12 of 12 December 2012 - Fuel Me Up Buttercup

I can't believe it's over!  From the Untitled Chad Darnell Project "12 of 12 (Year 6): December 2011.  THIS IS IT!!  The final 12 of 12!"  Now I haven't posted for 6 years or every month but it's a fun little project.  It's a great way to tell one's story via pictures and a few simple words.  An even if Chad won't be doing 12 of 12 I think from time to time when I have something interesting happening on the 12th of every month I might haft do a post.  Mostly cuz' it really is a great easy way to tell a story.   I guess with Twitter and Instagram we all do it all the time 24/7.  But I've always enjoyed being in this little community that Chad cultivated.  Well here are my FINAL 12 of 12...

1 of 12:  The Meeting, Yawn. 7am staff meeting.  Now if you know me you know that I have a modified version of Tourette Syndrome that only occurs at hours before 8am.  So in order to be able to attend a meeting at 7am I must workout before hand.  It takes me about 2 hours before the censor in my brain turns off the part of my brain that likes to swear like a trucker.  So I woke up at 4:30am in order to get my gear together to hit the gym for the 5:45am Group Power Class.  "Group Power® is your hour of power! This 60 minute barbell program strengthens all your major muscles in an inspiring, motivating group environment with fantastic music and awesome instructors. With simple, athletic movements such as squats, lunges, presses and curls, Group Power is for all ages and fitness levels. Discover results, discover Group Power!"  Anyways!  I guess since I normally don't go at 5:45am I didn't know everyone had a specific spot that is theirs and is not to be taken.  I was grumpy so when someone asked who's stuff this is I snapped back that it was mine and walked away.  Next time I mark my territory. I wish we did the release that had this song in it for chest...

2 of 12:  Eggs Are Yummy!
After a 45 minute meeting it was time to go home and really refuel.  It looks gross but I'm too lazy to make an omelette.  So I just use three eggs and sorta scramble them then add chese.  Since I had leftover pepperoni I added that in also.

3 or 12:  Locals Do Gooder! GO TEAM!  Some of my local swim mates did damn good this week at the state senior games.  I think they do the 55+ Senior Games like 12 times a year but whatever.  Good for them.  Gotta love Ellen who is 86 and still swimming.  Hell she was in the 5:45am Group Power Class with me!  Amazing F'in Balls These Retired Folks Got!

4 of 12: More Fuel For The Fire!
I took a bit of a break after breakfast then I refueled to go swimming.  Espresso Love!  Mmm....well not as good as Chocolate Outrage which tastes like chocolate cake frosting.  I live on Gu Energy.  I ate one before Group Power also.  Well that and a generic Stay Awake pill.  Right now my drink of choice or drink that's on sale is Powerade Zero.  For sports drinks I've yet to have one win me over like Gu has become the fuel to my fire!

5 of 12:  I Think We Are Alone Now!
Odd, we had a whole conversation about Tiffany today.  Well Tiffany and Debbie Gibson in the worst but must see movie "Mega Phyton Versus Gatoroid".

Wahoo!  The Whole Pool To Myself! 

1x500 loosen

1x200 kick with fins (200/700)

And now I don't have the pool to myself!  Damn!  Okay so with 7 open lanes which lane do you think the old man is going to pick.  Oh yeah, why don't you swim one lane over from me. 

3x100 with fins on 1:40 - swim, kick, pull, build (300/1000)

Well I did 2 on 1:40 before the man decided he'd start to ask me questions.  After taking an extra 15 seconds I just took off while he was asking yet another question.

6x50 on :50 focus on distance per stroke (300/1300)

I was doing my best to give him one word answers in between my rest but damn he was getting on my nerves.

2x300's on 4:20.  I came in on the 3:50 for both of them.  I had more of a set planned but I was just not feeling it today.  Swimming alone sucks.  I need motivation from teammates. (600/1900)

100 Warmdown (100/2000)

So 2,000 yards.  Not too bad but not great.  At least I swam.

6 of 12:  The Holiday Speedo Spirit!
Do I see Santa on my Speedos?  And Snowflakes?  Oh and Rudolph?  Yes!  My swim bag has all my Christmas Spirit.  All from Splish Swimwear!

7 of 12:  Gu Me Again!After swim it was home to shower, shave and change back into gym go-er.  But first a turkey sandwhich on rye with cheese and chocolate mint gu.  No caffeine.  Figured I was all set.  Now back to the gym for 1:15 Group Kick or Kickboxing.  What 2 classes in one day?  I know a bit much.  In fact a year ago the only classes I really ever liked were Spinning.  I've taken other classes from Bootcamp to Dance With Me.  But I never really gave them a chance.  Now I'm class addicted.  I am so more into classes then working out alone.  I'm more motivated and I'm seeing a difference in my body!

8 of 12:  Meatloaf! 
So about 2:15 or so I zapped some leftover meatloaf in the nuclear oven range.  I know meatloaf is gross and I didn't make my turkey loaf.  But it's red meat with eggs so protein.  I also didn't use a healthier filler so year bad bad breadcrumbs are in this. I gotta make my turkey with garbanzo beans loaf sometime soon.

