Heading down the 101
I spent the last week of August in and around sunny Los Angeles, CA, and it was a blast. Matt is moving out there and took a trip to find an apartment, so I decided to tag along. My sleep schedule is all fucked up from not only the jetlag, but also from the odd hours that were kept. Also, it might have been from sleeping on air mattresses for a week. We stayed with my old roommate Dylan and his girlfriend Kelly, and I felt bad occupying their living room for a week. But we tried to stay out of their hair as much as possible. It felt like I was there for twice as long as I was, and I'm not sure why. Matt thinks it was the weather. I think it was because I got up early almost everyday. We really couldn't have done more in seven days. Matt found an apt, I drove up to Ojai and Santa Barbara, we went hiking, went to different beaches, and we drove out to Las Vegas. In Vegas we learned one very important thing: lap dances are good luck.
I never really considered living in CA, and I'm not really considering it now, but I would definitely not rule it out. I really, really love driving. Part of what made the trip so fun- and less of a hassle for our friends- was that we both rented our own cars. So we weren't beholden to anyone and all we had to do was print out a map of where we wanted to go.
Of course, I got butt-ass lost driving up to Ojai, where I was going to do a little video editing training for a part-time job. But (once I found it) Ojai was beautiful. The news said it was over 100 degrees, but it was fairly bearable. But apparently it was the bigges heat wave of the summer. I think people who complain about the dry heat are just flat-out pussies. 105 degrees in the desert feels like 80 degrees in the stinking New York humidity.
Matt and I had planned on seeing Nora while we were out there, but it never materialized, even though when I called her she was about 30 miles away. I decided to drive up the coast to Santa Barbara anyway, since fuck knows when I'll be back out in that 'hood. I'm glad I did, because the drive up 101 was one of the best drives of my life. Late-afternoon sun, driving along the coast, at the foot of the mountains. And the SB was gorgeous. Seemed very Mediterranean. I walked out to the end of the wharf, had a look around, and took some pictures. I was intrigued by the giant tanks of lobsters and crabs in the little shack restaurant at the end of the pier, but I walked back to my car, not wanting to eat alone. Then, i thought why the fuck not, got in the car, drove back out to the pier, and ordered a three-pound spider crab. Downed that, a salad, and a bolw of surprisingly good clam chowder, sitting by myself, but right next to four old women exchanging birthday presents. I felt kind of awkward when they were taking pictures. One would take a picture of the other three, then one would switch out and take a picture of another three, then one would switch out and etc. It was clear they wanted me to help them out, but I waited for one of them to ask. She said "You seem sweet. I can tell." I'm a sucker for flattery from the elderly, so I agreed, both to take the picture and about my sweetness, but added "Thanks, but I'm a terrible photographer." Seeing as I was sitting alone, I paid close attention to their conversation. There was one lady who was clearly the ringleader. She was the most enthusiastic, always saying things like "We're such good friends," and "we'll be friends forever." Very life-affirming, if you like that kind of stuff. All of their gifts, by the way, were things like porcelain statuettes of praying little boy angels ptr cucumber-scented moisturizers and stuff like that. Later, while they were exchanging presents, they would make the odd comment to me, since i was sharing the picnic table with them, and I'd nod awkwardly, covered in melted butter and crab bits. It was a fantastic meal.
The other standout of the trip was Vegas. Matt and I left around 9, got there a little after 1 AM, found our way to the Crazy Horse Too, sat around there for about 40 minutes, then went over to the Excalibur casino. The first thing we did was to play a round of $1 roulette. On the first spin, we both hit red 3. A few more spins, and we go to the craps table. The place was pretty empty, but the craps table was fairly well-populated for 3 AM on a Tuesday morning. My goal in casinos is usually very simple: gamble long enough for my free drink to arrive. At the craps table, there's the additional goal of wanting to gamble long enough so i get a turn to throw the dice, I'd only cashed in $40 worth of chips, and at one point I had gambled my last five dollars. ButI finally got a chance to roll. And it was awesome. Matt rolled after me, and was equally awesome. The two of us rolled for at least half an hour. I had to pee for about an hour, but decided to wait until we had finished rolling. It was the luckiest urine i've ever held on to. I've never seen more hard eights, lucky sevens and elevens, or points hit than when matt and I were rolling. It was great. The table would explode in cheers everytime we hit a number. When all was said and done, it about an hour Matt and I had won a combined $600 at a $5 craps table. Not too shabby.
Other random bits:
-Dylan's apartment in West Hollywood is around the corner from a gay porn theatre, whose marquee advertised movies with titles like "Drill Bill," "A Rim With A View," and "Passion of War II." I wonder how hard it is to write scripts for porn. I wonder how one gets into that.
- Very few celebrities seen. We saw Robert Wuhl, he of "Arliss" fame, at the Dodgers game. Also saw Tommy Lasorda there, but since he works for the Dodgers, that doesn't really count. We saw Ricky Rachman at the Grove, and I'm pretty sure I saw John Glover (currently Lex Luthor's dad on "Smallville" driving his VW beetle convertible. Also saw Neil Flynn, the janitor on Scrubs, and Genghis Cohen, a Chinese restaurant near Dylan's apartment.
- We saw dolphins frolicking int he surf in Malibu, which was awesome. Matt was obsessed with finding "Pirate's Cove" after a woman we asked for directions said it was a semi-"secret" beach.
-Are I liked the best was probably Santa Monica, both for the beach and for the bar we went to twice.
