It is you that I'm thinking about every time this song plays on my playlist.
Is it your sunshine?
Is it your space?
Is it your hills?
Is it the square that greeted me each morning when I looked out the window, wondering how the day would pass?
Is it the metro?
Or the homeless with their supermarket trolleys?
Is it Rite Aid?
Is it the fact that somehow, despite the many broken dreams and pressures and politics and speed of Hollywood, there's still an element of hope that bleeds out from your blocks and buildings and lanes and beaches and boulevards and sidewalks?
Is it Amtrak?
Is it the orange groves flying past the train window and the accompanying bus ride?
Is it the bed and breakfast along Santa Monica and the apple trees up in the Bay Area?
Why do I think of the conference center in San Diego where embarrassingly I ran to a corner and cried because everything was just too overwhelming for a noob thrown into the sea, and I was just flapping my fins trying to look like I could swim really well?
Why do I think of the convention centers at Moscone and how one literally ping-ponged from one center to the other whilst having lunch and dinner meetings along the way?
Why do I think of Andy Serkis and his performance as Gollum in LOTR and Andy Serkis now?
And why do I think of the convention center in Las Vegas where the heat didn't get to everyone and we talked about consumer gadgets that make our lives happier and better and easier?
It's been a long, long, long day indeed.
I think of how video game technology has evolved.
I think of how motion capture and facial capture has evolved.
I think of how greens have come so long a way.
I think of layering and texturing technology.
I think of the Pacific Ocean spreading out into the horizon, her blue tint gorgeous and beautiful in the sun.
I think of seagulls flying from one end of the pier to another.
I think of a hot cakes breakfast on a Sunday morning with the TV on and an evangelical speaker bringing doom and gloom and how there's another evangelical speaker now on prime-time TV bringing a message of salvation, unmerited righteousness, undeserved blessings and finished work.
I think of martial art choreography and how it has grown and how I'll still be able to have soup dumplings and pork ribs in sweet sauce and char siew paus because there was never an intention to 'go home and get out', and it was really, really all about the beauty, strength and art of martial arts.
Like the Pacific Coast Highway with her turns and curves, there has always been a view. Sometimes the view has been frightening enough. Sometimes the view hasn't been pleasant. But there has always been a view and the ride that has taken me thus far will take me further still.
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.
Is it your sunshine?
Is it your space?
Is it your hills?
Is it the square that greeted me each morning when I looked out the window, wondering how the day would pass?
Is it the metro?
Or the homeless with their supermarket trolleys?
Is it Rite Aid?
Is it the fact that somehow, despite the many broken dreams and pressures and politics and speed of Hollywood, there's still an element of hope that bleeds out from your blocks and buildings and lanes and beaches and boulevards and sidewalks?
Is it Amtrak?
Is it the orange groves flying past the train window and the accompanying bus ride?
Is it the bed and breakfast along Santa Monica and the apple trees up in the Bay Area?
Why do I think of the conference center in San Diego where embarrassingly I ran to a corner and cried because everything was just too overwhelming for a noob thrown into the sea, and I was just flapping my fins trying to look like I could swim really well?
Why do I think of the convention centers at Moscone and how one literally ping-ponged from one center to the other whilst having lunch and dinner meetings along the way?
Why do I think of Andy Serkis and his performance as Gollum in LOTR and Andy Serkis now?
And why do I think of the convention center in Las Vegas where the heat didn't get to everyone and we talked about consumer gadgets that make our lives happier and better and easier?
It's been a long, long, long day indeed.
I think of how video game technology has evolved.
I think of how motion capture and facial capture has evolved.
I think of how greens have come so long a way.
I think of layering and texturing technology.
I think of the Pacific Ocean spreading out into the horizon, her blue tint gorgeous and beautiful in the sun.
I think of seagulls flying from one end of the pier to another.
I think of a hot cakes breakfast on a Sunday morning with the TV on and an evangelical speaker bringing doom and gloom and how there's another evangelical speaker now on prime-time TV bringing a message of salvation, unmerited righteousness, undeserved blessings and finished work.
I think of martial art choreography and how it has grown and how I'll still be able to have soup dumplings and pork ribs in sweet sauce and char siew paus because there was never an intention to 'go home and get out', and it was really, really all about the beauty, strength and art of martial arts.
Like the Pacific Coast Highway with her turns and curves, there has always been a view. Sometimes the view has been frightening enough. Sometimes the view hasn't been pleasant. But there has always been a view and the ride that has taken me thus far will take me further still.
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.