Book Choice Of The Moment: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles

If you are looking for something to read, look no further. I have supplied you with your next favorite book. My new friend Nicole in 102C pulled this book out of her bag no less than one week ago, and recommended I read it. I was at the moment, for the first time since starting UCI, bookless. I ventured after class to the only book store in the vicinity of my vapid neighborhood, and purchased this lovely novel by 61 year old Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami. One week later I have devoured more than half of this six hundred page novel. It is a remarkable story of one man who faces a transitional phase in his life. That is the most conventional way I can describe the book, and if you read it you will understand what I mean. There is no way to properly tell someone what happens in these pages, nor what happens to one who reads it. It has a dream like quality to it that leaves you questioning the very reality in which you inhabit. I have not been this in love with a book since Janet Fitch's Paint it Black. For those of you that know me well, you know what a bold claim I am making here. I know we all lead busy lives but reading a book like this should not be something that falls to the wayside. I promise once you have begun you will find the time to continue, I know I have.

One Monday...

One Monday Jenna had a dream. In the dream she found herself in a magical place where everything was 99 cents! She purchased twenty three items for twenty three dollars and thought the day could not get any better.
She stumbled upon a magical beast just outiside the magical store.

You cannot tell from the photgraph but her ride was accompanied by thrilling western music that made Jenna appear to be in a chase or on a hunt.

TALLY HO!!

With the wind blowing through her hair she was a regular old Wyatt Earp.

Near the end of the dream she returned to home and unloaded her boumty from the magical store with magical horse..

The Old Ball Game..

Sky Box Suite 46 at Angles stadium. Angels versus the Twins. Twins won :)

I'll have a scotch on the rocks, please.

After working a nine hour shift in the hotel lounge that I call home, all I want is a drink. This is normal. After serving an AA convention for nine hours, I want several. I haven't hustled this many diet cokes and cups of coffee since they were here last year. More than anything it made me appreciate my drink in a whole new way. I am happy to have it, and happy I can have it. Cheers.

...And We Drank The Desert Dry.

I uploaded all these photos backwards, so the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. Can you dig it?

Self Indulgence

Marcell and Nisan sharing a milk shake over a life saving breakfast. An adorable diner in the desert who's name I cannot remember, was the perfect spot to recoup before heading back towards the sea. If you'd like to know, I had a malt and french toast for breakfast because I was feeling five.

We were blessed with unbelievably beautiful weather all weekend, and I loved the abundance of palm trees against the dry blue sky

The hotel was some super fancy shit that Marcell and I gambled for on priceline and ended up winning :) It was Nickelodeon spring break so the pool was fully stocked with screaming children and a slime machine. The day before we had margaritas, but that comes later...

I was laying on the bed of the hotel playing with macro and took this picture. It is my most favorite dress and it's like a great picture of a good friend to me. I love you man.

Not sure if it was the Nickelodeon shanagans or the overwhelming amount of high school kids that go to Palm Springs and then sneak into this hotel, but we had to wear these sweet wrist bands the whole time like it was Mazatlan your senior year.

I dig this picture for several reasons

I love this picture for all the people in it, but I wish the photographer hadn't been so drunk when she took it ;)

This one is a little better

The show on Saturday night at Oasis Bar was the last stop on the Hello Evening tour. I was happy to be present and I found the desert and it's people to be most enjoyable. The crowd was warm and stylish, and the bands that accompanied Hello Evening were well worth the trip out there.

These magical moments are brought to you by Hello Evening.

This pretty girl loves it, and you would too.



I think the bras above the stage were an element of style and class that the boys were happy to have, and I think it served their set well. Not that they needed any help.

The charming young men to the left and right of Nisan playing guitar and bass were kind and talented enough to fill in for the evening as the other members of their band seemed to be, well, not there. After listening to the record, and practicing with Kevin and Nisan for a simple 30 minute acoustic session, the boys from the desert held their own on stage. It was an incredible set, and I an amazing way for them to close this tour.

