If you build it they will come . . .

A new Coffee Bean opened just up the street from me about two weeks ago. I’m there now. It’s in a prime Sunset Strip location, next door to Tower Records. This is my first visit to this coffee bean, only my 3rd coffee bean experience overall (I’m a Starbucks girl). In the hour or so that I’ve been sitting here, banging away at my dissertation (well, the conference paper that is being distilled from part of my dissertation), there has been a steady stream of people, despite the abysmally small parking lot (though it is more accessible than some LA parking lots) and the fact that there is a C.B. just up the street about 5 blocks away. Of course, now that I think about it, that one probably doesn’t have a parking lot. Update: from my position as fly on the counter, it seems that the other location has closed, or rather migrated. That makes a bit more sense.

But it’s a nice C.B.—the inside doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of seating options, but unless you’re me on a laptop that it impossible to read in sunlight, why on earth would you want to sit inside in Southern California when you can sit Strip-side and watch the world go by? The beauty of the patio is not just the fire pit and cute white lights strung overhead, but also the proximity to Sunset Blvd without feeling like you are actually sitting in the middle of traffic.

But so far, except for the ants, which occasionally crawl across the countertop and try to hide under my computer (I sense a B rating coming on!), I like it here. It’s walking distance; it’s not my apt.; good music (so far today, Badly Drawn Boy, the Jayhawks and the Shins among others); it’s good people watching (earlier today, I saw the actor that played Richard on Melrose Place—of course, this probably means nothing to anyone but me—one of the curses of having a mind like a steel trap when it comes to remembering faces is that other people don’t share these recollections most of the time. This can lead to awkward conversations where I’m introduced to someone I’ve met (and they don’t remember)—I’m never sure whether to play along and pretend like I don’t remember, or whether to point out that we met a while ago at XYorZ. Another familiar scenario (at least in LA) is when I recognize some obscure actor and then have to try to explain who they are, what they’ve been in . . . For some reason I never seem to see the A-Listers anymore. I mean, once inn a while, it would be nice to see Matt Damon or Nicole Kidman . . . I mean, even my Katie Holmes sighting happened 6 years ago when she was still “that girl from Dawson’s Creek—no, not the blonde, Joey—the other girl from Dawson’s Creek—the brunette . . . oh, forget it.”

But on another, unrelated, note: Was blessed to see Irish band Bell X1 two nights in a row in LA. Sometimes, I really do love living here! (FYI: they’re the ones whose song is playing during the infamous and immortal lesbian kiss on the OC!) Despite the fact that I had to suffer the Viper Room scene alone (and I do mean suffer and scene), it was a terrific show—the lads rocked the house, quite literally. Then the next night, I got to go to the acoustic set and the much cooler Hotel Café for free (Thanks KCRW!) Though the band sounded great both nights, I preferred the second set because the venue and the crowd were just way more my scene. There were a bunch of us at both shows—I recognized probably 6 or 7 faces from the previous evening, but the setting made a huge difference. Cheaper, better drinks (no full bar at HC, but Boddingtons on draught—$5! Can’t beat that unless it’s happy hour somewhere!) Anyway, thanks to Bell X1 for two great shows, and many happy returns!