-The Pink's hotdog I ate easily displaced the Park Slope's Purity Diner's "Pastrami Nightmare" as the most deliciously disgusting thing i've ever eaten. I had the Bacon Burrito Chili Dog: Two hotdogs in a burrito, with chili, cheese, and bacon. By the end, the burrito shell was bright orange from all the chili greese. And it was fucking awesome.
All in all, the trip was exactly what I'd hoped for, and exactly what I needed.
I never really considered living in CA, and I'm not really considering it now, but I would definitely not rule it out. I really, really love driving. Part of what made the trip so fun- and less of a hassle for our friends- was that we both rented our own cars. So we weren't beholden to anyone and all we had to do was print out a map of where we wanted to go.
Of course, I got butt-ass lost driving up to Ojai, where I was going to do a little video editing training for a part-time job. But (once I found it) Ojai was beautiful. The news said it was over 100 degrees, but it was fairly bearable. But apparently it was the bigges heat wave of the summer. I think people who complain about the dry heat are just flat-out pussies. 105 degrees in the desert feels like 80 degrees in the stinking New York humidity.
Matt and I had planned on seeing Nora while we were out there, but it never materialized, even though when I called her she was about 30 miles away. I decided to drive up the coast to Santa Barbara anyway, since fuck knows when I'll be back out in that 'hood. I'm glad I did, because the drive up 101 was one of the best drives of my life. Late-afternoon sun, driving along the coast, at the foot of the mountains. And the SB was gorgeous. Seemed very Mediterranean. I walked out to the end of the wharf, had a look around, and took some pictures. I was intrigued by the giant tanks of lobsters and crabs in the little shack restaurant at the end of the pier, but I walked back to my car, not wanting to eat alone. Then, i thought why the fuck not, got in the car, drove back out to the pier, and ordered a three-pound spider crab. Downed that, a salad, and a bolw of surprisingly good clam chowder, sitting by myself, but right next to four old women exchanging birthday presents. I felt kind of awkward when they were taking pictures. One would take a picture of the other three, then one would switch out and take a picture of another three, then one would switch out and etc. It was clear they wanted me to help them out, but I waited for one of them to ask. She said "You seem sweet. I can tell." I'm a sucker for flattery from the elderly, so I agreed, both to take the picture and about my sweetness, but added "Thanks, but I'm a terrible photographer." Seeing as I was sitting alone, I paid close attention to their conversation. There was one lady who was clearly the ringleader. She was the most enthusiastic, always saying things like "We're such good friends," and "we'll be friends forever." Very life-affirming, if you like that kind of stuff. All of their gifts, by the way, were things like porcelain statuettes of praying little boy angels ptr cucumber-scented moisturizers and stuff like that. Later, while they were exchanging presents, they would make the odd comment to me, since i was sharing the picnic table with them, and I'd nod awkwardly, covered in melted butter and crab bits. It was a fantastic meal.
The other standout of the trip was Vegas. Matt and I left around 9, got there a little after 1 AM, found our way to the Crazy Horse Too, sat around there for about 40 minutes, then went over to the Excalibur casino. The first thing we did was to play a round of $1 roulette. On the first spin, we both hit red 3. A few more spins, and we go to the craps table. The place was pretty empty, but the craps table was fairly well-populated for 3 AM on a Tuesday morning. My goal in casinos is usually very simple: gamble long enough for my free drink to arrive. At the craps table, there's the additional goal of wanting to gamble long enough so i get a turn to throw the dice, I'd only cashed in $40 worth of chips, and at one point I had gambled my last five dollars. ButI finally got a chance to roll. And it was awesome. Matt rolled after me, and was equally awesome. The two of us rolled for at least half an hour. I had to pee for about an hour, but decided to wait until we had finished rolling. It was the luckiest urine i've ever held on to. I've never seen more hard eights, lucky sevens and elevens, or points hit than when matt and I were rolling. It was great. The table would explode in cheers everytime we hit a number. When all was said and done, it about an hour Matt and I had won a combined $600 at a $5 craps table. Not too shabby.
Other random bits:
-Dylan's apartment in West Hollywood is around the corner from a gay porn theatre, whose marquee advertised movies with titles like "Drill Bill," "A Rim With A View," and "Passion of War II." I wonder how hard it is to write scripts for porn. I wonder how one gets into that.
- Very few celebrities seen. We saw Robert Wuhl, he of "Arliss" fame, at the Dodgers game. Also saw Tommy Lasorda there, but since he works for the Dodgers, that doesn't really count. We saw Ricky Rachman at the Grove, and I'm pretty sure I saw John Glover (currently Lex Luthor's dad on "Smallville" driving his VW beetle convertible. Also saw Neil Flynn, the janitor on Scrubs, and Genghis Cohen, a Chinese restaurant near Dylan's apartment.
- We saw dolphins frolicking int he surf in Malibu, which was awesome. Matt was obsessed with finding "Pirate's Cove" after a woman we asked for directions said it was a semi-"secret" beach.
-Are I liked the best was probably Santa Monica, both for the beach and for the bar we went to twice.
-The Pink's hotdog I ate easily displaced the Park Slope's Purity Diner's "Pastrami Nightmare" as the most deliciously disgusting thing i've ever eaten. I had the Bacon Burrito Chili Dog: Two hotdogs in a burrito, with chili, cheese, and bacon. By the end, the burrito shell was bright orange from all the chili greese. And it was fucking awesome.
All in all, the trip was exactly what I'd hoped for, and exactly what I needed.
posted by Greg at 1:02 AM
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