West of Hollywood

ONLY IN LA: SACRED SPACE, HOURLY RATES

 

DRIVE/RUN/DRIVE

Only in LA would someone drive two miles roundtrip to the gym to run two miles on the treadmill.

(and that someone is me.)

ONLY IN LA: RENTED TREES

I saw dear friends last night for what has become an annual tradition, covering their Christmas tree with so many red ornaments that it is in serious danger of attracting Bourbon Street hookers to nap underneath.  However, this was neither a cut, nor bought, nor artificial tree.  It was a rented tree.

For about the same cost as buying a grand hand-picked tree at a local lot, The Living Christmas Co. will rent you a somewhat scruffier version in a pot. They deliver your choice of pine, cedar, cypress or sequoia and come back to collect it after the new year for it to continue to grow and produce oxygen, thereby saving our lives from greenhouse gasses. 

Sounds great in theory.  However, this arbor ain't making it past New Years Eve with all the red balls, baubles and trimmings blocking any available light.  I want to see the driver's face come January when he arrives to collect a stump and stalk that smells faintly of cat piss.  

Besides, I much prefer our Southern tradition of hauling the tree covered in cheap ornaments out to the yard, dousing it in lighter fluid and welcoming the new year with a pine-scented fireball.