Make the lines shake.

My former home: Long Xuyen, Photo credit: Someone else!

The big Q tip in Long Xuyen Photo credit: Someone else!

Perhaps there is.

photo credit to the awesome Hy Huynh

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The lines shake 

The feet hit the cold

Bare

I run towards the sunrise

I reach towards the horizon

Touch

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I recently accepted a job offer in downtown L.A. I will provide more details when it becomes real (i.e. after my first day of work). I am ecstatic about the position, the people I will be working with, the organization, and the prospects of living in Los Angeles for the next few years. It feels like a great time in my life and I feel like this is exactly where I want to be. It was a hurdle to get here, mentally and physically from 2 years of living abroad to get to understand the community on a much deeper level, to a month of wandering the Pacific Northwest and the Bay area, to a month at home, really focusing and trying. It may seem like an incredible amount of "sacrifice" if you will, but at the same time there was an immense amount of return for all the decisions that I made, for all the times I listened to myself.

I cannot wait to explore L.A., crossing invisible borders of communities, the cemented cracks of sidewalks, and airy sounds of rusty buildings. 

My mom drove me to my job interview. It was her one day off. She is currently helping my uncle at his new Vietnamese restaurant out in the boonies (Ridgecrest, CA) and is gone for most of the week. My interview happen to fall on her one day off. 

We argued in the morning because I said her driving me to my job interview will make me nervous. She has a tendency to drop by grocery stores and whatever not and I was anxious that she would do that. She said she wouldn't and that she would drive me straight there. She reassured me that she was good luck. 

There is a part of the 10 freeway that intersects with the 101, 5, and 60. It is a matrix of vibrating stone and beating wheels. One little mistake in the wrong lane will put you in a whole other part of L.A. and cause you to be very late or frazzled. This part happens to be my favorite part of driving to L.A. You enter in what feels like a yarn ball of freeways - and right when you forget what the blue skies look like - it happens. 

The buildings rise and the blue hues surface.

My mom tells me she used to work in Downtown L.A. She tells me to look for a gigantic B in the skyline as we drove. I tell her to watch the road. It is the part of the 10 freeway that makes the most noise because of these funky lines etched into the ground. I like to think that the vibration of the lines is a reminder to "watch the fuck out for L.A. drivers."

She tells me she sewed. She tells me the floor that she would go on after doing something. I forget the details. Perhaps I was really focused on finding that B. Perhaps it was my side thoughts that entered at that particular moment that made me forget what she said. This is exactly where I want to be for the next few years. This confirms it. Los Angeles Times blocks my view. The Korean churches call me to the left. The burgundy brick and the shiny glass turquoise mix into the crystal blue backdrop with a touch of hazy lingering exhaust. I see the B. I finally see it.