9 of 12:  So many choices...
So it's after 8pm and it's been a long long day.  So we got in Group Power, Swimming, Group Kick oh and one more.  I dropped in for 30 minutes in "Sit & Be Fit" at the gym.  What?  It's a "A seated total body conditioning program."  I did it with a bit heavier weights then others and it was fun actually.  One guy in the class just celebrated his 86th Birthday.  Cheers!

10 of 12:  Tis The Season 2B Tacky! Christmas Decorating is a sport around here.  People go crazy.  I guess when you retire you have nothing better to do then play golf and decorate.  So this is just one cul de sac near me.  Mind you I helped out with my cul de sac and I refuse to show how tacky I can be!  Cuz' it's horrible with a giant penguin and snowman!

11 of 12:  Wait I Only Got 10! I've been using Fitocrcy to keep track of my workouts.  It's sorta like Foursquare meets a workout journal.  The jury is still out if I like it or not.  It needs some work. 

12 of 12:  Oh Hail Chad! Thanks Chad for creating and curating 12 of 12 for over 6 years!  That and listening to me ramble on drunk at least one time that I remember. 

See more of my past 12 of 12's by clicking HERE!

12 of 12 June 2011 - Bumpy Jones Classic Edition

Today started at the crack of darkness at 4am!  Which is early to wake up for a swim meet but not as early as waking up to run a marathon.  I had to walk the dog, eat breakfast, shower and shave.  Well I really didn't have to shower but I find shaving the face is easier after a hot shower.  Then I meet up with Connie and Cyn to head down to the Bumpy Jones Classic.  When we got there I staked out my space with some of the swim meet essentials - water, G2, grapes, sunblock, cliff bar, sunblock, Gu Shots and more water

1 of 1 - The Cooler of GoodiesWhile sitting in the stands waiting for my swim mates to get ready for warm up I look bellow me and the man, the legend The Bumpy Jones was sitting down below.

2 of 12 - The Legend of Bumpy Jones
I admit I'm really not up on my swimming history and actually never heard of Bumpy till a few weeks ago.  But he is some sorta swimming legend.  The program had a wikipiedia like page about him but after swimming the 200 butterfly I attempted to toss my program in the trash in a show of defiance for my slow swim.  Needless to say I failed and missed the trash bucket forcing myself to go back and repeat my failed temper tantrum.  But anyways he must be famous if they named a swim meet after him.  I mean I haven't been to the Joel McKenna Classic, yet!

3 of 12 - SASSY!
Okay so I'm skipping ahead in the timeline of the day!  I mean come on SASSY!  So sometime between my 200 Backstroke and my 200 Butterfly I was in the warm up pool and while hanging out by the wall saw this sign for SASSY!  I so want to be on a team called SASSY!  Too bad it's for that synchronized "swimming" shit. 

4 of 12 - The WarmUp
This picture was pretty early in the warm up.  People were still arriving.  The lanes weren't too croweded.  Actually they never did get overly crowded.  Even the smaller warm up area was doable all day.  Normally I hate meet warm up pools but I was okay today.  Either that or I'm mellowing out at meets.  Which I don't think is true cuz' I was nervous and peeing non-stop all day.  Damn nervous energy!  You may notice that the stands had fans that were turned on later in the day.  It was comfy up in the stands and the locker rooms were a/c'ed so only being on deck was brutal.

5 of 12 - 200 LCM Backstroke
I feel like Hertz or is it Avis?  Well Friday when I swam the 800 LCM Free I came in 2nd in my age group and then again today in the 200 LCM Backstroke I came in 2nd.  I'm actually okay with my time.  Mainly because I've never swam the 200 LCM Backstroke event before.  I've only swam one other LCM swim meet in my adult life and that was in 2008.  I haven't even been in a LCM pool since last year.  As for my stroke I really gotta work on that.  In the pool I've been swimming in we always don't have flags so I'm always looking all over for the poles which carried over today.  I wasn't as bad but I was circle swimming which is bad.  I also was sorta all over the lane.  I felt the lane line brush against my arm a few times.  It wasn't a pretty swim.  My push off the walls were pretty shitty.  I blame my fear of my hip pain for taking them too softly.  Really I wasn't preparred at all for this swim.  I had voices of past coaches in my head.  One of which will kill me for saying this cuz' I most likely remembered it wrong but the pacing of my arm swim cycle was off.  I was trying to get it to what I think I was told was the correct way which would be that when one arm is up straight above me the other arm should be bent with my hand "painting" the wall so my arms would be at an "L" like shape.  Once again I don't know if I'm saying that right or if that is even what she had said.  Either way my backstroke needs work!

