Explorations and Dissapointment
I am writing this post now with the foresight of realizing how easy it is to not maximize the potential of 30dayla. A couple of days this week ended in disappointment due to poor planning and unforeseen circumstances.
Last Tuesday I had made plans to visit the poetry lounge to check it out. A few of you may remember my initial post were I mentioned performing spoken word as something I wanted to try during the course of my 30days. I figured it would be a chance to push myself to try something where the chance of failure would be extremely high. A friend of mine told me Tuesdays is a good day to check out the local performers and get a sense to see what I was in for.
To make a long story relative short I came home that, day took a long nap, and slept through my chance to go to the poetry lounge. It was past 11 by the time I woke up so I had to scramble to figure out something to do. The last minutes plan was to continue my quest to visit all the restaurants on the best of Citysearch list. I wanted to check out the number one choice for late-night dining Magnolia in Hollywood. Tiny said he could tag along but we would need to stop by the grove first to get his work schedule. I figured it would be a good time for me to check out the Grove at night, since the word had been that it looks really nice.
It was interesting to see the Grove so empty, however the fountains were off and the scenery wasn’t as cool as it could have been.
After the Grove me and Tiny made our way to Magnolia on Sunset. Sadly it was closed (SideNote: I hate citysearch their hours are always off and they often list places that no longer exist).
So at that point I decided it was time to start a new project within 30dayla. The hunt for the best Burrition in LA.
The quest started with us heading way east towards Tacos el Gavilan, but guess what it was closed.
After that we headed back to a hangout for USC students, Chano’s. Chano’s make some pretty damn good burritos. It's late hours are perfect for 1AM burrito cravings. If you can get passed the annoying and drunk USC students there you will enjoy one of the best burritos in town (definitely better than anything on the Westside. However the drunk SC students did gave Tiny a chance to interject his wisdom into their conversations as follows:
Drunk SC guy: “Man she is not coming out tonight because she is having sex with some guy”
Drunk SC girl: “She better be having sex with someone worthwhile”
Tiny (very loudly to drunken SC students who we don’t know): “I really doubt it”
Me (under my breath like a pussy so no one can hear): “yeah that never happens"
Good stuff. However the night was fun for exploration but disappointing as I went to bed feeling that I had done nothing to push myself closer to my goals for 30dayla. It seemed at that point that the next day would be no different.
Wednesday:
This was supposed to be the day that I pushed myself out of my element and jump into an Improv class with actual actors. Hoping to confront my fears and trust my impulses. Despite what I had planned this was actually the day that my improv class was cancelled (my improv teacher was in San Diego on a shoot for Veronica Mars). So I needed to make things happen quickly.
That morning I decided to create a new theme for 30dayla. FUCK THE WESTSIDE. I’ve spent too much time on the Westside and I needed to force myself for the rest of the month to push myself into new territory and explore what LA really has to offer.
Silverlake seemed like a good destination for the night. For all of you who don’t know, Silver Lake is the kind of place where you can have an upscale apartment next a project. I see Los Angeles as a diverse city that is surprisingly over segregated, where each income bracket has a different zip code or community named after them. In Silver Lake, rather than extreme segregation you can see diversity on the same street.
I found a diner called Brite Spot that was supposed to have live DJs perform there. Once again I have to say I hate Citysearch, since DJs were nowhere to be found. However I did get a chance to enjoy some pretty good food and check out a new scene. The food was nothing amazing but the scene was interesting. I witnessed Jocks sitting next to pseudo-hipsters across from young urban professionals. On the other side of the restaurant you could see an older group of people having a philosophical discussion. It always makes me feel better to see different social groups coming together. However the minimal number of minorities prevented me from actually seeing the true mixing of diverse groups.
The night finally ended with me deciding to take my desire to take more chances literally and go to the Hollywood Park casino in Inglewood. I’ve never gambled before; I haven’t even bought a lottery ticket. Going to Hollywood Park would push me to take a new kind of risk. Sadly the excursion was pretty much a disappointment, I might as well have just dropped the money in a donation box.. All it made me feel was irresponsible. It was actually quite depressing for me to see how many old people had been caught up in the world of gambling. A large number of people came in with headphones, hats, and sunglasses hoping to avoid being read by their fellow gamblers. It wasn’t really a world that I cared too much to become a part of
While I did get to explore on this day I felt like I made little personal progress. Another throwaway day. I need to sit back and take the time to plan if I really want to push to get what I want out of 30dayla I need to plan. Im hoping whoever reads this post pushes me to put more into to planning for 30dayla to make sure I achieve my goals. Regardless I’m going to try my best to jump forward and make up for the days I didn’t take full advantage of.