Check This Out – You’re Welcome.
CALI ROADTRIP – PART 4
11am Monday: Went to breakfast at the Blu Jam. Did a little shopping after that, a little too much shopping apparently, because there was a $58 parking ticket on my car when we got back to it. Oh joy.
2:30pm: On our way to Universal Studios for a special tour! Our host, Paul Falcone (VP of human resources at NBC) reminisced with us about his early days with the company, when he used to be one of the guides. From his large corner office we gazed out the window, across the expansive property. We followed him to where a small herd of golf carts were parked, and hopped in for a ride.
Every time we got to something cool, he’d introduce it – and before we even had a chance to say, “Wow!” He’d say, “You’re welcome.” It cracked me up! Something about that guy was infectious because I feel like he’s rubbed off on us… We had a blast.
4:15pm: Stopped at the liquor store… There was a small hispanic guy inside, just another customer, probably in his late 60′s. For some reason he thought I was special. As I got back in the car with Becky Jean, he noticed where we were parked and came over to chat, leaning in the driver-side window.
“Lets go,” said Becky Jean, totally weirded out. I was still being polite, semi-entertained by the ol’ geezer. We had a bit of a language barrier, but it was clear he wanted to make friends.
“You like to party?” He asked.
“Of course we like to party.” I said. (Duh.) But something told me his idea of partying was a little different than mine…when he pulled a bag of cocaine out of his pocked and tried handing it to us!
“Lets get out of here,” Becky Jean said, with more urgency.
“No thanks,” I said. We got on our way.
5pm: In Burbank now, waiting in line to see Jimmy Kimmel Live! The studio producer is a hot guy named Link, with muscles bulging in a tight t-shirt. He placed us in the second row of the audience, then later, right behind Kimmel for the end of the show, when he 
hypes the CD for the band. They wanted us to look like we were having the time of our lives for the entire duration of the segment. My face hurt from smiling so hard.
9pm: Becky Jean and I met up with Kenzel and B-Star for tacos. After dinner, B-Star came and sat in my car for a few minutes. It didn’t last long, because I it was my first chance to give him a piece of my mind about what happened Friday… and he didn’t exactly take it well.
I ended up kicking him out of the car.
B-Star wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet, but I wasn’t about to let him join us where we were staying, either. So once we were back at the apartment, he came and sat with Becky Jean for a while, outside by my car. After receiving continuous disrespectful treatment from him, I finally lost my temper. I let him know exactly how I felt; that he is acting psychotic, obsessive and that my friend Becky Jean deserves better. In turn, he flipped the script on Becky Jean, demanding that she acknowledge/explain her statements (supposedly made a few days ago) that she might never hang out with me again after this trip. He’s trying to drive a wedge between us! Interesting.
Becky Jean assured me that she said those things on our first night together, when she was uneasy with my free style of traveling. My philosophy, that most strangers are friends who we haven’t met yet, perhaps hadn’t been entirely unveiled. She didn’t like that I hadn’t arranged for us a place to stay in SF – she feared the thought of meeting someone new who might have a spare couch or two.
8:12am Tuesday: Got a call from home to tell me my dog, Peaches, is missing. They said my Dad let the dog out in the middle of the night, and she never came back. Is it really so hard to take care of a dog for a week?! I was afraid of this… Tried to find a friend she could have stayed with while I’m away, to no avail.
Such a bummer.
Plus, I’m still reeling a bit from the situation last night. We have a full day planned, but can’t help but wish I was on my way home, to look for Peaches.
Noon-6pm: Becky Jean’s photo shoot was a wild success. She worked it, out on location at the beach, then came back to the studio for more. The pictures are amazing… She’s a natural.
7pm: Met up with Georgina at Brick & Mortar in Santa Monica. Kenzel came. So did Nate Hassler! We were running low on steam, so we only stayed for a couple hours. Then it was back to West Hollywood for our last night at Pancho’s place.
