Quick Trip to La-La Land

Quick trip to LA.  Lots of things I miss about the Hollyhood.  And right at the top of that list:  Katie Arnoldi (quick plug:  her newest book Point Dume is coming out this summer and it will blow your mind, check out her website)

Katie’s husband, Chuck, is a renowned artist.  By renowned, what I really mean is famous. Actually, Chuck’s stuff is revolutionary.  He’s got stuff in museums.  People do Arnoldi knockoffs and sell them at streetfairs.  But above all…his stuff is gorgeous.

For a long time, I found Chuck intimidating…but now I know him, and  he’s really just a cool fucking guy.  So you got this gifted writer and gifted artist who have been married for twenty-something years, and they have two brilliant kids, and sometime I look at them and think see, things can work out in this world for artists.  Not just career-wise, either…artists and writers don’t have to be fuck-ups like the popular myths would tell you.

On that note: um, thank you so very much Hemingway for creating a generation of young male writers who think it is practically their duty to get drunk and fuck a lot of chicks and write mediocre imitations of you with prose so sparse  it don’t even exist…oh, yeah, and I’m sorry your mama dressed you like a little girl the first years of your life and it fucked you up so bad…and one other thing…sometimes I really really love your writing.

and dude, we all know you were a sucky boxer

Real writers and artists can be good people.  They can be like Chuck and Katie.  They can fall in love and be dedicated to each other and their work.  Anyway, I just feel lucky to know them.

Sometimes I get the honor of hanging out at Chuck’s studio.  I feel like I need to be quiet in there, like it is a church…there are his enormous, gorgeous canvases on every surface.   I turn my head and find myself speechless.  Awestruck.  Today I saw him painting, and actually got permission to take a couple of pictures (you said I could, Katie!)

Katie and Chuck are not snobs…they support all kinds of artists.  On Chuck’s studio building is a grafitti mural…he has allowed his building to host a grafitti war for several years.  This one is new.  The old one was done by a guy name Buff Monster. I liked it, and I like this one.  I don’t take sides.

I actually watched the guys work on this one.  I think it is beautiful.

Other cool stuff from the Hollyhood -

well, Venice Beach, of course:

Katie is friends with the guys

LOVE THIS PICTURE

Old dudes who hang outside the Starbucks on Sunset:

this guy gave me a necklace...he said he got it from a trucker in New Mexico in exchange for a ride to Dallas and it would bring me luck. I really think it has. Thanks, man.

This guy was really quiet, but the others told me he was a famous actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood. They wouldn't tell me his name though.

They hang here everyday, right across from the Sunset/Gower studios.  Since it is near Halloween, this guy had a costume:

He told me he works across the street on the reality show Little People Big World… the devil is Matt Roloff (the dad) and the angel is Amy (his wife)…I figure the Roloffs must think this is funny or else the dude would get fired.

really good show, btw

Then I went to the Buffalo Exchange, and saw this great belt buckle that said ERNESTO.  I said, “Damn, if my name was Ernesto, I’d think this was so kickass!”  This guy overheard and came right over.  His name is Ernesto.  I swear.  It was fate.  He bought the buckle.

Visited my muy importante hot Hollywood agent…I love going to his office.  It is right next to the Ford Modeling Agency, and overlooks Sunset Boulevard.  It makes me feel important (even though, let’s be honest, I’m not really a Hollywood player.  I mean, I got five dollars in my bank account right now…heads up:  getting a book published doesn’t make you rich.)

When I walked in, he was reading a script like this:

Hot Hollywood Agent Makin' Deals, Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names

I HAD to take a picture of it!

Later that day:

A copy shop full of headshots of people I’ve never heard of:

Sunset Boulevard:

George Lopez has a new talk show. He is the first Latino to host a late night talk show. I am amazed and inspired by this. What an incredible man.

The Star Tours!

But, besides seeing Chuck and Katie, the highlight of the trip was seeing some of my favorite former Pepperdine students…they are all brilliant and hilarious, and I ADORE THEM!