The Big Orange

Alex dropped me off at LAX a little after midnight so I could catch my 5am flight back to Chicago. A miscalculation on my part because I was unable to sleep at the airport or on the plane. Now, back home, I'm exhausted certainly worth it though. Some thoughts on the experience as a whole.

The best part of the vacation was spending time with Alex. We had been close since we went through classes together some years ago at iO, roommates for a year, but after that grew apart. Not for any particular reason just in the way people do as time moves on. Our old chemistry was still there, the inside jokes, the silly slang, it all came back quickly. We reminisced a bit during the visit but mostly just joked, enjoyed each others company, and told each other about our lives now. Shared our fears, triumphs, and plans. Reconnecting with Alex and discovering our friendship as solid as ever was easily the most fulfilling part of the trip. The second best thing was swimming in the Pacific, the third- tacos from El Flamin' Taco.

With so many people moving over the past year I couldn't help but view LA as a potential destination and a lot of people asked me if my visit was to scope it out. My reaction to LA was similar to that of NYC which was I could live there. Previous to my visit the concept of LA was daunting and I certainly suffered under the misconception that people there were shallow or self involved.  I found the city much more manageable then I had anticipated- the lay out of the different neighborhoods and suburbs made sense to me. There were a lot of cool bookstores, restaurants, and parks. The people, on the whole, were outgoing and approachable. I noticed eye-contact between strangers seemed to be normal which I found rather odd but kind of endearing. Taking all of those elements together I think I'd be capable of living there, that it wouldn't be too overwhelming or unwieldy. However I realized it wasn't terribly appealing for me without some kind of motivation- a job, an opportunity, a school.

The weather was beautiful, all that's said about LA weather is true, it's like forever summer. I found this kind of bizarre, the five days I was there it was cloudless and 80, unchanging. Without the shifting of the seasons, the mercurial movements of the weather, I would be lost. I mentioned how weird the perpetual sunshine was to me to one of Alex's friends and he agreed saying "When I'm happy it's great but when I'm depressed it's almost mocking, cruel." A nice environment to visit during the Midwestern cold but it'd drive me crazy if I had to live there.

The interpersonal climate was interesting and different. Alex called LA "a city of extroverts". There was something disarming about how chatty people were but it also made me a bit wary. Everyone seemed unilaterally content and either they genuinely were or there is a reticence to say anything other than "I'm great! I love it here!" Either way I'm accustomed to a little more edge. There's also an urgency about commercial success, a concern about auditions and managers, about meeting people and making connections, which at this point I don't share. Not to deride that mindset it strikes me as necessary to move forward but it seems grueling.

A wonderful place to visit but at this point not a path I want to tread.