I sing Phantom Planet’s “California” nearly every time my friends and I do karaoke. I’ve loved the song since 2002, long before it was the theme song to a stupid teen drama, long before teen dramas about California were a thing, and long before I met Kamran.
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be sharing a snackbox with him on our way to Orange County for 10 days of:
• In-N-Out burgers
• quality time with his family, which hopefully will include plenty of watching “Bonanza” and eating Persian dishes full of pomegranate and blackened pickled vegetables
• DISNEYLAND! with his friends Gary and Diana (but not their kids mwahahahaha)
• his friend Diana’s wedding, which I assume will not involve homemade moonshine, UNLIKE OTHER WEDDINGS I HAVE RECENTLY ATTENDED (god bless you, Ohio)
• trying out my Farsi on his parents (so far, I can say poop, pee, hungry, and thirsty, so obviously they will be impressed)
• hot dogs from Pink’s, where the line is apparently as long as it is here for Shake Shack
• Alberto’s carne asada burritos
• touring the San Juan Capistrano Mission (and reenacting scenes from The Birds using the Barbie my best friend bought for me)
• anything from Del Taco (because, come on, it translates to of the taco)
• a day-long tour of L.A. that includes Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, the Santa Monica pier, maybe not going to the Chinese Theatre unless someone tells us we have to, and a very adult dinner with his uncle that will include quiet conversation
• generally being in Laguna and acting like a semi-retarded teenager
Obviously I’ll be singing “California” while we do every single one of these things, too. Look forward to the videos.
