A Turbulent Flume Adventure

So...wondering what I've been up to for my Spring Break? Well, hanging with the parents as we pillage and plunder around southern California! Here's a quick little re-cap with some pictures and whatnot:

Monday: My Mom and Step-Dad flew down from Oregon and visited me. I gave them the royal tour around CalArts etc. before we headed off campus and did various shopping sprees---which resulted in some very nice items that I can't thank them enough for. :) I'm staying vague if you couldn't tell. But I assure you, one item in particular is going to really help me out now, and during the summer. Thank you again Mom and Robert! Afterwards, they were really tired and worn-out from the long travel day(and the ever so delightful LA traffic) so we took the evening off and I spent the night hanging out with school buddies in the Palace.

Tuesday: Parents took me to Santa Barbara! We walked along the shore and later drove around town and visited a place called the Mission. At the Mission my Mom spotted a unique gift-shop item that we've been referencing since she spotted it---so it HAS to make it onto the ol' blog.

The shoreline--REALLY nice weather. Easily mid-70s.

A shot within the Mission garden area. Wish I had taken a picture of this gorgeous HUGE tree they had in the cemetery(roughly 4000 people buried in the cemetery).

Here's that certain item btw:

I can't believe it's online and has photos! 5 stars on Amazon too! That evening we went out to dinner and had a delicious meal before I returned to campus.

Wednesday: I spent the morning alpha-channeling(I swear I'll actually define this term later) some drawings for my film before my Mom came. We hung around CalArts and I showed her what alpha-channeling actually is, along with introducing her to Maya a bit. I really needed to do a Vons trip, so we hopped in the car and did that errand before we met up with my Step-dad, who had gone golfing. We had lunch, I was dropped off at CalArts again and did even MORE alpha-channeling(I did about 30 drawings in one day!). That night I got to dress up(I wore stockings---pigs flew, I swear) and attended a really fantastic concert with the parents down at Disney Hall:

I didn't take this picture, but it's exactly where we sat. That detailed structure in the middle is an organ! The pieces were all played by little Quintets and were very enjoyable. The big event was Gustavo Dudamel came and was apart of a quintet for a Mozart clarinet piece(he was featured on 60 Minutes a little while ago). He's extremely passionate about music, his body language was simply fascinating to watch! Again, thank you Robert and Mom for the treat! :)

Thursday:
We visited an old-family favorite:

Look familar? How about this?


Give up? It's Disneyland---during Spring Break! The crowds weren't TOO bad, but lots of fun to draw(filled a good 7 pages!). We didn't set out to conquer the park---just rode our favorite rides:


Indie was open today! I was very happy to ride this thing again(its been at least 5 years! Too long since I last looked into the Gods' eyes! haha). We later went on Pirates and then Haunted Mansion. And it is true---Small World is indeed closed down. Whether for this reason or the other---maybe both, only time will tell. We ended the day on:


Splash Mountain(the title of this post is a reference to a sign that's on this ride). I got stuck in the VERY front--parents ducked to the back, but weren't kept entirely safe either. My spot was good for video(AFTER the final plummet)---VERY bad for staying dry. I was soaked to the bone for the rest of my Disneyland experience.



Afterwards, we decided we really didn't want to battle traffic(it was now around 6 and heavy LA traffic hour) so we grabbed some Main Street ice cream, and in my case, pulled out my sketchbook, and awaited the Disney parade:

I took a couple pictures of the floats, but this one is the coolest:

Mr. PuppetMaster!

It was now 7pm and safe to head onto the freeway, so after the final float passed-we bid farewell to the happiest place on earth and drove back to Valencia. I'm now hanging in my dorm because A) I was still wet from Splash and B) work on some artwork/write this post up. So it's been a whirlwind week! A spring break filled with new and old sights and sounds.:) Lots of great experiences and memories. Exactly what I needed and beginning tomorrow night(after my parents head off) I'll be diving full-on into my film and getting this beast wrapped up! Lots of things to do--especially within the next 4 weeks! Anyhow, that's been my break----
Here are some more random pictures around Disneyland:

CROWDS!


Disneyland LEGS! In this case, at this hour, weary Disneyland legs---which have been standing in the line for Splash Mountain for the past 70 minutes or so.

MONSTRO!


Uh-oh Mom! Watch-out!!!!

I didn't set out to include this mission in this picture--but, in all seriousness, spot the Nun!

The second coolest float!

Picture taken right before leaving the park. And in the next few weeks, I'll be sure to upload some Disney sketches. The Sunburnt Shutter Sisters will make an appearance here soon enough! ;)