heathervescent

party = success

I threw myself a birthday party last night. I always like to do something interesting and special to celebrate and invite my friends to have fun. I've been recently obsessed with the "hbomb" part of my personality. I talked about my first nickname: heathervescent a couple posts ago. I have a secondary nickname as well: hbomb. So the theme of the party was the hbomb.

Andrew at Ground Control was nice enough to host. For the first time in my life, I didn't make all the food. Connie-Lynne made the cake and put together a fabulous spread of snacks. The best was the three tiered German Chocolate Cake on fire. No candles for us, flaming balls were spread all over the cake. Mike, the bartender, perfected the "h-bomb" a vodka based cocktail sporting a flaming lime. I handed out hbomb stickers and champagne pops. We had Aeon Flux on the wide screen and Karaoke on stage. My highlights included a mashup of Bela Lugosi's Dead sung to Donna Summer's I feel love. And then I had to my classic karaoke song: Thriller.

This has always been a hit, but last night's performance took the cake. The best thing about Thriller is that everyone joins in in the dancing. It's amazing how many people know the dance moves. So most of the room was up and dancing along, until the very end, where, if you remember in the video, the crowd of zombies gangs up on the date. Well, this is exactly what the zombie dancers did. I'm singing along, the zombies are dancing, and then the next thing I know, I'm surrounded and they're coming in close, until the very end where they have taken over the entire stage and we hear Vincent Price's cackling laugh. I wish we had some photos or video, because it was a moment to remember.

Here's a picture of Susanna and I singing Barry Manilow's, Copacabana.

I was also sung happy birthday in Swedish. And everyone sang along too!

It was great. Everyone had a great time. I was able to spend time with old and new friends. And 2006 is already shaping up to be full of fabulous people and activities.

just another day ... or not

So today is my birthday. I usually take the day off and spend it doing only what I want to do. That's back when I had the corporate job. But no more. I'm all freelance these days. When things went to crap with the company I started last year, I almost went out and got another corporate job. Daily routine, big bucks, responsibility and with that probably a lot of frustration. But that stable fat paycheck and a commute from hell.

I decided that I would give it another try. I write about living my dream life, manifesting the kind of life I want. What the hell... I can give it a little more of a try. What else do I have to lose? I've been putting my words to the test this past year with a nice safety net in my bank account. Now that safety net is gone and there's nowhere to go but up. And failure has never been an option with me. Still, I'm scared. What if I've just entered a den of predators and about to be snapped to pieces? I'm a fragile human. I am reminded of that when I jumped into the mosh pit with a bunch of teenage boys on Saturday night and came away with a blue lip and some bruises. But then things are taken care of perfectly. Even with Gloria and her situation - in the darkest of places there is love and friends.

So tonight, today, the bomb goes off. Maybe you've seen them around the city. You'll have the opportunity to drink one tonight, at Ground Control, where I'll be celebrating. Come on by if you want.

10 years of Heathervescent

It's interesting to find out where people's nicknames and online handles come from. I haven't always been Heathervescent, and 2006 is the 10 year anniversary of my favorite moniker. A perfect fit, if you haven't met me, Heathervescent was given to me by the CFO of my first job.

At this first job out of college, I  host a "philosophical symposium" after work occasionally. We'd head down to Kate O'Brien's, grab some beers and talk philosophy. In my email announcements I would say something like, lead by your effervescent host Heather. One day, we were talking about a recent discussion and the CFO (who attended) was telling someone that it was organized by heathervescent. Everyone agreed that that was a perfect description of me and the name stuck. I could not have come up with a better nickname if I tried. So thanks John, for my name these past ten years.

nothing, in no order

• Griffith Park Fountain
• Vermont Street / Los Feliz
• Wacko's
• Hollywood and Vine
• Griffith Park Blvd / Hyperion
• Silverlake
• Sawtelle
• The Georgian
• Venice Beach

It's Moki Time!

