Culver City

Liz and Chanti

Some girls are a good influence on your life. Some girls are bad. Liz has always been the latter. But I can't get enough.

We're back in Culver City for happy hour. I'm not really a happy hour kind of guy, so the scene is quite interesting and odd to me. Regular people blowing off steam after a day at the office. Many of the guys here are in suits and business attire - it's really strange for me. At least I've got the hottest girls in the place.

In some ways, it's hard to remember the details - but that's not too unusual on Liz outings. I took pictures but I'll have to reconstruct the details another time.


Slider


Sweet Potato Fries


Broccolini Pizza


Add Shannon


Red Velvet Cake


Someone actually called me "Charlie"...

Eat This, Bitch

Double Double

I'm back at In-N-Out Burger to soothe my soul after such a dismal performance in Venice Beach today. The Double Double with everything (and no secret menu stuff), fries and a Dr. Pepper. A soothing meal after a vegetarian lunch.

But I think the Double Double is too much. I feel full. Ill, even. Next time it's going to be a Single. And the fries still suck.

Epic FAIL

At the door where my analysis paralysis begins.

The bachelor life is rife with adventure and fraught with peril. It's a condition of the life that I've accepted and while I don't always win, I usually have quite a bit of fun. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, other times you crash and burn (spectacularly, at times), but the ones that suck the most are when you just outright fail.

By now, I'm rarely intimidated by a woman. Looks rarely intimidate me and I'm not usually psyched out or overly analytical of a situation. If I'm in the mood, I'll just charge right in and see what happens. Not today though.

While sitting at Intelligentsia Venice Beach, I spotted a girl that looked extremely familiar. Someone that I really know. I have seen her before but I can't place where. I'm stumped. She looks half Asian and half White - almost exactly my ideal preference. Stunning. Don't know about her choice of boots, but whoa.

This is exactly where it started going off the rails for me.

Overall, I have the advantage. I know the staff. She's a regular here. How easy is it to play a routine asking: "Having your usual today?" It would have been an innocent enough opener. She noticed me sitting with Chris Owens when she walked in, so I'm not some random stalker hiding in the corner.

Instead of approaching, I'm stuck in analysis paralysis, wasting my time trying to remember who she is instead of going up to her and finding out. Duh. Over the years, I've met lots of women, getting their phone numbers and taking them out. Suddenly, I'm stalling and spiraling. Stuck trying to analyze too much about who she is. Doomed.


Waiting for her drink - the perfect time to make the approach. But no...

In the end, nothing happened. Epic Fail. There's not even a good story in there about getting turned down, slapped or having a latte dumped on my head. Just a tale of reluctance and woe. Pathetic.

Oh well, time to move on...

A Day In Venice

Waiting in line at Intelligentsia like the regular people.

Chris Tacy is in town and we decided to spend the day visiting Venice Beach and drinking coffee at Intelligentsia where we met up with TonX and had lunch at Axe.


Hard at work.


Tacy wondering when he's going to get served.


Serra do Bone Cappuccino and Lemon Rasbperry Muffin.


Brewing up some Finca Matalapa.


Eating fettuccine at Axe (pronouced "Ah-Shay") and needing lots of salt.


Gruyere and Proscuitto Grilled Cheese Sandwich


Tony shows photos from Mission Burger - evidently the best burger in the world.


Round Two: Serra do Bone Cappuccino and Red Velvet Sandwich.


Interior of Red Velvet Sandwich - kinda mushy and undercooked.

Morning of Discontent

Just a few moments before, I felt comfortable. At home. Relaxed. Despite the strange dreams of malcontent and poor customer service, I felt oddly at ease - something I hadn't really felt in a long time. As I peeked lazily out one eye, it hit me: Where am I???

I travel a lot but I'm rarely disoriented in this way. While I enjoy traveling, few places feel comfortable enough to delude me into thinking that I'm back at home. Which is where, for a brief moment, I thought I was this morning - completely confusing my mind and skewing my existence in the world. Am I even at my brother's house in Hermosa??? Crap.

With morning rush hour about to start, I need to get going and back to the beach. Morning rush hour in L.A. is a real pain in the butt and I dislike getting caught up in it. The big concern is getting back to the house before 8am so I can find a parking spot since on Thursdays they prohibit parking on the street.

In my favor, at least the weather this morning is sunny again. It's been off and on cloudy, cold and rainy for the past couple of days and the sun on my face during the morning drive helps immensely. Time to get back to the house, do a little work, bask in the sun, then meet up with some friends.