The Last Trip To LA (for a while)

One of the unhappy things about leaving Arizona for school is that every time I do something, it's the Last Time (for a while). Before I left Tucson, I had a lot of The Last Time I'll See This Person (for a while), ate the Last Nico's Burrito (for a while), and took a Last Swim at the Rec (for a while, but very possibly ever). I know I could do these things in July, but I know that I'll end up deciding to do other things instead. I once tried to convince Andy that the idea that in choosing to do one thing we are un-choosing all of the other possibilities held the key to some profound insight into the nature of choice. Then he pointed out to me that there wouldn't be any need for choices if you could do everything you wanted all the time, and then I felt bad about myself and my meagre philosophical abilities. Anyway, this was the Last Trip to LA (for a while), and it was a good one.

For the most part, you can't drink on the beaches in California—unless you have the foresight to buy a 20 oz bottle of coke, drink a little of it, then pour some rum on top of it, although by the time you're old enough to buy your own rum you're probably too old to be sneaking alcohol in a soda bottle—but there's a beach in Malibu called Paradise Cove that will let you bring some drinks in. Which was good, because it was too cloudy and cold to be at the beach otherwise.

I also went to the Getty Villa, which is my new favorite place in the Universe. It's a reconstruction of a Roman villa from Herculanum (which is like Pompeii with less press) and a museum of Greek and Roman art. I know more about Greek religion than I do about almost any modern religion outside of Catholicism, and I could probably name more Roman emperors than current US Congressmen (congresspersons? persons who are in congress?) or international heads of state, so the Villa was right in my dorky, esoteric wheelhouse. 

I also ate the best vegan grilled cheese I've ever had (31st among all grilled cheeses), missed a lot of exits while driving, and hung out at a bike repair shop in Long Beach. Long Beach is like Santa Monica if they traded in all their boutique clothing stores for adequate parking and street cred. I also took the LA metro to LAX, making me one of the first people to ever use Los Angeles' light rail system. You might remember the Metro from the movie Collateral, the 2004 film where Tom Cruise plays someone his own age.