Rewind to Fast-forward

  

So here I am.  I'm over here.  On the West-side.  I have been here for 2 and a half years and they've absolutely flown by.  When I moved out I had no expectations of how long I would be here and what my time would look like I just knew I needed to know what I didn't.  2+ years later I am looking back and smiling... my time out here has been extremely mind opening and self solidifying.  An important realization, though, when reflecting on the past 2 years is how disconnected I have become with a place and people I used to call home.  With no burning desire to move to the Midwest anytime soon I thought that I'd better develop a way to stay in touch with and inform the people I care about or I may be banished from the clan.  So here we are.

This first blog post is going to be a bit long because I just want to do a decent geographic recap of how I got to where I am at this moment.  Beyond this first post I plan on writing about various aspects of life in LA and how it differs from life in Minnesota... I promise they'll be shorter.  My goal is once weekly posts for the next year.  In the end I hope you all (mom) feel more connected to my life and have more ammunition to throw at me when we actually do chat...

Location, Location, Location.
My current address is 1236 Brockton Ave, APT 1, LA, CA 90025.  I moved in December 1st and it's the first time in my life I've lived on my own, if you've never done it you should give it a try.  Knowing and embracing the feeling of solitude is an exceptional experience.  There's no one to hide from... it's just you and yourself alone with your thoughts.

Before I arrived here... I was there... My first apartment when I arrived in August 2013 was on Hollywood Blvd a half mile from the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater/Hollywood Walk of Fame and a mile or so from the famous sunset strip (The Roxy/Rainbow Room/Viper room/Whiskey Go Go).  I was tucked into the Hollywood hills and surrounded by aspiring actors/musicians/models... life could've been worse.  Life also could've been more tame.  I chose Hollywood because it seemed like a nice central location between the life I wanted to experience (comedy/music), only 8 miles from where I work (West LA VA Medical Center), and 4 miles from Beverly Hills which is where my best friends in LA (Fran and Jason) and my girlfriend at the time (Molly) were living.  This apartment also came fully furnished with a kick ass roommate that traveled about 2 weeks per month (that's not the only reason Monica was kick ass) and had 2 little chihuahuas.

The other little tidbit is it was owned by the family of Reggie Gouch (you can meet him in this Dodge Super Bowl commercial from 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKKlqMs19tU , it is Hollywood after all! ).  This wonderful 101-year-old man lived right below me and would sweep the walk and water the plants daily.  Once I moved in I learned that Marlon Brando lived in my apartment for years at the beginning of his career and that Marilyn Monroe had a stint in our house although I can't confirm that she was actually in the space where I lived.  

After 18 months and a break up in Hollywood I was considering moving to a different part of the country for work.  When I didn't pursue said job I sat back one night and said, "whoa... I almost lived in and moved from LA without having lived at or spending significant time at the beach!!! WTF was I thinking!?"  Unannounced I found a place in Manhattan Beach and was moved in within 3 weeks of my initial thought.  It was the hardest leaving the situation I was in but life's too short not to try because you are simply comfortable.  3411 Crest Dr., Manhattan Beach was the spot.  Nightly ocean view sunsets and another great roommate with a wonderful dog.

The nine months spent in MB primarily consisted of skate boarding down "The Strand" :

(thanks dad for the skateboard... and to those of you who don't know "The Strand" is, it's an oceanfront boardwalk that runs 22 miles from Santa Monica to Redondo Beach) 








and playing beach tennis with Matt (Matt Charbonneau... I'll explain the craziness of this meet up in later posts).  




Skateboarding at sunset and playing beach tennis, besides dating a couple girls, are literally the only things I did from Feb.-Nov. of 2015 (I suppose I did spend some time working to support this lifestyle!). 

After I finished my training for and returned from Aruba Beach Tennis Open 2015 (the largest beach tennis tournament in the world, which I'll address in later posts) and the timing of sunset made it impossible for me to get to the beach after work I decided that the last place I needed to live was within walking distance of where I work (and wouldn't break the bank which was in pretty shaky condition).  Only those of you who have ever commuted on the 405 will understand and appreciate the luxury of the previous sentence and how happy I currently am WALKING to work daily.  

For 27 months I lived in a fantasy land... which I now know is possible to do... and it has become apparent that I do truly love living out here and I need to begin thinking about making this situation a viable endeavor, an endeavor that supports more than just myself.  The biggest thing I have learned is the difference between pleasure and enjoyment.  I look forward to diving deeper into the enjoyment of life and the community I have been building here... finding my flow.  I hope you come along with me on my ride and that you ask me a lot of questions.  Feel free to suggest things for me to research and blog about and I'll do my best to keep you all up to date.  I miss all of you.

Michael.