My First Real Wave

I finally went to Sunset Beach today after being encouraged by several people and it was amazing! Low tide was at around 2p so Wendy and I got there around 1p and paddled out. It is so peaceful just sitting outside of the break and there's this amazing sense of community as you look around at all the other surfers. I had already decided that my goal for today was to stand up and ride a wave just once since I had yet to do so. I had been out in the water for about 45 minutes or so just getting the rhythm of the waves and occasionally trying to catch one with no success when a stranger paddled by and told me to try catching one a little closer in. Just as he was paddling away, I saw an incoming wave and paddled a little closer into the shoreline, lined myself up for the wave, and paddled. Before I knew it, the wave was coming up behind me and then it happened-I caught it, felt the energy of my board cruising along, and pushed up! I half expected to fall pretty quickly but, to my surprise, I didn't. I rode the wave in until I could see some rocks that I preferred not to surf into and jumped off my board into the water. The feeling was so incredible that if I was on land I definitely would have been jumping up and down. Instead, I paddled back out, beaming, ready to do it again. I caught three more waves and rode them in standing up over the course of the next hour and a half and I could not have asked for anymore. If I wasn't hooked before, I definitely am now.

Acting Class

I have a decently long list of things that I have been saying for a quite a while now that I would like to do and I am slowly but surely working my way through the list. One of these agenda items was to take an acting class. I have been saying that I was going to do this for the past year now, and for various reasons such as work-schedule inconsistency and my general fear of looking stupid, I had not enrolled in a class until this week. I got my work schedule for November a little over a week ago and realized that, every Tuesday evening, I have a perfect block of time open that coincides nicely with an acting class I had been interested in so I took the leap and signed up. Tonight was my first class and it was so much fun! Going in, I was really nervous and thought I was going to feel really awkward and out of place but my classmates are a really fun, easy-going group of people who more or less just want to have fun playing characters every week.

I am especially excited about starting this class right now because they are just moving into a section on character study/ development which is my favorite part of acting. There is just something so enthralling about trying to figure out the psychology of a character and why they do the things they do or how they would react to different situations. We also got homework assignments tonight for next week. The first assignment is to pick a person to study over the next week so we can come in and do an impersonation for our next class. I am still deciding who I should study--maybe someone at work?

The second assignment is to pick a dialect to start studying so we can expand the range of characters we can play. I think I can do a pretty decent British accent and I know the Southern accent well enough to be able to pull that off, so I decided to go with something I have never had much experience with before and chose the Midwestern accent. Now I have to go online and try to find videos of Midwesterners (I think I want to focus on the more northern dialect that you hear in people from Minnesota and North Dakota) so I can listen and practice. Maybe next time you see me I'll be able speak like I am from Fargo :)

Leftovers

A very large corporation has rented out the Inn that I work at for three nights, and tonight was their first night. They are a very lively, fun group and it is definitely a completely different atmosphere for the Inn. Since they were all arriving at different times today, they had dinner catered in and there was a TON of food. So much so that there were a lot of leftovers including multiple large platters of sandwiches. We do not have room to store all of this food in our refrigerators at the Inn and much of it was being thrown away. At the end of the night, we tried to send sandwiches home with all of the staff members that would take them, but there was still an entire platter of sandwiches left when I was ready to close the Inn and go home for the evening. As I was staring at this giant platter of sandwiches, trying to bring myself to throw them into the trash can, I thought about a group of homeless people that I see almost every night on my way home from work. There is a little section of my drive home where there are usually at least four or five people, sleeping on the sidewalk and in doorways, and every time I drive by them, I think about how hard it must be to live on the street. I decided that, even though a lot of people would say that it is not the safest or smartest thing to do, I would wrap up the tray of sandwiches and take it to them. I closed up the Inn and loaded up my car with my stuff and the tray of sandwiches and drove to the spot that I usually pass. Most of the people there were asleep and I didn't feel quite right about getting out of my car to wake them up to ask if they wanted sandwiches so I kept driving and, in true LA-form, within a block I found another little group of homeless people sitting at a bus station, clearly awake. I pulled up in front of the bus station, rolled down my passenger-side window, and asked the man closest to me if he was hungry. He approached my window, somewhat shyly, and, when I handed him the tray of sandwiches, his whole face lit up. He was older, and didn't seem to have a whole lot of energy, but he told me several times how happy this made him. I wished him a good night and drove away. My apartment was less than a mile from that spot and on the way home I felt so good. I know that I didn't do anything amazing. It was such an easy thing for me to do-I didn't have to invest much time and the sandwiches were free leftovers. I also realize that tonight is just one night among so many that that man, like thousands of others, is struggling through on the street. But I felt like I helped in some little way. It made me happy to know that at least tonight, that man (and hopefully a few other people) will go to sleep with a full stomach.

