Today I went to Universal Studios. The traffic was actually pretty bad both there and back, and I didn’t even enjoy the park. It was very uncrowded all day, but there just wasn’t anything fun to do there. I headed for the studio tour first, and I took a ton of pictures during that, but then I noticed my camera battery was dying so I figured I should give it a rest. There were only a few more things to take pictures of in the park itself anyway. The tour was kind of cool, but also kind of hokey. It was hard to believe that anybody actually worked there - a few film academy students were on the streets, and I saw craft services setting up a table, but that was about it. Other than that it was deserted. There were a few special effects sequences that were pretty cheesy, but I suppose they look cheesy to the actors too, and yet they end up looking good on screen.

I went on the Revenge of the Mummy ride, which was even more tame than Space Mountain. There was essentially zero line, so they let you ride twice in a row - when you got back to the loading area, they sent you through again, and then made you get off when you came back the second time. After this, I got some food, and became the best friend of a bunch of little tiny birds. I went back up to the upper level (the park is on two levels, separated by a HUGE set of escalators) and caught the Terminator show, which was nifty; my favorite part was the blast of fog that blinded you for several seconds. After that I didn’t really do anything else, because nothing else really called to me as something to do.

I left the park and went to Universal CityWalk, the mall plaza area just outside the theme park. I wandered around there and bought a pair of Skate Buds, which I immediately regretted, and really regretted after I discovered I couldn’t use the damn things, and really really regretted when I discovered you can get them for half what I paid if you shop on eBay. Fortunately I was able to return them, though it was a little bit of a hassle. I left shortly after that; one thing that was really weird about the drive home was hearing Marketplace come on at 3:00pm! It’s the same time as when it’s playing on the east coast, but I’m used to it being an evening thing, whereas out here it airs in the afternoon, so I guess fewer people out here get to hear it because it’s playing while they’re at work rather than during drive time.

No idea what I’m going to do tomorrow. It’s my birthday, of course! I know I want and egg & cheese sandwich from Subway for breakfast, but after that I’m not sure if I will go to West Hollywood or not. I bought a bottle of chocolate vodka today and it was delicious but I’m not supposed to drink when I’m alone, so I dunno. Maybe I will knock around the hotel room, maybe I will knock around West Hollywood, maybe I’ll figure out something else to do.