9th place, and I don't even know what I'm doing

I continue to do quite well with the L.A. Kings Fantasy Hockey.  After yesterday's win at Dallas, I somehow managed to crack the top ten for the first time ever (previous high was 14th).

Click to see the full-size version of my fantasy hockey awesomeness.

Not bad, considering the first week I finished in 99th place.  Although apparently I am a total fail in the user name department, having not received the memo not to use my actual name.  Next time I'll know.

I'm still not sure exactly how I'm doing this well.  Maybe I'm just a natural.  And after the miserable road trip the team just completed, I'd gladly trade my success to them.

Back in the writing saddle, plus some upcoming writing competitions

I've spent the last month and a half clearing out my late Uncle's apartment and taking care of loose ends brought on by his death.  There's still a few things left to do (plus I'm still dealing with my Dad's estate), but after a period of feeling like my life had been taken over, I'm trying to get back into somewhat of a normal routine.  And that means getting back to writing.

It feels like forever that I've done any significant writing.  I did pull out the White Collar spec from last year and got an unexpected visit from the Reality Fairy.  The script starts out fine, then heads non-stop for the toilet as it goes on.  This actually makes sense, since I wrote it start to finish (usually I'm all over the place before tying everything together) which means that the beginning and middle of the script got a lot more rewriting than the latter part of it.  This happened because I was desperate to get it into the Screenwriting Expo competition last year and just made it by the skin of my teeth.  At the time I was just happy to get it done, but in looking it over with fresh eyes, I can see it clearly wasn't ready to go out.  So rewriting that baby is first up on my writing to-do list so it can be my entry for TV writing competitions this year.  Which reminds me, the next deadline for the semi-annual Scriptapalooza TV Competition is 4/16/12.  Get on it.

Some upcoming competitions from Writers Digest include their Self-Published Book Awards (deadline 4/20/12) and Annual Writing Competition (deadline 5/1/12), which includes categories for scripts, short stories and magazine articles.

Also, it looks the Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest should be releasing their next logline any day now.

The folks at Scripped.com have come up with an interesting new contest:

Write a short (ten pages or less) one-person STAGE PLAY that tells the story of an artist.  It could be a day-in-the-life, a truncated history, or a particular event that gives us a window into the artist's world, anything.  The artist character could be based on a real-life artist or could be completely original …or even auto-biographical if you think you are interesting enough. This play can be classically styled or it could be utterly abstract and stream-of-consciousness -- style is entirely up to you.

More details here.  Deadline is 2/29/12 and winner scores $250.  Get on it.

A controversial win is still a win. Also a win: Our seats last night.

The Brother scored tickets to last night's Kings game vs. Columbus and the seats were beyond awesome.  As much as I liked being center ice, we were in the third row behind goal (just a bit to the left of the goalie), right by the glass, and it was an amazing view.  Add to that a thrilling and controversial finish that saw the Kings finally win a game we were at this season (5th time charm!) and we had a great night at Staples Center!  Final score was 3-2; the recap is here.

We were in the end the Kings defend twice, so The Brother and I spent a large chunk of the evening ooohing and aaahing over Jonathan Quick.  For you non-hockey types who don't know who Quick is, you know that expression, "And on the eighth day, God created ___________"?  Well, Quick is what God created on the eighth day, at least for the Kings and their fans.  He wasn't really challenged by Columbus but as squealing fangirls of Quick and his jedi mind-control goaltending it was enough for us just to be near him.

For reasons I cannot fathom, Dustin Penner was not only in the starting lineup, but also took up space on the power play.  He probably heard me tossing out words like "pylon" and "useless" to describe his play, because he scored a goal right in front of us during the second period, just to be obnoxious.  The appearance of a Penner goal, a rare, almost extinct creature, kind of freaked us out.  We just couldn't wrap our heads around the idea that that just happened.  I don't care if he has a great sense of humor about hurting his back while wolfing down pancakes, the guy has done virtually nothing since we got him from Edmonton last year and I can't wait until he's gone.  Total waste of a spot in the lineup.

