#2416: Six days in LA

Post 2416

- 9 years and 31 days since I started this blog -

  

Journal
(written Jan 8-10, 2020)

Read this once (it won't change for the rest of the trip(s): I'll be linking this post to Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: About 9 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical situation and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for the occasional food shot when I've eaten something interesting. And that's where we find ourselves now.

I'm in LA.

Chiang Mai is in the rearview, and I'm more than a little wistful. I don't know when I'll be back (although I know I'want to return).

I am only here a short time - my all-time shortest stay. And Alex is back to work, meaning I'll see a bit less of him, although toward the end of the week we'll hang together while he works remotely.

I got in late Friday, back to the Bob Dylan room I stayed in for two weeks before I went to Chiang Mai. Everything's the same, and that's a good thing.

My visit will end on Thursday late afternoon, when I drive back to LAX to get my flight to Panama, change planes to Quito, then, after a long layover, Cuenca, Ecuador.

I wish I could say more about my time - but in this week, it was mostly about hanging out with Alex. His work schedule meant that we got together for lunches and dinners. His other work schedule - the one where he does his own thing, writing and video production, also limited our time.

On my own time, I... didn't do much. I didn't go sightseeing or to the LA museums I love so much. I didn't get a chance to play much.

As always, I took advantage of California's legal recreational marijuana laws, but that really doesn't impact my time much.

Saturday after I got in, Alex was 'booked' up for the evening. He took me to his favorite sandwich shop, then went to his new apartment (he just started moving in when I left for Chiang Mai) and hung out for a bit, just talking and watching some 'The Mandolorian' on TV (I was curious. I don't watch much TV normally). Now I know all about Baby Yoda, although I'm certain it is, by now, no longer a part of anyone's conversation. 

Sunday, we had plans to go to Smorgasburg. Mission: dumplings (see below). 

At Smorgasburg. Yeah, lots of lines, but they move quick, and the food is great, and worth it!

Alex had planned to spend the whole day with me, but outside of going to ice cream favorite Little Damage, he didn't really have any agenda. Earlier, I had suggested a museum, but post-ice cream, I wasn't really feeling like it. 

instead, we went to a party revolving around a heavily-promoted wrestling event, some kind of women's all-in beatdown thing, with thirty(!) woman wrestlers getting into the ring at two-minute intervals. I'm no wrestling fan, but figured there was plenty of room in that scenario for some laughs, and there would be food and booze and company, and a chance to not interfere in Alex's social life, so, okay. i'm into it.

In this case, my low expectations were trounced. For one thing, Alex's friends were really, well, friendly, and funny and a pleasure to hang out with. For another, the hosts had gone to a lot of trouble to make the party fun.

They made the wrestling match into a game. There was an elaborate pre-game draw, with everybody, or each team (Alex and me) getting three numbers from 1 to 30, corresponding to one of the wrestlers, and the order they entered the ring.

So everybody was invested.

As the show unfolded, the host who was actually into wrestling provided color and backstory on each wrestler.

It was fun!

After the weekend, Alex had to house-sit in the Hollywood Hills, he was doing his regular job remotely. I'd meet him there, we'd go out for lunch, then I'd hang there, sometimes watching TV, sometimes 'working' on the MacBook.

But really, what I'm saying here is, I don't have a lot to say.

I had a delightful dinner with some wonderful friends, and next night a birthday dinner.

And then I was seventy years old. The picture at the top was taken at Alex's house-sit (mansion-sit?), on my birthday. This is what seventy looks like on me.

Then, I'm seventy and packing for my flight(s) to Cuenca.

During that week, most of the pictures I took were of food, but there really weren't a lot of pictures.

It is its own special blessing that I am alive and enjoying my life. I don't take it for granted, ever. There is no smooth line to be drawn leading up to this point. Things didn't work out as I planned, they worked out better, and I have no idea how. But the 'how' of it doesn't seem that important when I assess where I am now. 

I'm just grateful. Grateful for the great relationship I have with my son. Grateful for all my family and friends still with me - which, astonishingly, is the majority of them. Grateful, every day, all the time, for my life. 

Food Comment

My first visit to Mendocino Farms, an amazing, high-quality sandwich shop where things are amazingly healthy and delicious. Above is 'the Farm Club' a turkey-bacon-avocado sandwich with lots of good salad between the seeded whole-wheat bread, curried cauliflower soup and a "Crazy Healthy" salad. It was all great.

World's best dumplings - at least, the best I ever tasted. They're only available at Smorgasburg, and that means they're only available Sunday. On my third visit to this collection of food trucks and pop-ups, this was the only thing we wanted.

Like Mendocino Farms, Lemonade is a chain of restaurants. I'd seen them all over LA, but thought they were juice bars. This trip proved how wrong I was. They're a little bit like hometown fave CoreLife. Above, tuna poké in the front, surrounded by kale salad, kimchi, and grilled broccoli, with a slice of parmesan toast. 

A LEO (lox, eggs and onions) at Nat's Eats. My last breakfast in LA this time, and my first breakfast as a 70-year old. So. Damn. Good.

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