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Still in need of slowing down

My head is in a blender, my heart is not rested. I saw my psychiatrist today and realized that I do need my medication, but I need to be consistent on the brand. Who knew generic brands had such varying side effects? I tried my best to squeeze in as much as I could on my day off. The sad thing is that I would rather not leave my house or do anything but things I like and that's not life.

Life is not about getting what you want when you want it, and the people who I most admire have dealt with what life has given them and remained who they are. I am not sure that is what I've done. I used to be the type of person who could deal with whatever life threw at me and now I can't even deal when I don't get what I want. Who does that?

I hate to be demanding on my own life because I've actually gotten what I want out of my life despite it not being how I wanted to get it. Well, I am not a go-getter but I managed to get things that work for me without the huge efforts that some might put into it. School came easy, work came easy. Aside from that, everything else is not so easy. Dealing with people - friends, family, strangers, it's a struggle.

Without my generic meds, I have been sleeping okay - but sometimes thoughts weigh too heavily and I need an outlet. I guess this is it and I don't really want to share it with anyone I know. It is personal and it is painful and I don't want to share it with people close to me. Anonymity is nice, but no one is truly alone or unknown, right?

Personal catharsis

My past week has been crazy (to use the term loosely). I've enjoyed in depth conversations with good friends and learned how important slowing down is. I don't try to be too busy all the time, but when something beautiful happens - you can't deny how it makes you feel inside. Warm and fuzzy until you are boiling pot of emotions that explodes.

 Dukes of Stratosphear are the best example - one of Andy and Colin's best side projects. Those 2 are incredibly talented and a foray into a more psychedelic is a nice change from purely pop songs (which are easily farted out). Pleasant farts at least - English Settlement is great but I have a soft spot for Drums & Wires.

So I'm a little high - ecstasy you might say. Either way my brain goes from spinning and dizzy to achy and sore. Meds are a must unfortunately - must try to function normally. Another week off to come down, we'll see if I can.

Smooth sailing

I'm near the end of my second week at my new job and it's going well. There are plenty of rush jobs that are shared among my team of 3 (and sometimes 4) other people in my group. I'm enjoying the people I work with and haven't met a mean or unfriendly person yet. For now, I do enjoy it and I have an easy 30 minute commute by Metrolink.  I feel very fortunate to have gotten this job and to have nice co-workers and managers who are generally very patient. I even have a day off, which allows me to handle other important things that I may have to do. I also get to learn of all the exciting new building projects and studies happening around LA County. I'd always hoped that LA would be more pedestrian friendly and that seems to be happening.

Gratitude

Today I woke up to some exciting news: I got that job I interviewed for last week! Looking back, almost didn't apply to it because I saw another job posting for that same company that I didn't think I was qualified for - and didn't even notice they had another position that I was qualified for. Fortunately, I was contacted by the hiring manager who sent me links to both positions and encouraged me to apply.  

I'm still waiting for a call from the HR department to get more info on filling out forms, pay rates, and when I'd start working, so I don't want to discuss too much about the position until all that's settled. For now, the job offer was extended and I've accepted it - which is really the best thing to happen in awhile.  This may interfere with helping out at the Gas Company, but I haven't heard back from them yet either.

This came just in time because I had to pay for nearly $300 in services on my car and another $100 for registration. Fortunately, this position won't require me to drive, though it may require late hours and weekend hours. That might not be so bad because it's near an area of LA that I enjoy hanging out in: Little Tokyo! I'm excited and grateful for this new opportunity.

Happy March!

That part time position didn't end up working out as I'd hoped it would, not that I didn't try to make it work. I've been back in the job market since around mid January and things have been better lately since I've been getting calls back for interviews. Another nice thing was that one of the hiring managers who asked me to apply to a position thought I was asking for too little.

That's a nice change from the part time job that was thinking I was asking for too much. I generally try to stay within a certain range because I know the job market is pretty crowded at the moment. I'm not sure if moving to an area where jobs are more plentiful would be as helpful, just because they probably have a larger pool of applicants to choose from.

