Really REALLY Overdue For An Update

Ok, I've obviously got to do a better job updating this thing. My only excuse is that I've been working a ton of hours lately so my free time has had to be spent running errands and occasionally getting out and seeing something cool. Since its been so long and there is so much to cover, I'm just going to break this down by category.

Food:

I'm still in love with Trader Joes for groceries, but even the run-of-the-mill grocery stores out here have produce sections that look like Fresh Market. Its great. I've become an expert on cutting and preparing mangoes. Did you know that mangoes are the most popular fruit in the world, being consumed 3 times as often as bananas and 10 times as often as apples? Now you do.

There is a little taco stand up the road from my apartment named "La Playita" that is ridiculously good/cheap. Its become a weekend staple of mine. Other than La Playita, I've avoided going to the same place more than twice since there are so many options. The notable meals have been pizza from Bravo on main street, a burger with plantains from Bossa Nova, Chinese delivery from Wokano, movie theater popcorn from the Arclight in Hollywood, the taco platter from Pink Taco, and some sushi place I went to and can't remember the name of. Lets just say it made Nama taste like leather from a hobo's shoe.

I've still got to try the burger from Fathers Office and another burger joint called "The Counter". They really take burgers seriously here. I've yet to have a bad one.

Bars:

Drinking in LA is expensive so I haven't done a whole lot of exploring. There is a great bar in Hollywood on Sunset called Coach & Horses. Its a small little cash-only bar, but it has a great jukebox and the pours are generous. I also enjoyed my visit to "The Waffle" further up on Sunset. Its a breakfast 24/7 diner that serves booze. Guinness and a bacon/egg/cheese sandwich makes a really good combo.

Back closer to home in Santa Monica, I was a little underwhelmed with Finn McCools. It was more of an irish-themed bar than an actual irish bar. I did enjoy the more upscale Bodega Bar. It reminded me a bit of Koi when they have a good crowd.

Hands down my favorite bar so far has been the back patio of this Polish place (Warszawa). Its one of those places I could have walked by 100 times without seeing. Big open patio with heaters. Think the beer garden at the Goose with a tiki theme a giant projection screen showing movies or sports. Good stuff.

Other Stuff:

The first people that come to visit me will be taken to see Point Break: Live. This is hands down my favorite thing in LA so far. I'm not even going to try to describe it in words. Its worth it for any fan of the movie.

I've made some plans on Friday to go to the Upright Citizens Brigade theater to see a dramatic reading of "The Hills". Something tells me its either going to be hysterical or really boring. There won't be any in-between. I'm also hoping in the near future to go see Garfunkel and Oates play, as well as The Dan Band.

Beyond shows, I've enjoyed hitting the bikepath in Santa Monica and going down to the pier. There are an infinite number of things going on to watch and its a great way to get out and relax on a Saturday.

I've also joined a legit kick ball league. While its not Sloshball, flip cup is used in place of a coin flip and the games always end with a trip to a new bar for drink specials. Play begins in a few weeks so I'll have to update on how that goes. It could be a bust but a lot of people recommended the league to me and said its fun.

Work:

I'm still at BET working on a pilot. I'll know in the next couple weeks, hopefully, whether it gets picked up for a series. So keep you fingers crossed because the more I work, the more likely I can squeeze in non-holiday visits to K-Town.

And speaking of visits... my sister is about 2 weeks away from giving birth so I plan on being back in Nashville for a few days and will be swinging up to Knoxville to say hi. Be ready.

Overdue for an update

So I've been really bad updating this thing, but the past month has basically been sleep, work, eat, rinse, repeat.

I'm in the process of settling into my apartment. Fortunately I've got a pretty cool roommate with a friend in common back in Knoxville who has been in this apartment for a while. Splitting rent and not re-buying all those little things that I didn't have room to bring from Knoxville has been a huge relief.

I think I'm a week away from having my bedroom put together thanks to a recent Ikea order. Once thats done, I'm able to officially unpack my bags and consider myself 100% moved.

