I REALLY Like LA

I Really REALLY like LA...

(Or at least Santa Monica :)...)

This might be a long post...but I promise to use lots of pictures so the flow stays quick.

I had a job for Acura on Friday which shot in Venice.
I had to fly to LA the night before, and after a long
US Airways flight, we finally arrived.

My great friend Bueller from Bueller's Kitchen
was so cool and picked me up at the airport and
brought Juliano's! What a way to start my time here...

I had their Thai soup, the curry noodles,
and the raviolis. All were delicious.
Ive heard alot of people trash on Juliano's saying
that the food is too transitional or something like that.

Hmm...well....if you dont want transitional food,
order a friggin' salad and stop complaining!
Yeesh! Seriously...you cant please everyone I guess.
Focus on the POSITIVE things people! Jeez...humans!

I loved the curry noodles...and its something we can make at home too.
Take a zuchinni, put a carrot peeler to it and make wide noodles
that look like egg noodles. Put them in a dish with olive oil,
SEA salt, and curry powder...maybe a little honey.
Add some raisins if you'd like...experiment a bit. Lots of options.

Anyways...

I went to the hotel gym at 1:30am...did some arm exercises, then went to bed.
I woke up at 5:30, then did some more chest exercises.
Only took 15 minutes. I dont do the gym here in NYC anymore,
so I try to take advantage while I have it on hand.

I had to be on at the shoot in Venice by 7:45 so I took the cab at 7am.
After only a 10 min ride, I was there. Oh well...early is better than later.
When you read books and have an ipod on hand,
dealing with excess time becomes a non-issue.

However...something was calling me.
I wondered down a back street off of Lincoln Blvd,
and found paradise. I just gravitated to it.


In the warm California sun, I found a beautiful
orange tree, wild greens EVERYWHERE,
and the cherry on top of the raw cake...
WILD Aloe Vera. A massive one.
One that no one has touched probably ever.


While everyone on the shoot was eating eggs and sausage
with potatoes and who knows what else...
Im sitting in the side street eating oranges, greens, and aloe vera.
All unwashed...but I somehow made it through.

They asked me if I was ok with the catering at the photoshoot,
knowing that I'm raw and possibly a little picky.
I said "Don't worry, Ive been chomping on weeds out in the alley."
They all laughed, thinking that I was joking. I laughed harder to myself.

I didnt even peel the aloe vera. Just chomped on the whole leaf.
After that meal...I felt amazing. Very happy and alert. Vibrant.

The shoot was great. I only had to work from 10am till 1pm,
and then I was let loose onto the streets of Venice.
I headed directly for the beach (after picking a ton of wild greens and alot more aloe).


Dont worry, I picked the aloe from the bottom, and left most of it untouched.
This plant was very huge though, so I was able to load up.

I walked west to the beach, then directly north to Santa Monica.


The weather was soooo good, and I kept asking myself:
"Why the hell do I continue to live in NY?"

So cold and dirty and grey...full of so many unnatural things.
Sorry to seem negative, but really...there is a vast
difference in the feel of these two very different areas.

I headed up Strand Street off the beach, and POW!
There is was...Euphoria.


And better yet, there was a
Community Garden right there as well!


Again...why do I live in NY?

Euphoria is a great space...so bright and happy.


I had the coco-phoria and the jalapeno poppers...


then finished it up with some blueberry cake.
(It was pretty good...the pic doesn't do it justice really.)

I basically live on green smoothies, so I have to indulge
while I can. Everything was wonderful,
but honestly, I enjoyed my breakfast of wild aloe and
oranges in the Venice side street 10000x more.

Call me crazy...but there is just something so much more pure about it.
I felt so connected to that breakfast...just picking it right away and placing
it into my mouth. No transitional foods...just pure goodness.

I walked around the community garden a bit, then headed to the beach to
listen to the water and do some deep breathing. I dug myself a
little spot to sit and just marveled at how beautiful it all is.


People that talk trash about LA need to stop hanging out with negative
people and just get over to Santa Monica.



I breathed in that fresh salty air that I love so much,
and even did some sun-gazing.


It was all really great.
I was going to read while I was sitting there, but I figured
that I can read on the stinking plane...
why not be in the present moment on the beach while I have it??

My new friend Joyce picked me up after sunset,
took me to another LA gem called Leaf!


I had a Mediterranean Wrap with Collard Leaves,
and it was great.


LOVE IT HERE!!!

We talked about being with a partner who isnt raw,
raising raw kids, permaculture and composting, relationships...
why are raw foodists such good conversationalists???
Shared interests I suppose....

I enjoyed every minute of my stay here, and I urge all of you
LA folks to really sit back and realize how good you have it.
Sure, there is traffic, fantastically plastic people,
and the whole hob-nobbing scene...
but just focus on the good stuff and
you'll realize just how lucky you all are.
I just had dinner at Pure with a good friend from LA
(HE LOVED the food at Pure...never had anything like it before...)
and he said that the human disconnect is so strong in LA.
I can totally see where he is coming from...but isnt it
up to us to create good communities, especially
with the online resources we have these days?

Have a nice sit on the beach for me and take in the fresh air for the rest of
us stuck in the concrete jungles. Im hacking away at my shackles as I type this...

-Anthony