I attended the wedding of my brother's good friend to his long time girlfriend. It was an enjoyable event and the banquet was held at a very cool place near a marsh in Irvine called The Duck Club. Though the wedding was very quickly planned, it was a long time in the making. The bride and groom had known and dated each other long before they'd met my brother and definitely balanced each other out.

After attending the wedding and reception, I went with a friend to a birthday celebration for a mutual friend (who are also BRMC fans) at restaurant in Silver Lake called the Desert Rose. They served very tasty Middle Eastern food and we were out on the patio area. I got an eggplant soup with a falafel in the middle. It was tasty, but not a full meal. I also had a chocolate gelato, which was good too.

So far, this has been an abnormally warm March. Maybe I just forget how warm it is usually, but another thing that may or may not be related is that gas prices are sky high - currently over $4 in OC and over $5 in LA and SF. It almost makes me not want to go anywhere for awhile, though that would change if I got a job - which I hope to do soon. 

Hacked, suspended, annoyed

My other blog is currently offline due to some hacker/phisher in Brazil putting phishing sites and sending spam through my site. My web host accused me of violating their anti spam policy and suspended my account. I explained the situation to them and still haven't heard back about getting it reinstated. At this point, I'd rather not use them anymore. My original host was bought out by them and I just somehow ended up with them. I only found out about the phishing site because of someone at CloudFlare sending me a message about it. It's been on there for at most a couple weeks without me knowing.

Another thing is I ended up quitting the part time job I just got because it wasn't giving me any actual web design or development experience. Though I also didn't want to work with the person who hired me anymore. My last week was pretty bad and the following week was much better because I decided quitting would be better than staying. The whole thing with my other blog being down is bad because I'm back in the job market and a professional looking blog is actually pretty useful. Oh well, maybe I should take a break. There are some classes I'd like to start soon that may help me in finding better work.

Finally, a new job!

After more interviews than I care to remember, I finally got a part time web position working on Styles For Less's ecommerce site. Given my slight online shopping addiction, this is a bit of irony. Though they do have good prices and some cute clothes, I'm more interested in selling stuff right now than buying.

Anyways, it's going to be interesting working on a website for a company that I normally associate with retail fashion. I'm no expert in either online or retail fashion stores, so I guess it'll be a good place to learn about those types of businesses. So far, I really only know about the website and haven't even met most people in the company.

I'm currently enrolled in 4 online courses in web programming (ASP, Oracle, Javascript/AJAX, and Web 2.0). I think I should drop the AJAX class because the book looks like it's not so good and perhaps it wouldn't be as good as learning on the job. Anyways, even 3 online classes seems a bit much. Perhaps I should keep them all, but I think it probably would be better to only take 3 max.

Holidays were a bit stressful because of the job search, but spending time with family was nice since my sister was visiting and her kids can be fun to talk to. I didn't see many friends despite being invited to a few parties. Partly because of the job situation and partly because there were conflicts with other events.

At least having part time work will get me both experience and decent pay while leaving me time to do other things like take classes and continue with my own online selling. Having more time is good, but I'm also hoping the whole disability review won't cause me to lose my Social Security. If it does, then I hope I can do well enough at my current job to get full time.

AllSaints Not For Sale featuring Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

It's crazy how so much is packed in the Hollywood area: there's the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood and Highland, the Pantages Theater, Amoeba Music, the Chinese Theater, The El Capitan, the Egyptian Theater, and the Music Box theater all in close range of each other. Film and music lovers could spend hours watching movies, staring at stars (on the ground), and seeing great bands from all over the world. The AllSaints Not For Sale event was an invite only gig, which managed to have plenty of famous and fashion industry people while still having some real BRMC fans and friends in attendance thanks to the prize winners who'd purchased shirts in advance before the show. Dana was one of these lucky winners and I was her even luckier date.

