Cereal Diet

Ahh, it's been too long. And sadly, I'm here to report only that it's going to be longer still. As much as I'm starved for attention and affection and breakfast, I'm equally starved for vacation and since my job is giving me a 3 week hiatus, I'm heading for the border.

The goal, however, is to return relaxed and refreshed and ready to eat-and-tell with abandon. (Actually, the real goal is to return tanned and happy and not-quite-broke - or really just to return - but I'm gonna aim high.) So do stay tuned - I'm not done with you yet.

Date #21: Double Special K with Bananas and Berries

Man, Special K sure is popular amongst the fellas. Especially this guy who, when informed that JuJu was out of his first choice “Peach Combo” bowl opted instead to double up on the fan favorite (two scoops o’ cereal makes for quite the breakfeast), along with bananas and berries (both blue and straw).

A native of Buffalo, this fellow Rust Belter arrived in Los Angeles just two months ago, following stints in D.C., Atlanta, and Houston. He’s got one of those technology/computer/software jobs that I don’t understand but tend to allow very pale boys to work from home in any number of exciting cities. Los Angeles! Buenos Aires! Rochester!

Anyways, he ventured out of fly-over territory for a job at UCLA doing media something or other for their library system and fills his spare time with on-campus classes and activities (personal finance, film, surfing – there sure are some nice perks over there at UCLA) and music. He’s a music guy. Loves music. Music is “his thing.” Loves a concert. Spent his summers in college following the Grateful Dead and Phish on tour. And he likes to travel. Santa Fe is a favorite – they have a great amphitheater, apparently. It resembles a cave, or something. Denver, too. You get views of the city as well as the Rockies from their venue. And the Everglades. Not much there, of course, but the place to be for a millennium New Year’s Eve show. But as for travel independent of aged rock legends? Nope. Umm. Oh.

Double Special K doesn’t look much like a Deadhead or a Phish follower, though. In fact, in his pale yellow striped polo he rather looked like a skinny, preppy Tom Cruise, minus the creepy laugh. He did have a kind of loud voice, however, that reverberated in the sparsely furnished establishment. Didn’t really bother me much (I mean what deep secrets of mine was he telling?), but the 95-pound septuagenarian in the wheelchair three tables over didn’t seem thrilled by it. (Seriously. And how ‘bout that? I thought Aaron Spelling was the last person over the age of 69 allowed in Los Angeles proper. And only because he had been grandfathered in.)

So, yeah. That about covers it. Smart guy. Nice guy. Just not my smart, nice guy. I did receive the following email a couple days later, though:

Subject: Juju has a secret stash

“I just read a review about JuJu that said they have a secret menu but only if you ask – Almond flavored milk and some other secret toppings. Yeah right they were out of my peach combo bowl ;-)

I still have a list of tacky stuff to see over in your area of town (La Brea tar pits, LACMA, etc…), if you’re interested in hitting up any of those let me know, and hopefully we can set something up when it’s not asphalt melting hot outside.”

A vegetarian answer to In-N-Out’s legendary secret-ish offerings? Well this is an exciting development. I informed him of my disdain for the tar pits (namely their intensely sulfuric stench), but told him to keep me abreast of any other tacky Miracle Mile adventures. (Not mentioning that the likelihood of me partaking in such pursuits hovers roughly around that of Elmo being named Obama's running partner. But hey, you never know.)

Subject: I Heart La Brea Tar Pits

“I know you’re a huge tar pit fan so I picked you up an ‘I Love La Brea Tar Pits’ shirt. I also got the most obnoxious color they had, fluorescent yellow. No worries, they were free with lifetime membership to the park. You can have that too. j/k”

Very amusing, Double Special K, very amusing. Must be that extra helping of all those lightly toasted rice flakes. Like Viagra for the funny bone.