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.