6 of 12 - Red Isn't Just For Commies, Even If I May Be One So two days, two events and two second places.  Meh!  I deserve what I get.  I haven't been training as hard as I should.  I know that.  I just gotta do it.  Also it's not just swimming I gotta do better hitting the weights.  One thing I felt or learned today is that I don't have the omph in my pulling I use to have.  I think weight training makes a big difference in my swimming.  God knows my legs aren't doing anything so arms, chest and back need to pick it up!

7 of 12 - Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language: de-fault! A wise fat yellow man once said "Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language: de-fault!"  And with that I got my 1st Place!  Well 1 out of 1!  First off you must be one sick individual to swim the 200 Butterfly!  Really!  If you don't believe me read SwimBrief's "Conversations You Have With Yourself During Every 200 Butterfly."  Now 200 SCY and 200 LCM are two different beasts.  First of all you have a lot less walls to cling on to and get that extra rest.  Ya, we've all done it.  You get to the wall and to stop for a very brief moment of time to regroup.  Well with long course baby you get less chances!   Before the event even was close I was already thinking of scratching.  I haven't swam 200 butterfly even in a yard pool in months.  What was I thinking?  I'm out of shape!  I can't swim four long course lengths butterfly!   I've done this event once before in 2008 and did a 2:31..something or another.  I had sandbagged my time with an entry of 2:45.  I just wanted to do below a 2:40.  Well sorry I always have two goals in my mind 1.) An Easy Goal and 2.) A Tougher Goal!  The tougher goal was anything below a 2:31.  I don't know I thought a miracle could happen.  That the swim gods would shine down on me or would that be up at me?  As we approached the blocks the guy next to me yelled to his teammate something or another about taking it out easy.  I thought to myself "yeah, that's a good plan.  go slow, be smooth..wait what did the coach say a million times about my stroke?"  The double whistle, the long whistle or is it the long whislte then the double whistle?  I've been swimming for a good enough time that I should know the order of the whistles and what they mean.  Instead I look around for clues.  Do I climb on the blocks now or later?  Mind you it wasn't as bad at going to the blocks for the backstroke when the coach started the whistle while someone was still swimming from the previous heat in my lane!  Doh!  Anyways, whistles blow and I get on the block.  Wobbly as always.  I don't know what it is but I'm horrible on the blocks.  I shake all about.  My feet are unsteady.  I'm a mess.  Luckily we are only on the blocks for a short time.  The beeping thing goes off and I'm off.  I'm deep, I'm trying to kick, I'm fucked already!  I start my stroke too soon while I'm still under water.  I'm recovering underwater.  Doh!  I'm taking it easy the first 50 down the pool.  Remembering to breath every two strokes.  Mind you this means I inhale every two strokes and trying to remember to exhale in between.  I'm not always good at that.  In fact I mess up a bit and forgot to exhale.  I'm taking it too easy but wonder if I'm taking it too too easy.  I remember in the past that sometimes I've gone to slow at first.  But wait the guy next to me is next to me and he was going to take it easy with his mate.  So I must be okay, right?  Take it easy.  Breath.  Exhale.  Breath.  Exhale.  Wait am I burrying my head too deep?  Are my hips coming up enough?  Am I kicking?  Yeah I think I am!  Oh wait breath and exhale.  The wall is coming.  Don't forget to hand touch.  Two hand touch.  Oh shit!  I didn't do the turn right.  It's "hello, operator" like the telephone with one arm and what with the other?  FUCK!  Oh damn I so fucked my underwater kicking thinking about my arms in the turn.  Oh fuck again, I breathed on my first stroke.  Take it easy.   Remember breath and exhale.  Time freezes!  It's all a blur!  Stopping at 100 LCM isn't so bad.  It's not like anyone would care, right?  I mean do I really need to do this anymore?  I'm too old for this shit!  Oh well I didn't stop I more as well should continue.  Oh wait breath and exhale.  Exhale and breath.  Oh fuck!  I went three strokes without breathing.  Should I breath every 1 stroke now?  Oh fuck this hurts! My arms are burning.  Oh shit, my legs are burning!  Never mind my hip!  Oh shit.  A 150 is enough!  No!  Damn wall, two hand touch.  Don't get fuckin' DQ'ed now!  Just breath every fucking stroke till I hit that damn wall.  Where is that damn wall!  Damn! Mother fucker!  I hate swimming! Done!  I can't see the fuckin' timing board.  What did I swim!  Oh well!  So I ask the timing chick who is like 7 years old my time.  WTF! 2:35 something!  I walk disgustingly away.  I have my shorts, tee shirt and program with me.  Cuz' I needed it to know my lane.  I walk past a trash can and try to toss this damn program with all my might into the trash can but fail!  I miss FUCK THIS MEET!  In shame I reach down and pick the program and toss it in shame into the trash can.  My day is over!



8 of 12 - It's Not All About Me!
Connie and Cyn talk swimming before an event. 

