Ah, Traffic: LA's Brain-stabbing Charm

As promised, I left Corey's this morning and headed straight up the coast, making quick stops in Marina Del Ray, Venice and Santa Monica, just to look around and explore the area. The coast is within sight, although the cold breeze and frigid waters weren't attracting many crowds along the beach. In fact, they looked rather sparse. To its defense though, it was a Thursday morning when I was passing through this area, and I would imagine most people are at work by now. I didn't mind though, as it was more room for me to stretch my legs.

Not long ago, I was asked to consider moving to LA, something I was extremely hesitant about, mainly because there are so many other places I would rather live; Portland, Denver and San Francisco topping that list. However, these areas were different. I actually really like it down here and I could've seen myself enjoying the area. It's a chill, beach-vibe where obviously people work hard to maintain their existence in the area, but life isn't taken too seriously and everyone sort of just wants to enjoy the day. It's a far cry from the land-locked LA that I've mainly been exposed to up until now. Down here along the coast, it's just...cool.

Upon arriving in Santa Monica, I walked up and down the pier alone for the first time since I'd first visited LA, constantly allowing the sights and sounds to trigger old memories from the last time I was there. I had a photo taken of me then, as well as the time before that, both in the same corner of the pier with the hills above Malibu far in the distance. Just adjacent to that corner, a seagull overhead had unloaded a huge, white glob of shit all down the front of my shirt. I laughed then, and checking overhead for any stealthy feathered bombers (there were none close enough to be a threat) I laughed again at the thought of the incident repeating itself. Passing up a third photo op of myself in that corner, I headed back towards the car and hopped on Santa Monica Avenue towards Hollywood.

1:18pm - Santa Monica. 1:52pm - Beverly Hills. 2:35pm - West Hollywood. 2:58pm - Paramount Studios. 3:15pm - Rudy's Barbershop in East Hollywood. Total driving distance? 9.8 miles. Now I remember why I didn't want to move to LA.

When I was in LA two years ago, I got my hair cut at this place called Rudy's, just down the street from my cousin's place. It's got a hipster vibe to it, being located in an old car garage and covered with magazine cut-outs and cool ad designs from the ceiling to the floor. With my shag getting a bit out of control, I figured that it was finally time to do something about it and what better place to have it done? It just seemed to make sense. So, I walked it and was immediately paired up with a guy named Keith that had, within the span of 40 minutes, turned my rag hag head into a closely cropped textured cut that I hadn't seen on myself since before June. Following the chop, I headed over to my cousin Kim's place where I hung out with her husband Myke for a while before we went around the corner to dinner at a place called The Alcove. I've been there before and their sandwiches are phenomenal, so I jumped at the chance to go. After dinner, I said my goodbye's to Myke and bowled through traffic once again in order to get to my old friend Steve's place in Studio City.

Almost immediately upon my arrival, Steve had to leave for a roller hockey game, which I was more than happy to attend when he asked if I wanted to come. Sure, I could've used the rest, but what fun would that have been? Steve's been playing since we were kids and at one point in our lives tried to get me into it as well. I failed miserably and he decided at that point to continue concentrating on his own efforts instead of helping me sort through mine.

The game was fun and Steve's team won, giving us more of a reason to celebrate when we got back to his place. Waiting for us was his girlfriend Stephanie, and after Steve got a chance to shower, the three of us headed down the block to a place called the Fox and Hounds, a neat little English Pub that soon became filled with the amplified sounds of aucoustic guitars and folk-like vocals. Over the next few hours we downed our beers and enjoyed the atmosphere, only deciding to head back after the band had stopped playing and the tables had started clearing out.

I'm now ready for bed and about to get some much needed rest, knowing full well that tomorrow is about to be another very long and busy day. I'm hoping to head down to Newport Beach fairly early, but judging from today's traffic, getting from here to El Segundo is going to be hard enough. And suddenly I realize, I'm way too tired to even think about it.