Getting to LA was not a fun time. But being in LA was awesome. Lots of delays for my flight out Friday night. I was getting very cranky and Turnip can back this up. Because I was on the phone harassing her about it as much as possible. I think I upset some of the folks around me while demanding hookers and blow for my troubles. Ah well. A very delayed flight, shitty seat partner and FOUR screaming children, really loud men behind me, and Havana Nights as my in flight movie option late at night just puts me in a bad mood. What can I say? I think hookers & blow isn’t too much to ask for all my pain and suffering. And I actually WATCHED Havana Nights. So bad. Not even decent eye candy really. They even dowdied up Sela Ward a little. Which is wrong. She’s so pretty.
Sadly Turnip did not have any trashy goodies for me upon my arrival. She did pick me up at the airport though and had flowers and a Powerpuff Girls balloon for me because she is the cutest, sweetest thing ever. Sadly I left them there when I went back to New York. I keep waiting for her to deflate the balloon and mail it to me, but it hasn’t happened yet.
We found parking far from her home and trudged off with my luggage, stopping to check out the massive, brightly-lit Jesus statue behind her building. Apparently she lives right next to a monastery. All kinds of wrong with that, but she likes the place so what can I say. We plotted a little about how to get Ed’s Shirt on the Jesus and headed into her place. A quick hello to the kitties and some girly gossip and then off to sleep. Wild times - ba-by. But what can you do without hookers and blow? Really?
Saturday we slept in a little and then were up to shower and get pretty. Because we like to be pretty. Don’t judge us. Then Turnip made me go out in the middle of her street. She wouldn’t tell me why and I was a little suspicious. I didn’t think I was that much of a pain the night before but I really did wonder if she was trying to get me hit by a car. Turns out she lives on one of the streets the tourists hit for a good view of the Hollywood sign. Woo. So we checked that baby out and got some photos (which might make it online someday). Then headed for breakfast at a diner type place. I was warned not to order bagels. Like I even needed that bit of advice. Actually, over the course of the weekend people kept telling me that there WERE good bagels in LA and listing all sorts of places to get them. Whatever. I did NOT eat bagels in LA. Sorry.
After we were pretty and well-fed we went to hit the shops on Melrose. I think Turnip thinks if I don’t purchase a pair of shoes while visiting her I won’t come back. She’s wrong, but don’t tell her. I really dig the shoe shopping. And we did both find an adorable pair of red shoes. Luckily they had two pair. Yay. So we got those and matching purses for Vegas. Purses that matched each other. They don’t match the shoes. The shoes are red and the purses are black and pink. Got one for Pumpkin as well. Muffy can stand off to the side rolling her eyes and stuff. Or borrow one of Turnip or Pumpkin’s purses since they all share the same first initial. They only had two of that initial. My bag has an M on it for Manda. They didn’t have any As. What’s a girl to do. I also got two other purses while Turnip only got one. And this was all in the first freakin’ store. More shopping - mostly of the window variety after that. Bought a lot of cheap fabulous jewelry at one place with a friendly guy. He was also from Brooklyn and gave me a very pretty bag for all my stuff. Bitter Turnip was jealous. Heh. Take that LA Girl!
Um, sorry.
We also searched high and low for a yellow outfit for Tangerine’s upcoming wedding. It’s a pagan wedding. I’m East. I have to wear yellow. We had very poor luck. We did see a yellow petticoat thing we almost got, but then thought it might be frowned upon. It was really sheer and I thought it might be a little too small. We did find a lot of yellow shoes though. But not yellow clothes. Odd. Then we had drinks at the Coffee Bean (my first Coffee Bean ever) and let Ed’s Shirt out for a photo. Eventually we had to stop to make Turnip’s show. I was sad to leave the shopping. But it had to be done.
