Thank You to 55 Degree Wine

Cross-posted at T's Boutique Critique.

On a semi-regular, Last Mondays kind of way, Minor Details Productions holds Spotlight Promotions at different venues across Los Angeles for happy hour relief.

This month the Spotlight shined on Atwater Village favorite, 55 Degree Wine.

Located on Glendale Blvd in an unassuming strip mall next to Starbucks, 55DW boasts an intimate underground cellar with two rooms to accommodate even the most novice oenophile's budding palate. Owner Andy Hasroun is completely unpretentious, serving the wines he imports directly to this little secret rustic lair.

The wine selection is fantastic. Every time one goes in, they walk out with a new bottle. Finding a favorite is difficult because there are so many good and inexpensive wines. And Andy is clearly passionate about the wines, as he explains the nuances to each and generously allows you to taste, taste, taste until you find the one you want.

The guests all had a great time mixing and mingling (or tweeting about it via #mix&mingle). As a testament to Andy's hospitality and the great atmosphere in the cellar, the event was over at 8 pm, but many people (including those above) stayed until after 10 pm! We hope to return to 55 Degree Wine soon. Check them out. The Yelpers have even awarded them 4.5 stars!

I Saw the President!

Well, not really. But I did see his motorcade.

In case you missed it, President Obama was in Los Angeles today. There were townhall meetings and the historic appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Working in downtown LA means there is always some crazy delay. There's a protest here, there's a filming there. But when the President of the United States is in town: controlled chaos.

I had to drive about 15 minutes out of my way just to get to my office. Still, I hoped I'd catch a glimpse of him. And if I worked on the north side of my building, I might have. We were 3 blocks away from his townhall meeting.

Still no dice.

Because I live so close to the studios, I figured getting back that way was going to take forever too, so I left the office early. So early that I hit a wall of traffic about 7 miles from where I live. Suddenly, sirens aplenty came wailing down the freeway. SWAT vans, Hummers, cop cars from every single enforcement agency. And then there he was. In one of the two stretch limos flying the presidential seal.

It was over in about 3 seconds. But damn, that was the coolest thing that happened to me today.

Got Clones?

You might have a circle of friends. I have tiers. Family and the closest friends are at the top. Everyone else composes the rest. Like the food pyramid, there are lots of servings at the bottom.

Acquaintances are like carbs: in everything! And also, yummy.

I run around like a chicken with my head cut off. I do the 9 to 5, run my own business on the side, belong to associations, sit on boards, mentor career neophytes, network till I'm blue in the face. And I love it. I choose who and what I give my time to, but with a scant 24 hours in the day, there's a limit to how much I can do and still get a good night's sleep.

It won't always be like this. Or maybe it will. I can't really say. What I do know is that my current field of vision is about 20 degrees wide. Meaning, if you aren't in my direct line of sight, we probably haven't talked in a while. And that's okay. I haven't forgotten about you.

If you forgot about me, you can always catch my latest rantings and machinations here, or on any number of social media networks. I can't hide.

Unfortunately, I also can't ask for more hours in the day.

Life is hard that way. But I'm enjoying the ride while I can. I hope you are too.

Seven Years Later

Want to feel old? Go visit your alma mater and mock interview a couple college kids. That'll do ya.

As I was driving around UCLA the other night, I couldn't believe how poorly oriented I was. How is it possible that a campus I knew so intimately for such a long time had become so foreign? I didn't even realize that Parking Lot 7 was THERE. I've had to park in almost every single lot (even #32 for a short time my senior year--commuter students can empathize here), but never realized where #7 was.

At one point, I nearly turned the wrong way and ended up in the middle of Dickson Plaza. A deeply buried memory reminded me to go right instead of left and then all was okay again. But there was a moment of terror and disorientation where I felt like I was in a foreign country.

Once I was safely arrived at my destination, there were over 100 students waiting to get their interviewing skillz on. They were so young. It didn't help that on that very morning I had pulled a a curly strand of devastatingly white hair out of my head AND realized that gravity was winning the war against a particular area of my body. Then out came kids that were super excited about the world of possibilities awaiting them post-graduation. Despite the current economic conditions sure to impact their ability to land jobs, they had a jubilant, wide-eyed optimism that I vividly remember having at that age, too. Nostalgia hit. It was warm. And nice.

So I felt old for a bit. But then I started feeling mature. Like I'd actually accomplished something in the time since I graduated. That was probably helped by the eager kids looking to me for wisdom and mentorship.

I guess it's all about perspective. I'll take it. 

At least I still get carded.

Eating Crow

I spent Sunday decluttering my life. It helps with the feng shui. And there was a huge stack of papers on my desk that required either tossing or filing.

There was much shredding, much trashing, and then all of a sudden, there it was:

My car registration.

