Dining Car!

Dining Car! a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

If only this meal was tasty.

Pizza

Pizza a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

TRUTH

Cupcake Royale

Cupcake Royale a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

I maintain that these cupcakes are better than Sprinkles'.

Wonder Freeze

Wonder Freeze a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

Frankenfurter

Frankenfurter a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

Ivar's Fish Bar

Ivar's Fish Bar a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

I ate some sort of shellfish here for the first time, mussels or clams or something, and they weren't that good. This sign, however, is so spectacular. and the view of the Sound was even better!

Crepes!

Crepes! a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

I made these dessert crepes, too. They were also awesome. Wish I made them more recently than 3.5 years ago.

Crepes

Crepes a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

These crepes poulet I once made were so so so delicious.

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DSC03606a a photo by neonspecs on Flickr.

This is my birthday cake. My grandmother makes it every year. It is unbelievably awesome.

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Originally uploaded by neonspecs

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Originally uploaded by neonspecs

I took this picture five years ago. I think it still one of my favorite signs EVAR. misspelling for emphasis, obvs.

May 2011 be a cold-free year!

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Originally uploaded by neonspecs

A surprising move for Walmart.
Earthquake Quartet? Bizarre.
Is there a future for Mariachi Plaza?
There are three Subway shops in the Pentagon? Hmm.
Human skin lampshade. Scary.
Don't miss the boat. NO on Proposition 23. duh.
Censoring in the US?

In other news, I went to the new Which Wich today, a new development I have been most decided about. It was, however, only open for a private party. Immense disappointment! I did spot Josh from Sabrina the Teenage Witch (don't know his real name but yeah Sabrina the Teenage Witch! best show of middle school times).

Reasons why I love Clifton's Cafeteria, even though the food is terrible.

I just found this post I wrote October 19, 2009. I don't know why I never published it. Perhaps, I knew subconsciously Clifton's would one day change and I would have to not so much defend it's honor but remind you of what it once was.

1. "Clifton's" is a portmanteau of Clifford Clinton. I love portmanteaus.
2. All the really good fonts.
3. The fancy floor outside the entry. Macadamed maybe? I don't remember the correct descriptor. (But today, September 26, 2010, I do: it's terrazzo).
4. It's Huell Howser approved.
5. The fake bears make me nostalgic for The Country Bear Jamboree, which Disneyland should never have removed--or made a movie about.
6. The variety of antlers available for viewing in quite some random places.
7. The gang of Bible Crusaders in orange shirts using the second floor as it's pamphlet-folding headquarters.
8. The creepy mini-chapel that talks to you when you push a button.
9. It's pretty cheap to eat there (but not this good).
10. OMG FLOCKED WALLPAPER.

In case you were wondering...

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Originally uploaded by neonspecs

who would win in a knife fight between Giada de Laurentiis and Nigela Lawson, Anthony Bourdain (pictured in the super blurry picture above) is pretty sure about Nigela taking it.

After the glow, the scene, the stage, the set

I saw Pavement this past Thursday night in Pomona and it was definitely magical, that is until we were stranded on the side of a freeway, but I'll get to that later. Most important information on that evening is that they played five out of my top seven pavement songs:

1. Spit on a Stranger
2. Roll with the Wind
3. Shady Lane
4. Cut Your Hair
5. Range Life
6. Harness Your Hopes
7. Stereo

I'm pretty satisfied with that outcome, as the italicized ones are B-sides I probably should never have hoped them to play (but can we just all agree that Roll with the Wind is spectacular?).

So then my friend's car has some sort of issue, in which the car fills with smoke and loses power breaking capability. Let me tell you, that is some scary stuff. And then we stand, freezing, on the side of a freeway in the middle of the night waiting for a tow truck. I obviously did not envision this occasion in choosing to wear a dress that morning. It's a good thing everyone bought shirts at the show; wearing three shirts did help a little. This situation would probably have been less frightening had I not watched so many Law & Orders and or film noirs that include scenes similar to these.

All in all, however, it was a pretty successful Nochella weekend: Pavement, first day of new job, long shift at old job (money!), Record Store Day (including buying a Robyn Hitchcock album I somehow missed which has a song titled "Raymond Chandler Evening"--what could be more perfect?!), pizzza I hadn't had in 14 years, square dance, maybe the best donuts in L.A., and learning how to make bagels.

Listomania

Awesome. Louis Armstrong.
Buy me this book please.
I now know what a pot walloper is.
Nancy Pelosi, the Anna Wintour of Congress!
"Bank Failures Strike a Blow to City's Art"
DO clap between movements!
Y'all know how much I love maps. Here's an interesting one. All of USA could fit into New Hampshire!
The Yet-But

I saw Warren Christopher at the mall on Thursday and he was super adorable, although I feel like that may be an inappropriate way to describe a man who was not so long ago the United States Secretary of State. Anyways, he is super adorable and immaculately dressed. A man with much panache.

In other celebrity news (Warren Christopher is a celebrity, right?), Leonard Nimoy went to see Patti Smith at the Hammer and I got really excited about this. Eric McCormack (Will, really, he won't ever be able to be anything else) went to hear Neil Gaiman at Royce, and so did Eric J. Lawrence, your Local Public Radio Music Librarian (KCRW, at which I volunteered this morn, takin' your moneyyyyy) [If you happen to read this and it weirds you out that I am reporting this and increasing your celebrity to my four, maybe five loyal readers, EJL, let me know and I will delete it].

Finally, as also a member of KCET (yeah, look at me, your unemployed friend so liberally donating her time and money [I want to use the word "largesse" but can't figure out how]), I attended a "gala" at the California Science Center and California African American Museum with Tavis Smiley (whom Greg hates for reasons unbeknownst to me). I actually like Smiley a little less after I heard him speak this evening. He just seemed so not happy to be there, plus he complained about a lack of appreciation for culture in Los Angeles, which was just annoying. Eh, but the food was great (Creole, Jamaican, Ethiopian, and something else), and a few of the exhibits were nice. I especially recommend "Harlem of the West: Jazz, Bebop, and Beatnik" at CAAM and the awesome paintings/carvings of musicians that are from the walls of an old jazz club in Texas, of all places (Jake Morrow, you don't read my blog, but you should go check out this exhibition to see the section of Harry Smith. Hurry, it closes soon!). Smiley's America I Am at the Science Center was whatever. It's probably great if it's been a while since you were in high school or if your school was racist. It's never bad to be reminded of the things covered in the exhibition but it wasn't mind-blowing or anything like that.

As a result of this post, I looked up the origin of "panache." Wikipedia says it was once a marker of character worthy of suspect, until Cyrano de Bergerac. Literally, it means plume. FYI.

More articles.

Christmas song Jews.
White House vegetables not actually White House vegetables.
History of Christmas cards, sorta.
Super interesting article on Highland Park Jews.

Interesting articles I read today.

Anthony Bourdain reflects on 2007.
Jonathan Gold was only freelancing? Crazy.
I'm sad I never went to the Southwest Museum.
Although it took me way more than 25 minutes to get through to my gate last week, this article makes a convincing argument for the "Israelification" of American airports.
The Offline American.