These special events are always kind of strange because celebrities are milling about and models are serving snacks. Bar tenders are busily attending to the many people who take advantage of the open bar. And who could say no to free drinks and snacks? Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino featherweight boxing champion of the world, was the special guest of the evening. There is plenty of human trafficking in the Philippines, which much of the world knows nothing about. Celebrity endorsements aside, there really is a problem when people are still being bought and sold as slaves - wage slaves, sex slaves, even worse is when it's a child who's adult life ends up troubled due to horrible experiences. It's a heartbreaking thing to know that Slavery still exists all around us according to SlaveryMap.org.

So I forgot to write anything about the show. BRMC were a breath of fresh air in the star studded environment, which I heard included Sarah Ferguson (Duchess of York) and most likely many other important people. We saw Dan Russell, his sister Nancy (who works at LACMA), and her friend who was charge of volunteers at TwentyWonder. Robert made a funny remark in between songs as how important we all know that fashion is. This was met by many approving chuckles from the fans. I took quite a few photos, which you'll find on Flickr. I'd say they played for about an hour and a half. The set included 10 +1 songs (thanks to Mel on the Forum for the setlist): Beat the Devil's Tattoo Bad Blood US Govt Weapon of Choice Ain't No Easy Way Red Eyes and Tears Six Barrel Shotgun Punk Song Spread Your Love Shadow's Keeper Open Invitation Check out my videos of "US Govt" and "Open Invitation":

   

Santa Monica to Long Beach and back

It's been a busy day - more so for my boyfriend than me because he worked all night and still drove us to a bunch of different places. I think my joint job/apartment search will lead me to the South Bay rather than Glendale or Burbank. Though I did have a brief yet promising phone interview, there seems to be a lot more good companies and reasonably priced apartments in the South Bay. It's also an easier place to get around than the Santa Monica area and most likely also less dangerous.

My friends are generally helpful in advising me on what to do, but I sometimes like to figure things out on my own. Me and my boyfriend are both a bit stubborn that way - something we both need to work on. I am usually pretty resistant to following other people's advice, I don't know why I can't do that sometimes. My family likes to force their opinions on me and it makes it hard to separate the good from the bad.

So the day involved going all around Santa Monica Place for the Tokidoki x Barbie event, which was packed when we first got there and cleared out by the time we went back. We ate at the Food Court, which was much more than we expected it to be and got some stuff at Hot Topic - which also ended up more than we expected, but at least we got some good deals. I looked at a few shirts at the store when we did get in, but they were not surprisingly more than I'd want to pay.

We stopped at an apartment in Mar Vista just to look and then went down to Long Beach to test drive a Nissan Leaf (but ended up more interested in the Nissan Versa - much cheaper and still fuel efficient). After that, we got some dinner at a nice sit down restaurant - which though more expensive than Santa Monica, was nicer and more relaxing place to enjoy a meal. And they validated our parking, not that we needed to at Santa Monica Place.

The Waiting Game

Sometimes you know something big will happen and you just can't wait for that thing to happen. A lot of major changes have happened in recent months - both good and bad. I think the worst is behind me and what I have to look forward to is better than what I've been through so far. I know it sounds vague, but I honestly feel there is more to my life than a bunch of contract jobs and people I've met that don't bother to keep in touch. I'm not talking about anyone in particular, more like people in general who don't call me back or respond to messages.

I've tried not to be the type of person who doesn't respond, but there are times when I don't feel up to it. For anyone I do consider my friend (which is more than you might expect), I will be there for them (or you if you are reading this). Anyways, I'm kind of in a wait and see mode of whether I can get a job that will allow me to live in LA more permanently while also getting an apartment to allow me to actually feel comfortable living here. In the past, I've known my roommates well enough or gotten to know them and it's no longer the case.

I just hope a job and an apartment turn up in my near future!

Taking charge in my life

My decision to stay in LA is definitely one that I know will be worth doing, I will establish myself in my job and community and attempt to lead by example rather than titles or requirements. I will exceed the expectations of others and make myself a necessary part of any organization. And I will accept being part of a good place on my own terms. I am the one in charge in my life and I will shape my future and the future of others around me.

