One thing about being a jet-setter is that you have to make sacrifices. Sort of like Jesus Christ or Mother Theresa. Yes, I'm on there level now. My sacrifice today was getting up at 3 am to drive to LAX (yes, LA still has traffic at 3 am), drop off my rental car (PT Cruiser, I will never buy you because you look like a herse), deal with "Deluxe" rental car dude (always an adventure), and check in. I almost set off an international security alert because my 30SPF suntan lotion. I was sort of surprised the TSA folk were even awake to catch it - I sure wasn't at that hour. That being said, I now have about an hour and a half to chill. I guess, if anything, I've learned to be efficient in my jet-setting ways. Anyway, you know you are up early when the Starbucks is closed. One thing I haven't perfected is the sit-up-straddle-two-seats-try-to-get-some-type-of-sleep-in-an-airport routine. A jet-setter needs to learn how to do this.
Sorry there have been no posts of my adventures. Over the past 2 days, I had the pleasure of being chaperogned by my study-abroad pal, Celine. Celine, like the contact solution, has a much more interesting job that includes hanging out with her boss, Ashton Kutcher. That's right. This is why I picked her, out of the plethora of people I know in LA, to show me around and crash, for free, on her couch. Mostly, I chilled on the beaches of Malibu and Venice. I thought I deserved a little relaxation. At night, Celine drove me around town. LA is a weird place that slightly resembles one big parking garage/strip mall. And, oh yeah, some really nice cars/rich people/beautiful people thrown in the mix. I don't think I could ever live there, but walking down the walk of fame, seeing the Hollywood sign, and eating unbelievable Mexican food were some definite redeeming qualities. Oh, we also walked up Runyon Canyon on Wednesday morning, where I got to see about a million dogs and a great view of this smog-filled city. It was magical. I shed half a tear.
Where I could live would be Malibu. Unfortunately, my teaching career (which allowed me the time to travel to Malibu) is a financial hurdle to actually becoming a resident there. Sigh. You can't have everything, I want it! And, where I should have gone to school was Pepperdine University. Wow. The houses out there are incredible, the beaches are clean, and I swear that university is sitting right on the water. Judging by how little work I did at Wake Forest with very few environmental distractions, it's probably for the best I didn't find out about Pepperdine until now. Nonetheless, a lot of my pictures are of the Pacific Coast Highway, the Santa Monica Mountains, and some kite-sailors.
Anyway, I only have a little over an hour to perfect my power-nap. Is it accepted to lie on the floor? I'm off to St. Louis now to perfect my Midwest swang. I think if I said that there, people might beat me up. Now that Budweiser is bought out, I have no idea what beer I have allegiances to as an Amrrrrican. Pabst Blue Ribbon it is for the next few days. This is a good thing.
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