It feels good

I left Atlanta this afternoon and now, I'm here, in Hollywood. West Hollywood, to be exact.

Los Angeles, with the help of google maps over the last few weeks, doesn't seem so overwhelming and disorienting as I expected it would. But, it helps that I got a ride from the airport and a free place to stay for the short-term as I search for a real living situation. Thanks go out to Spencer and Kristina.

In Atlanta, I had to pay $25 to get my big bag through the check-in. Becca, I thought you said the thing didn't weigh 50 lbs?! Kidding

The trip here was relatively calm; there was a terrible mess trying to board the plane at gate C17... everyone wanted to be first. I'm not sure why everyone was so anxious to board when their row number wasn't being called; I tried to come up with some idea like: "LA folks are foreigners cause that woman on the PA system is definintely instructing us in English to 'step aside unless our row has been called.'"

The landing in LAX provided a comfortable welcome but gave a subtle reminder not to get too comfortable. The two guys next to me in the emergency exit row provided great conversation, especially towards the end of the flight and while waiting on our bags. Descending into LAX was especially pleasant cause of my chat with Adam, who has international directing and travel stories galore. I was so engulfed in our chatting, in fact, that the landing was a surprise to me. Smooth, but unexpected. Then, the aircraft nearly jerked towards the end of the landing-way, or is it still a runway? The subltety of that late jolt from the pilot sent me a warning that I shouldn't let my guard down while I transition into this crazy place.