30 before 30: Hollywood Bowl, The Zac Brown Band

It is late Saturday afternoon as we walk out of the apartment towards the metro gold line, heading towards our final destination of the Hollywood Bowl. Chris made us a picnic dinner of fruit salad, homemade carne asada pizza(with cilantro pesto) and a bottle of Truett Hurst Zinfindel. We had blankets and sweatshirts and were hoping it didn't start raining on us. We made it to the Bowl without a problem, the walk from the Hollywood and Highland metro station was a breeze, and I can't tell you how happy it made us to walk right by all the traffic.

You aren't allowed to bring alcohol into the Bowl so Rachel, Chris and I grabbed a curb and had dinner sitting on a blanket with hundreds of other people around us doing the same thing. Dinner was amazing, I don't really have any other way to describe it. The pizza was to die for and was a great match for the wine we brought. Thanks to Chris's friend Tiffany for giving us a great picnic backpack for our wedding, cause that's the only reason we had real wine glasses and plates! So much fun. :)

So we finish eating and head for our seats, shuffling along like cattle we get directed to a side entrance up the hill. Hardly any waiting to get in and as we come around the corner I am blown away by the size of the Bowl. It goes so far up the hill I can imagine people getting altitude sickness up there. I take a deep breath and we all start the climb, I now have a whole new definition of nosebleed section. Finding our seats is easy and we are not nearly as high as I thought we would be. We set up blankets on the wooden benches and settle in to wait for the music. The opening band is good but not great and nothing I would write home about. I did not realize till the end of the concert that the lead singer in the band not only had very long hair, but a neck bead that looked like you could braid it into his hair without difficulty. Good for him if that's how he likes it but it kind freaked me out. So much HAIR! :)

Finally the wait was over and The Zac Brown Band came on stage! We sang along and danced our hearts out. They did an amazing cover of 'Devil went down to Georgia' that got everyone in the crowd riled up. We met some really nice people in our section and some very drunk people also. Over all a fantastic concert. The sounds quality was so good, you could hear every word and never felt like you were sitting far away. If you ever get the chance to see them in concert it was worth every penny!!!

Then the merriment ends and we shuffle out of the Bowl with everyone else. We pass people trying to get their cars out of stacked parking, and people waiting for park and ride buses. One guy randomly stops pedestrian traffic, and then waves a car out onto Highland Blvd into stopped traffic. I was thinking 'wow that's so nice of him' then he opens the passenger door and hops into the car with his friends. Okay so that was the greatest thing I have seen in awhile. It proves that if you use a comanding enough voice people will listen, whether you have authority or not.

2 metros later we are home and crash from a fun filled evening. I am so thrilled that I got to experience the Hollywood Bowl, I don't think there is anywhere else quite like it. :)

30 before 30: Singing Lessons

I had my first singing lesson today! To say I was nervous is an understatement. The last time I took a voice lesson I was between 8 and 10. I remember the instructor saying she couldn't help me develop my voice until I was older, but that I should come back in a few years. Well by then I was spending all my time riding so it took me 20 years to get back to a vocal coach. I didn't want to be a waste of time and honestly I LOVE to sing. :) I grew up watching Roger and Hammerstein musicals at my Grandma's house and always thought people would be happier if they spontaneously burst into song. I even tried to put on a production of Oklahoma with one of my girlfriends when we were about 8. The project was scraped due to not enough actors. So I walked up the stairs to my first singing lesson in 20 years with no idea what to expect.

The waiting room had a few couches and chairs full of parents waiting patiently for their children banging away on a piano or practicing a song from Le Mis. I took a folding chair against the wall and waited. Suzanne Lukather opened her door and welcomed me into her studio. Hardwood floors, vibrant red walls filled with Broadway posters, a stage in the corner with lights, a mic and a single bar stool met my sweeping glance. So much more than what I expected.

Suzanne's easy laugh quickly put me at ease as we discussed my history, what I did for a living, what music I liked and why I was there. We jumped into warm up exercises and I began to realize that my diaphragm was out of shape. We worked on breathing technique, how to hold mouth as we went through several exercises. She was supportive and always willing to explain how something was supposed to feel or why I had missed a note. I appreciated her clear and supportive teaching style and the 30 minute lesson flew by. We finished by singing 'People will think we're in love' from Oklahoma, one of my personal favorite musicals.

