[Witty Title Here]

Interweb Finds: Hot air balloon rides, revealing maps & more

August 25, 2013 by Cassie

Above: The moment my heart exploded. And no, I didn’t get a puppy. I can only be responsible for my own well-being at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t tempted.

Aside from singing “puppies in a boooox!” to John on repeat, this weekend was spent celebrating the wonders of Netflix, enjoying an overcast afternoon at the beach, and mentally preparing myself for the first official day of grad school (tomorrow!). Now that I have regular access to Internet again, I hope to be back to a somewhat regular blogging schedule. For now, web finds!

Previously mentioned Netflix subscription means I just might be able to watch all of the past seasons of Breaking Bad before the series finale. Since becoming hooked, I’ve noticed the widespread distaste for the character Skyler (and admittedly felt it myself). But Actress Anna Gunn wrote an interesting op-ed about how disturbed she’s felt over the not-entirely-deserved hate for a woman who refuses to stand by her criminal man (Thanks, Rachel!):

Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad,” wanted Skyler to be a woman with a backbone of steel who would stand up to whatever came her way, who wouldn’t just collapse in the corner or wring her hands in despair. He and the show’s writers made Skyler multilayered and, in her own way, morally compromised. But at the end of the day, she hasn’t been judged by the same set of standards as Walter.

Hilarious: people who believe satirical publication The Onion’s articles are real.

40 maps that will help you make sense of the world.

When Internet memes turn mean. This woman’s picture went viral in a bad way—here’s what she’s doing about it.

A gym teacher wears the same outfit for forty years’ worth of yearbook photos.

Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” slowed down by 25 percent sounds amazingly cool. (And her man voice is to die for!)

Excerpts from Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life:

One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.

Esther and Jacob’s ride in a hot air balloon in Temecula looks breathtaking. Now I want to go.

That’s all for this week! Wish me luck on my first day of school (oh boy!) and tell me—what are you looking forward to in the week ahead?

Filed Under: Interweb Finds Tagged With: Annie Dillard, Breaking Bad, Dolly Parton, Interweb Finds, puppies in a box

The new apartment

August 19, 2013 by Cassie

Yesterday, John and I went for a run in our new neighborhood. We went down our street then took a detour through the hills and gawked at the fancy homes. From an overlook, we could see downtown in the hazy distance and the Hollywood sign nearby. Later, we walked to Trader Joe’s. WALKED. Less than a third of a mile from our Silver Lake apartment.

Almost one month exactly after leaving home in Baltimore, we found our new home in Los Angeles. The search was not without a lot of stress, anxiety, and heartache. We looked at no less than 30 apartments. Some of them were adorable on the inside, as long as you could ignore the sketchy trash- and graffiti-ridden street. Others were advertised as “amazing,” “beautiful,” and “charming”—words thrown around very loosely on Craigslist—only for us to arrive and walk around a dirty unit with crumbling floors and pee in the toilet. Then, there were the two or three apartments we had our hearts set on but were scooped up by other applicants. Did I question this move? Yep. Did I want to cut my financial losses and move back home? I thought about it. Did everything work out the way it was supposed to? Yes. All around, it was a pretty important lesson on faith and positivity, because now that we’re finally feeling settled in the new place, I feel a lot more optimistic about our ongoing job searches.

L.A. is a rough city. I knew that before coming here, but only in a vague, abstract sort of way. No matter how hard you study the map trying to understand where all the neighborhoods are in relation to one other, you can’t see the distinctions between safe and unsafe. Between gritty and golden. Between gentrification and bitterness. Once on the ground, we figured out very quickly where we did and didn’t want to live. Silver Lake—a neighborhood famous for its vintage shops, rolling hills, and thriving arts scene—was at the top of our list. And I’m so thankful we found this gem in our budget.

We still have a lot to do. The job search is proving to be nearly as difficult as finding an apartment was, and we’ll be receiving bills in the mail before long. Orientation for grad school starts tomorrow and I’ll soon be on a crazy schedule. But if we could make it through all the ups and downs of the past month while technically homeless, we can navigate the next steps just fine. Keep you posted, as usual.

Why don't you stick around?

California dreamin’: Life in Los Angeles according to transplants
View from the top
Found in L.A.: Secret stairs of Silver Lake
The dream becomes reality

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Filed Under: Life in Los Angeles Tagged With: apartment search, moving to Los Angeles, the next step

Interweb Finds: L.A.’s oldest restaurants, a talented teddy bear & more (plus: good news!)

August 11, 2013 by Cassie

Things have been pretty quiet around Witty Title Here ever since I left Baltimore for the West Coast. Aside from the amazingly cheap Trader Joe’s wine and the girl I almost fought in a public restroom, there hasn’t been much worth blogging about, quite honestly. (For the record, I waited a solid five minutes outside of the bathroom before showing any impatience toward said woman, whom I’m pretty sure was taking a sink bath.) My apartment hunt with John took two solid weeks of open houses, broken hearts, and application fees before finding the place that would become our new home. And I’m happy to report that we finally found a landlord willing to take our money in Silver Lake, a neighborhood so cool and hipstery that I fear they’ll sense my flannel is from Target. But in all seriousness, our new neighborhood and street are so great that I can finally start to enjoy this whole L.A. experience. Move-in day is Wednesday!

