Let me tell you something: DTLA (downtown LA) is something else. First off, the Lyft drivers here are oddly fascinating. I mean, I’ve never done speed dating in my life, but I feel like riding in the Lyft cars with these characters is probably a good representation of what speed dating might be like…

Lyft drivers are super chatty. They always initiate conversation. Thankfully, I have an awesome go-to conversation piece: the Magic Castle!! And I swear, that topic is a winning starter every. damn. time. Initially, the first driver M didn’t seem that impressed or interested, but I persisted. After all, the castle is on my bucket list and to my surprise, the place is ridiculously exclusive, requiring a formal invite from a member magician AND having a very rigid dress code (dresses for women; suit/ties for men). The driver was totally stunned. Yup, stick with me kid and I’ll teach you things you never knew! That said, according to him, anytime he hears about anything in LA being “invitation only,” he immediately thinks sex orgies and wild parties. Say what, dude? Don’t be adulterating my innocent goals of hitting up the Magic Castle!

So in the last few days, we’ve had about four drivers and pretty much all of them are motormouths. A lot of them talk about traffic, places to see, foods to try. Apparently, it wasn’t that long ago when DTLA was a very dangerous area. Only recently has it become safe enough to be a “destination.” I had no idea.

Last night, our driver, who was Georgian,  got talking about eastern European politics and then when that topic got too far over our heads, he transitioned into The Rake, some paranormal creature that’s been sighted in various places, including in his hometown by a family friend. OMG, I am such a scaredy cat. He was totally freaking me out.

Nonetheless, it’s kinda fun practicing my social skills on random people in short bursts. Haha, you know me: always training up for something. Gotta maximize those learning moments and all.

As for the BlogHer conference, eh, it’s been so-so. I mean, interesting and inspiring talks with Sarah Michelle Geller, Sheryl Crow, Kdash, and Mayim Bialik, but outside of that, kinda a disappointment. The attendance is notably lower than years past and the exhibitors and sponsors have been super lame– with brands that just aren’t that compelling. I even brought my big ass suitcase, thinking I would pick up a ton of swag, but for some reason, even the free stuff isn’t appealing enough for me to pack up and take home. The sessions too have been rather rambly and disorganized. I sat in on two today that were better than yesterday, but still: nothing super insightful or helpful. To be fair though, I do need to start making some important decisions with my blog, namely, do I want to monetize or not? Bc if so, I need to adjust my content accordingly. Ugh. I dunno. I waver back and forth all the damn time about it. What can I say, I wanna write what I wanna write.

Regardless, I’m happy to have my new site back up just in time. A few weeks ago, I’d set up my new domain name and imported all my posts from Giddy Go Cowgirl. The new site worked fine. Then, for some strange reason when I woke up on Day 1 of the BlogHer conference, the site suddenly stopped rendering. WTF. So I spent like 30 minutes before breakfast getting it back up and running.

Why the name change? To be honest, I came to the realization that GGC just wasn’t catchy enough. Not to mention, I haven’t been on a damn horse in about two years. I came up with AAH several months ago but some of my friends and Bubs didn’t seem to like it, so I procrastinated a while longer. Ultimately, I just decided to go with it, bc I like it and that’s all that really matters. Fortunately, the response so far has been good! I chatted with several random people in the food line and in a few sessions, and they really liked the name. And the Asians got it. A little lady in the lunch line told me how her mom always brags about having weighed 95 lbs back in her day. Omfg. My mother pulls that shit about my weight and her old weight all the fucking time!! So bizarre.[FAG id=7468]