Some More West Coast Thoughts, Some More Randomness...

The driver of the bus I took daily to work was Persian. As a child, he wanted to become a doctor, but that never happened: there were bills to be paid. Some people are not meant to follow their dreams, no matter how hard they try. I don't know whether he is one of them or not.

There is a mosquito in my room. Now, that I turned on the light, it's circling me, the prey, and it's waiting restlessly for my blood. Poor thing, it doesn't know it might get hurt if it gets too close. I do have some anti-mosquito spray around :))

In LA, at Universal Studios, I bought a very nice, cheese-shaped mug. I wanted to bring it home and give it to my 4-year old God son. I didn't manage, however, to fit it in my luggage...nor did I try too hard. I hate packing, I profoundly dislike it actually, especially because of the last 6 months, and, even worse, I... accidentally try to stay away from it for as long as possible - hence the "last minute packing" and the "no-socks-in-the-mug" type of arrangement. I do hope, though, that the nice yellow mug ended up in some nice kid's collection of random objects, together with toys or erasers.

Universal Studios.

We headed there on a partially sunny day, as I recall, and got to our destination after one No. 20 bus passed us as if we were invisible. I am sure the driver thought we enjoyed the bench in the station, the heat, and taking pictures of the wide avenue. The last part was, indeed, true. So, three hours after leaving the apartment, with the help of Providence, we got to the small Universal City. We boarded the bus for a Studio Tour and got to see cars flying/rotating in the air, fire rising from the ground, suddenly flooded streets and the Desperate Housewives' setting. In other words, small, regular, and completely unimpressive aspects of "how to make a movie". Except that I was not a movie professional, and some of these things left me breathless and pretty interested in special or simply clever effects. It would be fun to work in film production or post-production for a while, I thought; only after I had made some money and opened a non-profit for the more unfortunate kids, though.

Not-that-related thought: I think I will end up taking the "Intro to Stagecraft" class at Vassar my senior year.

It is interesting how I got more confortable with various rides, rollercoasters and things of the sort - but I still got caught screaming by their mischievous, hidden cameras. They are wizards, I am sure, specialized in hunting my bad karma, immmortalizing my big open mouth and emptying my wallet. In the "Mummy Ride" picture, I got caught screaming, although the other eight persons around me were casually smiling. R. included, which meant two full weeks of laughter - not with me, but at me. Oh well.

Random thought #2:
"Helen: I can't believe you don't want to go to your own son's graduation.

Bob: It's not a graduation. He is moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade.

Helen: It's a ceremony!

Bob: It's psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional..."

I watched the Incredibles last night, thanks to G., whom I asked to improve drastically my movie-related culture this month.

Back to Cali and its wonders.

The place that put a big smile on my face the second we entered was Disneyland. There, I wanted to jump with joy and dance on the streets continuously; I tried not to though, as the prospect of returning home by myself, in a sketchy #460 bus, was not that appealing to me. BAD things can happen if you ride that bus. So yes, Disneyland is the epitome of perfection. I cannot describe it otherwise and do it justice. I would not mind living there, selling pretzels for the rest of my life, having a bunch of temporary 3-year old friends...or playing the mermaid role and hence spending my life "in coada de peste" **. I would see the parade and the fireworks every day, I would go on all the rides and become Mickey's best buddy.

Another important aspect was the great, fairly priced food, on top of the bearable lines and the amazing rides. All the characters were not mere manequins, but works of art, carefully designed, sculpted and painted. And, if they were not sculpted, they were brilliantly shaped by some very, very high quality machines.

Oh! And I learned how to draw Donald the Duck! And, in the end, it did not look like Darth Vader...as I initially thought it would.

Further random thoughts:

I might do bungee jumping in Predeal, while I am in Romania. I hope I don't chicken out in the meantime.

Aaaaand! Don't go watch the X-Files unless your life depends it. It's wiser to wait a bit and watch it at home, for less or for free (depending on the country you're in)...when there's absolutely nothing else for you to do. And please don't curse me if you loved the movie - I choke easily. Advocate for it in the "Comments" field instead, if you wish.

For today, that's all folks! :)

**Romanian saying that can be translated as "on the tail of a fish", and symbolizes confusion, a purposeless situation, that has no follow-up or chances of development.