My Favorite Weekend

This was not my favorite weekend!
Originally uploaded by jerebo.

One of my favorite features of the Los Angeles Times is "My Favorite Weekend"¬ùin which celebrities give a play-by-play account of their ideal weekend activities. These folks live large -- they dine at fancy restaurants, dance at Hollywood hot spots, wake up early (and non-hung over) enough for a 3 mile run on the beach or in Runyon Canyon, then shop at upscale boutiques (sometimes as far as Echo Park), then another nice dinner, maybe a quiet evening at home, go to bed, then a nice brunch on Sunday. It must be nice to not worry about laundry, groceries, or any other activities that mere mortals must face after our work week is done.

Well, dammit, us regular folks have favorite weekends too. Here's mine:

Friday
Since I am currently residing at my mom's house in Chatsworth and living on unemployment, I don't really trek to the hipster bars of the eastside like I used to. But that's okay -- the new Los Feliz/Silverlake/Echo Park/Eagle Rock is only ten minutes away, and its name is Canoga Park. That's right, Canoga Park! There are two great bars located at the intersection of Topanga Canyon and Sherman Way (which is the Vermont and Franklin of the West Valley) Casey's Tavern and Scotland Yard.

Venture into Casey's and you will be greeted by a motley mix of old-timers and twenty-somethings, with nary a trucker hat in sight and more importantly, strong, cheap drinks. A friend and I recently went and got a Jack and Coke and Kettel One and Tonic for the princely sum of seven-fifty. Try that on Sunset and you'll spend anywhere from eighteen to twenty bucks with half the booze. They've got a jukebox, but you won't find any Arcade Fire or Dizzee Rascal on it. There's not one song performed after 1955. You don't go to Casey's for the music; you go for the stiff drinks and to enjoy their lax smoking policy. Smoke 'em if you got 'em, but leave the potty mouth at home -- they don't like swearing. Seriously. If they catch you cuss they will give you a warning. Second time, they'll eighty-six you. But that's okay, because next door is...

Scotland Yard - This UK-themed bar only serves beer and wine, but it's good English lager and it's on tap. Their jukebox is a little more current than Casey's, though it will get turned off if there's a DJ about to perform. The clientele here is bit younger -- you may see a lot of Pierce College and CSUN students. Scotland Yard has a bit of a meat market vibe, but the females here are approachable -- no D-girls or Endeavor assistants would ever be caught dead in Canoga Park, well not until the inevitable Vanity Fair profile.

Luckily I live only a few miles away, so the drive home isn't too bad. My mom's usually asleep when I slip in at two, so no awkward drunken conversations.

Saturday
Hopefully, I'm not too hung over, so I'll wake up around 10 or 10:30. After making myself sunny-side eggs, bacon and toast. I'll go grocery shopping at the new Trader Joe's on Mason and Devonshire where the old Pic and Save used to be. They've really revitalized that shopping center. Yay for the development of McMansions in Porter Ranch, creating the need for improved shopping. I always love to nosh on the free food and coffee samples in the back of the store. The customers here are definitely older and more Republican than those at my former Trader Joe's on Santa Monica and Poinsettia. That's okay, because the staff is always very friendly and there are not as many people in velour sweats and cell phones.

I joined a writer's group, which meets at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Santa Monica, just east of the 405. It's kind of a schlep, but it's good to get feedback on my scripts and I'd rather support Coffee Bean than Starbucks. They can sure use the business, since all that construction on Santa Monica has been a nightmare for everyone on that street. I always opt for a medium coffee. Nice and simple, no foofy shit.

Then I'll go see a movie at the Arclight with my friend Jeff. I was shocked when the theater first opened, since they were charging 14 dollars a ticket. Matinees are only eleven dollars, which is only a couple bucks more than most nighttime shows at other theaters. I don't mind paying the extra money, since it keeps all the riff-raff out of the theaters. There are never crying babies or people on cell phones, plus, they don't show annoying commercials before the movies.

Jeff's wife is a fabulous cook, so she'll make us a great meal when we return to his place. She should really open her own restaurant, but she's a fellow screenwriter. Go figure!

Since I'm not really working these days, I'll either watch a DVD with them or go back home and write.


Sunday
Sometimes my mom, brother and I will go to Brent's deli for brunch. Brent's is hands-down the best deli in Los Angeles. You can take your Jerry's and shove it! There is always a huge mob of Jews waiting outside (my mom will always see someone from our Temple there), but the wait is usually not as bad as you think it will be and once your surly waitress takes your order, the food comes within five to ten minutes. And the portions are huge. The sandwiches are of Scooby Doo dimensions. I usually end up taking half of the sandwich home and eating the rest for dinner.

I do my laundry on Sundays. One advantage of living at home is free laundry. When I was living in San Francisco it was $1.75 just for one wash!

If I'm good I'll go work out at L.A. Fitness. It's a pretty spacious place, though the clientele there are very "valley." It's a menagerie of metrosexual frat meatheads from CSUN who trim their eyebrows and undernourished girls on cell phones, but it's not as cramped as the one on Miracle Mile, and with my iPod blasting the Propellerheads' "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"nothing seems to matter.

I then come home to do more writing and laundry. Dinnertime, and it's the rest of that delish Brent's sandwich.

I don't watch Deadwood, but I do love my Fox Sunday Night comedy. Many people complain that The Simpsons jumped the shark years ago, but I still think it's funny. And don't get me started on Arrested Development. I pray that it does not get canceled.

After I watch TV, I may peruse JDate to peruse the same profiles that have been there for months. I don't know why I even bother. I mean, I don't even go to Temple, so why am I so concerned about finding a Jewish girl? After an hour of this and checking my Gmail, I do some more writing, then go to bed and read for a bit before falling asleep, hoping that I find a full-time job very soon.


And there you have it. "My Favorite Weekend."¬ù