In the meantime, I owe you a few interweb finds. Here’s what I’ve been reading when I’m not fighting off bathroom hogs:

Here’s an interview I did with Ren over at Her Silent Musings. I love her thoughtful questions (and her in general).

This bear will make your day.

Here’s an amazing tour of an orbital lab.

According to this post, all of those animated Pixar movies we love are connected in a very interesting way.

You’re welcome and I’m sorry. The chicken you and I both are eating is contaminated with arsenic.

So cool: This abandoned Walmart is now America’s largest library.

I don’t know about you, but I love the Pastafarian religion. (You can be religious and still appreciate the humor here, am I right?)

As an L.A. transplant, I had to include this list (especially since I intend to cross off a few items): Los Angeles’ oldest, thriving restaurants.

And that’s all for today! I have a lot on my plate this week, what with moving in and all. But I can’t wait to give you a tour of the new place and hopefully have much more to write about now that I’m finally establishing myself in an L.A. neighborhood. Until then, have a great week!

Why don't you stick around?

Interweb Finds: Idea overwhelm, the world’s scariest trail & more
Interweb Finds: Dogs are people too, the voice of Siri & more
Interweb Finds: Wet dogs, rethinking holiday “survival” & more
Interweb Finds: Kittens in a box, optimism & more

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Filed Under: Interweb Finds Tagged With: Interweb Finds, los angeles original restaurants, orbital lab tour, pastafarian, walmart library

Life in L.A. and the road here

August 2, 2013 by Cassie

Two and-a-half weeks ago, John and I left our homes near Baltimore. Now, we’ve been in L.A. for a week and a day. It was as easy and as hard as that.

We got off to a rocky start here in L.A. We showed up to our hostess’ house where we’re crashing, tired and grateful, on a Thursday night. Before bed, we spent a couple solid hours scouring Craigslist and Padmapper and Zillow and all the other housing sites lining up appointments to view apartments the next day. I woke up bright and early Friday to find John’s iPhone in a pool of air freshener oil. The screen was an ominous cloud of grey that was quickly spreading. An unexpected expense. Which was kind of my fault.

Pressing on (scented phone in tow), we made our way to an auto shop because of the funny way John’s car was acting after the long haul cross-country. He was driving and answered a phone call from home. Seconds later, a cop pulled us over. Unexpected expense number two, and a lesson learned: Don’t mess around in this town.

One new phone and a court date later, we were already weary on our first full day, but we kept moving. The search for an address still continues today after a couple of heartbreaks over lost apartments. Another thing I’ve learned? Though the “for rent” signs are everywhere, it’s really hard to land an apartment in this town. I’m keeping the faith, though, because I know what a huge weight off our shoulders it’ll be once this stage of the game is over.

As for the rest of our trip here since Memphis, we couldn’t have had a better time. Though it seems like ages ago now, our stops in Santa Fe, Sedona, Mt. Zion and Vegas were a total adventure and the trip of a lifetime. Some of the highlights:

The farther you travel and the more strangers you meet on the road, the more you realize just how small of a world it is. People know you’re not from around here (wherever “here” is on any given day) and so they ask you where you’re visiting from. You say Baltimore, and they’re either from the area or know someone who is. (One old man in Nashville asking for money on the street had a “cousin” who was a Ravens player.)

The strangest case of serendipity was when we stopped in the beautiful Sedona for two nights, and the couple who owned the immaculate Sedona Motel also previously owned the building where Baltimore’s former Urbanite magazine—where I worked briefly—was housed. And the woman taught at the same college that John did. Sedona was a much-needed retreat from the other questionable motels we stopped in. We soaked up the healing properties of the vortexes, snuck into parks to avoid fees, and caught the most amazing panoramic views from the top of a canyon. (Nearby, a young guy walked around holding his baby nephew and a beer, loudly confessing his sins and teetering dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. It’s hard to escape tourists when you’re a tourist.)

Before we left for Mt. Zion National Park in Utah, we stopped off at an overlook for one last mental picture of Sedona. A woman walked by our car, looked at the license plate and said, “You sure are a long way from home.” She was right. We really were.

One wild coyote, a couple cockroaches, and lots of lizards later, we were on the road again.

The trip was actually even more beautiful than expected. Though driving did wear us out, it hardly ever bored us. The southern route was the way to go. The hardest part about the trip wasn’t my frequent saltwater syringe rinses (a fun, post-wisdom teeth removal ritual), but feeling the need (and failing) to stay in constant blogger/photographer mode, capturing every single beautiful view. Once I stopped being so hard on myself about it and realizing, duh, that the point of this trip was to experience it, I was able to soak it up and truly be in the moment.

