Something That Happened.

There's this place I've been visiting off and on these past several years, the Un-Urban Coffeehouse in West L.A. (on Pico & Urban). I stopped in yesterday, and like many afternoons, found the place quiet, the atomosphere lending itself to anyone wishing to read or write or work in peace. I purchased a double latte and two muffins -- I don't usually purchase much else besides a straight cup of coffee when I visit my local Starbucks, but I like to go for the gusto when I'm visiting the independent houses -- and asked the barista how business was. Her reply: "Not so great -- at least, not in the daytime." She went on to tell me the space's rent had just gone up several hundred dollars, a sharp increase for this small business. (She also noted that some of the neighboring businesses had recently shut down, probably due to the either the elevating rent and/or lack of interest. For example, a once-popular record store across the street had just closed.)



I've been thinking for some time now that the UnUrban would be a great place to begin a coworking arrangement of some sort. The place is cozy, dressed like a funky home. You know: Mismatched furniture, colorful walls, bookcases, chinese lamps, rotating ceiling lamps, table lamps of various sizes and shapes, a small stage with an old piano and speakers mounted on the ceiling...There's even a few rows of movie or playhouse seats, perfect for screenings or presentations.



And, of course, good coffee and treats, and free wireless Internet access.



I believe the owner would be willing to make some type of arrangement to allow us to cowork here. This is simply a guess, of course, but I know they've already got some type of arrangement with other groups. For example, they have a 12-Step group come in early every mornings, 7 days of the week. The book bands and art openings on the weekends. So the afternoons: Since business is slow after noon (until the evenings, when they have a long-running Open Mic every night), perhaps we could arrange something for the midday coworking sessions. I believe this place would be a great place to work, or collaborate: Yesterday I was looking for a nice, peaceful, un-Starbuck-like place to settle in the afernoon, and I found just what I was looking for in UnUrban's "living room" environment. There's both dark and light areas in the space, so you can even take a nap or relax in quiet in one room while others hang in the daylight of the other room, where there's lots of open air. I'm not saying it's always quiet -- certainly, the evenings pick up -- but it's usually a calm location during the day, perfectly suitable for getting some work done.



Unfortunately, I fear this place won't be around too much longer if the owner doesn't generate some type of extra income. With some of us looking for a space to hang (and work), the Un-Urban could be just the place for a perfect partnership. So I invite you to open your favorite search engine to dig up a few articles about the place - or better yet, to swing by the coffeehouse sometime, have a cup of Joe or latte, and simply check out the environment. That way you'll get a better feel for the place. The Un-Urban Coffee is just
down the street from (and east of) Santa Monica College, north of Ocean Park, across the street from a Trader Joe's market. The address is 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica (though some may consider it West L.A.), CA, 90045. Phone number: (310) 315-0056



Here's one article about the Un-Urban, just to prove I'm not making this stuff up:



http://www.thelamusicscene.com/clubs/unurban/index.php3

Labels: art, coffeehouses, commentary, coworking, Los Angeles, observations, UnUrban, West L.A., work, worrying, writing

Click to Play

Labels: art, artistry, commentary, exercise, health, observations, routine, video, videoblog, work

"Wouldn't it be nice...", as the Beach Boys sang, and I'm looking at an image of Pixar Studios on the web (which I had originally posted a link to but it appears to no longer exist) and I'm thinking, wouldn't that be a fun place to work? Of course, I am neither an animator nor a computer programmer, but still -- wouldn't it be nice to work somewhere fun? And that's my idea of fun: somewhere on the cutting edge of technology, utilizing current-and-always-verging-on-the-future tools to create, create, and create.

Hell, sweeping the floors would be fun in a place like that. (Well, depressing too: always longing to burn your creative juices, pining for a motivator like Mr. Disney or the notorious Mr. Jobs to help keep the action hot...but I would still probably find a way to keep things interesting.) Like come up with concepts, stories, and ideas to pitch while the animators pore over storyboards. I'll be the idea man, the Good Will Hunting of the studio hallways, composing ideas on the chalkboards during my lunch break. Sooner or later someone will discover me, and then I'll awake from this dream.

Labels: Disney, Jobs, occupations, Pixar, work

Still working on that story, although today, I must confess, did not turn out to be a work day. Believe me, though, something much more important came up. If I could do my thousand words (that's a thousand words day, according to Ms. See) right now I would, but I can't. The house needs to sleep, and I do, too. Tomorrow's an early day, if I can pry myself out of bed that early.

Labels: short post, work, writing

So I've been working on a short story, offline, for the past week, and I'm happy to report that it's coming along, although I don't know exactly how it is going to end. I have a vague notion of where it's going; or perhaps it's not so vague. Maybe that notion I have is as solid a notion as it gets. I'm thinking I may submit this story, and try to get it published somewhere, when it's done. When it's done.

Let's hope this streak continues.

Labels: short post, work, writing