Growing up, I have a number of memories of visiting museums and galleries, both on family outings and on school field trips. And, I am grateful that I have continued to seek out museums on my own, both in my local community and during trips outside Southern California.

Unsurprisingly, my attitude going into a museum visit has changed dramatically since my elementary school days. I have studied history and art history, allowing me to place a museum's collection in context and making the pieces more immediately interesting. And, naturally, I have more patience and a greater attention span, allowing me to more fully contemplate a museum before I've had enough.

However, even if my understanding or interest was more limited during childhood, the interest had to start somewhere, and my first exposures to history and culture through museums (and even more lowbrow sources such as television) gave me something to hang on to when these subjects were formally introduced in school.

Yesterday, I met up with my friend Amanda, her mom, and her 5-year-old son Matteo in order to visit the Getty Villa, and got to relive the experience of visiting a museum as a child. Naturally, he dictated the itinerary and the pace of the visit, flitting from room to room, running around the courtyards, and directing us to parts of the Villa that were sometimes surprising. And, naturally, this visit included a long sojourn in the kids' activity area, where there were urns to draw on and foam weapons to handle.

So, while this visit to the Villa was very different, and much less thorough, than the one I made last year (accompanied by my grown-up friend Nick), it was nonetheless a valuable learning experience. It is always exciting to see a small kid become engaged with something new (even if the thing he or she focuses on is a tad unexpected), and, over the course of the visit, there were many moments where Matteo became genuinely excited about the centuries-old statues, vases, and decorative items on display. I hope those moments of engagement, and the memories of the visit, stick with Matteo as he grows.

In addition to having a creative side, I am fond of putting together puzzles and crafting things in general. Likewise, I have a tendency to throw myself into various elaborate projects. So, naturally, when I realized that Andy's birthday was coming up, the idea of putting together a special surprise was irresistible.

When I had settled on the basic idea for a surprise party, I gradually started pulling things together: approaching friends, figuring out a good party date (May 4), and doing my best to secure Andy for the party without giving up the game. Matt and Chrissie provided invaluable assistance in figuring out the logistics and streamlining the party plans when things became a little convoluted.

Of course, I wanted to add my special touch to the surprise party. So, before the party even started, I set the tone by putting together a scavenger hunt, complete with rhyming clues and even a couple of fakeouts. I worked on an introductory collage and poem, found a bunch of postcards, figured appropriate hiding places for the clues, and wrote little poems (including a sonnet and a poem in terza rima) to serve as clues.

After a bit of a journaling hiatus, I figured that I would jump back in and return to writing about my life.

2012 is already shaping up to be a memorable year, in ways that are both exciting and challenging. Though it is unclear where I will be by December, it'll be fairly different than where I was this January, which is not true of many, or most, years.

( Dating and Cleaning and Comics... )

I found both of these recipes using the Epicurious iPhone App, which I find to be an invaluable tool when I want to try and make something to eat.

For this week's assignment, our teacher had the class members fill out two pieces of paper: one with a job title, and one with a slightly unusual activity. Everyone put their pieces of paper in two separate piles, and drew a job and activity from the pile. The assignment was to craft a story in which the protagonist holds the job described, and the story ends with the activity described.

The cards I drew:

• Deli Clerk
• Massages a lover's back (actually, the card originally read "pops pimples off a lover's back," but I took some liberties)

One of the benefits of writing for a class is that it inspires you to write outside your comfort zone, or at least to write stories that you wouldn't write if left to your own devices. I don't know that I'd put this story together on my own, but I had fun working on it.

I sometimes feel slightly self-conscious if I'm writing about a romantic couple. It feels almost like writing science fiction for an audience of space aliens; even if the story makes sense to my eyes, I worry that it is ridiculous in a way that I can't perceive. But, I suppose that's true of anybody writing a story that is a bit outside of their own experience, and most good writers find ways of understanding outside perspectives and experiences in an authentic way.

