The Holy Barbarians

After dropping my brother off at LAX, my dad and I drove down to Venice Beach, one of the places in Southern California I've been wanting to visit for years.

We parked on one end of the Venice Canals, and while walking towards the boardwalk, a police officer pulled over and rudely berated us for stepping off the sidewalk prior to being shown a "walk" sign. Unnecessary.

The Venice Beach boardwalk is gloriously bohemian, artsy, trashy, and entertaining all at once:

Upon arriving, I sought out Small World Books, an independent bookstore which I'd heard of and wanted to visit.

My dad and I spent some time perusing the store, where I checked out staff recommendations, some of McSweeney's most recent publications, and just enjoyed being a nerd. My dad supported independent stores by purchasing a book on mathematics or the like.

And speaking of...

Nerd Alert:

The West Coast Beats spent a lot of time in Venice Beach during the fifties and sixties. The title of this post is the name of a book, written by Lawrence Lipton, that chronicles the stories and his observations of the Venice Beach beatniks, as well as essays on the Beat culture.

My dad had never been to Venice before either, so he enjoyed walking around with me, watching the skateboarders in their park, pointing out some of the more ridiculous t-shirts on display, and observing some of the performers.

Then the smell of marijuana got to be too much for him, and he immediately wanted to leave.

But we spent a little more time walking around so I could snap photographs and enjoy the warm (if slightly overcast) weather:


We left shortly afterwards, and briefly drove up the PCH before getting onto I-5, only to get stuck in rush hour traffic (which starts around 3pm in LA).

But of all the beaches I've been to in Southern California, I think Venice is my favorite, primarily because the landscape is so different from all the rest. You'll find Muscle Beach, the urban-looking basketball streetcourts, the skateboarders, the dog-walkers, and the unique stores, performers, and merchandise, all in one place. Oh, yeah, and there's some sand and water there, too.

It's fantastic.