Day 8b
*In LA still. After worrying about that sleeping homeless guy's intake of UV rays and walking around the slightly scary Sunset+Vine area, have to hit a mall to try and find better sandals cause these Rainbow flip-flops are killing me (since then though, I've gotten used to them... God bless Spiderman Band-Aids)
*In the mall, people give me a funny look... I don't give it much of a thought until it becomes generalized. Getting back to the car, I pull the mirror down. Hahaha, the irony - very decent sunburn. Since I have my sunglasses on 90% of the time, I look like a red raccoon.
Another sign of my complete inadequacy in regards to sunny weather.
*Visit to the Griffith Observatory, which is probably the second most recognizable LA landmark after the HOLLYWOOD sign. The smog looks pretty bad from up there. It looks like a big cloud of cigarette smoke is stuck over the business district. A local guy assures me that's a "clear day". Oy.
Clear day.
*I'm slinging two cameras and generally look like a guy who's not afraid to take photos. A German family asks me to take a picture of them - happy to oblige. After I order them under a new spot and forbid them to try and re-center themselves when they see me aim slightly off of the group - No! Don't move! Trust me, don't move! - they regret asking me.
*Some more exploring of the city after sundown. Apart from the beachside areas, LA itself seems to be a long series of poor Latino neighborhoods. The business district seems very small for such a vast city. It's 10pm on a Saturday night and it is all very quiet outside. Must be too early still.
*I decide to go to Santa Monica to cruise on the proper bit of the homonymic boulevard. I cover the 5 miles that separate my room from that area in just under an hour. Have to mute my Blackberry's GPS - how many times do you need to warn me against traffic congestion, bitch? We're not moving!
*There ya go! Trendy shops, hot babes wearing haute couture stuff, one eccentric & presumably rich dude sporting a thin and 2-foot high mohawk, jaywalking his way to his parked Lamborghini Diablo (15 year old car? Pfffft, so very pedestrian... I'm rockin' a 2009, pal.)
*I have Kanye blasting at full volume inside my (2009) Mazda. Window down. Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digga, but she ain't messin' with no broke niggaz. I have to push against the door trim with my leg to kill some of the interior rattle. The Check Engine light sometimes comes up in sync with the bass drum. I get blank stares from other drivers - I'm on Santa Monica Boulevard, baby.
*In LA still. After worrying about that sleeping homeless guy's intake of UV rays and walking around the slightly scary Sunset+Vine area, have to hit a mall to try and find better sandals cause these Rainbow flip-flops are killing me (since then though, I've gotten used to them... God bless Spiderman Band-Aids)
*In the mall, people give me a funny look... I don't give it much of a thought until it becomes generalized. Getting back to the car, I pull the mirror down. Hahaha, the irony - very decent sunburn. Since I have my sunglasses on 90% of the time, I look like a red raccoon.
Another sign of my complete inadequacy in regards to sunny weather.*Visit to the Griffith Observatory, which is probably the second most recognizable LA landmark after the HOLLYWOOD sign. The smog looks pretty bad from up there. It looks like a big cloud of cigarette smoke is stuck over the business district. A local guy assures me that's a "clear day". Oy.
Clear day.
*I'm slinging two cameras and generally look like a guy who's not afraid to take photos. A German family asks me to take a picture of them - happy to oblige. After I order them under a new spot and forbid them to try and re-center themselves when they see me aim slightly off of the group - No! Don't move! Trust me, don't move! - they regret asking me.
*Some more exploring of the city after sundown. Apart from the beachside areas, LA itself seems to be a long series of poor Latino neighborhoods. The business district seems very small for such a vast city. It's 10pm on a Saturday night and it is all very quiet outside. Must be too early still.
*I decide to go to Santa Monica to cruise on the proper bit of the homonymic boulevard. I cover the 5 miles that separate my room from that area in just under an hour. Have to mute my Blackberry's GPS - how many times do you need to warn me against traffic congestion, bitch? We're not moving!
*There ya go! Trendy shops, hot babes wearing haute couture stuff, one eccentric & presumably rich dude sporting a thin and 2-foot high mohawk, jaywalking his way to his parked Lamborghini Diablo (15 year old car? Pfffft, so very pedestrian... I'm rockin' a 2009, pal.)
*I have Kanye blasting at full volume inside my (2009) Mazda. Window down. Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digga, but she ain't messin' with no broke niggaz. I have to push against the door trim with my leg to kill some of the interior rattle. The Check Engine light sometimes comes up in sync with the bass drum. I get blank stares from other drivers - I'm on Santa Monica Boulevard, baby.
Nothin but Breadly Brotherly Love.
norcal here we come
