The Lazy Pressure of Skagway

I arrived in Skagway, Alaska two weeks ago, and it seems that I am already sucked into the little bubble. I have relaxed into the ease and comfort and simplicity of the town. Unfortunately, I have fallen into feeling like I am a million miles away from the real world. This is not unusual when I first get to Skagway-every single year this happens to me. I apologize to my five blog readers for not updating sooner, but just writing this gets me inspired to create again. Get out of my little predictable culture shock and begin new endeavors again.

SO WITH THAT SAID
here are the highlights of last couple of weeks

-rolled into Skagway after a treachorous ice-covered highway cracked out on Diet Coke and gum
-opened the door to the house I was going to share, and was immediately dissappointed
-decided to suck it up, and take a shower so I could go out and see all my old pals
-walked into the ONE restaurant, and was overwhelmed with the excitement of my friends, and was comforted by all the familiar faces
-started work the next day, and realized I should have worn thermal underwear and a down coat
-purchased some wool tights, a fuzzy fleece jacket, and fancy metal water bottle
-felt the crunch to get the museum clean for the familiarization tour-but they cancelled at the last minute, because planes couldn't fly out of Juneau
-decided after a week of living in my new place, that I couldn't stay there-so I moved into a big room in a big house on the hill by the town with the most amazing view
-have a bit more of a threat of wolves and bears up here, but the dogs are pretty loud, so hopefully they keep the wildlife far away
-got a little sad on April 4th, when I couldn't be there for my dad's 60th birthday
-realized this is just the first of many exciting events I will miss out on this summer

({[HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!]})

*phew

Well, now that I have caught you up just a bit, I feel good and refreshed that I can finally cross "blog" of my to-do list.

Right now, my dear friend, Josh is cooking me a deliciously spicy Thai dinner. It is still cold here, so a little spice will feel nice. Later tonight, we are going to a fundraiser at the Pizza Station to hear Wild Bill (the oldest, and only, one man country band in town). And yes, Dad, "Wild Bill" is everything you might imagine.

Frozen in Alberta

After two days of fine weather, I woke up this morning in Grande Prairie, Alberta. I wanted to take Oscar out first thing this morning, but he didn't want to go outside because of this -- I have reserved my hotel room for one more night, so I am hoping to pull out of here tomorrow morning. Hopefully the Alaska highway will be clear.

sing a little sunshine song

Hollywood snuck into my wee heart, and I was pretty sad to leave. I moved there convinced this was a toxic cesspool, and I left with so much love for this little village I can barely stand it. If you ever move to a new place, and get scared and want to give up and move home-DON'T. Wait for it. You will fall in love with where you are. Give it time. Become a part of your community. No matter where you are. I am so glad that I didn't let the hardships of moving to a new place alone get to me. I left Hollywood 100 times happier then I was when I moved there, and I was barely there five months. I could have stayed much longer, and I hope that I come back. But the best thing I have learned is to love where I am, because I am always me.


I left Hollywood one week ago, and tomorrow I make the long drive north to Skagway, Alaska. I have never driven such a long distance (40 hours! 2400 miles!), and I am a little nervous. But my ipod is full of novels, comedy, and pop music, and Katy Perry is making my life very fun lately.

My layover in Salt Lake City has been so lovely and comfortable. My sisters and I threw my dad a surprise Cuban themed birthday party last night, and I think he loved it. He has always been a bit obsessed with Latin America, and lately Cuba has his focus. He is determined to visit Cuba this year, and he's got the right connections, so I think he'll actually do it! The sun shone all week long, but now it is cold and snowing, getting me ready for cold, COLD Skagway

So....now I'm off to Alaska again. AGAIN. I can't believe it. I can't believe I will be there in just four days! I will definitely blog about my journey when I arrive, and please hope and pray for my and Oscar's safe arrival to town.

Au revoir!

Out There

Check out the new boy!
I knit this hat back in December, and I couldn't be happier to know that my work lives on!!

81st Annual Academy Awards

I live just two blocks from the Kodak Theatre, so I was determined this year to take advantage of all the Oscar festivities. For two weeks leading up to the Oscars maintenance crews and security worked around the clock setting up bleachers, carpet, flowers, tents, and curtains transforming Hollywood Blvd into glamour central. It is so fascinating watching TV, and knowing that the stars are literally just walking along the street, and there just happens to be carpet on the street. The Kodak Theatre is part of a massive mall, but they closed the entire mall for the whole day and also shut down the entire block.

