On September 29, 2006, I arrived in Los Angeles.
I had traveled across the country from Florida in a rental car with my friend Will Maier. I wasn’t dramatic at all. Pleasant to share a 3,000-mile drive with. At age 31, the objective was for me to get the hell out of my mom’s house and move in with Chris Higgins in Portland.
Will had some breakfasts to deal with in LA, so I couch surfed for a week and a half. Then Will and I drove north to Portland to visit Higgins — and to drop me off there.
That was the plan, anyway.
After ten days, I decided I would rather be in Los Angeles. I was grateful to Higgins, but I drove back to The Imaginary City. Something about getting rich and famous.
On October 23, 2006, some dude in Culver City rented me a bedroom, month-to-month.
Ransom Riggs (now a famous author) actually dropped me off there with my stuff!
Here’s what I had:
Backpack (I still use this same one!)
White MacBook 13”
Windows PC for processing MutantMall orders (no monitor, however)
Box of Mulch CDs
Plastic bin of unknown junk
Tiny fabric suitcase of clothes
Blue sleeping bag & pillow, no sheets
6-string Ibanez bass
Hulk toy
I recall it was quite uncomfortable to sit on that bed with my laptop. No desk, no chair.
I got the cheap green towel at Walgreens on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice, CA. It was likely my only towel for years.
I think I bought the crappy bike for $20 from some hippie.
Money? I definitely had less than $2,000.
I paid $650 to rent the room?
I recall I had enough money to make it just one month!
No job, no car, no plan.
The first thing I did was figure out how to get groceries, so I could make ham & cheese sandwiches. I would live on those until I could figure out what the HELL I was going to do.
I can’t believe it actually worked.
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Top photo credit: Dana E. Ross, Santa Barbara, CA.