Eyyyyyyy. I’m drunk! Sorry in advance for any typos!
Nobody except for me had to work today. Or so it seems. I spent almost my entire day trading texts with friends all over the city of Los Angeles. They were sitting poolside, barbecuing, picnicking or worse — they’d left town for the weekend. Meanwhile, I was seated indoors — behind my desk — and could not enjoy this holiday weekend. I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday and today. I feel sunlight depleted. Like maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and step outside and I’ll explode in flames, like a vampire or something. You never know, it could happen!
When I think about everyone else having fun at my expense (although not technically, it’s more like everyone else having fun while I toil away at my job) I think about some of the fun I’ve had since moving to California five years ago. I think about all the wonderful day trips I’ve taken, all the explorations and mystery drives and road trips. It’s not like I’m not ALWAYS working, you know? Sometimes I can enjoy the out-of-doors. Sometimes I’ll even capture the experience via camera or mini-disc recorder. Like that time I made field recordings in Joshua Tree, or the countless photographs I’ve taken at Joshua Tree, the California Poppy Preserve, and the Mojave Desert. So much fun!
Before I moved to Los Angeles I came here for 10 days in January of ’07 to look for a place to live. I looked for two days and then the friend I was staying with told me not to consider any other housing options. Why? Because he said he wanted to move out, so the two of us should just get a place together. He’d do all the work, and I should just enjoy the remainder of my vacation. Of course, he eventually went on to “Nah, just kidding” his own idea after I returned from LA to New Jersey, and he even gave up helping me find a place to live after he’d reneged! Seriously. He had scouted maybe two rooms before he asked, “Don’t you have any other friends who can do this? I’m really busy!” Yeah, thanks. The next room I asked a friend to look at was the one I wound up moving into. Needless to say, that other friendship was never the same after I moved to LA.
During my weeklong “vacation” in ’07 I visited Griffith Park for the first time. And while I was there I made some cool field recordings. It was January, and much colder than it was today, but I like to think this will give you a pretty good idea about what a typical day-off in LA could be like. You’ll go to Griffith Park with some friends — maybe a few beers or a joint and a guitar if that’s your thing — and watch the sunset from the hills. When the sky starts to turn and that gross layer of smog starts to blend in with the colors of the darkening sky, and the soft breeze starts to feel a bit more brisk, you can hear some pretty cool sounds emanating from the city. Also, coyotes.
Hey, Happy Memorial Day, guys!
