I had In-N-Out three times in two days. Two of those times were during the same day.

"I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light." - Woody Allen (Annie Hall)

I survived four days of no central air and my brother insisting on driving with the windows rolled down, no matter how hot it got at 4 p.m. on the 101. I also survived LAX after the foiled terrorist plot, and my experience was at the least a disappointment. The time from when Daniel dropped me off to when I sat in front of the gate was about 10 minutes. No pat-down to make sure I wasn't concealing hair gel. No interrogation on whether or not I had toothpaste tucked into my shoe. You let me down, LAX. You let me down.

This is my favorite picture from the trip. We took another one where his head wasn't cut out of the frame, but the "get me the hell out of here" expression didn't change. This was taken on a balcony at the The Getty Center, a very cool art gallery on top of a hill. He humored me in going, but we didn't have the foresight to anticipate the insane amounts of children and tourists who'd be there. Several day camps were also in attendance, with loud, uniformed minorities running in front of and disrespecting the French Impressionists. Guides had groups of them sit in front of the best paintings, talking to them and having them draw their own versions. They were quite annoying in the Rubens and Brueghel exhibit, which we enjoyed nonetheless. Is a seven year old going to remark, "I do appreciate Rubens' paintings of women, in all their fleshy glory, but give me an Ingres odalisque any day." No. No, they're not. Take them to the zoo or something.

Other events:
- Visiting cool used books stores
- Eating at Tere's Mexican Food, at which Daniel once saw Cameron Crowe (a situation I would have freaked out in, with a reaction Daniel actually called "gauche").
- Visiting Amoeba Music twice, dodging snotty hipsters and digging for cheap CDs and DVDs
- Going to The Grove and watching locals marvel at the concept of a contained strip mall
- Seeing Little Miss Sunshine at The Arclight. I'm now even more obsessed with Steve Carell. You must see this film.
- Speaking of Carell, we verified the location of the fictional SmartTech store his character Andy works at in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. It's on Ventura next to a Bed Bath & Beyond and a Western Bagel. I was probably too excited about this.
- Watching part of Dumbo on TV one afternoon and concluded that it's the trippiest of the Disney movies.

- And last, but not at all least to Daniel, seeing Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) at the Pulse premiere at The Arclight. I willingly took pictures and acted like a tourist, but I couldn't snag a shot of her face. I don't think that mattered to Daniel.

Those are some of the highlights. Quite a relaxing adventure in California.