    Two weeks, to the day, after he started working in the family deli, Leo took up the cause of vegetarianism. Not for moral reasons, mind you: he didn’t think too hard about the indiscriminate slaughter of animals for food, and, after all, did not mind profiting from the practice. But, all day and every day, Leo was forced to handle meat, in all of its visceral messines. He ground it up, cut it up, saw slimy films of grease and blood congeal over the unprocessed flesh before it was cleaned up and readied for display.
    Leo knew precisely what went into a hotdog, and, as Bismark wisely noted, such knowledge was the opposite of desirable. Vegetables, crisp and clean, were more his speed.
    Long story short, Leo would forswear the sight of meat, its slime, its messiness, outside of work hours.
    Fortunately, during work hours, Leo was protected. His thick hair was contained in a net, a jaunty paper hat atop his head. A long-sleeved, polyester dress shirt, immaculately cleaned, covered his tanned arms, and a smock, emblazoned with the family name and a picture that Leo thought looked like a Mario Brother, further shielded him from the occasional splatter. Finally, and most importantly, his hands were continually encased in a pair of disposable rubber gloves.
    So, day in and day out, eight-thirty to five, Leo would, at arms’ length, encounter the disgustingness, taking some relief from the idea that he was removed from the, no pun intended, meat of it. Then, after performing a cleaning routine and closing up for the night, he would take the subway to Jackson Heights and his tidy little apartment.
    But this Thursday, he would get a reprieve; Marta, he learned, had finished her first college semester and would be taking the train back from Rutgers. She had wanted to see him. She had wanted to see him with some insistence. Little Marta, who had teased him when the two were in grade school, and who helped him with homework during junior high, and who bestowed him with his first kiss in high school. The two had remained pen “more than” pals during her long semester away, and now, for the first time in months, she was coming back. And she didn’t want to be picked up by her mom and dad at Grand Central Station. No, she wanted Leo to be there.
    Ma and pa, who had always liked Marta, practically pushed Leo out the deli door at two o’clock on Thursday. Flower in hand, and a timid smile on his face, he walked to the station, taking care not to destroy his outfit by splashing in a muddy puddle. His uneven breaths, visible in the cold winter weather, stood as witness to his nervousness. Leo breathed in and crossed the threshold to the station, and made his way towards the coffee stand where the two had agreed to meet.
    Leo ordered a decaf coffee, grabbed a handful of napkins, wiped the crumbs off an empty coffee table, plucked a book from his messenger bag, began reading, and was shocked when, from out of nowhere, he was confronted with a tight embrace and several sloppy kisses from Marta. He smiled and gave her a single-armed hug before the two headed towards the 7 line and Jackson Heights. Leo trailed slightly behind a skipping Marta, obliquely using one of the napkins to wipe the lipstick from his face. Leo sped up and awkwardly touched the tip of her fingers; Marta happily clutched Leo’s hand and did not let go until they reached the apartment building.
    Marta scurried up the apartment steps and down the hall; Leo walked up carefully, trying not to get too far behind. He smiled, and proudly opened the door to his well-maintained, if small, room. Marta giggled, pulled Leo in, and shut the door behind them.
    Leo tried not to show his surprise. “It’s so good to see you, Marta. It’s been so long...”
    Marta wrapped her arms around Leo’s neck, and the two kissed again. “I’ve missed you so much.” She loosened her grip and smiled.
    She gave him a strange look. “Y’know, Leo, there is something I have been wanting to try, and I saw this in the store and thought ‘why not,’ and...”
    Leo looked at her lovingly and inquisitively. “What is it?”
    Marta slowly pulled out a bottle of massage oil from her backpack. “I’ve never had a massage before, and thought it sounded so nice. Y’know, someone’s hands on my back, the oil seeping into my skin, just so soothing. We can do it right now.”
    Leo tried not to betray his skittishness, and tried to think of something other than those oils, now in their pretty little bottle, sullying his nice clean little bed. But, how could he say no to Marta? He had always liked her, maybe he had... well, he had loved her. Leo blinked and gave a small smile.
    “That sounds wonderful.”
    “Great! I’ll be in the bedroom.” Marta handed the dreaded bottle to Leo and scampered over to the next room, where Leo could barely see her removing her top and lying down on the comforter.
    Leo gulped and followed her. Closing his eyes, he opened the bottle, poured its contents onto his hands. He preemptively shuddered.
    But... what he expected, what he feared, didn’t feel so bad after all. To Leo’s surprise, the oil on his hands didn’t disgust him; it felt cool and smelled of lavender. He could see his girlfriend looking over her shoulder and smiling elusively. This would actually be... nice.
    Leo grinned back at his girlfriend, gently put his hands on her back, and commenced with the massage.

This week's assignment:

This week's assignment:

This week's assignment:
Using the characters below (or come up with your own character - we are looking for cliché characters that we will make unique through characterization), write a scene individualizing your character through particular details that will make us sympathize and/or identify with him or her. Do this for two characters.