It's time again for Moki! Yesterday Susanna and I took him to the enchanted pine forest in Griffith Park. Do you know where the enchanted pine forest is? For Gloria's consideration, here's a short video of us walking down the path (wmv, 3.4M). Moki would pay the camera no attention as he was having a great time sniffing all the new smells.

Yo, it's wireless!

Busier than ever

For some reason, the more I do, the more I get done. It's that turbo thing I talked about last month actually working. Or maybe it's because I'm drinking coffee again...

Things turn unexpectedly

I was in the middle of a non-stop LA weekend when my cell phone rang. It was Gloria. I heard from her voice something I did not expect.

We've both had non-stop busy lives since Jan 10. Busy and separate lives. I've moved out of the future (for a short time) so we don't have our usual morning conversation. Sharing project status, gossip from Italy or San Francisco. We share our dreams (the ones we have at night) and discuss logistics like taxes, mortgage, bills, watering the plants.

I was looking forward to return to the future and our morning conversations - even with the number of projects we have. But things have taken a turn, an unexpected twist. Her voice on Sunday told me of a completely unexpected emergency. And she left for Italy yesterday morning.

I'm holding down the fort and taking care of Moki, which is my pleasure. I've missed that dog in my absence from the future. But this reminds me, in an instant, the world changed. Things that are your focus right now, suddenly become optional. Fighting against the unexpected does not help. Breathing and staying calm, bringing the best of who you are to the situation, is the best we can do.

And although, I'm not able to be on the front lines and directly help with this emergency. I'll maintain status and play with a happy dog who awaits her safe return.

on friends

A friend is supportive, someone you can talk to, be yourself with and not worry about judgment. Someone who pulls you out of a funk when you’ve had a bad day. Someone who can distract you when you life is overwhelmed. Someone who holds down the fort when your life goes crazy. Someone who you can call on when you’re angry, hurt, confused, sad. Friends also share ideas, good thoughts, highs, successes and happiness. They are different minds to bounce ideas off or brainstorm with. Or just get drunk and laugh.

And then sometimes friends say goodbye, and they're gone and out of your life indefinitely.

on Fame

"The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork [Anything] that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit."
- Banksy

Like Father, like daughter

I caught up with my Dad earlier today. We're both pretty busy these days and haven't actually talked in depth for some time. I told him about my various going-ons, the dramas and issues I don't write about here, projects for the future, of the boyfriend, trips and travels. He told me about his projects, website, the Air Force. The funny comments about how both of us are working on various projects and jobs, careers.

I remember him telling me in a hot tub conversation when I was 15 (we used to have an outside hot tub that we used in the winter - and it snowed where we lived) about how he liked to do different jobs and not be stuck in only one job. (He was an attorney, in the Air Force, had a couple farms, buildings and some business ventures.) I liked that. I was thinking about what I wanted to be "when I grow up" and was not at all interested in pigeon holing myself into one career choice. Variety, options, possibilities, where what interested me. I also knew that the kinds of jobs I wanted, didn't exist yet. I didn't see the point of focusing on a specific topic, say Accounting, in college.

So today, my dad quips back on how happy he is to be doing the various stuff he's doing (still law, even more business ventures, real estate, still got that farm). And I respond with my laundry list of projects and plans. The similarity is well... striking, for someone who tried so hard to differentiate herself from her progenitor.

Then comes the kicker. Dad is telling me about a document he is writing, that outlines future possibilities for an organization he is working with. He's writing the future and he tells it to me like that. I hear the wink in his voice, and my world comes tumbling down. My Dad is doing the same thing I do. He's creating the future - with words, with his ideas and he'll execute on it too.

His future worlds are different from mine, but we use the same technique to create them.

Busy Busy

With 2006's start comes a lot of projects and possibilities. I've been extremely busy since I returned from the holiday celebrations. That feels really good. Lots of exciting projects in the works and I'll be announcing them throughout Q1-2006! Stay tuned for balls-out ass kicking!