9 of 12 - ------ & The Hot But Way Too Young Lifeguards
Ya, I'm a perv and I'm old.  That really isn't true.  But yeah I did enjoy some of the lifeguard eye candy even though it made me feel like I was around 1,002 years old.  This one had some sorta Wolverine look going for him with some facial hair.  Later on in the meet they had Lifeguard In Training folks around the deck.  To be honest some of them looked so young and small I wondered if I had drowned in the butterfly if they could have even saved me.  (note - image was edited to remove person on deck per request.  also removed a bad joke that i mangled the joke so bad but i blame the wine!)

10 of 12 - Don't Go Chasing Pink Waterfalls or Waterslides!
This was like the best YMCA since the Village People!  Really!  They had pink waterslides!  Mother fuckin' pink waterslides!  Did I say pink waterslides, muther fucker I did!

11 of 12 - The Coach
Coach!  He doesn't have a first name or a last name he just goes by as coach!  His name is Gary!  I'll hold back his last name.  He is the coach for the VAST team here which is a team for the retired folks who live in The Villages.  He also coaches a rag tag group of lost swimming souls like myself.  He's been giving me advice, workouts, words of wisdom and so much more.  Without "Coach" I would have been in a funny farm months ago.  If swimming is my one thin string to sanity then Coach is the spider who is spinning that string!

12 of 12 - The Best Food I've Had Since Leaving Los Angeles
The end!  Oh god.  I forgot the name of the place.  But it looks like Wahoos!, it's menu is like Wahoos!  But no fish tacos!  But everything else is the same. Anyways any day that ends in a burrito and conversation is a good day! 

disclaimer:  i was drinking wine after being in the sun while writting this so any spelling errors or mistakes are the fault of Pinot and some guy name Grigio!  For more information on 12 of 12 head to Untitled Chad Darnell Project and for more info on Bumpy Jones follow this LINK!

 

 

 

 

 

12 of 12 January 2011 - Swimming!

12 of 12 January 2011 - Swimming!

Chad of the Untitled Chad Darnell Project created the 12 of 12 Photo Essay thingy that I sometimes take part on.  These are my pix for the month see more at Chad's blog Untitled Chad Darnell Project.

1.  I love the smell of chlorine in the morning! I was up at 4am as I was meeting some swim mates a bit after 5am to drive the 1 hour and 50 minutes to Clearwater, Florida to compete in day one of the US Masters Clearwater Valentine's Day Swim Meet.  Warm up for the 1,000 Free was at 7am!  Yikes!

2.  Bringing Sexy Back!  Well, bringing my fat ass to the backstroke! Up after the 1,000 we had another warm up before the 200 backstroke started.  I took a picture of the heat sheet.

3.  I feel like a former governor from Alaska!  
A little trick I learned in age group swimming!

4.  Gu Me! Vanilla Bean is one of my favorite Gu Energy Gel flavors!  I could live on this stuff!

5.  God I Suck!   I had a really slow swim today!  Doh!  In all my events!  Oh well. 

6. Still sucking! Grr...such a bad time.  My splits were so f'in messed up.  Such a bad bad swim!

7.  Tripple Sucking!
Good thing I only signed up to swim one day as I don't think my ego could take another day of sucking!

8.  Hot Men In Speedos! Ha!  Made ya look!  These two warm up lanes were reserved for people age 65+.  I've never seen that at a masters meet but think it's a great idea. 

9.  Calling It A Day! The pool from outside.  Tried to get a better picture from various angles but this was the best one that came out.  Stupid phone!

10. On The Road Again...

The Courtney Campbell Causeway is the northernmost bridge across Old Tampa Bay.  I think this is one of the most breathtaking parts of Central Florida.  Is Tampa in Central Florida?  Okay so let's say north of Miami besides Disney World.  Yeah, that's better!

11.  So Nice I Posted It Twice Okay, it's blurry as I was in a car!

12.  Me Love Cookies!
Baked some leftover cookies!  Yummy!  Of course that was after my steak dinner.  But I didn't take a picture of the steak.  Was too hungry to take the time!

 

12 of 12 - August "Hollywood Edition"

Way back in the day Chad Darnell a fellow Los Angeles blogger came up with a cool little concept called 12 of 12 in which bloggers take 12 photos on the 12th day of the month and post them.  It's been going on a few years and I've tried my best to participate from time to time.  This month I remembered to take photos starting in the morning so I got a few photos to share.  12 to be exact.

I decided to just do random things I pass during my day.  Since I was too lazy to go for a run I didn't get many early morning shots.

1 OF 12: But my first one is on my walk to the Red Line at Hollywood / Highland.  I walk up Gardner to Hollywood and pass the fire station one block from my apartment.

Figure the fire station is an important part of my life as it wakes me up from time to time during late night fire runs.  Or donut and coffee runs at 3am.

2 OF 12: Walking down Hollywood in the morning is actually the only time I want to be anywhere near Hollywood.  The sidewalks are still empty as the tourists are eating the free breakfast at the hotels.  Poor James Dean his arm has been broken for some time and people put trash in his arm.  No respect.

More importantly who the hell is Elmo Lincoln?  Actually he was the first Tarzan then quit acting to try is hand at mining but returned to Hollywood only to be an extra in a few films including two more Tarzan films.   

