Some great adventure!

I'm back from California, and I'd like to say that my absence is due to some earth shatteringly awesome adventure out to California and a wonderful week in Los Angeles and Anaheim, but I can't. I'd like to be able to say I feel like I saw California and the magic of LA, but I can't. In fact, all that I can say is that the beds and showers of the Hilton Anaheim are amazing, Disneyland is overpriced - even if it does smell like cookies- and the traffic isn't nearly as bad or complicated as people make it seem. It's quite possible, even likely, that I didn't enjoy California as much as I would have liked because virtually the entire time I was thinking about someone who would have made the trip better, or more enjoyable, or simply less lonely. I wasn't thinking of having someone along who would have filled all the empty silences or made the Griddle Cafe more entertaining (there was no way that trip could have gone better), rather I was thinking of the friends who know when to not insert a conversation about a tree whilst staring out in to the expanse of the ocean but know when to insert a conversation about said tree whilst trying to plan an escape to the Sequoia National Forest during my free night.  And so I'm hoping that these pictures will give those of you who should have been there an idea of when I was thinking of you, and will thank those of you who were there for making the trip just a little bit better. :)

Believe it or not I spent the better part of the week in my hotel room... hence my lamentations.  Still I think you can see why I wasn't too bent out of shape about it.

Before I headed to the hotel I did get to see the ocean and a Hanson concert (way to be resourceful! Go me!)

Then on to the Walk and the show, where I wound up thanks to Marie Ann on the balcony stage right... Isaac's side. Win.

For some reason the shaking of the balcony over powered my anti-shake feature on the camera. I find the fuzziness of the shots to be ironic as the whole trip feels a little fuzzy to me now.

 



This shot I love.

Fuzzy yes, but that's Chuck. Important to note... mostly because I hadn't realized that Isaac played the Gibson ES345 on Been There Before until this moment. The "D'oh!" moment for me was MASSIVE.

LOVE this shot as well.  Trust me people were concert called.

But by the time all that was done, I was headed over to work. We kicked off the week of work with dinner at Downtown Disney (over rated.... Disney in general is overrated but c'est la vie) Some of it was awesome and that's what follows...

There is a Lego store in Disney. And I was in full geek mode.

Apparently, Downtown Disney comes complete with busking musicians... on dulcimers.

 Happily ever after includes Prince Charming getting in some serious trouble with Cinderella.

And Ariel used spray on deodorant.

Then I was back to the hotel.  Where I spent the rest of the week.

There are some great shots from the plane on the way home, but those are all stuck on my phone for the time being.

 It wasn't until I was on my way home that I finally saw the wonder of the ocean in such a way that I was awestruck by it. It was seeing it through an airplane window that put it in perspective, and maybe that's what my problem was this week. There was no border, there was no frame, it was just the ocean and Disney open for all the world to see and it was too much for me to embrace.

I'd do it again in a heart beat, but next time I see LA I fully intend to bring a friend or two, so maybe just maybe I can spend less time feeling lonely and more time feeling the wonder of the infinite of the ocean.

Song for today: 3x5 by John Mayer 

Fall

The summer is drawing to a close. But not before I get to head off to Anaheim for work. Summer will end with my first trip to the beach and a trip to the much discussed and long awaited Griddle Cafe. It's quickly looking like my first day in California will consist of a lot of time sitting on the beach enjoying the feeling of my toes in the sand and the sun possibly roasting me for the second time this summer. (I swear I'm going to wear sun block this time.) 

As excited for this trip and the chance to "look out in to infinity"- as Andrea puts it- as I am, I think I may be more excited about the week that follows it. Something about actually getting to physically work to accomplish something rather than accomplish the simple task of typing and filling out spread sheets is looking insanely rewarding. I know there's nothing glamorous about schlepping boxes and organizing name badges but to know that I've effectively DONE something with my day is a feeling I'm really looking forward to.

I'm doubling up the song for the day. There's so many things that I'm looking forward to and so many things that I have to get done before I go that my head and my heart are being pulled a million different ways.  But the two songs that seem to run through my mind the most here are:
Cold in California by Ingram Hill
Mostly for the lines "Didn't anybody know, didn't tell anybody else that I was gonna go. Didn't anybody see, didn't tell anybody else that I was leaving".  It's a solitary trip for the most part. I'm looking forward to it, and while pretty much everyone knows now that I'm going no body knows the details of the trip yet and that's refreshing. Solitude and the ocean and me.
and
If Only by Hanson
Trust me, those of you who are Hanson fans know the fear this song strikes in calves and legs around the world. If they could talk, they'd be screaming "I don't want to jump! Please don't make me jump!".
I can't help but think of California when I hear this song.  "Every single time I see you I start to feel this way, makes me wonder if I'm ever gonna feel this way again " there's something magical about the simple thought of California and I'm pretty sure it's irreplaceable.   Hmmm maybe it's time for a visit to Grandpa Redwood.