Then its time to start exploring my new neighborhood. I'm living on 5th street in Ocean Park (which roughly translates to being 5 blocks from the Ocean). I'm just a few blocks away from Main St in Santa Monica which seems to have a lot of cool bars and places to eat. Definitely looking forward to exploring that a bit more.

Hopefully more to come...

ROBOT SWORD FIGHT!

Mile a minute

Well, I expected to get busy out in LA but I never anticipated this. Over the past two weeks, in the hours I wasn't working my main job, on a side project, or looking for a place to live, I was most likely passed out into whatever quiet corner of the house I could find trying to catch up on sleep.

Things are starting to calm down a bit. I'm wrapping up the smaller project and I've found a place to live that has me moving in this Sunday. I've been living out of a duffle bag for the past 6 weeks so finally being able to unpack and settle in is something I'm really looking forward to.

I couldn't be happier with the way the apartment situation worked itself out. Long story short, in one of those "its a small world" situations, I was introduced to someone who has mutual friends in Knoxville and who just happened to be needing a roommate starting at the end of the month. Toss in the fact that its in the location I was hoping to be in and it was a no brainer.

So just a few more days of putting my head down and plowing through a hectic schedule and hopefully by next week, I'll be settling into my new place.

-Stephen

ps: The new place is 5 blocks from the beach in Santa Monica, has a perfectly fine couch, and a roommate who is totally cool with guests. Just saying...

Whew...

Definitely a good first day on the job. I've never been so happy to be this tired.

Job Hunt

The whole point of my moving to LA was to put myself in a bigger market for television production and its amazing how much is going on out here. That doesn't mean its any easier to get your foot in the door, at least if you want to get paid (getting a credit in a low-budget indie film doesn't help me buy groceries). I've made a lot of cold calls and emails which are finally starting to pay off with some interviews.

Having a job at this point means a whole lot of things for me beyond a means to support myself as I've really missed working in TV over the past year. The hours are never great and tend to be hectic, but I love it. 

Mostly I'm ready to have a routine again. I've done a good job of not letting myself become the lazy unemployed guy. When I was in Knoxville, I had the 6 am workouts at the Y to keep me energized and in LA I've had plenty to keep me busy, but I'm starting to reach the point where I'm stretching out my errands over several days to ensure I have a reason to get out of the house. Keeping myself occupied has definitely been the hardest part of this whole not working thing.

With any luck, I'll soon be settling into a 400 square foot apartment furnished by Ikea, spending my days enjoying the beach, and spending my nights in an edit bay. 

Better than birth control...

As mentioned before, I am extremely grateful that my friend and his wife are putting me up until I get my situation worked out here in LA. They've gone above and beyond for me and I'm truly in their debt.

They've also done a wonderful job with their two kids (ages around 3 1/2 and 20 months). Well behaved and listen as much as one could expect for kids their age. That said, I miss the time when they were slightly afraid of me.

Over the last few days, I've become fully accepted to the point where the youngest is now comfortable shoving a book into my hand and asking me to read to her. What this also means, is that I now have to be on my guard with anything and everything I do. 

Eating in particular is now something I have to sneak in with deft precision. If I'm not careful, the following scenario will occur:

Scene: I sit pleasantly eating some chips and salsa 

(enter the 1 and a half year old girl sporting a devastatingly cute bow and smiling)

Her: (sweetly) Mine?

Me: Um... I don't think you want this

Her: (louder) Mine?

Me: No, this isn't for you

Her: (emphatically) Mine.

Me: ...

Her: MIIIINE.

Me: Ok... here (hands her a tortilla chip)

Her: (sweetly) More?

Me: No... you have to eat what you have

Her: (louder) More?

Me: (leaves to find a vasectomy clinic)

End Scene

I always knew parenting was a tough gig, but to see it this up close, from the beginning of the day until its time for bed, is very eye-opening and gives me a whole new appreciation for what it means to be a parent.

Using The Grid

Ok, so I'm not off to a great start on updating this thing on a regular basis, but there was a lot going on this weekend. I did have a bit of downtime on Saturday but I chose to spend it relaxing outside in my hammock (I knew I packed it for a reason!).