3 OF 12: Academy Award winning actress Patricia Neal passed away this week.

4 OF 12:  Charlie Chapman slept here or something like that at the Roosevelt Hotel.

I stayed at the Roosevelt many years ago before the did the big renovation.  It's a nice piece of old Hollywood.  Glad it's still around.

5 of 12: The Kodak and the tourist. 

Couldn't have timed that photo any better if I had tried.  It was sure luck a tour bus was passing by.

6 of 12: About a 12 minute walk from home and I'm at the Red Line.  Down I go.

Since I leave after the morning rush I usually get to sit down the entire way on the Red LIne.  I go from Hollywood / Highland to...

7 of 12: To the Wilshire / Vermont.

At this stop I have a few minutes wait so I continue to read a bit.

8 of 12: I love my Kindle.  I am too cheap to pay for a newspaper subscription so I keep trying the 14 Day Trial Subscriptions.

Some day I'll hafta break down and pick a newspaper.  This week I'm trying the Wall Street Journal which I really do enjoy.  Too bad it's one of the more expensive ones to subscribe to.

9 of 12: I get on the Purple Line and get off at Normandie / Wilshire.

Work is a block away so it's perfect.  I enjoy the train since I get to read.  Can't do that and drive.  Well I guess you could but I wouldn't recomend it.

10 of 12: The work day is done and it's time to head home.  I decide to walk down Orange to Sunset to walk home and pass In n' Out.  Reminding myself that it's been too long since my last Double Double.

11 of 12: Sunset Blvd.  Traffic didn't seem so bad but then again I left work early today so it's before the rush hour traffic.

12 of 12: The Guitar Center has it's own Rock N' Roll version of the Hollywood Walk of Stars.

I walk by it all the time and have never took the time to even look at it.  Taking the picture was the longest that I ever really looked directly at it.  But tourists are always stopping by.  Guess I should check it out.

Well that was my 12 of 12 for August.  I didn't really plan it to be the Hollywood Edition but that is what it sorta turned out to be.  See more August 12 of 12's over at Chad Darnell's Blog.

 

12 of 12: The Vadar Project

 Happy June 12th!  Yeah another month has ticked away so it's time for Chd Darnell's 12 of 12.  Read more about 12 of 12 at The Untitled Chad Darnell Project.  This month I started to do a normal run of the day 12 of 12 but then hit The Vadar Project.  Since I took 90 fotos on my iPhone I decided to make my 12 of 12 all about The Vadar Project.  What is The Vadar Project?   Check out thevadarproject.com.  It was hard to pick just 12 out of 90 but I did but did include them all in a quick youtube video "The Vadar Project in 60 Seconds".

12.  OH MY GOD VADAR IS PINK! 

   

Ya know how much I love PINK!

11.  Wait Vincent van Vadar?

 
Well with Vadar it's a Scary not a Starry Night!

10.  Vadar Plays Frontierville Too!

   

When not over lording over the galaxy Vadar has time for some Frontierville on Facebook as seen by his avatar.

9.  They Must Be English! 

 
Wowser.  Look at those teeth!

8.  Join The Other Side!

 
Who knew the Ewok's were English.  

7.  Darth Vadar Is One Horny Dude!

 
Is that an antler or are you just happy to see me?

6.  Darth Goes Fruity!

   

I always knew he was a bit fruity!

5. The Clone Wars

 
Nothing really to say about The Clone Wars cartoon Vadar except...WOAH!

4.  Pin Me Up!

 
Vadar goes retro with this pin up.

3. PINK VADAR!

   

May the PINK be with you!  If it was up to me they'd all be PINK!

2.  The Pink Strikes Back!

 
Hey I like PINK!

1.  It's Yoda Damnit!

   

I mean come on!  It's YODA!

And a quick review of The Vadar Project in 60 seconds....

12 of 12 May 2010 Edition.

I don't do this enough so yesterday I reminded myself before going to bed that today would be the 12th of the month.  Meaning I would take 12 random photos of my day and post them on my blog as part of Chad Darnell's 12 of 12 Blogger Project.   To find our more about the 12 of 12 check out the Untitled Chad Darnell Project. 

I will admit that I am hit or miss with actually doing a 12 of 12.  My last one was back in November.  You can see all my past 12 of 12's LINK.  But this is the last year Chad will be doing the 12 of 12 so I must do them for the rest of the year!   

I took my photos on my iPhone so the quality sucks and I didn't have time to play with them in Photoshop.  So these are in the raw photos.  With that said here are my 12 of 12 for May 2010...

Picture 1 of 12 - Ride em' Cowboy!

 
 On my way to the gallery I came out of the subway and found this girl wearing these fugly cowgal boot sneakers!  The thing is about a year ago I saw a guy wearing a cool pair of sneaker boots that weren't cowboy at all.  Well I loved those sneakers and searched for them for a bit.  Only to realize they'd look ridiculous on me.  I tweeted the pix of the girl and one of my tweeter follows responded they say her at the Hollywood subway stop and thought they were fugly also.

