the maze runner

last year, as my friend matt and i road tripped north carolina and virginia, we listened to 'the maze runner' by james dashner.

i had heard about the book at comic-con the prior month, and it seemed to have a huge following.  i knew that it was being turned into a movie and the synopsis was right up my alley, so i thought the road trip would be a great time to try it out.

unfortunately, it was TERRIBLE.  i mean, really, really bad.  maybe it was just the audio book and narrator, but i've heard similar poor reviews from 'readers' since.  i was a little baffled at how this book had developed any following at all, but, from what i've heard since, it seems that it's a less than great introduction to what builds into a great series.  i have my doubts.

nonetheless, it's bad-ness became a bit of a bonding experience and the jokes continue to this day. whrrrr. click. click. click.  (if you've read it, you'll understand)

when the movie's opening day was finally set, matt and i knew we had to go check it out.   i mean, we had already committed 10 miserable hours to the thing, might as well add a couple more.

me, trying to take a pretty photo of a delicious
looking crepe.  matt, trying to mess it up.
this round goes to him.

imagine our surprise when it was pretty good!  in fact we both quite enjoyed it.  the writing was far better suited to a visual portrayal than to words on paper.  seeing what had been described in the book (pretty poorly in some cases) finally made the story and characters interesting.  it was well cast, and there were a few really tense moments (even though i knew what was coming). watching it with matt, my partner in literary pain, was exquisite.

following the movie, we headed to a favorite of matt's - a local mexican place with the most amazing carne asada.  interestingly enough, the meat always reminds me of the best steak-and-cheese sandwich i ever had.  one of these days, i'm just going to buy some meat, take it home, throw it on a sub roll with some mayonnaise and grilled onions and pretend i'm eating trio's again!

we made quick work of dinner so that we still had time for dessert at a mutual favorite, la creperie.  it goes without saying that the chocolate - chocolate- strawberry crepe was divine, and a perfect way to end the evening.

labor day

jami and i met up with newly married friends whitney and shaun for a dodger game.  my FIRST dodger game, and first time in dodger stadium.  i had sort of run-walked around it for the color run last year, but never been in it.  and labor day was a great day to check it off the list.

only complaint was that it was HOT. soooo hot!  but the fact that we were in good company, that the dodgers were playing the nationals, and that the nationals won, totally made up for it!

september is going to be a crazy travel month, so it was a nice way to spend a chill evening with friends.

august

i am woefully behind.  i'll just acknowledge that and move on.

this is what my august looked like:

me finally getting to try cotton candy grapes .  yes. i said cotton candy grapes.  grapes that taste like cotton candy! they are only in season for about two weeks each year, distributed by only one grape grower, in california, and they are hard to find! i’d learned about them last year after they were already out of season, and have been waiting to try them. they were delicious! i still have 4 pounds sitting in my freezer so that i can continue to enjoy them.

this collage is from my work trip to kansas city. melissa, her husband nick, and another colleague, david, went to see the MLS soccer team, sporting kc play dc united.  dc united totally beat them!  and what made it an even better night is that the team was staying in our hotel and we ended up spending a little time with the head coach (the guy in the white shirt in the bottom right photo).  but of course, the highlight is just always getting to see melissa.:)

august also saw my 38^th birthday. yowser!  i am usually traveling on my birthday and was excited to be home this year.  i invited a small group of friends and the donahoo cousins to join me at the iconic (lots of movies have shot here) griffith observatory in los angeles.  they were hosting a public star party so many many local astronomers brought their telescopes to share with the rest of us peons.  i love the observatory and it was a great way to celebrate with some of my favorite people!

people of the con: the hall

unless you've attended comic-con, e3, ces or some similarly outrageously sized convention, you've never seen anything like this.  i don't know where else you happily attempt to wade through a huge sea of bodies, trying not to get run over while you gawk at some of the coolest pop-culture visuals you will ever see.  i don't know where else picking a random aisle to walk down in exhibit hall means you end up filming orlando bloom, lee pace, evangeline lilly, cate blanchett, and benedict cumberbatch. oh how i love san diego comic-con.

people of the con: the walking

of course, i'm referring to THE CON, otherwise known as san diego comic-con, where every year 130,000 badge holders, and probably another 130,000 non-badge holders converge on downtown san diego for 4 1/2 days of pure nerdery.  i thought it would be interesting to try to convey what that feels like through video (which doesn't do it any sort of justice at all).

this particular video was shot beginning from our parking garage exit to the convention center, through the convention center to our friday location, room 6bcf, and then later in the gaslamp, finally returning to the parking garage by way of the hall h line (where all of the biggest panels and overnight campers take place).