A Weekend of Decadent Decay (Intro)

Something lovely is happening to me the older I get. The walls of judgment and elitism built by my childhood are crumbling all around me. In fact, the last 5 years or so they have completely fallen away and all that is left is a solid foundation (one could say sense of self) and a pile of stones that served their purpose in my youth but aren’t relevant to my present.  As I step over the rubble of ideology that limited my life experience, I see there is a lot more to life out there that must be witnessed if not experienced hands on.  Such is how I came to find myself in the middle of a crypts neighborhood in LA, with drugs and a blow torch on the coffee table of a rundown craftsman, and some serious trepidation about what I had gotten myself into.

There are images of a panty-less cracked out Lindsay Lohan and bald Britney Spears beating up a car in your mind right now, aren't there? No worries, read on...

This is where I love that I waited a little later in life to expose myself to these things and explore boundaries…I have a strong sense of what is acceptable risk and what is just plain stupid (for me).  The “drugs” are just weed/hash.  The blowtorch is for heating a metal rod that sears the hash into a smoke. The occupants all have their 215 cards and every drug in the house is legal by state standards. The house is what I refer to as decadent decay -  where old burger king masks and trashed couches mingle with original works of art and architecture that sets my heart aflutter. The people (and pets) are the friendliest you could hope to run into. The crypts, they don’t care about you as long as you don’t mess with them.  You mix all that together on top of no sleep from an 18 hour drive and it is my perfect moment of “new experience awesomeness”.   I never know when they will happen, but I revel in them when they do.

A spontaneous road trip with a friend to go to the Cannabis Cup in LA is how I have gotten here.  Let me clarify that while not heavily into the weed culture or consumption, I am a strong proponent that weed has many amazing uses, both medicinally and as a crop, and believe 100% that it should be legalized at the federal level.  It’s a good thing. I’ll go toe to toe (figuratively) with anyone who wants to discuss why legalization of marijuana would be a bad thing for our society. Given this stance, I thought it would be an interesting weekend to go to Cali, meet some new people, get some sun, learn more about weed, and generally enjoy the company of my friend and the open road.  

As usual with life, the things that I thought would be the highlight of the trip were okay, and the notable moments were usually unexpected. 

To be continued…

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