Picture 2 of 12 - Sugar / Diet Coke Fix

 
I needed my morning fix.  After working out this morning I cooked three eggs but was hungry right before heading to the gallery.  So I stopped at the 7/11 for fuel.

Picture 3 of 12 -  Oodles of Noodles

 
Mmm...mmm....good.  We went to the noodle place a block away for lunch.  I got the Poh Seafood.  So much food!

Picture 4 of 12 -  Odies But Goodies

 
Upstairs in the office is this cabinet and on top is a bunch of old cameras and a modern Bose stereo system.  I like the mix of old and new.  Mostly I like the old cameras.

Picture 5 of 12 - 4 O'Clock Pick Me Up

 
A late afternoon trip to Robek's to get a blended juice thingy with some energy boost in it!  It kept me going and very alert for about an hour.  Then crashed.  Betting it's the yummy sugar in it!

Picture 6 of 12 -  In Between Days

 
The Cure fan in me keeps thinking "In Between Days".  Right now the gallery is in between shows.  The next tentative planned one is to open on June 2nd.  But that is up in the air for another day or so.  It's going to be pretty cool so I'll be chatting it up. 

Picture 7 of 12 - Born In East LA

 
After the gallery closed we headed to East LA for an event that the photographer was covering.  I like watching the photographers work.  See how they go to cover an event, take pictures and then I love seeing them the next day.  It's amazing seeing something that you were at via another person's lens.  It is helping me appreciate the work of photographers more and more each day.   

Picture 8 of 12 - Let's Get Wet!

 
Of course I hunt down the pool on location!  It's a 4 lane 25 yard pool.  Umm...no gutters.  This pool isn't made for real swimming.  But at least it's a pool in a community with a lack of pools.  We need more swimming pools that are open to the public and offer swimming lessons.  Go Swimming!

Picture 9 of 12 -  Get With The Program!

 
This is one of the flyers from the event.  I'm not mentioning the event cuz' well no one needs to know that I'm blogging about it.   

Picture 10 of 12 - My Pants!

   

Like I said I enjoy seeing what the photographer makes of the events I tag along with.  But tonight with the speaker going on for 90 minutes non-stop in spanish and I got a bit bored and started to tweet on my iPhone.  I took a pix of me waiting for her to finish speaking.  My Prada boots need a good shoe shine!

Picture 11 of 12 -  Dawgie Wuv Yu!

 
At the place the event was held one of the employees had a dog who was walking around the room at the end of the session.  It was sorta a cute dog.  But when it came near me I had to pet it and talk to it like the guy in the dog food commercials that talk dog.  Ya know doggie talk...but in english.  Wonder if pets brought up in spanish households only speak dog spanish and not dog english? 

Picture 12 of 12 - Cheating With Plushie

 
After my day I did hit Ralphs to pick up a few things.  I tried to take my 12th photo which would have been the cover of Vanity Fair with Christiano Ronaldo on the cover.  But alas after three attempts I gave up.  So the 12th photo is of my favorite porn star Plushie Schwartz  (NSFW plushieschwartz.com)! 

12 of 12 November 2010: The Regal Edition

Every so often I jump into this fun little photo / blog project called 12 of 12 by Chad Darnell LINK.  It's been some time since I've done one so I decided to do one this month.  Since I actually had something interesting for a change.  So here is my November 12 of 12 The REGAL Edition..

Picture One:  the gym

I run to the gym which use to be okay when I went to another gym.  The membership card was one of those keychain things.  So I could just run with that one little thing and a key.  No hassle even on days when I wear shorts without pockets.  But my current gym has the credit card sized card and asks for a picture id.  So I gotta hold them plus .50 cents to rent a locker on days that my running shorts don't have pockets.  Grrrr!

Picture Two: the shirts

Let's Get Active.  Here are some promotional t-shirts for the EA Sports Active 5K Challenge.  In case you don't know EA Sports Active is a fitness game for the Wii and you can set up yourself a 30 Day Challenge with the game.  The 30 Day Challenge mixes up various mini-games / workouts over a 30 day period.  Well with the launch of EA Sports Active: More Workouts the folks of EA decided to have folks to do 5K.  So in cities accross America folks volunteered to organize online communties that would get together for training runs and then run one 5k in the local area before the launch of the new game on Nov 17th.  In LA the run is the Run For Her runforher.com 5k this Sunday.  These are the tee shirts I'll be giving to the EA Sports Active 5K Challenges.

Picture Three: the cereal

The best cereal in the world hands down flat is Bear Naked.  A bit pricey but so yummy!  Luckily when I purchased it the package had one of the tear and use instant coupons.  So it was cheaper then the almost 5 buck price per bag. 

Picture Four: the cookies

Nothing is better then leftover Halloween Cookies.  The day after Halloween the local supermarket marked down them to .99 cents a package.  I bought all they had since the expiration date was something like 2035.  Yummy sugar cookies!

