Tag Archives: movies

Adding Some (A LOT) Things

It’s been about two weeks since last I posted – as anyone knows, the pandemic and associated social distancing, etc is still going on, and probably will be for quite a while longer.  Things really aren’t that exciting, in other words.   But Nicki has come over every weekend and that has made the time go by a little better, as the weekends don’t feel just the same anymore.   I’d probably have lost my mind even more if we didn’t start doing this.

So, since you know this bitch loves to post pictures, here are some from the last few weeks.  Keep scrolling though as I will go into the things I’ve added.   I promise.

PwC gave us a 4-day weekend for the Fourth of July.  It was much needed.  On Thursday, July 2, which most people didn’t have off, I decided I’d finally make myself go out to Target.  I hadn’t been since the lockdown began, so some time in early March?  I was worried a little, but happily, everyone had masks on, it wasn’t super crowded, the lines were organized, and people respected each other’s personal spaces.   I spent more money than I probably should have, but that haul included getting two more Ticket to Ride games, Europe and NYC.   Spoiler alert, Ticket to Ride Europe is fantastic, challenging, and the only I’ve really got a shot at beating Nicki at.  Anyway, on Thursday, I also cleaned the house pretty good, including mopping the floors with my favorite mop.  Larry is rolling his eyes somewhere.

Random asides:

Floor is Lava:  During this weekend, I binged the Netflix series, Floor is Lava.  Holy shit, it’s amazing.  Imagine a big obstacle course you take on as a 3-person team, but the ground is instead “lava” that you have to not fall into.  The goal is to get to the exit on the other side of the room, and holy shit it’s not easy.  I loved every episode.  The first episode had those 3 guys in the American Flag tank tops above, and I loved them all.  All the episodes included plenty of attractive men, and the winners were often surprising.  Anyway, amazing show.  Give me more!

Ticket to Ride – Europe:  This game is so fun, and so perfect.   The core USA game is also a blast, but the Europe board really adds a lot of complexity and a forced ‘long route’ means you can’t avoid a painful cross-continent route.  Tunnels and ferries are also a great addition to the challenge.   I’ve played these on the app before, but the real thing is just so fun.

On Friday, July 3, I then got the courage to go to Ralph’s for the first time since March too.   I do appreciate Instacart’s convenience, but man, that got expensive quick.  All the surcharges plus you don’t get the discounts from store memberships really add up.

Nicki came over on Saturday for the Fourth of July, and we had a nice rooftop afternoon of Ticket to Ride Europe and music and drinking.  For dinner, I fired up the grill and made hamburgers and hot dogs.   Made hamburger patties from one of the ground beef packets I got from Butcher Box, so happily I’m chipping away at all the meat I’ve been storing up.   I actually had to go down to every 2 months as I just don’t get to the meat that regularly.  So to speak.  In the evening, we began our watch of Search Party Season 3, which is amazing and continues the show’s slide into darkness (while also mixed with hilarity).   We took a break though, as Nicki had to experience what fireworks in the SFV are like.   That’s shorthand for fireworks (illegal or not) being launched EVERYWHERE you could see from the roof.  I’ll have to post the pictures I took last year when Larry and I enjoyed the festivities from the roof and update a link here when I do, as I didn’t bother this year taking pictures, but anyway, her mind was suitably blown.  It really is ridiculous.

Search Party, Season 3:  This group of friends wades ever deeper into the holes they keep digging, and it’s impossible not to binge this entire season at once to see what happens.   These 4 characters, as well as those that get wrapped up in their orbit, can at times be the worst, and it’s just so watchable.    Of course, it ends on yet another really surprising cliffhanger, and online it sounds like the 4th season has already been filmed?   Let’s hope, because jesus.

On Sunday, July 5, Nicki and I ended up also binging one more show before she went home, which is a wonderful show called I Am Not Okay With This.  I’m not sure how much to reveal, but the trailer here should be enough to make you want to watch, as it is another really fun show and one where it’s like, I’m ready for the next season:

I’m a sucker for anything Fireball Island, and I found out that another expansion had been released.  Yes, I realize that I have played this game only a handful of times as it does take a lot of setup and a lot of explanation of rules, but it is just the funnest fucking game to look at and once you play, and those fireballs start flying?   HELLS YES.   I got the latest expansion and had to put it together, and here are the results.  One day we’ll play this.

On Sunday night, I also challenged myself with another ambitious (for me) dinner recipe, making a ribeye steak, using a recipe I found online.  It included making it in the cast iron skillet, along with creating a thyme, rosemary, and garlic in-pan sauce, which omg was amazing.   I documented it as what else do I have to do?

The work week, like all work weeks since the pandemic, is a blur.  It was particularly painful this week coming after a 4-day weekend.  Fuck that.  But every day, more yoga (yay, Adriene! I’m currently in the True 30-day program and up to 140 days now?   wow), and while I backed off of my every day also doing jump-roping and/or band workout, I still do my best to add one of those at least after yoga.    Then it’s work work work until around 6?   Then cooking or something, and I’ll watch TV or play video games.   I’m back on my Railway Empire kick after over a year not playing it.   I started playing that back when Larry first got sick – I was terrible at it, so i gave it up.  Then there was an association with Larry being sick, so I kinda didn’t play it again, but I did pick it back up as Anno 1800 can be so overwhelming.   Anyway, that has been my game of choice lately, and it’s a satisfying thing.  I think I want to start another of my action-adventure games soon.  Will have to figure out which one.

Anyway, this weekend came – and it was kind of epic.  Yesterday, in particular, a lot of cool stuff.   First up, Mixtiles!  Alright, so I may have to post the first set of Mixtiles pics that I took from last year, when I printed out 16 of my favorite LA shots that I’d taken.  Larry and I then put them up on the first stairwell – and I loved them.  But these weren’t people pictures – purely scenery, so you know, totally pretentious.  So here’s the pictures from that fun activity with me and Larry.  🙂   I did put these on FB when we did it, and it’s posts like that which keep me from deleting FB entirely, as especially this last year, I didn’t post on my site much at all, but I would go on FB occasionally.  Anyway:

June 2, 2019 – The First Mixtiles Adventure (w/ Larry)

As you can see, the result was spectacular.  Honestly, I was so proud of how this turned out, and the work Larry and I did to make our home special.  The rest of the year went to shit, obviously, as soon after this day, Larry had an appt at City of Hope where we got the first terrible news that things were not good and then obviously it wasn’t.   I’m glad that I have many memories of us and him before that, and it was those things that I realized I needed to see as well.

Last month then, I went through my pictures from the last few years.  I didn’t want to go back too far, so I stuck to like 2016 or so and after.   I wanted memories of things that made me happy, and to capture Larry in his healthy, happy days.  Also, I wanted pictures of my friends and family up too, as I really didn’t have any printed out.  I absolutely love the Mixtiles concept – they’re so easy to use (no nails – it’s all contact strips and easy enough to take down and rearrange if needed) and the image quality is really something.  I ended up picking 44 images that made me happy.  I finally got them delivered last week, and I wanted to wait to put them up once Nicki was here as it was good to have a sounding board and someone creative who has ideas.

My initial concept was to do something with the entry floor wall.   It was unused and boring, especially facing the bright blue wall we painted down there.  Then I got FORTY-FOUR Mixtiles and was like, oh shit, did I buy too many?   You can see that they don’t seem big on the wall, but in the delivery box, they kind of seem bigger?

You may have noticed that these Mixtiles I chose a different format.   In the first round of scenic shots, I had them add a white border (pseudo-mat). It made the pics look kinda classy.  But for these people pics, I wanted as much pic as possible.   So they filled the frame, and I think that also made them feel bigger.   So I started to panic thinking there’s no way they’ll fit on the wall alone.

When Nicki came over yesterday, Saturday, July 11, we got to work figuring out with some rough math approximations what would work.   44 splits evenly only with 4 rows of 11 pics, and that wouldn’t work all that well.   Larry and I had used the deck-of-cards trick to separate the first round of Mixtiles, and I wanted to do that again as I love that spacing.   So Nicki and I settled on 5 rows of 8 pics, hoping that the top row wouldn’t seem so high.   We kind of tried to approximate it before committing, and it didn’t seem too bad.  Happily, we were right.   We took 40 of the pictures and rocked the hell out of the entry wall – it looks fantastic.  I chose the 4 that wouldn’t be part of this 4 for another area, as you’ll see soon.

