I LOVE LA TRAFFIC.

Yeah, that’s right, I do. This idiotic statement could be attributed to the fact that I have barely even lived in Los Angeles for three months and the negative aspects of the city- the traffic, the smog, the vapid nature of humanity- haven’t quite gotten to me yet, at least not past the palm trees, beaches, and sunny skies. I am still in the honeymoon phase of geographic relocation. You probably think I’m crazy. But sitting in traffic in LA is one of the only times in my life I ever slow down. Ever. When you are stopped on Highway 101 at midnight on Friday night or stuck on I-5 during the evening rush hour, you just have to accept it, exhale, and wait. Stop. Do nothing. And for me, that is a rarity, and a welcome moment in my life.

I am a very busy person- call it Type A personality or ADHD or what you will, but there is rarely a minute in this life when I am not doing anything. I can’t remember the last time I was bored. I just checked my three email accounts, Myspace and Facebook since I’ve been writing this post. I am an epic multitasker, a characteristic that fits my life and this crazy post-post-modern world very well. I am always on the go and I rarely slow down- except in LA traffic, when I am forced to. When your car is stopped dead on a freeway, all you can do is enjoy the warm sunshine on your arms, play with the thoughts in your head, and crank that car stereo up to the moon with the glitchiest, bassiest, heaviest music you can find and rock out. At least that’s what I do, and it is one of my favorite things on earth.

I am writing this post in part so I can re-read it in a year, when I am a little less pie-eyed and a bit more jaded, when the traffic has gotten to me and I have caught myself screaming at people in BMWs and cussing the motorcycles which race up between the lanes. I know it will happen, and when it does, I will remember the day I wrote an ode to LA traffic. I will breathe out, turn the music up, and remember to slow down and smell the exhaust every once in a while.

Photo by Alforque @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/alforque/1036407920/