sweet home chicago

Okay, I admit it. I ran out of steam a couple/few months ago. L.A. finally sucked the last pint of life out of me and I found myself cutting short my initial self-promise to stick it out through August.

I came to realize that I wasn't staying in L.A. because I liked living there. I was living there because I was simply afraid to admit that we'd grown apart. Sure, L.A. had once held so much promise, plus it had the sun, the beaches, the music industry, but her faults (the San Andreas, for starters, yuk yuk) had long outweighed her benefits. She'd become the proverbial whore fucking anything that moved and I was the chucklehead who was too blind to see it. A crude metaphor, I know, but its the only one that fits.

It was silly of me to have put up with it for so long because, in doing so, I made my wonderful angel of a girlfriend put up with it too. She had hated L.A. long before she knew me, moved away, then sucked it up and moved back to a town she loathed just to be with me. Only now do I really see and appreciate the sacrifice she'd been making all that time while my love affair with L.A. came to a grinding, screeching, fiery halt.

(Strangely enough, the film "Crash" is on the TV behind me as a type. if ever there was a film to make you not like living in Los Angeles...)

We, of course, had a big blow up - both of us having had more than we could stand of this "life" we'd allowed our life together to become - and I can't help feel 110% to blame for putting her through hell. Today, while driving down Belmont Avenue, I flipped off a shoe store just because it had "L.A." in the title. ;P

So, yeah, I'm home for the first time in almost fifteen years and, as I reacquaint myself with a city I have loved from afar for far too long, I'll be sharing my experiences with all of you. Also, if any of you know of any great places I just have to see for myself - restaurants, clubs, you name it - by all means, let me know.

I'll also continue to blog about the music I love, just with more of a Chicago-centric slant.