la trip highlights

I went to LA at the beginning of February to be in a sunny place, get out of the (occasional) social prison that is Seattle, see my friends Danika and Josh, almost see my friend Jennifer but fail, and just sorta forget about shit for a few days. A vacation. I wrote a bunch of haikus (see post below), and took a ton of pictures with my phone. Here are some of the better ones:

Danika in the rearview.

D.

Josh! Behind you! The sky! Holy shit! Oh you see that every day? Nevermind.

Josh. Also, I am a genius.

Long Beach.



Santa Barbara.


The Sea Looked Like Lead.

Beverly

Hills.


Later on, this dude was standing around smoking a cigarette. I tried to get a pic of that clandestinely and failed.

The Watchmen premiere was about to begin. There were fans and celebrity hounds aplenty. I presume that's the actual ship they used in the film, the one the Nite Owl gets totally laid in.


Hollywood and Highland is the Times Square of LA.

Oh man oh man how sweet would that have been?

Amoeba is gigantic. That being said, it's basically Everyday Music with more indie cred.

There is no way to get right up under the Hollywood sign. It is located in the Hollywoodland neighborhood, for which the sign was originally an advertisement. Technically the whole thing is in a park, but it's not maintained for tourists, it is only reachable via a dirt road on foot (mostly), it is not scenic, it is not easy. It is not for fat people.

Eventually you wind up behind the thing, and it's all fenced off, and there's a radio tower next to you, and no markers, no gate, no paved walkway. Just a dirt path and a few other plucky tourists.

• Alice Cooper lead the effort to restore the Hollywood sign to its former glory.
• Hugh Hefner paid for the Y.
• An actress committed suicide by jumping off the original H back when it was new, in the 1930's. Hence, the fence.

On our way back down, we overheard a security guard shouting at someone who had hopped the fence, via a loudspeaker: STOP. YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. TURN AROUND AND GO BACK THE WAY YOU CAME.