Another highlight of the evening was a kid in the row behind us.  He was just a little slip of a thing, but he had a big voice and an even bigger attitude and provided us with non-stop entertainment as he bellowed increasingly vindictive orders at the players like a miniature Mike Keenan.  "Shoot the puck!" and "Fight, fight, fight!" were his favorites (he really, really wanted to see some punches thrown) but my favorite moment was when he singled out Anze Kopitar for abuse.  Kopi had the puck and Future Keenan commanded him (LOUDLY) to shoot it.  Anze disappointed him greatly by passing it instead, prompting the Little Dictator to mockingly wail, "REEEEALLY KOPI????" at him, like Kopitar is some sort of complete moron when it comes to the sport compared to the kid.  Hilarious.

And then there was the "clock controversy".  As regulation was winding down, the game was tied 2-2 and it looked like yet another OT game and possible shootout.  We've had way too many of these this season.  Even if you win in OT, the losing team still gets a point, and the Kings have been giving away a lot of OT points and losing regulation win points, something which could bite us in the ass in terms of making the playoffs if the standings are tight when the season winds down, which is probably exactly what is going to happen.  Luckily this was not to be, as Drew Doughty dramatically scored with .04 seconds left in regulation.  The place went wild.

Then the play was reviewed.  And it stood, which was awesome because the Kings are notorious for getting screwed on reviews.  The replay bore this out.  At least on the clip we saw, which started with something like 1.6 seconds left.

But then there's this, which shows the clock from six seconds out and sure enough, it sticks at 1.8 seconds before resuming the countdown.

The league is investigating, but bottom line is it sucks to be you, Columbus Blue Jackets.  We win.

All I have to say about that is that like any fan of any team, I know my team has been victimized by officiating and circumstance, therefore this is payback.  Earlier in the game, one of the zebras blew play dead because he lost track of the puck at the CBJ goal.  Turns out the puck was still in play and Brad Richardson popped it into the net, but we lost that goal due to the early whistle.  So pick one or the other, either way it's a 3-2 victory for the Kings.

Now back to our awesome seats.  One of the best things about them was that I was able to actually get some decent pictures.  We don't usually show for the warmups, but if we get these seats again I'm going early.  The players are moving almost constantly during the game, which made it hard for me to get clear shots of them, but they do stand around during warmup drills and I think I could have gotten a lot more shots of a lot more players.

Most of my pictures are of Quick.  Big surprise there.

This one is now my wallpaper.  Best shot of the night.

At one point something required Quick's helmet-less attention.  Needless to say, The Brother and I were riveted.

We were also pathetically fascinated by the sight of him hitting the water bottle.

Stay thirsty, my friend!

In going over my pics, I noticed a peculiar trend - I got some really good shots of the guys from the back, nice shots of the names and numbers.  Their faces not so much.  Not sure why, but enjoy.

Tried to get a good shot of The Brother's latest favorite, but Kyle Clifford was camera-shy.  Or possibly avoiding us like the plague.

The third star was some random Columbus Blue Jackets player we didn't care about.  Williams was second star and Doughty was first.

The Brother and I are scoping out the schedule for the rest of the season for more games and we're definitely spoiled by the great seats we've had, so it's not going to be cheap.  But it will be worth every penny someday when our boys hoist the Stanley Cup.  Until then, GO KINGS GO!!!

So I may have jumped the gun when I counted Little Blue out last week

For a number of reasons I'm too exhausted to go into, I did not go car shopping with The Brother today and Little Blue Corolla has in fact been towed and repaired and gifted with a new alternator and battery recharge.  It will have to hold on for at least a couple more months.

