One Month in Veeversland
Hello friends. I've been home for three weeks now. I left San Francisco where my family, best friends from high school and my special person live. I have to skip the end of that trip since I can't remember anything more than being bummed that I had to leave the beauty of Marin (specifically Bolinas and Mill Valley). Long story short, I'm back. I'll start from LA, where I went for one week before returning home to the East Coast. Here are some highlights. Okay... SO!
Had a party at my favorite place in all of Los Angeles: M Bar. Its an old man Japanese piano bar that nobody goes to. I hope and pray it doesn't get taken over by the stupid fucking hipster army that I probably unknowingly marched in during my formative years. RIP trendy me.
At first no one came and I sat there alone like a worry-wart while the staff asked me repeatedly if I was okay and if I wanted to sit near Gary the 70 yr old Vet. Gary is the Norm of M Bar, who I did eventually sit with til Margo and Ben showed up.
Steve Lee with the nicest person in the world, Ako. Being around Ako is like eating homemade Mac n Cheese while watching a John Hughes flick. Just feels good. I just asked our mutual pal Josh Wildman who has known Ako since he was wee to see if he has always been so sweet. I'm a bit jaded and can't believe I know someone who is just so naturally nice to everyone. Answer: yep. He's just an angel, confirmed and verified.
Camille and Sean aka Har Mar aka Ron Jeremy. That joke never gets old. Look at how in love with her he is. You lovestruck little man you, Sean.
Oh is that Fab from The Strokes at my party? No big deal. Its not like Sean brought him and I got drunk and told him he was gorgeous on his way out. Its not like Drew Barrymore randomly showed up at the end of the night with her new boyfriend and everyone watched that uncomfortable trio try to laugh it all off. As I said, no big deal. I mean, I totally didn't care or anything, whatever.
Jay Johnston Love o' My Life, Camille, Ben, Sean. If you read my last LA post you're probably having a little dejavu because this is exactly what I did with the same people on my last trip. And I'm doing it again in two weeks when I go for Aska's bday. Stay tuned...
Here is a pile of us. I wish I'd taken more pics of everyone, because I missed some of my favorite folks. One of my readers Thomas showed up and introduced himself and voila! Now we're friends. Kind of a neat way to meet someone. Hi Thomas!
Spanky and Steve
Hmm... is that Fab from The Strokes? Oh, did I mention him already? Sawry, I already forgot. Sidenote: the shaggy guy sitting next to Fab was a toad. Everyone hated him, yet no one knew who he was other than some kind of producer for VH-1. I know because he repeatedly mentioned it, including during a 30-second break he took while making out with some girl. It went kind of like this:
girl:(kissing) "nom nom nom... so, you're a producer?"
dude: "nom nom nom... yeah, for VH-1 nom nom nommmm" (more kissing)
Jeff and I passed the hell out at Jay's house like grownups do, then shot beebee guns and played with toy helicopters for hours, like grownups.
I hit every single beer can in a row!
Later I went to Jane's print studio. She sells beautiful, high end, hand-printed wallpapers and textiles to rich people. Check it out www.inluxurydesign.com. Jane is one of my best friends. I inherited her from an ex-BF about 5 years ago. Theenks Paul!
After Jane's, Camille and I went to brunch, got our nails did, went to a liquor store to play the lottery (didn't win) and then stopped by Opening Ceremony where I bought some gifts and she bought shoes. I should mention here that Camille is crazy and walked into the liquor store and O.C. barefoot like Britney Spears, yet somehow won over the entire staff of both locations with her hilarious and very special form of crazy. Pretty much funnest day ever.
That night Spanky locked himself out of his house so I met him at another favorite bar of mine on Sunset: Coach & Horses. We bro'd til closing then went over to meet Jay and play with his toy helicopters. Spanky explained the innerworkings of the skate industry to me, something I know nothing about. Did you know that those kids live in houses owned by their teams for free, travel the world like rock stars and make tons of loot putting their names on skateboards and t-shirts? I had NO idea. I didn't realize skating was so lucrative.