I am unbelievably happy with how well this turned out.  It’s also kind of overwhelming – a lot of love on that wall, and it reminds me of what I, and all of us, have been robbed of.   Larry is dead and I still can’t accept that and miss him and need him here.  I also miss my friends and the ability to go be with them.   Grieving in this manner is not normal and I recognize I occasionally lose my fucking mind.  It’s not fun. So I do things like this to work through it – and as I said in my social media post, this is a way to walk to work and see my friends and family.  🙂

Upstairs, on the landing heading downstairs, that’s where i put the last 4 pictures:

Chose 4 pictures for up here

I love these pics of us, and I can’t tell you how magical that picture of Larry looking out at that beautiful sky (and rainbow – which you can just barely see here) is.  Anyway, he was and is loved, and I fucking miss him.  But we had 10+ amazing years together, and that’s not nothing.

Yet this day was not done.  I had enlisted Nicki’s help when she first got here, so I then allowed us to have a sun break, so back to the roof deck for sun and Ticket to Ride fun.

Not a weekend without Ticket to Ride Europe

We headed back inside after a few hours as it was easily 100 degrees, and even under a deck umbrella, it’s still effing hot.  So we watched The Old Guard movie on Netflix, and holy shit, watch that movie.   IT’S SO FUCKING GOOD, and like everyone else on Twitter says, where’s the goddamned sequel because damn.   Charlize Theron (and everyone else) was so good in this, and the story was so compelling, and the mythology, everything…..damn.   SO GOOD.

While watching the movie, we took a break as we got a Facetime call from Alyssa & Jon because it was Rachel’s 4th birthday and she got a Travel Barbie from her Uncle Hobie (and Larry).   So we got to celebrate a little with them (and Fran and Joel, who were over).   I do love them all so much.

A delicious pot roast dinner was on tap for the evening, and it was wonderful.   Nicki brought asparagus and it was so good, and the slow cooker was a champ with the roast.   YUM.

And FINALLY, something I’ve been thinking about since the first time Larry & I toured the Glen LA model homes:   a fucking rooftop theater is now my reality.  Seriously.   So, we’d had ideas about how to do it from Day One, but of course it’s not a priority thing to do, and with everything else that happened last year, rooftop cinema was put on hold.   We did end up getting the surround sound speakers installed in the living room, which holy shit, that’s still some awesome shit, and Larry definitely got to enjoy that.   Actually, I’m gonna post those pictures here too, as this blog post is not nearly long enough.  When watching The Old Guard in the early evening, it was stunning how good the sound was.

July 6, 2019 – Getting Surround Sound Speakers!!!!!!

Anyway, that detour into 2019 was necessary.  I was so thrilled getting that in place, and knew waiting on that with the news we had was foolish – let’s just make this part of our lives more enjoyable as Larry and I both loved watching movies and he knew I’d always wanted a kick-ass experience for home.

Back to July 2020 – I’d been really wanting to do something for the roof.  I can see my neighbors have done various things that i’m envious of – especially market lights, which is probably the final thing to do as Larry really wanted those.  I’ve seen TVs mounted on the wall, a white sheet hang on the wall….but I’ve not really wanted that.   So I did some research and a projector and screen seemed the best bet.   I still didn’t want to mount anything on the exterior of my house, so I did find a solution for finding a screen that could be affixed to a stand-alone structure that could be assembled and disassembled fairly easily.  The projector though was going to be key – you could totally skimp out and buy something cheap but you’re gonna get what you pay far.   I did a google search and Wired had a listing of various Bests concerning projectors.   My spidey-sense was tingled when I saw the BenQ projector option, and lo and behold, it’s a really popular projector.  So popular, it’s sold out everywhere.   Having used it myself now, I understand why.   I did find a listing on eBay with a $200 markup, and while initially hesitant, I pulled the trigger.   I also couldn’t find the recommended Yard Master screen anywhere (sold out everywhere) and I noticed it was kind of fucking expensive.   So in Amazon, I did find an alternate which had decent reviews, and was 100 inches.   YAS QUEEN.  The one little thing that called out to me was that one of the reviews pointed out that the structure holding the screen is really deep – like 4 feet or so.   I did the measurements where I had wanted the screen to get set up and was like, 4 feet?  That’s fine.

I got the projector first and did a test run setting it up in my bedroom using the Apple TV from the guest room.  Fran had made use of that Apple TV while she was here in 2019, but now it was sitting unused as Michancy and Nicki weren’t using it.   So I had my entertainment streaming device, hooked it up to the projector, and prayed that I hadn’t been sold a lemon.   I had not.

