What's on Page 56?

Rules:

1. Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post that sentence.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Mine: "Whenever we engage in daily actions such as shopping, cooking, eating, sleeping, or relaxing without a specific good or bad motivation, we are performing neutral actions."

The Happiest Place on Earth

Yesterday was my day off from work, and I spent the entire day hanging out in the the Happiest Place on Earth; aka Disneyland.

Now, I have been to Disneyworld a truckload of times thanks to the fact that 90 percent of my extended family lives in Florida. However, whenever I point this out to Californians they tend to scoff and make it perfectly clear that Disneyworld is little more than a desperate wannabe struggling to live up to Disneyland's awesome factor.

In truth, they're remarkably similar. The same rides. The same characters wandering the little paved streets. Even the same shows.

However, I don't think I'd ever been to Disneyworld during the holiday season, and seeing Disneyland all decked out in Christmas lights and decorations was a real sight to see. Especially impressive was the completely-redone Small World. Outside, the Small World castle boasted a facade-full of glittering holiday lights. Inside, the trademark dancing children had been decked out in holiday gear and spun around bearing signs that said things like "Feliz Navidad!" or, in the case of the Chinese children, "Happy New Year!"

California Adventure was a completely new experience for me. I fully admit to having been a ride-dodger throughout my teenage and young adult years. I was the girl who stood patiently on the platform holding half a dozen purses while everyone else went on the rollercoaster on top of New York New York in Las Vegas. But, since I'm trying to approach life in a different way, this time around I did all the rides right aloneside them. And they were a blast! I loved it all; especially the Hollywood Tower of Terror.

We left at about 9:30 am and didn't get back home till almost 1:00 am. It was a completely full day, jam-packed with constant walking from one "land" to the next (i.e. TomorrowLand to FrontierLand, etc). I was completely exhausted by the time we got home, but it was totally worth it.

Triumph!

NaNoWriMo, I have beaten thee.

With 34 minutes to spare, no less. That's 32 minutes more leeway than I had when I won ScriptFrenzy (the same challenge, only for scripts) back in April. Maybe next time I'll actually get the darn thing finished a whole hour before midnight!

Or maybe that's wishful thinking.

I wrote 8,500 words today alone. I'm impressed that I can still move my fingers.

Needless to say, 50k words is not really novel-length. I hit 50,129 words by 11:26pm and I've got a grand total of 94 single-spaced pages in my word processor. It's easily the longest piece of prose fiction I have ever written...but it's not really done. Basically, when I realized I was drawing scarily close to the deadline and was nowhere near done, I started jumping ahead to hit the most interesting bits. Finally, in the last stretch, I lunged straight to the final chapter. So there's a good third or so of the book that's missing in there. Ideally, it ought to wind up somewhere between 80k and 100k words, so I've got some more space that I can fill.

Not to mention a hell of a lot of editing. There are some massive chunks--I'm talking entire chapters--that just need to be burned. Fortunately NaNoWriMo is about quantity, not quality, and those absolutely horrendous sections helped me reach my word count even if they aren't exactly literary genius.

Phew. Talk about a crazy dash to the finish line. I feel a little lightheaded and a lot tired. It doesn't help that I have to work at ArcLight at 9:15 a.m tomorrow. I dislike morning shifts. And I dislike working at the snack bar. So, naturally, I am working a morning shift in the snack bar. Because ArcLight hates me.

But, hey, at least I have this snazzy little NaNoWriMo graphic that I can show off...



It's the little things.

Obsessin' 'bout Recession

I'll admit to being vaguely nervous about the economy for quite some time, but it really hit me the other day when I was watching a news story about the government bailout of Citigroup. Specifically the part when they said that just a few days earlier Citigroup was considered one of the healthier financial institutions, and had been making deals to buy out the struggling Wachovia. Then a headline today stating that the government's list of distressed financial institutions was up to 171. And, of course, the fact that just a while back my own bank (Washington Mutual) went spectacularly bust and has since been swallowed up by JP Morgan Chase.

Seriously, is anybody else freaking out right now?

