My final few days in Los Angeles were a flurry of activity. I picked up my glasses and orthotics, sold my car, finalized my packing and did a myriad of other things. One of the best things I got to do, though, was attend a reading by one of my favorite authors: Jodi Picoult. I first read her book My Sister's Keeper (by far superior to the movie version) while I was traveling through Italy a few years ago. That reading experienced culminated with me a sobbing mess on a train from Rome to Pisa in a car filled with nuns attempted to comfort me in Italian. What a sight!
I have been wanting to attend a reading of hers for ages, but was either out of town when she came, or I heard about it after she had already come to LA. It was very lucky that I happened to be at the Grove Barnes and Noble when they had the sign up about her coming. Her new book, Sing You Home, comes with a CD of original music, so the signing was a pretty great deal: book, cd, reading, singing, signing. She is very personable and has really interesting stories about her research and experiences with her books.
My departure date finally arrived, both too soon and not soon enough. My flight was pretty full, but luckily for me, the lady at the check-in counter was super nice and actually checked a third bag for me as a shopping bag so I got it for free! The flight had a bunch of movies I wanted to see, including The King's Speech! I ended up watching movies for most of the flight and only sleeping a couple of hours. Thankfully, it was a really smooth flight, just like last time I came. I had a short layover in Seoul, then on to Chiang Mai in a nearly empty plane. I got to lay down and sleep the entire way. This one was a bit more bumpy, so I took some Dramamine and it knocked me out.
When I arrived in Thailand, my bags were some of the first off the plane, so I tossed them all on a cart, and headed out. My limited Thai was nice to have, since it got me through security without a spot search. My roommate, Jasmine, was just on the other side of the exit, and it turned out she was dropping off some missionaries heading back to LA for a few months, so she had the use of their truck, and we were able to pile all the bags in the back no problem.
We arrived at the house in no time, which is a great townhouse, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, huge kitchen, balconies, and back garden shared with other townhouses. We also have a cat. She is very vocal but nice, except when you try to climb the stairs and she attacks your feet! :)
I have been wanting to attend a reading of hers for ages, but was either out of town when she came, or I heard about it after she had already come to LA. It was very lucky that I happened to be at the Grove Barnes and Noble when they had the sign up about her coming. Her new book, Sing You Home, comes with a CD of original music, so the signing was a pretty great deal: book, cd, reading, singing, signing. She is very personable and has really interesting stories about her research and experiences with her books.
My departure date finally arrived, both too soon and not soon enough. My flight was pretty full, but luckily for me, the lady at the check-in counter was super nice and actually checked a third bag for me as a shopping bag so I got it for free! The flight had a bunch of movies I wanted to see, including The King's Speech! I ended up watching movies for most of the flight and only sleeping a couple of hours. Thankfully, it was a really smooth flight, just like last time I came. I had a short layover in Seoul, then on to Chiang Mai in a nearly empty plane. I got to lay down and sleep the entire way. This one was a bit more bumpy, so I took some Dramamine and it knocked me out.
When I arrived in Thailand, my bags were some of the first off the plane, so I tossed them all on a cart, and headed out. My limited Thai was nice to have, since it got me through security without a spot search. My roommate, Jasmine, was just on the other side of the exit, and it turned out she was dropping off some missionaries heading back to LA for a few months, so she had the use of their truck, and we were able to pile all the bags in the back no problem.
We arrived at the house in no time, which is a great townhouse, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, huge kitchen, balconies, and back garden shared with other townhouses. We also have a cat. She is very vocal but nice, except when you try to climb the stairs and she attacks your feet! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment