visits to Tinseltown and Dogtown

I didn't realize I hadn't blogged in such a long time and that I left people hanging with no reason as to why I stopped blogging. I did not die, but I did exit the realm of cyberspace for awhile. I went home for the holidays--home being Chad, Africa--and the best connection speed I got was 54 Kbps. The worst--and more common connection speed--was 14.4 Kbps. Insane. Obviously, internet activity was limited to emails about once a day--sometimes twice. But I am currently back in the US, in California for my last week of Christmas break. I head back up to Washington Saturday morning, and Tyler will be picking me up. I'm so excited!!!!

But that is not my full purpose of blogging. (Side note: I'm still suffering from jetlag.) Today I headed up to see some sights here in southern California. I've never been to Hollywood, so I finegled (sp?) my sister and brother-in-law to take me there. It was fun. :) We walked down a significant section of the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard, passing the Kodak Theatre, Grauman's Chinese, and El Capitan. I kept hoping we'd pass a drag queen and I could beg the tourist and ask for a photo, but no such luck. We did pass a bunch of people in movie costumes, and some very persistent limo tour drivers, but that was pretty chill.

After Hollywood, we headed for the beach. I have never been to Venice Beach, so that's where we headed. We were relatively close anyway. To explain for those who know nothing about Venice Beach: this is the eccentric beach that is well known for its drug culture. I didn't see much to scream "potheads chill here" except for the stores that sold bongs, I mean, "water pipes used only for tobacco" and a few t-shirts with marijuana leaf emblems. I saw more drug paraphernalia in Amsterdam, hands down.

Other tidbits about Venice Beach: this is where most beach scenes in movies are filmed. That's what Gwen said, and I didn't believe her, but then we were walking along and all of a sudden, I stopped and drew a box in the air to frame the scene to our left. "That's in every movie!" I exclaimed. Seriously, it is. :) Also, along the boardwalk is "Muscle Beach" where all of these insane weightlifters work out. (The infamous Arnold did in the old days...y'know, before he became the Governator.) Didn't see any huge guys there, which was my second photo op disappointment of the day. No drag queens, no real life incredible hulks. Tisk tisk tisk.

So we walked up the boardwalk, glancing at the tourist traps, I mean "souvenir shops" and got some food before walking over to the beach to eat. Pizza tastes good even when you're being surrounded by ravenous flocks of seagulls who like to reenact scenarios from Hitchcock films. After we ate, I tried to preemptively strike at my brother-in-law because he'd sworn he was going to flip both my sister and me in the sand at least some time during our visit. I failed. Dude, the guy's over 250 and a football player. With over 100 lbs difference between us, I didn't stand a chance!

I ran at him and shoved, and he just stood there. Of course, he didn't just stand there for long. Oh no. He quickly came after me, and I quickly turned and ran screaming away, but my escape attempt was unsuccessful. After a very brief tussle, I was flipped to the ground--hard. I think I have wiplash. As I was rolling away to try to hurry out of the line of fire, Kenn decided to drop sand on me. I now--still--have sand in my...well, if I was being polite, I'd say it was in my pants. To be more precise, I have sand in my a**. I only employ that word because it accurately represents my annoyance with the itching and chafing. Curse big brothers! At least the same thing happened to Gwen, so I feel a little better. :)

Anyhow, we walked back to the car on the beach, and then hit traffic on the way back to Grandma's house. But as I am still jetlagged, I napped through the traffic. :)

Last thing: while I was in Chad, I could not blog about the adventures, but I kept a journal on my computer about the events. I think when I get back to school, I'll upload that file to my website and post a link for those interested in reading.

Until next time!