Oh who am I kidding - this car will probably outlive me.  One of the things I've learned about Corollas over the years as an owner: Mechanics love these cars.  They love them.  In fact, when I went to pick the car up and gave my mechanic my tale of woe, he told me to let him know when I was ready to sell it.  He even Blue Booked it for me on the spot.  And the guy from Auto Club who towed it told me his wife had owned a Corolla and they sold it to their mechanic.  2010 Corollas at Carmax are priced in the $13k range, the same price my Dad and I paid for mine in 1994 (it's a '93 and had spent the first year of its life as a rental).  They are truly the best cars for the money.

After a lot of recent nonstop piling on, I've actually had some things work out the past couple of days (in addition to bringing Little Blue back from the dead) and may actually get my late uncle's Orange County apartment cleaned out by the drop dead date.  Then I can concentrate on paperwork for both his and my Dad's estates and maybe someday, even get back to my own life.  I've been needing and wanting to get a new car and new apartment for years now, and it's actually looking like I might be able to do so one of these months or years.

It was a beautiful day in the Southland today and after hitting the post office to pick up a package and mail a couple of estate and family drama related items, I just couldn't bring myself to go home.  I ran Little Blue to the car wash, then headed over to The Grove, where per their automated parking machine I spent 2 hours and 8 minutes blissfully wandering through Barnes & Noble, Farmer's Market, Anthropologie and Cost Plus.  I didn't buy much, but it was just so wonderful to be out and about on such a beautiful day.  Yesterday, after picking up my newly repaired car, I made much-needed runs to Target and Costco, and Little Blue has fired up every time since the latest repair.

Blue skies and my Little Blue Corolla, shining on me...

Well of course it's really a thing...everyone knows that

Apparently it's a slow news day in Toronto, so the NHL on Facebook poses this question: Is the shutout jinx really a thing?

Well of course it is, any hockey fan can tell you that.  For those of you ignorant of the greatest game on earth, it works like this: If your goalie starts the third period having not yet given up a goal and you comment about him working on a shutout, he will promptly give up a goal.  It's a proven scientific fact, and a frequent newbie mistake.

That doesn't mean I didn't learn anything from this clip, even though I've always believed the jinx only applies to fans.  Announcers pretty much have to mention it, but as the saying goes, timing is everything.

No shutout for you!

In Kings news, Jonathan Quick is headed to Ottawa this weekend for a richly deserved appearance in the NHL's All-Star Game.  Quick hoards shutouts like apartment-dwellers hoard quarters for the laundry, but he can probably forget about a shutout Sunday whether anyone mentions it or not.  The All-Star Game is not like other NHL games and the goalies tend to get torched.  The important thing is that he's finally getting league-wide recognition *cough* westcoastbias *cough*.

After not showing up when we did last Saturday, the Kings lit into the Ottawa Senators Monday night at Staples Center, beating the Sens 4-1.  Maybe one day they'll play like that when The Brother and I are actually present at Staples.  Quick lost the shutout in the third because some idiot obviously blurted out the S-word.  The Kings scoring featured a penalty shot goal by Trevor Lewis, but the highlight of the game was Kyle Clifford finally nabbing his first NHL Gordie Howe Hat Trick (he also had one in juniors).  Now maybe the Team LA Store will deign to actually carry his jerseys.  Kings Nation loves Cliffy to death; there's no way there isn't a significant demand for items bearing lucky number 13.

Lastly, we are currently in the midst of a Kings drought that will be sending the royal purple faithful into agonized withdrawal.  After the Ottawa game, they don't play again until next Wednesday, a scorched, Kings-free desert wasteland of over a week resulting from the All-Star break and a scheduling quirk.  Hopefully they'll all be rested and ready to break open the goal scoring floodgates upon their return to action.  GO KINGS!!!

Sophie finally paying her way...sort of

I had to order new checks today and while searching for just the right design I discovered that you can order checks with your own pictures on them.  And by my own pictures, of course I mean pictures of the cat.  Thank you very much Check Gallery!

Most of my stuff is paid electronically these days, but there will still be times when I need to pay by check and when I do, I will pay by a check with Sophie's smiling face on it.  Here are the pictures I used:

It almost makes me want to pay bills.  Almost.

