So...the time has come to close another chapter in my life. It's time for me to return home to the West Coast. This time, I will be returning under my own power, will and into my own place away from my father and brother. All it took was a good friend getting married and a life-affirming night of dancing with an amazing woman to wake me up.

This might seem rash to some people, but I've been assured by many of my friends that I'm not being impulsive, I've been thinking about this move for a very long time. I have all the equipment I need to shoot my own films. I run a small, profitable design business. I met enough neat folks to make rent doable. My lease is running out soon and I don't have any real career opportunities here.

Also, I miss being whole. Gazing at the ocean as it pounds into the beach, sitting on my board while I wait for the PERFECT moment to strike. I miss roaming in the hills of the California wilderness, wondering if anyone will ever find me. If it matters. I miss climbing, I miss playing random jazz sessions with fellow musicians, I miss the street performers, I miss staying up late with nothing but my guitars and my surfboard for company.

I miss being 100% ME.

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I do NOT, however, miss the smog-caked air and stench of feces that permeates Los Angeles like an unwashed baseball cap. No sir. Not one bit. I'll just have to hold out and hope I can make it to Northern CA one day.

-AG3