Since this was the "Oscars" it should obviously be my doggy, Oscar's day too.

He got the Oscar for Best Dog

This is the corner of Cherokee and Hollywood right by my building, and apparently this limo got a little bit lost. It slowly backed up, and probably took at least fifteen minutes to get around the neighborhood to the Kodak.

You can see the red tent at the end of the block.
This is the only press we agreed to.
Security was tight, so we were half a block away as the stars arrived. These guys were committed to catching a glimpse of the action.

But this was our view. We could hear the occasional cheers and could only guess who was arriving. Kate? Brad? Mickey?

We continued to stroll along the street and stopped in front of the Pig and Whistle just in time to see that Heath Ledger won for Best Supporting Actor. This was my favorite moment of the night because an Elvis impersonator was playing the ukulele during the acceptance speech, and a Joker impersonator was telling him to "shut the 'F' up." It was perfect timing.

Even though the stars were already inside, the hubbub continued outside.

No autographs please!

state

I am beginning a new knitting commission for a friend (I can't reveal it because she is gifting it to her boyfriend), and I decided to try a new yarn store. Normally I would try to buy yarn wholesale or from Knit Picks, but I felt like exploring the city a little bit. I drove about twenty minutes north to Eagle Rock to a quaint little family owned yarn shop that I had read about on Yahoo. It boasted fantastic reviews, and I was anxious to caress some perfect fibers and curl up in an armchair while thumbing through some pattern books. I love listening to yarn store sales people and frequently eavesdrop on the knitting circles' conversations. And I couldn't wait to get my hands on some decorative needles. I followed the directions perfectly and pulled up in front of the store -

CLOSED!

Completely cleaned out!

Empty.

I was pitifully disappointed. I came home, hopped on the net, and looked up their website. They stated that they were hoping to still have yarns available and would slowly revamp their website once they get over their sadness over the store closing.

No more knitting classes. No more community circles. No more pattern displays.

This news set me into a panic. I am hoping to own my own business one day. Hopefully one day soon. I am exploring different areas, expecting them to fuel whatever services I decide to provide. This blatant closure of this yarn store and the rest of America rapidly losing their jobs sent me into a tailspin.

SO for those of you who care-

I have been spending my time reevaluating my decision to permanently leave Alaska. This was going to be my last summer in Skagway, Alaska working as the Head Madam aka Tour Guide Manager at the Red Onion Saloon. But with the state of the world right now, I think it is unwise to walk away. I wanted to explore different paths, but now I wonder if I should stick with what I have and see where that takes me. I mean, I know I don't think I want to live in Skagway for the rest of my life because it doesn't offer me everything I want. But it does offer me the one thing I want the most right now - a wonderful job that I love more than any other job I've ever had.

I don't know if I feel this way only because I don't have a job right now, but I know that I don't want to be someone who is looking for random retail jobs. I want some stability. If these means continuing to thrive in Skagway and perhaps going to graduate school in the meantime, so be it. I just want to have some peace of mind.

Hollywood Hike

Perfect day for a hike.

Not too hot.

Not too cold.Mitch and I drove about one mile to get to the trail head for the Hollyridge Trail.

I had downloaded directions for navigating the trail to the Hollywood sign, but they were not helpful.

I think I was so giggly over Oscar's enthusiasm for the horses (I believe he thought they were big dogs), that we got lost.

So we turned around, found our way, and then turned left instead of right. We thought we would get right to the sign, but were suddenly blocked by a deep ravine and were lost again.

We turned around again, and followed the old Mulholland Highway up to the top of the ridge.

But we really wanted to "see" the sign without the hideous chain link in the way.

We were not fazed by the sign, or at least I wasn't.

Oscar found a skinny way to slip into some trespassing. So we sucked in and snuck in.

And there we were!

Mitch is standing precariously on a ridge, and we were tempted to hike all the way down to that big Holtkamp "H", but it looked too steep for my wimpy legs.

So we slipped back through the fence (like good lil citizens) and enjoyed the view.

We hiked as far as we could go, and we could see all of Los Angeles.

We can sure dirty up mean, but we clean up nice!

and..

for your entertainment-

genuine Hollywood entertainment!!