This BenQ projector is absolutely no joke.  The picture quality is fantastic.  Even against just a white wall, the image quality is outstanding.   It’s not a 4K projector and I honestly don’t need that as an HD DLP projection is stunning.  If you’re in the market for a proejctor, this one is well worth considering.  You can see though, even in these images, that a reflective white surface of a screen is going to help the images pop, so while I do love that I actually have the option of watching something in bed, the image can get better.

So last night, after dinner, it was time to test it out!  First thing was figuring out how to assemble the screen’s frame – and come to the realization that a 4 foot depth was a lie.   This thing easily has a 6 foot depth, which is bigger than expected.  (Thank god for Nicki btw, as I was buzzed enough and the directions and darkness were enough for me to give up, but she persisted, and yay for that!)  My thought of having it in the nook of the roofdeck was not going to work.   But I saw how big the triangle was of the support frame and saw it could easily fit around the deck umbrella support, and holy shit, it was perfect.   The deck furniture worked facing that way, the distance was perfect, and if the neighbors wanted to watch a movie with us, they totally could (and they did, honestly.  I could hear them looking which was awesome).   I was trying to get the Bose speaker hooked up to be the sound, but I just couldn’t.  It was dark, i was somewhat buzzed, and the projector’s speakers were fine, which is kind of awesome.

We could have watched any new movie, but I didn’t want to.   I wanted to watch a Larry favorite in his memory, and so I chose Back to the Future.   Let me tell you, watching that on that fucking 100 inch screen was AMAZING.   Like, I do not need to go a movie theater again.  The sound up there is obviously the lacking part, but honestly, it didn’t suck either.  And the picture was huge, and it was crystal clear.   It was magical.   i’m excited to watch other favorites this summer as at night, even if it’s been 100 degrees during the day, that makes for really comfortable evenings.   That was kind of a motivation for me to just get the projector too – to take advantage of the good weather.

Geez that was a lot of pictures and stuff.   But honestly, it was an epic day.  I’m glad to have had the detours back to 2019 as I remember those moments fondly and vividly.

This morning, Nicki and I had breakfast and watched the Hulu movie Palm Springs with Andy Samberg and Cristin Millioti and wow, what a fantastic movie.   Groundhog Day style plot but a really entertaining twist on it with great comedic performances.

And that’s that – time to relax and enjoy the rest of this Sunday afternoon.   I hope to talk with my mom a little, drink some more, and consider setting up the roofdeck cinema again for something like The Empire Strikes Back, which I heard was the number one movie in America this weekend as the only things counting towards box office gross are drive-in movies!!!  WHAT THE FUCK WORLD IS THIS.

The Ridiculously Awesome “Reunited Apart” Series by Josh Gad

I just finished watching the latest (and last, for this “season”) Youtube video series put on by Josh Gad (Book of Mormon, “Olaf”) and I’m in such a great mood.   Since the Pandemic started, he has put together the Zoom calls to end all Zoom calls by reuniting casts from epic 1980s movies – so basically, these are dream reunions for us in Gen X.   Not only is it awesome on its own that he does that, but he’s also raising money for various charities to help support those hurt by the pandemic’s economic toll, so I am only too happy to chip in $50 here and there to help.   Today’s episode that I watched?   Fuckin’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, that’s what!!!!!

It’s so goddamn good, and the entire time I had a smile or was laughing.   Honestly, nearly EVERYone from the cast was there (with the exception of Jeffrey Jones as he ended up getting convicted of pedophilia, so yeah, he’s persona non grata), even freakin’ Ben Stein AND in a surprise cameo at the very end, Kristy Swanson.   The 45 minutes blow by so damn fast watching Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck (who Larry & I saw at the In N Out in Burbank one time!), Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey, the parents, and more reminisce and re-enact scenes.   That movie is just the greatest.   I actually recently rewatched it some time during the pandemic and it just holds up so well.   The parade scene, everything.

You gotta watch till the end for obvious reasons, but there’s also a fantastic John Hughes dedication that brings out a TON of brief re-enactment cameos from mega stars of John Hughes’ movies, and I can’t stop laughing at Jane Krakowski reciting her “french kiss” line from National Lampoon’s Vacation.   It’s such a perfect line for her and she fucking delivers it just perfectly, still.

