Tonight as I ventured through city center, squinting my eyes against the mist, stuffing my hands deeper into my raincoat pockets, my fingers traced across a piece of paper that I know I hadn’t put there. When I unfolded it I was surprised to find a piece of my summer in Los Angeles and smoothly slid into a memory. When I made plans to live in LA for three months over the summer I knew I wouldn’t have a car. I was excited for it. I hadn’t experienced public transportation to its fullest, where better then Los Angeles to start? I also planned to buy a cheap bike off of craigslist. I biked Richmond and realized its truly the best way of seeing a city. I found an old 10 speed Keno road bike, it had these cute diamonds along the horizontal bar of the frame. The breaks were questionable and what was once shiny chrome was now covered in rust. But it was 80 bucks and my size (48cm) and orange. So I bought it. I was lucky enough to become friends with a guy who worked in a bike shop, so he helped me get my new-old bike fixed up. By the end of the summer the orange beast had new brakes, tires, chain, and handlebar tape (bright teal, of course) and I’d used steel wool to polish all the rust away.
My bike was shiny and beautiful and looked as though it should be Nickelodeon’s mascot. Well, it got me around and I used it to ride 7 miles to Beverly Hills to babysit about once a week. That piece of paper I recovered from my rain jacket pocket was the biking directions from my apartment in Hollywood (near Los Feliz) to this snazzy Beverly Hills town home. The first time I rode there, the directions were ridiculous! About 12 more turns then really needed. I remember sweating my ass off. For some reason i took Sunset which is the hilliest boulevard in Hollywood, I guess I hadn’t figured that out yet. I demounted my bike several times to walk up the steep hills but finally made it there. I could get there in literally four turns (over 7 miles) I figured out later. But that scrap paper really reminded me of being somewhere new and the excitement, scariness, and liberation of having to figure your way around. I was lucky in LA to know a couple people who helped me out a lot (thank goodness!). But here in Bristol it was just me when I first arrived! It was so scary! A lot of people here ride bikes, but i don’t think I’ll be getting one since it will be quite cold and Bristol is just too hilly for it. I’m really excited now, though, being here three weeks I’m feeling pretty confident about how to get around and I’ve made friends with some great people. It’s inspiring to be learning about a new culture from my own peers.
I’ve just kicked off my other blog which is for an independent study based around art history. After spending some time exploring Bristol I realized that the street art here is really different and wonderful. So, my blog “Buildings, Banksy & Bristol” will be a commentary on street art and art in general in Bristol and the UK. Check it out!
Well, I’m pretty tired and I really need to quit staying up so late! Tumblr has been having some lag issues, so that’s my delay in posts, but I hope to be writing more often, I’m thinking so much I ought to get it down in words!
thanks for tuning in!
Cheers!
Meg
