lala land

Santa Monica, originally uploaded by maisnon.

Weekend update, y'all! While it's still the weekend! Wonders will never cease!

So, I went down to LA this weekend. That's right - two weekends in a row out of town.

Saturday Headed down to LA with a coworker. The flight is only an hour long, but, man, we had a great time - to the point where we hushed each other when the giggling got out of control. Unfortunately, that was the most fun part of the travel portion: it took us well over an hour to get our rental car. W.T.F.?!?!

BUT, for a mere $10 more, I got a PT Cruiser convertible. I have a hate-on for PT Cruisers in general - I think they kinda look like hearses, and - for how large they are on the outside - they are pretty small on the inside. I have no complaints with the convertible version as a rental car, however. Fun to drive, had a little kick, and um - CONVERTIBLE! (With weather that made that worthwhile ;)

Coworker and I zipped to the work site and handled the business at hand. When we were leaving, our client said "You used the side streets to get here, RIGHT?!" It was a perfectly LA moment - LA-ites talk about traffic, highways (always "the"), different strategies re: surface streets the way others talk about politics and sports. There is love, understand, and acceptance of the city and its quirks in the discussions of how to get from here to there.

I dropped coworker back at the airport, and attempted to make contact with ILSAE. I met up with her and a gaggle of peoples in Santa Monica at Roy Rogers State Beach. This photo was taken driving back along the 1 (before it turns into the 10.)

We headed back to Claremont, and I promptly fell asleep. I hadn't bargained for how much the sun takes out of you when you're driving around in a convertible. Dinner of sushi at Rumblefish, and then home for a DVD (Everything is Illuminated)

Sunday. Had a lazy brunch at BC Cafe. I managed to leave ILSAE without getting all mopey. Two things, I think, (1) I last saw her in Feb - so it's only been a few months, (2) this is my second weekend of traveling. I'm not sure why - but now, finally, I get that I can go away for a weekend, somewhere 1 or 2 hours away. I've done it two weekends in a row without taking a day off of work, and without totally draining myself of energy. I think the key is to choose someplace within a 2-3 hour flight time.

Some observations:

• PT Cruiser people have a whole .... brotherhood of the road thing going on. I had a few people driving Cruisers honk at me and wave. Of course, the first time it happened, I thought I was witnessing some LA-style road rage.
• People are a lot friendlier if you're driving a convertible.
• I think I could live in LA for a year. I kind of like the idea, even. I feel the same way about NYC - I'd like to live there for some period of time to experience it, but I couldn't see myself living there with any intent to stay.
  
  This week is going to be C-R-A-Z-Y.