And now, we’re on West Coast time. Still searching. A bit exhausted. But still hopeful. It’s not the picture-perfect experience you dream of, nor the lesser version of that I’d hoped for, but it’s a new chapter and we’re embracing it. L.A., we’re here to stay.

Filed Under: Life in Los Angeles Tagged With: life in Los Angeles, searching for apartments in LA, Witty Title Here goes West

Hello from Los Angeles

July 26, 2013 by Cassie

Unless you’ve followed along on other social networking sites, I might’ve seemed a bit quiet over here. So, a quick update… from Los Angeles. Yep, I’m on West Coast time now, and the trip here was pretty spectacular. I plan to write about the second leg of the cross-country trip soon (there are plenty of notes and photos documenting it), but first, I have to catch some sleep. Because tomorrow, it’s apartment hunting. And in the coming days, I hope to be meeting these blog friends. Lots to look forward to. No time to waste. Stay tuned—we’re only just getting started.

Why don't you stick around?

The great American road trip in film photos
Driving stick in San Francisco
Witty Title Here goes West: from Baltimore to Memphis and beyond
Found in L.A.: The best flea & farmers markets

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Filed Under: Life in Los Angeles Tagged With: los angeles, road trip, Witty Title Here goes West

Witty Title Here goes West: from Baltimore to Memphis and beyond

July 20, 2013 by Cassie

Three days ago, John and I hugged our families goodbye and said hello to the open road. We were at the beginning of a long journey from Baltimore, Maryland to Los Angeles, California. Since then, we’ve broken into a house in Asheville, performed at an open mic in Nashville, and had the best fried chicken and fried green tomatoes in all of Memphis.

I write to you from a Super 8 motel in the Texas panhandle after an 11-hour drive. Three days have gone by so quickly, and yet waving goodbye to Baltimore feels like it was ages ago. It was hard hugging my sisters knowing I wouldn’t be able to again for awhile. Even though we still have a lot of road to travel, apartments and jobs to find, and, for me, school to prepare for, it almost feels as though we got the hardest part over with at the beginning of our trip. And right now, I’m just taking it one day at a time. This is a trip I’ve looked forward to for awhile, and I have every intention of enjoying it. And we really have so far.

Some of the highlights: Day one started out in true John and Cassie form. When we travel together, we tend to run into mishaps. Which are always funny… later. Just an hour or so from our first stop in Asheville, we found out that John’s cousin, whom we planned on staying with, was actually at a Phish concert about ten hours away in Atlanta. (Whose fault this misunderstanding was is irrelevant, because it wasn’t mine.) But John’s cousin assured us over the phone that his back window was probably open if we wanted to break in. And in case it wasn’t, his Phishead friend offered us—complete strangers to him—the use of his home, too. (The key was above the doorframe. Apparently, questionable security is how they do it in the South.) So we took our chances and went to check out the friend’s house—an artist’s shack in which there was a random collection of objects and no AC. We drank a couple of beers on this kind stranger’s porch before opting for a break-in at the cousin’s air-conditioned house. We were successful, and we slept like babies. Day one: a success, all things considered.

We didn’t have much time to spend in Asheville, though, because it was time to move onto our next stop, Music City. Nashville was a sauna filled with tourists. Our hotel room (the cheapest one we could find in town, and still not very cheap) had construction going on right outside the door, so we switched rooms. To my horror, the second room had a giant cockroach clinging threateningly to the wall next to the bed. John killed it for me, and it was all very glamorous and romantic. Determined to join in on the live music scene, we signed up for an open mic night at the Blue Bar. It took a lot of waiting around (and, subsequently, me building up liquid courage), but we got the chance to sing a couple of the songs from John’s new album, plus covers of the Rolling Stones and Gillian Welch.

The next day, we made a short stop in my mom’s hometown of Columbia, Tennessee, where I got to visit with some family. It was so special to me to be able to see them before moving to California, and it was especially cool that John had the chance to meet them. Two of my worlds collided in a pretty awesome way.

Several people told us we’d be better off spending two nights in Nashville rather than stopping overnight in Memphis, but it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip so far. When we pulled up to Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken, the surrounding industrial neighborhood looked desolate and sketchy. But we walked in, and the place was packed with people—young and old, black and white, local and foreign. A jukebox blared and the cooks yelled at each other in the back, and we ate in a state of fried bliss. Beale Street was impossible to resist with the lights and loud music which, to me, topped the honky tonk that Nashville’s Broadway boasted so much of. Somethin’ about those blues, I guess. Between the food and music, it was worth having driven through for the night.

And now, we’ve made a big dent in the midwestern portion of our trip and have a whole lot left to look forward to. We’re taking our time with this trip with six more days to go before we get to L.A., and I’ll be updating, mostly in the form of photos, as much as I can. (I’ve been making more frequent updates on Instagram and Twitter if you want to stay up-to-date.)