ruined my weekend. Well, the one thing that I had wanted to do was see John Wayne's hand and footprint at the Chinese Theater, but guess who decided to have a movie premier that day...and I even called ahead to tell people that I was in town! Damn you Jodie Foster!

Pinks, the best hot dogs in Los Angeles...or so we were led to believe. We got tired of waiting in that line. Hey, Wendy's ain't too bad either.

The tattoo parlor from L.A. Ink - we didn't go there either.

Jim Henson's studio...makers of The Muppets, among other things.

Where's Eddie Murphy when you need him?

Venice beach...a little crowded, and windy. I would have taken a picture of one of the many street performers, but they like to make you feel guilty if you don't pay them for the picture.

Brooke, sampling the local merchants wares.

Skateboarders! They didn't mind me taking pictures, but probably only because I took a picture when they weren't busy falling down.

Before the flight home, Dan, Brooke, and I stopped at an In 'N Out near the airport. I wanted to get a cool picture of a plane since the runway was close by. I ran outside just in time to snap a pic of this 747 from Cathay Pacific - sweet.

Dunno, just thought this looked cool...

So, all in all, the weekend was a lot of fun. And, despite the fact that a picture is worth 1,000 words or so, the photos here only represent a smattering of everything that we saw and experienced. I never wanted to give L.A. that much of a chance, but thanks to Dan and Brooke, I had a really great time and plan on going back again sometime, even though Jodie Foster tried to ruin it all...

-drunken ninja jonathon
(Yeah, those are the bandages from being a drunken ninja...feels a lot worse than it looks.)

Rebranding the Site

"Wow, two posts in one day! What the hell is this guy on?" you must be thinking. Then your next thought might be, "hey, this place looks kinda funny. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but something isn't right."

Well, for both those thoughts, I have answers. The first answer is coffee, lots and lots of coffee - I'll be switching to tea momentarily...and then maybe heroin, but we'll see how the day goes first. The second answer is well, you're right, it is different.

See, I've decided to make some changes and updates to the site which you are seeing right before your very eyes. No, this is not an illusion, actual changes and improvements include:

• New look and feel
  
• Easier to navigate archives using title, date, or topic
  
• Fun links
• A video section
• and a poll section...but I'll get to that in a second
  

Since you, the readers are the ones who actually look at (and hopefully read, too) this blog, I want your opinion on these new changes. I figure if you find it hard to read, you don't like the colors, or if you don't like the new content you won't come back. And, since I'm pretty sure my Mom and four other people are the only ones reading this (Hi!), I want you to be happy while you're here.

So, now we come to that poll section I mentioned above...it's your turn to participate in this wacky little experiment of mine. Let me know your thoughts!

-brand master jonathon

Nice People

Earlier this week I sold one of my bikes. At first I didn't want to sell it because I really liked it, but I didn't ride it as much as I used to and it took up a little too much room, so ultimately it made sense. And, as it turns out, the guy I sold it to was pretty awesome...here's his story.

So long "Little Bastard"

So, I posted an ad on Craigslist and almost immediately got responses. One of the responses was from a guy from the North Bay. Sometimes he stays in the city with his girlfriend and wanted to have a cool bike at her place so he could get around town easily. I can't say that it was easy to meet with him because it certainly wasn't, but he was patient and we finally figured out some time.

He agreed to pick me up from my office and drive me to the house and then back to the office! At first I thought this was a little weird...you know "stranger danger" and all, but I'm a tough guy and I can defend myself. Besides, I like to think that I'm a pretty good judge of character and he seemed like a nice enough guy on the phone. ...My mom never let my into chat rooms when I was younger for this reason, I'm sure.

So we drive and talk about all manner of things. Being the open and honest person that I am I give him a brief synopsis of everything that had been going on in my life and he listened. I was actually amazed that he listened to me ramble. He gave his perspective and told me the things that he had been through - it's always nice to talk.

We eventually switched to other topics, namely fraternity life. Turns out he knows the former executive director of Theta Chi and the founder of his fraternity Alpha Tau Omega, is one of my distant relatives! I'm not much into the fraternity thing anymore, but it was interesting to hear these connections regardless.

He ended up getting the bike - he didn't haggle and I didn't have to sell it to him, he just gave me the money and loaded the bike into the van. He dropped me off at my office and wished me good luck. Later that evening he emailed me to thank me for the bike and the conversation. He also said that no matter what is going on in my life, that things will work out. He said that I seemed like a good person and that good things were going to happen to me.

Now I've had some good experiences on Craigslist, but never someone who has gone out of their way to help me sell something to them, listened to me talk as though they were a friend and then after everything was done send me thank yous and well wishes! It felt really good to read that note and to know that he will truly enjoy the bike as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Just goes to show you that there are some really great people out there, even strangers from Craigslist.

Thanks, Stu.

-one bike fewer jonathon

Brewskeeball

Jesus, Donnie, and The Dude: Big Skeebowskis - sweet...
(Not pictured: Walter)

So I've been getting a lot of questions lately about this "skeeball" I've been talking about. Just so you know, this isn't your little nephews "get tickets to win prizes" skeeball. This is balls to the walls, beer drinkin', hard rollin', high fivin', screaming at the top of your lungs, having a great time skeeball. This is Brewskeeball...

One of Scott's friends from Syracuse had been living in NYC for several years and had gotten involved with the Brewskeeball league that had actually started on Coney Island but then moved into city bars. When she moved to SF, the folks over at the league office asked if she'd be willing to help start a new league in the city by the bay. She said yes, she got the word out, told Scott about it, Scott told me, I told some friends.

Now between Scott (Donnie), myself (The Dude), Brian (Jesus), and Peter (Walter) we form the dynamic Brewskeeball foursome...the Big Skeebowskis.

We are currently fourth in the standings, but we aren't far behind the top teams and all it takes is one poor showing from another team and we'll be in playoff contention! In addition to team score, I am currently 8th in the high rollers standings - I was in 4th, but had a bit of a slip last week. I can't mess up the rest of the season, though, because I am out of town next weekend and won't be rolling.

Anyhoo, the game is pretty much the same as what you played at Chuckie Cheese's but minus the tickets/prizes and plus beer...you can probably figure out the rest.

Here are some shots from our St. Patty's Day match:

The Dude rolls a 350!

Walter had the Luck of the Irish...he rolled a 380 right after me!

Donnie...hard chargin!

Tallying the points for our first win of the season -
too bad we're both horrible at math.

-The Dude

Random Photos

Been snapping some more pictures with the camera phone - hope you enjoy!

Some of my walk home -





Luxury suite at a San Jose Sharks Hockey Game -

-photo taking fool jonathon

Epiphany

Funny how you sometimes think that you are ready to do something, but then you quickly realize that you aren't. I've been thinking a lot over the past month and a half and especially in the past week and I've realized that the moments that make up our lives are often filled with precious transcendence and incredible meaning. But we can only fully take in and understand the experience when we are able to let go long enough to be suspended in the moment.

Maybe that’s one of our biggest problems, I know it has been for me. It’s so rare that we stop long enough to contemplate just what is going on in our lives to really take things in. To do this you have to surrender your agenda and put away your self-centeredness at least long enough to be open to a sometimes frightening and overwhelming unknown. It's ok to let go of everything we are holding on to in order to begin the process of understanding.

Letting go, however, doesn't mean stopping living, it doesn't mean giving up. We still have to take part in our own existence. We must still be willing to chase after what we believe in and often what we don’t understand. We have to have faith and trust in our lives.

But, knowing that when we finally admit we can’t do it all by ourselves, that we sometimes can't have influence over every aspect of our lives, and that it's ok to ask for help, then we will come to the answers we've been seeking. We will find what it is that we've been looking for.

...now I am ready.

-jonathon

Beautiful Day

The day started off as much as any other day does, but today I made it back into the gym and though I was pretty worn out, it did feel pretty good to hit the weights again. I left to work with that post gym high which was quickly replaced by another high once I got to work. Remember those kudos I got for my tactical recommendations - well, they put their money where their mouth was. As it turns out, a quarter of the recommended tactics for the client were mine!

Had lunch with friends and watched some basketball. Actually, I should say that I watched as my tournament bracket dreams came crashing down - I lost four games today...bummer. Returning to work I set off on doing more client research and just trying to put in my time till the end of the day.

The weather was gorgeous as I walked home. It seemed as if the sun was shining on me and me only. For some reason I had this unusual feeling of contentment as I walked down the street with my head held high. It was a pleasant walk home to say the least.

I finally managed to get a chance to talk with Jen this evening; she is such a great person to talk with. She is also really hard to get ahold of...I mean, it's not like she has a husband or kid or anything!

