Fire! Fire!

Wow, the brushfire season is off to a bang, litterally. Its crazy out there...thousands of acres burned. 5% containment the first day; 20% containment on the second day. The city is a sea of ash and dust. The air quality is shot and it has nothing to do with polution...just an old fashion fire burning brush and its just wrecking havoc on the city. Like Katrina and Rita, its Mother Nature reminding us that no matter how many complicated toys we can build, she's still in charge.

Fall again

I went outside last night and saw the trees at sunset. Stunning. Reds and browns, the tops of the houses below.

This time of year is always one of conflict for me. I'm sad to lose summer and warm weather but excited about the holidays ahead. The "season" opens at Thanksgiving but the fun begins at Halloween. Dressing up, going out, dinners and birthdays, holidays and this year a wedding.

Rave: Nike Run Hit Wonder 5k

10 to the 110 transition was a mess...had to jump off around Hoover. They closed most of the streets and followed a few cars to find my way to campus. Sat and sat trying to get into parking. Made it into parking and then circled around the place trying to find the VIP area. Every person I asked gave me accurate yet completely confusing directions. Finally found the place, finally found my friends, finally made it over to starting line. Caught the end of the Donna's playing. Dig them.

The MC's just keep talking and talking. Kathy Griffin is funny but not today. Someboy please just start the run. The run started about a half an hour late and I would have taken my own life listening to those MC's any longer.

And off we went...I ran as far as I could and then walked. Damn there are alot of people. Hey watch it. You have the whole street why do you need my little section of sidewalk. More importantly, why do girls wear those shorts with the writing on the butts? I had to get arond that...jog some more. Huh, white kids trying to hip hop. That's pretty amusing.

Running down greek row, passing frat boys offering beer bongs, passing a few girls who took them up on the offer. I really miss college at times like this. Does that really say 12:36? I'm doing 13 minute miles? Weehoo! Passed the first musical act? Is that Chingy? Who the hell is he anyways. Whatever, what a pretty campus. I can't believe I've never been around here. Fountains of Wayne. Oh yeah, that Staci's mom song. Cool. Damn, 26:45. I'm *still* doing 13 minutes? Why are there police sirens. The other side of the street is completely emply. They can just drive on the other side. OH, its the 10k guy...he's doing a 10k in 30 minutes. That's amazing. Is that the Aquabats? I was hoping they'd be on my route. Japanese Drummers...they're really good. DJ Z trip? This is just getting better.

They're right. There's nothing better than running through the tunnel of the Colliseum. That was amazing. My chest was about to explode but damn it, I did it in 39 minutes. 39:46ish, but damn it, still 39.

VIP area was cool. They need to reorganize the bag check but the food was good, the area was right next to stage, very nice.

All in all, it was definate worth the trouble. Going back next year.

Rave: Arden Energy Run

www.ardenenergyrun.com

Did I love this event because they had a 5k dog walk, in addition to the 5k and 10k run?

Did I love this event because there was TONS of free stuff at the end?

Did I love this event because I ran into an old friend who I only see in the oddest of places (my favorite being the security line at Heathrow)?

Did I love this event because it was managed better than any 5k I've participated in thus far?

Oh yeah, you betcha.

This 5k kicked serious boo-tay. Really. Everyone with a dog needs to partcipate next year. Everyone without a dog needs to participate next year.

Rave: Clothes Off Our Back

Clothes Off Our Back is a charity I've know about for awhile. Its a celeb couple (I'll misspell their names so go look them up yourselves) who talk other celebs into donating their gowns and tuxes that they wore for big events (Emmys, Oscars, etc...). Celebs can't really wear them again anyways so they auction them off and donate the proceeds to different charities. I've always dug that but since most of the gowns are a wee bit too small (and expensive) for me, I've only just kept an eye on this charity.

Well, now they've opened it up to the masses. Yeehaw!

We all know I love to shop. But, I have a new way to justify my shopping habit: charity. See, the only thing that beats a sample sale, is a sample sale that benefits charity. I'm not SPENDING money, I'm DONATING money. Big difference. Love that.

Technically this wasn't a sample sale. It was a bunch of stuff donated from vendors, boutiques, tv stations, etc... It billed itself as a "yard sale" but we were at a yard in Brentwood sponsored by W Magazine and Guess so you knew this was going to be good.

While there I had my makeup done ($5), had my tarot cards read ($2), bought a very cool little polo-style shirt ($20), and bought a sportsac purse & wallet (1/2 price). The vendors were everyone from Ugg to Diane Von Fursenburg to C&C California and everyone in between. Oh, and the food! That looked yummy ($5 all you can eat) but I had just made myself lunch. Did I mention Baskin Robbins was there selling ice-cream in waffle cups for a $1? I don't think I've seen so many skinny people eating ice cream before. I guess if you're eating ice cream for charity the calories don't count.

If all the neighborhoods in L.A. were wondering where their C list celebraties went to, they were ALL here. It was a feast of C list celebrities.

So yeah, I'll be looking out for this event next year. And anyone who's interested, let me know. I'll be happy to drag you along.

