Lately I’ve been thinking about a place to go, for the weekend, a long weekend. Tickets to London are cheap now, though it is wise to acknowledge that London is a lot like New York, except colder, bigger, and even more expensive. But I have friends in London and I never see them, and we have a hell of a time putting the pints away before everything closes at 11PM. There’s always LA which is warm and cozy and parental, but let’s face it – the whole place is on fire at the moment. And folks, nothing is worse than Los Angeles during a heavy news day. What I mean is that the newscasters have enough trouble reading the weather off a teleprompter, what with the botox seeping down from their eyelids, and the collagen dripping down their teeth. What I mean is, it’s painful to watch people in LA speak extemporaneously on serious events. Even people that aren’t on television. You thought it was bad in New York. You thought it was bad in your podunk suburb of St Louis. LA is the worst. If there’s a cliché to be pronounced wrong and then pounded over and over forehead first into the pavement, it’ll happen on KCAL. Better yet, if there’s a cliché to be mispronounced and used incorrectly with this indescribably aggravating tone of wonder, the dude at the coffee shop’s got your number.
Besides for that, I don’t have too many friends elsewheres to visit for a weekend away. It’s a bit of a bummer. I remember at some time in my life having friends all over the place, from high school from college, from camp that one summer between 6th and 7th grade. But it seems like the ones I’ve got are the ones here now. We’re either close cause we hang out often, or it’s fizzled. Makes it easy on the MCI bills, bummer on the weekends away.
I am, for sure, going in December to Peru to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. And then maybe drink the tea of the vine of the dead. Or maybe not, we’ll see how I’m adjusting to the altitude. Either way it’s a guaranteed adventure. More on that to come.
In the mean time I’m stir crazy. I need something new soon. New scenery, new love, new career. I’m open to all options.
New Angeles Monthly, June 2008
Weekend America, March 30, 2008
Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2008
Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2008
Nil by Mouth is written by Neille Ilel. Neille is a writer, reporter and user interface specialist in Los Angeles. If you think that's a lot, she's also got a host of meandering sidelines including improv comedy, tennis, cooking, drawing and thinking about learning to play the guitar.
Nil is her given name. It's a long story.
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