The year was 1998. I had just moved all my earthly possessions 2300 miles through the worst winter storm the east coast had seen in 17 years. Passing by 11 tractor trailer wrecks, through the frozen tundra of middle America, only to make it to New Mexico to pull the ultimate, Looney Tunes, cliché. We took a wrong turn in Albuquerque. And almost died..truth is stranger than fiction.
I moved from a small Midwest town in Michigan to of all places Hollywood,California. And all this at the beginning of the internet boom ….
It was the coldest winter I could remember. The Budget van was loaded to the hilt with every last possession I owned. After a few heart felt goodbyes we were off, but we wouldn’t make it very far.
Traffic was moving at 30 miles per hour due to heavy ice and snowy conditions. We started counting flipped over semis on the side of the road. Shortly after we reached 11 we came upon a truck flipped upside-down in a snow drift leaving the driver buried in snow. We stopped to dig him out, called 911, and immediately got of at the next exit.
The wind chill factor was at -30 degrees when we got up at 5am the next morning do to frozen feet and breathe. When we left all the fruit we had in the car was frozen solid and the banana’s had turned black. I guess that’s why you aren’t supposed to refrigerate them.
For about 2 days we had a completely uneventful trip and had only traveled 200 miles. When we reached St. Louis it was time to lay down some tracks. The plan was to go as far south as we could and hit the 10 west. We figured a southern route would be less rugged..That’s what we figured. The reality of the situation was that we were in the direct path of this monster of a storm and it wouldn’t clear up until Texas…Which when I saw for the first time, it was covered with ice and snow.
Once we reached Texas we traded counting trashed semis for coyotes. In about a 60 mile span the temperature changed dramatically and we actually saw the sun after 5 days on the road. We stopped in Hooters in Amarillo and moved closer towards area 51, which I’m happy to inform we were not abducted.
That day we stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico to crash out for the night. Before we reached the town we stopped at a bar for dinner and were told that it was the last place within 60 miles to buy alcohol. After we ate we paid 30 dollars for a fifth of whiskey to have a drink after a long day. As we pulled in to a humble Motel 6 we noticed a liquor store a stone’s throw from where we were staying. So much for hospitality I thought…needless to say Albuquerque did not treat us too well.
The next morning we hit the road early..groggy and road worn from the long trip. I ended up taking a wrong turn down a one way road. An honest mistake..though one that could have easily gotten us killed…if that is we weren’t in the middle of the desert. After 1 near head on collision I gave the wheel over to my buddy Jason who was keeping me company on the way out.
We reached Southern California well before the sun went down, as a matter of fact the image above is the first picture I took upon arrival to Hollywood.
I settled into a shabby 2 room apartment with my life long buddy Jason, just off Hollywood Blvd. It is here where the real story begins.
A dive that was affectionately dubbed the crystal palace for a brief period during the early 90’s is where we settled in.
We lived about 2 blocks down a dry, cracked street from the boulevard. Just past the blood’s and Vato’s on the corner, past the transvestite villa, about 1 block from the over-played dirt soccer field that was once grass, just at the base of the Hollywood Hills.
I know you’ve heard the old addage, “shit rolls downhill,” a profoundly crude piece of truth. We were knee deep in it, nestled just beyond the glittering streets, in what we affectionately dubbed Hollyhood. AND IT WAS MAGNIFICENT!
I went through the checklist for newly appointed Angelinos. I went and got a pager, for those big Hollywood deals. I bought a tiny 5 speed and spent most of my time in it stuck in gridlock, but the view was incredible.
I had originally gone to California to paint. I was accepted to several artists ‘colonies after I left college. In an effort to get tapped into the art world on the west coast I took a job at, The Art Store, in Santa Monica. Well actually I just needed the work. It was about an hour and a half bus ride from home, but it was LA. The workforce in the west starts there day a lot later than they do in the east. I generally didn’t show up for work until about 10. At any rate I stayed at the art store for about 3, months before I got my very first internet
job.
Lots more to tell…More to come…
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