My ODE to LA

Current mood: adventurous
Category: Travel and Places

I was chatting online with someone the other day and they mentioned how much they hated LA and wanted to leave. It brought to mind my old poem about coming home. It's
dated now so I won't share it.

Instead, I have to defend my home more directly.

My defense is really a defense of big city living.

I realized after being in Atlanta for a few months, I am not a small town guy. The reason why is simple. There is NO ESCAPE in a small town. Even in a city like Atlanta where everything is so spread out, you can't get away from certain people. You can go to the other side of town and escape a particular person or persons but you can't escape those type of people.

In a BIG city (A real big city ATL-not where you claim the surrounding cities to boost the population), the other side of town is REALLY the other side of town. In Los Angeles, for instance, I have been known to shift my scenery completely and hang in a different venue, with a different crowd at the drop of a hat. OR, I can hang in the same spot with different people and get a totally different experience. I've been on Sunset with so many different crowds, I couldn't even count the various perspectives from which to experience that one strip.

The same can be said for my neighborhood. I have met people who lived around the corner or just down the street after living there for years and seen a WHOLE different scene in my very own neighborhood. It's like - You live where? You know who? And they live here too? WTF!

In smaller cities. There isn't much to find after a VERY SHORT while. No matter how far away you go. In Atlanta or New Orleans or DC or even Vegas (all the places I've lived so far) if you want to avoid people, you just have to ignore them. There is no changing the scenery.

I always remember an add for Los Angeles that said if you want to go to a small town, see movies made, ski and surf all in the same day, there's only L.A.. I'm sure New York, Chicago, and Houston all have those widely varying communities. Me, I love L.A.. I love the Lakers (even though Kobe Bryant is the devil). I love Venice. I love Hollywood. I love West Hollywood. I love Long Beach. I love Santa Monica. I love my block. I love my neighborhood. I love my High School.

In Los Angeles, I had a classic American upbringing. I went to school in my neighborhood. My parents were on the PTA. I walked home from school. At UCLA, I used to get out of trouble because I went there (on any side of town).
All my experiences have left me in a great place. Some has been good. Some has been bad (Damned Kobe!). But I am truly happy with where I am. I'm glad I left and I can't wait to get back.

I owe everything to being able to step outside of labels. To being able to step outside of my environment and choose any other I wish. I owe all that to Los Angeles. The biggest city in America. Sorry New York, you may have more people, but I don't want some of those people to touch me. How can you "back, back. Give me Fifity feet" when fifty feet is the other side of town? (crowded assed town) California my be hippie central but shit, we don't hug all the time. Great to visit though!

For people itching to get out of L.A., LEAVE. I wish you could have had my experiences there. But any place is as great as your imagination will take you. In a city like Los Angeles, phrases like "stuck" and "same shit" shouldn't exist. With so many options, being stuck is a state of mind. And if you keep seeing the same shit, it's because you keep doing the same shit.

Perhaps, L.A. is not for everyone. Everyone doesn't have the big enough dreams or imaginations for a city like L.A.. Some people are perfectly comfortable in a smaller setting. My imagination will allow me to live anywhere because L.A. is always in my heart. Also, I know Los Angeles is my ultimate destination.
So if you want to stay in L.A., but it's getting you down. If you don't dig your experiences, if you want to change, change yourself, change your perspective. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE:

Don't blame it on my town.


Tight!

MA NINJA....SPOKEN LIKE A TRUE "G"...SHAW DOG TO THE FULLEST....WEST UP MY MAN...

AND NOW I MUST COPY THIS AND PASTE IT IN A BULLETIN...YOU JUST SAID EVERYTHING I ALWAYS SAY....

ROB GREENIDGE AKA OG HOT SAUCE FROM DA W/S.....

If they don't like L.A., they can move. More space on the freeway for everyone else.

It's just like my cousin who is destined to got o jail no matter what state he is in. how many of us know people like that?