2002-12-14 - 11:11 p.m. Oy! I just wrote a great post....I saved it...then I went to copy and paste....and the computer crashed!! It's got to be in there somewhere....but I can't find it!!! Stay tuned tomorrow....I have lots to post about! Goodnight everyone! comments??? (0 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002-12-14 - 12:21 a.m. OK....first...a minor miracle has occured....I have all my Xmas shopping done! Anybody who knows me well...knows just how miraculous this really is.....I'm one of those people who is usually out there shopping right up until the stores close on Christmas Eve!! Now, the big problem is....WRAPPING!! (You know I'm going to be wrapping on Xmas Eve!) OK...next....we got offered free drinks again! (Life is good!!!) We've kind of figured out that this may be a tradition with the bars we go to (at least two of them are owned by the same people).....I think they may offer a free round of drinks to the regulars at holiday time. But the interesting thing is...there are many different bartenders that we see at different times.....will this holiday gratuity continue with each bartender??? We shall see. But what a generous offering none the less! Well....goodnight everyone......stay tuned! comments??? (1 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002-12-12 - 11:20 p.m. Argh!! It's the holidays....and I've been sooo slack on posting! (That's one good thing about the holidays, you can use it as an excuse for putting off just about anything!) I should be writing something meaningful and exciting here right now.....like how I swallowed sea water when I thought I was drinking bottled water (oh...the joys of having a microscope in the house!) But it's been a long day! Goodnight everyone....I promise to stop procrastinating tomorrow! Really! comments??? (2 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002-12-11 - 12:27 a.m. Tonight was really weird. First, we went out to dinner with some friends....and when we were getting ready to pay our bill...the waitress came over and offered us a round of free drinks....we were'nt quite sure why, but we accepted. Then later, after we paid our bill....the owner came over and offered us more free drinks! We didn't accept that time because our friends needed to get going...but we thanked him and left a big tip. Then we went to the store to buy some champagne for ourselves.....and when we got home, we realized that we had been charged only half price!! Have we died and gone to heaven???!! Has the world come to an end??!!! Hmmmm........ comments??? (3 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002-12-09 - 11:04 p.m. Tonight we went to a champagne tasting up in Beverly Hills. It was quite amazing....but I think they under~estimated how popular this event would be. For $20 you could taste 60 different champagnes! And you could go back and back and back if you wanted.....except that it was sooooooooo crowded that it was nearly impossible to even move!! Everyone was pushing and shoving to get to all the different champagnes.....the room was soooo packed that everyone was literaly pressed up against everyone else! There were supposed to be hors d' oeuvres.....but I think they gave up on that...since there was no possible way an hors d' oeuvres tray would would have made it through that crowd! But it was fun anyway.....we pushed and shoved....and got our $20 worth of champagne! We tasted some amazing ones that I know cost $60 a bottle! Oooohhhh they were good. It was really interesting to compare all these super expensive champagnes.....there were so many flavors! But still, my all time favorite is Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin (if you shop around you can get it for $40 or less....some places even offer it as low as $28.....if you want a great champagne....this is the one to get!). But after that event, we were STARVING!!! We had expected to dine on hor d' oeuvres all night....but since that didn't happen, we decided to head over to Trader Vic's! What could be better than some Polynesian food and tropical drink! Well, of course, we spent way too much, ordering frou frou drinks and exotic appetizers! (if you go....order the Tortuga....it's not on the menu....and they will warn you that it is very strong...but it is the drink to get! Also, get the barbequed pork! Oh....there is no better barbequed pork in the world!!!) As you can tell....it was a fabulous evening!! Well....goodnight everyone.....I think I really need to go to bed now!!! comments??? (2 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002-12-08 - 11:09 p.m. Alright....this is going to be a sensitive post.....I soooo do not want this post to sound racist....but it's probably going to sound that way. And I don't mean it that way at all. There are many different cultures here....and I love that. I had a very interesting day....from one end of the spectrum to the other....and it is very worth blogging about. Bear with me. So today we decided to explore downtown Los Angeles....in areas that are primarily Latino. It's so great to go there because it is really like going to another country (compared to say, Santa Monica!). The streets are crowded....there's tons of shops....tons of ethnic food to be had. You can buy anything from fruit to fish to stereo speakers the size of your car! Whatever you want....it's there! Anyway....we're at this huge indoor market, and I needed to use the restroom. So I go down into the bowels of the building....where the restrooms are....and I follow a line of latino ladies into the ladies room. There is an attendant at the door who lets everyone in but me. I have to pay to use the restroom!!! (Now keep in mind, I do stick out like a sore thumb in an all latino market...(I'm very pale!)...but that shouldn't matter!! Right???!) I notice there is a coin box on the door...that normally everyone would have to put a coin in to use the restroom. But this woman (who had official badges and worked at the building) was holding the door open....letting in who ever she pleased (latinos), but charging people like me (gringos)! It was very obvious what she was doing......but being in the minority, and having to go to the bathroom really bad.....I had little choice but to pay. I've never experience discrimination before....and it was really weird!! To be the minority in a crowd is nothing....until you are reminded in a bad way....that you are the minority in the crowd. It puts you in a really scary place....to know that there is a crowd...and you aren't part of it! (Sort of like highschool....only much worse!) Well...aside from that weirdness...we had a really fun time....just walking around and shopping and looking. There are sooo many amazing buildings in downtown Los Angeles that have just been ignored and let to go to ruin! You can still see so many fabulous facades and marquis...which are now mostly crumbling. I originally went down there to take pictures.....but got so caught up in just watching everything around me, that I completely forgot about the camera! Well.....I'll be back! Goodnight Everybody! comments??? (1 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ previous - next Of course, you know, all of this is copy right protected. None of this information may be reproduced without my permission.