The Rhythm of Southern California

They are everywhere, but not here. As I amble down hallways, Schlitz mug in hand, it doesn't even register. There's windows, and we work, we communicate, and that is life. However, working in visual media, the coast-to-coast TV in my office shows me people in the same field but in a completely different attitude.

A certain "day after day" vibe exists, but there's two ways of looking at it. Some, they have to make a train. They get off the elevator and are stuck there for a few hours. The visuals are bleak. They find solace in the bathroom and a small mirror - the drive is for time to pass. There's no feeling for the moment, it's to get PAST the moment. You hustle to get to your neighborhood that has "the best Hunan in the east side." And that's just the lucky ones. Lest we forget those who are stuck in Coney, sipping on Malt Duck, angry. The screwdriver is sharpened not as a weapon, but getting at least $23 worth of quarters from that piece of shit Laundromat.

The others, those that surround me and including myself, move in a similar speed. Instead of "making" transportation, there one tries to "beat" it. Where they have only a goal, the others have three ways. "No" cars around you is the kind of thing that a person tells others about. They smile, pleased of good fortune. And you smile, too, knowing it doesn't happen often. But the surroundings are markedly different. Here, they buy a bottle of Tropical Blend in February because you want a jump on that "savage" tan...you remember last February, and you want to take advantage. They drive to Brentwood for the same neighborhood lunch, but you're not going for the food so much as a possible O.J. sighting. You can look around, traveling back, and realize how little surrounds you to create anxiety or envy. How can such a large area, so complex and so popular, offer so may opportunities to avoid the dunces? Move from those dippin sauce lovers who spend a half an hour telling you about nothing. This is where the small mirror is abound so that you can get the MOST out of every moment.

That's the two ways to live. There's two ways for life: The Right Way and All The Way. You don't have to be here to know it. Make it happen. Me? Every day isn't a winner. But it could always be worse. All it takes is making deals, and it isn't a worry. So that's the update from Dealville. We march on like madness.