Picture Five:  the game

I got EA Sports Active More Workout a week before it goes on sale which will be Tuesday, November 17th so I started the 60 Day Challenge.  Today was to be Day 3 but I didn't play / workout since I played RockBand instead.  I'll have to make up for it by playing / workout on Friday!

Picture Six: the food

It was dark at the Palladium but here is some of the Wolfgang Puck catered food.  The little tin was Mac N Cheese.  So Yummy!

Picture Seven: the cupcake

Oh My Gawd!  This is/was Wolfgang's version of the Hostess Cupcake.  And yummy!  The desert line was super long so we snagged one of these from the waiter.

Picture Eight: the maximum

That is Maximum Bob Lutz of GM about to unveil the 2011 Buick Regal.  He's Vice Chairman of Global Product Development (his wiki page.)  Car enthusiast love this guy. 

Picture Nine: the Regal

This isn't an infomercial or commercial but if you haven't seen a Buick lately you should.  On hand besides the all new 2011 Buick Regal were other Buicks.  I got into the Lacrosse and it was pretty spiffy.  Sorta a car fan boy here so I know that Buicks have gotten better and the Lacrosse has been getting really good reviews by car mags/blogs.  The Regal looks like a very nice car.  Looks really nice on the side.  

Picture Ten:  the design

Ed Welburn is Global Vice President of General Motors Design and he was talking about the design language of Buick.  He was also in a Buick commercial a few years back talking about the design launguage of Buick.  We were able to see two other Buicks but we couldn't bring in cams/cellphones.  But one was the already cancelled re-badged CUV from Saturn Vue.  Buick had announced they were going to make it and then the internet went into a tailspin with car fans saying it was ugly so Buick pulled the plug.  Trust me the CUV looks better in person.  It's a shame Buick isn't making it.  But what do I know?

Picture Eleven: the music

After the car show it was time for the music to start.  Behind the car was a stage and a backup band came out and started the show.

Picture Twelve:  the singer

Colbie Caillat performed.  I do admit to liking one or two of her songs.  Was a nice way to end the evening. 

And that my friends is my 12 of 12.  Once again check out Chad's blog for more 12 of 12's.  As a bonus below is a slideshow from the Buick Regal event:

12 of 12: April 2009

I haven't taken part in the 12 of 12 Blogger thingy since May of last year.  I got sick of taking pictures of boring everyday things and so many times I started late and didn't have enough photos or just forgot about it to half way into the day.  Sometimes I'd start and forget.  Sorta like today.  As for the 12 of 12 Blogger Project it all started with Chad Darnell at the Untitled Chad Darnell Project LINK.  Anywho...here are my 12 of 12 for April 2009:

1 of 12 - Starting my day with a little Animal Crossing City Folk on the Wii.  The morning sun is poking in from my shutters.  Today was Bunny day so you can go around digging up Bunny Eggs!

2 of 12 - Walking to the gym I notice a pair of shorts for that time when I go on that Gay Safari.

3 of 12 Walking home from the gym.  Got that damn hill.  Doesn't look too bad from this angle.  Yeah, I'm stretching this for all it's worth.  So should have taken more pictures.

4 of 12 - Home.  Manor just sounds so fancy smancy.

5 of 12 - I nuked 2 eggs after the gym.  Then hit the shower and ate some leftover pasta.  It's about 11:30 when I eat the eggs and 12:15 for the pasta.  I knew I was going to swim at 3pm so I wanted to have the food fully digested.  Don't need to leave any of my breakfast or lunch behind at the pool.

6 of 12 - It's Bunny Day at Animal Crossings City Folk.  You get to hunt for eggs and from time to time some can be traded in for special Bunny Day Themed Furniture.  You can't tell but my guy is dressed in a pink argyle sweater and pink heart shape glasses.  It's so me.  I even have a pink bunny balloon.  AC is so addictive.

7 of 12 - When you tell your kids that once upon a time a company named General Motors use to make cars and your kids asked what happened to them. Just point to this ugly car by Chevy

8  & 8 1/2 of 12 - I thought CVS had a sign No Shirt, No Shoes = No Service.  Some guy was in CVS buying a bottle of soda with no shirt on.  And to top it off he wasn't the kind guy who you want to see shirtless.  It wasn't that hot today.  I tried to be sly in taking the photo but one of the cashiers saw me and smiled at me. 

9 of 12 - OMG they have PINK Gatorade!  Plus they are Buy 1 Get 1 Free

10 of 12 - The baseball diamond that will be a parking lot.  The West Hollywood Park is going under the knife for the 20th Anniversary of West Hollywood.  The park will be getting a facelift with a new library, parking, green space and by 2050 a new pool  In the meantime they tore up the baseball field for a temporary parking lot.  Idiots.

11 of 12 - A Sign of the times. 

12 of 12 - A door to nowhere?  I pass this door all the time with no sign or anything which isn't such a big deal.  But in the morning at 5:45am on the way to swim practice I swear I see people waiting outside it as I ride by on my bike.  I googled it and it's some non-profit office.  Guess they just have a very early start.

