Andrew Brady

Two and a Half Weeks in Southern California

I’ve been meaning to make a post about this for a while. Why? No clue. I haven’t ever kept this “blog” consistently updated due to efforts being made elsewhere, but the constant stimulus I’ve been feeling on the West Coast has gotten me thinking more and more about updating this thing more regularly.

March 5th, I got a call from Keith Mulligan offering me the position of Associate Online Editor for Ride BMX. Needless to say, it was a pretty ideal situation, with a small hitch/requirement–relocation to the West Coast and more specifically, Southern California. Having only been to Southern California once before in my life (confined within walls of an: aircraft > Jeff Z’s Volvo > Transworld HQ through California traffic > lunch > airport), I didn’t really know what to think…well, really, I knew all along that if the offer would come along, I’d happily take it, and treat everything simply as a learning experience and a life experience as a whole. 

I had an extremely atrocious image of Southern California in my head: strip malls, plastic-like palm trees rising to a cloud of smog hanging over the region, and a consumer culture full of bad tan lines, fake tits, and some sort of rat race motivated by astronomically high rent being due at the first of the month. And I was totally wrong.

Sure, I’ve definitely encountered this sort of culture (Costa Mesa was your pretty typical SoCal stereotype), but my short time spent basing out of Long Beach has been great. The lack of lushness and Midwest connection with nature is certainly prevalent up here, and LBC is much more in touch with Los Angeles than I’d prefer it to be-but for the most part, it’s a cool city with a small town vibe with pretty good scenery and great people. It’s really not where you are, it’s who you’re around, and I’ve been pretty fortunate to spend time with plenty of amazing people since I’ve been here. It’s awesome having acquaintances turn into friends and meeting more and more people daily. I’m definitely psyched on how Southern California has treated me so far and I’m very excited to see where it leads in the future.

Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you must tell me, baby
How your head feels under somethin’ like that
Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
Yes, I just wanna see
If it’s really that expensive kind
You know it balances on your head
Just like a mattress balances
On a bottle of wine
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, if you wanna see the sun rise
Honey, I know where
We’ll go out and see it sometime
We’ll both just sit there and stare
Me with my belt
Wrapped around my head
And you just sittin’ there
In your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you
It’s bad for your health, he said
Yes, I disobeyed his orders
I came to see you
But I found him there instead
You know, I don’t mind him cheatin’ on me
But I sure wish he’d take that off his head
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, I see you got a new boyfriend
You know, I never seen him before
Well, I saw him
Makin’ love to you
You forgot to close the garage door
You might think he loves you for your money
But I know what he really loves you for
It’s your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat