exposed

not the usual couchsurfer John Day

I met John the same day I met Marco and Ulrik. Yes, it was an interesting – meeting strangers – day. The difference was John didn’t leave for a long time. I took a risk on hosting someone without any references, on the last minute. He came to Los Angeles to investigate the next step of his career. He ended up becoming my roommate for a couple of months before he headed back out to New York. Beyond that, he is now one of my dear friends. 

On the first few days, I found it a little difficult to relate to him. Straight from financial and banking industry in New York, with attractive friends, he’s not someone I thought I’d have much in common with at the first glance. Southern boy born in Alabama, he went to school in Florida, Georgia, then did an MBA in New York. Over some days of many conversations, usually involving goals, strategies, dreams, and …. practical approach to life, I soon got used to having him around. We had a similar streak of suspicion over ‘some’ social units.  We have similar cynicism in some human behaviors, and we bonded over personal drama, and our amazing advices to each other’s problem/oversights. Oh, and we gave each other a lot of shit for the fall out in each of our exercising routines. We both were definitely weren’t happy of getting ‘smallish’. 

His die-hard devotion to Florida State basketball team was something I can ignore but not over look. Because of him I ended up watching some games at a bar where I should have been paying attention to my company. Also his snobbish interior design and fashion sense only made matters worse in my self consciousness. Yet, overall, John, as an individual, taught me a lot about all kinds of different worlds he embodies.  

I look forward to have him around again when he heads back to Los Angeles.

John Day

John Day - Los Angeles, CA

Ulrik Lund, Los Angeles, CA

There was a post in a forum by someone looking for something to do on Superbowl Sunday. I replied and offered to take him to a party I was going to. That was how I first came about Ulrik. He ended up changing his flight to arrive later, and asked me to stay over night. I was fine with it. However, as a duty, I usually convince people to stay a bit longer, and he was one of those who did.

Ulrik was from Denmark. He came to the US to conclude his 3 month holidays. He flew in from New Zealand. Coordinating the initial meeting was quite difficult. He didn’t have a telephone on him. I was already with another Couchsurfer Marco and the day was fleeting. I needed to provide entertainment. I finally left a note at my door telling Ulrik to meet up with me at the Jazz Bakery, a venue across town. This was the night Wayne Horvitz’s Sweeter Than the Day group was playing. Our first meeting was a bit off – I was a bit agitated for not being able to communicate. (What did we do before the cellular phone was the norm???) And Ulrik was also annoyed for having to drive to the other side of town after just getting off of a very long flight and dealing with car rental at the airport. 

When Marco came back around to do some really touristy things the next day, Ulrik joined us. He finally made it out of town a couple days later after dropping me off at the airport at the crack of dawn. I was on my way to San Francisco, and he was on his way to the Death Valley. He came back a couple of weeks later when I had a ton more couchsurfers in the house. Through various moments of conversations and activities, we became quite good friends. We keep in touch – this is also because I became his ally in a transformation he was seeking. After much considerations and serious planning, he’s finally transitioning out of working on computers, to get work doing something active outdoors. I’m more than proud of him – I celebrate his courage. Something I said to him in passing, that struck him enough for him to quote it back to me was “right now you have the facility to go crazy – make mistakes and correct mistakes, heart breaks and all that good stuff”. I wonder if I even believe me? I suppose I appreciate him most for taking me seriously – so I can, in turn, take myself seriously. 

Ulrik Lund tolerates an elevator in Hollywood shopping center