6 posts tagged “birthday”

while messing around with photoshop yesterday, i made a lovely new camille rose with mushrooms banner.  someone on one of the toy boards had posted various photos of her vinyl toys outdoors and two contained her toys amongst vivid orange mushrooms found growing in a wooded area near her home.  being the mushroom freak that i am, i was in awe of how colorful these mushies were.  i had never seen anything like it.  i immediately grabbed the two photos and made the banner i'm currently using now.  i like the look of the vivid colors of the mushrooms and camille against the black + white photo.  banners are so much fun to make!

after making the banner, i decided to alter the photo of me above by transforming it into a black + white photo while only keeping a few elements in color.  i desperately needed a new profile photo.  while this isn't a new photo per se (was taken last year right before i left to TADO's first solo show in l.a. - cannibal funfair), it's the best newer photo i could find.  the sticker was made for me by fellow TADO stalker, maz.  i wore it on my backpack to the show that day.  mike + katie died laughing when they saw it.

speaking of my partner in crime ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAZZLE-CHAN!!!

i've wished her happy birthday on a few boards and via email, but one more time won't hurt, haha.
hope you had a fantastic day, my favorite british plush maker!

after leaving sprinkles, we decided to drop by pink's since my mom and i missed out on eating their hot dogs at the fair.  of course the line was about forty people long by the time we got there, but that's normal.  i've never seen pink's without a huge crowd standing out front.  we bought a few of their classic chili dogs along with their yummy seasoned french fries and chowed down in the van.  it was excellent.  i'm still amazed i eat and actually like beef.  i avoided it for so many years especially hot dogs.  mystery meat is how i used to refer to it.  now i can't seem to get enough.  it's as if my body is trying to make up for all the years of not getting enough iron (ha).

after eating, we thought we'd visit marilyn monroe at the hollywood forever cemetery before heading home.  the cemetery was amazing!  i'd never seen such huge headstones and plots in my entire life.  the wealthy not only live it up while alive, but also in death.  nothing but acres and acres of massive marble headstones, huge family plots, and even greek looking tomb-like mini-buildings (i have no idea what they're called) housing one body.  as morbid as it might sound, i found strolling through the cemetery quite peaceful and beautiful.  we spent about an hour or so there.  a good portion of the deceased were of jewish and russian descent.  it was interesting reading names and seeing faces of those buried, as most of the newer black marble headstones had the decease's likeness laser-etched onto it.  amazing!  i was so in awe of the headstones' vast size as well as massive land footage (called, "family estates") people had purchased.  most plots were made into mini gardens with various flowers and shrubbery, private walkways leading to the gravesite, and benches (to sit and talk to your loved ones?)  seems weird to me considering that person is no longer in that body, but i guess everyone grieves differently.  i also couldn't help but think how unnecessary it is to spend thousands on death.  however, i can see why those left behind would want to honor their loved one(s) in that way.  i certainly don't want anything extravagant.  just a simple pine casket is fine with me.  actually, i might opt for being cremated instead.  less trouble.  besides, i don't want people staring at my body in a casket.  that's too weird and traumatizing.

i digress.  back to the cemetary .. after strolling the grounds for a bit, we headed over to one of the mausoleums to search for marylin.  this mausoleum was incredible!  the hallways seem to go on forever and the colored skylights gave each corridor a different hue of light.  it was beautiful.  not creepy at all.

