The last two days have been a nice change of pace.

Friday Andy, Darryl, and I went Andy's friend's place for a birthday party. It was cool... small gathering, cozy lighting, nice Columbian-based music. The owner was a sweet girl studying Interior Design. Her home was really mellow- stucco walls softly lit with colorful candles. We sat around and talked (I played with the miriad of cats that popped in every now and then). We realized that every single person in the room was from a different country, and that got us started each about our own cultures and the difference between everyone else, and how Miami (with it's billions of people) was a cool place to be confronted with different types.

Then we left to go to Stien's Warehouse (formerly known as Shayla's Warehouse) to watch short films. The Warehouse has been holding their annual film showings for like three years now. In the beginning it was a pretty small gathering of friends. When Shayla and Tara lived there it was more like a regular Warehouse with an alcove on the west end for sound or editing studios and just a stage underneath. It only had Roberto's pencil drawings on the wall and the couch by the kitchen. And when Darryl, Urban, Chris, David S., David R., and I went to help put up the walls to the second floor "apartments" it was still pretty bare. Lately it's gotten to be one of the top places for art people of Miami to hang out... mostly because of the other stuff they do, too (like hold plays, screenings, art shows, misc.). So many people have stepped through it's walls... students, professionals, and sometimes highly recognized/influential people in the misc. industries. The first Iron and Wine music vids were premiered here, as well as a bunch of us MIU grads old student films. The walls are all painted funky colors, the upstairs alcove is now a full-fledged production studio, big 10k-100k Arri Lights hand from the ceiling, the "apartments" are actually cool little hippy/artsy pads, and the stage has been transformed (for movie night) into a wide-screen panel with a digi projector. Chris's artwork lined the walls (nice new stuff, Chris!), and hand-me-down junk couches were scattered all over the floor in front of the screen for the throngs to get comfortable during the showing.

We met Chris up there and hung out in the kitchen with some Corona's (I had Coke... no mess for me) while Ziggy Stardust played on the screen. Chris showed me the little travel diary he brought and the couple (BRILLIANT) sketches he did while in-between movies. When the films began to start again (we had arrived during the intermission) Andy, Darryl, and I sat down to enjoy the show. It was pretty nice... your usual indy gore/blood short films, a cool little mock-u-mentary, and finally Andy's film Paparazzi (which premiered the same time as my Jazzman back in Sept).

Saturday we had some more pick-ups to do. I got to make YET AGAIN a cameo- this time as a lab technician. Darryl and I got hungry when we were done so we drove up to Tokyo Bowl and had some sushi (and yummy tempura cheesecake- sorry Hazel's wedding). After that we went and saw Constantine... pretty good, very funny, thrilling- I liked Shea Le"Boof."

Now I gotta prepare the actuals for My Struggle. Tonight Pete, Andy, and a bunch of people are going to have a meeting about the move to Cali. I convinced Chris, Geraldine, and possibly Shivonne to move with us. Darryl is still undecided, and David said that although New York is gonna be his home he would love to come down in May to watch Star Wars. Score!

Anyway... back to the budget!