El Prado

Work on Mondays are endless. Orders were backed up from the weekend and it took all day to fill them. I made plans to drown the rest of the night with beer so I found myself at a hole in the wall called El Prado on Sunset Blvd. 

Bars funnel the neighborhood. I stepped through the velvet veil into a world of dim lighting and booze. There was a man in a suit hugging the far corner of the red brick wall. He was reading a book by the candle light, flames inches from his face.

I sat down at the bar made out of reclaimed wood. I was careful. It was too reclaimed. Splinters dug into my arms.

The bartender came over and screamed,

     "WHAT CAN I GET YOU HUN!"

It was loud, a turn-table was turning and the amplifier shouted at the oddly placed disco ball.

     "I'LL HAVE THE HOUSE IPA!"

She nodded and took out a chilled glass sticking out of the ice tray.
She was cute. She had on a floral dress with a brown belt across her middle. It created a bulge that gave her definition.
She placed a frothy, copper lager in front of me.

     "THAT'LL BE SEVEN DOLLARS!"

I gave her a ten and left the change for tip.
She gave me a wink and yelled at the guy who just sat down couple chairs from me.

I took a bigger gulp than I anticipated. The sharp bubbles stung my throat and it felt good. The disco ball shot rays towards the couple that was sitting a few seats down. Their eyes were locked on each other and talking with their hands. Body language was spoken here. The man had a full beard and it was combed to a point. His bald head was a disco ball and his eyes were gleaming. The woman had on leather overalls with a laced see through top. She had long blond hair that she kept teasing. She grabbed his hand and held it. 

-

Her name was Cindy. She had long waves of golden brown hair and mahogany eyes that matched. We were immersed in purple haze and deep house. As company grew dull and the alcohol running a bit thicker, the slight touch of our legs became heavier. She buried herself into me and her arm slid into mine. 

     "Hey. Let's get out of here." 



SS

Platform 9 3/4

"Students Save!" Blared the ad on the screen. 

An animated train flew by the page. I'm not quite sure why but I clicked on it. 

I typed in my starting and ending destinations and the page refreshed. 

-

"How was your day today?" My mom asked. 

It shocked me a bit. It was a question that was rarely asked these days.

"Um, I found out I can take the train to school."

     "Oh really? And how much would that be?"

"About Eight dollars each way."

     "Thats not bad. Do it. I dare you to try it. I'll even pay for it." 

A challenge from my mother. I accepted. 

-

I found myself tossing and turning the night before the train ride. It felt like a night before a big trip. The insomnia of anticipation. 

6AM. I woke up to my mom packing lunch for me. God bless that woman. She shows me what love is every single day. 

     "Good morning!" She said as she smiled.

My dad was also awake and we took a family trip to the train station down the street. 

-

I was surprised at the amount of people waiting for the train. Suited people. Children clinging on to their mothers and even other students. 

7:37AM. The train came around the corner right on time. I stood right in front of the yellow line and felt the behemoth of human ingenuity fly by inches from my face. A wall of diesel exhaust and brake dust hit me as the train slowed to a halt. I grinned and got on. 

I sat by the window seat, always. The train started to move and I saw my family waving out the window.

     "I must be better to them." I said to myself. 

It was a 10 minute ride to Union Station where I had to transfer to another line. 

- 

7:47AM Union Station. 

I had 13 minutes to get to my next train. I followed the massive stampede of people down underground. The herd split. Half went left and half went right. 

Right or left. Right or left. I stood at the fork and tried to look for a map or a hint of where to go. Nothing. I took a chance and started walking right. 

I was intimidated. All these people knew exactly where to go and I was lost and felt out of place. I kept walking and hoped to find a familiar sign. 

     Platform 10B - Ocean Side 8:00AM 

It was 7:55AM. I made it on to the right train. I hoped. 

-

8AM.

I loved the punctuality. Public transportation kept me on schedule; kept me moving.  

The train departed and took the scenic route along the Los Angeles River. The birds were having their morning bath and downtown was gleaming from the morning sun. I passed by tent cities under bridges and saw a hobo pissing into the river. 

The new perspective of LA put me in a trance. It wasn't just the view out the window that I enjoyed. It was being out of my comfort zone and having an adventure that was exhilarating. 

The train passed over the 5 Freeway. A route that I once used to take. It was backed up with traffic. I smiled and took a sip out of my thermos. 

SS

Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut

"And then, neutralizing gravity with love and pure will, they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time."

"In the past week, " she said, "I've been married to Othello, been loved by Faust and been kidnapped by Paris. Wouldn't you say I was the luckiest girl in town?"

"We wouldn't have the telephone today if Bell hadn't had the guts to call somebody up."

"The question experienced men like yourself usually ask is: how high can I go and how fast? And the answer to that is that the sky is the limit for a man with drive and creative ambition. And he can go fast or slow, depending on what he's willing to do and capable of putting into the job."

"Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for"

"Every character should want something, even if it's a glass of water. "

"Be a sadist. Make awful things happen to your characters in order that we can see what they're made of. "

Movie List

2013

**Play Time -- Jacques Tati

**Lolita -- Stanley Kubrick

**Rushmore -- Wes Anderson

**The Shining -- Stanley Kubrick

***Argo -- Ben Affleck

***Une Femme Est Une Femme -- Godard

***American Psycho -- Mary Harron

***Safety Not Guaranteed -- Colin Trevorrow

***Robot and Frank -- Jack Schreier

**TED -- Seth MacFarlane

*Killer Joe -- William Friedkin

**Virgin Suicides -- Sofia Coppola 

***The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- Stephen Chbosky

*Wild at Heart -- David Lynch

***Full Metal Jacket -- Stanley Kubrick

**All God's Children Can Dance -- Murakami

*Elysium -- Neill Blomkamp

**Monster's University -- Dan Scanlon

***Lost in Translation -- Sofia Coppola 

***Moonrise Kingdom -- Wes Anderson

*Bottle Rocket -- Wes Anderson

**Solaris -- Steven Soderbergh

**Eyes Wide Shut -- Stanley Kubrick

***Gattaca -- Andrew Niccol

**Somewhere -- Sofia Coppola

***Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori) -- Tran Anh Hung (Haruki Murakami) 

***Chasing Ice

***Star Trek Into Darkness

**Olympus Has Fallen

2014

*Alan Partridge Alpha Papa

**American Beauty

**Bad Words

**The Bridge on the River Kwai

**Cutie and the Boxer

***Ernest & Celestine

***Finding Vivian Maier

***Gravity

***The Grand Budapest Hotel

**Her

***The Hunger Games

***The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

**I was Born But

**Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

*Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

**Jeune & Jolie

***Kes

**The Kings of Summer

**The Lego Movie

***Life of PI

***Like Father, Like Son

**The Machine

**Matilda

*Non-Stop

**Oblivion

**Oculus

**One Day

*Particle Fever

**The Past (Le Passe)

**Salmon Fishing in Yemen

***Samsara

***The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

**The Selfish Giant

*Sucker Punch

**Toto the Hero

**The Wolf of Wall Street

*Noah

Romans 12:9-21

Love in Action

9. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 

10. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 

11. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 

12. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

13. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 

15. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 

16. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people          of low position. Do not be conceited.

17. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

18. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

19. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is          mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 

20.On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Hole In The Wall

There is a book store on Sunset Blvd. It's squeezed between a closed down laundromat and a Check-into-Cash.

The guy behind the register wore thick black glasses and his gaze bore a hole in the wall. He couldn't care less who came in.

Instead, I was greeted by aged paper musk. This was no Barnes & Noble. Bookshelves as high as the ceiling were bursting with Bukowski to Vonnegut. Books were stacked on top of each other. Some were read and some were crisp. Alphabetical order? What order? 

Literary gems were found by scanning and picking a title that stuck out. 

     These Days Are Ours - Michelle Haimoff

I flipped to a random page and took a glimpse into another world. Something about 9/11, ghosts, and space. I put it back and scanned on. Each step squished a squeak out of the wooden floorboards. 

     JD Salinger. Squeak.
     Stephen King. Squeak.
     Oscar Wilde. Squeak.

The back of the store held a small cafe with a few tables. A man in purple slacks and Doc Martins was writing out his genius.

"What can I get you?"

The girl in front of the espresso machine smiled. Her blue eyes beamed behind leopard print glasses and a Pabst Blue Ribbon bandana kept her scattered blond hair out of her face. She had on a bright yellow shirt from the World Cup couple weeks ago. It matched the high-waisted jean shorts.

"I'll have a small coffee. Thanks."

It tasted like library books but I kept on sipping. 

Works from local artists formed a mosaic on the red brick wall. 

Kaleidoscope acid trips
People watching
LA sketches

The man writing in the corner looked up for a second, tapped his pen on his lips twice then went back to scribbling. 

This was a place where legends were born.

This was a place where they came to die. 

A hole in the wall littered with letters.

SS

Quotes

• The apple may be beautiful and delicious, but it's the tree that matters.
• Idle hands are the devil's workshop
• A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
• All the water in the world cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside."
• A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
• "'The root of knowledge is bitter, but it's fruits are sweet.' Persist in hard times."
• "If you do strange things, strange things will happen."
• "If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."
• "If you love a flower, don’t pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love. So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation."
• Man cannot remake himself without suffering for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
• Give someone a mask and they'll show their true face.
• Be like the flower that gives its fragrance to even the hand that crushes it.
• If you are more fortunate than others, it's better to build a longer table than a taller fence.
• Most of the Problems in my life are due to two reasons: I act without thinking, Or I think without acting.
• If you only do what you've always done, you'll only get what you've always got.