• An absent-minded professor
• A lazy laborer
• An aging film star
• A domineering wife
• Her timid husband
• A tyrannical boss
• A staggering drunk

This week's assignment: Two characters have known each other a long time. Your characters can be friends, a married couple, a father and son, any two characters. Decide which of the two is your protagonist.
- Have the protagonist reveal something about themselves to the other character, or vice versa.
- Have this new piece of knowledge cause some sort of conflict.
- Have your protagonist learn something new about THEMSELVES at the end.

I had guessed (correctly) that most people would be writing stories involving romantic couples, or proto-couples, and I had just written a story involving a husband and wife, so I avoided writing a story about a couple. My first instinct was to write a story about a 'master' who seemed to effortlessly perform his or her craft, revealing to a longtime fan that the sublime effects that he or she created were the result of some sort of trickery or behind-the-scenes work. The admirer would be let down that the performance wasn't, in some sense, "real." The master would not quite understand the conflict, believing that it was the effect achieved that was ultimately important. But I had trouble figuring out the specifics in a way that would work, so I decided to run with something different.

Errands
“Hey, uh... thanks for the ride, man.”
“No problem at all. I have something to do in the area, myself.”
Harold entered Simon’s immaculate green Prius, a slightly clammy sensation coursing through his body. Harold half-swallowed before taking in a purposefully deep breath of air.
It was times like this when Harold hated L.A. Everything you could ever want to do was right there... if you had a car. And, when Harold’s carburetor decided to shuffle off this mortal coil, he faced a week of begging and bumming rides from his buddies. Now, this was okay when it was something simple like a supermarket run, but he didn’t like the idea of people knowing where he was going from day to day, and really wished he could take today’s trip alone. And of all the people who might volunteer to take him there! Simon just had to step up.
Now, Harold didn’t have anything against Simon; he considered Simon to be a pretty cool guy, all things considered. He even wrote reviews for a local alt-weekly... like, he was literally paid to be cool and above it all. Which was the problem.
Harold’s eyes widened as the car started, and an unfamiliar melody started to emanate from the speakers. Some sort of ‘world music,’ he thought. Harold concentrated for a moment, and thought he could detect a steel drum, and perhaps a hint of didgeridoo. But really, he had no clue. Harold sighed, and looked plaintively inside his messenger bag. There, sandwiched carefully between a biography of Hemmingway and a worn-looking Moleskine notebook, was the reason for the day’s outing: a comic book.
Harold furtively peered at the cover of the comic. In the center, there was a very silly drawing of a caped hero fighting a squid, and the title “Titanius #23: The Undersea Epic Concludes!” was splayed across the page. Towards the bottom, an unpretentious credit, reading “created by Jon Husk,” was visible. Harold became tense. The reclusive Mr. Husk would be signing at a local comic store today. He could feel his heart beating. Still, Harold wasn’t sure whether he was excited about getting his memento signed, or nervous about the possibility that Simon the Critic would find out what he was doing, and the trash he was into.
“So, where are we going again, exactly?,” inquired Simon.
“...Just drop me off on the corner of Vermont and Lexington. I’ll call when I’m ready to go.”
“I’ll go ahead and park, unless you’re in a hurry. I need to get out too, after all.”
“N...no. Not in a hurry.”
Simon pulled over, got out of the Prius, and put some coins in the meter. Harold slowly rose and extricated himself from the passenger seat. Simon locked the car door, and the two guys, one relaxed and one tense, began heading east. ‘If I hang back, Simon’ll go wherever he’s going, and I’ll slip in the comics shop, and get the thing signed, and shake Mr. Husk’s hand, and be outta there and Simon’ll be none the wiser!’
Simon turned. “Harold, did you hurt your leg? You seem to be walking a bit slowly.”
“Oh, no. I’m fine!” Harold blushed as he scampered up. ‘There’s a vintage record shop just around the corner and I bet that’s where he’s going and if I can just pretend I’m going a few stores past and I double back and go back to the comic store then...”
Simon stepped inside the comic store.
Harold stood still. “Simon, what are you...? Are you, um, reviewing an art comic this week?”
Simon smiled broadly and grabbed something from his satchel... it was another Titanius comic. This one had the hero facing off against a tribe of Amazons and their pet tigers. Harold blinked. “Nope, I’m just here for the Jon Husk signing. I know this comic is pretty ridiculous, but you have to embrace what you love, right?”
After taking a deep, calming breath, Harold nodded, and, smiling for the first time that day, he proudly followed Simon into the shop.

