The City of Angels and a Little Advice

This past weekend, I flew out west to tear up LA with MJ 2.0. Schedules being what they are, these four days were the longest uninterrupted stretch of time we've spent together since we met o so long ago. We didn't let it go to waste. MJ gave me a regular tour d' force of the local attractions, including such famous and phenomenal sites as the Griffith Observatory (by night and by day), the Getty Villa, and Sid Grauman's Chinese Theater. We indulged ourselves in an incredible, magical, mystical array of food and drinks -- Thai, vegan, and sushi; french dip sandwiches at Phillipe, hot dogs at Pink's, and tacos from a street vendor; mojitos at Ciudad and cocktails in MJ's tenth-floor downtown studio. We cruised everywhere from Skid Row to Rodeo Drive, and one night we caught The Taking of Pelham 123 in the Arclight dome.

Of course, the highlights of any trip are the adventures you don't plan. This worked well since both of us hate planning. Other men have accused me of fearing commitment, but MJ brings out my roll-with-the-punches spontaneity to the nth degree. In fact, we were wandering around Union Station and nearly jumped on a random train -- definitely would have if we didn't have dinner reservations with a friend. (MJ: "I hate having reservations. It's too much commitment." A man after my own heart.) The unplanned adventures we had sometimes rose from the ashes of plans that fell through, like the afternoon it was too cold to go body-boarding so we instead strolled on the beach and hunted for starfish and crabs in the rocks. Sometimes we just stumbled on things, like a fancy cocktail party in the ballroom of the Roosevelt where we were sneaking around looking for Marilyn Monroe's ghost. (Didn't find her, by the way, but did suddenly feel tragically under-dressed.)



We also got quite a thrill just cruising around one day. My esteemed tour guide's commentary went something like this: "On the right up here there's this awesome Brazili... THAT'S A BUGATTI VEYRON!!" The most expensive and (arguably) the fastest car in the world. Definitely not something you'll spot buzzing around my little Nowhereville, Michigan. Pretty amazing to see it "in the wild" like that, just chillin' like a villain outside a restaurant.

This trip, like all the best trips I've taken, started with the urge to go catch up with an old friend, and it only reinforced what I already knew -- the absolute, hands-down, best way to travel is by visiting friends. The last time I was in LA, I was with a couple deadbeats who took me to Universal Studios and Six Flags, and beyond that we saw almost nothing of the city itself. This go around couldn't have been in sharper contrast. I'm thoroughly flattered by the way MJ cleared his schedule and devoted himself to my entertainment 24 hours a day, making even the drabbest and darkest corners of LA enjoyable and adventurous. His energy, his humor, and his passion for the City of Angels made the trip for me.



I caution you, dear reader, to choose your travel companions wisely. A good rule of thumb is this: If someone bores you at home, he will have you clawing your eyes out on the road. If someone annoys you at home, you will murder him on the road. At the very least, you'll bicker like an old married couple, using that tone you swore you'd never take with each other. It may be tempting to travel with your flavor of the week/month/year -- whoever's currently making you all starry-eyed and stupid -- but you're likely to regret it. Even a relationship that works well at home can develop an ugly side under the many stresses of being out of your element.

Instead, travel with people who are tested and true, and people whose idea of a good time aligns with yours. I, for example, have to travel without an itinerary. I like a generous block of time, a diverse list of possibilities, and the freedom to move in whatever direction the moment lends itself to. For that reason, I travel with my friends who are energetic, spontaneous, and not wound too tightly. Furthermore, I travel with friends with whom I have such a firm and weighty history that any adventures or misadventures that occur couldn't possibly jeopardize our friendship (and we certainly have had some misadventures). Traveling with boyfriends, on the other hand, goes quickly sour according to how hectic the traffic was, the state and cost of the hotel, the delay of a flight, illness or sheer exhaustion, and a million other variables.

In short, your trip will be smoother, more peaceful, and more pleasant if you keep in mind what Byatt wrote: "Friendship is rarer, more idiosyncratic, more individual and in every way more durable than this [poetic] Love."

Hawaii Photo Blog

Rather than attempt to recount all my tropical adventures, I'll let the photos do most of the talking.



If you like to relax on vacation, Hawaii may not be the best place. Our trip was the Fear Factor© version of vacation -- nearly everything we did required us to sign a waiver in case we were maimed or killed whilst doing it. That included kayaking on the open sea, which is pretty hard work, but well worth it to get to reefs, beaches, and bits of coast like this that are otherwise inaccessible.






These are the little touches that make Hawaii so awesome.




The west coast of The Big Island has top notch scuba-diving. This is Eric, our dive meister, who is a fine man and an expert in his field, and who also nearly killed himself the first time he took us out. When we got out to the reef, he leapt gracefully into the sea to moor our boat to the buoy. A few moments later, he came back to the surface with blood streaming down his face and neck from a massive gash on the top of his head, which he had slammed at full-speed into the hull of the boat. He was quite dazed, bleeding profusely, and lucky as hell that he didn't knock himself unconscious. His boss, who was captaining, helped haul him out of the water and said, "Duuuude, you gotta be more cogniscent of where you are in the water, bra." My favorite scuba quote.

To his credit, once his head stopped bleeding (several hours later), Dive Meister strapped his fins back on and was a pro the rest of the week -- by far my favorite among a stellar crew of people.







Luau food will tickle your taste buds! The pork was buried in a pit and slow-cooked, which is the traditional Hawaiian method. So tender and juicy, it makes me ache just thinking about it.



When we needed a break from the water, we went on an open-range horseback ride up in the mountains. A word of caution -- you cannot go up to high altitudes for a day or so after scuba-diving, so plan accordingly. Getting the bends and/or dying can ruin your vacation. But the view up there might change your life.









Much of the terrain on Hawaii was surprisingly desolate, covered in lava rock and not much else.




Plumeria and hibiscus -- classic Hawaii!






Tracking down a pod of wild dolphins and swimming with them is a pretty popular pastime in Hawaii. Early one morning, we found about 150 of these spinners and played with them for a couple hours. Great fun!