i still have sand in my shoes

There is, without a doubt, a deep romanticism in standing in the Pacific at Venice Beach, watching the water crash into the rocks whilst wearing your rolled up jeans and contemplating the breathtaking beauty of nature.

It is less romantic when one a.) did not get one's jeans dry before leaving and soforth goddamn chafing when one wanders around for several hours in salty-wet jeans and b.) when one returns and sits down for a bit, one realizes all that endless wandering downtown has caused one's calves to do something desperately uncomfortable and one cannot get one's heels to the floor. Er, yet. Which yes, I should have stretched more, but blame the Pacific for being gorgeous.

I have no excuse for wearing jeans while walking in the Pacific, except come the hell on, it's the Pacific Ocean; you can do many things in life, but refusing the ocean will never be one of them.

(I am also pretending I am not sunburned; this is working extremely well.)

I know it has been called cold (theoretically, I know very well why it's cold), but okay, I'm from Texas and I go to the Gulf; I do not associate bodies of salt-water with being cold and yet, my God. That was very cold.

Currently on the third floor terrace of the hotel near the meeting rooms with two blankets liberated from the service area. Stairs are not easily navigated to here and the maps are surprisingly not really helpful, as some stairs only go to certain floors, some stairs end at certain floors, and some are hidden in a strange, twisty journey through the back service areas, which is actually a good thing, as they recognize me and nod when they see me walk by them wandering toward the stairs (as I've been here since Thursday and while I know this hotel has a lot of staff, only five ever seem to be in this area) and so did not notice me limping pathetically toward the blanket supply to liberate two of them for terrace-sitting purposes; June nights in California are surprisingly chilly, and I am pretending that wrapping my legs up in layers of very warm blanket will encourage my heels go down to the floor now or I will need to liberate a pillow and sleep here. I only brought one pair of heels with me, and trust me when I say, they aren't my comfy Mary Janes that I could run a mile in. These are my platforms that were specifically created so you can sit down and show off how gorgeous they are. I can walk in them fine, but I can fall in them so much better.

You might think balcony entrapment is bad--I am not saying it is great or anything--but experience suggests come around two AM, I will be entertained with a surprisingly consistent array of terribly un-PC language from the sidewalk outside as two or more people (could actually be the same people; the script is weirdly consistent) usually spend this time shouting the same ten to fifteen words at each other for several hours. Weirdly, it's not even like, vitriolic hatred; they kind of sound bored, like they're really in need of new material. I've considered typing up a new script and leaning over to shout it down at them, but then I remember this is not TV and will not end in a humorous anecdote, even if I am in LA and it does seem like the beginning of an indy romantic dark comedy (if it is, I'll be the mysteriously dead body found in an unlikely place; wait, this sounds more BBC Sherlock). Though seriously, how many times can you come to the same sidewalk on the same street when LA has lots of streets and many are much more interesting than this one? Apparently, every time I'm out here at 2 AM, that's how many times.

Claustrophobia has huge downsides at this point.

Still though, the Pacific was beautiful and I can check it off of the list of things I want to see. La Brea tar pits, however, may not be in the near future, however, unless I get lucky and one of the 2 AM shouters ad-libs in that he deals in illicit pharmaceuticals and is willing to take shouted requests for Vicodin, plz.

The con was lovely and culture shock and fascinating all three. The con organizers were basically amazing and I'm honestly awed how smoothly they put this together and how well-organized it was. And my God, some of the vids they showed, both old and new, just floored me. Anyone setting TOS/Reboot to Placebo deserves like, anything they want, ever.

I stood in the Pacific ocean today. I haven't stopped smiling yet.

ETA: I am not singing Take My Breath Away to myself, but oh, it is a very close thing.

Comments

[nagasvoice]

Drinking extra milk, or taking calcium and potassium pills might help with the muscle spasms. Worth a try.

[my_daroga]

I just wanted to say it was lovely to meet you and I very much enjoyed the con and your panels (I missed the first, which I regret, but there you are). This is Kris, by the way. If that helps.

You know, I wanted to show my roommate that epic Kirk/Spock/appalled Uhura vid you kept playing and somehow I can't find it...

[yoiyami.livejournal.com]

Oh how you are making me wish for the ocean!! I hope your legs feel better soon. Hot showers are nice?

(Also, you have now gotten Take My Breath Away stuck in my head. ;_; I will now have to go listen to it repeatedly so I can go to sleep without still stuck there...)

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Honestly, when I came down here, I thought they were just sore; if I'd realized how they'd tighten up like this, so would have done so. Now just waiting for them to untighten enough for the stairs or you know, ti's a nice night, sleeping here is fine! *g*

[eccentrikita.livejournal.com]

Soulmates never die, oh oh oh, I love that vid. <3<3<3

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I love that one, but this one was set to My Sweet Prince and my God, I have watched it so many times now and just--wow. Just wow.

[clairshadows.livejournal.com]

I've lived most of my life near the south pacific ocean all the way over here in Australia and it's always breathtaking and always fantastic at washing away stress, or anger or frustration. I live inland now, and have for years, but I still miss it and the way you describe it makes me ache in a good way for my old home and the constant rhytmic crashing of waves that would follow me into sleep.

[lurkerlynne.livejournal.com]

I grew up landlocked and thus find the concept of oceans to be fascinating. So much water. @_@

The Pacific is indeed cold, especially right off of Washington State. Brrr.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Man, I miss the Pacific. I hope we get posted back to California soon.

... You could print out a new script (with a nice note saying "You sound bored, why not try a few new insults?"), roll it up for aerodynamic properties, and chuck it over the railing. Then scuttle back out of sight. It might at least be good for a brief intermission.

[eponymousanon.livejournal.com]

The trick to wading/swimming in the Pacific in Oregon is to stand in it until your legs go numb. Before I left the country for a year I made sure to go to the beach for a weekend so I could spend all day wading in the ocean and build up memories for the year away. It being Oregon, it was maybe 60 degrees outside and the water was at its coldest (coldest in summer, warmest in winter, the currents are weird) but it was still awesome.

[tricksterquinn.livejournal.com]

I love the Pacific SO MUCH. Though today I am hanging with the Atlantic, and she's pretty groovy too.

In conclusion: OCEANS. ♥

[orphica.livejournal.com]

The tarpits are AMAZING. Truly, truly unique. And it is a small museum, you can do it in an hour or two, depending how long you like to linger and look.

[hellpenguin.livejournal.com]

if only you could swing down to Temecula...

[evawhimsy.livejournal.com]

That sounds amazing, I'm so happy that you got to cross it off your list! I must say though, if you liked Venice Beach you would absolutely flip for the some of the better maintained beaches like Huntington, San Clemente, or Laguna. I hope you get a chance to explore those too sometime!