Alaska to San Francisco and the City of Lost Angels
I was in Alaska for about a month just trying to figure out my near term future plans and didn’t really come up with much. I felt a little lost until a friend of mine came up with a project that perked my interest. We had to meet face to face so off I went for San Francisco to see family and friends before meeting up in San Luis Obispo, California.
I saw some rare old friends and family. The highlight was going to Yoshi’s and seeing Tommy Igoe and the Groove Conspiracy. Yoshi’s has been bought and will most likely keep the bands coming while the decor and the Japanese culinary influence are either removed or lessened.
I hopped an Amtrak bus train combo and headed south for San Luis Obispo for a few days to see an old artist friend of mine I met in London. We had time to catch up over good food and an outdoor Reggae show in Los Osos in the heat. We stayed a little longer than we should have because playoff game two with the San Francisco Giants were on after the music so we stuck around and waited for a home run by Belt ending a lot of extra innings.
The next morning we made a quick stop at the Del Monte Café for a late breakfast and two out of three of us got on the train and headed for LA to fine-tune some project perimeters and see if we can get a company to sign off on it, if so, I’ll be in Paris in May and England even sooner.
Between now and then I’m doing a short and sweet friendship tour. I probably will not stay in the states but I can’t make up my mind on that one just yet. My options are endless and all sound good. I’m toying with staying in Alaska, working a bit and finish a manuscript, OR go to Nepal and finish it there, OR head back to South Korea for book translation publication arrangements, then to the Philippines, Borneo, and Sulawesi for more diving. A friend thought I should go to Belize and dive there. I just can’t decide, nor do I have to at this point and probably shouldn’t.
We’ve been in Burbank for a couple of days and nights touring around Mulholland Drive, Ventura Blvd., peering into Warner Brother studio lots finally ending our time with a meeting at 2 o’clock with Papa Pilar Rum Company and Rum Farm Productions went pretty well. I think they’re interested in what we are going to do and they want to tie in a charity, which doesn’t bother us. It’s just working out the final details. I can’t really bring it all up just yet because it isn’t finalized but it looks positive. See you in Paris.
Hermosa beach is bustling with remodels and tare down construction of multi-million dollar properties. Excavators pulling out dirt and sand, pile drivers setting I-beams for shoring up new construction and all the while the sun is shining and volleyball tournaments rage on the beach. Whales are migrating south in droves and dolphins swim along the coast. Paddle boarding seems to have become the rage for an alternative activity since I was here last. I’m sure it’s a decade old practice by now.
We went to the North End Bar and Grill where the LA Kings (Hockey) seem to hang out in and their fans. We left when San Jose went up 2 - 0 in the opening game of the season.
I got a call yesterday about my house in Alaska that some folks are showing interest in buying it. If so, how do I spell ‘FREEDOM’ without smiling? I hope they love it as much as I always will. It was fun to build and even more fun to live in. We shall see.
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