hurculean love affair

sooooooo,

just got back from my last night on the town in LA. after naptime (well, colin's naptime), we FINALLY got our shit together and booked it to amoeba records on sunset near hollywood. i suppose 'booked it' isn't really accurate, as it took us fucking forever to get there due to horrendous traffic. anyway, eventually we got there and this place is HUGE. it's basically a very well categorized warehouse with every CD/record in existence.

well, that's obviously not true. but it's close. so cols and tony got some shtuff and then we headed over to my good high school friend jeff's place in silverlake, where he lives with his girlfriend. they very kindly invited us for a barbeque. it was wonderful to see him and talk to him about what he's been up to for the past little while. i haven't seen him in a few years, although i keep up with him online, etc. it was genuinely refreshing to see how well he's doing and how absolutely happy he is with his life. i felt a tinge of envy at his beautifully simple basement apartment. he and his girlfriend are involved in an art collective, planning on guerrilla art shows and exciting things like that. i feel like a fraud around amazing photographers like jeff and his girlfriend. photographers that were passionate enough to educate themselves for four years and pursue the art and technique and mechanics and history of this craft that i basically just bought and have been teaching myself haphazardly for the past year and a half. it was a very sweet and inspiring experience and lovely to see what a wonderful person he has become.

after the barbeque cols and i went to the smell, a legendary little DIY place made known by residents such as health. the show was so-so, mostly just noise. i didn't really expect much else, but i'm glad we saw it at least. afterwards, we spoke to clayton who had just left a taping of 'inside the actor's studio' with christian slater. he said it was ridiculously long and boring but james lipton was "heavenly". we went to meet him for a drink at short stop right under his apartment in echo park and ended up playing improv games about genitalia with total strangers. pretty funny actually. now i'm back at home and i can't believe i'm leaving tomorrow for israel. it seems like a story i'm just telling people. they are very impressed, but for some reason it hasn't actually impressed me yet. maybe it will eventually after it's all over with. i'll just dive right in.

i need to stop being so scared of things. taking photos, adventures, other people. fuck em. that's the motto i taught my gammy when she complained that she can't see. i said, "gammy, whenever you start to think that they can do something you can't, just say 'fuck em'". so that's what i'll do. maybe in the process of teaching these kids about seeing the world and the ability to express that view creatively, i'll open my own eyes to a different way to create my own world and art. who knows.

love,

sally

p.s. don is also tom waits and REM's lawyer. oh mannnnnnnnnn that is cool.