Picking up from yesterday –
I know I had a lot to say in my review of the book, but as just a small overall thing, I’d say it’s a great jumping off point to explore Los Angeles.
It’s tough for me, because I once I get a list or a challenge, I want to accomplish it, by golly! And there are things in the book I just have literally no interest in doing. (Dog park? No thanks.)
Sometimes I feel bad when I don’t have an interest in something. “All experiences are valid and bring something new to your life,” I yell at myself. But no.
I don’t want to be a close-minded person. But I don’t want to go to a dog park. I don’t want to join LA Leggers (’cause I like to run on my own). There are things in the book I put an X over (as opposed to a check beside), and I’m just gonna have to do deal with that.
The point is, even though there are a million places to get information about LA, I think having a nice thick book with a whole lot of info about LA is a great place to start ’cause then you can do your check marks, and you can see things visually.
One of my favorite things to do is to write things I find that aren’t in the book on blank pages between chapters (or any page with extra room). For instance, I wrote about Deaf West Theatre in the Arts & Culture section.
To me, it is one of the coolest things in LA. And it’s not in the book! (How is that possible?) Well, it’s in my book now, ’cause I wrote about it. So, I love doing that – personalizing the book for me.
I also write in the margins when I do something in the book – usually just something little – a tip about the place, or the person I went with, or just something to help jog my memory and say, “Yeah, I did that.”
I also tailor the book to me and what I like. For instance, there’s an idea to go to the Playboy Jazz Fest at the Hollywood Bowl.
I wrote in the margins something along the lines of, “I worked at Playboy. I’ve been to the Bowl (to the The Producers (and a show about The Simpsons)). And I volunteered at a California Jazz Festival gala. I checked that off feeling that I’d done enough parts of it that I didn’t feel the need to do it.
Also, it suggests going hot air ballooning with a specific company (not the one I used). I marked that off anyway, ’cause I went hot air ballooning, and I’m pretty sure that was the main idea.
Another way I use the book is to keep a running list in the back of the book of new things people suggest or I read about (that aren’t in the book). One example is Game Haus Cafe. Even though yes, it’s another food thing, it’s supposed to be pretty cool for board game lovers. There’s also Point Fermin Lighthouse, which is supposed to be cool. And yeah, just whatever I see and think, “sounds good!”
On the page before that, I write about things from the book that might be fun to do more in depth. For instance, I’ve seen the Capitol Records building. So, I marked it off.
But wouldn’t it be cool to get a tour of the place or have a meeting there? It’s not impossible to think that could happen. But since I’m not holding my breath for that, and I have been there, it’s checked off.
Then, at the beginning of the book (since 1,001 things can be vast and overwhelming, I have a semi-short list (8 main things) that I would take a tourist to do if someone came to town tomorrow. (I try to sort of run the gamut so no matter what someone likes, I could find something that would make ’em happy.) And I’ll share that list soon!
As you can guess, my book is sort of a mess. I cross things out and move things around. It kind of drives me crazy how messy it looks in places. But I also like that it seems to well worn and really used.