The thing that frustrates me about this situation is that every day, literally tons of perfectly good food is just thrown away, by restaurants, cafes, and other establishments. It is so hard to understand this in light of the fact that so many people go hungry everyday. It seems like such an easy solution for there to be an organization that goes around and collects leftovers from these places and distributes the food to people who really need it. Unfortunately, most establishments are worried about being sued if their food somehow causes someone to become sick, so they throw it away instead. Here is an article about this issue:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/28/business/la-fi-lazarus-20100727/2

Going Outside

I took my third surf lesson yesterday and was hoping to learn how to actually paddle to "the outside" of the breaking waves and actually catch an incoming wave as opposed to the whitewash after it has broken. This lesson was definitely more difficult and exhausting than my first two. We did paddle to the outside, but we spent a lot of time paddling up and down the coastline, trying to get me lined up perfectly to catch a wave that would be an appropriate size for a novice. Ultimately, I caught a wave, but the feeling was so strange and new that when I tried to pop up into a standing position, I pretty much lost track of what I was doing and wiped out. I'm kind of glad that I fell off because my biggest fear about surfing was how rough that part of the experience would be, and honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. I fell off my board into the wave, rolled around underneath it for a couple of seconds, and then it passed and I came to the surface.

I was really hoping that I would be able to stand up on at least one wave during the lesson, but after I caught and wiped out on that wave, it was the end of the lesson, and I was pretty exhausted by that point. Now that I have had a little taste of "the outside" and what it feels like to try to catch the incoming waves, I am going to keep practicing my pop-up skills in the whitewater and maybe in a couple more weeks I will sign up for another lesson to try again.

Summer At Last

Well, this summer has been an unusually cold and gloomy one for those of us in LA. It is pretty typical to have primarily chilly, overcast, foggy days in May and June, the "June Gloom" as it is called, but usually by July the weather starts to turn around and we have a least a few weeks of very warm (if not sweltering) weather in August and September. This year, though, it seemed like summer was never going to come. The idea of the summer months passing us by without a season of hot days and warm breezy nights was just about to send me into my own state of gloom, and then finally, the heat wave came.

Over the past few days, LA has seen the hottest weather in all of the recorded weather in Los Angeles. On Monday, the temperature in downtown rose to 113 degrees and I heard reports of temperatures as high as 130 degrees east of LA out towards the desert. While many people have been complaining about the heat and praying for it to let off, I have been in pure heaven. I'm not exactly sure what it is. Maybe the weather reminds me of summertime as a little kid-definitely the most carefree time in your life, when you play outside long past dark and have nighttime pool parties. Maybe it is the way the heat just melts your body and makes it absolutely impossible to hold onto stress and body tension. For me, there are few things that give me more joy than simply driving around in the car, with all off the windows down and the music on, and warm air swishing around you or being able to go out at night in sandals and a sundress. It feels like pure freedom and it just makes me smile.

I know the heat won't last. It has already started to drop off into the 80s and by next week it will be back into the 70s, but for now, I will enjoy my little taste of summer at last.

Birthday in the Bay: The Eating Tour

I spent my 28th birthday on an eating tour of the Bay Area and I couldn't have had a better time. After a year away from my former home town, I was beginning to dream about meals that can only be found in Berkeley, Oakland, or SF. The destinations included B44 on the enchanting Belden Place Alley for Basque cuisine, Dona Tomas in the Temescal district of Oakland for the most delicious Mexican food (and Dona Coladas!) in the East Bay, Ici in Elmwood for yummy Italian ice cream (yes, Italian ice cream, and no, that is not the same as gelato), and Brazil Cafe in Berkeley for the best Tri-Tip sandwich EVER!

There was also wine tasting in Napa, a stop off at the cutest convenience store in wine country for their amazing sandwiches, and one bar in particular that seemed to provide an endless amount of amusement. The fact that I was able to visit all of these places with some of my favorite people in the world was the icing on the cake.

I am pretty sure I gained a few pounds on the trip but it was worth every bite.

:)

I just finished reading the last installment of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. So good! Lisbeth Salander is my hero-in some totally twisted kind of way.

I had my second surf lesson today and I am officially hooked. Today my lesson was in Santa Monica and my friend, Wendy, joined me. It was another foggy day unfortunately, but the waves were nice and came in in even, rolling sets. I was able to stand up on about 50-70% of my attempts and I had one really good , long ride that pretty much sold me on getting a board and a wetsuit. Oh, and my instructor informed me that there is nothing wrong with the way I stand up on the board, and in fact, it is actually the way that non-beginners usually do it. I guess I am just a natural. :)

So, I have been saying that I wanted to learn how to surf ever since I moved back down to LA a year and a half ago, and I finally took my first lesson. I got up yesterday morning at 6:30am to cover myself in 100SPF and then head over to Venice Beach. I was excited, but definitely a little nervous because, although I am in decent shape, I have never been particularly gifted athletically.

