At the corner of Raucus and Rowdy

It's been a heavy week here at R17. We've discussed racism. We've discussed Captain Ouchie Foot. And because the two are intertwined we've discussed racism and Captain Ouchie Foot.

Today's fare is considerably lighter.

As I was pulling out of the parking lot at Culver Center, I noticed construction and remodeling going on at Chez Lantana Jay.

Southern California property owners have this funny idea that they have to name their apartment buildings. I know that years ago I did a post about that and the many preposterous, pretentious names they have conjured up for their crappy cheese box apartments.

In any case, this one caught my eye and so I pulled the car over, whipped out my iPhone and snapped a few shots of this beauty near the corner of Overland and Venice Blvd.

Why? You may ask.

Because a long, long time ago, after I had been evicted from another apartment complex,  Les Champs de Palmes, I was close to signing a lease at 3820 Overland. Again, you may ask, why is that of any interest?

"You can't be serious," said my wife when I showed her my near calamitous mistake. 

"What? It was here on the Westside of LA and it was all I could afford at the time," I replied.

SFX: CACKLING LAUGHTER

I believe this explains everything.

And yet, despite my inability to locate appropriate living quarters, or my unwillingness to buy a bed frame for the mattress on the floor, or my inability to properly manscape the wild hairs on the back of my neck, she still went ahead and married me.

Only to discover there were 30 more years of incredulous faults waiting to be discovered.

Nevertheless, part of me wishes I had moved in to this noisy hellhole of an apartment where I would have been treated to late night night drunken brawls and an endless parade of tweakers loudly entering the Minimart for Ho-Hos and Dings Dongs.

You see, much to the dismay of my social media followers, who tolerate my shameless self promotion, I am working on a new book of short stories about the places I have lived and the unforgettable neighbors I have known.

And I can only imagine the colorful cast of characters who did sign a lease at 3820 Overland Ave. I'll bet there would have a been a few good chapters there.