Everything That Is the Good Life: June 2008

Friday, June 27, 2008

woods blogging

hanging out right now, did all the shopping for the trip ($2400 at Walmart). Tomorrow we get the kids.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

So, I forgot to update this earlier today which means that this will be briefer than I'd like.

My sister and I rolled through a bunch of shady hotels and saw a bunch of goofy people (dude in an all white suit with a giant hood walking up the road in death valley was pretty interesting) but the trip definitely climaxed in New Orleans.

We got in after a wonderful drive through LA, probably the most scenic (I love the creeping vines and the fullness of the trees on the road-the bridges over the swamps were sweet too). We got a pretty good deal at the hotel, hung out for a bit and headed out to Acme (not a grocery store) for dinner, which I'd definitely recommend if you're in the area. We got delicious oysters and I ate a fried crab-they literally dip the whole thing in batter and fry it- it sits on your plate and looks exactly like a crab, kind of intimidating for a former vegan to bite into, but I got over it and it was DELICIOUS. We headed over to Bourbon street and got drunk, my sister went back to the hotel and I met a bunch of cool people and saw all sorts of whacky stuff going on.

The next day I woke up early and went to the Insecatrium which was cool, albeit a little pricey. I was a little disappointed until I went into the butterfly room, which made the whole thing worthwhile. I hit the stationary bike in the gym, which I needed (I've put on a few pounds due to my inactivity behind the wheel). My sister and I then went to WINO (Wine Institute New Orleans) and she taught me a lot about wine-she took both Wine Tasting and Advanced Wine Tasting at Stanford. I went out while my sister went to sleep and met more weird people and decided that at some point in my life I'd like to live in NO, I think it might have been the miniature horses, but it may have been the fine southern gentlemen in white tuxedos.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, aside from the characters we'd run into at truck stops (there are ALWAYS characters at truck stops I've come to learn). I got some good inspiration for a story I'm writing from this trip and the people.

We got in last night at 1am and today I went bike riding and hung out and tomorrow I'm flying to Denver. I've been told that there have already been a bunch of letters sent out to me, which I'm super pumped on.

One Love,
Brett

back home

made it to Jersey. updates tomorrow (I lost my cell phone charger and camera cord so it looks like no pictures at the moment).

Friday, June 20, 2008

Da souf

Yosemite was really cool, tons of waterfalls and a few short hikes with my pops. 3,000 year old trees and going from 0 elevation to 9,000 feet is pretty intense. Hung out and got some reading done there.
My sister and I got on the road Wednesday Morning and drove and drove and drove and drove. We passed through Death Valley, which was gorgeous but incredibly empty. There were cacti everywhere and the elevation changes were very extreme, but it it was mega cool to pass through. The gas was $6.75/gal, luckily we filled up before we entered the park.
We went to Vegas for dinner, which was a cool place to stop off in (I'll be back later this summer) and chilled out for a bit, before continuing on to AZ. We went over the Hoover Dam at night which was pretty impressive, but we weren't really all that concerned. I stopped at a rest stop and was using a urinal and upon looking down I saw a foot long snake (this is not a crude joke). It scared the crap out of me, I told the lady who worked there and she gave me a box which I used to pick it up and take it outside. Apparently it was a Red Racer, which is not poisonous, although the lady kept insisting it was.

We slept in a ratty hotel in Wickenberg, AZ.
Yesterday we got up and put in a bunch of hours on the road, We passed through Phoenix and Tucson as well as all of New Mexico (which was really boring on rt 10). We also made it through El Paso, but I was either asleep or not paying attention and couldn't tell you anything about it.

Today is one more full day of driving before we arrive in New Orleans to party for a minute before heading straight up to Jersey.

ONE LOVE,
Brett

Monday, June 16, 2008

from the left side

It's 7:30 AM here on 6/16 in Palo Alto.
Yesterday was my sister's graduation ceremony. Oprah was the commencement speaker and she is a wonderful public orator although her personal philosophy leaves much to be desired. She did tell some wonderful asides and attempted to push philanthropy on all the Stanford graduates, which can only be a positive thing. We then went to one of Maura's friend's houses before dinner and chatted with them in their gorgeous backyard. The Indian food we ate afterwards was fantastic.

Now I'm going to go help my sister pack up the rest of her life before we get on the Road to Yosemite, where we'll spend the rest of today, all day tomorrow and then depart for our cross-country trip on wednesday-I think we're taking route 10.

Pictures whenever I get near a computer I can plug my camera into

One Love,
Brett

Saturday, June 14, 2008

A more comprehensive review

Wednesday morning I woke up at 5 and got on an 8am flight to LA, after some delays I landed at 1pm local time. My mom, dad and I went out to eat then met up with my extended family and played catch up. Went back to the hotel and went swimming. It was so nice to arrive in California and have it be sunny and 75 (it feels so good to be alive) compared to the 100+ it's been in Jersey for the week preceding my departure.

Thursday my mom, dad and I went to the J. Paul Getty museum. They had a few Rembrandts, A gorgeous Munch and a lot of boring paintings from exciting impressionists. There was a exhibition of August Sander's photos which was very well set up

and contained some beautiful prints. I went and hung out with some friends that night after swimming again and had a laid back night (I also finished adjusting to the time difference)

Friday was a long trip from LA to San Francisco-more specifically Palo Alto-to visit my sister who is graduating from Stanford with a Masters (both her bachelors and masters in 4 years). I went out with her last night and hung out with a bunch of people from her sorority, then she snuck me in to Stanford's Senior Night which was cool because there was basically an open bar (lots of drink tickets to go around) and I got to meet all of her friends.

It's Saturday now and I'm not sure where the day is going to take us, aside from some really good food later tonight (I hope).

My sister and I still haven't planned out the route we're taking for our road trip (we leave on the 18th) but it looks like we're gonna head down route 10 and try to hit New Orleans before dodging our way back up to Jersey so that we'll be there on the 25th.

One Love,
Brett

Friday, June 13, 2008

california

went to LA, chilled real hard
now I'm partying in Stanford.
some pictures soon (of the getty and family)

living the good life
brett

Everything That Is the Good Life