Rita Ain't So Lovely Anymore

One of my least favorite things to do every year is go to the DMV. This year, I dreaded it even more, seeing as I had to deal with a title transfer, out of state plates, and vehicle registration in a new state...all with an out of state driver's license.

So as planned, I dragged myself out of bed earlier than ever yesterday morning so that I could deal with the situation, as my plates are now three months expired.

Better late than never.

I get there and realize that they don't have a parking lot (surprise!), so I roll up to the nearest meter and unload all my quarters for an hour's worth of time. After standing in line for a few minutes, the guy gives me a form, tells me to take my car behind the building so they can inspect it (separate from emissions), and then come back. There goes my hour. Along with my last quarters.

The inspection lasted about two minutes and took place in an empty parking lot. Cool. I could just park there. Or not. I tell them I used all my quarters and that someone else is now getting a free hour's worth of parking. I tell them I have no more cash. I tell them I really have to go get this taken care of. They just stared at me and shrugged.

A-holes.

I used my last dime to get a meter up to 25 minutes. Since when has it taken 25 minutes at the freakin' DMV? Yeah...that's what I thought.

Long story short, 32 minutes later, I get back to my car to find a nice, little white envelope under my windshield wiper. SEVEN minutes! SEVEN FREAKIN' MINUTES and the freakin' meter maid had already gotten me with a freakin' parking ticket on an expired meter! And I still didn't have my damn plates because they wouldn't take a freakin' faxed copy of the FREAKIN' gift form!!!

Freakin' sharks with freakin' laser beams on their heads!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Crunchingly Dee-Lish

A Crunchwrap. Go get one now.

From Taco Bell Hell.

They're really freakin' good.

Quote of the Day

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A Little Mexico With My San Diego

So after a Friday night of recovery from my sickness and a Saturday night of sneaking in the back door to Venice's sold out show in Santa Monica (this was now a couple weeks ago, mind you, I'm a little late with this post), my guy and I headed down to San Diego on Sunday to visit my dear friend, Puerto Wagner, who was in town playing a show for this guy.

What began as a hotel visit in San Diego turned out to be a trip across the border to Baja. So we popped in Zach Broocke's latest EP, Last Call, (which you should reeeeally check out) and drove on into little Mexico.

Going down there always makes me a little nervous. In all actuality, Americans are all selfish bastards that take every single thing for granted. The people in Tijuana are living in tents on the sides of mountains. It's quite sad. Not to mention the lack of protection offered by the Federalis, the Mexican police force. Pretty much if they see you, they'll fine you for something, even if you didn't do it. Can we say payola?

At any rate...past Tijuana...past Rosarito...down the coast a bit is a little fisherman's village called Puerto Nuevo. It's a little off the beaten path...you wouldn't know it was there unless you had a bad ass Puerto Rican friend show you. Who happened to speak fluent Espanol. Which definitely helped.

The streets were lined with vendor after vendor...shawls, blankets, jewelry, food, etc. I think mostly there was silver jewelry...I spent the whole time scoping out some new turquoise action. I lingered a little too long at one shop in particular, and before we knew it the owner was trying to lure us in with free shots of tequila. As I gave him my usual go to hell look that I give when I think someone is trying to get something out of me, the guys waltzed right in. I stared at them from outside yelling that if they died it wasn't my fault. Who goes and does tequila shots from a stranger, in Mexico, no less, who says it was homemade by his grandfather?

Apparently we do.

Once I saw that they weren't being poisoned, they waved me in to check it out myself. It was more like a glass full than a shot, but that's beside the point. Probably the best tasting tequila that I've ever had. (Aside from the Don Julio we had later at the bar.) It was made with almond flavor and amaretto and was muy muy yummy. Went down like juice.

After promising our new amigo that we'd be back after din din, we ended up at the very end of the street at a highly recommended lobster restaurant. (Sidenote: I never have eaten food in Mexico, nor drank the water...but since our Puerto Rican friend had been there the day before and was still okay, I figured it was safe.)

It was one of the best meals ever. Three Tecates, three Don Julio's, three entrees (one of them being an entire lobster), appetizers and two DELICIOUS pitchers of margaritas later...we were presented with the $70 bill. For THREE people!!! Oh...and I forgot to mention that this place was right on the ocean and we got there just in time to see the sunset. Picture perfect.

I could tell you about how we made friends with the guitar dude from the Mexican serenader band, how we ate drank and were merry for hours on end, how the vendor fed us more of Grandpa's tequila as I was bargaining with him on a great ring and bracelet, how we sat in traffic for 45 minutes trying to get back into the States, how I ended up driving back to Hollywood in the middle of the night (and drove through a murder scene!) because I had to get up for work in the morning. But that's a whole other thang.

I think this is enough for now.

New Blog Alert!

And yet another has been sucked in to the world wide web of blogging. This time, all the way from New York, a very close and personal friend (and relative!) has now decided to share her lovely artwork with us via Across The Universe. She's awesome...and we go waaaaaay back. Known as Wickie to everyone in this cyberworld, she's the badest of the bad...so check her out! Woo hoo!

Someone Needs To Whip Them Into Shape

And I mean whip.

There's two kinds of people I hate:

• Passive - because they're so freakin' insecure with themselves that they can't just throw whatever it is out there. Heaven forbid getting the damn point across. I want to smack their faces off.
• Selfish - self-explanatory. I want to hit them over the head with a rubber mallot.

They can all go shove it up their a$$.

Happy Friday everyone.

Stay tuned for the next article...it's gonna be very SSW-ish. It involves a last minute (on a Sunday, no less) jaunt to Mexico (a little village past Tijuana), homemade tequila, the ocean, and lots and lots o' margaritas. And then a shooting on the way home. And I'm not talking video shoot.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Today marks five months since I've landed on the West Coast. In a way it feels like I have been here forever and that Nashville was a lifetime ago. On the other hand, it seems as though I've just arrived, and that it was just yesterday that Jag threw me my fab going away party, that Julie and I were road trippin' to Memphis, that I was slaving away working for the man in Nashville. That I visited LA to scope things out. Weird.

To celebrate, I decided to get sick again. Last week just wasn't enough. I did get into a doctor, though. Out here, finding a good doctor that takes new patients is like getting through the velvet ropes. Thank God I was referred by one of their patients. Even in the medical field here it's all who you know. So hopefully when I go tomorrow, they'll hook me up with some drugs to make me feel better.

Last night I saw a killer band...Rocco Deluca and the Burden...at The Derby in Los Feliz. Having just looked up the website and reading that Kiefer Sutherland is heavily involved with them, it now makes sense why he was standing next to me the whole time at the show. I'm so oblivious...my man had to point it out. He's a short guy...only has a couple inches on me. he seemed like a pretty cool dude...a few tattoos that I saw. Oddly enough, all I kept thinking about was his role in Eye for an Eye. Psycho scary twisted movie, I know, but he was such a good bad guy.

Anyway...I'm going to go die now after my head explodes from pain.