Los Angeles, California

Well, between 2002-2004 I lived in Los Angeles and left a trail of good friends there - most of whom I met through rock climbing. I wanted to visit them an reminisce a little bit about my old life - which was primarily poker and rock climbing. Sadly I wouldn't be able to climb due to the aforementioned hamstring injury (and Horse Flats up in the Angeles Crest - my favorite local place was still closed due to fires).

However, the main motivation for visiting Los Angeles to visit my friend who recently fought through a battle with tongue cancer. Due to lots of plans being rearranged, I got to stay with her for three days which included: a walk, a nap (or two), a trip to the farmers market, a hike up near Mailbu, dinner with friends (twice), and some sort of scrabble like game with flash cards (think Upwords).

Lately, I've had a lot of cancer amongst auxiliary people in my life (people I love but only see once a year or so) - but this person was the youngest, only 37 years old. It definitely makes me think a lot about what is important, and a reminder that I should be thankful for my health, and enjoy life.

She's doing really well and seems happier and more appreciative of what she has than ever before.

Almost exactly 10 years ago, I tried surfing on my own with no instruction. I stood up for a total of one second over 2 hours of trying. To celebrate my visit, my buddy Damon set up an afternoon of surfing with his roommates, one of whom, a friend that I hadn't seen since 2004, would be my instructor.

Lidet had me riding a wave literally 5 minutes after entering the water! Granted: easy break, easy longboard, and pushed out into it - but surfing nonetheless. I later paddled myself into a few. It was really exciting (and surreal), and made me wish I had tried this back when I lived in Los Angeles.