The Boy Perambulates Along The Promenade...

Eric writes:
I dropped off the proposal yesterday morning at 9:30.
And then my car broke on the freeway. It didn't die and come to a stop, but all the warning lights came on and no amount of stalk wiggling would indicate a lane change. I put down the window, and used my hand like in driver's ed to show when I was moving into another lane. It doesn't really matter anyway. Lots of dumb drivers abound in California (who just don't think they need to show anyone when they're about to change lanes).
I get to the Audi dealership in Santa Monica (I avoid Pasadena only 'cause that dealership feels a little snobby (they sell Bentleys, Porsches, Rolls Royces, and Jaguars alongside Audis (for awhile they had an xj220s sitting in the window)). Anyway, as nice as the Santa Monica dealership is (super nice), they didn't know how long it'd take to fix my car. I gave them the keys and walked over to the Promenade. I've never spent more than a couple of hours in the Santa Monica 3rd Street vicinity, and yesterday, it took up my entire day (from 10:15-5:30). What did I do? Not much, actually. Good lunch, good movie, lots of walking. Man, how many terrible street musicians can you see on one block? Many, it turns out. There was a farmer's market, so that was sorta fun. I saw these giant kiwifruits that looked like squashed potatoes, but I ended up buying enormous strawberries from a guy with a beard. Berry juice running down my chin, I made my way towards the beach. Where I saw something I'd never seen before: homeless people having sex. Now I'm all for free love and what have you, but in the middle of the day on a patch of grass right next to a busy street? Apparently so. I walked on, sweat coming through my suit(from the heat of the sun, not from witnessing the torrid bum-passion). After a movie, (Upside of Anger, which was pretty good, but boring with comedy thrown in for no reason except to be like American Beauty, lots of characters having laughter that feels forced, a wedding scene that feels so fake you feel they should've just had intertitles to explain what happened in that scene) I made my way back to the dealership. Met a nice salesman, who told me all the great cheap places to eat in Santa Monica. He said Bay Cities makes amazing Italian heros/subs/grinders/etc. To kill time, I checked out an 80,000 car in the showroom and the salesman told me he could get me a good deal on it. (Unless he can get it for me for free 'cause right now, I'm (being unemployed and whatnot) not really in the market for an Audi A8).
The car came out fixed. (And for free, 3 years of amazing warranty, thanks Audi). Not only fixed, they fully detailed it, cleaned it inside and out. Audi of Santa Monica, you're amazing. Thanks for fixing my car. And for the kindness.
Got in my dirtless car and drove around, enjoying the stopping power of new brake pads. Drove over to Dan Tana's, an L.A. institution. It's a red sauce Italian place. A-Scards, Alex and I joined T-Sag's to celebrate his 25th birthday. Place is overpriced, but with great service. (However, when they knocked our 2nd bottle of wine over, they cleaned it up, but didn't (as far as i'm aware) volunteer to not charge us for the wine or bring us more wine for free; this sucks in my opinion, i mean, if i was a waiter and spilled a bottle of wine onto a table, not only would i apologize profusely, i'd make damn sure that the next bottle is free). It's a fun place, but more about the experience than the actual food. (In NYC, there's a similar place (cheaper) called Piccolo Angelo in the West Village) Afterwards, we headed to Barney's Beanery, which is sort of an ex-frat boy, West End Bar like bar... Think pre-30 something's in Murray Hill in NYC and you have a decent idea of what this place is about. Lots of youthful sleaze, with a great beer selection. There was a nerdy couple making out in the booth to our left. I, of course, happened to look over, just as the girl nerd made a vulgar 2-handed gesture with her hands to the guy. One hand looked like it was playing a piano upside down, but I don't wanna get into details of what exactly was going on that grossed me out. I wasn't too grossed out however to share with T-Sags, A-Scards, and Alex what I'd witnessed. Pretty funny. I got very tired and left for home. One the drive back, I popped in the new Beck album. If you get it, I highly recommend getting the dvd version, 'cause in the DVD set you get the album on a CD but with additional bonus tracks, one of which, "Clap Hands" is something I hope to dance to for years to come. 4 remixes on it, one of which, the "Broken Drum" remix by Boards of Canada is good backwards organ-ish music supporting the pretty vocals. Thumbs-up. I'm not giving Guero a full review yet, 'cause my impressions of it are changing each time I listen to it. My 2 fav. Beck albums remain "Midnite Vultures" and "Mutations", but "Guero" is good shit. It's not the fun summertime record people expected from Beck's reunion with the Dust Brothers... It's something else entirely. I enjoy wearing my Aviator sunglasses and driving around this dirty town with "Guero" blasting from the stereo. "Hell Yes" doesn't feel to me like it should be on the album but every other song belongs. Wondering if "Hell Yes" should've been the kickoff to the album before the melancholy took the reins. The DVD itself is great. Haven't gotten to listen to it yet in Alex's car, but soon enough, I hope to...

Out like a belly button, Eric

P.S. Best Scissor Sisters/Beatles/George Michael/Aretha Franklin mash-up I've ever heard: DJ Earworm - No One Takes Your Freedom.mp3

P.P.S. Guess it's time to get cable: Bronson Pinchot is gonna be on Season 5 of The Surreal Life...