A post about October

Alright, so it's been a while. I'm sorry that I haven't written for about 4 weeks, but I guess I just lost the inspiration, the will to sit down and write. Partly because life here in Santa Monica has been so nice and relaxing (read: lazyy) that I just rather sit/lie down to read whatever comic I recently bought. But after talking to the parental units during their stay here (and reading comments on the previous post), I realised that more people read the stuff I write here than I thought. Since it's been almost a month since I wrote last, I guess a short resume of what I've been doing these past weeks is in order. It will however be quite brief, since I haven't really been using my camera at all and I can't really remember exactly what I've been doing =). So here we go

October 5th
Ida, Will (her boyfriend) and I drive down to a slightly less safe neighborhood than Santa Monica, Crenshaw. It's about a 15min drive, and we go all that way, just to find a cheap store. Yes, I'll do anything to save a dollar or five. So we end up at Wal*Mart and I figure we're just there to find a good airbed for me. Well, we did (see previous post), but apparently, Ida didn't think that the clothes I brought were fancy enough to be allowed entrance to various venues in Beverly Hills. She says I have to buy clothes as well, and I walk out from walmart with new shoes, socks and a shirt.

October 8th
I met up with another old friend that I've talked to for a long time online, but never met IRL and we had dinner, went to a mall, saw a movie. Really nice evening. I spent 60 bucks on being a set of tickets for a paintball-place that I still haven't used (man that'll piss me off if they stay "unused" until I leave).

October 9th
I discover Jack-in-the-Box, and their Ciabatta burgers, and I know what I'll be eating for the rest of my stay here in the states. Man..they're so good...in fact, I feel kinda a hungry right now...maybe I should..NO! keep writing!

October 11th
Walked around in Hollywood, really nothing special. In n out of tourist-shops, trying to find something interesting. Did find a little thing I'd love to buy, to play a mega-hilarious prank on somebody, but I've forgotten who...

October 12th
I start an expensive, but very lovely tradition, of going to the local comicbookclub, Hi De Ho Comics, and buy a couple of hardbook-covered comics for about 50 bucks, and then proceed to Hooters of Santa Monica, to eat an overpriced meal while enjoying the sights =).

October 13th

Will is nominated for a Music award, and the voting is taking place, basically by entering a club. So we head over to to show our support. (I also got to use my new "outfit", yay). Part of the voting process was walking up to strangers inside the club, and ask them to vote for "your friend" (in my case Will, obviously). I quickly realised that that meant I had a reason, a cover if you will, to walk up to beautiful girls and talk to them. I've always been kinda shy around people I find attractive (well, more than me that is ;o)) and therefore this was a great night. I must've approached at least 15 hot chicks in one night. Safe to say, I had quite an evening, and I'm sure Ida n Will would agree with me, if they could be reached for a comment =).


October 15th

My order from ThinkGeek finally arrived, and I got to play around with my new geeky stuff. Wohoo! Can't wait to order again, need more shirts and more stickers =).



October 17th
I start working on finding some kind of live music event for my parents to enjoy during their stay here 2 weeks later.

October 18th
My first night out on the town, having fun, going to various clubs, buying drinks n doing lots of stuff. First time in my life that I spent 700 SEK without actually buying something to bring home. I've heard people do this every weekend...I wish I had that much money...oh well. Bottomline, had an awesome time. Thank you Leslie =D.

October 19th
Wednesday again, w00t. Bought a great superman story, and a hardbook cover of, according to my new friend Ian, the definitive Batman story. Another visit at the restaurant. Nice as usual.

October 25th
Another step in Ida's makeover of ...well, me. We went to the local hairdresser (barber?) and asked for a very specific cut. My first time at a professional hairstylist, and I don't see why people spend $32 on this. He wasn't much better than mom when she cuts my hair. Completely overrated! But the new style sure is different, and people (well, besides mom that is) has been complementing it, and saying I look better in shorter hair. I guess I'll try to stick to this for a while...

October 26th
Sweet, a wednesday. That means I'm allowed to spend money without considering the consequences...heh..at least this is a little better than spending 80 bucks without bringing anything home besides memories (ah yes, thank you Leslie =D). Got Marvel 1602, volume 1 in hardbook cover. Had interesting discussions about my newly purchased comic when eating afterwards. More nice than usual!
Also went with Ida to her friend Spencer's place, and ate, watched southpark (oh my that setup was nice) and discussed politics.

October 30th
Parents showed up, I finally got real candy (w00t, lakrits!!! knäppa jänkar). We went to church, was interesting for the parents to see a real gospel church. Then they claimed to be too tired, and went straight home to go sleep. 2 weeks of preparations to find some place where they could enjoy live Jazz down the toilet...yay...bah.

Besides the dates mentioned, I really didn't do anything interesting enough worth mentioning. Mostly I biked around Santa Monica, bought groceries at Vons, ate at Jack-in-the-box...mmm, bacon , bought more stuff at Vons mmm, Poptarts . So enough with the "previously on, the life of Jacob". Time for what happened the first week in November:


"A little less conversation, a little more action please". The tunes of the Las Vegas themesong (a song written by Elvis some 35 years ago that got released as a remix by Junkie XL) playing in my head as we drive down the Strip in Las Vegas, and pass the beautiful Mandalay Bay resort and casino. Las Vegas is all what I've imagined, expected, and then some. Screens sized at about 200 inches, neon signs larger than a normal house, lightshows in great fountains and beautiful people all over the place, gambling away their riches. If there's ever been a moment for me to use the expression "larger-than-life", this would be it. I knew what I would see in Las Vegas, and still felt unprepared for all the sights. Just think then how it was for my parents who were expecting a "sinful dirty place, with drunks and prostitues at every corner with just one shady casino in the dark". Lets just say they were all impressed by the glamour of everything.
Is there anything more american, than being too lazy to go to Paris, France to experience The Eiffel tower that you decide to build a smaller copy of it yourself in the middle of the desert? Either way, my parents loved it.
Since we were in Las Vegas for only 1½ days, we didn't really do much. Tuesday night (when we arrived) we walked around on the strip, looked at all the attractions, and mini-wonders they've built there. Shot a lot of pictures and video and just had fun (some a bit too much, *cough*)

The main attraction for the trip tho, had to be the Grand Canyon. What a sight. A 1 ½ hour flight took us around the boring eventless nature of Nevada and Arizona, but also showed us Hoover Dam, Bolder City, an old erupted volcano and obviously, the Grand Canyon. I really was speechless after I had seen it, and I still am. It's uncomparable to anything else I've seen in nature. I could post pictures I took, but they wouln't come close to doing the real thing justice. 'Course, I still need to put up one picture, just for the sake of it.
After returning from the GC-tour, we needed to eat, and mom decided that we were going to eat something that just simply screams american food. It meant I finally got to find out what Krispy Kreme really is...deliciousness sold in boxes.

Wednesday night was once again, spent on the strip, walking in and out of hotels and casinos. Sure was interesting to see. I played some, (altho not at all as much as I'd like to) and I won some (once again, far from as much as I'd like to =) )


I ended my little Vegas adventure the morning after by flying home. A 1 hour flight that felt like 5min, because I spent the time reading a movie script. Sure hope that script will become a movie, so awesome.
Anyway, that was it for this time. I'll work on writing a bit more often, if you, my fellow reader, help out a bit by commenting on what I write about.