I of course got homework to improve my breathing, but I can't wait for next week!!

If your interested in voice lessons check out Suzzane at http://www.musiclessonstudios.com/alhambra-voice-teacher-suzanne-lukather.shtml

30 before 30: Sewing project 1

For my birthday this year I got a sewing machine. I was so excited I was going to be able to fix clothes, make curtains and generally make things.

First on the list was a new dress for Ren Faire, since my sister and I have been sharing one costume for the last.....several years. I got the dress pattern from my mom who bought it in 1974 and never used it.

Relearning how to thread a bobbin, thread a needle and work a digital sewing machine was fun. I learned to sew on my mom's Singer when I was about 10 and while most of the functions for my sewing machine are still the same, it is a little more high tech. There is a LCD display to select what stitch you want, width, and thread tension. There is a button you hold down to reverse the stitch, no more hand winding it backwards.

I learned how to use Bias Tape for elastic, and how much pressing seams before you sew them helps. :)

Overall this was a very fun and successful project. Not all the seems are straight and some of it will probably have to be re-sewn in the future but now that I have the hang of it I can't wait for my next project!

30 Before 30: Pink's Hot Dogs

3/13/11

Chris and I headed to Hollywood in the 68 Lincoln Continental for dinner at a hot dog stand that is older than the car. I love hot dogs, they are the first thing I learned to cook as a kid and despite all the unhealthy things in them I still love them. So as we head to Pink's Hot Dogs I am getting excited. I don't know what to expect but the line isn't as long as I thought it would be and the stand is more of a building. We ease into the parking lot thinking maybe we should have brought a smaller car. But Chris finds parking without hitting anyone in line or another car. So we hop out and stand in line. It smells like french fries, bacon and onions which makes me hungrier by the minute.

We start discussing the pros and cons of each hot dog option. The Rosie O'donnel vs the Martha Stewart or the Chili Cheese Dog vs the Guacamole Dog. They have everything you could want on a hot dog and somethings I am convinced barely ever get ordered. After about 45 mins in line (make sure you bring a friend to wait with) we order. I get a Guacamole dog and a Brooklyn Pastrami without mustard. Chris orders a Rosie O'Donnel Dog and a Pastrami Ruben Dog.

We sit down in the patio out back and dig in. My guacamole dog is strange but delicious and I couldn't be happier. Chris's hot dog has so much stuff on it it looks like its about to fall apart but he agrees DELICIOUS! The pastrami on my second hot dog is prefect and I can't finish it all so I pack it up to take home.

I can see why people wait in line for food, why they don't mind the 45 min wait and why they keep coming back. For me and my love of hot dogs I would be back more often if it wasn't a 30 min drive away. If you get the chance Pink's is worth the wait. :)

30 before 30: Museum of Tolerance

When I traveled to Washington D.C. in 8th grade the Holocaust Museum was not on the tour because it was not open yet. So while I have learned about the horrific time in our worlds history from books and teachers; I have always wanted a clearer understanding about that time. So Rachel and I drove into LA on Wednesday to check out the Museum of Tolerance.

We got stopped at the entrance to the parking garage and a guy checked our licenses and looked in my trunk. Which he said smelled like gasoline but I am sure was dirty saddle pads. Then in we go and up the elevator to the entrance, through a metal detector and a baggage scan like airport security. The whole building is built around a spiraling ramp that makes me want to hold out my arms and run down it like I am 5. I don't run but slowly walk down the ramp past one picture after another of people who survived the Holocaust. They are doctors, lawyers, writers, actors, mothers and fathers. There is no single visible trait that marks them out as survivors of the worst genocide in our worlds history.

We walk into the exhibit and I realize that this museum is about so much more than just the Holocaust. It walks each visitor through history pointing out the many examples of hate, violence and prejudice that cloud our world. The USA and our many bad choices when dealing with the Native Americans, Slavery and Equal Rights. No one is perfect, and no one country is infallible but I have hope that we can learn from our mistakes.

Even before entering the Holocaust exhibit I am overwhelmed by the amount of hate and violence. I have a hard time understanding how people can hold that much anger and violence in their hearts. From Darfur to North Korea, from Lybia to Somalia and from USA to Venezula there are examples of crimes against humanity. Against people like me who have a family, friends and all the possibilities that life affords. Trying to wrap my head around it all we are ushered into the Holocaust exhibit.

