Hotel room parties, warped tour and the quick stop

Okay, so basically we (Amanda & I) were back in Rutherford for a little while just before Warped Tour. The first night we went to Adam/Elise’s apartment and played Kings, which got us reasonably drunk in a very short period of time. From there, we all walked back to Amanda’s and continued drinking and playing never have I ever…lame, but when you are drunk it was pretty much screeching, yelling and pointing. Hilarious. The next night, a house party fell through so we all ended up going to a hotel and partying in a room. The dude that hired the room was wasted and all like “yeahhhhh! woo let’s get a room and partaaayyy” but as soon as we were there he was all like “no smoking, no standing on the bed” blah blah blah you get the point…but everyone raged anyway.

The next day was Warped Tour – I was pretty stoked. I have always wanted to go, but I didn’t really know what to expect. I watched a bit of Bayside, then Devil Wears Prada, a bit of NOFX, Alexisonfire (no one really goes off to them, their crowd wasn’t really that big. WTF?) and Day to Remember. In between this I had to drink $8 beers as they have no spirits. OH MY GOD. Nearly died on the first one, but soon I was in full swing, complete with getting a drink bought for me and my own stand up comedy routine which resulted in me getting some manager’s business card. To say the least this place was intense – every band has their own merch tent and there are heaps of other booths there as well, like Skate4cancer, Atticus etc. Overall while all this additional stuff was cool (and I bought heaps) I felt like a lot of people (including myself) spent a large chunk of time sifting through all of it rather than watching bands. I missed Lights and Bad Religion, which sucked, but overall every band I did see made up for it…all for like $35.

A couple of days later I went to the Quick Stop where Clerks was filmed. It was really cool but extremely small, and afterwards we headed into Redbank to go to the Jay and Silent Bob store. Seriously, if you ever go to New Jersey, make sure you make the time to stop in there! There are props from every movie that Kevin Smith produced, directed or starred in (he owns it) including…wait for it….the batman cap and cape from Mallrats. Heavennnnn!

SHOPPING :D

Today I bought 3 pairs of vans, a pair of cute kitten heels, a dress, a top, lame leggings and a wallet. All for real cheap. Heaven. I love America and American shopping…I do not like the weird boy in the vans store who declared his undying love for me at the top of his lungs. Creeeeeeep.

The fun really begins…

Okay, so after my birthday celebrations were done and dusted, a day or so later we went to the beach for a bit of sun. The people here have to pay to go – it’s crazy! Luckily a friend had some season passes so I didn’t have to cough up the $8! That night we also went to Bar A for beat the clock. Basically the beers start at 25c at 8pm and each hour they go up by 25c and there is a $3 shot wheel – which ever drink it’s on is what you get. We got mind erasers and some guy paid for them. Sweeeeet!

The next day I was told that apparently some dude tried to hit on me…I thought it was hilarious because I didn’t notice at all. I had this brilliant idea earlier on in the year to never get close to anyone, to never fall for anyone ever again (or at least for a long time) – just as my brilliant plan was working out, sure enough someone walked into my life (and as much as my head has this red alert saying run for your life, he makes me smile and I enjoy hanging out with him) and has changed everything…I can honestly say that I am finding my way again. I am having fun and I’m learning to smile again. It is quite amazing, I can’t really explain it, but I am getting such a rush out of being alive. 

……shhh.

 

A day later we went to Ellis Island which has an immigration museum – and guess what? I found my surname there! I had no idea that some of my far off relatives came to America! Crazy stuff.

We then went to Liberty Island to see Lady Liberty. The line was HUGE and we went early. It took two hours to get to the front of the line…it did my head in. Totally worth seeing though! The same dude that worked on the Eiffel Tower worked on Lady Liberty. How’s that for trivia?!

Man, it was amazing! I saw Times Square, a bit of Central Park and a heap of other stuff. We went to Stand Up NY – the comedy club owned by Jerry Seinfield. SO FUNNY!

DAYS 1 – 3

Okay, so on Thursday Jamie dropped me off at the airport, and after a sooky goodbye I flew to Brisbane. The flight was pretty crappy – the weather was rubbish so there was a lot of turbulence, but I did manage to get some sleep. When I arrived in Brisbane, I had to catch this weird train (it was above the ground like on a little bridge or whatever) to the international terminal, where I had to wait for 4 hours before I could check in…

Hey, at least I was at the front of the line right? I got some food, called Jamie, then proceeded through customs where I was “randomly selected” for a “light pat down.” Typical. Anyway, I boarded the plane and had 12 hours of flying to look forward to.

 

Flying into LA was a BIG reality check. Perth is tiny compared to this city. You know that whole thing ‘A goldfish does not grow when it is in a bowl, put it into a pond and it will grow up to 5 times its size” it is about potential and opportunities. I always thought that Perth, Melbourne, Sydney gave me that room to grow. I now realise that they don’t, well, not really. Obviously Australia has better health care, superannuation etc, but America – oh my god.

The only green grass you see flying into LA is a baseball pitch, occasionally a front yard and maybe a few trees. No one really has a backyard like we do back home. The only blue you will see are swimming pools – nearly every one has them in their backyard. The school buses really are yellow, the cop cars really do look like they do in the movies (man, they look like they are from the 70′s – Australia’s cop cars are high performance sports cars) and LAX airport….crazy!

New Jersey is amazing. Everyone is so nice, everyone is patriotic, everything is green and homely. House parties go off.

House party!

New Jersey!

My flipcup team (the right side) – winners!

 

Well that’s all for now guys. I’ll keep you posted.

PS Tilda, the toilets flush in a clockwise direction…