["Sweetie"? I'm calling him "sweetie"? What, am I his elderly next-door-neighbor or something? Good holy Mary on a moon pie.]
Right.
So, how are ya?
I'm good, actually. I just moved to Venice...are you in California?
No, I'm in Chicago. But I was born in Long Beach.
Well, I'm from New York -- well, originally Philadelphia, so this weather...I still don't get it...
Does it kind of freak you out?
No, in a good way!
Yeah, like it's actually SUNNY all the time?
Yeah. And I just moved to Venice, which is ridiculous, because it's the kind of place where you can actually, you know, walk around. Which is key, 'cuz I came out here to do Alias from New York, so I was in this little place just east of Laurel Canyon, in the hills, for the past year and a half and it was just driving me nuts.
Really? Why?
Because I had to drive everywhere!
Oh, that sucks! That's right. I read an interview you gave where you said something about how just getting a bottle of water is ridiculous. Like, it's not like New York where you can just walk half a block to a deli whenever you want.
Like, I literally would not even bother! I'd be like, "Ahh, I don't need to eat, really." Seriously!
And you can't order in! What's UP with that?
You can't order in! Nah, it's ridiculous. So, when you go out, you go, "I have to get this, this, this, and this done, otherwise, who knows when I'll be back here?"
Because you have to take, like, five freeways, and take eighteen exits...
Well, you know, the sad part was, all I really had to do was go down the street.
[laughs while attempting to light fourteenth cigarette]
But the act of getting in your car to go work out somewhere...that still escapes me.
That's kind of weird to me, too. Like the neighborhood I live in here in Chicago, there's stuff around but, like, I can't go out anywhere and just pick up a salad or something. Everything I eat has to come from, like, Peapod. That's why I love visiting my friend Sars in New York. I want an ice cream at 3 AM? I GO DOWNSTAIRS.
Right! And as much as people are like, "Oh, fuck it. I don't wanna talk about L.A. and New York!" You know what? I could talk about it forever.
I know. One of my questions for you was going to be, "Would you rather live in New York or L.A.?" And, like, that's really easy.