After that nice talk, I met with two new potential roommates. It seems like things might work out, but I won't know until this weekend for sure. I should hear from the other people I met with last night as well. I'm ready to find a place to life. I'm ready to stop sleeping on a couch!

On the way home I met a nice girl names Sarah on the train. We talked about the book she was reading, "Love in the Time of Cholera". We talked about how the book was mentioned in two John Cusack movies and was recommended by her friends - she's just now reading it...page 17. It was nice to meet someone pleasant, it was nice to talk to someone I don't know.

As I walked home, I saw a woman on the side of the road asking for help. I had seen her the night before and hadn't paid her much attention. I had just treated her like a piece of the landscape as I often do with the homeless and beggars around the city. This time, though, something told me to stop - at least say hi. She didn't ask for money, she didn't ask for anything but a little something to eat.

I've never felt that it was my place to give handouts to people. I've always felt that people should be able to pull themselves up on their own. I've learned, though, that sometimes people can only pull themselves up with a little help from others. I bought her a sandwich and a bottle of water. It was four bucks for me, but it meant the world to her. I didn't do it to feel good, I did it because it was the right thing to do.

I feel good right now. I feel happy right now.

I think that the Eels put it best, "god damn right it's a beautiful day."

-happy jonathon

Kudos

Woke up feeling great this morning and the day only got better as it progressed. On the way to work I picked up some tea and stopped in at the old office to say hi to some friends. For those who were wondering, the walls are still standing and things seem to be moving forward despite my absence...

Got into work a little early and was able to knock out a good portion of my presentation by noon. A couple meetings in the early afternoon and leftover birthday cake. mmmm...leftover cake.

The afternoon was spent finalizing the client presentation for tomorrow. I emailed off my suggestions for promotional tactics to be included in our formal recommendations to my supervisor and went about my business. I received a reply from him thanking me for the recommendations stating that he was impressed with what I suggested. Of course I appreciated this - who doesn't like to impress their supervisor. About an hour later I was in a meeting with the four agency partners - apparently, my email had been forwarded to them. Praise and adoration were lavished upon me...and from the four guys that own the agency no less! It always feels good.

So, I guess it just goes to show with a little thought, a little hard work, and a little time even the biggest idiots can come up some good ideas.



Oh, who am I kidding, I'm a genius, and now everyone knows it! It's been a pretty good day.

-jonathon, super genius

Client Haiku

Rent car for meeting.
Wake up early to drive down.
Client not too bright.

-considering seppuku jonathon

Quotes

"Resolve to find thyself: and to know that he who finds himself, loses his misery."
-Matthew Arnold, 1822-1888

"It's a poor sort of mind that only works backwards."
-Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898

"The beginning is always today."
-Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851

First Day of Work

Work was good today, but right now sleeping would be much better.

Too much on the brain.

...ugh.

-insomnia jonathon

Poems

-Uncertainty-

The fear that I would
come home one day and
find you gone has turned
into the pain of
reality.

"What would I do if this happens?"
I would ask myself.

What will I do
now that it
has?

***
-Mourning-

Life is becoming
less livable.

With each new person I meet
I wonder, is this the day fate
has chosen, or is fate
what I have chosen to get me
through the day.

Loving
is the most
creative
force of the universe;

the memory of
loving,
the most destructive.

****
-Hurting-

There's nothing to be
done.

Only accept it...

and hurt.

*****
-Realizations-

I don't know
how to lose.

That's part of my problem.

I don't know
how to win either.

That's the other part.

******
-Goals-

When we are
together
we are
one,

when we are
apart
each is
whole.

Let this be our dream.
Let this be our goal.

*******
-Confidence-

and
through
all the tears
and the
sadness
and the
pain
comes the
one thought
that can
make me
internally
smile again:

I have loved,
I still love,
I will love again.

The First Days

Last night was a good night - I had a good dinner with friends. Sure I was a little nervous, who wouldn't be. At this point I'm drained physically and emotionally, but taking this step in my life has been good. I am still sad, I am still thinking about where things went wrong and why, but I'm also looking to the future. I don't feel as bad about it all as I did before, I still feel emotional, but not irrational. I still wear my heart on my sleeve, though.

Ultimately, I know that I am a good person, I am a giving person, I am a romantic person. I have my faults, who doesn't? But that doesn't mean that I am a bad person. I know what I need to do to improve those faults and I'm taking those steps now. I do feel bad for messing up in the past - I never intended to hurt anyone.