Some observances from The Brother and I from last night's Kings game

The Brother and I invaded Staples Center in person for the fourth time this season and for the fourth time this season did not leave with a victory to show for it.

Some observances:

• Jonathan Quick's birthday sucked.
• Justin Williams looks like a movie star.
• The blimp is cool but was better when it was purple and festooned with a Kings logo instead of advertising.
• We didn't see the first Ghost Rider movie and we aren't seeing the second one.
• The continued lack of Clifford gear for sale in the arena is a massive disappointment to both of us.  Despite The Brother's totally not gay love of Quick, Cliffy is currently his boy and he wants a number 13 jersey.  Which he will apparently have to go to shop.nhl.com for as one cannot be found for sale on the Staples Center premises.  What is up with that?  It's not like the guy just arrived in town.
• We are both sick and tired of seeing Johnson and Doughty pass.  SHOOOOOOOT!!!!!
• We have found the best seats in the arena and no, I'm not telling you where they are. *seasonseatscoughseasonseats*
• There is an awesome sports memorabilia exhibit in the arena that has apparently been there for three years but is so not publicized that we just found it last night for the first time.  And it is awesome.  Someone dropped the ball on making sure the world knows about it.  They have Babe Ruth's fur coat for crying out loud.  The Brother and I: "Eddie Shore!!!..."

Some fuzzy crackberry pics from last night:

The Marriott and Ritz Carlton at sundown.

L.A. Live from the Staples Center balcony.

View of warmups from our awesome seats.

Update: Right after I published this post, I found this on Twitter:

Yeah, he's officially losing it.
 Someone get this man some goals!

Farewell, my Little Blue Trooper

My beloved Little Blue Corolla has unfortunately reached the end of the line.  When I turned the key today to go run errands Little Blue just couldn't quite answer the call to arms.  The cute, endlessly dependable car that has dragged my fat ass all over Southern Cal since 1994 gave out today and will soon be replaced by something actually built in this millennium, probably via Carmax, which didn't even exist when Little Blue rolled off its Japanese assembly line all shiny and new and full of promise.

I need to buy a new car, I'm finally in a position to buy a new car and although I planned on putting off buying a new car for a few months, my hand has been forced.  And in all fairness, Little Blue has earned its retirement and blissful oblivion.

I am way too attached to this car.  But even I know this unexpected fail is a sign that it's time to move on.  "The Little Car That Could" as my Mom dubbed it years ago is off to car heaven.  It will be donated to a charitable cause and its final act of service to me will be as a much needed tax writeoff. 

Drive on.

On my final day of jury duty...

A couple of shots taken during lunch break of our beautiful and iconic City Hall.

How appropriate for my first day of jury duty

I had to report for jury duty today and have to go back tomorrow to continue with jury selection.  I'm really hoping that will be the end of it, because I'm still hoping to have my late uncle's apartment cleaned out and his car sold by the end of the month.  The trial is expected to last nine days, so if I get picked I can kiss most of the rest of the month goodbye.

Heading out to lunch today, saw this on the corner of the block the courthouse is on (in Downtown L.A., Civic Center area):

Justice will be served!

Open during construction

Looks like the Ripley's dinosaur is getting a facelift.

January's Photo a Day on Twitter - Week 1

Not sure where this originated, but there is a Photo a Day project for the month of January going on over on Twitter.  Here are my first week's pics:

Day 1: You. (They didn't say it had to be a current picture.  

Besides, this is one of my all-time favorites, not to mention it really sums up the past year).

 Day 2: Breakfast.

Day 3: Something You Adore (Sophie being adorable!)

Day 4: Letterbox (or as we call them in the US, mailboxes).

 Here's a USPS droid that briefly popped up in Hollywood a few years ago.

Day 5: Something I wore.  (One of my Kings jerseys. 

I wore it again on Saturday.)

Day 6: Something that makes me smile...Cats that smile!

Day 7: Favorite.  My favorite artist, Edward Hopper 

(Automat, 1927)