Westside

I'm giving LA another chance, not that I didn't like it before - it's different from Orange County in a lot of ways but not necessarily better or worse. They both have their pros and cons - LA has better public transportation (not compared to SF or Chicago, but that doesn't matter), Orange County has better traffic and possibly more polite drivers. LA has a lot unique neighborhoods, which Orange County has as well - but the cost of living is higher in LA and therefore, the age of senior citizens is lower in LA. I was a little surprised that age 55 was considered a senior citizen in LA, while it's 62 at least in the OC.

There's a lot of misconceptions about both areas, but one big one seems to be that everyone goes to the beach and surfs. Not in my life - and it's not that I don't want to, it's more because like the ocean is a big scary place full of unknown things - the likelihood of a shark being in shallow waters is unlikely, it's when you venture out into the depths. That's when you'd want a submarine, which reminds me of the ride at Disneyland. Now there's a real dream land for you. I know a lot of people know there's more behind it than you see, but it's not all bad and it's not all good. There's always gray area in these matters.

It takes time to understand and time is not something everyone seems to have. I fortunately have a lot more time than most people right now being between projects and this leaves me with lots of time to reflect and ponder such difficult questions, like "Why does Hollywood like to typecast people?" and "Who comes up with this stuff?" I don't even want to know sometimes because it can be utterly fluffy and meaningless. Where is the substance beyond the style? Why don't people think or read or even try to make an effort to go beyond what they see? Is there even a point to me writing this?

LA is one place that you see the super wealthy and the homeless co-existing in the same areas. I wonder how this happens, but I try not to think too much about it. Homelessness is not a new thing, but neither is poverty and lacking hope. That's my guess as to what real poverty is - hopelessness, and even worse sadness about not being able to change a situation. The reality is you need to choose to change before anything happens and change is a hard thing to accept, especially if you feel stuck or don't want to change.

My parents never really wanted me to explore the world and even meet anyone. I think they wanted me to help my brother my whole life.  But why cripple myself for someone who brings me down? I've managed to find a great group of friends in various parts of my life and I thought I'd remain a lone wolf. But I am not as brave as a wolf, I'm more like a cowardly lion. But I'm also sort of a sheep because I feel like I've had wool over my eyes for the longest time. I need to stop making silly animal references and really cut to the chase.

One thing I've noticed people appreciating about me is my patience and hard work. I've always been told I'm smart and nice, but no one can tell I'm funny or silly or strange. Another thing they say is that I'm cute, but not beautiful and sweet (but also short). I doubt I have a point to this ever expanding blog post, I just felt the need to go on and on about myself. My boyfriend sees every side of me, the best and worst parts of me and has accepted them all. I'm not so good about that because I've always been compared to others and it's made it so hard to be me.

Just writing this now is making me tear up. So I'm stopping for now. I'm meeting with a new therapist tomorrow, so I have hope that it will be a good meeting. It's tough dredging up painful memories and stuff. Maybe I've said too much and I should really stop. Okay, now I'm done.

Time for a sabbatical

Sorry I've been incommunicado for awhile, I've had a lot on my mind - an effect of being bipolar and having a huge list of mental issues like insomnia, obsessive compulsive disorder, seasonal affective disorder, paranoia, and who knows what else. I was feeling like I went on autopilot a few times because I was doing things without remembering why I did them.

I don't like the feeling of not being in control, I had a pretty cool contract job for awhile and I'm just unable to cope with sudden life changes - at least if I'm feeling distracted and stressed out. I'm not trying to cut off my ties with any friends online or offline, I just need to focus on feeling healthy and normal. Sorry again, I'm not one to be in the limelight and I would rather work behind the scenes.

