Socal Staycation / Musical Improv & Fitness & Work / NY & LA

Socal Staycation

I’m writing from the Barnes & Noble in Ventura. Back home in socal for the week. I’m trying to see family at least once a quarter. Took the week off to do a staycation and so far it’s been very fun/relaxing.

Got KBBQ at Gen with the fam on arrival. Went to a wine tasting in Ojai (great drive but would not go to Ojai Vineyard again). Played a ton of Deep Rock Galactic (more than 10 hours in the three days since I got it). And had a picture perfect day biking in Santa Barbara (the most beautiful Californian city IMO). The drive back coincided with the fog lifting after heavy rain and it felt like we were going through the jungle.

The week ahead is vast and mostly empty. Planning on what I’ll do each day. I thought I’d use this time to get some recording done for the upcoming album but I’ve been pretty lazy so far. Is this what retirement feels like? I’m so used to doing something. The empty schedule is a new and unsettling feeling. I guess a more evolved version of myself would happily accept this empty time but I’m not there yet. Too addicted to scrolling and filling every moment with novelty. Definitely something to work on (is scrolling our generation’s version of smoking cigarettes?) but I’m going on a tangent here.

It’s been a long time since I wrote on this blog. I’ve always been disappointed when I stumble on someone’s blog and they haven’t posted in years so I’m trying to avoid that here.

I once spoke to a friend who said that he never writes down his thoughts, never reflects on what’s going on around him. He just lives his life.

At that time I thought that was a crazy thing to say but now I understand it a bit more. I don’t think I’ll ever fully turn my brain off and stop processing life as it happens but there’s comfort in doing that from time to time. To live that way is to live fully in the present. There’s no reflection of the past. No planning for the future. Just pure present. Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch but the idea holds.

Musical Improv / Fitness / Work

In the past month since I last wrote I’ve been focused mostly on wrapping up musical improv, getting fitter, and work.

Musical improv went great. I was far more nervous about this show than shows past. The practice schedule was tiresome (three hours of practice after a long day in office) and I felt like I never had the energy to do as well as I could have. But the show went great!

I’m absolutely glad I tried it and I’m absolutely glad it’s over. There’s a second class in the Fall and I’m debating whether I’ll take it or not.

I’ve been slowly but surely hitting my fitness goals as well. The biggest change is I started tracking calories again. It’s a light pain in the ass but I love being able to eat without too many restrictions. Just budget out and account for bigger, unhealthier moments by eating healthier early in the day.

The family was surprised by how much fitter I looked so I’m glad the plan is working so far.

I continue to workout 3-4 times a week. Trying to push the weights more instead of taking it easy on lift days. Also trying to improve conditioning by going boxing.

Work’s going well. It’s never a big focus for me but I can’t deny it’s a huge part of life. I’m grateful that it’s not too difficult, I get to work with good people and I make a great salary off it. I feel more or less adjusted to the new team and aligned with what we have to do. We have a tight deadline but I’m glad there’s a goal in place.

Other Memorable Events

  • Wagyu KBBQ at Hyun with Will and Kelvin

    • A5 Wagyu all you can eat. Fasted the entire day before besides a single carne asada taco. Pretty pricy at ~250 but they served up one of the best naengmyeon I’ve had in my life

    • Would go again for a special occasion. This time around we went to celebrate Kelvin’s bday.

  • Joe Hisaishi Candelight concert with Will, Kelvin and Millie

    • Not something I’d normally do but it was cool.

    • Some beaaaautiful melodies

  • A couple bday parties

    • David, Mehak, William, Kelvin

    • At David and Mehak’s parties I went alone and did not know a single person. Had a lot of fun though. I think improv has made me more sociable and I usually have something witty or clever to say even in a group of strangers.

  • Northeast road trip with Harry

    • Went to Boston and Portland, Maine.

      • Boston was fun. We went to a ramen shop called Yume Wo Katare. The soup was souperb. Warm, filling, lightly acidic, fatty—everything you’d want on a cold Boston night. The wait was long but perhaps worth it. At the end everyone announced to the restaurant what their dream was. I said something embarrassing—”to win an Oscar.” My original dream was to “fall in love” but someone said that right before me and I didn’t want to copycat. I thought dreams should be lofty so I went with that but I wish I’d picked something closer to what I currently want.

    • Rode a boat in Portland. Besides that I wasn’t too impressed. Nearly every restaurant we went to in the downtown area had an hour + wait.

      • The whoopie pies we got here were absolutely delicious though

      • Lobster rolls were good too but nothing I’d go out of my way for

    • The car rental agency upgraded us to a red convertible Mustang so we rode around in style (with the top down in <50 degree weather)

had this at Gilbert’s Chowder House but I preferred the one at Bite Into Maine

  • Caught up with Will T, Ray and Ben at Jon & Vinny’s Slauson.

    • I hadn’t seen Will since 2021. So glad I got to catch up with him. I’d last seen Ray on our trip to Budapest together. Had a lot of fun. Great to reconnect with old college friends.

    • Ray has officially moved to LA.

    • Jon & Vinny’s was delicious. I don’t know if it was the neighborhood but the clientele was very racially diverse. Lots more Asian people than I expected. Also might be an LA thing but everyone seemed well dressed and fit.

    • One odd thing—they served a soft serve ice cream at $8.50. The soft serve was one of the smallest cups I’d eaten in my life. As I dug into it I wondered if this is why everyone in LA is so attractive. The portions are so minuscule it’s hard to gain weight.

NY / LA

I’ve been in NY for the past four years. I left SF to live in a place with more diversity and be able to focus on doing more art related things (music, acting).

My first year was stressful and focused mostly on work. I had a terrible boss and felt completely, constantly stressed.

My second year was impacted by the pandemic.

My third year I wanted to digital nomad and spent my time across NY, CA and some random locations in between.

Only in my fourth year have I felt settled in and invested in those original goals I had when I moved.

Pandemic aside, that’s a long time to get around to doing something. I’m glad I got there though. This past year of doing choir, improv, musical improv have felt enriching and well worth the time/effort.

During the pandemic 2021-23 there was a wave of people moving from the bay (lots of Berkeley people) to NY. During this time many of my existing friends in NY also left the city.

Every time I come back to Socal I wonder what my life would be like here. I think I’d be pretty happy here. Spending time with the family—being able to see them multiple times a month instead of once a quarter would be amazing. Dating more—still a focus now too tbh. Continuing to do music, acting stuff. Exploring a new city. Hopefully digging in and settling down for an extended period of time (I’d love to have a home base and do a week or two remote in random cities every quarter).

LA also has a much healthier lifestyle than NY. I can’t handle the late nights, the heavy drinking. I’m also getting a little tired of the crowds.

If / when I end up moving here I hope I don’t take toooooo long to get around to the things I set out to do.