Blogging 101 taught by yours truly

I started doing some blog consulting last year and it was a lot of fun, so I've decided to do more; starting with teaching a Blogging 101 class in February.

In this three session course, I'll teach the basics on creating a weblog, care and feeding of your blog and making money. If you don't have a blog and want to get one, this is a great introductory course. Class starts Feb 2nd. If you're interested in attending, send an email to blog ( a t ) heathervescent ( d o t ) com.

Going to BarCamp

Well, I'm going to BarCamp in LA. I'll have to decide which project percolating in the back of my head I want to bring to the forefront. It will be good to get the geek on.

a joyful dare

F waxes poetic on the Reckless blog...

"i always thought that it's degrading to see yourself as the traditional half of an apple, that is incomplete if doesn't meet the other half... a relationship builded on a need, on the fear of loneliness, on an empty to fill, it's very sad... the meeting between a woman and a man should be an expansion, a joyful dare... without you i feel perfectly fine, with you i feel more than myself..."

It's a good reminder to maintain integrity and self while creating a partnership.

A slice of the sky

Reading his books again

I had a best friend once. We used to trade books and CDs, stories and URLs and for a time, we shared the same dreams.

One of the best things about this relationship was the unspoken one. The one we never commented on. We pretended never existed. This was the relationship we had with our trades.

It started out simply. He was as voracious a reader as I was. We had similar tastes in many mediums. We were decades apart in ages, but those years disappeared with the music or the words on the page translating into pictures in my mind. With the movies we never watched together but discussed. He would bring me some books. I'd exchange them for some CDs. We'd go about reading and listening in our own lives. Grab a coffee between discussions.

The books I read always meant something to me. They told me of a secret storyline - a separate life - a possibility that existed only in fiction. The fiction of P.K. Dick, Dan Simmons or Jonathan Carroll. These stories were enough for a time. But more often than not, there was some strong character or plot development that hit a little too close to our reality. Possibility. It stung when I read those sections, written by authors who had no knowledge of me, yet described my situation perfectly. It was not just synchronicity. It was a big fat arrow with flashing neon lights. I had trouble breathing.

Drama happened, as is often the case. We became badly bruised and went limping to our corners, licking our wounds.

2006 arrived and with it: two books by my favorite author. To read Carroll's words is like adventure to Pippi Longstocking. Vibrant, full of life, passionate, unexpected. He sent those two books down.

I've been hesitant to open them. To turn the page and read the words. To see what world he's created (Jonathan this time). It's not just reading the stories. It's reading descriptions of my friend, reading descriptions of myself, written by an author I have never met, and probably never will. (Although he has an outstanding drink offer.)

I will finish reading Glass Soup, but I fear what synchronicity comes next. But it's too late to get off this rollercoaster, and even if I could, I doubt I would. There are still many wild cards waiting to be discovered.

An office with a window

I'm sitting in my new office. It's filling with light and sun and the sounds of the street. There is a big window in front of my computer that opens to the sky.

I watch the clouds slide across the skypallet, like they are posing for Richard Misrach. I see airplanes create their contrails high above the city. I hear the sirens of police cars or ambulances, the hum of helicopters in the sky and the whir of the traffic in the street. The caws of crows, the small chirps of sparrows, the dry leaves falling.

The setting sun fills the room with light, setting it aglow. The rest of the house is dark, but this room, where I sit in my office, is on fire.

It's a good place for a writer and I've been inspired today. To be a good writer, one must not only have skill with words and discipline to write them, one must have a window with a view onto the world. An inspiring view.

Happy Birthday Gloria

I gave Gloria her birthday present a few days early this year. She got it yesterday, just after we finished hours of yardwork and home improvement. Instead of giving her something, I took something away - threw something away actually - my favorite shoes.

I love these black slip on shoes. A mix of leather and mesh, super comfortable with an extra sticky sole. I wore these all the time. They were my old standards... until Gloria found them as the culprit of the black marks on our tile.