There have been other reunions that Josh Gad has hosted – I watched the first one for The Goonies and that was spectacular.  Also watched the one for Splash, but I haven’t seen them all.   I highly recommend you seek them out, as they’re magical, especially if you’re in the Gen X timeframe like me.   Larry would have fucking loved watching these.

Ups and Downs

No doubt that this is a really hard time.   For me, for sure, but for everyone.   But yeah, I’ll say I’ve got a bit of an extra heaping of bullshit that can overwhelm me at times.   I had a bad Wednesday.  It was not good.  My friends helped me out of it.  I would like to say I’ll avoid getting into that mindset again, and I’ll certainly try – but that kind of feeling kind of is just hard to avoid 100% of the time.  Anyway, I guess that’s enough to let you know that I’m trying my best to keep going and I can do so because of my friends and certain parts of family.   Enough said I guess there.   I’m just going to post some fun pictures and tell some stories briefly about good things that have been going on, fun stuff I’ve been watching or playing, howza bout that?

Crossrope:  I added jumping rope to my exercise activities.   So in addition to my daily yoga (I’m up to 126 days straight! go me! Thanks Yoga with Adriene!) I now will either do some jump rope routine or I’ll do the Bodyboss band system.   Hopefully that’ll help in the long run.  I need the cardio and the strength training.

The jump ropes are really good and assist in making it easier.  I had bought some junky Amazon rope and it was totally the wrong length and material.  Anyway, here comes my swimsuit body, lolololol.

2 weekends ago (June 14), I met up with my PwC friends and coworkers out at Valley Village park in North Hollywood.   We were nicely outdoors and socially distanced, and it was great to see people again.   It was a really wonderful day, perfect weather, and we got to celebrate Mel’s engagement from the day before!  It was the first time I’d been out to a social gathering of any kind since the lockdown.  Crazy.

While at the park above, Mel & Josh (her great fiance) brought a cool Bose portable speaker.   I was jealous and bought one online right then and there as my roofdeck needs something and the Beats Pill that Larry had got so long ago back in Silver Lake as a way to get that AT&T phone extender is getting gross and totally dead.  So, problem solved.  I highly highly recommend it if you’re in the market.  The sound is fantastic, bluetooth, etc.

Very exciting recently was Michancy came down last weekend (June 18-21)!   I’ve missed her so much and it worked out for her to drive down and we indulged in drinking everything, watching all of Picard, playing Ticket to Ride, drinking more, inviting Nicki over for rooftop fun and games, cooking wonderful meals (filet mignon on Friday night, and spaghetti carbonara the next even though I had basically passed out after daydrinking, managed to wake up and motivate myself as I knew the ingredients were there and goddamn it came out good), playing Just Dance and burning off alcohol, and overall, just having a fantastic time with BFFs while the world continues it’s march to destruction.  YAYYYYYYY.

After Michancy left on Sunday, I admit I think it was hard to come back down to reality and be alone again.  Maybe that was why my Wednesday was so hard?   Combination of reality check, my mom isn’t doing that great and keeps falling (I ended up buying a whole new bed after I had already bought her a whole new bed when moving her in March), and I really really miss Larry still.  I’d give anything to have him be here to get through all this with – whether it’s the pandemic, the issues with mom, my resentment of a lot of my family, the political nightmare that is our presidency…any one of those things would be enough to justify my alcohol consumption, but all of them at once?  And the fact i’m still grieving Larry and stuck alone for most of it?   It’s hard.   The good times pre- his final descent are what keep me smiling, but I can remember those last 3 months vividly and it wrecks me.  What he went through and to witness it.  It’s just fucking not fair and I fucking hate everything at times. Most times, really.

My friends talked me from the ledge Wednesday and on Thursday, as we had a nice zoom call and I can’t tell you how much I love them.   We’ll get through this all together.  I think Nicki probably recognized that maybe I might need some friendship and I recognize I do, so I invited her over this weekend to hang out, so we did.   It was a fun day and a half – we hung out and enjoyed the roof deck yesterday and I introduced her to the game of Mastermind, which is an old favorite my mom and I used to play way back in the day.  It’s a classic, and perfect for 2 players.  Then we watched two seasons of Search Party and damn, that show is something else.   It’s funny as hell and I love the characters, but it is a show that goes to some surprisingly dark places and there’s really no way it doesn’t continue to get darker.  The 3rd season is out now, so I guess we’ll be able to catch up.  We also watched a super fun movie on Netflix:

Eurovision, ABBA, Will Farrell, Rachel McAdams… hot Russian backup dancers and promises of even more great European songs?  I was in long before this came out, but holy shit, the final product is fantastic.   I really liked that it didn’t make fun of Eurovision – the original songs are like, really good.  Anyway, Jaja Ding Dong!

