I've Been Living a Lie

Oscars are to LA as smoking is to St. Louis folk or as pretending not be as cold as you really are in the winter is to Chicagoans. They thrive on it.

And I thrive on having an excuse to dress up and serve theme related beverages.
So if A equals B and B equals C, Oscar loves me! And we are so so happy together.

I sent out an Oscar party soiree invitation to most likely 30 people, including Angie, the 44 year old lady I forced into being my friend at the local pub the night before...and about 12 showed up. 
So LA. 
And on top of that, they were mainly my cousins friends. Which are the best people...but if the word gets back to my parents that I've lived here for a year and some change and still can't coerce people to come to my party, I fear the pity look. Nothing's worse than parent pity. 

I've gotten a bit more film savvy living here. The best part about my my cousins friends is that they actually work in this industry. A film editor, a producer a member of Django Unchained....they were all present. But still, I only saw maybe 2 to 3 movies that were highly nominated. If anything, the night acted like a long convincing movie trailer for me. 

...And an excuse to obtain sweet vermouth, bitters and Ikes. Without the Mikes.

The idea basically being: fancy cocktails paired with classic movie theater snacks.

popcorn. candy. pretzels. pizza.

The party preparation really just proved to me that I have been living a straight up lie. For years.

Coming from the 90s in the Midwest, I have only ever known microwavable popcorn. And how do you make it? You make sure you put the side up that says "this side up" and then you hit the button that says "popcorn" on the microwave. 
...what happens if you don't have a "popcorn" button you ask? Well then, I am sorry to say, you will not be eating popcorn.

The thing that kills me is that this popcorn isn't good. 
And you inevitably burn the first bag, ruining it and simultaneously making your house reek during the movie. 
And it's not even good! 
AND it's unnecessary! 

When buying good and plentys for the party (wink wink, nudge nudge), I decided to buy popcorn from kernel. This is a real step outside of the box for me. Or should I say, step outside of the bag, microwavable that is. God, I out dorked myself.
The vision being to make sea salt, garlic powdered and grated parmesean cheese sprinkled popcorn from scratch. 

I actually had to look up the directions online to figure out how to even make the stuff- and once I figured it out, I figured out that I had been living a lie. 

It was not only so easy, cheaper and tasted ten times better but it was so much fun! Watching the popcorn through the clear lidded sauce pan was possibly better than watching Argo. 

Ok, Argo was good...I'm just saying. 

I'm just saying, I have been living a lie. 

Orville, go F*** yourself. 

But watching the popcorn pop wasn't as good as watching these two. 

Or as good as watching Jennifer Lawrence fall and be awesome about it. 

Save Me, San Francisco

I drove through the heart of LA this morning while it was waking up. It had a rhythm about it.
I cannot lie, I was a sucker for this place today.

Still not sure it's a city. Not a suburb. Just, kind of...a place. With different pockets that elicit different feelings. All can be good but disconnected in some way. Making it lonely in some way. And cool in others. Making it hard to come up with a concise feeling about this "place" itself. And when you think you have some kind of feeling about it, it goes and changes on you.

I commonly hear the phrase "it takes a couple years to feel like home here." I heard someone say it takes at least 5 good years before you feel like you've figured it out. Five years? These are some five good years I'm in right now..
Call me selfish but they're pretty precious years. 

I must admit it is a wonderful place. I always feel like I'm cheating on it when I say otherwise.
Good food, good beaches, good vibes when you hit them. Not sure if it's my place but a great one when you're riding it's changing rhythm. Especially riding with windows cracked in February. Can't complain. It just feels more like a vacation than a home. And as much as we all want to stay on vacation one more day, it's really nice to get back home.
Giving into it is the way to get it. Letting it get you as opposed to you striving to get it.
When I stop trying is when I like it the most. I think...
I mean, I'm not thinking?

I went to San Francisco not too long ago. I felt an insurmountable love for the city before my foot even hit the pavement. It's a feeling I still haven't really gotten in LA.
But apples and oranges.
It's just love. You don't even have to know it to love it. And it certainly doesn't take much thinking. It just is. Between the sourdough, chocolate, beer & seafood. It's there. Between the trams, trolly, BART & gridded sidewalks. It's there. In the pulse. Racing through mine. The food and the love. The flow of it & me moving within it. And it within me.

 

Meatheads on a Bone

I went to a super bowl party at my cousin's condo in Silver Lake.

Everything feels so early here.
The election decision, watching the ball drop in NY...the super bowl. There is still so much day left when these events occur.
And on top of that, the balcony doors are wide open and the sun is pouring in. It seems so foreign coming from February game day in the Windy City.

In my history of SB watching, or lack there of considering I spend maybe 1 minute per quarter actually watching the game...I'm in it for the squares, people!, I have found myself to eat things that I typically disdain: Meat on the bone, things that have no business being fried but are, chips that unintentionally turn my fingers orange dipped in gluttonous dips.
It's all part of the party.

But at this SB party, there was not one, not two...Oh not even three but FOUR! Four "vegan friendly" dishes and/or trays scattered next to the baked pita chips and the natural pretzels.
Unheard of!
I don't think Chicagoans could even properly define what makes food "vegan friendly"...at least not those who are hollering at two teams of guys beating the crap out of each other on some field.

These vegan dishes were washed down by Brita filtered water
...and an inordinate amount of alcohol. Riddle me this.

Alcohol is a sort of cleanse, is it not? Sterilizes? I suppose it fits in to the soCal diet.