Exploring Los Angeles

We got an early start yesterday by quickly getting ready in the morning and heading down the street to the Dollar Store. It had a surprisingly large amount of items to stock up on so we grabbed on most of what she needed and headed across the street to Target to grab everything else that the Dollar Store didn't have. An hour later we headed back to the apartment and got ahold of my buddy Steve and made plans to meet him out for lunch in Studio City.

Half an hour later, we were sitting in a restaurant called "Good Neighbors," right down the street from Universal City. Steve showed up a few minutes after we got there and the three of us got to catch up the trip, some recent filming debacles, and different projects we're all working on. Widely know as the Nerd with Words, Steve and I have known each other since High School, and a core group of us have all kept in touch over the years. All that time he's been a filmmaker, from our early Paddleboat movies through his Nitty Gritty films in college, to his experiences in Hollywood today. We've all seen his talent throughout that whole time and with a unique sense of humor and clever writing style (just watch "Birthday Boy," "Rex Dexman, Alone for the Holidays," or any of his other films on The Decking Crew), it'll only be a matter of time before something of his becomes a success.

Following lunch, we decided to take a drive up Mulhulland Drive, just south of where Stephanie lives. The street is a famous, winding road in Los Angeles, known for it's elaborate homes and spectacular views of the city in all directions. We drove up there for a while and stopped at Runyan park, a maze of trails and paved paths that wind through the canyons on the south east side of the hills. It was cool, but you also get a clear (or hazy) view of the smog layer covering the city. Beautious.

From there we decided to do something touristy and headed over to Universal City. What actually caught me offguard was that the entire place is a big mall, with the Universal Studios themepark imbedded inside. We didn't actually do the themepark (it was around $100 each...no thanks) but the shopping area was pretty cool. We got to hit up a lot of interesting novelty stores and restaurants, most of which were overpriced, but fun to walk through.

It was a long day, and the sun was on its way down, so we battled rush hour while Steph took me through the area of town (again, fairly close to where she's living now) where she had her actor's workshop. We then drove back up to her place, chilled out in her living room with some pizza, and watched the first half of the Vice-Presidential debate. I was struggling to stay awake around 10 or so (I think I'm still hanging on to east coast time), so I headed off to bed, looking to struggle yet another night with the ever-deflating air mattress.


Today I think we're heading to the beach. I'm not leaving here without at least touching the Pacific.