Apparently I'd never actually put the sticker on my license plate. It was in an envelope postmarked May 7, 2008. Which means I'd been driving around the greater southern California area with expired tags for 7 entire months.

It also means that no one actually stole it off my car in the first place, as I'd been so quick to determine. I'm just forgetful.

And quite lucky that I just started getting parking tickets this last month.

Keep America Meeting

As an event planner, I'm affected by what's going on in the industry these days. The tragically misinformed media is falsely reporting that what we do are merely "junkets" that lavishly and irresponsibly squander Americans' tax dollars. That is not the case.

Go to this link to learn more about the events industry and what you can do to educate yourself and your elected officials about an industry that, as Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman wrote in his letter to President Obama, "creates 2.4 million jobs, injects more than $200 billion in the national economy every year, and generates $39 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue."

We are not a waste of American dollars. We are a necessary, job-generating industry, and we should no longer ignore this slander by the media.

To sign the petition to protect our jobs, go to Keep America Meeting. Below is the email I sent to my friends and colleagues. Feel free to use any part of it to get your message out.

Hi,


The meetings industry--OUR industry--is in serious trouble. The media and politicians are painting what we do for a living as frivolous and unnecessary spending. Let me ask you: is what YOU do for a living frivolous and unnecessary?


I signed the petition "Keep America Meeting". I'm asking you to sign this petition to help us reach our goal of 1,000,000 signatures. I care deeply about this cause, and I hope you will support our efforts.


Keep us working.


- Paulette

 And thanks.

Valentine's Day Action

I've already confessed that I love Valentine's Day. I also love people who love Valentine's Day. People like TanjaB and chai_guy.

These two wonderful tweeps organized a treasure hunt to celebrate the day of love. I met them at a tweetup 2 weeks ago, they asked me to tell them whether or not Twitter is the vomitorium of the 21st century [link goes to YouTube], and I adored them immediately.

It was a Twitter-based game, which was a nice twist to your typical scavenger hunt. I had recruited my partner in crime AMB to come with, and we combined with fancy new people to win the game.

It was much fun.

But something telling came out of the whole experience. And that's that I apparently mention my love for scotch a LOT. So much so that Mr. Chai_guy gifted me two mini bottles of Dewars as soon as I showed up.

This gave me pause. 

But I'm saving them for a rainy day. Oh wait...

Love is Everywhere

I know it's just a Hallmark holiday. I know that the perceived superficiality of it, the pressure to top last year's stunt, and the ridiculous mark-up on everything from flowers to dinner makes it an unavoidable headache. Despite all that, I love Valentine's Day.

I really, really do.

What the anti-V day cynics fail to realize is that there are a million different types of love. It's not just about the romantic and it's not just about the one day.

But just like Christmas isn't the only time we should look out for our fellow man, it does tend to culminate into one huge annual celebration anyway. And thus, Valentine's Day does too.

I've always loved the holiday -- or feast day, if you will. When we were in elementary school, it meant a party. Exchanging cards with all your classmates while gorging on cupcakes, now that was a good time!

As we got older, it was still great. Even if you are unattached, it's not something to be bitter about. Because now you get to enjoy it with alcohol. Like a good single malt. Mmm. Love.

Then there's the fact that it is celebrated with all things red, which is my favorite color. Red red red, everywhere!! And no one declared that it has to be limited to lovers. I go around like a nutcase wishing perfect strangers Happy Valentine's Day all day long. Mainly because my job requires entertaining strangers most of the time anyway, but being silly like that puts a smile on a lot of people's faces.

Anyway, I hope everyone, single, attached or otherwise, has a great Saturday, February 14th. Celebrate by exchanging kiddie cards and red candy. Because it's silly and keeps us young.

Vehicular Irresponsibility

Someone stole the 2009 tag off my license plate. A sheriff deputy was nice enough to point this out to me on my way to work a couple weeks ago.

He was very attractive too. When he pulled up alongside me and waved, I wasn't sure what to expect. When he told me my tag was missing, I looked at him askew. I didn't even know what that meant. He explained he ran my plate and knew my registration was up to date, but that the sticker was missing. I thanked him and went on my way, trying to figure out when I was going to get to the 10th Circle of Hell.

You might call it the DMV.

A week ago, I was out on a date. In Silverlake, where the meter maids apparently work overtime. They also eat their young. I know this because I got a parking ticket for expired tags, long after the 6 pm. I was not thrilled.

I also will not be going out on another date with that guy.

I made myself another promise to get to the damn DMV. I work a 9/80 week, so I figured I'd go on my day off. Which was last Friday. But if you know anything about our Governator it's that he's now closing down state facilities every other Friday. We can pay meter maids to work overtime, but we can't keep the DMV open so good, tax-paying, law-abiding people like me can take care of their stolen tags.

So what happened tonight while I was networking at Blue Velvet Lounge? I got another ticket for expired tags.

