Thirty two years later

I arrived in Los Angeles, CA on 1/11/1986 at my friend Mark Stevens (may he R.I.P.) apartment in Long Beach. It was the last day in a five day road trip with my 1972 Volvo Station Wagon. I had to have the U joint replaced in Amarillo Texas and I almost got arrested at a rest stop in New Mexico, because I left my ID in Albuquerque. I drove back to the gas station and it was still there, with the money and credit cards. Later I took a drive through the painted desert. I stayed with Mark for seven months until I got a job at CST Entertainment, colorizing black and white movies. The rest, until now, is just a blur.

 By a strange set of circumstance I was in Long Beach yesterday and had time to kill. Thirty two years later, to the day, I stood in front of the duplex where I lived when I arrived. Not much had changed. A cat in the window kept watching me. Some people drove up and started unloading groceries. They kept looking at me like I was a "strange old man" so I went over, and introduced myself and told them that I lived in that duplex thirty two years ago. We chatted for a while and I left. I never took a picture of the place.

I drove past the restaurants where I played piano and they were no longer there. I could hardly even find the correct buildings. In fact, not much in the rest of Long Beach was very recognizable and it had all changed, or I had just forgot about it. The weather was very pleasant and I found a 99 Cents Only store to buy supplies.

2**5 = 32

I lived at Tenth and temple and at Eleventh and Obispo. Both buildings are still there. I played at "System M" for lunch at 213-A Pine Avenue. I also played at the Uprising Coffeehouse and bookstore. I think it was on 7th, but I cannot remember. I also produced video at Simmons Cable in Long Beach. I liked living in Long Beach, but CST was in Marina Del Rey and the commute was 45 minutes.

Long Beach seems more mellow than Los Angeles, and it might be geography. It is flat and level and surrounded by water. There are many more of the old style single family homes. Hollywood is ringed by mountains and hills and seems more uptight and unsteady and uneven.

I lived in Long Beach before the Blue Line was built. I remember Acres of Books on Long Beach Blvd. was like a mysterious temple of arcane knowledge. I used to love to walk through the rows of books and just look at all the writings on things I knew nothing about. One minor regret about the internet is that it has destroyed the life of most used book stores and almost eliminated the use of printed books to store information.

2 x 5 = 10

After working at CST for almost ten years, my first day of permanent "unemployment" was 1/11/1996 -- exactly ten years later.




copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer