Lookin' a Lot Like Christmas - Wednesday 12/10/2008

They've decorated the little pot plants-- er, potted plants at the coffee house downstairs from my office. All around town, there are signs of the season.

I like all the lights and extra doo-dads. I like the Christmas music on the radio at Andrew's. I like planning surprises for my friends and family.

Ooh, and today I met with Los Angelista for lunch and she gave me the printer I won on her blog! Remember to go there and enter to win the Wii Fit she's giving away! And then read her blog. She's doing cool things and she writes about them well.

Return of the Giant Bowl o' Butter

If you've been reading for a while, you may recall that this is not the Giant Bowl o' Butter's first appearance on Any Given Sundry.

In these confusing economic times, I think the Giant Bowl o' Butter is a sign of hope. Or at least, a sign of faith that a large quantity of pancakes and toast will be sold today in one diner in the middle of the San Fernando Valley.

If you're wondering what the heck is going on in the economy, let me steer you toward a couple of terrific episodes of This American Life. It's an NPR radio show that you can listen to online or download to your mp3 player.

#365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy explains in a very simple way--it has to be for me to understand it!--what they're talking about when they talk about a credit freeze. It's a follow-up to #355: The Giant Pool of Money, which explains the mortgage crisis. The two are related, as you probably guessed. But there's this whole world of high finance that I never really knew about, and it's what's behind your mutual fund investments, etc.

If you want more info on the economic situation from the folks who brought us this helpful stuff, check out the Planet Money Blog.

If you want a little fascinating escapism, check out the other episodes available on This American Life. The stories are always interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes touching.

Or check out the terrific storytelling that is going on at The Moth. I recommend Richie DiSalvo's tale of his experiences with a man named Anthony the Hat in NYC.

Traveller - Friday 9/5/2008

A guy walks into a North Hollywood diner at 5:15 a.m. and asks, "How far is it to Venice, California?"

"Twenty-five minutes," P answers brightly. "You just hop on the 101 to the 405 and if you do it pretty soon, it'll be fast." She goes to do some side work in the back.

"Do celebrities come in here?" the Traveller asks the remaining servers. His hair is white and a little wispy. His skin is slightly florid. He's trim. He's wearing a purple polo shirt and light gray pants, and he carried in a very old fashioned tan leather satchel that's now resting near his feet.

"A long time ago," says A. "Not any more."

"We had Carmen Electra not too long ago," V says. "And Kristie Alley." (She means Kirstie Alley.) "From Cheers." Also from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and those Jenny Craig commercials.

The Traveller asks V if she knows how to get to Venice, California. She starts to tell him, but finds out he doesn't have a car. "I think you can take the subway there."

She starts to tell him how to get to the subway station, then looks across the restaurant to me, "You can get to Venice on the subway, can't you hon?"

"No," I say over my cup of coffee, "The subway doesn't go anywhere very interesting, except downtown."

He asks about getting a room there, if it's under $80. None of us know for sure, but we're doubtful. We live here, we don't get rooms at the beach. A turns her back on him, rolls her eyes at me and releases a short string of profanities before saying, "If you travel all the way out here you'd better be able to afford a room!"

The Traveller comes over to my table. "How far is it to Venice, California, do you think?"

"As the crow flies, it may be only about 15 miles, but by road it's more like 25. If you're taking the bus, it will probably take you a couple of hours. I don't know which line you'd need to take."

"Have you been to Venice?"

"Sure."

"Is it quite a place?"

"It's interesting. More interesting on weekends. There's a lot going on down by the water." I shrug. "You might actually like Santa Monica if you're going down there. It's the next town north and it's got more to it...a pier with rides and shops."

"But Muscle Beach, that's in Venice, right?"

"Right."

I advise him to go back to the Greyhound station. They should have information about connecting buses. He asks about Hollywood. It's on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains from here. I tell him he might want to stop there on the way, but he seems really focused on Venice.

As he walks back to his seat at the counter, I notice that my forearm is stretched across the open pages of my bound notebook. It's an instinctive thing that I find myself doing in public places even if the person I'm talking to could care less about what's going on in my pages.

The traveler asks a busboy if he knows where Venice, California is. "It's right next to Santa Monica, right? Muscle Beach is there."

He only gets a shrug and helpless open palms.

I think he said he'd come from Atlanta.

I have a feeling he's been dreaming about Muscle Beach for so long that he expects it to be in black and white.

I hope he gets there all right. I hope he's not disappointed.






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Finally Diner - Wednesday 8/27/2008

I'm soooo tired I didn't even notice how blurry this photo was.

