In case some of you haven’t heard, I’m in Los Angeles right now. I’m out here checking out grad schools and going to a playwriting workshop at USC. I promised family and friends I would keep in touch through this blog, so here goes.

My travel day was long and exciting. I saw a mother who had her 3-year-old on a leash. Yes, a leash. This is a clear representation of her mothering style. While we watched the in-flight movie, she ignored junior while grandma tried helplessly to keep him in his seat, caught rolling matchbox cars, and generally tried to keep the little darling in one place. Halfway through the movie, grandma managed to get the kid to sleep. Mom just watched. It was charming.

Generally, speaking, though, travel was fine. I turn into a 5-year-old when I get on planes. I love looking out the window, and even having gross cheese and crackers is fun because it comes in a neat little package. I arrived in LA and was picked up by my friend Andrew. On the way back to his office, he tried to show me some of the sights like Mulholland Drive, Sunset Boulevard, and Jeff Goldblum’s house. It’s really cool in case you’re wondering.

I met Andrew’s boss, Fern Champion. She’s kind of a legend in casting (she cast Saturday Night Fever) and she’s super cute. Exactly like I expected a legendary casting director, long-time LA native to be. I hung out with Andrew as he made calls and worked for a little while. I’m pretty sure careers were made or broken as I sat there.

Last night, Andrew and I had dinner and then he tried to show me where I would need to go today to get to California Institute of the Arts. It was an adventure I can’t fit here, but suffice it to say it involved the 101, disappearing roads, and bad directions from the Del Taco. We passed out when we got home. I went down to CalArts this morning to see their campus. It’s in Valencia which is north of LA. It’s a small but cool campus. This school was started by the Disney’s back in the 50’s and they are one of the premier art institutes in the country. I haven't decided if I want them to want me yet.

I went to Hollywood Boulevard today to see the Gauman's Chinese theater and the touristy-ness of the whole street. I spent most of my time driving around looking for a parking space that wouldn't cost me my life savings. I finally found a parking meter with 22 minutes still on it. I added a quarter. The gods of parking spaces were certainly smiling on me. I saw all the stars on the walk of fame. I was going to try and find Merryl Streep's, but it was pretty crowded and there are a ton of them! What was cooler to me, though, were the cement blocks in front of the theater with people's hands and feet and signatures. There's something humbling about knowing, Gee, Jimmy Stewart stood right there. I took a picture of me putting my hand in Rita Hayworth's and a pic of Rosalind Russell's. Her movie, Auntie Mame is one of my all time favorites. It's hard to tell in the picture, but hers says "Auntie Mame was here." Love it! I also made a wish in the fountain there in the pavilion. No, I can't tell you what it was or it won't come true!

I think I like LA--it certainly has its own vibe and rhythm. It reminds me of Rio, as weird as that sounds. The mountains and the sprawling buildings look and feel the way Rio did. Unlike Rio, though, the pace of everything here seems fast. In Rio I felt like I could take my time doing everything. Here I feel like I need to hurry up even if I don't have anything to get to. Another major difference from Rio is that there the poor live in favellas on the hillsides and the poor live in the valley. Here, it's exactly opposite. These huge expensive houses are up on the hillsides on Mulholland and in these canyons. Think: Beverly Hills.

So anyway, my feelings are not entirely negative and not entirely positive. It's just so different from where I've lived and visited before. In fact, I almost feel like I’m an exchange student in LA. To help others understand my experience, I’ve decided to include a list of things I’ve learned from my trip. I will add to it as needed.

Things I’ve learned about life in LA:

1. LA looks kind of like someone tried to move southern Florida to the desert.

2. Cell phones are a must. This way you can stand in lobbys, hallways, parking lots, and coffee shops talking aggressively and setting up meetings with people.

3. There are three driving speeds here:

a. As fast as possible

b. As fast as possible while on the cell phone or putting on mascara

c. As fast as possible and not braking until I am in the back seat of the car in front of me

4. Not all mountains are round and green.

5. Yes, you’ve seen that building in a movie.

6. Rita Hayworth had really small hands.

7. The term “dry heat” is a made up phrase by people in the south. 90 is still hot with or without humidity.

8. Learning to drive in Atlanta rush hour traffic is a plus when driving in LA.

9. Stereotypes of people in LA are all true.

10. Paris Hilton’s new house is too big.

11. There’s no way Jack Bauer drives across town in 20 minutes while text messaging. Especially if he takes the 405.

12. Avoid the 405 at all costs.

13. The 101 does not go to Valencia.

14. Yes, that guy sitting next to you in the coffee shop is an actor. So is the guy across the room. And everyone is working on a script or a book or a "project".

That’s a start. I’m sure I’ll learn more as I keep going. I’m headed to explore UCLA tomorrow, and then I’ll go to writing workshop on Saturday. I’m very excited about that. I’m having to beg, borrow, or steal internet, so I’ll post when I can!

Martha I am not

Sandi admiring my work...
does she look nervous?

I'm teaching myself to crochet. My Mimi crochets and I always admired her afghans and baby blankets. Since my mother, her mother and sisters all sew and are "crafty", I have been a little embarrassed by my own lack of any of those skills. Oh, I can slip stitch a hem into a skirt or sew a button back on for my husband, but that's about the end of my sewing skills. Besides, there are very few people these days who could make their own clothes or create something out of yarn. There's some part of me, some deeply feminine part, that wants to be able to create these crafts and very practical things we need in our lives. Plus, sometimes I get bored watching football with my husband and crocheting sounded like something that would keep my hands busy.