I have started taking an eight-week writing workshop, and am looking forward to it. If nothing else, I look forward to the challenge of being 'forced' to turn in some creative writing each week.

This week, we discussed the basics of plot, and turned in our first exercises. The assignment was to "create your own story where a character's expectation of something is dashed completely." I have written out my assignment below.

It is slightly hard to believe that I use so many different apps which relate to timekeeping, and it is curious that managing and controlling time has become such a priority. I suppose that, when one is working, it inevitably becomes important.

I have mentioned the Sleep Cycle timer and the Timer With Sections in the past. Sleep Cycle is an alarm system which wakes you up when you're at the most 'awake' part of your sleep cycle and keeps track of sleep patterns. Timer With Sections allows you to plan out and time a routine; I use it to schedule, and stick to, a morning routine.

I have also tried using apps to keep track of my work hours.

Because I sometimes work from home (or the coffee shop), I need to keep track of the hours I bill so that I can later enter my time into the system at work. For a long time, I would make do by recording the time on scraps of paper, but that system left a lot to be desired. I've tried out a few timekeeper apps, but I have sometimes found their interfaces to be awkward or not well suited to the kind of billing I need to do.

The app that I've found most useful is called On The Clock; I like that it allows me to set interval times (I bill using 6 minute intervals, so that 6 minutes = .1 hours), and I think the interface is more straightforward than the other ones I've seen.

I record time by clicking on the task to get the clock running during periods of time when I am working. If I need to take a break, I can stop the clock, and can start recording again once I am ready.

The app will organize and summarize the accumulated time for various tasks into a daily summary. The summary is easy to read, and can be emailed or reviewed on my phone if I have it handy.

The one critique I have of this app is that the Tasks and Clients sections are too crowded, and the tasks or cases you're not working on cannot be "hidden" or minimized; I would prefer it if the app allowed you to minimize tasks you were not currently engaged in, but which you might need to work on later (I can, and do, delete task listings, but that also has the effect of deleting records related to that task from the Summary page).

However, despite this minor shortcoming, I have found this app to be very helpful in allowing me to keep track of the work I do outside the office, and makes it that much easier to work from home.

I've found myself making some minor but important changes (both intentional and unintentional) to my habits and routine, and they seem to be having a positive effect so far. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep the momentum and make these improvements last.

First of all, I've been trying to keep a more consistent morning routine. While I have been using a Timer app to plan out my routine, I've nonetheless struggled to find the energy or motivation to get out the door in a timely fashion.

Although I have to bill a certain number of hours by the end of every year, I don't have to start work at a particular time unless I have a court appearance or another commitment. This level of flexibility can often be helpful, but, if one is not disciplined, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of arriving late, working late to make up for it, and going to sleep late.

I have therefore pledged to get a reasonably early start in the mornings, and, in order to create a certain level of urgency, I have decided to create immediate consequences for any tardiness.

I have decided that I ought to be ready to leave (i.e. seated inside my car) at a given time each morning; for every minute that I am late on a particular day, I pledge 25 cents to the charity of the month (which might carry over if I don't end up running late that month). While the consequences aren't dire if I am a little late one day, they provide the necessary motivation for me to rally and meet my goal. Plus, the charges prevent me from becoming complacent and getting an even later start, since I'm more aware of the consequences of sticking around.

I don't allow for 'deductions' if I arrive a few minutes early, because (1) it's more important for me to keep a consistent schedule, and (2) I don't want to rationalize a late morning by assuming that I can 'make it up' the next day, as that strategy never works.

So far, the strategy has been pretty helpful. I'm hoping to extend it to weekends when I can, since 'wasted' Saturdays and Sundays can be so discouraging, and I'd like to get an earlier start on my days off.

I've also curbed my caffeine consumption considerably, although the decision to do so was not entirely voluntary.

I've started wearing Invisalign attachments to correct some minor misalignments on my teeth; as the name implies, they are transparent plastic molds that are placed over the teeth and exert pressure in order to realign them. Naturally, a person has to keep them in as much as possible in order to achieve good results, and they're also a bit of a hassle to remove.

One thing about the aligners: you can't eat with them in, since food could stain or otherwise damage the aligner. With the exception of water, drinks are also out.

Which means I've been drinking a lot less tea, and a lot more water. This is probably a good thing.

On another note, I've started using Spotify, and I really enjoy it. I find that having some Classical music readily available really helps me get through the day at work.