 

after our unsuccessful search for marilyn (it turns out she's at the other hollywood cemetery), we hopped in the van and drove to the east side of the cemetery and that's when i spotted it - johnny ramone's statue!  i knew it was him by the hair and guitar (obviously).  his statue is stunning!  all around the base are inscriptions from friends (john frusciante, rob zombie, eddie vedder, vincent gallo, lisa marie presley) and his wife.  a very impressive staue/gravestone. 

on the freeway on our way home, we happened upon a motorcycle accident.  it was one of the most horrific things i've ever seen.  it must've happened a few minutes prior as no abulance had arrived yet.  the motorcyclist was laying on his side unconscious with about six of his cycling buddies surrounding him.  blood was gushing from his head and part of his face was hanging off.  i have never seen a pool of blood that big in real life.  we were but ten feet from the guy, in the next lane.  i almost started crying.  it was a horrific sight.  we asked if they needed us to call an abulance and then immediately went into prayer.  i still think of the nameless victim and pray he made it.  it's an image i'll never get out of my head.

a bad way (for sure) to end the day, but i had a great time up until that point.

i will eventually get around to posting about everything i did on my birthday.  i seem to have lost my posting motivation somewhere along the way.  how dare me!

after leaving the felt club, we headed out to beverly hills to the mecca of all cupcake shops, sprinkles.  our local news station, kcal 9, did a segment early in the year on l.a.'s best bakeries.  they mainly focused on cupcakes as there has been a cupcake boom here in the states as of late (trends in l.a. aren't confined to just clothing anymore).  ever since that segment, i have been fixated on sprinkles.  it was then i decided that's what i wanted for my birthday.  move over cake, bring on the cupcakes!

other people must've had the same idea because when we arrived, the line was out the door!  i was stunned!  the street looked completely deserted except for a crowd of people standing outside the tiny brown store brandishing the sprinkles name.  we got in line and tried not to stare at a family seated outside thoroughly enjoying their scrumptious cupcakes.  i'm convinced they enjoyed rubbing it in our hungry faces (ha).

after finally getting within the shop's doors, my eyes glazed over as i saw rows and rows of buttercream frosted cupcakes.  it was such a beautiful sight!  i'm a cake junkie, so cupcakes couldn't be a more perfect dessert.  each one looked absolutely beautiful, as if they were all prepared specifically for me.  after snapping out of the quasi-cupcake trance, i was lucid enough to place my order - one dozen cupcakes!  had the shop not been so crowded, i wouldn't have felt so rushed and would've done the smart thing and bought at least one of each flavor (if not two).  crowds make me nervous.  the overcrowding was my only complaint.  i not only left with a great assortment of cupcakes, but i bought suni a mini doggie cupcake as well!  i was so excited to find they made cupcakes for doggies!

the cupcakes were absolutely delicious.  definitely worth the wait and drive.  suni quite enjoyed hers, though she didn't know quite what to do with it at first.  she's a very girly dog and it eats very gingerly.  i like to say she has good table manners (ha).  she wouldn't do anything but lick the frosting, so we finally had to break it in pieces for her.  i think she enjoyed it as i thought i detected a smile from her afterwards.  i swear she smiles.

i arrived home from class on monday to find this beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me.  the card read as follows ...

several months ago a friend on livejournal posted a flyer advertising a small outdoor arts + crafts event held once a month in hollywood called, the felt club.  lots of crafty people selling handcrafted items such as artwork, plush, jewelry, clothing, etc.  it couldn't be more appealing to me as i absolutely love crafty things.  i, therefore, signed up for the newsletter with the hopes of making it out there before year's end.  last week i received an email saying it had a new indoor location in echo park at the echo.  echo park isn't really much closer to me, but the fact that it was now being held indoors made it more appealing since we're on our twenty something straight week of heat stroking inducing weather.  suffocating.  so with my birthday being on monday, i thought this sunday was a perfect day to see what these crafty people had to offer.

upon entering the echo, i found mr. jordan crane set up to my right selling his fabulous silk screen prints, as well as a few of his graphic novels.  i discovered his artwork last year on giant robot and was immediately attracted to his style.  needless to say, i was excited to find him sitting there selling his work.  i, of course, had to buy something from him and purchased three of his mini prints (a steal at $3.00 each!) and two of his small graphic novels (he doodled in both of them for me!).  he's a really great guy.

