stevesbets

They say almost everything looks better in hindsight and I have come to believe this is definitely true.

I lived in Los Angeles for about a year and a half prior to moving back to Philly in September and I loved my time there…I think. I recently have randomly been reminded of my time there in 3 different ways.  I was watching the most recent episode of Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari’s show, “I bet you”, A hilarious half hour show where the two high stakes pros and best friends make wacky prop bets. Throughout the show they panned over the Hollywood and Highland complex, the place that houses the Mann Chinese theater, the Kodak theater and the hollywood walk of fame. I went there multiple times during my time living in Pasadena.

Secondly, I am currently reading a book of short stories called poker fiction which includes one by my favorite author Michael Connelly. In his story, a large element of the crime takes place at Commerce Casino. I probably went to Commerce once a week through my year and a half in Pasadena and I greatly enjoyed playing live poker there, much more so than any other casino I have been too. The images that the book evoked made me miss my weekly trips through the perfect LA weather to the casino with the top down gearing up to play.

Thirdly and most bizarrely, A random late night infomercial popped on where they were doing interviews in an outdoor mall.  I quickly realized that it was set in the paseo colorado (http://www.paseocoloradopasadena.com/) the outdoor mall (such things do not exist on the east coast in quite the same way) on which my apartment (www.terracesapartmenthomes.com) rested. Seeing my old domicile on screen was nothing new as it was featured in a scene from “Knocked up” and is across the street from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium where American Idol does “Hollywood Week” every year (the name Hollywood week being a total misnomer since they actually send the contestants to this auditorium in Pasadena, a solid 20 minute drive from Hollywood). Despite the frequency, the combination of seeing the Paseo along with the other two references really struck a chord with me and made me miss life in Pasadena.

When I think more clearly on the issue, I know that there were many problems there. First and foremost, my family and nearly all of my friends were across the country. Aside from my time at the casino I spent the bulk of my time in my apartment alone and fairly bored. When I was there I very much missed being back in Philly, I almost felt homesickness comparable with Will Smith when he first moves to the Banks’ mansion in Bel-Air, I just wanted a Philly cheese steak with the grease tearing a hole in the bag.

This academic knowledge flies in the face of the nostalgia I’m feeling and the only way to reconcile it is to understand that things are simply always better in hindsight. The bad parts melt away and all is left is a perfect fake image marked on the mind for posterity. It makes me wonder about our history books…

PS I have more to say on the religious debate but I didn’t want to make my blog entirely about that subject so I’ll save it for next time and I promise once again to post more frequently