When we first moved in, the tiles were all marked up. The previous occupants were a family with a dog and two kids. No pristine tiles in our house. Then I found the amazing Magic Eraser and hope was restored. The black marks were banished... that is, until I started to regularly wear my favorite shoes. And then they returned.

At first, Gloria's attacks on my shoes were small... requests to take them off before I came into the house. I could usually comply - but I'm not a "shoeless in the house" person, so I would forget. I actually like wearing shoes and I'm running around too much to remember to take them off and on when I go in and out. I started coming into the house and going straight downstairs (to my lair) and changing my shoes. But inevitably, I'd have to stop by the kitchen to drop some groceries or mail on the table. She'd catch me again and again, with a rough voice questioning me... "what shoes are you wearing?"

Then I thought I came up with a solution. I would take them over to my boyfriend's house and they could live there. But eventually they ended back in the future.

I promised to clean up the black marks (I was the one who found the magical eraser that erased those horrid marks). And I'd get to it eventually, but things in life distract me, and as much as I like cleaning, I do it in fits and spurts.

I don't like parameters on my living. And my natural inclination in this situation is to go against the required behavior, to express my solidarity. I found myself _wanting_ to wear them inside more. Forgetting to take them off, and absolutely refusing to think that I would throw them out. And Gloria's onslaughts got stronger. And I realized, as much as it's my house to be able to wear whatever I want inside it, it's also her house and she has the desire to not have black marks on the floors.

And then I thought, it's a good excuse to get a new pair of shoes. If I could find a replacement pair, that wouldn't leave black marks, that I would love just as much, then I could stomach throwing out my old favorites (even though nothing is wrong with them and they're not worn out).

So I went to Off-Broadway Shoes on Sunset and found a pair of black leather/suede sketchers. They had cool black and grey soles (I really like to have shoes that have cool soles aka Fluevog), they were comfortable and they seemed to have a strong possibility of being a new favorite. So I took them home and started wearing them - mentally preparing to throw out the old favorites.

It was almost too much to bear. Could I keep the old ones for only yardwork? Permanently ban them to West Hollywood? No, they would just end up back at the future. It was time for them to go.

So this weekend, after one last wearing: planting, raking, weeding, re-roofing, they went in the trash, along with the 15 bags of plant material. Gone, gone, gone. And I promise, I won't sneak down tonight, before the trash man comes in the morning and take them out. Tomorrow, they will be gone from the Future, just in time to celebrate your birthday!

Happy Birthday Gloria!

My Naked Soul

That's me, on page 94 of January's issue of Italian Elle. What a great birthday present. And a great way to start out a year of Kicking ASS!

leaving the future - temporarily

The future is a lot like West Hollywood, except I have all my stuff there.

However, in 6 days, I'll be removing my stuff from the future and moving to WeHo. I've been going through a mixture of emotions. I'm excited to be able to spend more time with Sam without either of us commuting. I'm excited to be living in Hollywood. It's a new neighborhood and I like it.

It's always interesting when you move into someone's space. It's not going to be cramped - there's plenty of room for me. What is most irritating - and it's just a little irritating, is that in the future, I have all my stuff. None of my posessions, documents, items, etc are stored somewhere else or in a storage until. All my stuff is in one place and I really like that. So spreading my stuff across multiple houses slightly irks me.

Then again, I can look at it differently. I've got my future, the home base, and my satellite with a few choice items I love and adore and make me feel comfortable. I can practice adoration and detachment from my possessions at the same time.

Welcome to 2006

I woke up to a sunny blue sky here in West Hollywood this morning. Laser beams of light shining through the spaces between the curtains.

My mind is arace with all my projects. I'm sitting here, drinking my third cup of coffee of the year, my new GTD notebook ready to be filled with future actualizations. My boyfriend called my GTD notebook a journal of the future. That makes sense. And on a day like today, in Hollywood, the sky is the limit and I can't wait to get started.