One of the biggest reservations I had about moving here was having learn my way around a whole new city, and quite a large one at that. I've been pleasantly surprised how easy West LA is to navigate if you stick to the grid of major streets that run through the majority of the city. Most of these are 4 lane roads that widen for a turn lane at the major intersections. For the most part, these roads move at a good pace and the drivers tend to give each other some breathing room. When you are given directions, the starting point is always the closest major intersection. I'm still learning the layout of these streets so when I'm told where something is, my first step is to check the map like I was playing a game of "Battleship" ("3rd and LaBrea? HIT!)

The fun part begins when you reach an intersection where you turn. If you are turning right, no big deal. However, left turns on these streets require you to learn the unspoken rule of LA: 2 cars per yellow. The majority of these intersections do not use turn signals and have a constant flow of traffic. The rule is, the next two cars in the turn lane move up into the intersection once the light turns green. Those two cars get to turn after the light turns yellow/red. This keeps the turn lane from backing up and keeps traffic moving along. Not following this unspoken rule will get you a rather stern honking from the cars behind you. Fortunately, I was told the rules well in advance and have been able to assimilate into the hive-mind that is traffic in LA.

Using the grid, I've very easily made it to just about every place I've set out to find with only the occasional instance of driving around in a circle trying to figure out where I am. For those of you who know me and my god awful since of direction, this is quite the accomplishment. With any luck, a few more weeks and I'll have mastered the "grid" and will be ready to start figuring out the freeways.

A day best spent doing very little

There wasn't a whole lot on my to-do list for today. I took an hour this morning to drive up and see the Topanga area since its on my radar for possible places to live. Its got a different feel to it than the rest of LA. This isn't a bad thing, but I feel like if I lived there, I'd be robbing myself of the LA experience. Definitely a pretty area, just a little too far removed for what I'm looking for.

I did have a chance to hit up a Trader Joe's for the first time. It reminded me a lot of the Fresh Market with a bit of a bohemian flair. Lots of fresh produce and has all the basics I normally feed myself off of plus the added bonus of carrying some pretty cheap wine. 

After that, I had very little to do with my day besides follow up some emails regarding my job hunt, so I decided to take the laptop out into the yard, enjoy the sun, and spend some time with my good friend, the internet.

So here are a bunch of random things I found today that I thought were interesting:

A side-by-side comparison of fast food ads and the actual product

Time lapse video of snails

A greener way to deal with a person's remails (freeze dried then shattered into a fine powder? Sign me up!)

A great set of pictures on Flickr by photographer Michael Hughes

A method for making oven-brick pizza at home

The definitive guide to rolling naked in the snow 

And this kid...

Getting my bearings in LA

The title of today's blog entry is sponsored by Voytek the Nazi Fighting Bear (History buffs will enjoy that article).

So today is the first day I haven't woken up to rain here in LA. I've been told that this is the best time to go out and explore since the rain clears the air and you can see for miles. 

My plan for the day is to explore the Santa Monica area a bit. I was already given a general tour of West LA to get an idea of the layout, but today I'm going back into some neighborhoods and scouting out some potential rentals for me.

The plan is still to find someone's guest house and live there Kato style to avoid putting any utilities in my name until I'm 100% sold on being here. 

As far as LA experiences go, I've mainly gone out for the purposes of food. On Monday, I went to Nick's Coffee Shop and Deli which had an overwhelming number of choices for breakfast. I went #195. Later that day, I made my first trip to Whole Foods which is like a much larger version of Fresh Market. I'll probably shop there a lot once I'm working and have money. 

Then last night I went to Tom Bergin's - a little pub that claims to be LA's oldest Irish establishment. Very neat building that reminded me a bit of Patrick Sullivan's Saloon on the inside.

I got into the habit of not carrying cash or change while I was in Knoxville so I'm going to have to make a conscious effort to always have a money on me since just about anywhere you go requires valet parking or you need to feed a meter. Call me naive, but I never anticipated having to valet park at a place that serves Pub Dogs.

Thats all I have to report for now. I'm about ready to head out for the day and get to know the area some more. I've got a whole new city to learn and I don't have the Sunsphere anymore to act as my compass.

