Second Star to the Right and Straight on Till Morning

Well gang, after all the hubbub and hullabaloo and shenanigans, the day has finally arrived, I’m mere moments away from walking out that door and not coming back (except for frequent visits, of course), and I must say, I feel a little bit like Peter Pan returning to NeverLand. And if LA isn’t a true Neverland, I don’t know what is...in fact, I can already almost hear the LA folk saying, “You never should’ve come out here,” “You’re never going to make it,” “You never paid February’s rent,” etc. Cynics. And just like the delusional, green-tight-clad sprite himself, I feel that this trip is partially my attempt to never grow up — I left a great “real” job, watched the bulk of my friends get married and start their grown up lives, and saw others march decidedly into adulthood; giving up the fancies of children for the hard facts and cold realities of the “real” world. Dreams dismissed, flights of fancy balked at, and no more flying across the night sky in your pajamas just to have a nightcap on a clock tower with a few of your closest friends.

But the question I leave with you even as I myself am leaving is this: what if it’s all true? What if "growing up" is more of a mean prank the world plays on you than something mandated by the number of years you’ve been around? What if right around the corner is a world where all your dreams come true and you’re the king of your own destiny? What if happy thoughts are all it takes to fly? Well I can’t answer for any of you, but I can say without a doubt that if there’s even the slightest chance that any of that is true, then it’s a chance worth taking.

And so with that I make my aim geographically LA, but my actual destination is my own personal NeverLand that waits for me right around the corner. That might all sound naïve and absurdly optimistic to all of you…but if “naïve and absurdly optimistic” isn’t the definition of NOT being a grown up, then I don't know what is. So this Pan gets his last hit of fairy dust (coffee), prepares to not become a Lost Boy (one wrong turn in Texas and I could end up in an ocean), and consume a lot of Wendy’s (Jr. Cheesburger Deluxe, no onions). I’ll try and update nightly once I’m safe in the Wi-Fi of my hotel so that you know I’m okay, and as always, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated as I try to take a little joy to a city whose main hobby is extinguishing the light from those who enter its walls. I love you all.

Dustin