Days 1-4: Recalling the Blur

California is one of those places one should always visit at some point, provided they aren't actually from the area. It seemed to me like an area I would consider residing once I'm out in the real world, but I needed to experience it before making any kind of firm decision. Being two years away from graduating college and uncertain of what kind of freedom my time would give me after that, I figured this summer was the best time to take the initiative and experience west coast America for the first time ever. When my friends Justin and V informed me our trip would last eighteen days...That's when it hit me that this would be a straight-up odyssey. This is by far the farthest and longest I've ever been from home, and so far it's been almost as surreal as the final three days before we left.

Without going into too much detail, I'll just say that within three days, my four future roommates and I terminated our lease for the four-floor rat-infested Roxbury slum in which we were initially going to live, signed a lease for a (literally) brand new apartment less than a quarter mile from the Northeastern campus, and moved all of our stuff home and/or into storage in preparation for our fall move-in. Our home switch is by a considerable margin the biggest upgrade we've made in anything in our lives. Our friend whom we are staying with in Pasadena, whose real name I won't disclose (you'll soon know why), had no idea what we had gone through just prior to boarding two planes to trek 3,000 miles across the country. Let's call him Allain for all intents and purposes. Needless to say, once he picked us up at LAX we were all in need of some relaxation...

...But as a whole, I would not describe our first four days here as relaxing. The first drive home to Allain's house should have given us an idea of the kind of trip we'd be in for. Allain led us through several areas of Los Angeles, and plenty of unnecessary miles on the freeway, before admitting that he did not know how to get home! Two hours later, he finally found his way back to his Altadena pad where he lives with two other guys. That only added to our soreness from the three days before the flight.

Most of the trip so far has been an unabashed blowing of our minds through all-new people, parties and lots and lots of alcohol. This is the first time any of us have been on this kind of excursion with friends after turning 21, so a shameless and legal bender could hardly do us any harm provided we looked after each other. Night number one included Sake, after we went to the Jazz Cat Cafe in Alhambra (highly recommended!). We then hung out at the place of a friend of Allain's who goes to the same film school as he does (that would be the Art Center in Pasadena). I enjoyed picking the brains of all the art students I encountered, because with the exception of a few Emerson students I know I really had no idea how the film industry or art schools worked. I've had a few awkward conversational moments due to my East Coast dialect and unique slang among my group of friends, but for the most part I had a great time mingling with LA natives. Thursday night, we went to Mindshare, a small party for professionals in many aspects of business with the purpose of networking and establishing contacts, something that is very important to experience success in art or entertainment. Since Justin, V and I had no need to network with anyone, we were skeptical. The cover charge was $25, but Allain's friend got us in for free. Open bar + paying zero dollars to get in = a surprisingly entertaining and fun second night in LA.

We did get to soak in some sun and ride some nice waves at Zuma Beach in Malibu, which apparently is not a good beach according to our friend and his brother (despite the fact that it completely blows New England beaches away), but that is the extent of our relaxation so far. We are definitely planning on hitting up the beaches in Venice and other areas of Malibu before our time is up here. That picture at the top of the page is just one of the gorgeous landscapes around this beach. After Zuma, we had dinner at an all-you-can-eat sushi bar called Kyoto. Five-star establishment without a doubt, if you're a fan of sushi. Friday night, we went to the house of another one of Allain's Art Center friends for his 23rd birthday. Again, we were skeptical due to knowing nobody besides each other going into it, but once again, we had quite the time. Justin and I were desperate for a chance to play some guitar, and we were both convinced we could not make it 18 days without touching one. The birthday boy came through in the clutch for us with two acoustics for us. Our drunken sing-along of a string of '90s one-hit wonders is definitely one of the highlights of the trip thus far.

That brings us to last night, where we ventured to Hollywood for the Big Wang's bar. Before we even got in, we had non-New Englanders in our collective grills. Justin, at the time unaware of the uproar he would cause, wore his Patriots hat to the bar. Of course, where was the bouncer from? New York. He hesitated for about .35 seconds before reminding us of Superbowl XLII. We, of course, had to remind him of the Yankees' questionable handling of the golden arm of young stud Joba Chamberlain. What else could we say to the guy? He was a straight shooter and fast talker so we did not want to argue with him for too long. Once we got in, we naturally ran right into some Raiders and 49ers fans. They let us know how they felt about the Pats, and we promptly let them know how piss-poor both of their teams are right now. When one of the guys showed us his Raiders logo tattoo on his back, we backed off a bit. We soon found common ground with them, though, with our Yankees hatred.

