Departure Eve

For my last full day in L.A., Mike and Celeste collectively had the brilliant idea for me to rent a car since, as we all know, it is very near impossible to navigate the city without one unless you're in to taking three buses and a mile walk to get to your destination. And then another three buses and a train ride to get to your next. For $32, I scored a shiny new Subaru Outback. That's less than round-trip cab fare from C's house to, well, anywhere.

I had planned to check out the Watts Towers, but mid-day traffic jams and unease about getting lost in Compton by myself nixed that idea. Instead, I turned off the 110 onto the 10 to hit up my secret #1 want-to-see place on this visit: the Six Feet Under house.





What I didn't realize was that the house sits on the corner of a busy street, so I circled a few times before parking kitty corner to get the best stalker view. Yep, I'm officially one of those people. People actually live there, so I wasn't about to get out and start walking around their lawn, no matter how much I wanted to go spy the awesome coach house. I'd never cut it as an investigative reporter.

On the way back to Echo Park, I decided to get myself a little lost to see if I could find my way again. I went by Dodger Stadium and Elysian Park, where the giant palm trunks lining the park road look like brontosaurus legs; toured Silverlake and Los Feliz; and finally stopped at The Coffee Table for amazing mashed potatoes.

In the evening, Celeste, Tasha, and I went to Cinespace for the premiere screening of a sorta-pilot TV show featuring our friend Nora. Afterwards, we migrated next door to Star Shoes where C's friend was DJing while studying for a gameshow I am now set to get on, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? I succeeded in stumping the Yalie several times over. What's up Ivy League??!! While the music played, a painter was busy creating an ever-transforming scene on a light box. Blink, and it was gone.



A few Manhattans later, I was getting very loud so we retreated to the front of the bar since everyone was very, very serious about the art/music performance in the DJ room. Camera antics ensued. We excused ourselves and headed to Cafe 101 for some diner grub to sober up.