Thus, comes the decision to buy the "I Taught Myself to Crochet" kit. It came with several hooks, some other needle type things and rubberbands. I'm still not sure what those are for. I boldly bought some yarn and began to teach myself. After practicing a few beginning stitches, I decided I was going to make a blanket. So I convinced my husband to come along as I bought 14 skeins (that's a fancy word for "roll of yarn", thank you very much) of this gorgeous multicolored yarn. I started on a scarf, just to get myself warmed up for the blanket, and got frustrated. I couldn't understand the pattern, I felt like my stitches were all over the place, like the scarf was getting bigger and smaller, and I just didn't think I was good at this. So, I abandoned the whole project for a while. I made two different moves with all that yarn. Since Jeff had packed and moved the yarn twice, he began to mock me. This is the only motivation I needed.

So a week or so ago, I started again, this time with a simpler pattern. It turned out ok. So far, most people get distracted by the pretty colors of the yarn so they don't notice that the scarf gets wider, then more narrow, then wider on one side and smaller on the other, etc. It is a terrible mess. But I'm proud I finished it. Here's a pic (but you can't tell from this how really sad it looks):

Feeling emboldened by this success, I started on a hat to match the scarf. Knowing this would be much more complicated, I found a cheap skein (I totally know my crochet vocab) of white yarn to practice this one. It started out great. It was actually looking like a hat! As it continued, however, Jeff kept asking, "Shouldn't it, you know, curve in?" I told him to trust the pattern. See, in crocheting, it is absolutely imperative that you follow the pattern very closely, that you count the stitches very carefully, and that you understand the sizing of the stitches so that your final product fits correctly. Knowing this, I totally ignored it. So, my hat looks something more like the top of a jellyfish than a hat. Here's Jeff modeling it for you:

Regardless of this minor set-back, I have really enjoyed myself. My Mimi says my stitches look great, even if the hat doesn't actually fit on any person's head. So I'm going to keep making things. I figured this would be a great Christmas to give homemade gifts. So, if you've been waiting for that zigzagging scarf or you were really hoping for an amoeba-like hat thing that doubles as a wrinkly doily, this could be your year. I'm currently taking orders.

A Memorial

I just learned that my favorite author, Madeleine L'Engle, passed away yesterday. She was 88 years old and died of natural causes. She wrote many books, including her most famous book, A Wrinkle in Time, for which she received the Newberry Medal for children's literature. I've read many of her books, many of them as an adult rather than a child. Her ideas were startling to me, but were very freeing. She was a christian who reveled in science as an expression of the awesomeness of God. She was never afraid to challenge the status quo of the religious establishment because in her faith, her God was big enough to stand up to our tiny notion of who we think He is. Mostly, her imagination was refreshingly vivid and broad.

I am most indebted to her because of her book Walking on Water. Like many young artists, this book changed the way I saw what I did as an artist and christian. She called for christian artists to step up their game, to never settle for mediocrity in what we think of as "art". She saw art as a pure expression of the nature of God. Most importantly, she opened up the world of so-called "secular" art for me. She said that true art tapped into the glory of God and reflected creation. If you can see that through the art, it doesn't matter what religion or background the artist had; it was true art regardless. She says it so much more eloquently than I can--if you have any artistic leanings, please take the time to read it. Her ideas may really expand your horizons.

I love her writing. I have always felt a kinship with her through her writing. I guess that's why I feel like I've lost a friend. Some of her books are very personal, especially a series she wrote about a summer she spent with her grandmother as she was dying. She always let her readers into her life in a way that was intimate and special. Always, her writing was about life, the dark and light parts of it, about good and evil, and the unquenchable power of love.

Madeleine, you will be missed and remembered. I hope and pray that my journey as a writer could lead me to drink as deeply, to write as beautifully, and to imagine as limitlessly as you did. You have blessed and changed my life though you never knew my name.

To the City of Angels!!!

It's official--my tickets have been bought and my plans are laid--I'm headed to Los Angeles at the end of this month! I'm going to a playwriting conference at USC. It also includes an information session about the playwriting MFA. Since USC is my goal, I figured I should pony up and take a risk.

I'm worried about my portfolio--since so much of the stuff I have written has been intended for a christian audience, mostly teenagers, at first glance it can seem very narrow in scope. I'm hoping to put a good spin on this, since I already know what it means to write for a specific audience and I understand writing short scripts. I'm hoping they can see past my limitations to my possibilities.

Plus, with Jeff and I thinking so seriously about moving out there, it seemed like a good time to head to the West Coast to check it out. If I get out there and hate the city, hate every school I visit, then I may need to check more seriously into some other options.

I'm also looking at some schools close to Chicago. I know Jeff could probably work there and you can't deny that Northwestern is a great school. So, I'm hoping this trip can give me some insight into the next few years of our lives. I promise to post plenty of pictures of my trip. And, I'll take tips on what to do and see while I'm there!

Until then, I have to find a job and start earning grocery money! Here's hoping Starbucks calls soon!