And that is another edition of 12 of 12. 

May's 12 of 12

Chad started this little snapshot project a few times ago called 12 of 12.  Read more about it HERE but see my pictures below.

May 1 of 12

My bathing suits are just laying in my bath tub.  When I come home I hang them up to dry but eventually they all fall down in a pile somehow.  The rubber ducky was taking a nap in the soft fabric.

May 2 of 12

As I'm heading out on the bike not only is it starting to drizzle out but a helicopter is making passes around the block.  Must be an accident near by.  Thought of chasing it down to see what was going on but decided to run inside and get a jacket.

May 3 of 12

The pool's locker room.  I overslept and missed the morning swim so I biked over to the pull and swam during the lap swim.  I did 4,000 yards on my own including a 1,000 kick set.  I hate kicking.  The locker rooms do not have a roof only a fence to protect people from getting in.  So the city decided to buy those awnings to provide some dryness on rainy days.

May 4 of 12

My stuff after I get out of the water.

May 5 of 12:

Leaving the pool.  It is still over cast outside but no longer drizzling.

May 6 of 12:

Right next door is the town library.  A place I've never stood foot in.  The building is pretty small for a town/city library.  With next year being some big anniversary a new capital campaign will start to redo the park/pool and library.  But for now you can see the Red Building being built which will sit next to the big Blue and Green buildings.

May 7 of 12:

The 2008 Los Angeles Pride Banners are up.  The weekend of June 8th.  The only thing I ever do anymore is just run the Pride 10K the Sunday morning.

May 8 of 12:

Leaving the park to head home.  I never understood the ugliness of this sign and water fountain.  At least soon it will be a part of history.

May 9 of 12

This is a very special piece of my 12of12 as I've been wanting to snap a photo of this art gallery for months but always forget to.  This gallery on Robertson Blvd has had some sort of water/pool picture in it's front window for a year.  The latest one is of a pool ladder.  Someday I'm going to stop in an take a look around.

May 10 of 12

Skip a few hours to din din time.  Went to Hirozen for sushi.

May 11 of 12

Pie!  Strawberry and Rhubarb pie at Sweet Lady Jane.  We all walked up Orlando for some sweets.  It may cost 7 bucks a slice but so worth it.

May 12 of 12

Then we walked some more to have a cocktail to finish the night at Hamburger Mary's.  Busy night for me as some friends were visiting from SF who invited some friends up from Long Beach to hang out and catch up.

12 of 12 for April 12th, 2008: I LOVE LA Edition

So Chad Darnell over at the "Untitled Chad Darnell Project" created this great photo project that happens once a month on the 12th day of the month called 12 of 12.  Being the 12th day of April it was time for another twelve of twelve.  Check out all of Chad's 12of12 project online HERE

One of Twelve:

6:50ish me on with my bike on the stoop on my way to go swim.  Notice the water in the street well someone who decided to water the lawn last night for the building left the water running for 6 hours.  Way to go Psycho Lady Upstairs!
I hate that bitch!

Two of Twelve:

I snap this picture between Olympic and Wilshire.  I stop my bike on a corner to snap the ultimate picutre of LA, the Palm Tree Lined Streets.  Nothing says LA at almost 7am in LA like a row of Palm Trees.

Three of Twelve:

I liked this photo so much I made it my iPhone wallpaper.  Can it be more LA with the palm trees and the hills?

Four of Twelve:

So it's a bit after 7:10 am and I'm the first person at the lap swim at the WeHo pool.  I get in and chat with the lifeguards a bit.   I've been swimming for almost 4 years now and I'm just now talking to the lifeguards.  Yeah, another wall broken.  Hey, I'm shy.

Five of Twelve:

Nachos and Salsa waiting for a late lunch.  I made eggs and toast for breakfast around 9am and waited to around 3 for lunch.  I was very hungry.  Too hungry.

Six of Seven or Twelve:

Yes, I had lunch at Wahoos.  I know so boring.  I hate the music and the stickers and posters all over.  But it is cheap and close by.

Eight Is Enough or Eight of Twelve:

Anyone who has been to LA knows this store on La Brea that has some weird shit.  Furniture and what not from movies, tv and other tacky shit.  they had these two dogs statues back to back.  Like one dog was sniffing the other.  WTF

Nine of Twelve:

Still on La Brea we checked out a few of the trendy stores.   I won't say names but then we walked pass this art gallery that had the Nike logo so I snapped a picture.  I know if you have read and will this blog over the last few and the next week you'd think I'd drank the Nike Koolaide!

Ten of Twelve:

Ice Cream Gone!  It's all gone at the Farmers Market.  Coffee Toffee Crunch or something else.  I think they called it Koffee Koffee Krunch.  Damn....those people with trendy names.

Eleven of Twelve

I found god and god is a margarita mix bigger than my grill.  Sur La Table has this giant margarita mixer.  If you love me you will buy it for me with fixins for at least a month.  HINT HINT.  NO Really I want this!

12 of 12: