The Year of the Quinny - Onward and Upward

First things first, I'd like to thank the Grey Goose Gimlets and Sushi Roku's Baked Lobster with Miso Sauce Roll for helping me make the most out of the last few days of 2007.

I'd also like to thank the stranger couple on Fairfax who promised Julie and I that our uneventful night was not the sign of the year to come.

Now onto 2008's To-Do List (in no particular order):

1. Grand Canyon (this was one of the few things on 07's list to get totally ignored. sorry big giant hole in the ground.)
2. I want to continue reading regularly. To always have a bookmark going.
3. I'd like to do something new every week. See or eat or meet something/someone new. Escape the box.
4. Stop blaming LA, start USING LA.
5. More festivals. SXSW (I need to go to Austin anyway). Cannes (I need to go back to France like salmon need to swim upstream to reproduce).
6. Oscars. This is on the life list and will continue to reappear on the annual lists until somebody takes my fancy-dressed ass to the biggest awards show ever. Red carpet counts.
7. Marathon Training. Goal is rock 'n' roll marathon in San Diego. But I'm not sure if that gives me enough time. Getting trainers this weekend.
8. Finish movie script with Presley. It's gonna be awesome.
9. I found lyrics to a song I wrote in 2004. I'm gonna try and get them sold. I can hear Carrie Underwood singing it now. Or maybe Taylor Swift.
10. If I don't own some form of residence by the end of 2008, I wanna be so close I can taste it.
10.a. Save more.
10.b. Invest more.
(I'm on the right track, I would just like to be moving faster and further.)
11. TRAVEL. Yes please.
11. a. Island Getaway. thinking more and more that a week on a beach with a hammock seems like the perfect way to usher in my 30th year. thinking Indian Ocean or Caribbean Sea. thinking it'd be ok to go it alone. Bora Bora, despite being my #1 dream destination would be nice, but I refuse to give up hope of a more romantic bungalow fantasy, so I'm gonna hold off. My #2 destination is Petra, Jordan. But I realize it's probably not smart for girls to go to the Middle East solo...
11.b. Potential new hometowns. Portland. Austin. about 4 days each. mostly to put people like my uncle rob (who think its weird to wanna move to towns you haven't spent quality time in) at ease.
12. spend a week and change helping my sister acclimate to two little people requiring her attention.

In closing, I almost just cried at the trailer for "Away from Her." I've already seen the movie. I know what happens. But seeing the trailer backed by Ray Lamontagne's "Be Here Now" was ALMOST just too much.

I see "Be Kind Rewind" tomorrow. I'll let you know what I think.

Also - they're predicting the worst rain storm since Jan 2005 to hit LA tomorrow. It's gonna last 5 days. I'm not ready. I realize the rest of the country has already dealt with such crappy winter weather that I have no room to complain. But I remember Jan 2005. It was no bueno. I think it rained all day every day of the whole month (literally, it did, except for like 3 days). All I remember from Jan 2005 is rain. I wondered if the sun had forgot its rightful place in the sky. This is LA. It's 75 on Jan. 2. I was running around the Fairfax District without sleeves on New Years Eve night. I leave for Sundance in 2 weeks. I'll deal with this thing called "winter" then. As for the rain, I'm sure I'll see enough of it out of the window of my little bungalow in Portland whenever I move there. Keep LA dry. Dry and Sunny. And temperate. Thank you.