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Last month we tagged along on an architectural tour of Westlake, the midcentury neighborhood of Daly City where we live. It was sponsored by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, and the guest star was our friend and Westlake author Rob Keil. (His book is the excellent Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb, and a related documentary is in the works.)

The talk and tour happened to take place on a gorgeous, sunny Saturday, and it was neat to see our neighborhood in yet a new light. Here were people from all over the Bay Area to see and appreciate our little slice of the coast. We even stopped at my elementary school, Marjorie H. Tobias (originally called Vista Mar). Designed by Mario Ciampi and built in the late 1950s, it’s known locally for its signature round shape, with classrooms surrounding a central courtyard (Google Maps). Here’s one of Thom’s photos from the tour, of me standing by the plaques at the entrance:

Though I drive past the school pretty frequently now on the way to the local shopping center, the last time I’d actually been on the grounds could very well have been when I was in the sixth grade! (I need to find some old class pictures and scan them.) Another neat thing about the tour is that Ed Hageman and his wife Betty were there. They’re such a delightful couple. Ed — who is now in his early nineties, but still as sharp as a tack — was instrumental in the development of Westlake, as he designed most of the houses here. It was great to meet them and think, fifty years ago he worked on the house we live in!

I think the last time I had a physical exam was before I went to high school or college, but either way, it had been way too long ago. I waffled around trying to find a doctor, especially a gay-friendly one, and when I recently found one here in Daly City and in the same building as my dentist, I thought, why not. (And I might as well put my otherwise wasted insurance premiums to use.) He’s really cool, and the practice is pretty small — just him and a couple of assistants — so he spent a fair amount of time with me. Everything checks out, thank goodness, but I do still want to work on lowering my blood pressure and cholesterol.

(I do remember seeing a dermatologist a few years ago for a skin problem. When I made the appointment, the receptionist told me I’d be seeing “Dr. Gayer, like Bayer, but with a B.” And I wanted to say, “Or like more gay.”)

I also saw my dentist recently. I at least kept up with seeing a dentist when I lived in D.C., but I finally got around to making an appointment here at the dental office that my parents and I have been going to since my childhood. It’s funny coming back; everyone knows and remembers me, and my mom had been keeping them updated when I was away.

My teeth are OK for the most part, but I’m going to take care of a long-standing problem: I’m getting a tooth implant to replace a molar that had to be extracted several years ago. So in two weeks, the first stage begins, where they drill a titanium screw into my jaw! (I’ve been considering the whole procedure for years, so really I’m pretty blasé about it now. I’m like, OK, I’ve heard the spiel. Let’s do this thing.) You may soon call me Bionic Mouth.

Maybe I should make an appointment with the optometrist and complete my health care trifecta.

So here’s a quick rundown of highlights from our three-day Hollywood jaunt last month:

Transportation: It was a quick and entertaining flight from SFO to LAX on Virgin America. They are way cool; I totally want to fly them more often. I decided to splurge a little on the rental car and got a convertible, a PT Cruiser. It was actually my first time driving a convertible, so that was fun. One thing I’ll say for Alamo: online check-in made picking up the car really easy. I brought along my new GPS unit (Garmin nüvi 660), and it worked well throughout the trip.

Hotel: We stayed at Villa Delle Stelle, a wonderful set of four suites in a large 1920s villa in Hollywood. We reserved the bungalow and were so happy with it. It was our own cute little cabin, with a kitchen and a second guestroom.

Santa Monica: On Saturday evening we strolled around the Third Street Promenade and Ocean Avenue (photo below), and happened to come across Hennessey + Ingalls, which is the place for design and architecture books. (So of course we spent a lot of time there.) Dinner was at the Broadway Deli.

West Hollywood: Sunday brunch at The Abbey. The service was kind of spotty, but the food was good, as well as the people-watching.

Getty Center: Set on the top of a mountain, the architecture and site is pretty amazing, let alone the vast art collection. And it’s free!

Hollywood and Highland: We stopped here briefly to check out the Walk of Fame and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and we went to Subway for food to take with us to the concert.

