Most of you who know me, or who follow my Facebook or Twitter, you know that I moved from Los Angeles to Palm Springs a few months ago. I figured that I better make it official on my website – as if it wasn’t official enough on other social media right?  And so, I traded an ocean (that I hardly ever saw), for the desert. So far, I have no regrets and it’s been somewhat refreshing. I know the desert isn’t for everyone but I’m really digging it at this point in my life.

One of my favorite songs is A Long December by Counting Crows. It’s really one of those songs that takes on a new meaning after living in LA. I mean, it’s a good song regardless of where you live, but the line “And it’s been so long since I’ve seen the ocean… I guess I should” described 80% of my life in LA.

Hell, I think the only time I really saw the ocean was when people would come visit. The Pacific is hypnotic, I could look at it for hours… unfortunately, living in the thick of Los Angeles (like West Hollywood, or the Valley), you never see the sea… even though it’s really only 5 miles away.  Getting there can be like trying to make it through an America Ninja Warrior course.

While growing up in Michigan, I’d always envision life in California to be stereotypical of what “Hollywood” wanted people to think it is. Beach house, surfing, and basically any Beach Boys tune. There were a few occasions where you could judge the book by the cover, but someone left out the fine print. Los Angeles is sometimes like an erectile pill that has numerous side effects that some narrator tries to sneak in at the end of the commercial:

“Los Angeles may cause dry mouth, constipation, overinflated egos, rockstar wanna-bes, people wanting to be famous just to be famous, a 5 mile drive in traffic that lasts longer than 4 hours, shortness of breath, feeling light-headed, headache, nausea, panic attacks, 200 people all living in a 10,000 square foot area… etc…traffic, traffic, and traffic.”

I loved LA too. I don’t mean to bash it or the people there too much. Mixed in are quite a few brilliant and talented folks, but even those people will tell you that it can get to you. Perhaps that goes for any place. Anyways… for me, I was ready for a change. Also,  you sure get a lot for your money here in Palm Springs [for a very small 2 bed, 1 bath house in an area like Burbank will cost you almost 1 million dollars]. Not that Palm Springs is cheap, but most people have 2nd homes here so it’s a different market…and I admit, the summers are frickin’ hot, but I’ll take that over 12 months of shitty traffic, or 8 months of freezing snow and ice.

So for now, I’m in the desert and enjoying a different pace of life. It’s really beautiful here too. Also, it’s a 2 hour drive back to LA if I need to be back there for work stuff or to visit. Change is Good!