Yesterday I got an email stating that the website I write for on a freelance basis is cutting their freelance fees by $50-$100 per article. They're already down to a skeleton staff and they're still looking for ways to cut costs. While I'll still be OK despite this, it's got me searching CraigsList for actual full-time jobs that might offer a bit more security than what I've got going right now. Much as I loathe the idea of rejoining the ranks of the 9-5ers, it may turn out to be unavoidable, at least for the moment. At the very least, it might help calm my anxiety about the possibility of suddenly losing one of my sources of income completely.

Freakin' economy. How dare it decide to tank right when I'm trying to strike out on my own? So inconsiderate.

Hollyweird

I feel like I've been running in circles recently, mostly thanks to my supreme lack of multitasking skills. Trying to squeeze in 3,000 words for NaNoWriMo every day while also working on my screenplay for my writing class, putting together articles for NuWire and tearing tickets at the ArcLight plays havoc with my brain.

And this afternoon some random guy on a bike stopped outside the Cinerama Dome, where I was taking tickets, and took my picture with a cell phone. Multiple times. And then rode away. It was really, really creepy. That's the downside of working in Hollywood, right on Sunset Blvd. There are a lot of super creepos hanging around...

On a different note, for those who didn't already know, I joined an as-yet-unnamed a cappella group down here in SoCal. There are five of us in it at the moment; all we need is someone to sing bass. We've been practicing a bunch of pieces, including a really fun arrangement of "Bali H'ai" from South Pacific. And we've been learning some fun Christmas songs too. I've only officially been in the group for two rehearsals, and so far I'm having a ton of fun. If any of you LA folks know (or are) a bass, drop me a line and I'll pass you along to the other members of our group for an audition!

But tonight I'll get the chance to sit back and lose myself for a while watching the TWILIGHT movie at midnight with Vicki and Monica. Yay Cullens!

My Wordcount

Today I passed the 25,000 word midpoint. I'm now over halfway to the 50,000 word NaNoWriMo goal. Only three days after the official middle of the challenge (Nov. 15). Considering I didn't get started till Nov. 8, I figure that really means I gained five days. Go me!

Behold, a lovely widget so you can track my progress:

Speed Writing

So, at the last minute, I decided I'm going to try my hand at National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word "novel" during the month of November. Sadly, I didn't decide to take part in the challenge until yesterday so my word count is sadly lacking at the moment thanks to missing that first week. But hopefully I'll be able to catch up as the week progresses. We'll see just how quickly I can spur my creativity into action!

My little NaNoWriMo profile can be found here. If you're doing the challenge too, add me as a writing buddy. Or just go visit from time to time and check my word count. But not yet, because it's kind of pathetic at the moment. I make no promises that I'll hit the 50k goal, since I got started late, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Now back to writing.

Voting Day

To start, some political posturing:

Californians, remember to vote NO on Proposition 8!
Everyone else, get out there and vote for OBAMA/BIDEN!

---

Today I voted in my first California election, which also happened to be my second presidential election. In my first presidential election, things didn't go my way... but with any luck this time around the outcome will be more favourable.

Vicki, Monica and I hit the polls around 10:00 a.m., which means we managed to avoid the massive lines being reported at polling places across the country. Apparently there were lines around the block during the pre-work rush, and I'm sure there will be again during the lunch hour and after work lets out at 5:00 p.m.

I'll admit to having a bit of a nervous rush when the time came to actually punch my ballot. Before every vote, I triple-checked that I was punching the right circle so that I wouldn't inadvertently cast my lot with the Libertarian party. But all turned out well, as far as I can tell. My ballot's been submitted, my vote officially cast for Barack Obama, and I have a snazzy little "I voted" sticker that will supposedly get me free coffee and ice cream. Now all that's left is to watch the news and hope.

Please get out and vote today! If you have an opinion, make your voice heard. The rest of us in this country would really appreciate it. :-)

ARRRHGOIHOKH!H!:!..k,.nmlkjlf.......!!!

I just spent 45 minutes writing a very insightful post about gender inequality in Hollywood. So, naturally, Internet Explorer hit a snag and deleted the entire thing.

...damn it.

Firsts

Wednesday was my first day working at the ArcLight movie theatre on a part-time basis (free movie passes + health insurance; what's not to love?). And last night marked another LA milestone: My first official celebrity sighting. It occurred last night while I was with a group of fellow trainees, going over the basics of ushering. Then one girl surreptitiously pointed out that there was a "person of note" standing over by the Guest Services desk.

