The Daily Snoop

Okay, for me rush hour was 3 mph last night, but that’s because I left work at 5pm. My co-workers – not so lucky. Try 1 mph!

When people are used to the ridiculous 10mph during LA rush hour, 1 mph is REALLY hard to swallow.

The cause of last night’s debacle – Obama.

Yes. Obama was at a fundraising event at a home in Hancock Park, and staying in Beverly Hills. So instead of a police escort, why not have a police escort with a ton of road closures east and south, and why not block mid-LA from going anywhere?! They literally cut LA in half last night! No warning. Needless to say – the middle of the city was a parking lot for hours.

However, the picture below is of the famous Wilshire Blvd. with no traffic on it – not even Obama. Because while Obama was at his destination, LAPD and Secret Service kept the roads closed so no one could use them.

And yes, I can admit this – I seriously thought the city was under attack.. or maybe there was a major accident. Road closures like that don’t happen without warning. I called everyone I could think of, and it took the fifth call to find out what was going on. None of my LA friends knew, but Sam in Texas knew. She said it was all over news in Texas all day long. For some reason, LA didn’t showcase it on the news until 6pm.

A little warning next time, eh? Thanks!

No I’m not bitter.

Michael and I had the privilege to visit Santa Monica and see the new Santa Monica Place yesterday. Yes, I knew Santa Monica would be extra busy. No, nothing prepared me for the amount of people who were there to see the new Santa Monica Place. Opening weekend. Two to three years in the making. Parking lots full for miles. It was craziness!

I discovered Yerba Maté about three years ago. This is the first one I ever drank – The Guayaki Pure Empower Mint Maté. Back then I didn’t know that Yerba Maté offers mild laxative properties. Boy, did I feel that unexpectedly!

Anyway, just recently, I learned the about the Gourds and Bombillas and the proper way to drink Yerba Maté. Michael and I were in Silver Lake at Casbah Café a couple Saturdays ago. The dude behind the counter suggested Yerba Maté from the gourd. $4 later we were sipping the strongest tea I’ve ever tasted in my life! And yes, I was up until wee hours of the morning. It’s said that Yerba Maté has a third the amount of caffeine as coffee. However, drinking such a enormous amount all at once… the burst of caffeine was slightly unsettling! But I liked it, and would do it again for sure. Yerba Maté is said to be the most beneficial of all the stimulant drinks.. and it’s more healthy than green tea.. so there you go!

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Nature Mart in Los Feliz, you rule!! Thanks for being awesome.

So when I have a bunch of errands to do, my anxiety gets a little out of control. I generally try to fit everything in during the work week. Michael doesn’t like to run errands, and I want to be with him as much as I can on the weekends.

However, this past week was a doozy. I couldn’t get much of anything accomplished.

What would normally take me 2-3 weeks of figuring and scheduling took me one Saturday. Michael was kind of enough to drive with me all over Los Angeles to help me get my needs met. (more…)

Hung out with Angelus on Sunday. We tramped around Pasadena – Whole Foods, Zona Rosa, Old Town (car show), Bird Pick, the park. It was great!

Angelus is taking a drawing class, and is currently working on Sumi-e, an East Asian type of brush painting also known as wash painting. He had 21 sketches to draw so he could sumi-e them later. Michael and I made the cut!

Yes! Today a camel was found in Los Angeles!!!

While on a healthy after-lunch stroll around La Brea Tar Pits, my co-worker Ashley and I came across many big crates fenced in an area behind LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). We found out then and there about Project 23, which apparently has been going on since 2008! Project 23 stems from a discovery while building a new parking garage for the art museum next to the Tar Pits.

That discovery = Fossils!

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• 5:45-6:05 ~ Hit snooze.
• 6:06-6:19 ~ Get ready to power walk/run Grand Ave., Downtown, Los Angeles.
• 6:20 ~ Let White out and leave.
• 6:22 ~ While crossing street, drop keys, and hold up four lanes of traffic.
• 6:23 ~ Realize that my iPod Touch is shuffling songs while I walk. I try to stop it.
• 6:23 ~ Realize I am at 20% battery and turn unit off. Realize that the music keeps going. Leave it.
• 6:24 ~ Realize that shuffling of songs has stopped. Realize I don’t know how to turn off my iPod Touch.
• 6:25 ~ Realize that I don’t know how to use my iPod Touch.
• 6:26-6:39 ~ Power walk to Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
• 6:40 ~ Feel very faint and sick. Realize I didn’t eat enough last night. Shouldn’t have done this while so hungry.
• 6:41-6:58 ~ Force my legs to move so I can get home. Try not to black out.
• 7:00 ~ At home – Reset Date/Time on my iPod Touch. I have no idea how it got offset.
• 7:01-7:25 ~ Eat banana, avocado, garlic herb pita chips, soy milk and jasmine green tea while watching clips of TODAY on the laptop. Fighting my feelings of nausea.
• 7:26-7:40 ~ Sea Salt Scrub my entire body in a nice hot shower.
• 7:41 ~ Tweet, “Just sea salt scrubbed my whole body! It felt wonderful! And now I am extremely soft!”
• 7:42-8:02 ~ Lotion, make-up and hair.
• 8:03-8:05 ~ Scrub some previously unnoticed mold off White’s water cup.
• 8:06-8:12 ~ Feed the birds.
• 8:13-8:25 ~ Get dressed.
• 8:26-8:30 ~ Pack up my lunch bag.
• 8:31-8:34 ~ Put White away and close down apartment so I can leave.
• 8:35 ~ Leave for work.

I’m a little behind. This event happened on Tax Day, April 15th. However, I would like to notate the fact that my PC got that nasty virus. (No…. what do you mean?…. I’m not bitter.) Having it be that the PC is still unusable, I cannot get to the photos I would like to post from this event. I do however have video! See below.

• Location: Palm Desert Civic Center Park
• Event: Tea Party Event hosted by Palm Desert Tea Party
• Attendees: 1,000+

Michael, our friend Kari and I all took the day off work. We road-tripped to Palm Desert, CA with bison jerky and all. We got there early and enjoyed the beautiful park. We even met a dude named WhiteDog. He was playing a metal instrument he made himself, all while promoting peace. (more…)

Story goes – Sam and Matt moved to Austin, TX for his new job in the music industry, in November 2008. Back then I knew that I had a huge line-up of trips for 2009, so I told Sam that I would come visit them in Spring of 2010. Boy, am I a planner or what?! April 2010, and where do I go? Austin, TX.

So Sam and Matt have a three year old girl named Austin. She is just adorable and so smart. They must really love Austin to name their kid Austin! Well, she was named while still living in Los Angeles. Both Sam and Matt had lived in Austin, TX in the past so it was fitting, that they name their first born child, Austin, and shortly thereafter move to Austin.

Okay, enough mentions of Austin. Here’s what we did while I was there! (more…)