Turnip is a sassy lighting designer. We did lots of shows together in high school. It’s really how we met. And we went to college fairly near each other (Wesleyan and Brown) but I somehow had never seen one of the shows she designed. Which is tragic and wrong. I’ve seen photos of shows she’s done. But that’s not the same thing. Really. So I was very excited at the prospect of finally seeing her work this weekend.
We headed to CSU Los Angeles and kinda wandered around the theatre. Turnip introduced me to everyone, showed me around, dragged me to the booth and then sat me down while she had to boss people around. Basically she got stuck stage managing the show so she had to tell the running crew what to do. One of them was named Amanda which made me batty. She’d get this authoritative tone going and bellow for “Amanda” and I’d be all, “yes ma’am, what?”. Apparently I’m Manda and the running crew gal was Amanda. How silly of me not to know that. So there was bossing and sitting and Chinese food and whatnot. Then I was sent out to listen to one of the more inane conversations of my life. Well, I was sent out to sit in the audience and watch the show. The eavesdropping was a little bonus.
The pair behind me were reading the program and trying to figure out what pieces their friend was in. The whole company was in everything except one piece which only showcased the choreographer/leader. They didn’t really seem to grasp this until the show was over. Then the woman kept explaining to the man that premiere meant ‘first time, first, premiere, first time, this is the first time they’re doing this, it’s the first, because premiere means first’. Ugh. Seriously, this went on for like a minute or two. So unnecessary. These were college students. Come on. Then they started discussing the Chronicles of Riddick - a movie I have not seen. It was pretty sad film commentary at first, but whatever. Then the woman said there wasn’t enough Judy in it. (And I know her name is Judi but you just KNOW this girl was thinking Judy in her mind, she was!) She thought there would be more Judy from the previews. And the guy went along with it for a minute but finally had to ask who Judy was. She said; “You know, from James Bond?” I wept. And text messaged Turnip all about my pain. And wept some more. Brilliant, beautiful, gifted actress whose career can apparently be summed up with, “You know, from James Bond?” Judi, I am so sorry.
Anyway. The show was okay. I’m not a fan of modern dance. There were moments here and there that I kinda liked, but I did not like the show overall. I found myself thinking about it all too much. In the second piece there was a piece of the set that never got used and that threw me off. And then there was one piece with topless girls. But you couldn’t really tell they were topless. So it wasn’t really much of a statement or costuming choice. And all the dancers kept throwing themselves to the ground. Every now and then there would be a beautifully executed move, but more often there wasn’t. I don’t know. I’m not a dance critic. But Turnip’s lights were lovely. So go Turnip. I’m really glad I got to see it. Now she’s got to bring that one show with the hot boys in it to New York so I can see more of her lighting. And, um, the hot boys.
Then it was strike. And I even got to help a little bit. Not that I think I really saved us any time or anything but it was better than sitting in the green room feeling useless. The dancers were all very nice and kept asking me about New York. And I got to meet some of the folks I’d heard stories about. Heh. But mostly I just wanted to get out of there to begin the drinking. Which we did. Eventually.
Turnip took me to the Cat & Fiddle which is apparently her version of the Stoned Crow. This was my second time there in as many trips to LA. It’s not a bad place. Decent drinks and fries and a large patio area. It was packed when we got there so we grabbed drinks at the bar then wandered back out to get a table on the patio. I hadn’t eaten and wanted dinner. Turnip’s friend GhettoBoy showed up and not long after my friend BeerGuy showed up. Then more people kept coming in. Lots of friends of Turnip’s that I didn’t get to chat with. Ponytail and Goofy did wear Ed’s Shirt though. As well as GhettoBoy. Mostly I ate my veggie burger, drank my vodka tonics and chatted with BeerGuy, GhettoBoy and Turnip. And it was a lovely, lovely night. We finally left at about 2 when they kicked us out. Because LA SUCKS that way. Of course New York might start to suck that way if Bloomberg has anything to say about it. SUCKS!!!! Um, yeah. So… Then Turnip and I headed home to giggle, play with the kitties and eventually get to sleep. We had a big day head of us. Heh. Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee.
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