Who was my first celeb sighting, you ask? Gene Simmons, of KISS fame.

In other news, my feet/legs hate me for taking a part-time job that had me standing 6-8 hours a day, five days in a row this week. Fortunately today was the last day of training, and five shifts in a row during one week isn't the norm. I'm definitely looking forward to using my movie privileges to keep myself a bit more up-to-date on current releases than I've been doing recently.

Now, time to crash.

Overheard: Awkward Date

Here's an excellent example of what not to do when on a first date. The two people in question didn't seem to know each other prior to the date, so I'm guessing they met online. The following conversation happened towards the end of the date.

Guy: So, I don't have a lot of time to waste on dating. I've got a really hard, important job and sometimes it takes me two hours to drive home. So I don't have a lot of time. I'm sure you don't either.
Girl: Uh...
Guy: Sometimes people can tell right away if they're interested. So I'm wondering if you're interested. I mean, you know, a lot of times you can tell right away when you meet someone whether or not there's chemistry between you. And if there's not, that's OK. That happens, you know? When you're dating sometimes you just aren't interested. But you can usually tell pretty fast. So I'm wondering if you can tell if you're interested in me? Because I'm sure neither of us want to waste time.
Girl: Well, it's kind of hard to make an absolute decision right away.
Guy: OK. Well then forget about chemistry. Do you want to see me again?
Girl: Sure.
Guy: Oh! Oh, that's great. Then we both had a good time on this date. That's amazing. I mean, I'm really picky. And I'm sure you're really picky too. So that's really something. Are you nervous?
Girl: What?
Guy: Were you nervous, coming on this date?
Girl: Not really. I was still pretty tired, actually.
Guy: Oh. Oh, OK. So after you had your coffee were you nervous?
Girl: Um... not really.
Guy: Wow, this is great. I've had a really great time with you.

The Los Angeles County Fair

On Saturday night, I had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Los Angeles County Fair with Celeste and several other Emerson alumni. Yeah, that's right... L.A. has a county fair. I was surprised too.

All in all, it reminded me a lot of the Puyallup Fair in Washington... lots of unhealthy fair food, barns full of prize-winning livestock, the Budweiser Clydesdales, game booths with ridiculous prizes and shouting carnies, etc. But, lest we forget that we were in L.A., there was a plethora of uber-tan girls tottering through the hay in stiletto heels and miniskirts. Fools.

We were all mightily dismayed to discover just how much it cost to enjoy the rides and games (six tickets for the Merry-Go-Round? Seriously?) and, according to those who've been in the area longer than two weeks, the costs had gone up significantly since last year. But we sucked it up so that we could partake in carnival classics like the fun house, a gigantic slide, and various games we didn't win. Except for Jared, who was the proud recipient of a stuffed turtle.

The highlight of the evening, though, came when we approached the booth that boasted it was "totally fried." And, boy, was it ever. Deep fried avocado, spam, White Castle cheeseburgers, Pop Tarts, Twinkies, and Oreos hung out alongside the more traditional fare. Everyone ordered something different so that we could sample as many heart-attack-inducing delicacies as possible, though I skipped out on the meaty bits for obvious reasons. Apparently this was for the best anyway, since the general consensus was that the fried White Castle burger was the nastiest thing ever to come out of a deep fryer. And that was including the deep fried Krispy Kreme chicken/jelly donut that was apparently on the menu last year. Yes, you read that correctly. Chicken inside a jelly-filled donut. Deep fried. Huh, wonder why that didn't make the cut this year? Sounds amazing... :-P At any rate, the Oreos won the taste test hands down. Yummy.

The night ended with a round of wine tasting for the womenfolk and beer tasting for the men. This ended our evening on a definitively high note, as our "bartender" was pretty easy on the eyes and more than happy to oblige us with the occasional free glass of something-or-other. We had an unusually large array of dessert wines, which was driving my taste buds kind of crazy by the end. Too. Much. Sugar. Tons of fun, though.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note... last week I was taken along to the ArcLight Cinema, which is pretty much the coolest movie theatre ever. It's got a cafe/bar, really nice theatres, and assigned seating. Crazy! But awesome.

My brain is broken.

Last night I dreamt that my roommates and I had two dogs instead of cats. They were both Boxers; one was fully grown and the other was a little puppy. Then the big Boxer ate the little Boxer. We tried to stop him, but there was nothing we could do. Afterward, everyone was vaguely bummed about it... but no one seemed as horrified as the situation really deserved.

Then I had another dream in which a hedgehog was giving birth to multiple baby hedgehogs. One of the baby hedgehogs tried to crawl back inside the mother, and she consequently bled to death.

...what is going on with my subconscious?????

Daring-Do at the DMV

Today I figured I'd make my move to Los Angeles even more official and took a little trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get myself a California driver's license and plates. I made myself an appointment through their website (something that was highly recommended by numerous sources) and, even so, it took me almost three hours to complete the entire process.

First I had to get my car "verified." I have no idea what that means... apparently they need to make sure that it is, in fact, a car? I just don't know. All I could tell was that it consisted of approximately half an hour sitting in the "verification" lane outside while no one came to do anything. Finally someone showed up, looked my car over, wrote down my VIN and other assorted info, and sent me back inside. Woohoo.

Then came the actual application and, after that, a written test. At least they didn't make me take an actual driving test; that would have just driven me crazy. Even the written test was a little annoying. It's been a while since I took driver's ed, after all.

Fortunately I knew most of the answers, except for a couple on which I totally guessed blindly (is smoking in a car that contains a passenger under the age of 18 illegal in California? Anyone?). Of course, it took approximately an eternity to learn that I'd passed, because the guy running the testing room wasn't the most efficient guy in the world. He spent a good 10 minutes trying to set up a cassette tape for a guy who needed to take an audio version of the test--A cassette tape?? Seriously? What decade is this?--while the player kept making noises that sounded very much like it was slowly consuming the tape. Once he'd figured it out, he then turned to the guy who'd approached the table after me and checked his test. The guy had failed. But he and his very vocal friend did their best to convince the DMV guy otherwise.

DMV GUY

I'm sorry. You didn't pass.

FRIEND

No. He passed. Check it again.

(PRISSY TEENAGE GIRL wanders in and completely bypasses the long and obvious line of people waiting at the counter.)

PRISSY TEENAGE GIRL

Excuse me. I need a test. Do I have to wait in line?

DMV GUY

(to GIRL)

Yes.

(to the MAN and his FRIEND)

He missed 14.

FRIEND

He passed.

DMV GUY

That's too many. This is the third time he's failed.

MAN

Second.

DMV GUY

According to our records, it's the third. See?

FRIEND

Those records are wrong.

It went on like this for a ridiculously long time until a different DMV guy came to check my written test, punch a hole through my Washington license and give me a temporary California license to hang on to until my real license shows up in a couple of weeks. So now my little purple hatchback has California plates and soon enough I'll have a California license. I have to say that I won't particularly miss that ridiculous vertical license that I had from Washington. It always really irked me that I was in that first batch of people for whom our first licenses expired when we turned twenty, so I was stuck with the "under 21" license until age 25. Bartenders always found it rather amusing.

Road Trip: San Francisco & LA

In the interest of not boring all of you to death with a ridiculously long post, I'm going to compress each day into a brief recap for your enjoyment. Sit back, relax and enjoy the blog!

Day #2
I arrived in San Francisco a little bit before 4:00 p.m. and met up with Erin at her apartment in the Mission. After some necessary coffee and bonding time, we headed to Bernal Heights to meet up with Mel, Michaela and Zoe (who was also visiting SF this weekend). Drinks and delicious food were had, and there was a lot of gleeful squealing when we reunited. A random woman in the bar even approached us to comment on how happy we all seemed. It was pretty sweet.

Day #3
Erin, Mel, Zoe and I had breakfast bagels at a little place in Bernal Heights. Then Zoe left to meet up with some other local friends while Erin, Mel and I headed to Tiburon and Angel Island for the day. The town was adorable with lots of little restaurants and boutique shops, and the island was really interesting. Apparently Angel Island is known as the "Ellis Island of the west." Immigrants had to pass through Angel Island before they were permitted access to the mainland. Sadly, the main immigration building was temporarily closed for renovations so we didn't get to see it... but we did have the opportunity to see a lot of the other nearby ruins.

Day #4
This was pretty much the ultimate day of kickassness on my sojourn to San Francisco. Today, the five Emerson girls (Erin, Melanie, Michaela, Zoe and myself) journeyed to Sonoma to visit vineyards and taste a lot of wine. We visited the Sebastiani and Buena Vista wineries, the latter of which is the oldest winery in the region. We had a picnic at Buena Vista, and had a blast tasting all their different wines. I bought a bottle of Adagio Port from Sebastiani. Mmmm...

Day #5
Labor Day, and my last day in San Francisco. Erin and I stayed in town today and found our way to Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower and the North Beach neighborhood. That evening we met up with Mel, Michaela and Erin's boyfriend Ryan for dinner at a Mexican restaurant with freakin' amazing fish burritos.

Day #6
This morning I said my goodbyes to Erin and got back on the road to finish the drive down to LALA Land. Miraculously, my mp3 player worked exactly as it should for the entire day; an extremely pleasant change from the previous two driving days. I spent the drive down rocking out to road trip songs and the cast recordings of Legally Blonde: The Musical and Aida. I got to Sherman Oaks a little after 3:00 p.m. and my new roommates (Monica and Vicki) helped me unload my car, showed me around the area and brought me grocery shopping. I unloaded a decent amount of my stuff in my room, but at the moment I am still bedless because the bed isn't scheduled to be delivered until tomorrow afternoon. That means I get to sleep on the couch tonight. Woohoo! But at least tomorrow night I ought to finally have a bed, and my room will start looking more like an actual bedroom. Monica and Vicki's cats, Robbie and Nermal, are quite intrigued by all the new stuff coming into the apartment. I suspect they'll be even more intrigued when Osiris and Isis come down to join me. Hahaha.

So that's pretty much the story of my move to SoCal. I'll keep you updated as more crazy fun things occur.

Road Trip Day #1 - Ashland

A little after 8:00 a.m. this morning, I left my parents' house driving a hatchback packed with everything from clothing to a coffee table shaped like an elephant (Best. Table. Ever). Armed with a double-shot latte and an mp3 player loaded with appropriate driving tunes, the big move had officially begun.

Mom thought that the cats would have nervous breakdowns from suffering through the road trip with me, so they aren't coming along just yet. They'll be holding down the fort with Mom and Dad until I'm at least a little bit settled, then either my parents will deliver them in a month or so, or I'll pick them up when I go to Seattle for the holidays. I was sad to leave them behind, even if only temporarily. But I have to admit it does save a lot of hassle on the drive down.

I arrived in Ashland at approximately 6:00 p.m. with relatively little incident--my mp3 player ran out of batteries halfway through the trip because I'd inadvertently left it on the previous night, but in the grand scheme of things it was a minor inconvenience--and settled into my hotel room. Then, at 8:00 p.m., I headed off to see The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler.

Now, I considered seeing one of the Shakespearean shows on offer (Comedy of Errors and Corialanus were the options for tonight), but neither of them are shows I'm particularly eager to see and the summary of Further Adventures was just too bizarre to pass up: "It’s the final act of Ibsen’s play, and Hedda’s just done herself in—again. In hopes of a rewrite, Hedda ventures out on a rollicking quest to liberate her story. She’s joined by a quirky collection of other well-loved dramatic characters equally eager to jump off their pages."

I'm so glad I went. The show was awesome! It's written by Jeffy Whitty, the man responsible for Avenue Q's award-winning script, and he pulls off a hilarious yet poignant show. Hedda shares the spotlight with her sla-- er... "hired help" Mammy from Gone With the Wind in a world where fictional characters abide until their stories are forgotten and they die. While most die within moments of being born, those from memorable stories endure, like Hedda, Mammy, Medea and every version of Jesus ever written (at one point they stumble across the "Verdant Glade of the Christs"). The show had me laughing hysterically at a lot of points, but ended with an interesting comment about the purpose of art. For example, if Mammy is tired of being a slave stereotype and decides to change her story... will she remain a timeless character or will she bring about her own death? Do misery and prejudice and outdated stereotypes play an important role in letting us examine our history?

I'll leave you with one of my favorite moments (of many). This occurs near the beginning, after Hedda has "awoken" from her latest suicide with no memory of recent events.

HEDDA

My life is miserable all because of the machinations of that stupid novelist!

(She throws herself melodramatically onto the sofa, despondent.)

TESMAN

Playwright.

(Horrified, HEDDA sits bolt upright.)

HEDDA

What? I'm a play?! Ugh.

On your mark, get set...

...GO!!!

The journey begins. See you in Ashland!

Road Trip Itinerary

Here is the basic itinerary for my drive down to Los Angeles, just in case anyone feels the need to know where I am at any given point over the weekend. I like to keep my stalkers well-informed.

Thursday, August 28
8:00 a.m. - Leave Seattle.
5:00 p.m. - Arrive in Ashland, OR (estimated).
8:00 p.m. - See The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, by Jeff Whitty (the guy who wrote the book for Avenue Q)

Friday, August 29
9:00 a.m. - Leave Ashland, OR.
3:00 p.m. - Arrive in San Francisco, CA (estimated).

Saturday, August 30
Drive across Golden Gate Bridge to visit Tiburon, CA.

Sunday, August 31
Vineyards.

Monday, September 1
Women's Banjo Society Labor Day Picnic.

Tuesday, September 2
8:00 a.m. - Leave San Francisco, CA.
2:00 p.m. - Arrive in Los Angeles, CA (estimated)!!!


Edited, Aug. 27: Time of departure on Thursday changed from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., after deciding that I just wouldn't be able to handle starting out that early in the morning.

I've been inked

Well, after three or four years of pondering it over, today I did it. I got a tattoo.

The tattoo is of a phoenix. It's a design that I've actually wanted for a while, but since I'm now facing a potentially life-altering move and am really working to "rise above" some past things, it seemed like particularly appropriate timing. I like to think that, every time I see it, it will remind me that I am strong enough to overcome anything.

I found an awesome artist with whom I got along really well: Will, the owner of Cicada Tattoo in Seattle. He's very easy to talk to and never made me feel stupid, even if some of my ideas were less than articulate. He drew the design right on my back--with highlighter pens first, then with permanent marker, and lastly with the tattoo machine--which I think really helped it to look like it "belongs" on me. Merak, my sister-in-law who has multiple tattoos herself, came along with me for moral support.

Here's the final product:

And now--because I know that I kept desperately trolling the internet in search of insight on how much getting a tattoo would hurt--it's time to dish on the pain factor.

Not gonna lie: It hurt.

It wasn't unbearable. I didn't scream, or faint, or burst into tears. But I'd definitely reached the end of my pain tolerance by the time it was done, and my feet and hands occasionally spasmed during the process. Of the two types of tattoo needles, I thought that the shader hurt more than the liner, which is contrary to how a lot of people feel. And certain spots on my back were worse than others; for example, right beneath my shoulder blade hurt like a bitch. I took a deep breath every time needle touched skin and sloooowly breathed out the entire time it was sticking me. And I ate a huge lunch beforehand. I think both of these tactics helped immensely with the whole not crying and/or fainting thing. Now that it's all over and securely bandaged, it barely hurts at all. If anything, it feels kind of like I have a sunburn there or something.

When I come back to Seattle over the holidays, Will requested that I drop by the studio so he can see how it looks all healed up. He also said that, if I decide I want more color and/or more details, then we can touch it up then too. At the moment I think I like it as is, but we'll see if I have ideas for additional details by winter....

Is there a "Blogs Anonymous?"

Seriously, I think I have an addiction. I keep creating new ones--usually thinking something like "Ooh, this would be a great theme for a blog!"--and then promptly abandon them once the initial thrill has worn off. So I figured it would be easier to create a general one to document my crazy adventures and leave it at that. Forget themes. Themes are overrated.

So. I'm moving to California.

The title of this blog (Cali-in-Cali) seemed like a given, seeing as pretty much everyone reacts to the news the exact same way: "Cali's moving to Cali? Haha!" Might as well embrace the irony. At least no one's sung that LL Cool J "Going back to Cali" thing to me for a while. It's the little things.

I'll be leaving Seattle on Thursday, August 28th, and arriving in Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 2nd, making a couple of stops along the way. Once my itinerary has been officially nailed down, I'll let you know more about what my plans are and keep you posted on my progress as I make my way down the West Coast. Till then, bookmark me or add me to your feed or whatever it is you're supposed to do with totally awesome blogs. C'mon, you know you want to.