It was such an amazing day today! I had the privilege of participating in the Los Angeles AIDS Walk for the second year. Our team has grown since last year and I'm grateful to be a part of it - as well as the group as a whole which was 30,000 strong!
Team Marie's Fight 2011
Everybody coming together and getting ready to walk!
My Team Marie's Fight shirt. Next year I'd like to get matching shirts made for the team.
This poodle came prepared for the long walk with his diaper :)
This mural on Melrose Ave made the perfect backdrop for a photo of this group of Payasos. A group of people who raise money for children's charities. Cool guys!
And this mural made the perfect backdrop for a photo of MY hunk ;)
These lovely ladies were awesome enough to be there to cheer us on and keep us pumped about walking the 10K
Posing for a photo with my honey as we got ready to turn down La Brea from Melrose
Team Marie's Fight representing!
Too Fat To Run...good thing it's a walk! ;)
Lucky for us there was a "paletero" to provide us with popsicle motivation for the last home stretch!
These are the coolest cheerleaders I've ever seen!
All in all this year's walk was a success. I'd like to thank all the people who sponsored me with a donation. You have helped to contribute to the more than $3,005,000 that was raised for AIDS Project Los Angeles and other local AIDS services. They will be able to provide urgently needed food, medical care, counseling, safe housing, and other services to the many thousands who depend on these programs. The funds will also help to enable them to continue their vital HIV prevention and advocacy work to stop the epidemic in its tracks. THANK YOU!
I look forward to next year's AIDS Walk as well as to the day when we will have beat this disease for good!
This year we decided to take it easy on labor day weekend. My mom invited my sweetheart and me over for lunch. After she treated us to an amazing lunch - which I unfortunately didn't think of taking a photo :( - we went for a walk by the beach.
I just spent three days in San Diego for for Comic Con and I had a great time! This year I didn't have my brother to come along with me so I flew solo which wreaked havoc on my nerves. I don't do that well in social situations when I'm alone so it took most of Thursday to get comfortable with the craziness that is SDCC.
Here's a picture of what it looked like outside of the convention center, so you can imagine how crowd looked like on the inside!
I spent most of Thursday walking around the exhibit hall soaking it in.
I love toys so I was very excited to see the South Park collection that Kid Robot is coming out with. I'm definitely going to get Randy with his giant balls when these are released.
I did manage to check out a couple of panels on Thursday. The first one was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and LGBT with Jane Espenson, Tom Lenk, and Scott Allie. I love Jane's writing so I was pretty excited to see her.
I also got to check out a panel called Her Universe: What Women Want in Their Female Sci-fi Heroes which was pretty interesting. Girl power!
Friday I got to check out The Captains which was a panel about a new documentary put out by EPIX Pictures about the different Star Trek captains. The documentary was produced and directed by William Shatner who was part of the panel along with Avery Brooks and Scott Bakula. The moderator was Kevin Smith. The parts of the film they previewed were petty funny so I'll definitely be checking it out.
Heath Ledger's Joker clown mask from the Dark Knight movie
Had to snap a picture of this tattooed muscle boy. So cute yet so creepy!
I love seeing all the people who dress up for the convention, but my favorite is when you see a big group of regular people and a random costumed character in the mix. The best one I saw was in the Mattel toy panel. There was a He-Man sitting with his friend Superman in the row behind me. They looked super legit so it made it perfect! I didn't get a picture of them, but I did get this panda walking around downstairs. If only that happened everyday!
Mattel's Masters of of the Universe Classics collection of upcoming toys is awesome! Here are a few of the ones I'm looking forward to getting..
Shadow Weaver
The Sorceress
I'm obviously a She-Ra fan. But they also have an Andre The Giant figure from their WWE collection I'd love to get my hands on. I love that guy!
Saturday I started out the day going to the From Buddha to Batman panel with Grant Morrison, Deepak Chopra, and his son Gotham Chopra. I missed the Grant Morrison DC panel, but this was even better because I got a 2 for 1 with Deepak. I love his book The Seven Spiritual Laws to Success so when I heard he came out with the superhero version I was definitely curious. This did not disappoint and starting out the day with a panel that ended with a meditation guiding us to find our inner superhero, well, you just can't beat that! I also loved hearing Deepak's reasons for why the way Magneto's helmet works is unrealistic. Hilarious!
I got the great surprise of my friend Carlos joining me on Saturday. He was able to get a pass last minute and since he had never been to a con before I was stoked to have him join me. My anxiety was gone once I had my buddy with me!
We got to check out Frank Miller and Joss Whedon whom I absolutely love! Was super excited to see him and hear about all his upcoming plans. Dr. Horrible 2 is gonna be great and I'm looking forward to reading new Buffy comics soon!
Was finally able to get a picture of myself since I had my friend with me now :)
Loved the costumed heroes!
Showing off with our beheading victim at the Spartacus booth
Checked out one last panel before heading out. The Art of the Hollywood Movie Poster was awesome for me since I'm a big fan of illustrated movie posters. They always stand out to me so much more than the typical poster with photos.
A look back at the convention center as we say goodbye. I had a great time at the con. I got tons of comics, sketchbooks, and other goodies as well as a chance to see tons of comic book artists. What more could a girl ask for? :)
There are some people that come into your life and really make an impression that stays with you forever. Marie was one of those people for me. She was the mother of my three good friends, Michelle, Gene, and Steve. Marie was a tough lady with a big heart. Unfortunately in 2005 she lost her fight with AIDS.
In Loving Memory of
Marie Aide Barrionuevo
~RIP~
I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to lose my mother, but I can see the effect it has had on my friends and I can't help but think that there is something we can do. AIDS is a horrible disease that has taken mothers, fathers, friends, and loved ones away from this world and a solution must be found.
This October I will be participating in the Los Angeles AIDS Walk as part of Team Marie's Fight. The walk will take place in West Hollywood and I will be walking 10 kilometers along with my team and thousands of other people hoping to make a difference.
Since its inception in 1985, AIDS Walk Los Angeles has benefited AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), an AIDS service organization dedicated to: improving the lives of people affected by HIV disease; reducing the incidence of HIV infection; and advocating for fair and effective HIV–related public policy. AIDS Walk Los Angeles makes it possible for APLA to provide urgently needed food, dental care, safe housing, and much more to people with HIV/AIDS who also face poverty, hunger, and homelessness. APLA also runs the county’s largest network of HIV prevention programs to end the epidemic in Los Angeles.
Team Marie's Fight 2010
Last year I was able to help raise $600 for this cause. This year I am setting a personal fundraising goal of $1000. Help me to reach this goal by making a donation using the link below.
Sadly it is too late for Marie, but it is not too late to help make a difference. Join me in continuing Marie's Fight!
Yesterday I finally got a chance to check out the Art In The Streets exhibit at MOCA. It was the perfect day to go because Mister Cartoon was doing an art talk relating to his pieces in the show. He spoke about his life, how he got into art and how he's gotten to the place he is today. I found it to be very inspirational and motivating and I'm glad I had the opportunity to be there.
Mister Cartoon and me
I love his style. The photo doesn't do it justice.
Mister Cartoon's ice cream truck
Had to include some Banksy
I love this piece! Remind me of those pages I used to draw on when I was a kid. It was a black page and you could scratch into it to reveal the colors beneath. So fun!
There was so much more and I didn't even get a chance to see everything. I'm definitely going back. If you're in the LA area I recommend going to check it out.
