California Dreamin'

Ok.. so two weeks later.. and still no laptop. I am working on it though. I promise. There have been a lot of crazy developments in the past two weeks. Some really exciting, some extremely disappointing, but.. life goes on. And in the end God, my family, and my friends will see me through all of this.

I had a short little jaunt out to Los Angeles earlier last week. I say short, because I didn't have a lot of free time, except for the day I spent with my dad at Disney World. Ooops.. I mean... LAND. There is something just really magical about that place that just takes you away from whatever it is you are dealing with in life. Maybe its the five year old kid in me.. but.. I still love that place and get excited when I make that first turn down Main Street USA. I must say though, for those that have visited both Disney parks (in Orlando and Anaheim), the castle in California simply does not do a Disney princess justice. Think about it rationally. The castle in California is supposedly owned by Sleeping Beauty, while the one in Orlando belongs to Cinderella. Personally, I don't get it. Sleeping Beauty is a princess, and marries a prince, therefore, it only makes since that their castle be bigger due to their combined income. Cinderella on the other hand comes from the ‘hood and marries a prince, yet her castle is practically five times bigger. (As they say in Shrek, "Do you think Disney was trying to compensate for something?") If that doesn't show the radical inflation of land prices in California, I don't know what does. Seems to me its time for the Beauties to pack up their things and get out of dodge before the property values take any further of a dump.

Other than that the day was pretty cool, despite the outrageously and uncharacteristically hot southern California weather. Welcome to global warming at its finest folks! I went on the "newly revamped" Pirates of the Caribbean, and when I say newly revamped I mean they stuck a few Captain Jack Sparrow dummies in the ride, called it brand new, and made a bundle off of Johnny Depp’s good looks. Damn corporate pirates. If they were really smart, they would shut down the ride and completely revamp the thing before the third movie comes out. Make it much more hard core and up to date with the movies. Then again the last "scary" ride Disney put out (Alien Encounter) didn't bode well with the little kids, and ended up being replaced with Stitches Great Escape. Hmm.... Adrenaline rush.. I am thinking no. Still, I am all for (**SPOILER HERE FOLKS**) putting in the Kraken and all the crazy monsters from the second movie... maybe some undead things from the last one. With Universal upping the ante with rides like the Mummy, it seems like Disney needs to bring something new to the table. Just my opinion.. for what its worth. Space Mountain seems like it got a hell of a lot faster since the last time I rode it, either that, or I am just getting too old for that kind of stuff.

And Splash Mountain remains the most fun, yet irritating ride there: You go through these dark places with animals all laughing at you, the stupid people, because you are on a ride that will leave you with reclaimed-water-soaked underwear the rest of the day... and they have the gall to play that happy music at the end while you sit in cold air-conditioning? Where does it say that being in wet clothes the rest of the day in hundred degree heat is magical? Oh well. My dad was never a big fan of Disney, but he tolerates Land because he said that they have better crowd control, and less walking. Still, I think he insists his favorite ride is the tram to the parking lot at the end of the day, and that if I ever wanted to methodically torture him to death I could put him on "Its a Small World" with a loaded pistol and a six pack of beer on continuous loop. I think that ride is any parent’s worst nightmare. We left the park pretty late, which made for a long day... but all in all it was a good trip. I couldn't help but want to sing on the way out (in mouseketeer fashion)...

"F-S-U.. see u real soon. C-O-W.. why.. because I have to go back to school.. G-I-R-L-SSSSSSSSSS." (Yeah.. I know.. I am so lame.)

The rest of my time was spent doing a lot of business. I got to go to some pretty cool places though for some of my meetings, one of which was the back lot at Universal. Sure, I think we could've been arrested for trespassing in Ancient Egypt, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, we had a pass, so technically we had permission to be there. I did manage to find my car.. or what was left of it after it met the aliens in War of the Worlds. Universal has one of the huge crash scenes on their back lot tour. If you haven't been... you must. It’s a completely different experience than the one in Orlando, and personally one of the reasons I don't mind hopping on the four hour plane ride out to the west coast. I also saw "Warrick Brown" of the CSI Vegas fame. That is one of my all time favorite shows.. What I wouldn't give to be a dead body on that table. In the show.. I mean.

That night I met up with my friend Arash Markazi (one of the writers at Sports Illustrated) and took in a WNBA game with him and my dad. I must say that those women do not get enough credit for what they do. Lisa Leslie is awesome. I remember a certain play where Schumacher (of the New York Liberty) came at her after she got the rebound, and Lisa didn't just guard the ball, she gave Schumacher.. the hand and a mouth full of smack. No offense to Schumacher, but if a "sister" Lisa Leslie's size gives you the hand... it might be best to step off. ;) The Sparks ended up winning of course, and I got a chance to take part in the celebration afterwards with a few players from USC's football team and Wanda Sikes. I know... totally random.. but fun. Besides, Arash is hilarious. He and I could go back and fourth for hours talking crap to one another. Our conversations are littered with way too many obscure movie quotes, references to pop culture, jokes that push the lines of PC'ness, and double entendre uses of phrases about Paris (the person, the hotel, or city). But we would have it no other way. And the best part is, neither of us really takes ourselves too seriously, so we are often the butt of our own jokes.

I told Arash I wanted to see a little of the LA nightlife, so we (along with some friends) went to the Standard. We met up with my friend Matt Berry, who... is also one of the funniest, most sarcastic people I have met. (And I would have it no other way.) He is one of the many people, along with Will Carroll that I have met in my crazy travels that I have just absolutely come to trust and love. These guys are the greatest, and best of all they just let me be myself. Sure, hanging around the guys that night I heard my fair of "guy convo" that just isn't meant for girls ears, but they let me talk sports too, which is something I am pretty passionate about.

By the end of my trip I was pretty exhausted, yet at the same time it was sad for me to leave. There is something about the West Coast that is so addicting. Maybe it’s the fact they spend most of their lives waiting in traffic that it has created this laid back attitude that is so "So Cal." No one in Cali has that "chicken with their head cut off" sense of urgency." And that suits me just fine. I guess the Beach Boys really did get it right when they said... "I wish they all could be California girls“ because this girl sure wishes she was one of them. Who knows, maybe Sleeping Beauty's house might go on the market sometime soon... Hey, a girl can dream right? Now, if only I could find my prince charming... that would be Grrreeeeeeeattttttttttt.