hmmm, been awhile since the last one, where to begin? ah yes, my ‘what i did this summer’ class presentation… here ya go:

i vacationed out in beautiful sunny california [cue the OC theme song that by now everyone absolutely hates]. it was awesome. i stayed with my cousin josh from like june 22nd until the 28th (i think), in ventura, which is about an hour north of LA. josh and his roomies live about half a mile from the beach (you can actually see the ocean from their second floor balcony.. very scenic), so we went to the beach a few times… didn’t surf or even swim as i’d planned to… the water was _ICE_ COLD. i got as far as my ankles in it, and was like.. screw you guys, i’m going home.

we went to santa monica pier and josh and i both got books signed by chuck pahlaniuk, the author of fight club, at a borders in santa monica. we hit most of the popular sites in the LA area: hollywood, beverly hills (that’s where i want to beeee), went to a dodgers game, chinatown (where they were selling ninja swords [likely cheaply made, but still..] for FIFTEEN DOLLARS!!), and universal studios. universal was sweet.. the rides were pretty cool, and we toured some of the studios and sets where actual movies are shot. i got to see part of the set of War of the Worlds, which had consisted of a HUGE demolished airplace and a fake neighborhood with demolished houses and debris strewn everywhere. in the ventura harbor josh and i ate at this famous seafood place called adrian’s (i think.. it’s been awhile, so i could be way off.. it’s a-something, anyway) and saw a celebrity… sorta. as we were getting up to leave, a family asked if were we finished and they could have our table. the family was a mom, dad, and three little girls. one of them looked strangely familiar, and josh realized who she was: “nick… it think that was the daughter from Nip/Tuck!” we looked her name up on IMDB and it said she is the *oldest of three girls* and lives with her mom and dad outside of LA. so, yeah, we’re pretty sure it was her.

josh and i went to the chumash casino thursday night, june 23rd… what happens at the chumash, stays at the chumash ;-p… let’s just say my luck with casinos is pretty crappy of late and leave it at that.

i also saw mario and possibly some other rappers at hollywood and highland, which is a kind of shopping center/touristy place. BET had a huge stage set up in the plaza, and they were having a pre-awards show rap-off competition [can i get a wha wha] or something.. at one point one of the contestants used profanity, which was apparently a no-no (it was a general audience and in a public place), so he got booed off — the whole thing was pretty comical. i’m -fairly- sure we saw mario (only reason i know is i remember them announcing his name) throw down his mad lyrical flow there as well.

i hung out with emerson and monica during the day monday june 27th (when we saw the rap-off and walked around chinatown), and we met up with josh later that night to catch the Dodger game. we got figurines of sandy koufax as we entered the stadium (it was some kind of anniversary for him or something)… a bit later, josh, emerson and i signed up under fake names for a credit card application so we could get a free Dodgers tshirt

what else… the same day we went to universal studios (saturday, i think) we met up with meg and kelly (meg went to HS with josh in rogers and kelley’s one of her friends) and went to bb king’s blues club at the citywalk to hear some live music. citywalk is this outlet sorta thing with a ton of restaurants, shops, and clubs that comprises the entrance to universal studios. bb king’s club has three levels: you enter on the first level and stairs lead to the second and third floors that overlook the central stage area. we were sitting in the center of the third level (you can sorta make it out in the picture on the webiste). anyway, the music was cool.. it was this funk/hiphop band called slapback (ok, so i cheated and had to look it up on their events calendar). what was insane about the band is they had about 8 people on stage playing various instruments or singing, and they sounded *good*.

all in all, it was an excellent trip, and i had a good time. as far as the rest of my summer.. it’s pretty much a blur now: here today, gone tomorrow. the dawkin’s annual fourth of july celebration at the lakehouse was a lot of fun.. they had a golf cart parade where everyone dressed up their cart in some sort of theme: beauty pageants, john deere, pimps and hoes, etc. their fireworks display is definitely one of the best i’ve ever seen. i have some pics from the 4th and cali i’ll post in the gallery pretty soon.