Each visitor gets a plastic card with a photo and a name of someone who was alive during the Holocaust. Mine is a seven year old girl who was born in Yugoslavia. We start our journey at the end of WWI. Berlin arises before us as a bustling metropolotian area, and it strikes me how similar Berlin of then and Los Angeles if now are. The guides walk us through the beginning of Hitler's ire and how his ideas rose in popularity. His legitimate bid for political power that began the end of peace and prosperity for all. I watched horrified as German tanks and troops began rolling over all of western Europe. Then to my dismay I was informed that even those who escaped a Europe that meant certain death had no where to go. No country would take these refugees in and whole ships were turned away from US harbors and sent back to die.

This made me think about the current immigration issues facing the US right now. If we knew that sending all illegal immigrants home would mean death, would we still send them back? I fear many people would. I hope for more compassion, forgiveness and support for all human beings.

We walked through gates of a death camp, into a hallway marked for Able-Bodied and into a dark, cement room. There we watched video of people being herded onto trains, being made to strip and then shot while standing in mass graves, starving to death and being hanged. Photos of abuse, happy children saluting Hitler and then children being thrown out a window to their death. I feel ill as we exit the cement bunker and I feel like I am walking from death to life.

The next section is a collection of artifacts produced by Jewish men, women and children. Some where made in the ghettos where millions were packed in less than 2 square miles. Some were made in the death camps, others by those who managed to stay out of sight for most of the Holocaust. Paintings and poems, toys and trinkets plus a menorah and several other religious objects decorated the walls. It is amazing what the human spirit can endure, these people who were faced with death and loss almost everyday managed to create beautiful things. They cared for one another and did their best to make sure those who could not care for themselves were cared for. Soup kitchens and medical clinics sprung up in the ghettos and helped to create a new community. Despite being faced with continual harassment by authorities and the constant threat of death they built something together.

I took 2 major lessons from this exhibit. The most blatant is that we as a world community should NEVER allow something like this to happen again. It has no benefit.

Secondly I am amazed at the resilience of the human spirit. Even faced with the worst scenario we are capable of great caring and compassion. I hope that we can show those same traits before they are necessary for survival.

I think Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Dr. King would all appreciate what I walked away with.

If I can be one more voice for peace, tolerance and understanding maybe someday there will be enough of us to drown out the hate.

Anger

It is never something that I have dealt well with. I used to just bottle it up and not talk about it, ignore that I was angry. I become the peace keeper, problem solver and general counsler to anyone who would listen. I couldnt deal with my own emotions, wouldnt cry in front of people would never get angry. I could rationalize anything I become very very good at seeing the other side to a story. Understanding where each person was coming from and their view of the situation wether it was close to reality or not. I saw this as an amazing strength which most of the time it is. The problem is that it makes me to rational, I didnt get angry really ever, I always understood why things went the way they did and so it never bothered me. I liked being able to stay calm and removed and objective so I thought. Then I opened my own business and the stress began to wear on my resolve to be objective and always look at both sides of the story. I began to be peeved at the small things, feeling sick all the time over finances, not wanting to talk to people or deal with my daily life. I got over it and moved on and with support from my family took to the business and life with more vigor. 

Then I was able to look at both side of the story again and went back to my peaceful calm. Then I began to feel angry when people honked at me on the freeway, or cut in line or wasted my time and didnt even seem to care. I began to worry that I was slipping. Then I realized something, all of these things were reasonable things to get upset or angry about. I could still understand the other persons point of view and where they were coming from but when their inconsiderate behavior was directed at me I find it harder every day to make excuses for them. I also have bad days, and good days but I try not to let my bad days encrouch upon others in a negative way. Remember just cause your having a bad day doesnt mean your the only one or you should project your negativity on others. Be kind and remember your bad day is probably not their fault.

Beginnings

I created this blog as a space for my thoughts and ramblings as I continue through life. My background is a little unconventional. BS in Chemistry from UCDavis, 5 years working as a professional horse trainer and riding instructor, 8 months running my own business and getting married to my bf of 8 years in a little more than a month.

I cannot promise anything I post will have meaning or make sense but it will be my thoughts and comments on experiences I have in my life. :)