Focus is on the reflection of the (silenced) TV screen on the surface of my coffee.

Finally got back to Andrew's to write. I can focus on the page okay, thank goodness.

Superhero Waitstaff - Tuesday 8/12/2008

P poses with the lascivious looking plastic chef. That's her artwork and lettering. She loves changing the special boards and she's good at it.

I haven't been getting to Andrew's in the mornings very much lately because I've been going in to work early. Working 9 to 11 hour days. It's just all hitting at once...aaah.

This means no writing in the mornings, and then I'm too beat at night. It'll come back. But it's frustrating right now.

I went in this morning with new scripts from three different shows that I had to read and do reports on by this afternoon. This is a huge amount of work. I vowed I'd power through the reading and breaking down part while I was at the diner because I am so sick of my desk at work.

"We're gonna get you through this," P said as she poured my fourth cup of coffee.

Whew! I made it.

Water Conservation - Monday 7/28/2008

I really like this graphic on the cards they put out on the tables at Andrew's.

I actually drink the water, so I still get it!

Starting Tomorrow - Monday 6/30/2008

Andrew's / Sitton's is really making an effort.

The servers aren't really wild about having to figure out the 10% discount, but I think they're kind of proud that the restaurant is doing this. I hope it works for everyone.

Earlier this month, they lowered the price of their breakfast specials from $4.95 to $3.95! This is an incredible deal in the L.A. area.

These are the $3.95 specials, which include coffee. Coffee by itself is $1.95 including tax, so you see what a deal these are...

2 Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, and coffee or tea. I had this the first time I was here, and unfortunately can't recommend it.

The 2x2x2 : two pancakes, two sausages or bacon strips, two eggs, and coffee or tea. Really just way too yummy.

The Continental: two eggs, croissant, fresh fruit and coffee or tea. My personal favorite, especially since they let me substitute dry rye toast for the croissant.

Chef Detail - Friday 6/13/2008

The Chef outside Andrew's. Once again, I'm getting pulled into the life of the diner I hang out in.

Kooky patrons are interesting. One of the servers' daughters graduated from high school. I'm writing and writing at my table in the corner.

I moved tables so the guy who mops the floor every morning could clean where my feet usually are.

One he said (he's not a native English speaker), "Every day you write too much!" and flashed a bright smile.

I'll take that as a compliment.



My Friday the 13th was just peachy... How about yours?

The only downsides were finding out that a report I thought was due Monday was due on Friday, and the traffic was a mess on the way home. Nothing too unusual.

Sitton's No Ho Diner - Monday 2/12/2008

In search of a new experience, I exited the 170 South at Magnolia. I've been reading Starbucked by Taylor Clark, and I thought maybe I'd check out the Starbucks on the corner of Magnolia and Lankershim to see if they have one of the alternate color schemes I've heard about.

But instead I spotted another all night diner! Is this area the center of the all night diner universe or what? Welcome to Sitton's 24 Hour NoHo Diner.


Many of these photos of movie and television stars are signed "To Nick." I don't know who Nick is. I would have asked my server, but as usual the shift changed at 6 a.m., and the waitress who came on duty didn't feel compelled to freshen my coffee or even smile at me, so any thought of asking questions cooled along with my brew.

Couldn't find any history on the web. Just conflicting food reviews.


You may be hoping that this is a big bowl of oatmeal. It is not. It is supposed to be sausage gravy for the biscuits. Yikes. It was a deal, I was feeling hungry and nostalgic. Luckily, the quality of this meal did not make me want to finish even one of the obviously frozen and reheated biscuits.

I mean, biscuits. How hard is that? And I don't think I've had decent sausage biscuits and gravy ever on this side of the Mississippi. Probably not so much a lost art as an art never learned. Sigh.

You're probably thinking that no self-respecting adult would order a dish like this and that it's just as well that I have to go to Indiana to indulge in the really good stuff. I hear you.



The life size plaster waiter out front was clearly the model for the menu cover.



This guy's rather lewd and knowing expression is enhanced by the actual tobacco cigarette someone inserted between his lips.

He is no Bob.


Cool Thing: Well, maybe not so cool. Anyway, I started another blog, called Curioscopy which consists of my rather informarl movie and film reviews, which I'll update pretty much whenever I feel like it. Which tends to be shortly after I've seen a movie or read a book. I've been doing this elsewhere for a couple of years. What can I say? I apparently have a massive ego. If you'd like to discuss any of the movies and books over there, I'd love to hear what you have to thing.