Trip Report - Day 3

I know everyone says this and I'm going to do my best not to harp on about it, but everything people say about the weather in LA is absolutely true. If Knoxville had weather like this, my circle of friends would be the least productive people on earth as every day would be spent trying to figure out which patio to enjoy.

Today's drive was only 1/2 the distance that I covered yesterday, so I was able to sleep in a bit and take my time this morning. More on why this turned out to be important in a bit.

So my first stretch out of Flagstaff was through the Kaibab National Forest. Absolutely beautiful drive. The snow all through the trees was completely untouched. Very picturesque. The rest of Arizona was a huge span of desert surrounded by mountains, also covered in snow (the mountains, not the desert). The road was relatively empty which allowed me to zone out as much as possible while driving and enjoy the scenery. 

Pretty soon I was crossing in to California and got to experience the kind folks at the border looking through my car for any plants/produce/animals I may be bringing into the state. All they found was the banana I took from the continental breakfast, so I was on my way.

At this point I was still on I-40 and other than the new road signs and reduced speed limit, there wasn't much difference in my surroundings. This all changed once I-40 ended and I-15 began. 

Earlier when I said it was a good thing I got some good rest last night, well, the rest of the drive is the reason why. I went from enjoying the 2-lane open road, to a 4-lane plunge down from the mountains. This was like going down the plateau in East TN  on steroids. More lanes, more cars, traffic merging in, and while I was content to just coast downwards, the other cars were having none of that. Before I knew it, I was being tailgated by a semi in the SLOW lane doing 80 mph. I don't think I've ever gripped a steering wheel so hard.

The rest of my drive in required a similar level of alertness. I'm pretty sure if I was trying to find my way through the city without the benefit of GPS, I'd still be out there, hopelessly driving in circles.

Over the next hour, my iPhone more than paid for itself as it led me through the stacks upon stacks of highways/interstate/freeways towards my friends house in West LA. I have a feeling I'll be using it to get around for the next several months.

So for now, I'm at my friend's house, temporarily adding to their family.. They are truly living the dream... 2 kids, a dog, a yard, and a 27 year old Tennessee transplant sleeping on the couch.

We should all be so lucky.

Trip Report - Day 2

Another relatively smooth day on the road. I covered about 910 miles and am now resting in snow covered Flagstaff, AZ. 

Right now, I'm looking forward to a good restful night after having a pretty restless one last night. It was one of those situations where you know you are tired and need to sleep, but the limited time you have causes you to lay awake worrying about falling asleep. Ugh.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night and while I find their commercials pretty annoying, they have won my business as long as they are an option. They had the best continental breakfast of any chain hotel I have stayed at. It definitely got me off on the right foot this morning, which was good because I had a pretty boring stretch of road to start my drive.

The western half of Oklahoma is a pretty desolate stretch. The most enjoyable for me was to see some of the large fields of wind turbines cranking away. I used this time to finish up the next episode in the audiobooks I had been listening too. If you are a fan of British humor, the Ricky Gervais podcasts are a must-listen. I'm hooked on them for the foreseeable future.

I crossed into Texas mid-morning and blasted Rocky Top from my iPod to for all my friends in Knoxville, putting the Lone-Star State on notice as to who is the real UT.

My stay in Texas was relatively brief, crossing through the square part at the top. Amarillo was the only Texas city I passed through and driving in it reminded me of a carnival. Up until you get to the heart of the city, there is a string of restaurants and shops that are built facing the interstate at the same angle as billboards in order to lure those passing by. Mostly these were novelty museums, hat/boot shops, and general souvenir stores, but there was one attraction that I was excited to see, The Big Texan Steakhouse. This is the place where you can get your picture on the wall by eating an entire 72oz steak. If I didn't have another 9-10 hours left in the car on the day, I may have given it a shot, but I had to press on.

The remainder of my stint in Texas was spent listening to a couple of Old Crow Medicine Show albums. Once I crossed over into New Mexico, the speed limit went up to 75mph and so I switched my music up to Wolfmother since driving fast and rock music go hand in hand. About an hour into New Mexico the scenery started to change to more desert-like surroundings than open fields. Jimi Hendrix soon became my music of choice as I soaked in a part of the country I had never seen in person. 