For dinner last night, we made Larry’s arroz con pollo recipe and it really is just a stupendous dish and it was nice to make that, hopefully with Larry smiling in satisfaction somewhere out there.

What else have I been watching or doing?

  • Detroit: Become Human – I heard about this game by seeing a picture of this cute guy from it and because i apparently can’t help but be distracted by hot guys, I read into it.  Saw a sale for it on Steam, bought it, and wow, I’ve been so entranced by the game.  So much fun, and I find myself playing it far longer than I probably should some nights.   It’s a cool story game about androids gaining sentience, and the androids are of course all attractive.   Anyway, I Heart Connor forever and always. 
  • Twin Peaks: The Return: I’ve raved about this plenty before, and it’s just so good getting to the end section The Return.  Still hard to believe Larry & I went to Seattle and did a Twin Peaks day just after the conclusion of the show.
  • Control:  A really cool videogame about the ultimate terrible office building filled with possessed-by-demons humans and you have the only way of defeating it.  Trippy environments and a relatable protagonist help make this a really fun play.   Occasional challenging to the point I have to walk away and think about it.
  • Anno 1800:  This game is just gonna be an always-playing situation for a while.  It’s so good and mesmerizing.  I’m nowhere near done or at the endgame, which is what it’s all about.

Anyway, I guess that’s it.   Maybe I’ll update more often – maybe that will help my emotional state.

Cookies & Music

I made chocolate chip cookies today.  I had bought the necessary supplies to make them but could never muster up the energy to actually bake them.  So I of course wait to make them once it becomes 90+ degrees outside, as you wouldn’t want the oven’s heat to be comfortable inside would you?   Of course not.   They came out spectacularly, as per usual.  I finally have something for dessert.  Last time I made these was for Ken’s Oscar party back in January (?), which honestly feels like a decade ago.   Larry’s death is still so raw but it also feels insanely like it happened in another life.  Anyway, cookies!

Yoga status:  63 days straight!   For my own purposes, my first 30 days was Yoga w/ Adriene’s HOME program,  the second 30 days was her “30 Days of Yoga” program, and currently, I’ve embarked on her Yoga Camp program, and I like it a lot.  Can I straighten my legs yet while doing downward dog?  Nope, but it’s getting better.   And my back is feeling strong, and I love that.   I recognize I can probably add more to my daily routine, but having yoga to start it off every morning is nice.

The new Dyson vac is spectacular.   Stairs are clean, and the floors are also getting vacuumed much more often than before.

Video game status:  FF7R is simply superb, and I am loving it to death.   Of course, tragic events have occurred in the game and while those bummed me out, I’m still totally in awe of the game and can’t stop playing.   I think I’m finally in the home stretch, and it surprises me how well Square Enix was able to do in making this game.  So much fun.

Oh, and Wine.com has been a godsend.  I’ve become a charter member for the free shipping and then I’ve also gone and signed up for some virtual wine tastings – it’s something, right?   Last week, we had a Pinot Noir tasting between a California and a French one.   Definite differences.  Delicious.

Finally, music:  When I finish yoga in the morning, usually Youtube has recommendations for videos I should watch.   For some reason, the following video was waiting for me, and I couldn’t help but check it out:

It’s magical.  How have I not known about Postmodern Jukebox before?  Seriously, never heard of them, and their gimmick is totally up my alley.   The group’s main man, Scott Bradlee, is a master cover musician, but instead of decently straight-forward covers, he reworks the songs into various other retro styles.   The above, “Wannabe”, is done in 1940s style.   Not only that, but he has musicians and singers who just bring the charisma and talent to whatever it is they’re doing.  I think there are over 300 videos so far, and I think Postmodern Jukebox tours too (in pre-Corona times, obvs).  1940s style isn’t the only thing they do though – they do it all.  One of my other initial favorites is the following:

The tap dancer, on top of the Gatsby-esque rendition, is mesmerizing, not to mention I fucking love this song anyway and it fits this style so well.  I ended up watching/listening to a 1990s playlist they put together and oh man, it’s so good, and the Friends theme song “through the decades” is awesome.   One thing I’ll note is that the talent are all very attractive – the women are beautiful and striking, and the men are frequently distractingly handsome.   So yeah, fun music, hot guys, and entertaining videos?   Sure, why not.  The linked video below is for the 1990s playlist – it just happens to start again with “Wannabe”.