My boyfriend is more into talking to anyone and asking questions, I haven't socialized myself properly and it is very hard for me to feel comfortable when there's so much uncertainty. Most people understand this and I just can't always put myself out there if I feel like my thoughts are racing and going all over the place. I like helping people, but I also like to feel safe.

Thank you to all of you good people who like to keep in touch. You help keep me sane and feeling connected even if I just want to run and hide in my room. Being so introverted is tough, I think those I've opened up to understand. I'm feeling drained at the moment and will be back to my happy normal self soon.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen

Relationships are ultimately the most important thing in making your life rich and fulfilling, not necessarily romantic or physical ones - more like family, social, professional, and even online relationships. I've been fortunate mostly in my online, social, and romantic relationships because I've made good close friends with people I know I can trust and also who share some of my interests.

Professional is something I'm working on because getting back into the working world is a tough transition from going to school and just goofing off at home or hanging out with friends. Being in a work environment is very different for me from when I started in college and re-connecting with people is always very exciting. True friends are definitely the most important people to have in your life.

I would have a difficult time in my life if I hadn't had good friends I've made over the years in various areas of my life. I do my best to value those I've reached out to and those who've reached out to me, and it's really helped me to become a better more focused and less selfish person. Caring for others is a great thing because the people who really matter to you need your help the most.

BRMC @ Del Mar Concert Series

There’s been lot of changes in my life the past few years (even the past few months), but one nice constant has been a fair number of local BRMC shows between albums and tours – which I’ve enjoyed with a great group of loyal fans. Recently starting a new contract position and trying to figure out temporary housing in a semi-unfamiliar area has kept me from writing about this show earlier, but now that I’m settled at least for the next few weeks so I’ll do my best to recap the concert.

The past few LA area shows kind of make you think only women are there early to be in the front row, but San Diego area (or county) shows tend to have a bit more of a mix. This show was a lot rowdier than most BRMC shows, perhaps due to more guys pushing their way through the crowd. I could have done without all the pushing and crowd surfing, as it tends to distract from enjoying the music and ends up causing a reduced amount of personal space. I’m not trying to focus too much on concert etiquette, which may vary from city to city.

BRMC’s music stirs up a lot of excitement and energy, in addition to emotion and feeling. A full set for the cost of parking and entry to a horse race definitely makes this one of the most affordable and unique places to see them. I’ve seen them play at casinos, arcades, churches, warehouses, colleges, and concert venues of various sizes – basically, new venues are exciting for seasoned fans and provide for even more new experiences that I don’t get seeing other bands (not that I see many others these days).

After seeing so many shows, the changes in their sets stand out more than the usual songs and the songs that stood out most were the original version of “US Government,” “In Like The Rose,” “Weight of the World,” and a more recent addition “Half-State” – which really is an amazing blend of psychedelic and shoegaze in a rockier form. I’m not sure if they added it late because it’s a longer song or they had to adapt for a live set, but either way it’s great to hear live.

I got a few nice photos at the show, check out of my Flickr set for more examples. I was tempted to get a video of “Half-State,” but remembered my camera doesn’t have a good enough microphone to make it worth recording with. There are always plenty of videos on YouTube. This post is not a real description of the show, my friend Jen Ruano wrote an excellent review for LA Record with equally amazing photos by her photographer friend Debi Del Grande.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 16GB Wifi

I recently purchased an Acer Iconia Tab from Target since they had an amazing price for it of $399 with a $50 Target gift card. The price was about $50 off the normal price and Target gift cards are always valuable (at least for me). At first, I was thinking I’d sell it since I already had an original iPad which I’d gotten not too long after it came out last year. I soon realized that I don’t use the iPad much and the prospect of being able to use Flash on a tablet makes it a much better product overall due to that alone.

Newer Android tablets are more comparable to the iPad 2 and I’m not about to compare it to the original iPad, which cool as it is just doesn’t stack up due to technological advancements. The only thing I really used on my original iPad was an app called Game Dev Story by Kairosoft, which is surprisingly addictive. My original iPad sold within minutes after listing it on Amazon, though I did include a couple of cases and a screen protector with it.