I was cruising along listening to Jimi completely unaware that I-40 and some train tracks were fixing to converge and run parallel for a ways. I have always had a thing for trains and was way too excited to see a train running just ahead of me and that I was closing in on it. I sped up to the caboose and then slowly crept along side the train for a few miles before the tracks headed off in a different direction.

Easily the highlight of my day.

I enjoyed the rest of the daylight, in particular the sunset as I drove through the Sandia Mountains just outside of Albuquerque. I stopped for gas shortly afterwards and was slightly annoyed and oddly proud of the fact that a hold had been put on my Amex card. Apparently the string of gas charges on the card had set off whatever algorithm the Amex computer uses to identify potential criminal behavior, like I was a modern day Bonnie and Clyde (which makes my iPhone 'Bonnie' since its the closest thing I have to a travel companion). A quick call cleared up the issue and I was on my way again.

From this point on it was all about covering ground. I crossed into Arizona after dark and made just a quick stop in Gallop to top off my tank and 3 hours later, I was in the very snow covered city of Flagstaff.

Just before exiting the interstate, I saw my first sign for Los Angeles. Barring any major hang-ups, I should reach LA sometime tomorrow afternoon at which point my road trip will be over and (wait for it... the cliched ending...) my real adventure will begin.

Oh, and Happy Valentines Day!

Trip Report - Day 1

I set out this morning with Oklahoma City as my target for the day and except for a small amount of traffic outside of Little Rock, today couldn't have gone any smoother. 

My day got started a little later than I had planned, but my mom was taking the day off work for several things and since she was around the house, I drug my feet on leaving for some extra mom/son time. Considering shes put up with me for 27 years and counting, its the least I could do.  

Once I got on the road, I made pretty good time. I attribute this to having the proper music selection for each leg of my trip today. To start off, I rocked out to Kansas' Greatest Hits (specifically "Point Of No Return" followed up by "Carry On"). To keep my head straight, I made it a point to alternate between an album and something spoken (The Ricky Gervais Show and NPR podcasts were my weapon of choice for this). 

By the time I reached the Tennessee/Arkansas border, I was ready for a new music selection, but first I had to say goodbye to my home state by playing Rocky Top as I crossed the Mississippi River. 

And then I was in Arkansas. Everybody that I talked to who had made the cross country drive told me that Oklahoma was going to be the worst part. I beg to differ.

I made a stop for gas and food about 10 miles in with the plan to not stop again in the state. This was the right call. I pulled into the nicest gas station I could find (while breaking my Pilot boycott in the process) and after my 3rd attempt, I found a pump that actually worked. After filling up I headed to the closest drive-thru where a friendly guy named "Deebo" became the only person I interacted with in the state.

Back on the road, I went with Tom Petty's Greatest Hits. This filled me with a sense of purpose: To get OUT of Arkansas.

Along my way out of the state, I observed a few things, mainly that there was a lot of farm land that seemed dedicated to the cause of growing nothing but grass. I swear I saw a small plane crop dusting grass.

Additionally, I'm pretty sure all the flannel purchased up in the Seattle area during the 1990s grunge era relocated to Central Arkansas a few years ago. 

Fortunately I escaped into Oklahoma unharmed and was treated to a really excellent sunset as I rounded the corner at the state line. I enjoyed the daylight I had left before making my last stop for dinner and to refuel. Once I got back on the road, I immediately regretted not padding my trip with some extra time because of two simple words: Indian Casinos.

The lure of the blackjack tables was quite strong. The evil voice on my shoulder kept telling me if I stopped and played for an hour I could easily make OKC by 10, 10:30 tops and still get a good nights sleep. The voice can be quite convincing sometimes.

However, I was able to remain strong with the music of Bon Jovi, Mellencamp, and Creedence to keep me rolling. 

I got to OKC a little after 9 and was expecting a cool skyline until I remembered that tornadoes and tall buildings don't mix. I was a bit disappointed, but that soon passed as I realized my hotel was near and I was about ready to be out of the car. 

