Friday, December 23, 2011

2011

Last week I drove to Pomona after work to see one of my favorite bands, Larry and his Flask, play at a small venue in a restaurant. Such a great show! I was able to take some really cool pictures.



Good Times.

Well 2011 is almost over. I fly back home tomorrow to see my friends and family for the first time since the beginning of July. It's hard to believe everything that has happened in the last year. I am so thankful for the great people in my life that supported me in this quest to move to California. I'm a very lucky guy, and in 2012 I hope I can continue to move forward in this crazy business. I also hope everyone can get a chance to come visit and see just how great Redondo Beach is.

Also, a big thank you goes out to Brittany (yet again) for watching Biff while I'm in PA. I brought him to the office today, so I'm spending my last day with him before I drop him off tonight.


He's pretty pumped. I wanted to do something nice for him, since he gave me such a thoughtful Christmas gift this week:



That's all for 2011. Time to get back to freezing cold PA and hang out with everyone. See you in 2012!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Another crazy week in LA

It's been a little while since my last update. But to tell you the truth not much has happened over the last few weeks. Until this last Thursday anyway. But before I get to all that, I'll summarize my last two weeks or so by saying that I finally realized about a week ago that I'm pretty settled into California.

I've met so many great people and have made a lot of new friends that I am constantly hanging out with. I no longer find myself with no one to hang out with for days and weeks at a time and it feels really good to have people that are always up for hanging out spread across LA County. I'm really starting to enjoy myself here. A few friends took me to this really cool pub in Hollywood last week  called Cat N Fiddle. It was a relaxing little place set in a small courtyard. Did I mention that it's December and I'm still able to hang out outside and be comfortable?


Pretty cool, and although I'm so used to seeing the Hollywood sign (I can see it from my window at work), sometimes I forget just how cool it is to be here. And all it takes is sitting in traffic and looking around to remind me of just how lucky I am.


Speaking of my window at work:

A nice view at night

Well I had an interesting few days towards the end of last week. On Thursday someone got my debit card number and cleared out my bank account from Guatemala (don't worry I'll be getting the money back). Then on Friday I was about to make a run to a FedEx store a few blocks from work when I decided to wait and just go after lunch. About ten minutes later, someone started shooting at cars at the FedEx until the police took him out. Crazy stuff, but this is a crazy city. It'll take a lot more than that to make me move home!

Over the weekend I worked at a taping of Dick Clark's New Year's Eve downtown. I was mostly audience directing (Moving people around, telling them when to dance, throwing confetti on everyone) but I did get to meet almost all of the performers, as well as see them all play. Including Will.I.Am, Fergie, Florence the Machine, Nicki Minaj, Robin Thicke, Taio Cruz, Gym Class Heroes, and LMFAO. It was a lot of fun, I hope I get a chance to do it again next year!


The aftermath

I'm not going to ruin the surprise by posting pictures of the stage, but I figured showing the dance floor after a performance was enough to show how much fun it was. If you want to watch for me and see the performances, watch ABC on New Year's Eve from 8-1 as they cut back and forth to LA from the live show in NYC.

I also feel it's necessary to mention that I am getting very good at making wings:


Less than two weeks until I'm back in PA. I'm so ready to see my family and friends!