BTW-how does one "manage" their blog? That sounds pretty complicated...

Karen's Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Public Transpo:

) It encourages walking, which my ass has been begging me to do for months now
2) It allows you to not drink & drive when you go out on the town
3) I got rear ended this morning on the way to work
4) Sometimes when I am in traffic, I have panic attacks
5) I have very little patience for the aforementioned traffic
6) I like to read and do crossword puzzles, but never have the time
7) Did I mention that someone hit me this morning in the rain? Los Angelenos do not know how to drive...
8) It forces one to interact with their fellow humans
9) Parking is a huge pain in the ass
10) It is a beautiful, classless system

There you have it. That's my top ten list...

So that's it...I've sold my Burning Man ticket. I feel quite distressed that I am not going this time. It is the highlight of my year, where I can really be free and creative and I can be around others who are a bit "touched' like myself. Some memories of last year:

Decorating the mylar geodesic dome that Ulli & Zoe built. We had sequined fabric all around, a bed and trampoline inside, with pink fuzzy accents. It would have been the perfect "chill" tent except the mylar made so much noise in the wind!

Dressing up in costumes every day. I was a topless belly dancer the night of the burn. One day I wore a polka dot retro bathing suit with a pink wig and lei while hula hooping! All this while eating a slice of watermelon

How wonderful it feels not to have people selling you stuff. Everything is given wih the spirit of kindness and community. I don't even know how to express how different this feels when I am at BM. I had no idea before I experienced the lack of commerce how much of a difference this makes

Riding my bike in the dark with my flower light on. Then closing my eyes....

The night on E with Paul having deviant sex. It didn't feel "dirty" at all. It felt loving and fun and totally hot!

The tent filled with white pillows and falling on them like a dream. The maze and the fire sculptures also moved me.

The "Fish Aquarium" exhibit where you can watch the watchers...Such a cool piece of performance art.

Learning what a "pee funnel" was, and peeing with it simultaneously with Paul in the middle of the desert....

The "nipple shots"

Hammock camp...ahhhh!

Burning Man, I will miss you this year!

Oh my holy moly, the Pittburghians do love their sports!

I went to a Pirates game on Sunday and had a grand old time...

There were these hot girls shooting hot dogs into the crowd. I had free beer and mac & cheese along with these gung ho proud parent types. My life is so surreal at times...

Love the Pitt but can't wait to get back to LA...

I needed some cash this morning and I walked over to Vons so I could get "cash back". I didn't know what to buy, but then I remembered that I have Mojito fixins at home- well, except for the light rum that is... So I buy a bottle of rum and a loaf of bread at 7:30 in the morning so I can get my $20. I felt like such an alcoholic, but a cute one because I'm wearing a retro candy striped sun dress today that makes me feel cheerful and summery. I will make the mojitos when I get back from work. With extra mint because I'm feeling saucy...

Last weekend I went camping in the Sequoias. It was magical. I never realized that the Sierras could be so lush, but at our altitude the climate was actually very much like a rainforest. There was green everywhere. Mineral Creek reminded me of Switzerland. We hiked up a steep alpine trail along a stream, by a waterfall, through a meadow with wildflowers and grass, through a shady glen, and finally across a huge boulder field to the top. Up there we hung out by the lake (Oops, someone forgot the pot!) until the weather started to look really ominous. The clouds rolled in and a gentle rain started to fall. We walked down the mountain path in the silent rain. It was very Zen... When we got back to camp we found that we had left the tent vents at the top uncovered. All of our bedding was pretty wet. I even left my poncho out in the rain which was the only thing I had to keep me warm. We decided to remedy the situation by lighting a fire and drinking Scotch. Lots and lots of Scotch. Between the Scotch, fire and a little nookie, the damp blankets didn't seem so bad after all...The next day we went to see the giant Sequoias. They were so beautiful and majestic. Paul and I had an amazing experience there, but that is all I want to share. The trees were looking down on us like all knowing deities... What a beautiful weekend...and I didn't think about work once!