Other than that, it’s been an up and down week, emotionally.  I still can’t accurately predict when my mood turns south and I’m feeling utter despair or when I’m not really sad about much at all.   I typically get emotional going to sleep regardless of how the day went.   Still hard to believe Larry’s not sleeping next to me anymore.  I don’t like being alone.  Also having to manage my mom’s finances, and it’s definitely not easy to do much of anything with the Rona out there.   Anyway, I just wanted to get a post in while I had the energy.  I was going to make another of the pork chop recipe tonight, but after cookies today as well as waffles this morning, I’m kind of done with cooking for the day.

I did see the Guy Ritchie take on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” last night and oh man, it was soooo good.  Larry would have loved it, as it had all the 1960s Cold War style on a very fun spy movie, and jesus, Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are hot as fuck in this thing.   It’s really surprising it didn’t do better in the theaters when it was out originally.

Another Week

Going through each week is definitely an up and down experience.  I’m blessed to have the friends I do, as they are happily keeping me engaged and doing stuff.   As you’ll see in these pictures, I do have fun.  And I can at times not think about Larry’s death, and I don’t feel bad about that, as I know it’s good to embrace life however I can.   There are points of each day though that still break my heart and I need a moment.  Like today.  I decided to do another little bit of cleaning.   Last week I worked on streamlining some of Larry’s stuff out of the bathroom cabinets.  I thought that would be the easiest to do, and it probably was, but it was still emotional, as there were still some medicines and things that he had to use during his cancer fight.   There was also stuff from before that, like LONG before that, that Larry should have thrown out years, if not decades ago.   So at least I could laugh at times.  Today though, I tackled the top of the dresser in our bedroom, as it was stacked with the clothes that he could wear at the end.   It hadn’t made any sense to try to organize the while he was alive and needed them, as sometimes it was necessary to grab a quick change of clothes to keep him clean.

The dresser before I finally went through and cleaned it up

Obviously, this was harder than cleaning his bathroom stuff.  I did clean it up, and decided which things really weren’t worth keeping, but I couldn’t get rid of it all yet.  I kept some things for myself, and some things I folded and put away.   Larry’s side was on the right in the dresser, and just opening those drawers up was painful and caused me to cry.  I really don’t know when I’ll be able to move to the phase of getting rid of his stuff.   There’s obviously no need for me to immediately, but I also recognize it has to happen some day.

I then was in the office trying to just straighten some stuff up down here as it’s admittedly a small mess here with a lot of paperwork and things kind of anywhere there is a flat surface.   I looked in his small drawers there and found a small Hallmark bag – apparently he had gone and bought a few cards for me, including a birthday card, a Valentine’s day card, and an anniversary card.   That did the trick, and I had a full-on meltdown.  The cards hadn’t been written in yet.   But it was nice.  Then of course at that moment, work called about some bullshit thing that just was like, thanks for reminding me I hate everything.  I’ll never get rid of some things, and those cards definitely aren’t going anywhere.   Glad I was able to see the Valentine’s day card today – yesterday sucked but it was never a holiday that Larry and I went crazy for, but still, a “holiday’ about loved ones still hurts a lot.

Anyway, I had a full week at work, although I only made it into the office once.   Had a few days where I just couldn’t make it out of bed early, which is not good.   One night I had a full on panic attack about everything going on, so yeah, couldn’t quite get the energy to go in.   But as I was getting to at the beginning of this post, my friends are really my rock and my strength at this point.   I don’t want to take advantage nor become solely dependent on their presence, but some days it’s just good to be with them.  I am on my own again at this point, and I am finding the strength to be okay with it.  I’m sad of course, as I don’t really see me finding anyone else with how I look and my age, but I can still find things to occupy my time and be happy with, especially with friends, and hopefully just find some kind of meaning or purpose until it’s time for me to die.