What Not To Do: when posting a singles ad on the internet

This is something I tossed onto Craigslist. Just thought I'd share.

****

I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm newly single. Maybe it's because I've done the online dating thing before. But I have to say, you boys who post ads on CL scare me.

I'm cute. I work out about 3-4 times a week. I'm sarcastic. I have a cool job. I'm generous and loving and all that other stuff I'm supposed to be. I even have good dating references (i.e. I'm not that scary ex.). And yet, as a joke, I often say that I'm just going to hang out with my dogs and be single for the rest of my life. And I say that because it seems like all of you are crazy.

After skimming through some of the ads, here are some universal truths I feel I should share with you.

Fact: Women are not meant to weigh 102lbs.
For those of you who complain that you just can't find the right woman, that women are gold-digging whores, take a step back and look at who you're dating. You think women should look like the ones in magazines? I hate to break this to you but women don't look like that without a hair/makeup/wardrobe team and a whole lot of air brushing. Women don't naturally weigh 102lbs. I don't care how often the girls on the O.C. claim to eat burgers & fries. They don't. Super skinny girls (older than 25) eat organic vegetables and tofu and brown rice and work out all the time. So, think about it. If they're working that hard on their appearance, they should be rewarded for it.

Fact: Not all women want to do everything with you.
I've honestly never understood people who are looking for a mirror image of themselves. Wouldn't that be boring? For those of you looking for a partner in crime, someone to rollerblade and play beach volleyball and rock climb and do every other activity you enjoy, maybe think that your potential mate has her own activities. That loving and spending time with someone is key to a good relationship but so is having your own life and activities. That perfect woman could be waiting for you, she just doesn't want to play beach volley ball. Maybe she loves to run and hike and workout at the gym and would be happy to go to the beach and watch you play.

Fact: Attn Artists – It has nothing to do with money.
Trust me, I know what I'm talking about here. You're cute, you're talented, you're educated and could even be nice & funny. But, artists by nature are emotional, self-centered creatures. And that's not an insult. To dedicate your life to art is a beautiful, wonderful concept. But, for women looking for a long-term commitment, someone they can count on, you're not it. You might think you are but, be honest, you & your work come first. How else could you live the life you've chosen for yourself. So those of you who don't fall into the above category, play up your strengths and play down the no-woman-will-date-me-because-I'm-an-artist thing.

Fact: Writing an ad that's two lines doesn’t work.
You can claim to be handsome & wealthy & intelligent. How about backing that up with correct grammar & spelling. If you're only going to write two lines, proof read? Form complete words? Online dating is, well, dating online. There has to be something there. It doesn't have to be a picture. It doesn't have to be an award-winning essay, just give us something to work with to let us know you're not some crazy, scary guy. And, since we're talking about two line ads, any guy who claims in those two lines to give a good massage, we just naturally assume that 1. you don't give a good massage and 2. you're creepy.

Fact: You don't need to tell us you're looking for sex.
Chics know that guys want sex. We're very much aware of that. That's a given. We know. Seriously. So writing about or even alluding to sex in your ad is an immediate turn off to most women. FYI, there’s an entire section dedicated to causal encounters so just fess up to just looking for that and run with it. And, here's a secret: women want sex too and we can get sex anytime we want. It just so happens that often (not always, but often) women want a relationship to go with the sex. And, at least in my experience, women tend to be a bit more, let's say open, with sexual types of things when they're in relationships. Here's another secret: women will avoid a date if they think it's just going be some icky guy trying to paw at them all night. Ew.

Rave: LA Supports LA

So, on a whim tonight I bought a ticket to LA Supports LA (www.lasupportsla.com). It was a wine & food tasting with a rather large silent auction & live music. As I'm sure you can guess, all money raised went to support the victims of Katrina. I'm incredibly inpressed that this event was created in a week. The food was amazing, the crowd was cool and the music was kickin'. I only wish Paul Oakenfold played longer. His music was awesome but far too short. But, I'm biased since he was much of the reason I went. The goal was to raise $1M. I hope they made it.

Katrina

I know everyone has said so much about this but I don't feel like I can just ignore it. I haven't ignored it. I've watched it since it began earlier this week. I had the stream going from a local news station down south for most of the week. I've given money, tried to raise some, and volunteered to raise some more. Its unbelieveable in the same way 9/11 was unbelievable. I mean, this doesn't happen here. This doesn't happen in America. Sure we have natural disasters, lots of them. Whatever region you live in, you wear your weather or disaters like a badge on your sleeve.

"Ha, you have snow, I have earthquakes."
"Earthquakes are nothing compared to a tornado."
"We survived the blackout last year."
"NYC was shut down by snow and I stil went out in it."

We're PROUD of what we go through. But not now, not like this. Thousands of people were stranded in conditions I don't even want to think about. Days after the city should have been rescued, people were still waiting. I can't imagine what those people went through and are going through. I can't imgine the communities not covered on the news, just as devistated as NO and yet completely ignored.

I have so much to say, and yet what good will it do?

You're not ignored. You're not forgotten. I'm so very sorry the system failed you.