I found a cell phone yesterday on the ground. It was a really nice one with a camera, lots of memory and some killer graphics. It even had that faux leather trim built right into it. Whoever owned this feat of technology obviously meant business. I browsed around looking at this complete random stranger's life. (The battery was fully charged!) I guessed it was some Hollywood type originally from NY because there were many 212 #'s programmed into the contacts. It had a National Geographic logo, and many, many photos. One of them was of a hipster flipping off the camera. This was becoming very interesting... I called the first # on his contacts list, Adam. The conversation went something like this: "Hello" "Hi. Do you have caller ID? I found this phone on the ground and I'm trying to contact the owner so I can give it back" "Who is this?" "My name is Karen. Do you recognize the number on your caller ID? If so you could let them know I have their phone." "What # did you call?" "I just called your # (You idiot) it says 'Adam' on this phone" "Uh...Hold on. Whose phone are you calling from?" "That's just the point. I don't know. Maybe you could call this number back and listen to the voice mail. That way you'll know whose phone this belongs to" He did, and about 15 minutes later I get another call. I answer and I say, "Look, whoever you're trying to call lost their phone and I'm trying to get it back to him" He said, "It's me! I'm the owner. Where are you? I will come by right now..." So I had about 20 minutes to take pictures with his camera phone before he would be over to pick it up. Paul and I looked at eachother. He gave me a devilish grin. This could be very interesting, indeed. So my first experience with camera phone porn is now complete. The thought of an absolute stranger seeing me in uh... these compromising poses ...made me quite hot. I laughed to think about him innocently going through his photos and finding me, the nice girl who returned him his cell completely naked, giving oral sex, whipping her boyfriend on the ass with a black leather whip, and so on... I'm actually a little surprised at what I did. And a little embarrassed to be quite honest, but because he was such a random, anonymous person it seemed OK. When he arrived, I was wearing a demure tee shirt and jeans. I was mortified to see that he looked like a cop from Simi Valley with an 8 year old girl in tow. Honestly, he had a buzz cut, tight jeans and cowboy boots and looked like he went to church every Sunday. Not at all who I expected. All of a sudden, I was filled with remorse at what we had done. I tried to shoo him out the door as quickly as I could, but he kept insisting that he give me $. I accepted a twenty thinking that was $5 a shot of cheap, anonymous porn. What a dirty girl I am!!!!

Places I've been to this week: Zen Sushi The 4100 LAX The psych ward at Kaiser The Pleasure Chest My apartment :) LACMA Galleries and Tiki Bar Monrovia The Hotel Figueroa downtown (excellent!) Outdoor terrace in Simi Valley in my office working for the man Frye's electronics (like, whoa...) To heaven & back... What a crazy week!

Last Saturday I went to the Weenie Roast with Paul and Pony. It was such a beautiful day. *walking around with my sun hat *buying drinks for $12.50 each *seeing Modest Mouse get stung by a bee *admiring Karen O's outfit and giving the evil eye to the naysayers behind us *Hearing Cypress Hill and admiring the bud buddha *making out in the stands :) *peaking during the Boyz Beastie *warm and Fuzzy during the Strokes *almost getting backstage by Hot Jason *the incredibly surreal ride home with giant sparks landing on the freeway *the incredible night back at home *the Magnetic Fields singing Cookoo

I went to another one of those cemetery movie screenings last Saturday. It was great. There were good vibes going on with the crowd on the lawn. A DJ played, and we sat around and had a picnic before the movie started. Lots of green, wine and good times... The movie starred Cary Grant, and was tons of fun. Then afterward, I enjoyed some good old fashioned cemetery sex. I hope the Cutts family aren't mad at us for bringing a little bit of life to their mausoleum... This goes on every other Saturday all throughout the summer. Enjoy!

I went to an anti-Bush benefit Thursday night and saw Ozomatli play (I don't remember how this was spelled), and man, they fucking rocked. The crowd was going crazy... My date and I were whipped into this jumping frenzy (This was in no way attributable to the drinks that were consumed) By the end of the night I was sweaty and happy... If you ever have a chance to see this band, I recommend it highly. 4 out of 5 doctors recommend it...