What If I Went Back in Time?
May 03, 2012
Back in time...
I happened to grab lunch at Beachwood Cafe the other day and I saw this old billboard outside. Thing is - it's the place where I found my first Hollywood apartment at the tender, insanely young age of 20 years old. I was in fresh from TN and living in the youth hostel at the Hollywood YMCA when I noticed this locals only billboard (all I did back then was cruise around and try to figure out how to "make it"). I saw nothing my 3k credit card limit could afford and fell into a deep depression immediately, but some random dude was standing there and offered me his copy of the latest Westside Rentals doc.
And dontcha know it - there was a tiny studio for rent right up underneath the Hollywood sign. $400 a month - all included...with a view looking right up onto the sign. I was in hog heaven. My landlady was a little grandma from the south and we fell straight in love with each other. Plants everywhere, lemon trees, views from the top of the Hills. Beyond perfect.
I always wonder what it would be like to start over out here. Did I make all the right moves? Where would I have been if I hadn't have gotten that little place, or lived at the YMCA hostel where I met the dude who introduced me to the first grip I'd ever met - someone who actually worked on movies - that got me a job on a TV show. Thanks Frolic Room. It's so easy to forget how it all happened. Whatever "all" is. I just keep moving on...and now that I'm back - it's like I never left.
Maybe I'd have a restaurant in Mexico if I'd never come here? Maybe I still will :)
Meanwhile, the Beachwood Cafe did a mega makeover a few months back and is now farm-to-table....and totally delish on a whole new homemade level. Menu changes weekly. Who'd have thunk? (Sorry for quality of iphone pix) - but lemme tell ya, the harissa sauce on the poached eggs is insane.
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