HelloEvening.com


We were in our good friend Stevens home town who had booked this show, and invited all the lovely patrons. The only thing that matched their hometown hospitality was their style. I will be biting off some digs from those boys and girls. Big Thanks :)

The incredibly curious bar called Oasis served buckets of wine coolers. Semi Sweet held a Seagrams Escapes Classic Lime Margarita drinking contest on stage during their set.

Boys.

Semi Sweet is not only full of some of my favorite people, but also my favorite songs. Cassie mentioned during her set a music video they made this winter in which we all got drunk on a Monday inside Detroit Bar wearing masks... wait, I lost the point. I love Semi Sweet. I love the song sleazy. Every time I see them they improve, and I was so happy they made the drive out for this show. I do hope you guys had as much fun as we did.

They also loved the bras above the stage, and I was hoping one of the girls would leave theirs behind.

While I mentioned the bar served wine coolers, I did not mention what they didn't serve. Alcohol. A bar, a biker bar... did I mention that part? It was a biker bar and there were some serious chicks in there that I would never mess with. Anyway, they didn't serve alcohol. The serious looking bartenderinforms me after about 30 minutes that she has some homemade whiskey sour I can have. Questionable? Yes. It lived in a glass jar at the end of the bar with slices of lemon inside. I said, "Por que, No?" and she served me up the meanest two dollar whiskey sour this girl has ever had.

Cute and Cuter

Before the show Marcell, Sean, and I went in search of dinner, preferably in the form of tacos or burritos. We found El Table on the iphone. I had essentially, cheese and three dollar margaritas in bud light glasses. I am always surprised to see what I look like in pictures I didn't know were being taken. Like this one. I wonder what I could possibly be thinking about so seriously at a place like that.

Behind Sean at dinner was an extensive collection of crap. Pigs, and dolls, and cups, and who knows, sat perched on a precarious shelf built into the wall.

Nissan and Marcell, poolside margarita time.

The Boys Bearing Gifts.

A wonderful drive out and up

Before we left. I think I want this color hair.

This isn't where we went, or where we started. It was painted on a huge wall at the dog hotel before we left and I thought it was so odd because we weren't in Cambria then either... maybe I'm missing something. Most likely.

Tub Love

People Love interracial couples, this photo was a hit on Marcell's facebook. I thought ya'll would enjoy it too. This is my bathtub in its new home near my front window with two of my most fave people inside of it.

Home Spun

The week continued with a similar spirit as Hello Evening rolled into town on Friday night. They have been on a ten day tour of the lovely California coast. They started in San Francisco and made their way down playing shows in Santa Cruz, Big Sur, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbra, and were now in Costa Mesa to play at West Side Bar with local favorite band Semi Sweet. I had had one day off of nonstop nonsense and I was back on the train after picking up Marcell at John Wayne Airport Friday afternoon. After feeding seven hungry, hungry boys dinner we made our way over to West Side. I have seen Semi Sweet play at this venue a few times and have always enjoyed myself. The drinks are fair, and the sounds are good, so I am generally pleased. Hello Evening played first and they were everything I knew they could be. After knowing these talented young men for quite sometime I must admit it brought tears to me eyes to watch them take their true and full form. They just finished their first full length record available for download at Hello Evening.com and they also have a vinyl EP available there. If that's not cool then I don't know what is. After a seven song set that you can dance to, love to, shake to, and cry to I felt their moment was over all too soon. Lucky for me I had another evening with them in store, and a rad set from Semi Sweet to keep a smile on this face.
Andrea doing what she does best. Drinking wine and selling Merch.

Marcell and Andrea say go to HelloEvening.com right now and download Mountian for a lifetime of happiness.

That's What We're Saying Too :)

Hello

Evening



Semi Sweet

Semi Sweet

Candice with Andrea and Sage whom are now in Costa Rica, lucky bastards!

Old Friends

Good Times, Great Friends, and all around lovely evening with Hello Evening



Andrea said, "Put The Tape In The Tape Deck"