Well, here I am in Solvang, sneezing like a cat with a feather up its nose, and coughing a horrible raspy cough. One of my Deppsisters had a filthy chest cold and now I have it too, and so do at least two of my fellow Deppsisters. No doubt they’ll go home to their various states (and to Canada too) and spread it around a little more. Me, I’m planning to go infect San Francisco.
The week was enormous fun, even though the daytime temperatures hit 110-115 degrees and I normally just don’t do anything above 90 Fahrenheit. We managed with a ton of sunscreen, and by drinking a lot. So, OK, most of the ‘ladies’ were drinking margaritas and beer, but it was liquid, right? And we managed by hopping between air-conditioned house and air-conditioned cars, with side trips to air-conditioned restaurants, where more margaritas, beers, and Mai Tais were consumed. Being just a sweet little old English lady, I stuck to drinking water and hot tea (yes, even in that heat. One has one’s standards, dahling), but I took lots of incriminating pictures … which I shall not publish, unless the other ladies fail to pander to my every whim for the next year. Mwahahaha!!
We had such a great time. We watched Johnny Depp movies and interviews, we visited the Hollywood Walk of Fame to view the Johnny Depp star (which I had to wipe clean of grime in the approved way* before it could be photographed), and we visited Grauman’s Chinese Theater to see how well our hands and feet fitted into the famous prints. We lounged in the pool at the house and chatted, and got stuck in the LA traffic and chatted, we went to Disneyland and rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and chatted some more, and we attended Opening Night at the Hollywood Bowl and saw BB King, Liza Minelli, James Galway and Duane Eddy and some quite spectacular fireworks.
It’s truly amazing that a group of women from as far afield as Saskatchewan and England, taking in half a dozen US states on the way, can form such a strong bond of friendship after meeting on the internet with a bad case of JDOCD**, but so it is. We don’t just drool and chat about Johnny and watch endless movies, we talk about our lives and discuss everything under the sun and we support each other through the tough times. We are a close-knit group of true ‘real world’ friends, but we’d never have met up if it hadn’t been for that guy. Some of us have smartened ourselves up, lost weight, somehow found the resources to travel alone for the first time in our lives, or started to write. Some of us have looked to him as a role model and said ‘Fuck it’ to life and to the obstacles that stopped us doing what we wanted. On this trip most of the group decided to get tattoos at Yoni’s on Ventura Boulevard, each of them individual to the person concerned, but all including one small common design as a symbol of sisterhood. For some this was the first tattoo they’d ever had done, and perhaps they felt just a little rebellious, but they felt good. And that, dear readers, is the Depp Effect.
We like to think that if Johnny Depp knew of our friendship and the things we have had the courage to do in the name of that friendship, he’d be tickled to death.
One can only hope.
* Don’t ask.
Is this where you and Andy parted ways for a bit on the vacation?
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That’s right, Mr P! He didn’t seem to want to join the mad women for the Depp week, for some reason. Can’t think why! LOL! We’re back together now and heading up to San Francisco.
I hope your cold gets better before you have to fly back across the pond.
So were you one of the ones getting a tattoo? (Don’t worry, I won’t ask what or where it was.)
Ruth Hull Chatliens last blog post..The Abundance of God
First off, glad you’re still among the living, though I know what it is like to have one of those chest infections. They suck wind, or rather, suck the wind right out of you.
Second, you obviously have arrived at the temple of Deppdom. You only have one thing left to do; go to France, track him down, and make camp outside his house, you and the ladies.
Of course, there are these little laws about stalking, but hey…
Mr. Nighttimes last blog post..I should, I wish, I love.
Thanks, Ruth! No, I didn’t get a tattoo this time. I may, sometime in the future, but I’m allergic to all kinds of stuff and I need to get an allergy test before I go letting people stick ink under my skin!
Mr N – Nonononono! I don’t do the stalking thing. Yikes! How disrespectful is that? Not that going to France and hanging out in a sun less fierce than LA hoping to catch a glimpse doesn’t sound fun. Thanks for the good wishes – I’m not as bad this morning as I feared I would be, but I do sound as if I swallowed a truckload of gravel…
Meanwhile Johnny hs been doing good philanthropic things in the news he’s so worth all this !!!!sandy
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I want to know the approved way. LOL!
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Good to see you writing again! Missed your wonderful view on life!
I’d just like to add, there were some of us that could not meet up with the group this time (for various reasons), but we still felt the bond! We were happy for the rest of you and know that you did us proud! We know that our time shall come, even if it is with a smaller group of ladies!
It’s hard being on the other end of the activities (knowing that sooooo much fun is being had), but once you are a life long ‘Sister’, you know that you are always included! That is the real magic of this bond…that distance does not diminish the love. That is the true Depp Effect…and I know that Johnny would be proud!
Sandy – I haven’t caught up with the news yet, but it doesn’t surprise me. He’s a sweetheart.
Dawn – You had to ask, didn’t you? And I thought you knew. The approved way is to clean the star with whatever one of the ladies has handy in her bag. Last year it was an Anne Summers’ Buzz Fresh wipe. This year, a Femfresh. LOL!
I think JD would like the femfresh LOL!!!
Dawns last blog post..Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly
Hey, Karen – how are you? We missed you! It would be wonderful if one day ALL of us could make it, wouldn’t it? But you were not forgotten, you know that.
Oh, you’ve made me so excited about moving to L.A.
Red – you’re moving to LA? If the Deppfest is held there again next year, I’ll have to look you up!
I am so glad you had fun. And you have such lovely friends. Lucky lady………
Aw, so glad you had a good time. I was lying in bed the other night thinking that I must check to see how you got on. God, how sad is that?!! x
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Godless Sunday – Thanks! They really are the greatest bunch of ladies!
I’m still sick … THREE of my friends who also have this bug now have pneumonia. Not good.
EM – Not sad at all, I’m touched that you think of me!
Sorry I got you sick, but it was worth it! Cant wait for DeppFest 2009!
I’m sorry you got me sick, too – but I wouldn’t have missed it! LOL!
And I was with you all in spirit. I want a tattoo too.
Maybe, one day, Jeni. Maybe we will end up in a tattoo parlour together?
Ahh good.
When?
I know what I want.