overheard @ The Ivy, Santa Monica, CA 8 min @ The Ivy Shelley heard the tell-tale ringing in her ears. She’d had too much to drink. The very nice woman beside her at the bar was laughing her big wide laugh but Shelley couldn’t hang onto the thread of the joke. What had she said before “you get the chicken”? Shelley also realized she couldn’t remember the loud laughing woman’s name – Barbara from Santa Barbara? Read more
Change is not hard. I’ve said the opposite forever but I’m revising my position. Ah, change within change, how meta. Change is not difficult if you remain curious. If you’re more curious you’re less afraid. Fear is always an element of the unknown and unfamiliar; but being curious means being receptive and welcoming to the new experience or information. It doesn’t automatically make it easier, but it impacts the quality of the experience. Change is not hard. Change Read more
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 8 min in Glassell Park, CA It was on the second visit that Candice noticed the trend. Every ‘mystical’ person she’d crossed paths with had a wonky left eye. There must be some symbolism to it. Surely it validated their existence. The bulging eye of the gypsy with the lisp seemed apropos. But her lisp was unintelligible. Candice sat as far forward as possible without actually craning her head to the Read more
Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen 8 min @ Umami Burger/Fred Segal, Santa Monica Calloused knuckles and fine blonde hair are not a pretty combination. Carly strained her head back into Sam’s knotted fingers. He wasn’t pulling too hard but the cuts and abrasions on his hands we snagging the finest of her fine hairs. It was distracting. She wanted to focus on the pillowy softness of his perfect mouth, not the velcro qualities of Read more
“be there when you get there, but be *here* now” I found this ‘note to self’ in an old journal today; one of many journals and notebooks stuffed into the forest of cardboard cleared from storage. Perfect timing. My thoughts tend to race to the list of things I’m not doing, with little acknowledgement of the multiple things I am accomplishing. This little pack and purge holiday has wreaked havoc with my routines. Travel Read more
After much talk and preparation – which consisted mostly of obsessing and fretting, I have begun the unenviable task of clearing out my storage space. It’s been a daily ordeal. I show up at the storage facility, punch in the convoluted nine digit code – after ten straight visits I now have it memorized – I open the padlock, roll up the metal door and look at the overwhelming stacks of stuff. After three days Read more
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling 8 min in Glassel Park, Los Angeles Stephanie was speechless. She wanted to tell him that it was rude to answer a question with a question, but his placid and unwavering gaze disquieted her. Before she could repeat her question, he asked his again. “Is everything okay with your family Miss Campbell?” Back at the start of the school year he had asked if her son liked to play Read more
odd pronunciation over heard at Olympic Spa 8 min @ Olympic Spa, Korea town, Los Angeles “The tea is brewed good and strong today.” Her milky blue eyes stare intently at the young woman across from her. “But it’s too hot,” the girl says. “Don’t be thinking this can be turned down,” the blue-eyed crone gestures at the steaming brown water the three women are sitting in. “This will cure what ails you, if you Read more