#2 in progress.  Had lunch with Sonia at the Lazy Ox Canteen in Little Tokyo.  Gourmet bar food done well.  

As I leave the constraints of writing for the screen behind, I have rediscovered the joy of simply writing.  While I spend most of my time on the computer, nothing is more satisfying than free styling with a pen and pad of paper… Which brings me to the moleskin.  After buying my first one in Paris, I now have a dozen small moleskin pads around the house and the car.  Most of them contain bits of pieces of a story that will hopefully give birth to a decent novel. 

A good day on a budget.  It began with Brit’s soccer game in Simi Valley.  Dad joined us to watch her team dominate a “higher” ranked team.  Brit scored two of three and assisted on the other. We then headed over to Sean’s Rocket Fizz to buy some soda and candy before heading to a chili cheese burger lunch.  We got home around 1:30 and I hit the couch for a nap. Woke up groggy an hour later and caught up on some work while Sonia concocted a new cocktail for me to try. An hour or so later we convened in the back yard for a shrimp dinner.  Not bad.

Dinner at Dad’s.

Saw our accountant today. Ladies and gentlemen, the party is over.I must now change such goals as Eat a meal outside of the U.S. to Order from the value menu at McDonalds.

Casual Friday.

Watched Brit’s team lose another close game against a bigger school.  Having never played before, she’s doing great. Starting second baseman and batting 5th.  After the game she was brooding because of her last at bat. I explained to her that baseball/softball is not soccer.  Going 1 for 3 is a good day. I said, “batting is mostly about failure, so get over it.”  She looks at me with tears in her eyes and says, “you don’t get it dad, failure is not an option for me.”  "Then why do you have a C in spanish?“, I said.  She laughed and her woe is me moment was forgotten.

#2 in progress.  Food trucks are all the rage in L.A. There’s one for sliders, another for grilled cheese sandwiches and even one for waffles.  But, the best remain the original taco trucks.  I finally tried one of Sonia’s favorites downtown and have to agree with her. Everything is fresh down to the hand made corn tortillas made right in front of you.

The damage to our car was over $15,000 and we knew we’d take a hit because of the frame damage, so…  Our salesman connection at Mercedes called us when they needed to move a unit for a loss.  We went with the 2010 E350.  

#2 in progress. Tried the rooftop bar at the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills.  The Lobster Tacos were outstanding, but the service ruined the experience.  

#63 Done. Bought some candy from my brother, Sean. Although he looks a bit nervous, Sean confidently opened his candy and soda pop shop in Simi Valley today.  Traffic was high and sales were robust. The future is bright.  If random candy and soda pop pictures are your thing, I took a few pics and posted them here.

#2 in progress. Maybe I’ll knock this one out in no time.  Tried Delphine at the new W Hotel in Hollywood.  Surprisingly a very good French bistro. The Hollywood W is the new “IT” place to be and it shows.  

In honor of the coach who made Marquette Basketball matter. Hopefully today’s game isn’t a white knuckler. Go Warriors!

Happy Birthday Michelle.  May the luck of the Irish find you.  And to clarify, that’s “good” luck.

#1 in progress. Business has been busy.  As we work toward getting into the manufacturing trade, we decided we could use another hand.  Our job ad garnered 150 resumes in three days.  From those 150 we were able to narrow the field down to 25 qualified applicants.  We then emailed those 25 applicants with a set of questions to answer.  With the additional info, we narrowed the field down to five applicants for face to face interviews. Four of the five would have made great additions, but ultimately it came down to two.  After much deliberation, we decided to hire both.  We are now a company of five.  Scary and exciting.

We had an earthquake this morning, but I slept through it.  With my back in its current condition I will be unable to take cover if the big one hits any time soon.  

The field is set and MU continued to overachieve with a six seed.  Not exactly happy with the match up with the Washington Huskies, but a sweet 16 run is definitely doable.  Win Thursday and I’ll be in San Jose on Saturday. 