I am learning new things about myself every day and I feel that I am getting better. I am moving forward day by day - this is going to take time. I'm ready for it though, I'm ready to take some time and do things right this time.

-confident jonathon

Letting Go

It's taken a month of thinking and hurting and changing, but after everything it seems as if that old saying, "If you love something, sometimes you have to set it free," is true. I want two things, I want to be happy, and I want others to be happy. Accomplishing both of these things is tough, tougher than I thought that it would be.

The situation is sad - this is not something that I would ever wish on anyone else, but I also don't wish to prolong it anymore for my own sake. I have to know that everything will work out the way it is meant to in the end. I'll nudge things where I can, I'll stay involved in my destiny, but I know that I can't control it entirely, and I can't control or influence anyone else.

So it's that time, it's time to let go, it's time to move forward. Thank you to all my friends for their support of me - thank you for helping me to realize that I am worth it.

-just jonathon

Sleeping

I've not done much sleeping recently. It's funny, I've had 28 years of practice, you think I'd be better at it. I've been dreaming a lot lately, too, and I think that's what keeping me up.

It's odd, though, that I never used to remember my dreams. I used wake up feeling as if I haven't dreamed a thing. Now, while I don't remember details, I do remember thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I wake up happy and other times I wake up sad. This morning I woke up, uncertain.

Uncertainty isn't a bad thing, we all feel uncertain. We just can't let it rule us, we can't let this emotion get the best of us. We're uncertain when we'll die, but if we let that uncertainty and fear rule us, we'd be miserable. So, I guess I can't let that dream bother me either.

I guess it's true what they say, that dreams are the windows to a passionate soul. Sometimes I wish that I could dial back the passion a little and just get some sleep, but I know I can never do that.

-sleepy jonathon

Nighttime

So, motion wasn't my new phone's strong point, so I wondered, how would it do at night? Surprisingly well, I thought. Take a look and judge for yourself.







Hope you enjoyed...

-nocturnal jonathon

Fundraising Update

As of the Week of March 3
$530 raised
$2000 goal

This puts me at 27% of my total goal in just a few weeks! A special thank you to the following who have helped put me a little closer to my goal:

• Hans C.
• Rob D.
• Jan H.
• Chris H.
• Lana M.
• Matt O.
• Robb P.
• Jennifer U.

Thanks also to everyone for their good wishes and support throughout the past weeks of trials and training. Don't stop the donations - there is still plenty of time left to help support this worthy cause.

Remember that this money goes directly to the American Liver Foundation and all of the research and quality of care improvements that they support. Donations can be made at my website: www.active.com.

My training continues, albeit at a slightly slower pace, and training climbs will be starting in the next couple weeks. I'll be sure to post updates and pictures as I continue to progress towards the final goal of the top of Mt. Shasta...and I'll probably post pics of that too.

-fundraising jonathon

Tuesday Assignment

I thought that working remotely on an as-needed basis would be pretty relaxing and maybe even a little fun. Boy was I wrong - it's just downright boring! After hitting the gym this morning (made it 45 minutes today!), I decided that I couldn't spend the whole day sitting around the house waiting for things to come to me. I resolved to get out of the house and do something...anything.

What was that anything you ask? Well, I'll tell you, but not because you asked - I was going to tell you anyway. I gave myself an assignment to take pictures with my new phone. I decided to use my phone because it is new, and it would take up a lot more time and space for me to adequately describe each picture with words - figure roughly a million words for each picture, at least that's what I've been told.


I decided to take pictures of people on bikes, bike messengers specifically. As I found out with the first few of my shots, the shutter lag on the camera is a little extreme, making some of these guys hard to capture on film.


As the day wore on, I became more accustomed to the limitations of my camera. I also realized that I didn't necessarily have to capture movement. I realized that in order to capture these messengers in this urban environment, I would have to think of them as something other than blurs on the streets.

Sure, many people only think about these guys weaving in and out of traffic, but to catch them when they aren't moving is to see them in their element. After all, their jobs, their lives, consist of more than just riding their bikes.

Taking the time out today to go do something that I wanted to do, I realized something. No matter what is happening in my little world, everything else keeps moving on with or without me. I can choose to stay indoors and simply watch the world pass by or I can be out in it experiencing the sites, the sounds, the smells, the good, the bad - all of it.

Life is too short to be taken on while standing still. These guys seem to understand that pretty well.

-bike messenger jonathon