Thirty Day LA

There are some great benefits to working close to the ocean. For example, one can go to the beach during lunch and get a tan, if one were so inclined. Or one could go running or biking by the beach after work. Even better, one could go to the beach before work and go surf, go to work, return to the beach during lunch and take a quick and refreshing swim, go back to work, and then after work go to a bar on the pier and have a beer while watching the sunset. This person would count his life quite blessed and not resent the monotony of work. Unfortunately, I am not this person. I work by the beach, yet I have never done any of those things. That’s going to change this month.

One ocean-related thing I did do was go on a group fishing expedition last night on a boat called the New Del Mar, which took us from the Marina Del Rey docks to about 3 miles out of Santa Monica in the Pacific Ocean. I went with my coworker/manager Satan, who generously explained the intricacies and etiquette of ocean fishing to me the whole trip, and another old coworker, PoomPoom. I was glad to be part of their favorite pastime, and they seemed to enjoy my company as well. I’ve never been on a fishing boat before, and I’ve only gone fishing a handful of times with my dad and never caught anything. This time, I was a winner. I caught three sand bass, hooked a giant barracuda that snapped my line, got seasick, barfed, took a nap on the upper deck, and went home happy and ready to do it again.

After six days of trying something new every day, I realized I should take more advantage of all the resources available to me. Later tonight, I’m going to go running along the beach. Next week, I’m going to bike in to work. The 12-mile route includes a 5-mile stretch along the ocean. Next Friday I’m going to wake up early and go boogie boarding (cuz I haven’t learned to surf, yet), swim in the ocean for lunch, and go to Hennessey’s in Hermosa Beach (yes I love Citysearch) for happy hour and catch the sunset.

Today, I decided to stay near the ocean again. I’m sitting at the Welcome Café in Redondo Beach. I’m at the outdoor tables with a cup of Heavenly Hazelnut, which is quite good. I’m not a big coffee drinker so I can’t really tell what’s good coffee, but it tastes great to me. Welcome Café has open mic nights on Wednesdays and Acoustic nights on Saturday. After this month, I’m definitely going to come back and check those out. It’s nice sitting outside as the sun sets only a half mile away from the beach. I’m here with ShopGirl, who’s wearing a fashionable hat and a cool green shirt, typing away on her Powerbook. Families are walking by with a carefree look that seems to be more prevalent on the faces of people who hang out in close proximity to the beach.

I still have some work left to do on my laptop but my battery is dying. I've been really tired this whole week and I can barely function at work. I’m also running into a shortage on cash already due to some poor planning on my part. I’m going to need to go super cheap on the activities for the rest of the month.

Since I’m trying to partake in the ways of a beach bum, I’ll try not to worry too much. Soon it’s going to be my favorite time of day, magic hour, where the sun turns everything a golden hue and the cooling wind starts to give me goosebumps. Right now, I’m just going to enjoy the end of another idyllic summer day.

Posted by CaptainMelo at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My first post and my first step into embracing my attention-whore ways. I created this blog in order to document 30 Day LA, my attempt to do something new, interesting, and exciting every day for the next 30 days. It's going to require a lot of planning (which I suck at) and tons of motivation (which I have precious little of). Because of work, I probably won't have enough time to post every day, so I'll try to update my adventures at least once every 2-3 days.

Right now I’m in the Santa Monica Public Library, 25 minutes before closing time. I have a special fondness for libraries, having spent most of my childhood afternoons in them while waiting for my parents to pick me up to go home. The Santa Monica Library is one of the more impressive libraries I’ve been to. The two-story complex spans an entire city block, and the design feels very open, with endless windows surrounding a central courtyard. Inside, there's great lighting, free city wireless, and study rooms galore. After this month, whenever I need to go out and get some writing done, I’m coming here. That way I don’t have to pay $4 for a drink at some coffee shop. The library closes at 9PM, which isn’t ideal for all the nocturnal screenwriters of LA, making it ideal for me.

I’m on day 5 of my adventure. I’ll recap my previous four days in my next post. I reserved today for starting this blog and checking out this library. My goal for Thirty Day LA is to break out of my daily routine and to explore the city that is still a stranger to me after 8 years of living here. When I first moved here from the San Francisco Bay Area, I hated LA. There were too many gorgeous people I would never be like, expensive cars I would never drive, and palatial mansions I would never own.

Me: Fuck you, LA. You suck.
LA: Get the hell out then, loser.

After a while, LA grew on me. One thing I always liked was the abundance of things to do. I can eat any kind of food I want at any time of the day, party with all sorts of interesting people, and run or play ball outdoors all year long. The other day, after another boring outing, instead of saying "All right everyone, I'm going back to my shitty apartment in this godforsaken void of plastic nihilism," I simply said, "I'm going home." Guess I'm starting to feel like I fit in here.

Me: LA, you are kind of cool.
LA: What are you still doing here? Get the hell out already. Loser.

There isn't a simple way to describe LA that can accurately encompass all that it stands for. LA is always changing and moving, like how one day it was cool to cruise down Sunset bumping trance music and go party at Miyagi's, and then suddenly the next day it was really pathetic. For a while, I didn't know where I fit in and how to make sense of the city. But I realized that instead of trying to dig a niche for myself but getting swept aside, I could just flow with it and see where the city takes me.

I live in the land of the exciting, so I'm going to take advantage of it. I look forward to having new experiences, meeting some new friends, and exploring this city I call home.

Posted by CaptainMelo at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)