Apple definitely knows how to sell and market their products, which makes re-selling them extremely easy. This even seems to work with broken items sold for parts, though I have a working iMac G5 (before they added built-in webcams) that seemed to have a faulty motherboard from the start. That’s a story for another day. I had purchased AppleCare for it and had it taken in to be fixed for other issues, but no places ever mentioned that my motherboard was bad. The computer works but is very susceptible to freezing and is too unstable to consider using it for very long. But I digress.

The Acer Iconia Tab has been an amazing improvement, I mostly just use it for email and Game Dev Story (and the new Hot Springs Story). It just got the new 3.1 version of Android, so it will now be running Flash 10.3! I’m more excited about that than anything. I’m not a huge fan of Flash, despite my early attempts at making games with it. I enjoy playing Flash games and I know that Flash is actually a very important part of creating websites, interactive stuff and all that. Steve Jobs is definitely not playing with a full deck if he does think not supporting Flash is a good idea. HTML5 is still a bit far off even if some sites use it. The fact that most YouTube videos are flash based is another reason that Flash is here to stay.

TwentyWonder: BRMC, LA Derby Dolls, Axis of Awesome, Exzene Cervenka

This benefit for Down’s Syndrome was definitely very fun and interesting. I volunteered with some BRMC friends (Jodi, Jen, and Armine) at the Underwater Photography room, which featured 3 different mixed drinks named for nudibranchs: The Blue Dragon (Cosmo), JD’s Horny Honey (Bourbon), and Mucho Mexichromis (Margarita). I didn’t take many photos since Jodi told me they were confiscating cameras and I figured other people would be taking a lot (and there were plenty of pros as well as cell phone pic takers). Most of my pictures are from the underwater bar, and a few of the larger displays, like the Batmobile. Ed Asner was reading Dr. Suess right outside our bar and there was a theremin player who provided some musical entertainment every so often. It was pretty cool.

BRMC did a 4 song set that probably went over 20 minutes and included a cool jam at the start. It was a full electric set despite the short set, but warehouses don’t make for good ventilation or acoustics – so it’s not as fun to attend as an outdoor festival or a even acoustic sets in an air conditioned venue. Basically, I was dying from the heat most of the time while we were near the stage (which was probably about an hour total, since Axis of Awesome and Exzene performed right before BRMC). The other songs in the set were Shadow’s Keeper, White Palms, and Punk Song. Trina did a nice review for The Owl Mag (which also has a lot of great photos on it). There are several other blogs that I saw some good pics on too: Ashley Andrea Beliveau and The Love Stains

Another good photos set is the from the LA Derby Dolls’s Flickr. I didn’t see much of the roller derby, but I know what it’s about and I’m sure it was pretty cool. The roller rink and warehouse seemed like an appropriate space for the event and it was a lot bigger than I expected. Axis of Awesome were pretty awesome, bringing the funny and warming up the crowd. Exzene sang the national anthem and a few a capella songs before BRMC started. After BRMC played there was some weird stuff going on with some male dancers (I’m only recalling from other people’s reviews). I didn’t see what happened there, but I’m kind of glad we were able to chill outside where it was nice and cool. As far as benefit concerts go, this was one of the cooler ones (though not temperature wise).  There were probably many celebrities there, but the focus was more on entertaining while raising awareness.

Anime Expo 2011: Megatokyo, Danny Choo, new Gundam, and more!

It’s been over a week since AX and fortunately (or not), I have some time off to relax. This year’s convention was a lot better than last year, in large part due to the Convention Center staff being much nicer to attendees and  also it seems that things ran more smoothly in general. We didn’t watch as much anime as last year, but we did see a lot of debuts and panels related to them like High School of the Dead, Gundam 00 Movie, and Gundam Unicorn. Thanks to a nice AX staff guy, we were able to register at closing on Day Zero which allowed us to attend Opening Ceremonies. My boyfriend is a fan of Megatokyo, a web comic by Fred Gallagher, so we attended his panel on the 3rd day and signing on the last day. We even managed to chat with him in the artist alley.

Danny Choo had a lot of events going on, which we also attended though didn’t stay too long at the Fakku meet and greet. We did pick up a few Mirai T-shirts from J-list and the Mirai Figma from Kid Nemo. My boyfriend was very excited about it and was also able to get a Senjyougahara Hitagi Figma from Bakemonogatari (which I just watched most of last night with him). The Exhibition Hall is always the best way to spend your paycheck, and it didn’t disappoint. I got shirts from Bored Inc, Gama-Go, Aqua Red, previous AX (only $5), Angry Little Girls (bags too), MightyFine, and the previously mentioned Mirai shirts from J-List. I picked up a cute pair of earrings from the Artist Alley for only $2 also.

The AMV (Anime Music Video) contest was pretty popular this year, so we weren’t able to attend any re-screenings or award ceremonies. It was really interesting to see the panels for High School of the Dead and the Gundam Unicorn screenings. The Gundam 00 screening went late, so they moved the panel to another room and we decided to do something else (probably eat). In total, I took a lot of pictures this year and all my photos are up on my AX 2011 Flickr Collection. I don’t take many cosplay photos, but there are plenty of people who do. Cosplayers are everywhere, so even if I wasn’t focusing on them you’ll still see a bunch. The big thing this year was the Hatsune Miku concert (which they brought custom Toyota Corollas out for).

Another new thing was the Food Trucks, which may have been there last year but they had a dedicated area for people to go to. We ended up spending a lot on Indian Food, but it was pretty tasty. The pizza has been the consistently good and reasonably priced item at the LA Convention Center, so we got that a few times over the 4 day event. We were slightly better prepared with cold drinks in the car to get when we didn’t want to spend $3 to $4 on a soda. This was a pretty fun experience and definitely worth attending. I enjoy being able to take in a lot of different panels and screenings, while also finding cool things in the dealer hall. One of the last things we picked up is a DS game by Aksys called Nine Nine Nine, which came with a watch from the game. Andrew already finished it and the watch is pretty cool (even if it’s hard to put on at first).

Make Music Pasadena 2011

Saint Motel @ Make Music Pasadena

Best Coast @ Make Music Pasadena

Ra Ra Riot @ Make Music Pasadena

Kisses @ Make Music Pasadena

Zola Jesus @ Make Music Pasadena

This is the 3rd year I’ve been to Make Music Pasadena – a free annual music festival in downtown Pasadena. Pretty good line-up too: we started the day with Saint Motel at 2 PM, the Morning Benders at around 3:30 PM (who we didn’t really watch), then walking around for food and bathroom breaks. Best Coast at 5 PM, Ra Ra Riot at around 6:30 PM (the main stage was running late), Kisses on the emerging artist stage at around 8:30 PM and Zola Jesus at around 10 PM.

The weather was nice all day, not extremely hot like the first year I went (it was around 106 degrees). This time around, it was in the high 70′s to mid 80′s and didn’t drop too low at night. Tons of people were already there even at 2 PM, so getting around the main stage area was a little tough.  The side streets weren’t too bad, but parking was a bit tricky. There were more inexpensive parking lots than we thought, but we weren’t sure where they were.

The bands were pretty good, though watching them from really far away is not usually that great.  Free events like this is more about hanging out and enjoying the music rather than really getting into the show. At least, that’s how it is for me.  There were some interesting vendors set up in the street that was blocked off (Colorado and Fair Oaks – I think).  Even though Pasadena isn’t too far from where I live, traffic always makes it seem farther.

There was a Chalk Art Fair happening down the street from Make Music Pasadena, which was also pretty interesting to see. It’s sponsored by JetBlue and there were plenty of talented artists making some very cool chalk art. I didn’t get any pictures, but I’m sure there’s plenty online. It was at the same place last year also, so I guess these two events will always coincide now.