It's my own fault. If I really wanted to, I could take 17 hours out of my day to go sit in the 10th Circle, wait for my number to be called, pay my $5 and get another green sticker. Or, I could go to work and do my job so that I have a paycheck to continue paying my car note.

It's so hard to decide which one is more important. Tomorrow morning, you'll find me in hell. The meter maids can go harass someone else.

And eat another young'un.

The Wet Season

Pop songs and convention would have you believe it never rains in Southern California. That's a lie. It rains. Rarely, but it happens.

And by this point, it's gratuitous to complain about how bad the traffic gets when there is the slightest threat of moisture. But here's what I don't get:

There is always that one guy. You know the one. He insists on testing the Basic Speed Law, racing around cars, impatiently slamming the brakes as he skids to a halt a half-inch before crushing the car in front of him. He is, for lack of a better term, an asshole.

Every single day, That Guy is out there. On every single freeway. But when it rains, a more obscene version of him takes over.

Today, he cut me off in Elysian Park. It was dark, wet, and we we all just wanted to get home and relax. He either had to go potty or a huge sense of entitlement (or both), because there was nothing that was going to keep him from getting ahead of the traffic.

I hope, for the sake of everyone still out there with him, that he has good tires, brakes that stop on a dime, and reflexes faster than a cat. Because the way he was moving, he deserved to crash his BMW into that guardrail and roll down the hill into a fiery explosion. 

If only to get one more dangerous jerk off the road for a while.

I'm home and dry now. And I ain't going back out in that rain tonight. Too many people testing their fates tonight. 

Good luck to all of you.

Time for that Civic Duty

By day I'm an event planner overseeing the multimedia activities of a local non-profit. We hold over 500 events a year. My job is to webstream as many of those as possible. Mostly just legal seminars, not anything you'll get to enjoy on YouTube.

But our office is moving locations. This would generally be okay if it were a down season, like the middle of the summer. Or even during the holidays. No one really expects work to get done then. Why else is everyone on vacation?

Except the move is scheduled for March. Originally it was in February and we made every possible attempt to move all the impacted events out of February. One ended up being on Inauguration Day but we dealt with it. Now, at the intersection of Murphy's Law and Construction Delays, those events ended up when?

In March.

It's not going to be pretty. We're prepared for that. Moving 100 people from one location to another 5 blocks south and 27 stories up is not going to happen without minor disasters. We get it.  But we have to function like nothing is going on behind the curtain. Me, I just have to make sure that all our multimedia applications are a go by the time we open back up for business on Monday, March 16th. That's my major responsibility. One that kind of requires me to be in the office, testing. Fidgeting. Yelling at electronics equipment when it fails. Because it will fail.

So of course, I got a jury summons. For when?

March 16th.

Murphy's Law is all over this one. I think this blog is going to end up tracking my descent into madness from here until then.

Keep your fingers crossed that I can get an extension.

***UPDATE***

LA Superior Court makes it surprisingly easy to postpone jury service. You get one pass. So now, I only have to worry about the move.

That should be easy.

A Night at the Movies

My BFF La Ria and I had been trying to see Frost/Nixon forever. The first time it wasn't playing yet (opened in limited engagement in Los Angeles and NYC...but "in Los Angeles" meant "only at the ArcLight" and we didn't feel like dealing with "Hollywood"). The second time I ended up getting a flat tire and spent the rest of the afternoon tackling that drama. Finally, we locked down plans for this past Saturday.

We wanted to stay local. So we opted for the AMC Media Center 8. Huge mistake.

Remember back when the niftiest thing you could expect from a movie theater was cup holders in the arm rest? That's back when movies were about $3.75 and we didn't yet demand stadium seating.

Now a movie costs $11.50. Popcorn and a couple of drinks weigh in at $16.25 if you take AMC's combo offer. That's at any AMC in the LA area, even the ones still stuck in that "nifty" unrenovated stage. Like the AMC Media Center 8.

For the nearly $30 I dropped just to get in the damn door, you'd think I could expect toilet paper in the bathroom. Is that really too much to ask? Especially after drinking one of their gianormo sodas? Then why did I need to go into 4 separate stalls before I could find EITHER seat liners OR toilet paper? And then only 2 out of the 4 automatic sinks were working.

Lets not even get into the lack of paper towels in there.

Of course, one of the newest and prettiest AMC locations was just 2 blocks away. But they weren't playing the movie anymore. Of course, we could have dealt with Hollywood and gone to the ArcLight. And for just a few bucks more had assigned seats, in a stadium theater, with comfy chairs replete with cup holders! Or even better, seen it in the Dome!

We will not make that same mistake again. Avoid the AMC Media Center 8 at ALL COSTS. It's old and smells like stale popcorn and teenage hormones. More than old, it's just sad.

The movie, however, was fantastic. That I highly recommend seeing.