Day 9 - Cal Arts (Santa Clarita, CA)

Today Gavin and I drove out to Santa Clarita/Valencia to check out Cal Arts, an arts school famous for having students such as Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Glen Keane and Tim Burton.

The happiest face.

The whole place was pretty swarmed with high school students that were part of a summer program, but it was still neat to check out. It's mostly just one large building with a few dorms and student studio spaces surrounding it. The view of the mountains is A+.

Scene from outside a sculpting studio.

Main Entrance.

Outdoor hallway for individual student studios.

We got to see a bit of the high school workshop life.

Students taking pictures of bottles.

Kid playing A-Train on guitar for other students.

Many of the hallways looked pretty whitewashed and blank for the summer, with labels above the doors representing different areas of the arts.

Can't make this shit up.

There was one hallway on the bottom floor dedicated to student graffiti. It was pretty evident that the high schoolers had taken full advantage.

Graffiti hallway at Cal Arts.

Student art.

Everone: 0. Bill Cosby: 1.

Deer doin' somethin.

Distraught flower.

TARDIS.

There was some sculpture from the previous semester on display in a studio.

Heads on heads.

We got some lunch at a Subway and got a glimpse of Magic Mountain on our way back to Cypress. Traffic anywhere near LA is horrendous, seriously. We accidentally missed our exit and ended up looking for gas around the town. Bad idea, but I got a few pictures of the city.

Trying to get out of East LA.

LA from Hwy 5.

Came home to a cozy house.

Yes, Bryan is reading 50 Shades of Grey.

Tomorrow: DISNEYLAND.

-Marie

Day 7 - Venice Beach (Los Angeles, CA)

Venice Beach day! We started our day with breakfast at Mimi's. I ordered one cup of tea and they sent me four packets. I'll take it.

Kettle.

After a breakfast of oatmeal and toast, we went to this place where you paint your own ceramic figurines and they fire it for you. 

Assortment of brushes.

Jodie and her watering can.

Gavin painting his garden gnome.

I chose a cheap little rotund piggy bank and tried to get creative.

Little elephant.

Hungry for pennies.

Everyone took a pretty long time painting their ceramics, so I headed across the parking lot to a reptilian pet shop.

Surprisingly friendly.

Lizards are too wiggly to walk.

Cup o' snake.

Mom decided to let us go on to Venice Beach without her. Parking was hell but we finally found a lot that charged $25 per car.

Fairly recent.

It was just as I remembered, except with fewer street performers and more of things like these -

$40 medical marijuana cards.

Not worth it if we're only there for a little over a week.

There was a huge Hari Krishna celebration happening on the lawn. I got a few interesting pictures.

Should have grabbed some literature.

Dance festival.

Cheap food.

People handing out copies of the Bhagavad Gita.

Main building.

Huge crowd.

My favorite picture.

There was also a huge drum circle happening on the sand, but we just listened from afar and didn't feel like joining the mass of people.

Jodie stylin'.

Saw it last time. Pretty hyped.

Mountains in the distance.

Outdoor showers.

There was plenty of street art -

Botticelli.

Van Gogh.

This thing.

I got to get some free pictures with the locals, too.

This guy gave the *best* compliments.

Man from Liberia.

Gavin found another penny machine, of course.

Also, Zoltar.

The whole place is pretty campy and full of cheap stuff and all kinds of art (ranging from outrageous to nowhere near impressive). We found some flowers on the sidewalk left over from the celebration earlier and took them home for a temporary souvenir.

Feelin' real tropical.

Squinty.

And none of us got too burnt, either.

-Marie

Day 4 - Cypress, CA

WE'RE. HERE.

Grandma's house in Cypress is my happy place. I would probably never choose to live in Southern California but this place is one of my favorite to visit. There's a pool, the neighborhood is adorable, the couches are comfy, the food is delicious, the air is cool, the weather is warm and rain is uncommon. Not to mention I'm constantly surrounded by family that I hardly ever get to see, AND IT'S 15 MINUTES DOWN THE ROAD FROM DISNEYLAND. a;kd poiu

We slept for a considerable amount of time sleeping and enjoying life outside of the car before taking a short swim. We later walked to get some cheap Chinese/Subway dinner down the street.

Church across the street that reminds me of Chicago architecture.

My cousin riding his longboard.

Outdoor Chinese.

Gavin got a fortune cookie that told him he would find contempt by summer's end. SO SOON.

Even the parking lots look like a tropical vacation.

I slept on the couch for a second night in a row while Gavin chose to sleep on an air mattress outside.

Grr.

I've been reluctant to spend time with my Grandmother's dog, Lex, since his saliva tends to turn his body red and he's nearly 14 years old. But I try to remember that this may be the last summer I ever see him, and maybe he *is* sorta cute.

He also blends in with the carpet.

To be continued.

-Marie