Life in the Cheese Drawer

this morning, jane and i had no idea what we were going to do, so we decided to go to universal city to see what was there and visit the harry potter section of the gift shop again (because, why not, right?).
after taking a quick tour and then eating a crepe, we decided to check out the starline hop on hop off busses that did tours of hollywood, santa monica, and venice beach. and right then jane made the decision that we’d go! so on to the bus we went without our sunscreen, water bottles, or dramamine (no worries; i picked some up at a CVS down the street from the chinese theatre. 
the first drop was at the hollywood walk of fame, chinese theatre, and the madam toussand’s wax museum. we walked up the sidewalk to see if we could find the stars of people we cared about. took some pics of the dolby theatre where the academy awards are held, and saw the chinese theatre. 
AND GOT FOOD AT A TACO TRUCK!!! woohoo!!! it wasn’t a GREAT taco truck, but at least it was a taco truck. ate around the corner in a slightly sketchy sidewalk bumpout, but at least it was shady. 
lots of people wanting us to take their CDs, handouts, tour bus info, and people dressed up as movie characters (and the village people – one of whom was wearing very short shorts and furry boots). 
some items of note: puritan roots are not very deep here. lots of adult shops, lots of head shops, lots of debauchery (i like it; just a departure from average minnesotan fare). 
then we hopped on the bus again and took a bus tour of hollywood – melrose ave, beverly hills, saw the hollywood sign, etc. it was fun once i got the dramamine in me because we sat on the roof of the bus and took in the sun. (the sun doens’t seem very strong here this time of year, but it sure is bright and hot). tried to stop at tower records so i could get something for nate, but it was closed (for good). 
got back to universal city where we checked out the comic book store that’d been closed earlier and had supper at hard rock cafe, along with a drink. then took the shuttle back to the hotel, where we now sit! drinking a fuzzy navel and considering sticking my feet in the pool.