Batter eater!

Bah, I got tagged and while I love playing along with this stuff, I am just not…so much of an L.A. person. I really should get out of Burbank sometimes…

Four L.A. Things:
Four Jobs I've Had In My Life In L.A.:
1. Well, I have worked for a semi-major comic book company for the past 8 years.
2. I worked for a now defunct stock photography company as a “keyworder”, which was a pretty interesting job but I hated the company. Basically, I was given a picture and I had to apply as many words as I could to it. Both the obvious (dog, puppy, pet, animal, fur) and the less obvious (loyalty, love, affection). It was fun on occasion but there was always a limit to what I was allowed to do. Look, if you have a picture of two dudes in casual attire, in a hip looking apartment, hugging, you can keyword “friends” but really, why wouldn’t you also keyword, “couple, love affection, homosexual”? I got very frustrated that such issues were ignored. It’s not as if there aren’t publications looking for a nice picture of a same-sex couple. But, I guess, by the same token, we didn’t keyword any opposite sex couple as “heterosexual.” HOWEVER, it’s a lot easier to find that kind of picture, so I never thought it needed that sort of keyword. Yeah, I guess that’s sexist of me.
3. I was also a photo researcher at the same place. Someone would call and say, “I NEED PICTURES OF A SPARK! NOW NOW NOW!” and I would have to think, “Well, where would I find pictures of sparks? I know! ARC-WELDING!” because really, you only have so many ways to catalog pictures.
4. For two or three days I did a “test-run” at a company that later offered me a job as an illustrator of courtroom displays. Like the picture of the parking lot and the path the car that hit you took, you know? I liked the illustration aspect of the job but I hated the idea that I would have to talk to lawyers all the time and drive around a city that I didn’t know. They asked me to work for pay for two days to see how I dealt with their environment. It was interesting but when they offered the job I declined. They actually came back with a second offer but I just couldn’t get over the “dealing with lawyers” part of it.

Four Movies About LA I Could Watch At Least One More Time (I had to change this one a little bit, I just couldn’t think of any that I could watch over and over again):
1. Valley Girl
2. Singin’ In The Rain
3. Clueless
4. Die Hard (yeah, Alan Rickman makes it worth it)

Four Movies About LA That I Never Need to See Again:
1. Matchstick Men
2. Jackie Brown
3. The Karate Kid
4. L.A. Confidential

Four Places I’ve Lived All Over L.A. (With Food Memories From Each):
Oh! This is a trick answer! My living room is in “Toluca Woods” My bedroom is in Burbank, my kitchen is in Toluca Lake and I think technically my whole apartment is in North Hollywood but if you call the North Hollywood police they will tell you that you are not in their jurisdiction. I’ve only ever lived in one apartment in L.A. but it’s in a really weird location. I would very much like to move but I can’t afford it. (So the food memory thing is changed to favorite foods pretty much because i have to.)

Four L.A.-Themed Shows I Love(d) To Watch:
1. Melrose Place (Oh, like you didn’t!)
2. Miss Match (I like that Alicia Silverstone, I think she’s cute.)
3. V.I.P. (I have a deep and abiding fondess for Pammy, I can’t explain it, I think it’s just this attitude of “This is me. Deal with it” that I think she gives off. And she just seems to “get it” and by “it” I actually don’t mean sex.)
4. Popular (I think I am the only non-teen to ever watch this show…)

Four Places I Would Vacation At In L.A.:
For me, vacations aren’t about L.A. so I am woefully uninformed as to nice places to spend some time. Most of my vacations are excuses to see family in New Jersey.

Four LA-Based Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Absolutely Dorky
2. Candy Blog(This is an L.A. blog, right? I’m pretty sure it is…)
3. justJenn
4. Jane Espenson

Four Of My Favorite Foods Found In L.A.:
1. Fried Tofu at Frontier Wok in Burbank.
2. Carnitas tacos, pretty much anywhere but I particularly liked the ones at Barrigan’s (it’s not just me, is it? that’s a really odd name for a Mexican place, isn’t it?) in Burbank.
3. Tuna Melt with avocado at Snug Harbor in Santa Monica.
4. Tofu Vegatable Soup at Joy Feast in Burbank.
5. Since I never seem to get out of Burbank I will mention that I used to really love the pizza at Jacapos in Hollywood but I haven’t been there in a very long time.

Four Places In L.A. I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Curled up in my bed with my cat, a hot drink and a book.
2. Prowling around The Illiad bookstore (well, after the big move I guess).
3. You know, this is a bit of a stretch since it’s not something I have ever done, but at the moment, sitting in the George C. Page museum, sketching skulls sounds very appealing...
4. …As does curling up in a booth at Paty’s and reading a book while drinking some nice hot tea (it’s really cold in here today and I was out in the rain so I’m feeling in need of some warmth and cuddlyness).

I won’t tag anyone because…well, I don’t know anyone to tag. You could, of course, do this with any neighborhood if you are not in L.A.

Man, I made a crapload of cupcakes this weekend for a very nice party at Jodi-odi-odi’s house and drank a little too much but that was ok as I think I was not the only one (I’m lookin’ at you JODI!). I suppose “crapload” is not a very appetizing way to refer to cupcakes but it was a lot. I realized it was a lot when I used and entire package of those little paper liners and I had to open a second package. There were chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, vanilla cupcakes with buttercream with a touch of cherry juice and peanut butter cupcakes with a chocolate cream icing. I thought they were all pretty good but I still have not found the ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe. I guess I will have to keep trying…sigh. I do have a new band name due to the massive amount of baking going on my house though. I am quite liking BATTER EATERS.