To Go, Or Not To Go? It's all about the Bubble.

Los Angeles. La-La Land. The City of Angels.

To quote Death Cab For Cutie:

I'm in Los Angeles today
Garbage cans comprise the medians of
freeways always creeping
Even when the population's sleeping.
And I can't see why you'd want to live here.

Today is my company's "Holiday" party. They can't say Christmas because that's too offensive. It's being held at Fox Headquarters on Pico. I thought long and hard about going and decided not to. Why? It's all about the bubbles.

I was born and raised in Maryland, but I definitely came of age in Los Angeles. This city forces you to grow up quick, or be swallowed by the sprawling jungle. I've made many friendships here and through those friendships, I've learned about the bubbles. The bubble is essentially the distance from your house to your limit in all directions for how far you are willing to go to see your friends, see a show, and even go to work. I found this very interesting coming from Maryland because I would drive 10-15 miles to hang out with my friends all the time. They would do the same. No big deal. Here in LA, if you live in Hollywood and you hear of a party in Santa Monica, which is about a five mile drive, you really have to do a lot of thinking as to whether it's worth going that far.

Let me tell you a little more about these bubbles. LA is divided up by several bubbles. I'm not going to go into all of them because, well, most of them aren't very important. I'm lookin in your direction, Inglewood. Anywho...

1. The Westside Bubble - As far north as Wilshire, as far south as LAX, as far east as the 405. (The sand would be the Western border, ofcourse.) This is my bubble. Westside Mothafucka! N What! Seriously though. Venice, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey? This bubble rocks.

2. The South Bay Bubble - West to East from the Ocean to the 405 and North to South from Rosecrans to the Redondo pier. I have several close friends in this bubble. They are the reason I even realized these bubbles existed in LA. Not only do they not leave this area but once a full moon, but they subconsciously will only associate with those that live in this area to prevent them from ever leaving. If, for some reason, they develop a relationship with someone outside of the South Bay Bubble, that person outside the bubble is left with the responsibility of going to them.

3. The Hollywood Bubble - West to East from Doheny to Vine and North to South from Sunset/Hollywood Blvd to 3rd St. Due to my love of independent music I'm forced to hit this bubble to see my favorite bands. Luckly I only have to do this once a month or so. Seeing as though all my friends that lived in Hollywood moved out of CA, I have no reason outside of music to enter this bubble. The H-Dub as we call it on the Westside, is really only an option when you know exactly where you are going, can find parking easily, and have somewhere to crash after partying. Otherwise, it's really not worth it.

Other bubbles include Silver Lake and The Valley. Unless you live there or work in the entertainment industry, who the hell cares about The Valley?

So there you have it. If you're outside of LA and reading this, you're probably thinking what a crappy place LA is to live. How can you judge who your friends, significant others, and co-workers are based on your bubble? If you live in LA and you read this, you're not learning anything new, but it probably helps to see it in black and white. Don't take it personally if your friends don't show up to your party. They really wanted to go, but in the end it just wasn't worth leaving the bubble.