Today we wandered to the beach, where we played with the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific is much more unruly and prone to wrestle than the Atlantic and the Gulf, but it made for fun times.
Then we sat quietly and I dug a hole in the sand all the way to India.
Now I am baking a fresh loaf of bread.
NOTE: Please be aware that I cannot find my phone charger, though I’m almost certain I packed it. Thus, my phone is dead for the moment, so don’t freak out about it.
Today Will and I went to the La Brea tar pits. We had to drive straight through downtown Hollywood to get there, which Will was annoyed with, and even drove by the Klasky Csupo studio, which Will was even more annoyed with.
But once we got there, things were quite cool!
It did not smell as heavily of asphalt as one might expect, and the large bubbling lake of tar was super awesome. There were dramatic statues of a mammoth sinking into the lake trumpeting in despair whiles’t a baby mammoth stood on the shore, reaching its trunk out and bellowing “Noooooooooo!” It was a strange touch to a family-friendly park.
I discovered that I have the same physical reaction to tar as I do to oil paint. That is, when I’m in the same vicinity as it, I’m going to somehow mysteriously get it all over me. It was worth it, though, to use a stick to poke at a newly bubbled up tar puddle that they hadn’t put a safety fence around yet. It was so gooey and awesome!
The fossils inside the museum were super-cool! On one wall they have something like 400 dire wolf skulls mounted in a glass display together, and that is of something like 1600 total dire wolf skulls that have been dug up at the tar pits. It was impressive to see them all together, but it gave a rather “holocaust museum” impression upon first seeing it.
I was a big fan of the sloths, the bird skeletons, and the antique bison skeleton. We took some photos, but only managed one or two before the camera battery died. I did some sketches, but only a couple.
It was an awesome place and I’m glad I got to go. HOORAY FOR SCIENCE!
I am in California! Yay for visits!
Visiting Will has been fun times and adventure thus far. I am glad to be here, even though I will miss the Saturday Basketball Extravaganza.
The only downer is that Will’s computer conveniently crapped out just before my arrival, so a certain amount of time is being devoted to getting that up and running. It’s been Murphy’s Law all over the place though. Stupid computer.
Besides that things have been leisurely. I got a drive-by tour and saw some of the studios, and we lazed and swam and went to the grocery store and cooked up a delicious meal.
Today Will is taking me to work with him, so I will get to see the innards of Cartoon Network. Hooray! Tomorrow we are going to the La Brea Tar Pits, which I am more excited about than anyone apparently should be. If luck has it, I might even get to go eat with Sanela, who I haven’t seen in quite some time.
Adventures resume!
Last night, DC, Beth, Brendan, Scott and I all went to play miniature golf. This was quite pleasing to me, as I love mini-golf in such a disproportionate amount compared to my skill at it.
Nevertheless, I still came in second place, which was very surprising to me, as the best I hit the whole night was a 3, I think. I tend to have Happy Gilmore syndrome, in that I can launch the ball well enough to get it close to the hole on my first shot, but putting is impossible for me.
Highlights of the evening included DC stepping into a pond, Brendan hitting the ball so hard that it violated the space-time continuum and teleported onto the next green, me nearly taking out DC with my follow-through swing, and me apparently doing some matrix-like move that involved rocking up on my toes just in time to let a ball speed under my heels.
Afterwards we putzed around in the arcade and won enough tickets to get 3 super balls and 2 Chinese finger traps.
An evening well-spent.
Well, here I am in Pittsburgh. I ended up having to make the journey alone, but it was not so bad. In fact, I sometimes forget how recharging long spells of alone-time can be.
It turns out that my dinky little mp3 player will play protected wma files afterall, so I was engaged for most of the journey with listening to Dracula. (For those who do not know, you can download audiobooks for free from the public library. Their selection isn’t immense, but big enough that you’ll likely find something you like.)
It seems I am pretty good at listening. Dracula is a book I have started no less than three times by seeing it laying at someone’s house, and picking it up to read. I’ve never acquired a copy long enough to finish it, though.
I won’t say I get excited about long road trips, but I find traveling pleasant for the most part, and I do enjoy pretending I’m on some grand adventure, or making attachments to the car I’ve been following for the past 100 miles, or stuff like that.
When I stop for a break, I like to find those small pocket places that have no business existing except to cater to the needs of the road tripper. You know, the sort of outposts just off the interstate that have all the necessities for the traveler clustered together: fast food, gas station, armor merchant…
My brother told me of this, but I experienced it myself to verify: driving into Pittsburgh is bizarre. You have just spent a good amount of time driving on the interstate, through rolling hills and trees as far as the eye can see. Then you go through this tunnel, and on the other side you are suddenly smack in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh. It is quite strange! I bet they have a portal in the middle of the tunnel.
Anyway, I’m up here safe and sound, and will spend the evening taking advantage of every nook the hotel has to offer. I’m excited about my visit tomorrow. Updates soon!
ATTENTION INTERNET! Or mostly, attention Louisville people.
I am going be driving to Pittsburgh on Thursday, July 20 so that I can visit Carnegie Mellon the following day.
Would anyone be so interested in driving along, so that I may not be lonely? It is a 7 hour drive, and I would probably stay Friday night as well, so we’d be back on Saturday. Most of Friday I would be off visiting campus, but there may be some time that night for fun times.
Please let me know! I’d be leaving that Thursday afternoon around 3 or 4
I get better at this every time I try it…
