Ever since I left Los Angeles nine months ago, I’ve been saying to myself, “That’s something I should blog about.”  Now that the opportunity has reason, I can’t think of any of those somethings.  In fact, there has never been a time when this writer has been left so wordless.   I even left this blog to go take care of some travel things, thinking I would come back with words.  But I still don’t  have any.

So I’ll just make a list, a list of things about L.A. that I miss:

1. The people–not all of them, but the ones I liked and loved I miss more than I thought I would.  The ones I didn’t like so much still make my stomach turn so I can’t even say I miss not liking them.

2.  Aitch, who really knows how to cut my hair, not to mention that of the  Kardashian girls and Monica Lewinsky, and  when the relatively poor and the famous (take your pick between the other tw0) and the infamous (again, you choose) can all share the same hair stylist, that is true L.A.-style democracy.

3. The weather–I no longer think L.A. is stifling in August and September

4.  Rain.  Anyone who says it never rains in Southern California hasn’t been to Abu Dhabi.

5. The food–for a town so terrified of and horrified by fat, it does have the world’s best, based on what I’ve seen of the world, like tacos at Don Antonios, hanging out with friends at Gaby’s in Marina del Rey, all the cake at Doughboys,  annual dinner with my brother at El Cholo, sushi at Asakuma’s, splitting a tuna melt with my mom at the Broadway Deli, just being at Papa Christos, dorso bibimbob (without the egg) at my favorite place in Koreatown whose name I can never remember.

6. All the organic stuff–health and beauty products, especially–they just smell nice.

7.  Green things, like trees and grass and plants:  Abu Dhabi is very beautiful, but as many parks as it has, I still find myself blown away by the greeness of places like Jordan when I get a short vacation, never mind Santa Monica bluff walks with my friends.

Things About L.A. I Don’t Miss Because They’re Right Here:

1.  Americans:  I think there are more of them here than in my neighborhood in L.A.

2.  Quirky People From All Over the World:  They got plenty here, also plenty with big dreams of making it in the film business.

3.  Crazy Drivers and Pedestrians From All Over the World:  The worst being the Pakistani Group Chicken Run on Sheikh Zayed Street

3. The Water:   The Gulf and the Pacific are both pretty quiet, but there are even times here when it’s not too cold to go in.  I just wish certain Europeans would stop wearing those gut-slicing Speedo bikini trunks.

4.  Yoga:  At first I missed the Cirque du Soleil aspect of the yoga in L.A., but I’ve come to appreciate my teacher here, who although he is Indian, never uses the Sanskrit words for the poses, and always makes me smile when he says “Raise your right arm. Now raise another arm.”

5.  MacDonald’s, Popeye’s, TGI Fridays, Burger King, Chilis, Papa John’s, and so forth:  But where is the Taco Bell?

6.  An Apartment Without a View:  But now my view is blocked by a solvent bank building, as opposed Tyrone I’m Still On Parole’s bedroom, so that’s a big upgrade.

7. Students:  Still fascinating, lovely, troubling, disturbing, tiring and inspiring.