Notes From the Holidays

December 29th, 2009Blog0 comments

It was a nice holiday week. Every time I go back home to the Bay Area I forget how dark it is there at night — or I fail to recall how fluorescent LA’s night sky is. The Bay Area is also a lot more granola — the spirit of Jerry Garcia is still hanging around toking fatty bowls, and there are many random middle-aged beardos who will come up to you and talk to you about the rain, movies, and their Volvos.

Sometimes it’s easy for me to forget that I grew up there. I’m such an LA creature now. I love driving; I love how we live among the ruins of art deco, golden-aged Hollywood. I have big sunglasses and bling in my grill. This is my town, and I don’t think I could ever leave it — especially now that it has its hooks in me.

But the Bay Area has many charms. The air is fresher because the landscape is greener, and the people are more relaxed. There are far more Santa Claus lookalikes in the Bay. Also dim sum in SF Chinatown on Christmas day is always great — that’s one of our family traditions. Plus Mom took the dog to see Santa:

Bosco told Santa that he wanted the evil power of 10,000 souls for Christmas; Santa let him know that he could only have things that elves can make. So then Bosco asked for 7.62mm ammo for his AK-47, and a license to murder whomever he likes. We printed up a fake license that the dog seemed pretty happy with — after all, the Scarecrow felt smarter after the Wizard gave him that fake diploma.

So I’m back in LA now. I’m looking forward to the new year. I’m not so much a fan of New Year’s Eve — I’m not a drinker or a partyer, really. I’m more of a New Year’s Day man. I always start the new year with a long run, a big breakfast, and then spend the day doing work. I always see January 1st as a template for every day for the rest of the new year.

This is my favorite time of the year: Winter. In the coldest, darkest part of the year, there is renewal.