Location:Sunset Blvd,Los Angeles,United States

I have finally finished the process of getting my old posts moved from LiveJournal to Blogger. I did not include a few posts (either because the material was "too sensitive," too dull, or reliant on broken links/photos), and cleaned up some minor mistakes, but it is 95% the same. I am hoping to get a couple of old written journal entries up there as well. In going through the many old entries, I've also come to appreciate the archive system that Blogger has; it's a lot easier to look through the less recent entries with their system, so it's nice to reproduce the entries in a more accessible format.

Most of the journal entries I've found date from 2000 or later, but I did find a charming letter that I wrote to myself in 8th grade. Among the blog entries, I've also come across some interesting things, like the record of my 2003 London Program adventures (beginning here), a bunch of old "interviews," and stuff from one of Chrissie's student films.

( Read more... )

The past month was bookended by two pretty unpleasant events. Fortunately, the month has also had its share of fun times, and even the more negative experiences were not as bad as they could have been.

On the first, I sustained some nasty burns over my entire face as a result of a household incident involving a blast of hot water. For various reasons, I can't go into too much detail here, but, fortunately, my injuries have largely healed (though I still need to be careful about sun exposure). And I am eternally grateful that my eyes were closed when it happened, sparing me a much more profound injury.

During the afternoon of July 30, I was the victim of an attempted robbery. I was in right in front of the Gelson's on Franklin when I stopped to use my phone (I was entering the cost of my recent haircut into a budgeting app). Suddenly, a guy grabbed my wrist and tried to wrest the phone from my hands. I screamed almost immediately and held my phone tightly; after a short struggle, the guy gave up and made a break for it.

I am pretty grateful to the neighborhood people who came out and helped to scare away the wannabe thief, and very relieved that I still have my phone. It is pretty baffling that someone would be desperate enough to commit a crime under such risky circumstances; muggings in dark alleys are a cliche for a reason, after all.

In better news, my birthday was on the 11th. I had a late celebration on the 30th in Barnsdall Art Park; the party was continued because I worried about conflicts caused by Carmageddon (which turned out to be a non-event) and Comic-Con, and also because I wanted to give my face some time to heal.

Barnsdall is a small park centered around a Frank Lloyd Wright house, and provided a fun and relaxing space for a picnic. I had a great time catching up with everyone who came out.

In addition to the "official" birthday party, I was treated to some great birthday meals from thoughtful friends and family members. Thanks, everyone!

I was also able to attend a fun wedding shower for my friends Monica and Michael earlier in the month. It was a low key get-together, and a nice opportunity to reconnect with people. They left this Saturday (the 30th) to get married back east. Congratulations to both of them!

I was also able to stop by my family home and pick up all of my old sketchbooks and artwork. It's always inspiring to see where I've come from. I am also hoping to post some of my old pictures and (less personal) journal entries when I get the chance.

I don't know what to expect from August, but I hope it is fun-filled and relatively trauma-free.

As I've mentioned previously, I am trying to be more conscious of my finances,and have enlisted my iPhone to assist me with this goal. I started out by creating a simple list of monthly expenses and by (finally) setting up an online banking account. Now, I am trying to become a little more sophisticated in my efforts.

( Say hello to Saver, Ace, and Mint... )

Since joining Google+, I've found myself gravitating toward some of Google's other services. I've joined Picasa in order to upload photos to my account. I've set up a Google voice number (because it has nice screening and blocking features, it is useful to have it as a semi-public number).

I've also set up a Blogger account.

It is strange to think about, but I have been blogging, in one form or another, for nearly ten years; I joined Livejournal back in the fall off 2001, and kept updating it until I got my law firm job in 2007. Since then, I've written a few posts on Facebook Notes and, more recently, Tumblr.

However, I'm excited about trying out Blogger; Tumblr isn't really designed for longer posts, and Blogger seems a bit more accessible than Livejournal these days.

So, I'll see how it goes. I've started moving my old Livejournal, Notes, and Tumblr posts (at least the halfway interesting ones) to Blogger. It has been fun to take a trip down memory lane, and it is kind of nice to have a mirror version of the more significant posts.

Ultimately, I think I'll use the Blogger as my primary account, and use Tumblr when I want to share short observations, pictures, and videos. Since my new blogging app lets me post to multiple blogs at once, I'll try to crosspost new entries on my Livejournal as well, just in case anyone is still following.

This should be fun!