after browsing a few tables, i came across this really sweet canadian girl who, with her toronto business partner, make this amazing jewelry (called - proper jewelry) out of sterling silver and italian glass.  absolutely beautiful contemporary jewelry which mom my and i both fell in love with.  i almost purchased a pink ghost ring because it resembled the pink pacman ghost "pinky", but opted for a cupcake ring instead.  i'm a cupcake fiend and thought it went perfectly with the theme of the day (which will be explained in my next post).

i'm excited to attend their christmas event in early december which will have three times the number of vendors and be held at a larger venue.  it's such a great community of people.  everyone i met was warm and kind and made me feel so incredibly welcomed.  looks like people will be receiving handmade presents from me this christmas!  gotta support the artists!

this holiday weekend was somewhat uneventful and ended on a sad note. 

• saturday - i ventured over to aaron bros. and picked up all required art supplies for my class.  despite 90% of the supplies being on sale at 30% - 50% off, my bill still added up to $102.63.  crazy!  i didn't anticipate the supplies being so costly, but every little thing added up very quickly (like it always does).  however, i didn't have to fork out money for class text books, so i suppose it all sort of evened out in the end.  also, chris lee almost came over for dinner on his way back from visiting his girl in san diego, but that plan was nixed when it was realized he had already passed my house 20 minutes before (ha).  something keeps preventing us from meeting up!  it's the strangest thing.  he WILL make it over here eventually.  mark my words.
  

• sunday - andre agassi lost to a german qualifier at the US open promptly ending his long, sucessful career as one of america's best and beloved tennis players.  he probably should've retired after the baghdatis match seeing as how it took a toll on his bad back, but being the big-hearted competitor that he is and not wanting to let down his fans, he played the match as much as his back would allow him to.  it was sad seeing him unable to play at 100% and visibly in pain.  he was a trooper and gave it his all, though.  you gotta respect that.  he was gracious and gave a farwell speech that brought me to tears.  i'll definitely miss his infectuous smile and those fantastic two-hand returns his known for.  thanks for all the wonderful memories, andre!

• monday - awoke to the news that steve irwin (a.k.a. the crocodile hunter) had died from a freak diving accident!  what the hell!?  what are the chances of being fatally injured by a stingray?  it's just so unbelieveable.  i loved that aussie.  when his shows first hit US airwaves on animal planet, i was completely fascinated by his enthusiasm, drive, and deep love for animals.  i've never particularly cared for crocs or snakes, but seeing him go after them with so much zeal and without the appearance of fear, left me awestruck.  he was one of those people who had a "larger than life personality" who will never be replaced.  i'm completely heartbroken for his wife and children.  he loved his family more than anything and they loved him just as much in return.  i pray the Lord will comfort them and give them strength to get through this hard time.  

i started reading my john mcenroe book yesterday and am enjoying the rawness of it.  that's what i like most about john - he's almost honest to a fault.  he's not one to hold back anything no matter how unflattering it may be to himself or someone else.  sure he may put his foot in his mouth more often than not, but that's just john and what makes him real.  i've also been known to put my foot in my mouth every now and again and is perhaps one reason i'm drawn to him.

my birthday is fast approaching.  i anticipate it being sort of a melancholy day and how could it not with it being the fifth year anniversary of 9/11?  it's really quite strange having your nation's biggest tragedy occur on your birthday.  you don't really know how to feel about the situation.  luckily i'm not an attention whore who needs a party with ballooons and gifts and adoration from all.  i've never been a "birthday person" which is odd coming from a family (my dad's side) who celebrate everyone's birthday with a party every single year no matter the person's age.  i find it annoying.  to me, there's no need to see relatives that often in a single year (ha).  personally, i think they're all looney.  for me, as the years have gone on, my birthday has just become another day that deserves recognition, not necessarily anything more than that.  and after the terrorists attacks, it feels weird celebrating anything knowing how many lives were taken that day.  i have, however, received a few early gifts which i'm very thankful for.  mazzy sent me the TADO tee i wore to cannibal funfair (thank you, dearest!!) and my sister bought me the sixth season of south park on DVD (haha). 

my family and friends rock.  ^_^