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Art & Opportunity
CALI ROADTRIP – PART 3
11am – 6pm Saturday: Spent the day at the Brewery, relaxing in the loft while strangers checked out my paintings. It was a neat experience, being able to watch as various people took interest in certain pieces. Going in for a closer looks, making squinty faces, sometimes tilting thier heads to one side, people seemed to enjoy the work. They told me I had a strong hand, and I received genuine compliments from extremely well-respected artists. (Most popular were my kitties, dogs, and people smoking weed.)
A couple friends stopped by, Bobbi and Justin, who I know from Portland (before they moved to LA). Also, my Uncle David and Aunt Patty made the trek, all the way from San Diego. I hadn’t seen them since I was 12 years old, at my cousin Jacob’s bar mitzvah. It was such a hoot to re-connect! My older brother, Jeffrey, hung out for a while too. Toward the end of the day, a friend who also lives in Portland came by, since he happened to be in LA for a grad school interview. We had some wine with the friends and fam, then shut down the loft for the night.
8pm: Went to dinner with my man-friend and his long-time pal at a nice restaurant in Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, by the time the first drinks arrived, Becky Jean’s boyfriend was there to collect her. I opted to stay.
9am Sunday: Woke up cozy, took a shower, had coffee and breakfast. Quite pleasant. Then, got myself a map to get back to Venice Beach…
10:45am: Picked up Becky Jean. I looked forward to hearing about her second night with those guys. Didn’t have to wait long.
She told me her boyfriend (B-Star) felt embarrassed about his friends behavior the night before. B-Star described me entering his friends room, immediately taking off my shirt and climbing into his friend’s bed, which gave the poor guy a hard-on, which meant I must be seducing him and therefore “wanted” to be treated like a sperm receptacle.
The problem with their story is, it isn’t true.
Becky Jean saw through it. We laughed it off and headed back to the Brewery for the art walk, day 2.
11-6pm: Took a little time today, to explore the compound. The Brewery is a huge campus, with several buildings, each one full of several unique artists’ lofts. Thousands of people milled around, most of them with plastic cups of wine or beer in hand. It was a warm, sunny California day.
Somewhere along the way, a tall, silver haired man approached us, introduced himself as a photographer, and gave Becky Jean his card. He said he would love a chance to shoot her. It was merely a coincidence that she and I were already discussing how to go about building her portfolio…
“He wants to shoot you!” I said to Becky Jean, with an elbow to the ribs. She was into it.
I turned to the guy and asked, “How about Tuesday?”
“Tuesday works for me.”
I made sure he wasn’t going to hit her up for money, then we checked out his studio – saw his work is beautiful – and went ahead and penciled him in.
Here are a few images from the weekend:
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The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
CALI ROADTRIP – PART 2
7am Thursday: Woke up in the car, both under one sleeping bag, stretched across the front seats. Our precious parking spot was going to become a dreaded no-parking spot at 8am, so we got moving right away. We needed to find a FedEx, a place to get cleaned up, and some espresso. Becky Jean put her handy smart phone to work…
Sent my Audreality package to the Unscripted Development Pipeline. Parked near a very Portland-esque coffee shop, where we found our new friend, a beautiful, solid glass elephant made in Italy, in a pile of what Becky Jean called “broken treasures” just laying there on the sidewalk (!!!) by my car. She is one of us now; we named her Elly. Together, we grabbed ourselves some espresso, and got back on the highway.
For lunch, we had authentic Mexican food in the small desert town of Paso Robels. Another traveler was wandering by as we got back to the car. He wanted to know where he could get some cheap eats. And he happened to be from Portland! We gave him some snack bars and a couple tangerines, then piled in for the next long segment of our drive.
6:30pm: Arrived in LA, went straight to the Brewery (a huge artist compound) to unload the paintings, then on to my friend Pancho’s. From his place, we walked to Stella, an upscale french cafe and split a few small plates: three meatballs, a bowl of lentils and half an artichoke. We returned to Pancho’s, where Becky Jean slept on the couch, and me, on the living room floor.
9am Friday: Pancho made us coffee and breakfast. We ate with him and his son James, before they took off to see a movie. We had our own mission: back to the Brewery for a brief “signing ceremony” because I had never gotten around to signing most of my paintings. My older half-brother, Jeffrey, met us there, so we followed him to his place to hang out for a while. After that, it was decided that we would spend the evening with Becky’s boyfriend (B-Star) and his gracious host/friend, in Venice Beach.
