Where am i?

With GPS built-in to so many cars and active on most cell phones, it’s pretty hard to get lost these days. However, it happens and the other day I got lost; I found myself just north of Santa Monica winding through a series of roads I’d never seen before. On that day I had a few minutes so I decided to take the time to explore and found myself quite impressed with what I found. This has happened to me a few times where I’ve had to get lost to find a new area in this city, it’s another refreshing reminder of how sprawling and surprising this metropolis truly is.
Heading west on Santa Monica I realized I had missed my turn and so decided to try to make a left and head north to try to intersect Wilshire. I was right by the Century City shopping center, a place I’ve been to so many times, so I figured I knew my way around. However, the street I’d chosen actually just seemed to be taking me back around to Santa Monica so I took a few more wrong turns and then stopped eager to find my bearings.
But looking around I was enchanted by the beautiful homes and secluded feel of this neighborhood; being there it’s easy to forget how close you actually are to Santa Monica blvd, such a busy and frantic street. The roads were quiet and calm and the area was picturesque evoking the same sort of feelings that being in Brentwood and other such neighborhoods conjure up. I remember the first time I drove up through Benedict canyon where when you reach the top there seems no pressing reason to come back down. It’s like being in the Italian countryside and the truth of the matter is you’re only about a five minute drive from Sunset Boulevard.
It’s easy to feel lost in this great big city of ours, but if you look around you might see that more often than not getting lost is an adventure and perhaps even one that may lead you to the neighborhood of your dreams where you’ll find your future home.

May we? Mais oui.

"The 400 Blows" follows a young boy who has been cast aside and misunderstood by the adults in his life- labeled as a miscreant and perpetual screw-up he decides to take on Paris on his own- well with a fellow life lover and friend. Together the boys explore the city and make it their own.
Yet another reason I want to move to Paris. I find myself falling in love with the world at a distance and am resolved to change this. To cash in on my dual-citizenship and live in the city of lights while i'm still young and foolish. I'll serve coffee and practice my French- nothing as tragically romantic as I'd once imagined, but still fitting for a black & white affair. Cue the music because my heart has a heavy beat.

When it rains…

We in Los Angeles are blessed with amazing weather. Our skyline is a living embodiment of a Hollywood movie backdrop - clear blue skies with a few clouds painted on for good measure. It’s almost as if you could lean against it and watch it fall the ground…but not something I would recommend because you can never be too sure in this city of ours what’s real gold and what’s just gilded to make it shine.
However, in the last few months we have had to sit back with fingers crossed and hope our cityscape would brave the storm and make it through to see another sunny day. The rain that has hit LA has hit it hard giving us all pause to reflect on and appreciate just how beautiful this city is. But in this moment of reflection one cannot ignore the eerie crescendo of an ambulance siren creeping towards us and ever reminding the lucky inhabitants of Los Angeles to SLOW DOWN.
Rainy days should be spent at home curled up by the fake fireplace or swimming in the indoor heated pool or something equally as fabulous. But the reality is a 9-5 for many of us and in LA that means we must drive to work. We must bundle up and face the day -umbrellas in hand readying us for battle. We leave a little earlier expecting rain delays and resigned to the slugglish but necessary trek ahead. But WE are not everyone and LA in the rain is a social storm of epic proportions as traffic slows and deadlines can’t be met. The only explanation for the sorry display of driving during the rain is that every driver who makes their own lane in the shoulder, knowingly runs a red light and just can’t help but cut everyone else off is in fact Jack Bauer trying to save the world. Try as I might I cannot accept that this is always the case and it is not a coincidence that one hears so many more sirens in the rain. Slippery roads and brash drivers do not a happy motor marriage make and it is our responsibility to be street smart and hyper alert so that we do not become the victim of their reckless disregard for others.
Sadly, rainy weather is just a dangerous example of what has become a trend on the roads in Los Angeles. It’s become increasingly apparent the lack of driving savvy in this city and that a great majority of people are just more important than everyone else; they are governed by an elite set of road rules which just do not apply to the rest of the driving populous. For these select MANY yellow lights do not mean yield- HA, they are just a more intense green and a test to see how many people can get through before the light goes RED, oh- but don’t worry you stragglers you, red is like a fiery vixen luring you to the other-side… if you dare.
People are in such a rush to live their very important lives they forget that this city only works because of those red lights, double yellow lines and cross-walks. If everyone were as brazen as some people chose to be then the very foundation of what makes a metropolis operate and thrive would crumble and the sunny days we love so much wouldn’t seem as bright.