National Lampoon's California Vacation

After worrying about it for weeks, I'm in California for a writing conference. So far, so good.

Mr. Bill was a stowaway. He hid in my new handbag, and then complained about being hungry. I explained to him no way was I shelling out $4 for a tiny fucking can of Pringles. Once he saw the prices, he understood.

So we shared a Coke Zero (it was free) and some pretzels I brought from home.

Mr. Bill was very impressed with the view from steerage economy class. We got lucky--the person who had the center seat didn't show up. More leg room for me and the lady sitting in the aisle seat.

Mr. Bill catching a nap. I can't sleep on the plane.I fly so infrequently, it's tremendously exciting when I do, and that interactive screen that showed the maps and all the different views and what the outside temperature was way better than an $8 movie.

I saw a chair like this in a 'zine, and that chair was going for $1,600 in an vintage furniture store in NYC. It's a "Jacobsen Egg Chair." However, the person who wrote about it for the 'zine paid something like $25 at a thrift store. Modern In Designs has a chair just like this for a mere $695. A real Jacobsen Egg Chair would run you around $5,999. I'm gonna see if I can drag this downstairs and have the guy at SFO shrink-wrap it for me so I can take one home. These have to be the coolest chairs at San Francisco International Airport.

Somehow, I'm not surprised to see a yoga room in a California airport. But it makes sense--after sitting for hours, a good stretch is just what you need.

Due to the unfortunate placement of this sign, I will forever associate San Francisco with Starbucks, even though I know Seattle is to blame.

Since my novel is in a hot genre, if I get an amazing book deal, this is my next car. It's only $88K and change.