I met up with my instructor, Peter, at 7:45a on the beach and he gave me a wetsuit and a board. After I got all suited up, we went over some surf terminology, the mechanics of the waves, and the basics of how to go from lying down to standing up on a surf board. I practiced that for a few minutes on the sand, and then it was time to get in the water. We went out into what Peter called "the soup" which is basically the whitewater area where the waves are breaking closer in to the beach. Peter had me lie down on my board facing the beach while he would tell me when to paddle and help give me push off to ride the waves in on my stomach and get a feel for the waves. We did this a couple times and then, as I was riding in, he told me to stand up and I did! It was very brief albeit, but I made it from lying down to a crouched position and then up for a split second before falling off. For the rest of the lesson, Peter stayed on shore and watched me while I tried to catch waves in. I was able to actually stand all the way up and ride the wave in to the shore about 4 times and apparently, I have my own way of getting into standing position that is different from what Peter taught me. He kept trying to give me pointers from the shore on what to do, but after a while he gave up and told me that what I was doing seemed to be working alright for me :)

All in all, it was definitely a fun lesson and I plan to sign up for more lessons in the very near future. I think with another lesson or two, I will be able to paddle out and attempt catching some of the larger waves that break farther out.

The craziest thing about the whole day was that, after the lesson, I went over to the beach club to read and everyone was talking about all of the recent shark sightings. Apparently, in the past week there have been a lot of Great White sightings along the local coastline. I am so glad that I did not know about this until after my lesson!

Go here to see all of the recent shark activity: http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm

Sunset Beach is about a half mile up the beach from the beach club and it is a really popular spot for surfers. If the surf is good at all, you can usually see 10-30 surfers hanging out in the water, and I have frequently sat at the club and watched the surfers catching the waves. If I ever see them all come in at once, I'll know why.

Eclipse

I saw Eclipse tonight :) (happy sigh)

Every time I go into that world, I don't want to come out.  I'm sure that's not healthy, but I really don't care.  Do we really have to wait until November of next year for the next installment?!

Mammoth in June

So, I got back from Mammoth a week ago and I think I have almost settled back into my normal life in LA.  It was definitely hard to leave Mammoth for so many reasons.  It was breathtakingly beautiful-honestly, the pictures can't even capture it.  I was there from Thursday through Sunday and every ten minutes for almost the entire time I was there I would stop and say, "Wow, this is so amazing."  

I was there for my friend Katie Lee's wedding to her boyfriend since college, Trey.   Their wedding was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen.  The setting was certainly a big part of that, but what was really incredible was how much Katie and Trey made their friends and family part of the event.  The actual ceremony was very personalized and included a Native American blessing of the two families.  Almost every part of the wedding, from the decorations to the music, was done by the hands of the people close to Katie and Trey and it really made the event particularly special.

Katie and Trey are definitely very blessed in the department of loved ones.  When I left LA to hop on a plane to Mammoth for the weekend, I was a little worried that I might find myself at the outskirts of the activities since I didn't really know anyone except the bride and her immediate family.  My fears evaporated before I even landed in Mammoth.  On the flight over, I met one of Katie and Trey's friends from college, who had a stopover in LA on his way to the wedding.  He was so nice, and we chatted the whole way over to Mammoth.  Upon arrival, I was greeted as though I had been part of the crew all along.  Katie and Trey's friends from college and Trey's childhood friends from Kentucky, where Katie and Trey now live, took me in immediately and I felt like I had instantly gained a whole new family.  The weekend was non-stop fun.  We roamed around Mammoth village, ran amok on the ranch, went hottubbing both on the ranch and in some natural hot springs in Mammoth, hiked, ran into glacial runoff rivers in the middle of the night, and generally had as much fun as you can have in one weekend.  I definitely think I made some connections that I will keep in touch with, and I am looking forward to visiting Katie, Trey, and some of their friends in Kentucky some time soon.

a place of my own

Well, I can't believe a year has already passed since I moved back down to LA.  It has been really nice staying with my parents but the time has come for me to move out and get my own place.  I found a studio in Westwood only a couple miles away from my parents, which comes in handy right around laundry time:)

It is tiny, but cute and the location can't be beat.  I am right in the middle of LA and walking distance to Westwood Village.  Crate and Barrel let their seasonal staff go a few weeks ago so now I am working a few days a week at a bed and breakfast in Playa Del Rey (http://www.innatplayadelrey.com/).  I do a combination of concierge/ receptionist work, setting up rooms, overseeing breakfast and wine & cheese hour, and quite a bit of baking.  It is a pretty serene environment with beautiful views of the Ballona Wetlands and the rest of the staff is really cool.

There is a strong possibility that the position will become full-time in a month or two, but in the meantime, I am still hunting for jobs. I know there is something out there that is a perfect fit for me, and if I just keep searching, I know I will find it eventually.

For now, I am settling into my new place and gearing up to start some new hobbies and re-kindle old ones.  I have been saying for a while that I want to take a surf lesson.  My mom just got back from Hawaii about a month ago and while she was there she took a surf lesson and loved it.  I think it is time for me to finally go for it, too.