chioke nassor’s notes

^{wack ass traffic image courtesy i.treehugger.com}

Kind of dramatic title right?

Actually its really nice out here and I like it a lot. There are a lot of fantastic things LA has to offer: fresh produce, great weather, um…fresh produce. But sometimes LA seems wack. So, in order to bring a balanced opinion of the city after being here for well over a week, here’s the bad news rap up:

1. Traffic: what the #$% is up with the congestion on the road? I went last thursday to drive to MOCA, the museum of contemporary art, and spent literally two HOURS in traffic even though my house is 15 MINUTES away. WTF LA?

2. Parking: parking suuuucks here. Drove to Venice beach to play some street hockey on Saturday and spent an HOUR trying to find a spot. Then a bird shat on my car.

Also, never made it to the museum because not only was there no street parking, all of the lots were filled up too. Nice.

3. Bars: I don’t really drink so I’ve never been a big bar person, but everything closes here at 2:00am which is banana bread (that’s my new slang for crazy, feel free to use it). How do you expect to reduce the tolerance level of attractive women if you have such a restricted period of time to do it in? So much pressure. Also, have seen people drunk drive here because, well, you have to drive everywhere, even to and from bars. You see a lot of drunk nuts in NY, but only a few of them might kill you. Not cool, LA.

4. Walking: what happened to that? I literally get rides to my car even if I’m a block away from the other person, which inevitably means I never walk. This wouldn’t be a problem, but now I actually have to work out in order to not get fat. And that’s wack.

5. Comedy Shows: this is kind of a low blow but of the shows I’ve seen here, and granted there haven’t been a ton, the level of quality is significantly lower. Also, based on the fact that LA on the whole is more celebrity obsessed, you can get laughs here just for being famous. I actually saw an entire room burst into uproarious laughter when Seth Rogan and Sam Levine walked on stage. And no, there was no funny part of their walk. Just a stage left entrance is gangbusters here.

6. Friends: nothing in particular. Just miss my friends. (sigh.)

All that said, you can get a smoothy practically anywhere, the people I have met are awesome, it seems easier to be focused on work, the cost of living is cheaper, and even though there is no discernible holiday spirit, it’s pretty cool to be able to take a walk on the beach in December wearing a T-shirt.

So LA, you ai-ight.