Hermanita

My sister Elizabeth came to visit me for a few days before heading to wintertime in New Zealand to study abroad for the semester. I really enjoyed hanging out and catching up with her, especially since we only get to see each other a few times a year these days.
We did these things while she was here:
-spent an afternoon walking all over downtown Orange, hitting up Chapman, the circle, my old house, etc. She was impressed by all the sleek newness of Chapman, impressed by our Holocaust library and a bit baffled by our shrine to the Berlin Wall.
-ate at Felix's, which is always awesome. I still have yet to find someone who loves their creamy spinach as much as I do, but Elizabeth was excited to be eatting something "different" and semi-exotic. I imagine she's enjoying lots of meat pies in NZ as we speak!
-got In & Out! It's no Felix's, but it is a required trip while visiting Southern California.
-drove around Orange with Nicole trying to figure out what to do. I think we ended up going back to the apartment and just looking through old photos. Which was better than anything else I can think of.
-spent a good part of the morning trying to figure out public transportation to LAX for both of us, and back to Orange for me, before getting a ride from Christina and Danielle who were headed to LA anyway!
-got sushi at Little Tokyo and walked through bizarre Japanese stores. yum! and yow!
-scoped out LACMA, including an exhibition by contemporary artist (is that a way of saying modern artist without the stigma?) Tim Hawkinson, which was astounding. Also saw awesome Mexican ceramic sculptures from 200-300 BC (one of them looked like Strong Sad!) and Crafts style furinture. All for free! Oh, and the TAR PITS!!!
-Got her to the airport on time, said goodbye. :(

Here are pictures:

the purple hair-like stuff was actually growing from a palm tree. like most forigners, Elizabeth was stunned by our "native" fauna, and wanted to decorate her head with it.


this a storefront in the Circle. when we were kids we used to go to a charming, if low-rent themepark right out of Salem, Oregon called Enchanted Forest. Last spring break we tried to go there, but ended up heading in the opposite direction and spent the day at Mount Angel Abbey instead, which was more awesome than anything else that we could have done.

D'land d'land d'land!!

Thanks to friends with free passes, I ventured to Disneyland today for the first time in years. We were only there half the day, but managed to hit all the big rides (Tower of Terror, Space Mountian, The Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountian, Pirates, Splash Mountian, Indiana Jones, I think that's it?). Space Mountian had been closed for a long time while they revamped it and they were previewing it before the grand opening. Even though we stood in line for over an hour, it was well worth it. The Matterhorn and Big Thunder also stood up well, although perhaps I was in a fast mood, since Pirates and Splash Mountian, usually my favorites, seemed a bit slow. The Tower of Terror was cool until the big drop part, which was too up-and-downy for me and anti-climactic. Strange that all the Disneyland rides are so old now. Tower of Terror was just built in California Adventure, but they've had it in Florida for over ten years. I think of Indiana Jones as a "newer" ride, but I guess it's been there over a decade as well.
Maybe it's because I'm older, or maybe it's because I've been out of the country, but I was also struck by how American Disneyland really is. Aside from the nostalgic recreation of an idealized America, complete with riverboats, open-air railroads, town halls, southern belles and shootin' galleries, which had been long-gone or on its way out the door even when the park opened 50 years ago, there is an element of the Frontier in nearly every ride in the park. Pirates and Thunder Mountian are set in idealized historical frontiers. In Splash Moutian Be'er Rabbit is venturing out from his home for supposedly greener pastures. Space Mountian imagines a thrilling exploration of the future.
All of Tomorrowland tends to invoke a shiny, safe and exciting future, but many of the other rides are about the dangers of pushing the boundries too far, resulting the narrow escapes (Splash Mountian, Indiana Jones), and sometimes complete destruction(Pirates, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride).
I suppose there's a longer, much better essay in there somewhere, but I am far too tired right now.
My sister left for New Zealand yesterday, and tomorrow I will have pictures of her visit to California before jetsetting away from LAX.