heebie-geebie

I've been to Hollywood. We met Veronica Bell:

(I will friends-lock this before too long.)

Let's back up. First up: the La Brea Tar Pits, because I drove past them on my way to Airedale's hotel.



The La Brea Tar Pits are complete with life-size plaster mastodons mid-dying a slow, sticky death. The tar pits were bubbling holes and one tar pond, which were fenced off. The park is pretty smelly and fascinating, both.



In a few grassy areas, tar had just erupted:

The whole tree was splattered with tar from that one little hole. The hole was actively bubbling and oozing. It was not hot.

After that, we learned that Los Angeles really is not walkable, as we decided to explore and ended up mostly not getting anywhere. We did pass the CBS building, and were awash of contestants leaving a taping of The Price Is Right. A nice combination of kitchsy, local, and envious.  They were still wearing their nametags.

Danielle, don't you want your nametag?

The next morning we hiked Runyan canyon, alongside some Herbalife enthusiasts, complete with transformational testimony at the peak. They all jogged past us on the way up the canyon, and we obligingly admired their stamina. Then at the peak, they sat in a circle, and took turns testifying how Herbalife had revolutionized their life.



Herbalife aside, Los Angeles felt plenty normal. Maybe it's a matter of which suburbs you're in, but I was braced for plastic and silicone and beauty, and people looked pretty normal.

We got gussied up and went here:




The movie was not-disappointing. Like a solidly entertaining episode.

Then we went to the cast party! We met Logan, who said "I like your dress" to me:



That might have been the highlight of the whole evening.

We met Keith Mars, who was exceptionally charismatic:



Dick Casablancas said, "I did one with teeth and one without. My cheeks are getting tired from smiling."  



Dick later pulled a girl onto a table and danced for the crowd. When he was chided by security, he failed to understand how difficult it was going to be for the girl to dismount in 4" heels, and she kind of toppled.

We met Rob Thomas, and I said "I'm from your hometown!" Which is true. He graduated from the local high school.  He convincingly feigned enthusiasm.



There was Wallace and Hannah and Weevil and the kid from Freaks and Geeks, and the principal:



Hannah was not actually in the movie, but I think she was sitting a few rows ahead of us, and maybe attended as a backer.

The trip now seems slightly surreal - what a fancy theater! At the after party, the cast treated us like beneficent financial backers, whose egos should be stroked, rather than gormless fans who should be tolerated. That was very kind of them, and made the party fantastically fun.

Now we are five hours in to a 16 hour drive. We just entered Louisiana. So far I prefer the drive to flying. The kids are on their third movie.



In Louisiana, they sell wine by the glass at the gas stations.

Then I put this entry aside for a few days. Now we are in Florida, where the fences say "Sinkhole in Enclosed Area - No Trespassing":




It's been raining:



WAIT HEEBIE, DON'T GO! What was the carpet like in the hotel?!



It was not bad!