Yes, I said it. When B-Star heard Becky Jean was going on this road trip, he made it a point to be here too. (more…)
Becky Jean and her Baggage
CALI ROADTRIP – PART 1
11am Tuesday: Becky Jean and I had brunch at the Country Cat, to celebrate the day before our great departure. We had been drooling for weeks over an image of some challah french toast on the cover of Portland Magazine, as it taunted us. When we stepped into the restaurant, there were lots of empty tables. Next to us, a little old lady also waited patiently to be seated at any one of them.
Bubbling over with anticipation for our mouth-watering delight, Becky Jean couldn’t quite contain herself, basically exploding with excitement as she towered over the unsuspecting elderly woman. Looking a little terrified, the lady suggested that we not get our hopes up too high for the so-called amazing french toast, lest we set ourselves up for inevitable disappointment. But we couldn’t help it. We were looking forward to our first of what would be many, taste tickling adventures.
Yes, it was every bit as good as we imagined. In fact, it was better.
5am Wednesday: Becky Jean was dropped off at my place this morning by her boyfriend. (Let’s call him B-Star.) With the trunk full of paintings, we filled the back seats, with her luggage behind the passenger seat, and my luggage behind mine. It was a perfect fit.
We left Portland. She told me that B-star was upset because she went to have special french toast with me instead of him. Aw, I almost felt sorry for poor B-Star, but I could feel my heckles raise from the guilt trip he gave her over it…
Dawn came as we flew south along the I-5 corridor. Eyes burning, we paused in Medford for a short nap and a quick grocery run, then stopped again in Ashland, for espresso and a bathroom break.
“How far past Ashland is California?” I asked, only moments before spotting the Welcome to California sign.
We cheered.
Pink bushes dotted the edge of the freeway and big birds of prey soared overhead. We discovered Mt. Shasta, a magnificent sight, as we inched our way down the map. We passed through some gorgeous wine country.
5pm: It was a solid 12 hours of driving before we reached San Francisco. Two hours before landing, when we realized we still didn’t have a crash pad, we had a brilliant idea. We called the nicest fitness center in town and scored ourselves guest passes! Turns out, the biggest challenge in SF is finding a place to park. Once we figured it out, we ventured on foot, first to the fitness center, where we showered, changed, and worked on a game plan….
We slept in the car.
*To be continued.
BLASTOFF
In less than 24 hours, Becky Jean and I pile into my little car and roll south. Thanks to no shortage of miraculous events and some concentrated steering power, I’ve gathered the items from my ultimate wish list (macbook pro, video camera and gas money) necessary to make the next chapter of Audreality a go.
Follow us as we explore the California coast, then stay tuned to see the art show, where most of my paintings will be seen for the first time outside of Portland. It takes place at the Brewery, one of the world’s largest and most popular artist co-ops. Twice a year they open their doors to the public, and next weekend is the Spring edition, featuring the works of Yours Truly.
Our plan is only loosely bound. If you’ve got tips, suggestions or ideas about places, people and events we should see, please let us know. We look forward to surprises along the way…
In the LA area? Join us March 31 & April 1st for the celebration!
Sun Born
Painted this for my friends who’ve just had their first son… because he is made of stardust! (And you are too.)
Help Bring on the Next Adventure
In a few short weeks, Audreality gets rolling once again, this time on a road trip to LA. With my lovely cohort Becky Jean, we’ll jam my hatchback full of paintings (and a light luggage load) and start heading south. The mission? Get to LA in time for my art show at the Brewery and HOPEFULLY come up with the means to film what would be the next episode of Audreality.
Here’s what we need to make it happen:
- Mac laptop, equipped with iMovie and plenty of memory (gently used is perfectly acceptable)
- Video recording device (may rent, borrow or purchase)
- Petty cash for food, gas & miscellaneous expenses
Think you can help? If you have access to the items above, or are able to assist us with production costs in any way, please let me know ASAP. Lets do this!
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