All in all, a pretty good day. I can definitely see the appeal of a road trip and would love to make this drive at another time in my life when I can take some side trips (Arkansas Wine Country and RV Park! No... seriously... you can't make this stuff up).

Thats it for now... tomorrow will be the remainder of Oklahoma, a small stretch of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 

And I'm off...

Leaving Nashville in about 30 minutes, so begin to expect random calls and updates for the next 3-4 days. I've got about 16gb worth of iPod loaded up with music/audiobooks and some movies that I ripped the audio track from (Anchorman, etc). Hopefully that will be enough to stave off boredom.

There is one detail I kind of overlooked during my planning of this trip. Saturday is Valentines day. Guess who is having trouble finding any sort of hotel that night? Whoops. I'm now rooting for someone's night to go poorly and have a last minute vacancy open up somewhere. 

In other news, Eagle vs Tortoise! 

Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...

I'm a little over a day out from leaving Nashville and with my first planned stop being Oklahoma City, I got a little freaked when I heard about the tornadoes that hit earlier in the week. I've only been near one tornado in my life and it was enough to put the fear into me. Fortunately the weather forecast looks pretty mild for my trip.

My current plan is OKC by Friday night, Flagstaff, AZ on Saturday, and then deciding Sunday whether to tough it out for the remainder or break up the last leg over two days. I'm leaning towards the latter so I'm not trying to navigate LA for the first time at the end of a day-long drive. I'll be playing that one by ear.

While I'm not turning this into a sight-seeing tour, I've started searching for some good local places to get my meals. Something tells me I'd burn out on five-dollar-footlongs well before I reach California if I don't sneak some variety in there. 

I'm hopefully I can find some places that are worth writing about. Sadly the Heart Attack Grill is a bit too far out of my way to visit. Perhaps on the return trip!

-Stephen

Leaving Knoxvegas

Packing up a car for a long distance move is never an easy thing. There is never quite enough room for everything you hope to take along with you although I'm proud of myself for managing to get in quite a bit more than I expected. I'm also proud of not getting a ticket due to having zero visibility through the rear window. Fortunately some of my cargo was only destined for Nashville, and I'm here for a few days which will give me plenty of time to re-think my packing strategy for the rest of the trip. Of course, the packing and moving was not the most difficult part of my day... 

(hit play now)

Up until a few years ago, I had very nomadic tendencies with various groups of friends, until I settled in downtown Knoxville and met some of the truly wonderful people in my building. And from there, the group of people I consider my Knoxville family snowballed into too many people to name. 

So yesterday when it came time to say goodbye, the only thought going through my head was "this is all their fault". 

There is no way the person I was a few years ago could have made this move. Its their fault that I believe I can make this work. After all, it worked when I moved to Knoxville.

So thanks to every last one of you that made yesterday one of the hardest days of my life. I couldn't have done it without you.

One more day...

So approximately this time tomorrow I'll have officially left K-Town. I'm pretty sure I could spend every last waking hour between now and then doing something productive that would better prepare me for the trip than say... watching the Karate Cow. 

Hi there.

I have a laundry list of things to do right now. In 3 days I'm packing up and moving to Los Angeles after having lived the first 10,007 days of my life in Tennessee. So I'm spending valuable daylight hours doing what any sane person would do, starting a blog. 

Thanks to almost 10 years of working in video games and TV (not to mention quite a bit of my formidable years being spent "studying" the aforementioned mediums), my attention span is on par with most toddlers. Good thing we have the internet. 

Truth be told, I should have started this blog about 5 months ago after quitting my job. I had plenty of time to kill, and did a great job helping my friends at work pass the time with a steady stream of random links/videos/timewasters I came across each day as I wandered the tubes. I choose to believe they were grateful for my services and not annoyed with my not having anything better to do than interrupt their work day.

Now that I'm moving to a new city and pursuing work that will keep me pretty busy, I feel like I have to make the time I waste really count. Hopefully this blog will turn into a repository of all the things I find to help the day slip by. Expect links to whatever I find interesting along with the occasional review of a movie I stop to watch while flipping channels because honestly, you can't really 'get' Waterworld until the 7th or 8th viewing.