Justin and I ordered some Long Island Ice Teas, which is an inexplicably delicious drink that's usually about 3/4 alcohol with a dash of coke. A curious thing happened here: one of the Raiders fans told us we ordered a "chick drink." I immediately looked at him cock-eyed, and he only confused me more when he explained his reasoning. He said he buys LIIT's for his girlfriend to get her drunk quickly...So basically, a LIIT is a "chick drink" to this guy because it has a lot of alcohol in it...Just take a moment to process that logic. Don't think too hard about it though, or it will give you as bad a headache as I got. He told me to order a "real beer", so I guess anything that's not beer is a chick drink now. By far the most unusual encounter I've had with an LA native thus far.

Regardless, Big Wang's was a great time with very good service and generous bartenders in terms of the alcohol they put in our drinks. The only disappointing thing about it was that it closed at 2 a.m. I always figured California bars, especially in Hollywood, would be open almost all night, but apparently most close at 2. Our friend Hunter, who was nice enough to come out with us and be the designated driver, got us home safe, something that would NOT have happened had any of us gotten behind the wheel. What would happen when we got back to the apartment is unquestionably one of the most unusual, hilarious yet downright disturbing moments of my life. (WARNING: This story is relatively brief, but not appropriate for anyone young. In fact, I wouldn't really want anyone old to read this either. Now that I think of it, maybe nobody should read this...But for the sake of legend please read on. Just use a little discretion.)

This is why Allain's name had to be changed. Friends of ours should almost certainly know who we're talking about, but I would not want to completely publicize his name after this. We got back to the house around 2:30, and I was exhausted from the jet lag from which I still haven't recovered. I took the crappy cot in Allain's room for the second straight night, but I didn't really care because I was about to pass out. I did, as did Justin, but V and Allain stayed up. These two are notorious for shamlessly binging; frankly I can count on both hands the number of nights I was astonished to see them escape alive. Might not be healthy, safe or smart on their parts, but it certainly makes for some great stories!

As confirmed by both of them, V and Allain promptly went against all drinking logic by pounding Bacardi and wine after being hammered, smashed, trashed, sloshed, wasted and obliterated off beer and Grateful Deads. At around 3:30, I woke up from sleep and heard them storming around the house doing God knows what. The bedroom door flew open and I turned to see who it was. It was Allain...Completely nude. He was definitely blacked out, but that's no excuse to strip all your clothes off around a bunch of guys for no reason. Thankfully, he had one hand over his package a la Jason Segel in that one scene in Knocked Up. That one hand maneuver saved me from puking and going blind within four seconds. Justin woke up early that morning to see Allain asleep, face down, legs sprawled, ass hanging out, but was too lazy to get his camera phone, missing an opportunity for a delightfully incriminating photo op. It frightens me to think of what Allain will do when he hangs out with Mr. X for a night when we go to Vegas.

Speaking of that, I am looking forward to next Friday night more than almost anything I've done in all three years of college. Justin will turn 23 that day, and we will embark on a trip-within-a-trip to none other than Sin City itself. My brother Mike, whom I haven't seen since January, happens to live on the outskirts of the city, so we will stay at his house for a night then head back to Cali Saturday morning. Even if I leave Vegas broke, it will still undoubtedly be a hugely memorable night for myself and the crew. Since there are likely stories to come out of that night that are impossible to keep to myself, I assure you that whatever happens there won't stay there...

The only other major plan we have for this trip is Disneyland. I haven't experienced anything Disney since my family went to Florida in 1995. That should also be quite the time. Also, several of our friends from school will be visiting, starting next week. Tyler Murphy, one of our closest Northeastern friends, will make an appearance on the 31st, marking the first time we got to hang out with him for an extended period of time since last winter. Jimmy Muller, another close friend of ours, will make his presence felt this coming Wednesday. Since our crew, and places to see, are only getting bigger, I anticipate this trip to only get better.