This post is getting long so I will leave it here. All in all, it was an extremely fun week. Next comes the wedding of the year, starring Danika and Jeremy. If you are a regular reader, you may remember them from The Most Boring Christmas Ever post. This wedding was not boring. More later...
Had a party at my favorite place in all of Los Angeles: M Bar. Its an old man Japanese piano bar that nobody goes to. I hope and pray it doesn't get taken over by the stupid fucking hipster army that I probably unknowingly marched in during my formative years. RIP trendy me.
At first no one came and I sat there alone like a worry-wart while the staff asked me repeatedly if I was okay and if I wanted to sit near Gary the 70 yr old Vet. Gary is the Norm of M Bar, who I did eventually sit with til Margo and Ben showed up.
Steve Lee with the nicest person in the world, Ako. Being around Ako is like eating homemade Mac n Cheese while watching a John Hughes flick. Just feels good. I just asked our mutual pal Josh Wildman who has known Ako since he was wee to see if he has always been so sweet. I'm a bit jaded and can't believe I know someone who is just so naturally nice to everyone. Answer: yep. He's just an angel, confirmed and verified.
Camille and Sean aka Har Mar aka Ron Jeremy. That joke never gets old. Look at how in love with her he is. You lovestruck little man you, Sean.
Oh is that Fab from The Strokes at my party? No big deal. Its not like Sean brought him and I got drunk and told him he was gorgeous on his way out. Its not like Drew Barrymore randomly showed up at the end of the night with her new boyfriend and everyone watched that uncomfortable trio try to laugh it all off. As I said, no big deal. I mean, I totally didn't care or anything, whatever.
Jay Johnston Love o' My Life, Camille, Ben, Sean. If you read my last LA post you're probably having a little dejavu because this is exactly what I did with the same people on my last trip. And I'm doing it again in two weeks when I go for Aska's bday. Stay tuned...
Here is a pile of us. I wish I'd taken more pics of everyone, because I missed some of my favorite folks. One of my readers Thomas showed up and introduced himself and voila! Now we're friends. Kind of a neat way to meet someone. Hi Thomas!
Spanky and Steve
Hmm... is that Fab from The Strokes? Oh, did I mention him already? Sawry, I already forgot. Sidenote: the shaggy guy sitting next to Fab was a toad. Everyone hated him, yet no one knew who he was other than some kind of producer for VH-1. I know because he repeatedly mentioned it, including during a 30-second break he took while making out with some girl. It went kind of like this:
girl:(kissing) "nom nom nom... so, you're a producer?"
dude: "nom nom nom... yeah, for VH-1 nom nom nommmm" (more kissing)
Jeff and I passed the hell out at Jay's house like grownups do, then shot beebee guns and played with toy helicopters for hours, like grownups.
I hit every single beer can in a row!
Later I went to Jane's print studio. She sells beautiful, high end, hand-printed wallpapers and textiles to rich people. Check it out www.inluxurydesign.com. Jane is one of my best friends. I inherited her from an ex-BF about 5 years ago. Theenks Paul!
After Jane's, Camille and I went to brunch, got our nails did, went to a liquor store to play the lottery (didn't win) and then stopped by Opening Ceremony where I bought some gifts and she bought shoes. I should mention here that Camille is crazy and walked into the liquor store and O.C. barefoot like Britney Spears, yet somehow won over the entire staff of both locations with her hilarious and very special form of crazy. Pretty much funnest day ever.
That night Spanky locked himself out of his house so I met him at another favorite bar of mine on Sunset: Coach & Horses. We bro'd til closing then went over to meet Jay and play with his toy helicopters. Spanky explained the innerworkings of the skate industry to me, something I know nothing about. Did you know that those kids live in houses owned by their teams for free, travel the world like rock stars and make tons of loot putting their names on skateboards and t-shirts? I had NO idea. I didn't realize skating was so lucrative.
This post is getting long so I will leave it here. All in all, it was an extremely fun week. Next comes the wedding of the year, starring Danika and Jeremy. If you are a regular reader, you may remember them from The Most Boring Christmas Ever post. This wedding was not boring. More later...