Recap

Office bowling happened.  Everyone bowls like they work, and it was pretty funny watching personality traits emerge through sport.

Sadly, there won't be any stories or images of the event, since I want to keep having a job. 

We only made it through one game due to the following issue:

Slow Bowling.

I got an 83.  Its like an all-time high score.

However, I couldn't help but notice this the whole time:

Office Bowling

We are about to go on an office bowling excursion to say goodbye to Whitney.

There is only one way to truly express how I feel about this:

plus:

O RLY?

YA RLY!!!

Foodz

I liked my last recipie for veggies (and.. I still had leftover white wine), so I applied it to squash and broccoli next.  Except, this time with added tomato and quinoa.

It looked like this:

Yum.

I like CSAs.

Can't wait until Wednesday's box so I can stop eating this:

Carmageddon! - The Carpocalypse pt. 1

Thanks to the (surprisingly effective!) destruction of the Mulholland bridge, roads were clear this weekend.  Nobody drove, and LA traffic maps looked like this:

when they usually look like this:

Which meant Dylan's birthday went off without a hitch. 

We got to Pan Pacific Park early (10:30 am-- yikes), found a secluded BBQ, and set up basecamp for the day.  The weather was perfection and our picnic spot had a giant shade tree.  Shade trees are great for personal comfort- not so hot for photography.  **Shadow alert!!!** 

When the sun went down and we were all properly toasted- we walked home and chilled at the pad for a bit.  Then there were some hearty birthday toasts, and an expedition over to Farmer's Market for necessary sustenance- which appeared in the form of Cajun food.

Christy found a volcano-shaped apple pie, and we sang the customary song to our birthday boys as a high-speed pursuit was being broadcast live on the outdoor TVs. 

Without further ado- Dylan's Birthday BBQ:

Setting up Basecamp 1 was fun.

Then a guy and an RC truck started to kick up dust...

 

and a cousin arrived..

.

 

..and a brother and his wife <3

There were new puppies...

...and seasoned beggars...

...even a few MacGuyvers showed up..

to faciliate a bacon hot dog monstrosity.

(seriously... this thing is gnarballs!)

Hammock naps were had...

and frisbees were caught...

...marshmallows were toasted into s'mores...

..and renegade pups tried to sneak sips.

The sun was quite warm...

..but our trust sommelier provided the finest vintage for refreshment...

...which I secretly (wisely) gave back to nature.

We chilled at basecamp 2...

...until it was time to go home....

...for birthday toasts of apple juice...

..and power naps.

Gumbo and apple pie!

The birthday boys blow out the candles.

It was good times, good peoples, and good sunburns!
Here's to another amazing year of the Dyllanger!

EMI-otional Rollercoaster

So, I got invited to the final EMI Film & TV Thirsty Thursday to take place in Hollywood.  The department is being evicted from the tower and moving out to Santa Monica in two weeks (twooo weeeeks), and will continue to chug along indefinitely as members of the publishing office.

I don't know if I'm gonna go. 

I've said goodbye so many times, its starting to get ridiculous.  Each new goodbye hurts just as much as the first goodbye, yet- it feels increasingly more meaningless.  Aside from those that have already moved on (and Jake), I'm not particularly close with the remaining department.  Visits with them feel forced and fake and awkward.  I'm not 'happy' that their commutes will suck and EVERYBODY gets cubicles, but it does feel like karma has come around. 

I came up with a new metaphor for EMI: its like having a dear auntie with horribly unchecked type-2 diabetes who keeps refusing to change their diet and monitor their blood sugar.  They still ignore common sense/ medical warnings and chow down on processed crap and skip insulin shots.  You love them despite their refusal to help themselves... but as the disease progresses, you start to lose pity and wonder why they don't just change their ways.  My diabetic EMI has multiple limbs amputated, and still continues to operate same as ever.  They ignore the OBVIOUS signs and march forward towards death.

But what if I had one last chance to walk through the lobby and see all the gold records.... and take a few more pictures... and ride the elevators around one last time.... and remember how much I loved it there.  It might be worth it for that.

The true pity in this whole situation is that my beloved tower is also on its march towards death.  Its an icon that outlived its meaning, and no longer houses its peoples.  The recording studio is still functioning- but there is no way the studio could fill up all 12 floors with enough employees to make leasing the office space worthwhile. 
Next stop: Condo town.   I can only hope to be rich enough to move back in one day.

------------------------------
In other news- SPOTIFY!

I'm a member- find me and share playlists!!  I'm SkrillaT and I will be happy as a clam to swap new tunes witchoo! 

My music flavor cannot be wasted.

Manic Organic

I joined a CSA last week, and tonight was the pick-up for my first box of organic produce.
Err, reuseable bag, really.  There was a friendly farmer hippie at Fairfax High that loaded up the produce and answered such questions as: 'what are those...?"  and "you can eat that part of the onion?  HOWWWW?"

For those not initiated into the world of farm shares: CSA stands for community supported agriculture.  Basically- you cut out the 'middle-man' of a market give your money directly to a farmer, and they give you affordable organic produce once a week.  There are subscription based programs that cost a weekly fee, and there are true farm shares, where one purchases an actual share of a farmer's crop.  Purchasing a share often costs a lot up front- but guarantees you a close relationship with your farm and farmer.

I don't need another close relationship with anyone, nor do I have $$$$, so I'm getting weekly boxes from Tutti-Fruiti farms in Carpinteria.

Haul 1 consisted of:
1. 1 Bunch Rainbow Chard
2. 4 Cucumbers
3. 6 Crookneck Squash
4. 1 Bunch Carrots w/ Greens
5. 1 Bunch Dill
6. 8 Oranges
7. 1 Cantaloupe
8. 2 Tomatoes
9. 1 Avocado
10. 1 Bunch Broccoli
11. 1 Bunch Red Onions w/Greens

The chard looked like it needed to get into our bellies first (wilting-wise) so I made the following:

• 2 tablespoons margarine (or butter if you roll that way)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 very small red onion, cut up
• 1 onion greens from the red onion
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately
• Tofu chopped up
• 10 cherry tomatoes chopped up
• 1/2 cup already opened in the fridge white wine
• 1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. dijon mustard
• Some shakes of the Kraft parmesan cheese (klassy!)
• salt, pepper, sriracha to taste

Melt margarine and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant- or longer, i don't care.  I know you do what you want anyway. Add the chard stems, onion greens and the white wine. Simmer until the stems begin to soften.  This took a while and Gonzo started crying. Annoying! Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until slightly wilted.  Add tomatoes and tofu.  Cook until it looks really fucking good. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt, pepper, balsamic if you're feeling fancy.  I know you are.  In fact- you're feeling so fancy, that you want fresh parmesan cheese.  Go ahead.  Use it instead.  But don't judge me for only being able to metabolize the green can.

Yum Factor: <3 <3 <3 <3 (four hippie hearts out of five)

Here is the process:

Raw Materials

Saute #1

Greens

All Ingredients

Taaaah Daaaaah!!! Extreme Heath.

This pilfered Harry Potter candy will counteract all healthy benefits of my dinner

Even though I'm super psyched on getting weekly organic produce, I'm still not 100% sold that the CSA program is right for us.  We have a tendency to get lazy with home cooking.  I will be testing it out over the next few weeks to make sure the amount of food makes sense.

NOW I HAVE TO WATCH INBETWEENERS.