So here are some pics from the last week or so – there’s been some really fun stuff.   To start, here’s what I was doing last week with friends.  Rekha was celebrating her birthday in WeHo a little belatedly, but it was a blast.   Started at Rocco’s WeHo for a drag brunch, and it was flamazing.  A few hours later, we walked over to the Abbey to enjoy the ambience and fun.   Can’t deny by the end I was a little drunk and got melancholy, but my friends were there to help and support, understanding exactly what was happening.   Just miss Larry a lot.

Rekha’s WeHo Birthday Fun – February 7, 2020:

The next day, I was a bit dehydrated from Saturday’s activities!   Nicki and I had gone to dinner afterwards, so it wasn’t like I had been drinking until the late night, thank god.   But still, a lot of beer (which is what I focused on that day) has consequences.   Anyway, on Sunday, it was the Oscars, and Ken had invited me to his annual party.  It was a lot of fun and I got to see the whole family, of course.  Before then, I had been assembling my Lego Empire State Building (which is massive, btw) and making my world famous chocolate chip cookies for the party, while watching Arrival.   What a movie that is, and it keeps rising in my rankings.  It’s easily in my top 15?   Such an emotional movie, and even more so with how I’m feeling.   What a weird thing to contemplate – would you go through something having the knowledge of how it will go and end?  I know I would, and that’s why I know that the 11 years I had with Larry were magical and worth it all.   I wish the cancer hadn’t been part of his story, but that’s neither here nor there.

Oscars Sunday, February 9, 2020

I enjoyed the Academy Awards – very glad Parasite won.   Sveta and I watched that a few weeks ago and it blew us away.

This past week, work kept me busy and in the evenings, I did usually have somewhere to go, which was nice.

On Monday afternoon, I did go into DTLA for work, but mostly so I could have lunch with Barb.  We went to the Joey’s DTLA which is the same restaurant (but in Woodland Hills at the Warner Center) that Larry & I took Fran and Joel to one of the first times they stayed with us when we had moved in here at the Glen.  Always fun catching up and talking with Barb, and one of those people I’m so glad to have in my life.  You never know when a new addition to your friends is actually going to stick, and she has.

On Tuesday night, I met up with Nicki down at the Century City mall to eat at the Din Tai Fung there.   It’s huge!  We wisely got there early enough and found a seat in their bar area.  But it gets packed, even on a Tuesday night.   That mall is a trip too – so much money there.  And lots of attractive guys?

On Wednesday, Sveta came over and I had a puff too many on the weed and got pretty fucking high for a brief moment.   I braced for a NYE 2014 situation but happily the wave crested and I came back down.   I think if I was expecting and aiming for super-high, it would be fine, but I am really aiming for just chilling out.  So yeah, two puffs is my max in a session.   That gets me to a nice place.

On Thursday, I went to a PwC going-away for a cool associate, Danny.  It was at this Korean BBQ in a mall in Little Tokyo I’d never known about – it was a lot of fun.   We walked over to the Angel City Brewery and played an epically long game of Sorry, which really is a bitch of a game.   Very funny though.  Mel and I won, of course.   And I was out till like 12, on a school night!!!  WTF.   I can’t hang like that too much.  Was way tired on Friday.

And yesterday, on Friday aka Valentine’s Day, Nicki took me out.   It was very sweet, and I appreciated it, as it is a hard day to not be doing something, especially with it being so close to Larry’s death still.  We first went to dinner at El Coyote near her house on Beverly.  It tied together with the second part of the date, as we saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the New Beverly Theater, which is owned and run by Quentin Tarantino.  Kind of a cool thing.   Plus, in the movie Sharon Tate is shown having dinner with her friends at El Coyote (the real one) on that fateful night.  The movie also shows Cliff and Jake having dinner that same night at Casa Vega, which is also a place we’ve now been to.  I’m such a hipster.   It was a blast of a night and that movie does not get old, and if anything, it just gets better for me.   Still can’t get over how insanely violent that 10 minute section is.

Valentine’s Day with Nicki – Feb 14, 2020

Finally, to end this ridiculously long post, I’m sharing this video that makes me ridiculously happy and has motivated me to even buy the Just Dance 2020 game for my Switch, just so I can play this and learn the moves.   In the 2000s, some of you may remember how obsessed I got with Dance Dance Revolution – who knows if it’ll enter that level, but still, watch this video and be amazed at the dancing skill of the group and chuckle at how awesome the “Rasputin” song is!

You’re welcome.