Had my bi-annual back throw out party today.  Watching Brittany’s first club soccer scrimmage in three months helped ease the pain for a couple of hours, but man does back pain suck.

#15 in progress. Read Superfreakonomics, the follow up to Freakonomics and learned one very important fact… Pimps provide better value than Real Estate Agents. 

#2 in progress. We ventured downtown to try The Edison.  Great libations and high end bar food.  The place is huge and maintains much of the architecture and artifacts from when it was L.A.’s first power plant.

I chose the wrong year to miss the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Warriors win again.

Brit had her first softball game today, and despite not being totally comfortable out there she played great.  She played second base, made six out of seven plays that included a Willie Mays style catch that garnered raves from both teams, and went 3 for 4 at the plate.

#1 in progress. Placed an ad on craigslist yesterday afternoon for a part time assistant and the response has been eye opening. So far, I have a stack of about 60 resumes and they keep coming.  About 80% are college graduates. Many went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. A few are USC alums.  And we have one from Princeton.

I was 6 for 9.  I still don’t think Sandy should’ve won it, but it was the best speech of the night.  Hurt Locker writer wins an Oscar for his first screenplay.  Encouraging.  Or not. Jeff Bridges’ win is long over due. Sometimes the Oscar has an adverse effect on those who win him.  I really hope that’s the case for Mo’Nique.  And finally, Tom Hanks has no sense of drama.

#2 in progress.  Tried Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Beverly Hills last night.  Tried escargot (pictured) for the first time and became a huge fan.

My Predictions.

• Best Picture – The Hurt Locker. I thought it was an intense and virtually flawless war movie.  Avatar was an experience I’ve never had at the movies, but in five or ten years when 3D is the norm it will remembered as the first, not the best.
• Best Director – Kathryn Bigelow. She’ll be the first woman director to win, and deservedly so.  She somehow directed Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in the same movie (Point Break) and managed to have a career.
• Best Actor – Jeff Bridges. I haven’t seen Crazy Heart yet, but Jeff is one of my favorite actors.  How he hasn’t won an Oscar and Jamie Foxx has is a travesty.
• Best Actress – Meryl Streep.  I like Sandra Bullock just fine, but The Blind Side is a formulaic popcorn movie.  It’s inspiring, but so was Rudy.  Did Rudy deserve an Oscar? Take this scene from the Blind Side:  Woman, “You’re changing that boy’s life.” Take a wild guess at what Sandra’s response is.  I’m not going to tell you because you already know.  And if you can write the dialogue, Oscar has no place in the discussion.
• Supporting Actor – Christopher Waltz. Quentin Tarantino writes meaty parts for everyone in his movies, but Waltz made Nazis fun.
• Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique. Ugh.
• Original Screenplay- Quentin Tarantino. He’s probably too famous and colorful to pass up.  The Hurt Locker dude probably deserves it, but…
• Adapted Screenplay – Jason Reitman. I’d give it to the District 9 guy, but Reitman seems to have this one.
• Best Animated Film – Up.  It’s also nominated for best film, so if it doesn’t win best animated film then the voters are stupid.
• The other categories are for bathroom and snack breaks.

Happy 60th Birthday to my Brother-In-Law, Tom.  Seems like just yesterday you were in your fifties.  Celebrate the day!

Netflixed Law Abiding Citizen.  Sympathized with the villain.

From the pages of last year’s list, Sonia’s quest for the perfect smile took a major step forward today, albeit a painful one.  Under local anesthesia, Sonia had four teeth pulled and two screws inserted into her jaw bone.  I think she’s ready to write a book titled, Be Happy with your Crooked teeth.  Meanwhile, Brittany’s teeth are moving ahead of schedule.

#37 research.  Every year, Restaurant Magazine, the most respected magazine and critic in their field, chooses the top 50 restaurants of the world. Based on 2009’s list, there are only eight top 50 restaurants located in the USA, six of which are in New York City.

Hit the Clippers-Jazz game with Sean to see former Warrior, Wes Matthews.