Visiting the Godfather in Cali

"California can be its own country if it wants," proclaimed the Godfather. Although Cali has a little special spot in my heart (it is where i got my driver's license and where i first saw the world), i have my own reservation on his proclamation, so there is only one way to find out--visiting the Godfather over spring break, with C Murder, Bearcat, Skeezy and Grandpa.

We drove along the coast and did a bunch of different things. We went to Cal Poly and spent a very cheery St Patrick's Day. Then we attempted to camp on a beach, only to get our car stuck in the sand and were forced to relocate to a less windy and more agreeable campsite, though ultimately not being able to escape the fate of freezing our asses off in the tent that doesn't close (which i broke). But we did burn enough wood to warm a castle.

Then we went to San Diego, which was super sweet because we went to the beach all day and got to stay at this nice house belonging to Godfather's friend.

In the event that Cornell basketball made it to the NCAA tournament the first time in 2 decades and the game is being played in Annaheim, we decided to actually go to the game. Well, Cornell held on pretty close... for the first minute, and after that it was pretty much just a Stanford exhibition. And it was from this sporting event that i realized that Cornell cheerleaders only take on the "sport" for recreational purposes.





The next day, the Godfather hooked us up with 2nd row tickets to the Lakers' game. Sitting right behind Jack Nicholson brought me infinitely closer to Hollywood. It was a blowout too, maybe that is the way basketball works in Cali.



After the game, we went to Godfather's pizzeria (yes, he owns his own pizza shop) and took Pizza-making 101. It really isn't as easy as you would think. In particular, the making of the dough requires a lot of throwing with the knuckles. If you have no idea what i just said, chances are you won't make a very good pizza.





Lastly, we went back to Murder's house for a night, where his mother prepared us a very good Easter dinner and sent each of us off to school with a chocolate basket.

so now, i am back at school, ready to party away my dying college days.


For the nerds:



Eat, pray, love.

I do two of the three on a regular basis, so i thought it was an indication that i should read this book. And even though i know for sure that it is a woman's book, the fact that it is all over every book store is a revelation that i must embark on this spiritual journey with Elizabeth Gilbert, the author.

It is about a woman who has gone through a tough divorce and decided to spend a year in Italy, India and Indonesia, in search for herself. I was expecting it to be a travel book, but it turns out that it was more of a spiritual experience. i, however, wasn't at all disappointed. She is very, very open about a lot of things, especially sex, which makes me a little uncomfortable at times. Regardless of some of her more radical approach to "find herself", I would highly recommend reading this book because it is educational and fun. I thought the Italian bit was the best (but i am also biased because i am going to Italy this summer), the Indian part was a little too spiritual, and the Indonesian part is a touch too sexual for my liking.

I actually called my mother last night to tell her read this book (that was before i got to the part where she openly discussed masturbation. had i known, i would never have made such recommendation to my parents), and she told me she already did and loved it. Before she hung up, she said, "this is a woman's book by the way."