Weekend Warriors

I know that I have been behind on updating, but that’s mainly because I’ve been so busy doing things here in L.A.

For example, I recently met with a man named John, who is in the game show business, for lunch. I got his number from Marc, who told me that this man was in my position about a year and a half ago. I called him on the phone, and he gave me a lot of advice. Then I asked him if we could meet for lunch. He agreed, and that’s what I did on Friday. He was a nice guy, with some very interesting stories about his journey to where he is now. I won’t go into it too much, but it was interesting to see how his situation and my situation were similar. It was a great time, and he told me to keep in touch with him.

Also during the weekend, Dan took me to Venice beach. It is a very beautiful and diverse place to be. There are so many people and so much to do (not to mention A LOT of sand). As we walked along the beach, we passed by a group of women who had signs reading “Free Hugs.” We almost passed them, but something compelled us to give in and get a free hug. It was cool, I guess.

There was also a man with a very wild get-up, with a cup filled with a little change and a sign, singing the following “Jingle Bells Jingle Bells, Help Me Get Drunk Tonight.” That was it. It was very interesting. And a little amusing.

Dan and I went to Santa Monica Pier as well. Lot's of people, and a DDR machine which we played (and which seemed to kick my ass; I don't like those metal pads for some reason). Dan is also working on a Choose Your Own Adventure mini-series about video game testers, and since we were at an arcade, we had to take some photos. My favorite one was the photo that I posted in the last update.

Dan and I went to the Tar Pits as well. Now, normally I would expect that this would be less-than-exciting. However, add the time constraints of 24, and you’ve got yourself a hair-splitting good time. We parked across the street in a parking lot where every 15 minutes you are charged $2. So that game plan was to spend NO MORE than 15 minutes at the tar pits. 16 or more minutes, and we would have a $4 fiasco.

We quickly parked the car and ran across the street to the Tar Pits. It was a cool place to visit, although it did smell of tar (duh). Running around the perimeter of the pits, we snapped some photos, all the while keeping the time in mind. Then he needed a drink. Dan had to get a drink. He needed a Sprite. Of course, they were all out at the vending machine. We lost about 2 minutes there. We raced back to the car, pulled up to the booth, and gave out ticket to the vendor. And what was the verdict:



You can't see it very well, but the display says "$2.00." We did it. We saved the tar pits. Take THAT, Jack Bauer.

I was gonna talk about the bar, but that will constitute a separate post. Sorry, guys. But trust me, it will be worth it. Till then, help that man have a Merry Christmas and help him get drunk tonight...