I've moved!

So I know it's a quick switch, but I had to do it -tumblr is so much cooler.

Come check me out at my new blog site:

http://nellvoss.tumblr.com/

Griffith Park

I am a Griffith Park enthusiast -ask anyone.

There are many ways to enjoy Griffith Park, people tell me, and many entries, too. All of them are different and all of them have not been tried by me.

Here are the ones that have:

Hollyridge Trailhead:

This is the trail that you take up to the fence around the Hollywood sign. There are several trails here, and you can even hike to the Observatory if you have all day. The main trail is wide and flat and easy to climb with lots of spectacular views you can look at when you stop to catch your breath.

There are some smaller, more rugged trails that take you up faster and with considerably more sweat. Wanna know a secret? Look for the skinny trail that breaks off just after the horse's entrance to the path. You might get a little winded, but it's worth it to avoid climbing half way up the mountain amidst piles of horse-shit.

Canyon Drive:

This entrance is in the valley that runs beside holly ridge. It is green and shady and has a couple of playgrounds for the kids -but they're well contained if you think kids are gross, asshole. There's a road that climbs back to the original bat cave. This is a fun and easy stroll, and the bat cave does not have any bats in it. As caves go it's not all that exciting; but caves are still more exciting than living rooms, movie theaters, coffee-shops, freeways, gas-stations and conference halls. But if somebody wants you to go to a carnival instead of the bat cave? Go to the carnival and ride the Pharoah's Fury for me. The cave will still be there and carnivals are always moving on.

Vermont Entrance:

This is the entrance by the Greek Theater. I haven't been to the Greek Theater. Take that, Greek Theater! I didn't explore this entrance too fully -but we did have a great time tossing the frisbee around. We may have pissed off a couple of the sexy-young-things lounging on their blankets. Sorry, sexy-young-things.

I also wish that I could have crashed the three-legged-race/piñata party. Those people were so cool. Seriously. The coolest. Period.

That's all. I know there's more to love with you, Griffith Park. You haven't seen the last of me.

Beaches

I love the ocean.

People say that it's gross and they don't want to swim in it; but the most disgusting thing that I've ever seen in it is seaweed. (Obviously that is disgusting to the extreme -but not worth abandoning the beach over)

There are several categories for rating beach the beach-going experience:

1) Crazy people,

2) waves,

3) wildlife

4) beach-side food.

Venice Beach:

1) Obviously they have the best crazy people and also the most of them. On the downside? They're crazy for pay.

2) Waves here, in my limited experience, are not great. I'm not now, nor will I ever be a surfer, so I can't speak to that -but for boogie-boarding they've been consistently underwhelming.

3) Wildlife: seagulls, skaters in thongs.

4) Food: classic boardwalk fare -nothing too exciting -but unpretentious and not crazy-expensive.

Santa Monica:

(Does this count as a different beach from Venice? I'm not sure.)

1) Crazy people: not sure if you count as crazy for having a sweet one-man-band.

2) Waves here are cute. I like this beach but it seems like it's kind of a beginners beach. Maybe I've just been on days when the waves were behaving themselves.

3) I saw a dolphin eating a fish at this beach and it wasn't that far away. I was very, very excited -dolphins are effing cool and I can pretend that I've been swimming with them now.

4) This food is mostly similar to the boardwalk stuff -the restaurants at the end of the pier seem more overpriced for the quality of the fare. There's a place at the entrance to the rides that has really horrible food in general -but delicious sweet potato fries.

Manhattan Beach:

1) Not a single crazy person in sight anywhere.

2) I've only been to this beach once, but the waves were enormous. They banged me around a lot and I thought it was exciting and properly terrifying as well.

3) I'm sure they had normal oceanic wildlife -but I was so terrified of the waves that I don't remember any specifics.

4) Everything around Manhattan beach seems very genteel and it made me feel really gauche when I did my usual swapping from wet bathing suit to clean underwear by the car. If Starbucks is an integral part of your beach experience this place is for you.

Zuma:

1) Crazy people here seem more genuinely insane and don't ask for anything. Last time I was there a guy stood at the edge of the water feeding seagulls so they flew around his head in a way that made me think of Hitchcock. When he took breaks in the feeding I got the impression he was hoping a wave would pull down my bikini top.

2) Waves here are big but not too big. Again, I'm so not an expert -but I like these waves. I feel like they're challenging enough to make me feel accomplished, while still small enough for enjoyment.

3) Food in Malibu seems to be universally sucky. Every place I've been is deep fried and crappy and has the extra advantage of being overpriced.

4) I saw a stingray glide over the sand and slide back with a wave here. It was picturesque and exotic to me. I also watched pelicans fishing. When they dive into the water they look like Japanese block-prints.

These are the beaches I've tried personally. I don't see anything on any of these beaches that made me think I needed to avoid swimming here, and I always feel perfectly healthy afterwards. So there.

P.S. Surf-forecast site.

What!?

Let's begin with an introduction. My name is Nell. I'm new in town. I pulled into Los Angeles a little over a month ago. I'm an aspiring writer and former Chicagoan.

First reaction? Minor panic attack.

This was brought on by the fact that I had been thinking a lot about the difficulty of the move and not at all about life after the arrival.

Second reaction: why does everybody hate LA?

Where I come from people talk about hell and Los Angeles in similar tones. Chicago theater people have nothing but scorn for the exploits of their glittery, money-making, Angeleno counterparts. I had only been here once before -for a week -so I was surprised to discover that Los Angeles is actually pretty interesting. I even find it beautiful in an alien, Dr. Seuss kind of way.

I've now had some time to look around, settle in and get a little bored: time for further explorations. I need to find my own culture here in L.A. I figure that to do that I have to explore everything. I knew exactly four people out here when I moved. So I have a responsibility to myself -I have to try everything. I promised myself that I would keep accepting every invitation until I no longer had time for such things. After all -I'm in no position to turn down friends!

This is a place to relate the fruits of my explorations. I hope you find something useful, or interesting or humorous here.

In the end, this is all about adventure and exploration and the need to keep moving until we find something worth stopping for... like the laserium.

(Join us next time as we explore the wonders of 1970's entertainment)