Rufus‘s Judy Garland concert at the Hollywood Bowl: this was the raison d’être of our trip, and it didn’t disappoint. With such a big venue I didn’t think I’d be able to find my Rufus compadres in the crowd, but I ran into them all before the show began: Susan, Kesha, Betsy, and Richard. Rufus was fantastic (though, poor thing, his voice was growing hoarse towards the high notes). One word to describe the whole evening: magical. (Below: photo of me by Thom.)

Universal Studios: On Monday we went on the studio tour, which hasn’t changed too much from my childhood, but we did see some cool things like the street and façades that make up Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives.

Check out Thom’s and my Flickr sets for more photos. It was a fun weekend, and with seemingly more frequent and inexpensive flights now available from SFO, we should be back to southern California before you know it. Next time: Disneyland?

Lo and behold, it’s a blog post. But don’t get too excited; I’m just checking in to say I’m not dead yet. There’s a bunch of fun stuff from the past several weeks I need to post about as well as upload accompanying photos, and hopefully I’ll get to them in the next few days.

In September we went to Hollywood for the Rufus Wainwright concert. A few days later we saw an opera at the ballpark and the next day went on a tour of our own neighborhood. Two weekends ago we adopted two new cats, and last weekend we went to the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival on Saturday and to Great America on Sunday. Last night was the rehearsal for our friends Rob and Espie’s wedding; the real deal is tomorrow, and Thom is officiating! More details and photos soon, my pretties.

Jeff Whitty on his three-part “Meet the Casting Directors”:

Everyone has heard about Chris Crocker, the kid who got nine million views for his tearful “Leave Britney Alone” video.

I decided to blow the lid off of these viral YouTube videos, and enlisted some friends to help. Where do these Internet stars come from? What you find may surprise you.

It’s pretty hilarious: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three (via Brad). I’ve embedded the first part below:

I guess you have to be vaguely familiar with Chris Crocker to get it; I’ve seen maybe a few seconds of his Britney video, and that was more than enough. (See also Seth Green’s entertaining parody.) When I came across “Meet the Casting Directors,” I thought Jeff Whitty’s name sounded familiar, and in fact he wrote the book for Avenue Q. (Speaking of which, I recognize Avenue Q alum Barrett Foa in part three.)

Instant messaging with Thom just now:

me: random: i wonder how one attends that TED conference… i keep seeing clips of really interesting talks from different years
Thom: Yeah, I know… it’s by invite only, but I would dearly love to go
me: do you have to be a mover and a shaker?
Thom: Neither of us are important enough
  Except to each other, of course 🙂 And to our mothers.
  And I’m not sure about the latter.
me: yes, i’m having our mothers write us letters of recommendation
  “please extend my son an invitation to the idea conference. he has ideas. though i’m not sure what they are. or if i would agree with them, if i knew what they were.”
Thom: ROFL!
me: 🙂

Anyway, here’s a TED talk I came across a while back that’s really cool: Blaise Aguera y Arcas with a demo of Photosynth, which forms spatial relationships among large numbers of photos to create a three-dimensional space. (It’s not supported for Mac, unfortunately.)

In about twenty-four hours, Thom and I will be on our Virgin America flight to L.A., where we will be seeing Rufus’ Judy Garland concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night. Excitement! We’re staying at a fabulous Lucy and Desi-inspired bungalow in Hollywood, and over our three-day trip we hope to get to Santa Monica, West Hollywood, the Getty Center, Universal Studios, etc. It’s Thom’s first trip to la-la land!

To get us in the mood, here’s one of my favorite versions of “Hooray for Hollywood,” 1950s cha-cha style by Don Swan and His Orchestra. Get out the cocktail shaker!

Astro Boy and me

Yesterday we went to an art exhibit we’ve been meaning to see all summer (indeed, we went on its closing day): “Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga” at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, which covered Tezuka Osamu‘s work mostly from the 1940s to the 1970s. It was really neat! I even liked the design of the exhibit itself. I’ve never really tried getting into manga — mostly because I just didn’t know where to begin — but now I definitely want to start checking it out, beginning with Tezuka.

There I am in the photo, at the museum with Astro Boy. (As other Thom aptly comments, which one is me? Ha.)

By the way, the “manga lounge,” a room related to the exhibit, had some general manga and other anime toys on display, including a character I remember fondly from my childhood: Voltron!