Unquiet Desperation

photo credit: MMMMichelle

On the second day of Penguicon, the furries came out. Luckily, they weren’t drawn to the technical track, so for the most part, we were safe.

Most of the morning, Rick and I hung out. There weren’t any sessions that we wanted to attend, so we headed out for a few hours and wandered the local mall, which was roughly the size of the UCLA campus. It was two massive structures connected by a skyway over West Big Beaver Road¹. Astonishingly, it was filled with…nothing. Well…nothing for two computer geeks on the prowl. To be fair, there was an Apple Store, but even that felt half-assed.

Heading back, we met back up with Cmdln for his afternoon sessions. The poor guy looked like something out of Infected, his head cold threatening burst out of his skull and wreak havoc over the con. He held the beast at bay with liberal application of Dayquil. He and I headed off to his three panels.

I have to say, his Third Wave Power² was sorely tested by the panels he had that day:

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1. No joke. I’m not making that up.[back]
2. Cmdln’s Third Wave power is the ability to as intelligent on the last day of a con, after having little sleep, as he sounds on the first day. Personally, I think this definition needs to be refined thusly: he has the ability to sound intelligent no matter how tired he is.[back]

I’m on my second trip to Los Angeles this week. I didn’t write about the first trip because I wanted time to sit back and think about what I’d seen and not approach it like some wide-eyed tourist. It might be unavoidable, but I prefer not to sound like some midwestern bumpkin who is going to the Big City for the first time.

People who have lived in LA are quick to tell me that, when I visit on business, I’m not living in the “real LA.” I’m staying in the company apartment which is not too far from the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood, in Westwood, about six blocks from the UCLA campus. If you take Wilshire west, you wind up in Santa Monica, and if you go east, you wind up in Beverly Hills. This, apparently, is not the “real LA.” Be that as it may, I’ve been traveling around a bit, and thought I’d share some of my observations with you.

• You cannot throw a rock without hitting a sushi joint. During my last trip out here I became enamored with sushi and sashimi, and one of my co-workers is telling me that he’ll take me down to Echigo, which is supposed to be one of the best places in town. Sushi knowledge is highly prized around the office, and if you bring up the subject, you’ll get an earful of recommendations, history, and even a little bit of argument. It’s heady stuff.

• There are a number of good cafe’s around town. Some, like Peet’s are chains, others are small and independent. One I hope to visit while I am out here is the Literati Cafe. Looks like fun.

• Bookstores and comic book shops are high on the list, since I’ll have a weekend free. The Golden Apple in Hollywood has come highly recommended, but there is also a Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash right around the corner. Also, I’m trying to remember the name of the place where Harlan Ellison used to sit in the window and write. Anyone? Anyone?

I have to admit that I like what I’ve seen, but the housing prices out here are madness. The apartment I’m staying in (2 bed, 2 bath) is $3,500 a month…nearly three and a half times my mortgage back home. I did some checking, and my house and the same amount of land would cost $600K out here. Good grief.

That’s all for now. More in the days to come.